At summer camp

Well, I arrived in Foix yesterday and was picked up by the site director and driven up into a fog shrouded mountain to the summer camp where I wil begin my job tomorrow. I am a little nervous about it now that I am here, because it is going to be a time intensive job and there is a pretty specific schedule to follow, which I have only a vague understanding of. I think the first week will be a bit rocky, and then hopefully I will settle into the swing of it and enjoy hanging out with the kids.

All the other counselors seem pretty nice so far. There are three Canadians, two Americans, an English woman, and yesterday there was a French guy, but he left this morning for another camp. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so far, and also have offered help in settling in. I found the coffee pot this morning and made coffee straight away, so I am feeling alright so far.

My week in London was uneventful, but relaxing. It was nice spending a bit more time with Nat there, and I really like the area of London that she lives in. It was rainy most of the time I was there, but the sun broke through a couple of times. By the time I got to Toulouse, late on Tuesday night, I was used to the cooler weather and when I ventured into the center the next day I was completely unprepared for the heat wave that hit me. I walked around the center for a while, going in and out of stores for the air conditioning, and finally I found a shady place in the park to rest a while. My hotel was a twenty minute bus ride from the center, or an hour walk, so going back to change wasn't really an option. But I dressed more appropriately the next two days and got a little more sun on my still white legs, so they aren't such a shocking difference compared to my very brown arms and face.

Toulouse is the 5th largest city in France and it is called the pink city because of the distinctive color of brick used to build many of the buildings. One of the things that is nice about most of Europe, especially the larger cities, is how international the populations tend to be, and Toulouse is no exception. There were a ton of people around at every time of day, including tourists, many of them French. In the morning on the main road into the center, the sidewalks were lined with food markets stretching for several blocks. There were flowers, vegetebals, all kinds of fruits, and of course fresh meats and cheeses. The guy who runs the hotel I stayed at said that there is a restuarant in one of the buildings on that street that is only open for lunch and all the meals are prepared using food that comes from that market. Needless to say, it is a popular place to lunch and fills up quickly.