Joyeux anniversaire à moi!

To quote The Beatles, they say it's my birthday. It snuck up on me this year with preparing for and experiencing Paris. I thought I would be sad today to not be home, and I am to some degree, but in a way I feel like this whole trip is a birthday present to myself. :)

I got up this morning and went running! Woot!

I am currently apartment-sitting for a friend, Agnes. She is an English professor and her apartment is absolutely lined with books. There are literally different sections like Sci-fi, Early English Literature, etc. It's very cozy. We had coffee together before she left and it turns out that she and her girlfriend have been watching the L Word! I showed her the picture of me and my friend Alyson with Jennifer Beals (of Flashdance fame, for those of you unfamiliar with The L Word). When I showed it to her, she said "Hold on," and immediately dialed her girlfriend. In French she said, "You won't believe what I'm looking at right now. A picture of my housesitter with Bette!!! And it's real!"

I could literally hear her squealing on the other end, and apparently she said she'd kiss my feet...lol. Too funny. They invited me to come watch the L Word with them sometime.

I've been enjoying quiet evenings at home. I made myself tortellini with eggplant, tomatoes, and mozzarella and enjoyed a glass of red wine. I started reading a book that Agnes recommended. It was really cozy, and an awesome book. I need to finish it. I'm going to be living here for a while and I don't want to blow all of my money. That and when it's this cold I can't motivate myself to do much. I can't wait for my winter coat to get here.

Well, I'm off to take a shower. I'm going to go do something fun for my birthday with Maja, meet up with some other language assistants tonight at a Canadian sports bar (insert Canadian jokes here), and see my French friend Maria who just got back from studying in Denmark. Oh, and eat birthday pasteries, bien sur! :)

**

Update:

I just took a shower. My God. Agnes wasn't kidding when she said, "Don't worry about water on the floor, just make sure it doesn't sit there too long." The water in the shower comes from the sink, and is connected to the tap. Apparently they used to build them this way in Soviet bathrooms, and whoever built this apartment building thought it was brilliant. You turn on the tap to the temperature that you want, and then pull a tab to make it come on in the shower. I had to pull a curtain around the tiny white porcelain square on the floor that is the shower, and pulled the tab. There are a couple of tubs on the floor to catch some water. I got in, started washing my hair, the water was hot, everything was good. Then I realized that the shower was quickly filling up. The other side of the curtain was bowing out with water. After dealing with complicated showers last summer, I told myself "People use this shower. It works. Maybe there's something you don't know." I tried to ignore the rising panic until the side of the curtain couldn't take the water anymore and collapsed out, releasing a wave of water onto the wood floor that is so NOT designed to be a bathroom floor. After swearing and shutting off the water for a moment, I realized the curtain was covering the drain. I pulled it back and instantly the shower emptied. Merde. Another case of "stupid American."