The first few hours

(This was also written sometime between the 23rd and 24th)

Let me just say that I am beyond lucky to have Carmela as a landlady.  It honestly feels like a home-stay but without living in her house/flat.  She is so friendly and open so we’ve already had a lot to talk about.  After picking me up she brought me to my adorable, furnished flat.  It’s perfect- has everything I could ever need and it’s within walking distance of an Intermarché (fantastic super market) as well as a BNP (bank that doesn’t charge my card for withdrawls) and the high school I’ll be working at.  It’s also within walking distance of the Université de Bourgogne which is really cool as it offers a variety of events and entertainment. (And I may volunteer as an English tutor there!)  After she showed me around my flat [which has an entrance with a closet, a loo (haha), and a main living area] she left me to get some rest.  I slept for a couple of hours, washed up, and then Carmela picked me up and we went to “La nuit des chercheurs”, at the Université de Bourgogne, where students and professors briefly presented on their topics of research.  Some included global warming in Europe, the birth of stars, modern music, influential political leaders, strikes within the different French political parties, and so on.  Each topic had its own little area and while it was all in French I could catch a lot of what was being said.  After that Carmela offered to take me out to dinner in the center of the city.  We walked around le centre ville (city center) and I even touched the owl on Notre Dame de Dijon.  There is a legend that you touch the owl (la chouette in French) with your left hand for good luck and you make a wish.  Pretty cool I got to do this on my very first day!  We wandered around a bit and then went to a small Italian café where we spilt a bottle of wine and got pizzas.  Her son and his girlfriend met us and we chatted with them for a little.  Her son, Malcolm, asked me if I was from Nebraska or Texas (a change from Paris where everyone asked California or New York) and I told them a little about good old Massachusetts.  After that we went back to her flat to do some administrative stuff, (I also met her other son, Steven) and then she called a taxi for me and even paid for the fare!  (Not real life that your landlady takes you to events, around the city, out to dinner, and pays for your cab…I’m SO lucky!!)  I called my parents before I went to bed and typed up some of the previous entry for the blog.  I don’t have internet yet but hopefully that will be worked out soon.  I was pretty exhausted so when I hit my pillow I was out like a light.  I’ve had a very interesting and jam-packed first few hours in Dijon!


Owl at Notre Dame de Dijon: