The One Where I Figure Out How Little My Commute Actually Is ...

So, I JUST figured out how short my commute actually is. It is approximate, but it is less than 6 miles from my apartment to the school I am teaching at. Serious?? SERIOUS? Yes!!! So, now I am wondering why I am even bothering to take the RER train at all. 6 miles ... That is nothing compared to what I am used to. Here is a visual for all of you visual people ...


Paris "commute" (just under 6 miles each way):

 California COMMUTE (about 52ish miles each way):

Not to mention that I will pay one monthly fee and that will take care of my commute costs. I can take the metro, RERs and buses as much as I want in that month! No paying for gas, oil changes, washing my car, worrying about tire pressure, traffic, parking pass, coins for the meter, parking spots, blah blah blah. And the only ticket I could get is if I forget my pass and have to hop the turnstiles to get on the metro ... the best part? I've heard it's only about 25euro - and it's even possible to get it reduced down to 5euro. (OR I could be a normal person and buy one way tickets which run about 1euro70 each). Yep, no worrying about getting a red light ticket or speeding ticket or anything that is going to cost between $250 - $450. Nope. Nada! Although, I will have to deal with crowds, stenches and being a bit less comfortable than being in my own car. And not to mention that the commute is based off of the times of the train, so I may have to wait 0-10ish minutes for it to arrive. But that's ok because I can just read a book or something ... and then continue to read it DURING the commute since I'm not driving. Yay!!!

Overall, this seems to be a really good thing! If not, well then it is just a nice break from that hell hole that we in So Cal like to call the 91 freeway where major accidents are daily (such as that time it took me FOUR hours to get home instead of 1.5 because a cement truck flipped over ...).

Oh, and I could even talk on my cellphone/text as much as I want to now - be prepared for possible Skype calls from the inside of the RER B! :)


Peace

Souricide??

Yep, we have a mice problem. Gross. Yuck. Disgusting. Unsanitary. Eww. Etc, etc.

So, now there are these little boxes all over the 6th floor (my floor). From what I understand, they are filled with poison.

Side note: The femme de ménage who lives next door to me was telling me about the marie having a professional put down the poison. She repeated the word "poison" like 8 (EIGHT!!) times to make sure I understood. *Eye contact* "poison" *INTENSE eye contact* "POISON" *more eye contact* "PPOOIISSOONN" ... "Tu comprends??" - Yeah lady, I understand. It's the same word in English. That is why I told you yeah, I get it. Sure. poison. Yeah. Uh huh. (Not to even mention the numerous times teachers made us repeat poison and poisson in school so that we wouldn't accidentally order poison instead of fish)

So all these little boxes say "SOURICIDE" on them. I find it amusing since it is a combination of the words "souris" (which means "mouse") and "suicide". So I guess we have to leave the little boxes for about 5 weeks. 1 down ... 4 more to go. Joy.


Peace

That place people call home

Well, I wouldn't necessarily call this my "home" but thats what it is for the next several months. I would prefer a place with a stove, oven, AIR CONDITIONING as well as a bed AND a couch. That being said, I have found my home in Paris. I am in the 6th arrondissement - which is pretty much my favorite out of all of them! I'm about a block from the Luxembourg Gardens and a couple blocks from St Michel and the Seine. The closest Metro stop is off of the RER B, which is the line that I will be taking to get to the school I'm teaching at. Perfect!! The place is cute, minimalist - which I'm totally good with - and clean. It is actually broken up into 4 separate rooms. None of which are connected to each other and none of which I have to share. Yay! There is a toilet in one room. A shower and sink in the next. My bed, desk, bookcase, and a bit of storage in the next. And the last one is my "kitchen". I say "kitchen" because it really isnt a kitchen at all. There is a fridge, microwave and a thing to boil water in (I have never seen one of those things before, but thats what they tell me, so I guess I'll believe them). Oh, and there are some dishes. Funny thing is, there is no hotplate. The landlady said she didn't like the fact that the ceilings are so slanted blah blah blah and basically thinks it is a safety hazard if I forget to turn it off. Gee, thanks for the confidence lady. So, I told her I'd try without it. She did also mention to me that others weren't able to live without a hotplate so they went out and bought them. She wasn't happy, but she didn't do anything about it apparently. She just seems to take them after they leave and collect them in her basement. Cool beans.

Sorry about the quality, but here are a couple of pictures:

That's my view from the window by my bed. You can see the top halves of Montparnasse and the Eiffel Tower

Couch that folds out into a bed. Pretty big. Not so comfortable.

My door is behind all those sweaters

Okay, I know what you're all thinking. 2 windows?!!? TWO?? Whoa!! Baller! And, they are double paned. Yes sir!

Peace