Almost a week ago now, I learned that one of my fellow graduates, David Greenslade, had been killed in Afghanistan. I had only talked to him a few times in high school, only ever sharing one or two classes, but it was generally well known that he was well-liked. It is a very sad story indeed.

On Thursday, I finally got my bike from the city, and took my first bike in Europe for a few minutes on the way to school. The rental cost is very cheap at only 6 Euro per month, and it includes everything you’d need including lights, locks, and a helmet (if you want it). I’m almost tempted to take the bike back to Canada with me, since the deposit is only 100 Euro (which I haven’t even paid yet, they’re pretty easy going).

On Friday, Eric was having a lot of fun with our washing machine. Since you can’t stop the machine once it starts, he had to rush when putting the soap in. He put waaaay too much in.

On Saturday, me and 9 others walked a long way to a canoe rental place. As you may have guessed, we rented canoes there and went for 2 hours on the river here in Poitiers. I was steering my canoe, and I wasn’t the best at it. Needless to say, my canoe found every tree, posts, log, and even fishing line that was in the river. The fisherman who’s line we went over was not too happy. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of my own because I was afraid of dropping my camera into the river, but here are some that others took.

We had to walk a ways through the woods before getting there. We walked on a dirt road which was named “Dirt Road” and even labelled as such on the map. Here, we’re standing before a bridge.

Geting into our canoes. The ride was not as leisurely and relaxing as it should have been. One canoe even had a hole in it that would let water in (but not enough to sink it).

After the canoe ride, we came back to my flat where we had a barbecue with hamburgers and sausages. Our flat was a mess this morning with ashes from the fire everywhere, garbages, and dishes galore.

This was the busiest week in a while. We did our presentation for Sustainable Development. Our project was to create a mutual fund company, and the professor was quite impressed with our presentation. I didn’t present myself. The professor chose two French students in our group to present. You can imagine how difficult it must be for them to present, with the added struggle of English as a second language.

On Friday, I wrote my exams for Human Resources Management. They were okay, but not amazing since I didn’t do too much studying. (Something about being away on a vacation of sorts, and only having to make a passing grade for university credit.)

I made time a few evenings this week to walk around Poitiers discovering a few new areas simply by following the river.

The goats in the park near my flat are quite happy and active most of the time. I managed to catch a good shot of this one.

It’s a good thing this river does not freeze. Many nice walls can be found edging people’s property along the river, a task that is difficult to accomplish in Canada with the yearly winter ice bringing destruction to even the toughest wall developments.

Some old building thingy in one of the parks along the river. I climbed those narrow stairs and sat on top for a few minutes. Getting down was something I had not considered beforehand, as the steps were quite small and not easy to descend quickly.

Flowers today in the “Park of Plants”. It felt very much like summer, and looks like it easily everywhere. Everything is very green and colourful already here.

I have posted many new pictures in my various gallery categories, but not too many in any one spot. That would be too simple, of course.

I’m taking it easy this weekend. I’m still waiting to rent a bike from the city, which seemingly gets in short supply this time of year.