What Is It That I Do?

No doubt many of you, especially those who have invested significant amounts of money into this, wonder what it is that I do with my time? I am, after all, supposed to be learning French, or studying at the University, or not committing treason. So, rather than keep you all guessing, here is my basic day.

First, I wake up. Mostly, I wake up angry. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I wake up at either 7:00 or 7:30AM. This is because I have my internship these days in the Montpellierain suburb of Castelnau-le-Lez, about 30 minutes away by tram. I have to be there by 9:00AM. Waking up at 7:30, I curse God and everything in sight, realize I am either too hot or too cold, that my back hurts or my arms hurt or my whole body is sore, and I decide to hell with it, I can make it there in plenty of time, and sleep until 8. 8AM rolls around. Again, a round of cursing, now including in which is the fact I have half an hour less time to get ready. Any notions of a shower are out of the question at this point, no matter how bad I smell or how greasy my hair is. I eat what is rather a monotonous breakfast of bread with Nutella, muesli (unsweetened), and juice. This has been my breakfast every day for the last two months almost. Still, at least I have a breakfast. After breakfast, I take a moment to think about what I need to put in my backpack before leaving for wherever I need to go. Then, I go back up to my room, look wistfully at my bed, pack up my things and head out the door. On Mondays and Thursdays, I wake up at a much more leisurely hour, such as 9 or even 9:30. This gives me enough time to check my e-mail and read the morning news, which is really the last news of the night before. Actually, it's just an excuse to see how far ahead Obama is in the polls and whether or not McCain has called someone a gook yet. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays are spent blissfully in bed until at least 10, because I have no class, either at all or until the late afternoon. However, I must wake up eventually, because it is rather impolite to be rolling out of bed when everyone else is eating lunch. Unlike home.

Once out the door, I now have a bicycle which I bought for 30E at the local flea market. It was probably stolen. There is a very real chance it will be stolen again, and that if I want it back, I will have to buy it again. This will not be happening, because as soon as the bike is out of my possession, willfully or not, it will remain out there. Too bad for me. The tires are completely bald and the front brakes rub ever so slightly against the wheel so as to produce a sound like a wasp buzzing around in perpetuity. My morning journey to the university by bike (I've yet to have a chance to take it to my internship, I only got it this last Sunday) takes even less than the tram, which itself was 15 minutes + 10 minute walk. Now I can get there in about 15 total. Really quite nice. The only downside is the route to get there lies along the tram line, a wide, paved area that is frequented by pedestrians and bicycles. Oh yes, and of course, the trams. Which make frighteningly little noise until they are right on top of you at which point you can either swerve into traffic to your untimely demise or you can be crushed like those uncooperative resisters Haussman disliked so much. So far, no close calls.

Once getting to the University, I sit through class. My French classes, both of which are in the geography department, are much larger than any I've ever had at Mac. My geomorphology class is interesting, but the professor is somewhat terrifying and calls on students regarding questions the answers to which I am completely oblivious. We have no textbook, we have no real homework, and as far as I can tell, nobody really studies. Am I missing something? Much the same is the case with my Geography of Developed Countries class, which is even larger, and while the professor is less frightening, he is also far less effective. We have spent 6 weeks talking about world systems theory, something I was introduced to two years ago, and learned in the course of two hours. I have long since zoned out. Apparently, I am not the only one. Also, the corresponding TD, travail dirigé or the stuff the TA teaches you in a smaller setting, has been postponed for each of those six weeks. It is mid-October and I still haven't started one of my classes. Hmmm... My courses with other USAmericans are grammar, phonetics and my internship class on the "world of work in France" taught by the program assistant, Cedric. Cedric is very nice, but I'm sure that he, and we know the class is a joke and a placeholder to lend some legitimacy to the internships we have. My grammar class and phonetics class are also nice, but they are in subjects I long ago lost interest in, and so I'd be hitting my head against the blackboard at this point, were it not for the efficacy of the professors. Mmes. Paseyro and Barfety are by far the most competent and skilled professors in the whole of France that I have encountered so far. They know all our names. They've provided us with syllabi, giving us an idea of what will happen in the next lesson. They have senses of humor and are not (widely) feared by their students. I like them a lot, and thus, their classes are much more tolerable. Not thrilling, but I will speak no ill of them.

After university classes are over, I get lunch. This is almost always at the Fournil St. Nicholas near campus, which is a chain bakery that sells reasonably priced and extraordinarily delicious sandwiches, pastries, etc. I usually spend 3 or 4 euros on a sandwich and a pastry of some sort which will tide me over until dinner. On weekends, I eat at home with my host family when I am in the city. When not, what I'm doing for food is as much my guess as it is yours. When I go to Barcelona this coming weekend, you can be sure I will be hitting up the Magdelenas for ochenta centimos. After lunch, I either do errands like mail things or check with the program office to see if there are things to be signed, or I go home. Once home, I start my homework.

No no no, not like what I am given in class. Hell no. This is a joke university. If I have homework, it is almost certainly not graded. If it is graded, an A is greatly inflated to make all but impossible to not receive the highest marks. Were I at Macalester and putting forwards as little effort (okay, so I do put in effort, just not as much as Mac) I would almost certainly be failing all my classes and my professors would've branded me as a hopeless slacker. Sometimes I feel like *gasp* I should ask my professors from home to give me something to do. But of course, that would only complicate my life by making me really work. No, my homework is both simple and complicated. My number one passtime at my home in Montpellier is planning. Planning where I'm going this weekend, what are the best prices for getting there, can I even get there from here, will the prices change by tomorrow, and if so will they have changed favorably or not. Where will I stay when I am in X, Y, and Z place, and will I be traveling alone or with others. What will be seen, what will have to be missed, what must be avoided. If there is something in a suburb or nearby city that should be of particular note, how can I get there, and will it be expensive or time-consuming to the point of dissuasion. Will I need my passport. Will I need my train card. Will I need some form of identification that I do not have with me, and if so do I have enough time to get it airmailed from the United States or will I have to go down to the corner and see if someone can't forge me something and hope the authorities don't mind. Do I actually have enough money to effectuate my travel plans, or am I idly dreaming, or will I have to take out yet another loan from the Banks of Dad, Helen, Martha or Grandma Anne. Can I somehow spend less money while still keeping my level of security within reason (this is how in part I rationalized hitchhiking, plus, hey, it's kinda fun!) Is my presence as a westerner likely to endanger my life. My presence as a Christian. My presence as a man. My presence as a non-member of the military and absolute obliviousness to the presence and location of landmines in the area. In fact, my days are spent almost perpetually in hardcore research! Just, of a non-academic nature...

I also eat dinner in there, and by the time 1 or 2AM rolls around, I go to sleep, knowing I've only scratched the surface of Europe and the places within that I have yet to travel. Oh, and soon I will have a fourth continent to knock of the list (although only marginally) because I'm going to Morocco in November! I found tickets for $38 roundtrip, so I figured what the hell, I'm never gonna get there that cheap again in my life, let's go!