chapter 2

As I stood there amazed at this sudden “cultural” shock, my eyes flickered onto the tiny details of what I initially thought was a shit pot. It was actually a bidet and not a shit-pot (a bidet looks similar but does not have the shit pot hole); Not too much relief but nevertheless, I had little choice. My eyes took in the room. It was an ordinary 7x6 feet probably. White walls, white bed-sheet, brown wooden wardrobe and a huge study table. The black flooring meant I wouldn’t get stares for not cleaning my room. The wall above the room heater had black marks; the heating seemed to be effective. And right in front was a huge window.

I opened it and it felt like I had fallen straight into one of those Colgate fresh ads with nature blowing fresh kisses at me. With the troubles I was getting into, you wouldn’t expect me to check air quality all this while before. This air felt fresh. I had recovered from the “shit-pot” shock and was now staring at the breathtakingly beautiful sky. The sun was playing hide and seek with the dark grey clouds, each fighting for dominance. And their colourful interplay turned the sky into a beautiful mix of yellow, orange and grey interspersed with flashes of the hiding blue. As I stood there, lost at the beauty beyond, I heard my teeth chattering. It was cold, around 2 degrees at 12.30 in the afternoon. Awakened by this sudden unpleasant realisation, I closed the window, ready to explore what France was going to throw at me next.

I was hungry by then and we decided that the university restaurant would be the ideal place to get going on the social aspect. The place was buzzing with activity. It was huge, for MICAns reference, it was probably bigger than 3 SHs combined. This was the cheapest wholesome food you could get anywhere in France. 2.85 euros for a choice between a 3 course meal and an 8 inches pizza. In the shabbiest of restaurants outside, the same meal would cost nothing less than 10 euros.

Very soon I was to realise that my limited understanding of the French language would be severely tested again. There was a lot of stuff to choose from and I had no clue which one was what. Especially the non-veg part since I don’t eat beef and pork. I quickly queued up behind Devika and blurted out “moi aussi” to the restaurant staff. It meant please serve me the same food as hers. Jugaad I tell you, always works for me. We found a table for ourselves and to my pleasant surprise, were joined by some more international students. The lunch felt truly international as we all introduced ourselves to each other. I had started feeling comfortable with the place already.

Our next stop was the admin office where we were greeted by Ms Maggy, our international relations officer. She took us through a quick tour of the school, proudly showing us the beautiful building and its facilities. Unaware of the facilities and her sweet introductions to them, my eyes were blissfully enjoying the swarming “beauties” walking around the school. You have to give it to them. French girls do make jaws drop. The fact that I could see a lot of them looking back at me certainly puffed me up no ends. It was a completely different matter that the looks were more of general curiosity than anything more subtle. I choose to ignore this part.

We were then handed over to the Aloha team who I must say were of enormous help to us. We got our local phone connections and bus cards made. A special mention for Evelyne who patiently helped us out with everything. Thank you !

All done, we decided to go to the supermarket and get our supplies. We took a bus back home, our hands full of stuff we would need in our next four months of stay. The next day we were invited to a house party at Aleksi’s house. Aleksi, fondly called “Al Sexy” by a lot of his female friends, is from Finland and also a part of our IBM group. His nickname should give you a fair idea of his appeal. The concept of house parties was pretty interesting there. The host invites everyone to his/her house and everyone carries their own booze or food. I thought that this was a brilliant idea. Makes life simpler for everyone.

The party was in the evening today and most people I knew were buying wine. Now, I am not a big fan of wine and four months of France has still not changed my preference. I decided to go in for what I liked. Label 7 scotch, my first international whiskey. Well it wasn’t that great a brand but nevertheless, suited my pocket. All set and excited for our first party, we left for Aleksi’s house at around 9 pm. There were so many people there. I have to say that I felt a little lost in the beginning since I hardly knew anyone and everyone else seemed to know each other. But Aleksi was very sweet in introducing us to his other friends and two three drinks later, we all were surely having fun. It had been less than 48 hours since I had left Delhi for my first international trip. And here I was laughing away with faces I never knew existed before. India seemed very far away at that particular moment to me.

As we were leaving for the night, Devika asked me if I was game for a road trip the next day. I don't know if you generally get shocked when you’re high. For a moment I wondered if things were happening too fast, road trip to where, how, with whom, etc etc. Thankfully the Label 7 took over and I nodded in agreement. I would have said yes to anything at that moment...