Friday, January 09, 2004

By the time you read this, I will have turned 23...huh. How'd that happen? I've been in Arras for two days now, and I worked (or should I say "worked"?) (yes I should) both days. I also woke up at 3am both days and couldn't fall back asleep. So that makes 14 hours sleep in 72 hours - pardon me if I'm a little more random and rambling than normal. Which is pretty damn random and rambling to begin with.

My first day on the job, I was surprised to find the parking lot full - I had been told that there are hardly any visitors this time of year! However, it turns out that the memorial is quite popular with joggers. Yes, French men in spandex...I leave you to your own mental picture of this.

On a more serious note: the site itself is beyond description. The surrounding land is nothing but shell holes and craters; there is no flat areas at all, except for right around the monument. Also, all of the grass is roped off, since it has been estimated that each square yard contains at least one unexploded shell - two people were actually killed back in 1999 when one of these exploded, but I believe they were munitions workers there to disarm shells, not visitors. The itself monument towers over everything - it's built on the highest point of the ridge (Hill 145). You can see pictures of it by clicking on the link to my job and looking up the memorials.

Anyway - I've met all my housemates now. There's 6 of us living in a 5 bedroom house: 4 girls and 2 guys. During the spring and summer there's ten people; I can't imagine it! Six seems like a pretty good number, and we all seem to get along pretty well (so far).

Things that are good about France: Cheese, Wine, Baked Goods - cheap and awesome.
Things that are less good: Driving, tight tight pants on men.

Thanks to those who sent me your addresses - your snail mail will be crawling towards you shortly!

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