appy allo win

trick or treat?

Spent almost all day rushing - sorting things out, working on project work - design a spacecraft! oh, its been 6 weeks and I seem to have forgotten how to design a space craft: I mean, no wonder they do need a team to do that!

At around 4 o'clock, the master's year puts on a bbq (grill master was Chris - yes, yes, the one from Bath Uni!) :-) and I decide to borrow Vladdimir's mic-headphones and relive the magic of SKYPE! iiiiiiiieeeeeeeeehoo! Talked to my daddy! (yay! - dad, if you read this, next time you have an operation - let us know at!! oh, I was worried). and Mummy and Teju! and Chris! and Shorty!... so good to hear all of them!

Finally, I leave university long after the bbqs and the sangria have vanished and so have the other students who are off to a seesha cafe! I go back to Gary's Appartment and its all really misty - so eiry! the fog is really thick and the night is really dark. At around midnight I decide to motivate myself to get to the seesha cafe and get dragged to Seven (a club): Suewde and Valvet lined walls - a red den: very artistic and lots of nice food to help drunk or in our case hungry-once-again people!

I see people dancing on the tables and decide its time I should leave - the rest of them stayed and had a good time I am told! The fogs thicker around 2 in the morning! back to the appartment, get into the cosy, warm sofabed. I took a picture of the remaining fog in the morning (most of it has vanished, but this is how the cathedral looked this morning)...
is really beautiful!

the house always wins!

We get to Gary Martin's apartment. Now for some of you who are not in the space mafia and haven't heard of Gary: he is one of about 25 most important people at NASA with no doubt. He was my Director of Studies in Canada and has recently moved with his 2 sons in his apartment in Strasbourg.

So we get to his apartment after classes, and he mentioned a poker game happening at the house. Soon the door buzzes downstairs and I recognise voices of staff members in the living room, whilst I am finishing dinner - I have never played a poker game: and I am generally TERRRRRRRIBLE at card games. OH NO! anyway, causing maximum embarrasment to myself is always a good way of spending friday nights - so I quickly say my prayers (nothing much, just that I dont want to appear absolutely STUPID at playing cards in front of my personal tutor!!)

...but what do I know, who so ever was listening must have had earplugs.... anyhoo, I was glad after a debt of a large amount of colourful discs that we were not playing for money!

I spent a little time talking to Gary's younger son later on - much of which involved collective mocking of Jerry Springers! (gosh, some people still watch that!) This morning, Gary and his sons leave for Paris - leaving everything they own to an etranger Indian!

I had one of those 'thought' things today - trust is really powerful: I could feel the weight on my shoulders! sometimes we live very close to people we know too well and forget how moving it is!
For those who think this is a bit too floaty : here's the view out of the window in the room I stayed at Gary's. I really hope Gary doesn't mind me putting this here!

couch kindness!

Today, I moved out of Jimmy's apartment. Don't have enough words to say how much I enjoyed staying with Jimmy and Catherine - they are awesome. (they didn't even complain about my how shocked they were regarding some films in my dvd collection! lol)... I say 'byee' to 'thee coach' - my abode and companion for the past few days!

..and to marlo - bon chien!, and to Jimmy and Catherine!
Jimmy insistes to carry my bag with him on the bike - total dude!

Thank you so much guys - you really made me feel home. ..and that means so much when nothings working out!


so now, I move tonight to the mercy and kindness of yet another friend I made in Canada - Gary Martin!

bbc and msn

funny how our lives become so dependent on things that dont really have an identity!? or are we all very settled about living in an iconic society!? I certainly seem to get through that easily without realising that for months no end...

anyhoo... finally borrowed a pair of headphones from the library, connected to the bbc radio 'listen online' and to msn messenger, got to 'chat' with shorty - feel a missing part in my jigsaws back.

Trying to seek help from another corporate entity for more support towards bridging the gap between here and India and UK! - may try skype tonite!
hmm... and some indian curry.

(I have just realised that I talk a lot about food on this blog, maybe it just happens that I try and write it whilst I start to get the munchies!)

produits de la monde

After a nite of really good food, made even better by sharing it with about 40 other people, Jimmy and I get back to the Hazin household and have a quite time watching a film with Catherine... I am still 'coach surfing' - a term I am taking quite a liking to! :-)

Got a call from Chris, I still can't work out the french telephone card and can't call anywhere with it: skypes soon calling me thinks! Wish could have talked to him more - but good things have to wait.

A day later, I have more information about the team projects on my course and get rather confused...need to make a decision by Friday! Later on, Jimmy and I take on our respective wheels to the local Auchan and try and find the 'food of the worlds'! we get some ace stuff to cook Catherine a nice Thai meal and Tiramisu!

Whilst I wait for some news on me new shelter, I still continue to wonder how long before this long while is over and I have a desk and a chair and a bed and maybe, maybe a plant!?
anyhoo...one day at a time!

Tomate Vermelho!

Its the big morning, have about 4 houses to look at! "oh yeh, lets get this all done" I say to myself, knowing that some distance part of my brain is knocking on its corner that none of these can be furnished. Jimmy and Catherine deserved so much more than the 5 hr sleep they got last nite, but I wake them up, get a shower and breakie! (yum, cereal reminds me of home!) I set off from their's starry eyed with visions of blow-up furniture that I would buy half-heartedly.

Several tram journeys later, Paul and I find ourselves circling town looking at houses that have either a bathroom with no door or electric fitting - asking for a sofa may be out of question! *anyhoo* so, now, we have a second choice - voila!! a 100m2 place, atleast has a hotplate, which now seems to us as one of the rare luxuries of modern french living.

Finally, we decide to keep a couple of more viewings for later in the week and realise that we should really show our faces at university ... on the way, we get pizzas - halves of 'uncut' pizza when we specifically request for 'slices'/'pieces'... and we are generally good at cherades! we had to try hard to look like we were from the civilised world when the tomato sauce was going everywhere on the tram!

anyhoo... still need luck, still fingers crossed!