The French word for seal

19h France time

This morning I opened up a bank account, and it was totally painless and totally free. While one would expect a bank account to be free to open, many people have to pay monthly fees to keep one. One of the assistants I met last night will pay 8€ a month for his account. I feel quite fortunate.

Then, with Paula's help, I finally set up an internet connection in my room! And I do have Skype capabilities, it would seem, so everyone get Skype and call me and we'll talk.

After that, I made a stop at the French pharmacy to get a thermometer and some sudafed as I have come down with a pretty bad cold (or is it the flu?). The man who sold me these items asked me if I had change to pay for the sudafed. When I said no, he said, "Okay, well, I don't have any change for your 10. Come back later with 1€60 and pay for it." I was incredulous. He had no identification from me, no idea who I was, nothing to make sure that I would come back with the money. (I did, of course, this afternoon.)

Then I had a bus misadventure. The best way to get to one of my schools is by bus, so I tried to figure out the route this afternoon. I had a nervous conversation with the driver to get my ticket, and then I sat on the bus and watched as he went right past my stop. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know why he hadn't stopped, so I just sat on the bus until the end of the route. Once he had reached the last stop, the driver turned around and said, "You haven't left." I told him no, I had meant to get off at a certain stop, but I must have missed it. So he told me all about how you have to push a red button to tell the driver you want to get off at the next stop, and he gave me a very detailed description of each stop we had come across. On the way back to my apartment, he had me come to the front of the bus so he could explain to me precisely where my stop was. It was really kind of him, and I of course took ages to understand. But he was still apparently fooled. A woman got on the bus, heard our conversation, and said, "So she's not French?" And he said, "No, she is; she just hasn't taken the bus before." It must be my sexy nasal voice that's tricking everyone.

Now I'm at home, and I've just checked my temperature in celsius (I had forgotten it would be!) on this new thermometer: 38°C, which equals a little over 100°F. Oh dear. So now I'm debating what to do about my first day of work tomorrow, and I'm contemplating another nap.