Let's just say that "all over the place" is one way to describe it. I didn't actually have trouble getting to these three classes in time thanks to my bike, in spite of a couple 15-minute windows and having to wake up before dawn (read: still dark when I'm goin' for a ride, here) to get to some courses bright and early at 8 a.m. Thank goodness I'm not going to have to do this more than once a week once I iron out my schedule, because I'm no longer used to waking up before the birds...that was last summer, thanks.
Getting back on track, why was my week all over the place? Well, Monday went ok for the most part. Tuesday after my UM3 classes finished for the day (having started this day at 8, of course), I went to my 3-hour lab from 4:45 to7:45. For starters, the schedule online didn't actually say what building or room the lab was in on campus, but not to worry, Sherlock Holmes Younanian figured it out and got to class five minutes early...
...to find the lab teacher, and me her only student. Nobody else came! Whaaaa? I feel like I missed some huge biology department memo (which in all likelihood could have happened), but the poor enseignante was just as clueless as I was. So, we chatted for a bit, scratched our respective heads, and went our separate ways - me glad to have a little extra free time for no good reason (which was used to send e-mails, doing a lot of that lately).
Next day, I have a class at 8 a.m., right? (This is Wednesday now.) This time, reverse the situation! 100 students in an amphitheatre, but no professor! Once more, with feeling: Whaaaa? The assembly of groggy students lah-dee-dah'd around for a little under half and hour before calling it quits. Me?- back home, back to bed until my 11:30 course.
But wait, there's more! (You didn't think it was over, did you? Silly goose.) No problems on Thursday, but on Friday I went to what I thought was my lecture course for introductory animal physiology. I know I'm in the correct lecture hall; I see the girl in front of me with "Physiologie" scribbled on her paper, cool. I'm good.
The professor arrives and we proceed to learn all about Immunologie for the next hour and a half. Once again, not a clue what's going on! But I did learn some fancy new science vocabulary, so not a total loss I s'pose. I won't go into obsessive, boring detail over all this, but apparently two different hours for the same course can have different content - and the class I guess I should have gone to was actually fifteen minutes after this physio/immuno/whatever course ended. So, after figuring all this out, I realize that waltzing into class half an hour late would not be a quick way to endear myself to the professor, so I hang around campus and eat a typical French salad for lunch (lettuce, tomato, tuna, rice. Not bad. Not bad at all) until her class ends so I can go talk to her. Blah, blah, so I'm kinda still scratching my head on the way home (not literally, as doing this on a bike would be quite hazardous to one's health).
Worry not, I'm not pissed about any of this, to tell you the truth. A little disappointed? Sure, yeah; science makes me happy, and I'd love to get all this figured out so I can actually register for real at this here school of mine. But, alas, France be kinda crazy, so you either shrug, accept it, and go eat a tuna salad or you can freak out and whine. I choose option A (with an orange Fanta, in case you care to know) and hope, that in spite of this lingering pressure I feel floating around me from the various academic offices I work with here and back home, that tout va s'arranger.
Note: this means, in the literal sense, that everything will arrange itself, or less literally, that it'll all work out. However, sitting on one's behind and hoping that you don't have to do any work for this s'arrang-ing to occur probably isn't setting oneself up for success.
Other news? Well, I went out on Friday night dancing with the ladies, slept in today, did a massive grocery shopping trip (lettuce for 0,42 centimes! Oh happy day!), and now feel like I'm having quite possibly the lamest Saturday night in history in spite of having a guest over for dinner. Why is that, you ask?
This guest is a cat. We had dinner. And dessert (he seems to like a little puff pastry in addition to his milk - weird). He is now sleeping on my bed, where he's been for the past few hours. Essentially, this little dude is the cité universitaire's wandering freeloader who stands outside the building waiting for you to let him into the building - and into your studio, to chill for awhile. After a satisfactory flea-check the first time we met a couple months ago, I decided he was welcome. I think he's pretty indiscriminate in his choice of company, but it's still nice to have a visitor - even of the furry persuasion. So, for now, I'm just listening to music, saying hello to all of you, and trying not to feel super lame. But hey, look at me - I've got a guy staying the night! Oooh, scandalous.
Yeah, I know. Super mature. Also, cat just moved after about two hours snoozing on the bed. He's now on my lap. awwwwwww. Until next time, guys; here's a couple pictures from Malta:
No matter where you are on the island you're never more than an hour from views like this:
25-meter drop behind me. I'm so cool.
Dusk. The end of another day, and the last stop on our cruise vacation...
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