anyone who travels knows what im talking about

the other night i had your cliche hostel experience. i came back to the hostel after another repetitive day of searching for apartments and the like, and had the inclination to relax a bit at a nearby bar. ive always noticed it to be somewhat charming, full of people at literally all hours. and the people themselves look interesting. as it was still before 8, i figured i could even have a beer cheaply, as happy hour goes from 5-8 at said bar. i had half a mind to go there alone, with simply a book and my pipe; i dont know if pipes are allowed, but as everyone in france smokes and/or breaks the law on regular occasion(neither of which are necessarily related, its just known that french people feel it their duty to obey as little of the law as possible, minus the biggies) i figured it`s my right to smoke a pipe where i darn well please. but instead i ventured to ask around at the hostel to see if anyone wanted to join me. the response, however, was why not bring wine back here. so thomas the american who has been away from home for 9 years, yuso the japanese guy here on business not speaking either english or french, and i went down the street and bought a bottle of wine each. when we got back we shared our wine with a german girl and an american girl and proceeded to picnic with some chocolate, cookies, bread, and cheese. the part that`s cliche is the part where we move to the kitchen, and one by one people begin to trickle in. the guys running the place who are from india brought their own liquids, while a canadian, a chilean and eventually the aussie joined later. so there we sat 8 english speakers, excluding yuso of course by our conversation in english. we naturally discussed america`s foreign policy errors, as well as education and what it should look like in developing countries, as well as a few anecdotes here and there including erica`s signing experience at gallaudet(children?).

in other news, im going to normandy this weekend for a retreat with a local church. it should be nice to get away and meet some new people, as well as to see the beach.

im still working on housing, and even turned down one option today that was mine for the taking. the problem was its size relative to two people of opposite sex and mostly unfamiliar with each other. one person would have had to walk through the other`s bedroom(actually the living room/2nd bedroom) to get to the kitchen, shower, toilet. but i came from visiting a great apartment on the southern periphery of Paris that isnt ideally located but has a fast train that permits easy access. im first on the list and hope that it will happen, but its a bit complicated as the owner is in cambodia and has to communicate through his friend. we shall see. keep your fingers crossed for me.

ciao ciao.