Wednesdays and Mullets

Today is Wednesday - c'est mercredi. Before you x out of this page because you could care less about the previous sentence, hear me out: Wednesdays in Avignon are crazy! In France, a lot of schools get off Wednesdays and then they have half days on Saturdays. This sounds like a really great idea, right? A mini-vacation in the week! Admittedly, going to school on Saturday would suck, but having a whole day off in the middle of the week would rock.
So Wednesdays in Avignon are crazy because... teenagers are everywhere. Everywhere. You've got your angsty Goth types, your hip quasi-Parisians, your Awkwards, and everyone in between. And, most importantly, you've got your Mullets. There are girl mullets, boy mullets, big kid mullets, little kid mullets, and just plain ugliness. It hurts all of the senses, in some way, I'm sure. There are no sunglasses dark enough to block them out, I have no magic powers to make them invisible, thus, I suffer. We all suffer. What the bananas.
The teenagers in Avignon scare the bananas outta me because they kinda look really angry all the time. And of course I have mini crises of confidence when I walk by them and they're speaking in French because, unless I'm right there with them talking to them, I can't understand them.* (Oh man, it will SO be great when I can understand conversations that I'm not necessarily involved in. As in, it'll be great when I can successfully eavesdrop on French people).

So Wednesdays are Teenager/Mullet days in Avignon. That's why I'm inside right now.

In other news, the Old Lady at the Top of the Stairs (as in, the lady with whom I live) offered Darija and I a French conversation lesson/date tonight after our conversation class at the University. I have a feeling it will be a little complicated, considering my French comprehension abilities are low as are the OLatTofS's hearing abilities. Yay. There will be much yelling and gesticulating, I feel.

Monday night = Melting Potes
Tuesday = salsa dancing at RedZone (the local nightclub. yes, a nightclub. AWK)
Wednesday = karaoke night at the bar L'americain. French karaoke is serious business. I bring in da noise and bring in da funk while the French bring in the angst and the pain. It works.
Thursday = 2nd Thursday of every night is some sort of meeting up with Avignon's LGBT group. I hope to go because then I'll be able to get some info on a gay women's choir I'd like to join (a gwoir, if you will). We'll see. I miss singing fo SHO.**






* An assistant friend, when discussing with me how frustrating it is to learn this French language and our desire to make some French friends has just said to me, "At somepoint you've gotta jump out of the nest and hope you don't wind up a pancake." I couldn't say it better, Dan. Couldn't say it better!
** the two asteriks do not have anything to do with the sentence to which they're attached ("I miss singing fo SHO"). I'd just like to point out that I've been listening to Lisa's "Rock is alive 2" mix from the summer and it is bleeping amazing. Some of the songs include...
"Keep the Car Running" by Arcade Fire/"All the Swinging Around you" by The New Pornographers/"Stuck Between Stations" by Hold Steady/"Lying is the most fun a girl can have with her clothes on" by Panic! At the Disco/"Whites Only Party" by The Dears
Check 'em out!