to keep people updated:

*i've moved into a one bedroom place just outside the "hypercentre" of town. it's tiny and i hated it at first, but i'm starting to like it more. having a phone has helped that quite nicely. in theory, cable interweb will be connected on 7 oct, so i'll be visible as of then.

*started classes a couple of weeks ago. they're going pretty well. i'm taking:
-cours de la méthologie française (aka class on how to adapt to crazy french essay writing)
-phonétique et phonologie... 2nd year class focusing mainly on acoustics, pretty much sounds like the same thing as Phonetic Analysis chez UCSC. luckily terms like hertz and decibels are the same in french
-politics of differences between sexes in 19th and 20th centuries in France and Europe... essentially feminism before feminism. the prof is really cool, but speaks insanely fast for 3 hours with a short pause. luckily she gives us lost international students her detailed lecture notes. bless her.
-textes littéraires du XIXe siècle... studying Musset's "Les Caprices de Marianne" and Vallès' L'Enfant. the prof gets super excited about the subject, so it's really fun to watch him go nuts.
-société française contemporaine.. will probably be my favorite class. seems pretty easy, the prof is incredibly clear and nice, and it's this gigantic overview on french society/culture/history/environment/politics.

there's been a lot of going out on school nights partying (which i've never really done before), watching sex and the city/american movies dubbed in french, and lots of cheap wine. but fear ye not, i'm studying too.

i miss you all. i keep having dreams of coming back and having amazing conversations/good times together. and there is a lot of mexican food involved too, because i miss that stuff like crazy. and norcal accents... eeevil socal people.

peace and love,
maki/jess