3rd time's a charm

Okay, I've already written this twice at the internet cafe. It wasn't going well because there connection kept failing so now I'm at the Institute's computer lab giving it one last shot for the day.

So, Leah wanted to know about weird quirks here. The washrooms were the first thing I noticed. First of all there aren't as many public washrooms around and, at least in Tours, you have to pay for them. Some of the public toilets are like a little room sitting in the middle of the street. Sort of like a telephone booth, but without glass walls. (Thankfully.) Also, most of the toilets here flush by pushing a button or by pulling a handle at the top of the tank. Another washroom quirk is that some of the showers are different. The shower in the house I'm at is basically a bath tub and a shower head on a hose. If you've seen the episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where he's in Italy and he's trying to figure out how to bathe himself it's like that. I think most of the North Americans who've stayed at my homestay had one of those moments when they saw the bathroom. I remember looking in and wondering how on earth I was supposed to use it. Eventually you figure something out. I look forward to showering with a stand up shower again and being able to stand up straight in my bedroom. Like my bedroom, the washroom is a room in the attic so you can't fully stand in it.

Oh, another quirk is that no one here has a lawn. The only grass is in parks and around fountains. I think Leah would like it here during alergy season. That's what comes to mind for now. If I think of anything else I'll put it in future posts.

Onto my food update. (My favorite topic.) I've had several different types of gelato and, yes, it is very good. I've already had a few baguettes too. One with smoked salmon and veggies, one with chicken and veggies, and one plain. The food in Tours is decent but if you want amazing food go to Paris.

This will be my last post before the long weekend since I leave for La Rochelle after school tomorrow. I hear it's beautiful although there isn't that much to do. That's okay since they apparently have a good beach there. Spending a long weekend at the beach sunbathing and swimming sounds pretty sweet to me. I'm glad I brought my bathing suit after all. I hear there might be fireworks and I hope there are since that would be really cool. I'll let you know all about it next week when I get back.

Bye for now!