- Do laundry
- Eat lunch
- Chat with Jason
- Mail stuff home
- Do walking tour of downtown
- Come home, exhausted, and eat dinner
- Clean house a bit
- Bed
Here's what happened:
- Did laundry
- Ate lunch
- Chatted with Jason
- Mailed stuff home
- Took the bus downtown, and saw this on the screen where I would normally see upcoming stops:
It's a warning that the bus drivers are going to be on strike Monday, and that service will be interrupted. Information to follow Saturday afternoon. Ok. This is going to be a problem, but not till Monday. Or so I thought. I got downtown and saw people clogging up the streets. It was chaos. I didn't even think of taking pictures. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. So I hopped on the next bus home, and here I am. I bought a newspaper on the way home, and now I have to sit down and figure out what on earth is happening here!
Here's what I know so far: A convicted killer was released from prison in Nantes because the jails here are poorly funded. This individual brutalized and murdered an 18-year-old girl. President Sarkozy is all blunder and pomp, outraged that this happened, but it was one of his edicts that allowed this individual to go free. For the first time ever, magistrates and the House of Commons here are united against the president. Lawyers, magistrates, prison guards, and even the police are on strike to protest against Sarkozy's statements that the judicial system here is faulted and dysfunctional. We don't have a TV here, so that's all I know for sure. I'm reading as much as I can. All I know for certain is that, for the first time since I got here a week and a half ago, I was genuinely concerned for my safety today. I'm wondering how I'm going to get to school tomorrow.
On a lighter note, the boeuf bourgignonne I made the other night was wonderful.
Frédéric and Mathilde are going out for the night to listen to an ecologist lecture on the hazards of pesticides. I'm going to stay home and read the newspaper.
À bientôt!
OMG now I'm afraid for your safety too! Holey shit, lock your doors and stay the F inside! How you get to school seems like a minor issue in comparrison to having a murderer in the area! YIKES!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your supper turned out nicely and this blog of yours is great, it is nice to get updates on how it's going for you over there. Stay safe and keep us posted! We miss you!
Dawn & Robbie
This all happened in Nantes, a city to the West. They caught the guy, but with the police on strike I'm not really sure what's going on. I promise I'll be safe. Love you guys too. :)
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