Run of the Bulls!!!

So, I almost got attacked by a bull, well two really!!! It was quite the precarious situation and if it weren't for Tamara I wouldn't have even known about it as I'm not so familiar with farm animals and all cows noises scare me. Some of the wells are placed on the edge of cow pastures where you have to go around lots of electric fences and have to be with the cows. So we were in this little wooded area (about 2 meters) between the fence and the reservoir sampling a well we installed and two bulls started making crazy noises at us and each other across the fence that was bisecting it. We were literally trapped. So we waited for like an hour and they didn't stop, eventually we crawled through nettles toward the less scary pasture and made a run for it. Needless to say, we're alive. So this is a bit of a belated post but it had to be shared. I now work amongst farm animals because of the location of our wells and ponds in the middle of cow pastures. I'm almost like a farm girl except not. I really need to recruit farm friendly help!! I also wanted to share a book I just read twice because it was so compelling. This guy went through hell like a million times to accomplish his goal of building schools for girls in pakistan and afganistan. H went from being a serious mountaineer to saving the world. The book is called "Three Cups of Tea" and here is a link to article about the guy http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2004/edition_02-29-2004/featured_1. Please read it.

Over and out,
Agent Toro

Only French Citizns May Access the Internet

This is a headline I have contemplated writing after a good 4 hours of pure frustration. Apparently, one is not allowed to have internet in their house without a carte de sejour (or long stay card), which can take a minimum of months up to a year to acquire. One might ask why? The answer is because all foreigners must be terrorists. So, I spent hours today going to all of the internet stores to check if this is true and it wasn't just some foreigner hating orange employee. And yes, it is true. So after days of doing research and making sure banking things get sorted out (which was kind of a comical disaster in itself as I deposited my money in the wrong slot and had to have them fish it out and you know how it is). And to further prevent non-internet home subscribers from connecting there are no coffee shops with hotspots or free wifi (or weefee as they call it). It is a conspiracy that I'm determined to get to the bottom of. Anyway, that is the bad news...the good news is that I can take the bus to the university and between 10 am and 5 pm I can use a computer in the language center. I started helping out here yesterday after I stumbled upon it and now (thanks to my angel, Carmela) I have a purpose in life again. It is quite nice. Tonight I have to stay late with the students, who are all professors, and watch groundhogs day as I'm the only teacher sans family. On another bright side, le rentree has occured! It is when everyone returns to work after vacation and it turns out the people of Dijon do not spend all year shopping like I originally thought. I have also been doing a significant amount of running in order to both prevent a breakdown from the days events or curb it before it becomes serious. I'm seeing a lot of the city that way. I should probably take care of business and decipher some bank statements and go teach. I'll try to write more regularly now that I have some internet access.

Ciao,
Sarah

Bonjour de Dijon

So this is my first post since I've arrived in Dijon. I'm actually not in Dijon at the moment but with Tamara and Eric (PhD student and husband for those who don't know) in Uxeau starting to do actual work. This might be long because I've been both internet and english deprived lately. I've been in Dijon for the past bunch of days taking care of administrative things and waiting for my luggage which was lost until today (surprise, surprise!). The day I arrived in Dijon I signed my lease, got a bank account and bought tons of stuff for my apartment! My apartment is really pretty nice but it's still a work in progress. I have a gate! It is part of the reason I didn't get my luggage until today but it is still cool!!! I'm also right near all of the awesome shopping; in the heart of the city!! By the time 7 o'clock came around nothing was open for me to get food; for those of you who know me, this was not good. Since it was holiday month and the next day was a bank holiday it was not cool. I ended up getting a free baguette from a chef at a restaurant right near my house. Anyways, for my birthday I saw a movie and visited the local lake and ate dinner at an open cafe as I had no food at my house and no way to buy it. It was anticlimatic but what birthday isn't. Well anyways, the next day I was able to acquire a cell phone using my French skills and learned that I couldn't get internet or my carte de sejour without my bankcard so I'm on hold until I receive that. I finally got my luggage today, which was a bit of a relief and exciting and I took the train out here. It is nice to be with people I know again and speak English but I know I can't take it for granted. So far, I'm having an unbelievable time, literally. I can't believe I'm finally here. It is also hard because I don't know anyone and I've already learned that I won't make friends in cafes (I'll only meet guys who are interested in other things) and that the French bureaucracy is just as people say it is. I can't wait for my life here to really start but until then I'm enjoying things and excited to start some work. I will post again soon probably since I will have internet for the next few days. Sorry this is so long.

Address in Dijon

Bienvenue,

Hi all! This is my first real post. So I now have an apartment, which is super exciting!! My first actual apartment. It has a great view and I even have space for people to stay!! I'm leaving on August 13th and will be starting fieldwork almost right away. I will post more later.

My address is:

Decided it's a bad idea....so email me if you need it.