So in a long list of jokes that France seems to be playing on me- today was by far the funniest.. at least in retrospect. Going back a few days - Sunday i actually got to row (insert hallelujah chorus) - It was in this extremely heavy but beautiful and fairly functional wooden boat with 3 other girls- one who was sort of a mini coach, and two girls who were a little younger than me (15, 16) - no Coxswain- so sort of bizarre, but in general it was just kind of amazing to be back in a boat, first time since last october- just like riding a bike though.
Today, however, was my day to go out in a scull (or skiff as they call it here) - A single person, two oared dealy. I've never done such a thing before- have seen it done - but unlike apparently every other rower in france I had absolutly no coordination with more than one oar in my hand. First came the exciting bit- getting in the boat. THe coach who had been rollarblading about the dock, i might add- this seemed extremely hazardous- basically plopped a boat in the water and was like - ok, get on in. So i did- pushed off from the dock- got hit by a wall of wind followed by several large waves from a barge passing by and then began a very slow, helpless roll into the water- once fully submerged- dutifully still holding onto my oar handles- i finally realized the whole thing was a bit helpless- got out of my shoes and pulled myself and boat to the dock
After a change of clothes I got in a slightly wider boat and got out on the water -2 hours of vast improvement later I can't say i'm a huge fan of sculling- but it seems advantageous as i can then train on my own so i'll keep trying.
In other news the RATP strike starts tomorrow- RATP operates all of the public transportation in france basically- or at least in paris- so most of the metro and busses and trains will all be shut down. I'm supposed to make it to an 8am class across the city that usually takes almost an hour on the metro- I'll let you know how that goes.
I accidenlty put my cell phone through the laundry sunday after returning from rowing- It appears to be semi functional now- it will turn on and pretend to charge the battery when plugged in- but the main screen doesn't work- if someone feels like trying to call it go ahead, but i can't currenlty read text messages and i'm not sure if i'll be able to figure out how to answer it : )
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4 comments:
that's awefull!!!!!
and I was really stressed about the week of exams that I had this week, how the hell are you going to get to school? can you borrow a bike or something?
What does the Seine taste like? Is it really quite dirty-- or only just a little bit?
Yeah...good luck with that whole getting to school thing!!!
You know, I was going to ask in your last entry if the Seine was polluted or not...
I'm sorry about your lost shoes. They will be fondly remembered.
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