Virtually Home

Maybe the second day after Alex got here, we went to the university and, on wandering home, got really hungry. We stopped into a kebab shop near St. Nicolas where they were very friendly, and we talked to the two shopkeepers, who were cousins, while we ate. I meant to go back, but as it's not in a place I'm usually walking around looking for something to eat, I hadn't. Until a few days ago, when Vianney and Benjamin wanted to get kebab and said they knew the best place in town. Well, mostly when people tell you their product is the best one there is, they're just trying to sell it to you. And the first time I wandered into that shop, having never had a kebab, I was pretty unaware of what I was eating. But, having sampled a wide variety of kebabs in Bordeaux, since it's the only thing you can buy to eat after about 9 p.m., I think I'm inclined to agree now. Most of it is that they make their own bread and that their vegetables are fresh. A big part of it is...

I think I forgot to mention the best thing about Tuesday, and that was that, on the way home from the university, Alex and I got off at a random tram stop and looked for some food. We ended up stopping at a kebab place called Chez Abidine, where we sort of made friends with the two employees there. One of them had spent about ten years in California and so spoke good English, and the other spoke no English at all. So we all conversed back and forth in both languages, and in the end they gave us a discount on our food, and punchcards (cartes de fidélité in France) with more punches than we deserved. They told us to come back soon and they'd make us tea. It was sort of the first time that anyone who lives here in Bordeaux (aside from Bernadette, who Alex still hasn't met) has even tried to have a conversation with us, so it was nice that they were so friendly. It gives me hope for actually establishing relationships with people, once we start school and come into contact with peo...