Internet-Rugby-Strikes, nice triangle

This is a miracle, my internet works on a daily basis. So now I can waste more time on Skype, AIM, Facebook, and constantly checking my email/espn. Of course I don’t go a day without BBC or CNN because French tv here is soooo good. Spent the majority of friday planning my trip to Istanbul. We have plane tickets and now we have a place to stay that says they have hot water 24hrs a day. I didn’t know that was such a luxury, I mean I don’t think it gets that cold in Turkey. Yesterday besides sleeping and working, I watched the Euro Cup qualifiers and the semifinal Rugby match. The latter was more exciting even though France scored 6 goals in its win over the lonely Faroe Islands. We watched the England-France game on the lawns of the Eiffel Tower along with thousands of other people and as the game progressed the crowds got really rowdy. There were flares, people throwing stuff, and almost fights. I thought we were at a White Sox game or least one before the World Series. It didn’t get much better because France lost by 5 points due to some last minute kickings. It was a pity because my friend and I picked up champagne for the win and were told we couldn’t open it until the end. We never opened it sadly because I don’t think a bunch of sobbing girls wanted to drink champagne. Don’t worry it will be saved for another day like when the Cubs win the World Series…still mad about that but what can you do.

In France you go on strike, I saw a large demonstration yesterday for the health industry where several groups all were protesting different issues. It was a series of protests in one big protest. One of the main leaders was a syndicate that was called CGT which sported a bright red flag. Yeah I walked in a communist protest but wouldn’t be lying if I said I wasn’t scared…but then again its not like Stalin would come back from the dead and take away my right to property. Last bit on strikes, I found out on the #$%^in SNCF or national railway workers has planned a strike starting on the exact day I bought my ticket to go to the Pyrenees/Lourdes. So I have no idea if I can get a refund or if I am going there sometime before I leave. This country has a lot of great aspects and this is not one of them…or at least for tourists, it gives the people a lot of power if they can shut down the country’s transit system and if anyone knows me they know that I like when the government is afraid of its people. Cheers from across the Atlantic.