Slowly Coming Together-

Well with two birthdays in the last two weeks, my own and my roomates, it's been busy. We've met a lot of people now and it seems like everyone is inviting everyone everywhere. There is always something to do here, never short of things to do to keep busy. I found a sweet jazz class, and some lady at the laundrymat asked me if I wanted to be a guest singer at one of the basilica's here every once in a while. Haha. The city of Toulouse itself is amazing. It provides lots of to do for students and really comes alive at night.

Unfortunately, my university here is extremely disappointing and quite honestly, not worth the money. I "started" classes on Monday and it's now Weds. and I still have no idea what I'm taking. The french DELF courses are too easy and the french courses for native french speakers are too hard. Fun times. Overall, Mirail is disorganized, disgusting and very disappointing. If only UBC knew the truth of this university, they would never send people here. People get mugged with knives in the park next to the school, there is graffitti and broken glass in the classrooms, there are outdoor washrooms that make the entire campus smell like pee, etc. etc. And also, the teachers are completely disorganized. No one has yet to give me a course outline, or even know how many credits the course is worth. I feel like I'm in a third world country.

So I'm looking into many options. Finishing this semester, then maybe trying to figure out another plan. I still don't have a passport, finally got a bank card, I know have a phone plan so it's not costing me a fortune, but the worst news is that because everything in France takes forever, I won't be able to get my residency card which is to replace my visa until after I return for christmas, leaving me in a bit of a rut to come back into the country.

But whatever, I have found some great people here and I hope that all these problems slowly sort themselves out.

For now, I'm sick with a brutal sore throat and I just pray it doesn't turn into strep.

Love to you all,

Katy