Wohoo, des Annonces

J'ai des annonces:

The adventures of yesterday occurred in Nimes and at the Pont du Gard. I shall blog about it more later.

Il y a des nouvelles photos a Facebook. There are about 230 spread out over the latest two albums, and they're already rotated! I have a couple more on my phone to upload later ('couple' in Steph's photo-dialect means around twenty).

I had my first extended conversation that was mostly in French on Friday evening. It was very rough and I had to look up almost as many words as when I do Greek homework, but this is exciting progress!

I move tomorrow! And I will be purchasing a bike. This new place is quite far away, but I believe it will be a significant improvement. Besides, a bike will be so useful for further exploration of la ville!
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On Friday night I went out with my friend Jackie. This was only the third time I've been to a French bar (or...any bar!), and only the second time during regular hours. We went first to the Wohoo, which is a bar that is near the Centre. It caters to foreign students. The Wohoo is where I went during the first week here for a free cheese and wine tasting. In the small underground part of the location, we each ordered a large, fruity cocktail. Jackie's had a sort of sour-apple taste (with strong alcohol flavoring). I had a 'Russian Institute': Champagne, peach-flavored whiskey, apple juice, Grenadine, and a few small ice cubes. They were served in tall, curvy glasses with two straws and two glow sticks each. I still haven't experienced even tipsiness, which is good - but I'd feel more comfortable if I had some idea of what 'my limit' is.

It turned out to be Karaoke night, so we watched as a very pretty French lady and her friend performed the first round. They were really quite awful, but it was fun. Later, a couple guys began singing Aqua's Barbie Girl. Jackie and I couldn't resist. We began singing along from our seats, to the point that the two men began holding the microphone to us for the "ah ah ahs." Then they gestured for us to get up, and we had a sort of shoulder-to-shoulder sing along. Turns out the guys were Swedish. It was pretty cool. After that, Jackie sang Blink182's All the Small Things. I helped with the chorus, but didn't know it well enough to do much more. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince her to sing Dragostea Din Tei (the original Romanian version of Numa Numa) with me. . . .

Apres, we headed to the Bar Sextius (Sextius was the Roman General who founded Aix). It was techno night, and most people were "gothed-out" in their garb and makeup. There were top hats, corsets, and masks. Jackie, in her usual black clothing and heavy black eye-makeup, was thrilled. Don't ask me what techno music has to do with these costumes. In any case, it was fun. I got home safely by about midnight.