Fallen Empires

Salut mon amis! This past Friday was my first night going out with only French people and it was an absolute blast. One of my classmates messaged me to hang out with her and some of the other girls in the class for the night. I of course said yes. Before going out to three different bars, I went to their place which was less than a minute walk from my place. I was nervous about the possibility of not being able to find it easily until I realized how close it was. All of them could speak fluent English which was great as my French is pretty rusty. That, and I am nervous to speak the French I do know. I plan on getting over that by the end of the month! After some great hospitality, we drove to the area where all the bars are. Let me just say, I don't know how people here manage to squeeze their cars into such tiny spaces. I don't know if I could ever drive here. I guess if I plan on living in France someday, that's probably something I would have to get used to. The first bar we went to was called Magnum. It was ridiculously crowded. We didn't stay long there because we were approached and told that we had to have a drink if we were going to stay. Next was Le National, a club with several stages, grey goose decor, and dark red velvet couches. To my surprise, the girls informed me that at this particular bar on Fridays, they serve women free champagne until 2am. Good strategy to get both guys and girls to come to the club. After having some champagne and dancing a lot, we moved on to Smile, one of the most popular clubs in Lille. Like Magnum, Smile was very crowded, but still a great deal of fun! There was a mix of French and English music which I really enjoyed. The selection of English music was both interesting and awesome. The songs varied from a Grease medley to The Beatles. I didn't know any of the French songs but I improvised. The girls told me that when they are singing along to an English song and they don't know the words, they just sort of hum along and make up the words. They compare it to eating yogurt because when you try to speak while eating yogurt, your words are unclear. I found the comparison both clever and hilarious. So, as the French songs were playing, I was the one who sounded like I was eating yogurt. I did, however, learn the chorus to one song that went "je ne suis pas un heros." I enjoyed trying to learn the lyrics :) At around 2:30/3am, we decided to call it a night and walked home. Saturday I spent the day relaxing and watching movies. On Sunday, I took my second ever trip to the Wazemmes open air market. This time I bought carrots, strawberries, and apples. After about a half hour of pushing my way through the crowds, I was getting overwhelmed so I decided to head back to my room. The market is great to get a rotisserie chicken or fresh produce but it can be stressful due to the vast amounts of people. Today, Monday, I had my first class at l'Universite Catholqiue de Lille or, the "Catho" - business negotiation. It was almost as thrilling as the name! It was basically a 2 hour class of fill in the blanks and matching business terms with their definitions. At least it will be an easy exam, j'espere! After class I got a delicious sandwich avec jambon, fromage, et cruditees (lettuce, tomatoes, and egg), a coke, and a pain au chocolat for dessert. I had a meeting at ISTC to arrange to extend my visa at 2pm and then I went to Carrefour for some groceries. I still find grocery shopping here pretty interesting, I mean, there's a whole isle devoted to cheese. How does one choose!? I have class again tomorrow (another early morning to look forward to...) but other than that there isn't much planned for the week. Guess I'll just play it by ear :)

Bonsoir a tous!