L'Aigle

Well, to my horror people aren’t really into Zumba here – just as well I brought my dvd’s with me.  However, I got to talking to a PE teacher and apparently there is a group that meets once a week in a village 30kms from here, he was going to find out for me and see about how I can get there, as I have just found out there aren’t any buses either.

One positive though is that I have qualified for the major discount card on train travel for 12-25 year olds.  And yes, I’m aware I’m a bit older than 25 but because it is the celebration of the TGV’s 30^th birthday the card has been extended to include up to 30 year olds (and it doesn’t matter that I am only 30 for one more month – it will be valid for the whole year). I’m stoked as I had this card last time I was here and most of the train tickets will be 50% off for me now and some even 60%. Awesome!!

I found out there is a protestant church here so I went to check that out this morning.  It was actually a lot more intense than I was expecting, quite Pentecostal which I’m not really used to.  There aren’t any others to choose from so I’ll keep going for a bit and see how I feel.  The people were really friendly – a mix of ages but I didn’t meet anyone my age today.  I’m definitely looking forward to checking out Hillsong Paris.

I’ve spent the last few days walking around this little village (it really doesn’t take long) and it’s quite cute, although the locals don’t really rave about it – but as an outsider I like it.  It takes about 20 mins to walk from my place to the other side of the village (where the train station is).

I’ve got my timetable for the first half of my time here, at this stage it looks like I’ll have Mondays and Wednesdays off, with a few classes on Tuesday and the rest of the classes all packed into Thursday and Friday.  So the end of the week will be intense but it means I can have a 3 day weekend to travel, Tues and Wed to prep my lessons and hopefully pick up extra tutoring work (am working on that at the moment). Plus, 4 of my 12 hours will be using roughly the same material so that’s good too.  Having a light load Tuesday also means I get to check out the markets which are apparently the third biggest in France – ironic for such a small and, according to the locals, seemingly insignificant place.

I’ve also successfully opened a bank account which in typical French style required so much paperwork I think all the papers I signed made up the equivalent of half a tree.  I’ve discovered the school canteen which serves a HUGE amount of food for 2€50 a pop and they serve you so much I’m still not hungry by dinner time so that looks like the economical way to eat a balanced meal around here (cheeseboard included!!).

Some photos - first L'Aigle town centre, then my appartment - the lounge looking through to the kitchen, then my room - all a bit clinical really but thats the school environment here. Still its a good little place with all I will need for the next few months, my room mate arrives this week and I'm looking forward to having another person around the place.