The Mistral has left us and the cool breeze of the past days seems like a faint memory of the masterly wind.. My classes have started and the wild party nights get less and less as day to day routine at the university and in the Cité Universitaire (the dorms) settles in.
In fact, I have established some sort of routine for myself. I have purchased a fine italian perculator (a little metal pot for making italian espresso coffee), subject to jealousy of all creatures with a weakness for real coffee – not the instant stuff you get at the vending machines spotting the university hallways. Every morning, I make my coffee in the kitchen getting curious looks from my neighbors. In particular, a chinese guy living right across the hallway from the kitchen seems to be dazzled by the sight of the unknown machine and the aromatic smells coming from it. Then I usually have class in the morning followed by lunch at the awesome university refectory. In the afternoons, I either have other classes or work on the European Law Moot Case, trying to find a way to convince the European Court of Justice of the existence of illegal state aids in the fictive country of Rohndor (Rohndor is a federation consisting of two federal states: Rohan and Gondor.. :/ ). In the evenings I either go out for a drink in town or hang out with the guys from my hallway, watching movies cooking or playing music with guittars, percussion and singing. Yesterday, about 10 forreign students gathered to experience my cooking skills. Remember the Chicken-garlic-lemon-soup I used to make in Brazil? Well, it turns out you can also make it with suspicious, nasty looking french beef instead of chicken. Anyhow, everyone liked it or was polite enough not to let me know that they didn’t.
Since I don’t have any classes on Thursdays, I dedicate the entire day (or what remains of it “when the night is gone”) to the European Law Moot. However, this Thursday I am going to start my sports class – fencing 
(you know, with swords and stuff! Me! They are giving ME a sword!). I always wanted to try that out – so why not on Thursdays.. I also plan to check out the Kendo class (Japanese swordfighting) on Friday. They say that the practice swords there are wooden…
Once, I have improved my fencing skills I might be able to confront Skippy. I gave him that name, since I don’t know his real name. Plus, I don’t know if it is male or female and the name suits him or her well. Skippy is a cute little squirrel that lives on one of the trees next to my window. In the beginning I took pleasure in watching it jump from branch to branch and hiding his snacks under leaves and stones. However, our relationship suffered from its infamous attempt to steal my sandwich – my LAST sandwich. I caught it in the act, sitting on my window sill and taking a hearty bite at my fresh ham and cheese baguette. I chased it away with loud screaming and clapping but it was too late – the Baguette had fallen into the mud. What angered me most was that Skippy never finished the Baguette off, although I did not bother to climb out of my window and take it away. I am considering retaliation.
