Slept in this morning. Checked some things off my to do list this morning.
Though I had originally planned to eat lunch with my friends because technically (according to my program) I am suppose to supply all my own lunches, but Claudie invited me to eat with them! We had ham slices and bread, and ratatouille over rice and ravioli-like pasta. Yum!! Claudie went to see Invictus yesterday with a friend, and she loved it. She wishes Obama could do something to reunite the US like Nelson Mandela did after the apartheid.
I then called my friend to see where they were at so I that I could meet up with them to sit and socialize. She warned me to be aware because there was some kind of race going on today and there were a lot of people out. So instead of Sunday being the day of rest, it was the day of the race!
I left to go meet up with my friends and sat with them and enjoyed their company, sipping my vin chaud. We left that restaurant and wandered around a little bit. The mistral wind was very strong today making it very cold even though it was supposedly in the 50s. We went and got waffles at a corner store - mine was jam covered and it was delicious!
After that we followed the race course, taking pictures of Avignon at a time when it seems the most alive that it's been since we've arrived. In the course of our observations we recognized one of the runners - a fellow student at the Institute! Obviously we took pictures and caught him as he was finishing the race. How cool to be able to say you ran in a race in France?!?
Returned home after a coffee. Occupied myself from then until dinner time. Dinner was delayed because they were finishing work in the theater, redoing the dance floor (I think). Dinner was delicious as usual - "steak" (which actually means a burger) and then a mix of potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes that you mush/mix together.
At and after dinner Michel talked to me about current event issues (I guess that's what you would call them). He was describing how there are different shifts of cultures and languages for example the rise of the dominance of Spanish speakers in the US or the rise of the use of Arabic in France. It was really interesting to hear his take on this. Also, I was surprised to hear him describe people from Africa in a similar manner as the man yesterday at dinner. He talked about how people from Africa are given these nice homes from the government and then they don't do any upkeep on them and the ceiling rots, there's mildew, etc. ... But, according to him, Middle Eastern people don't let that happen. When I asked him why they don't upkeep their homes he said that's just they way they are. It's the same thing in Africa - he sees it in Africa. He had all these stories to tell about people throwing their trash out their windows instead of walking it outside, etc. I didn't get the sense that he meant it in a derogatory way, more just neutral - a statement of fact that he holds that to be true .
We ended the nigth by watching a recording of a play called "L'Art," which was a comedy / critique of modern art. Claudie was getting a kick out of it!
Tomorrow brings the 2nd adventure to the University!
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