They even rage differently

Toulouse

I arrived in Toulouse around 2:00 pm on Thursday. Leigh embraced me as I stepped off the train from Lyon. It was a beautiful reunion! She took me to the house she is staying at for the year. Its on the outskirts of the city, but very cute. There is a front door that leads to the main house and a door to the side that leads to Leigh's room. She has her own bathroom and a little kitchenette, so not a bad deal! The best part is the vole. These are the shades that come down and block out all light. I literally could have slept for days.

We hung out and didn't stop talking for the next three hours before Leigh needed to go to class. I did not attend this one, but rather updated my blog and chilled on Capitol for awhile. This is the main square in Toulouse which holds the beautiful Capitol building, a MCy Ds with free WiFi, and several more expensive restaurants. After Leigh finished her class, we met up with a few of her friends and headed to Ana's for dinner. Ana was Leigh's roommate freshman year and is studying in Toulouse for the semester. 1-3 times a week a bunch of the students in the program (a total of 17) get together and make dinner. All of them are in home stays so they had an allotted 3 dinners a week with their new families.

About twelve people were there and we were enjoying quite a few bottles of wine. The bread and cheese was flying off the table and I wondered if we would consume more baguettes or bottles. Finally we settled down to a huge bowl of pasta, some cooked vegetables, and of course more bread and wine. It was great to be around students as usual as the occasional French term was thrown around at the table. A lot of people asked me questions about my trip and I was just as interested to know what it's like to actually assimilate into a culture. They all admitted to struggling with french and not speaking it nearly enough. My friend vocabulary was expanding rapidly in it's early stages!

Leigh wanted to go to a club event held by her university so we walked about ten minutes down the road to this place. Of course, france differs from America a lot in terms of clubs. Everyone just dances and hangs out. It's not so much a clusterwad of people as it is at home. Upstairs there are tables that anyone can sit at (unlike DC, where you have to pay). A bunch of people from Leigh's classes were there so I met some French students! Another thing about clubs there, is you don't really dress up. Like jeans and a shirt is totally sufficient, which I would not be could dead in during DC night life.

We arrived home and I slept for what seemed like days, but only until 12 when Leigh was returning from class.

To be continued...