Les hommes français

Another day without a specific fear about which to talk. I will give you a fun list at the end, though!

This morning when I woke up, j'avais mal à la gorge. Actually, j'ai fait une nuit blanche because of it. I'm hoping that it's just because of the dry and the cold (seriously, didn't I leave the American midwest?). Fortunately, I thought ahead and packed American medication with me so I didn't have to brave la pharmacie and try to figure out the difference between cold medicine and laxatives (this is the worst case scenario I could think of) because EVERYTHING is different. I did wake up early go to to le supermarché which is only open for about three hours in the morning on Sunday (because it's France, and only the Arab épiceries and a few select cafés are open on Sundays). I got some tea, grapefruit juice, tissue packets, and ricola cough drops which were interestingly enough located in the candy aisle. Fortunately for me, cough drops aren't considered to be a type of medicinal product and therefore ARE available for purchase in the super market.

Today will be a lazy homework/packing/recuperating day before my adventures! Tomorrow I leave for Avignon, Nice, and a couple of little villages in the South of France. I'm hoping to escape le froid (it's supposed to be 50 degrees in Nice, I can't wait!), tour a vineyard (I'll take lots of notes, Uncle Tom), visit the parfumeries, socialize in what I've gathered is one of the best hostels in all of France, and celebrate French carnaval! I'm sure I'll have a lot to recount when I get back, but until then:

The Types of Men I've Encountered in France

*Just as a little explanation, I feel like women keep to themselves far more than men do, so overall I've had more encounters with men*

1. The men who yell "courage!" at me when I run: Running is far scarcer in France than in the US, and the French people seem to be a little puzzled/impressed by people who run. I'm not complaining, though, because it makes me feel like I have my own personal cheer leaders...
2. The kindly old man: Whether it was a priest helping me to get involved with the church group or a patron at the library allowing me to use his card to make a copy of a magazine article, I have been the beneficiary of random acts of kidness.
3. The drunken baffoons: I can't say that I've had a ton of encounters with this back in the US, so I can't say if it's better or worse here, but I have felt somewhat uncomfortable walking home at night (early, like between 11:30 and 12:30). It's not just cat calls, it's getting up in my personal space and forcing me to walk through/around them. I've never felt unsafe because there are always a lot of other people around, but it is a little unnerving. 
4. Les Sans Domicile Fixes: They all seem to have dogs and hang out by the tram stations and the carousel in the center square. 
5. The super nice church-goers: Other than my three male professors, these are the only ones that I've had any real contact with. Everyone, male and female, that I've met there has proved to me that we're not so different after all :) 

Bonne semaine!