The city of dog poo

Two more weeks in Poitiers...and people are still not cleaning up after their dogs...walking to uni is like making your way through a minefield...Despite that and surprisingly enough, I am still loving it. Ithought that by now I would be desperate to go to Starbucks or hold a newspaper in a language I actually understand - but actually, I am not fussed at all. Instead it makes me ridiculously happy to continuously run into the same people and talk about exactly the same things every day in this lovely and charming little French town. As soon as I set a foot out of the door I am more or less prepared to socialize - something like an anonymous stroll in the park is out of the question.
Life is simple and good in Poitiers...and I feel people are taking really good care of one another - maybe it has something to do with the fact that there aren't so many around- beggars can't be choosers ; ) But no, I don't really think that's the case. It's more of a "We are all in this together" feeling and it's a bit as if we have established a little "International Marketing Communications Family" by now - that's my vary romanticized view of it anyways. Living in Poitiers can be described as the more intense version of "Big Brother" - only that nobody can be bothered to film us all the time.

We are faced with some truly mind-boggling challenges however...for instance: What to do when you have been to the two good bars in town and have already watched the movie that is showing at the local cinema...This is followed by the full comprehension as to how truly limited the entertainment options in Poitiers are. At this point the sensation of panic enters most individuals. It is then necessary to map out an effective strategy in order to overcome those fears...My approach was to start appreciating how truly liberating it is not to have many options for once...In London I was constantly missing out on stuff left, right and center...never doing anyone or anything justice. Whereas here, even if I wanted to - I just wouldn't manage. On the downside, you can't say you are busy as an excuse...since it is obvious that you are not ; )

So what did I do the last 2 weeks after I went to the cinema and the legendary 2 good bars?!

Well, my highlights were the following:

a.) spending an entire day in my bathrobe
b.) throwing a house party

Well, a.) actually happened after b.) coming to think of it....Anyways, the night before the bathrobe day was absolutely fantastic!!! It started out innocent enough with my house mate Darina and me going to the local super market and buying a few drinks and snacks - thinking we would only stay at mine for a couple of hours and then go clubbing. But I think as soon as Jens brought some loudspeakers and people started dancing, it became obvious we wouldn't go anywhere else that night. I was filled with pride that my little studio managed to accommodate 30 odd people and entirely grateful that my neighbours did not file a noise complaint. Even though in my head I had already budgeted in the 150 Euro fine and was wondering whether French cops were cute or not...




But yeah, full on success - and I blushed a little when I was told: best house party so far...kinda thought in order to have a good house party one person has to get mildly injured (to add some emotional distress) and another few have to be found shagging somewhere (to create a certain sensation of sexual excitement)...but apparently that was just the recipe for our New Year's Eve party last year ; )

So yeah, that was a fun weekend - the best thing about it is, that I can still remember everything...whereas this weekend I kinda turned into an overexcited teenager again and thought it was fun to engage in some ridiculous binge drinking. Note to myself: Don't challenge a man twice your size to down drinks with you...Where the hell did that urge come from? Drinking is a discipline where one ought not to be competitive...I learned that the hard way ; )But again, everyone was really sweet and I was taken good care of. The day after I didn't touch anything even mildly alcoholic - but I had the best of times with one of my course mates, chatting away in a coffee shop for all of 6 hours. Time flies when you are happy. And Poitiers seems to be a time for cool friendships, great living quality and a bit of general awesomeness...but just as in Big Brother - it's like a bubble. However, before it bursts, I am gonna soak up as much fun as possible - starting with breaking free of Poitiers and going to Bordeaux this week...