I don't know if I've put up pictures of what my street looks like when it's not on an overload of Christmas decorations. And since I look at it every single day, it seems worth sharing. I've said before that I don't love living alone and that, as a result, I find that it's pretty lonely. Logically. I would also say that it doesn't help that I've seen the guy who lives upstairs a grand total of three times and the guy who "lives" downstairs only once. Plus the buildings across the street (a street which is only about ten feet wide) are uninhabited as far as I can tell. The shutters are never open in the building across from me nor in either building beside it. One level of one building seems to be occupied by offices, but the rest of the shutter are either always shut or open onto empty rooms.
This is what's directly across from the window by my bed.
In some ways this is good, because I never have to worry if I accidentally forget to close my shutter when I change my shirt, nor do I have to worry that someone will look in and see me doing Pilates. But it is a bit isolating. It's also strange, since Perigueux isn't filled with empty apartments or anything. It definitely feels inhabited...just not here.
The street itself (down at ground-level) is much nicer. There are always a lot of people walking down it during the afternoons and on the weekends since it's a pedestrian street and right in the center of town. Sometimes it is cool to look out and see such a French street. It's not like I forget it, but sometimes there are big reminders that I am in la France profonde. Meaning I am in a seriously French little town in a seriously French part of France.
The little blue sign says "Rue Saint Silain, On y est bien!" It's almost a rhyme and it means "Saint Silain road, it's good here." I don't know why the sign exists or if it belongs to any particular establishment, but it's kind of funny.
This is looking in the opposite direction.
This hasn't been the cheeriest of posts, but I felt like writing anyway. The beginnings of weeks are always the worst, and Tuesdays are my least favorite days so I'm mentally gearing up for tomorrow. I've also been having a particularly homesick week or so. While in some ways it feels like "it's already February 18th," it also really feels like "oh my gosh, it's only February 18th." It parallels my experience, I suppose. There have been some good parts about being here (the traveling, improving my French, making friends, getting to know the real France) - but it has also been extremely difficult (basically everything else). It would have been a heck of a lot easier if I could have imported my friends/family/Mark to help me out.
Plus there's something that struck me today when I was talking to Mark. I was already aware that the weather really can affect my mood (I just didn't know to what extent until I moved here). But I realized that the fact that I am never really satisfied with my meals is really eating at me too. (Pun intended.) Believe me, I am pretty shocked that I miss certain foods this much - I never would have expected to be one of those people. And maybe a lot of it has to do with the fact that since I'm homesick I just want foods that I could eat at home. (It also has to do with the fact that I can only cook with a stove; I don't have an oven or a microwave, so I'm severely limited to soups/things you can boil/things you can fry and cold food.) But I seriously think that when I go to England and I get to eat a turkey sandwich, I am really going to noticeably feel better.
I have explained what the typical sandwich is here, right? A baguette with ham and butter. That's all. Ewwww!
But in three months exactly I'll be on a flight home!
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