We're Here...

It has taken a few days to beat the jet lag into submission. In between midday naps and sleepless  nights, we have been scoping out the local restaurant scene, looking for an apartment and trying to decode various regulations.

Rebecca will start teaching on Wednesday. While she meets all of her colleagues and signs paperwork so she can get paid, Jefe will be looking at apartments and getting the cellphones operational. Sorting through all the fees and exceptions associated with renting an apartment is pretty daunting. It takes both of us listening to one leasing agent to try and catch even about 50% of what is being said. We are hoping to have an apartment by the end of the week, but we'll see what comes.

The first night here (Saturday) was the final day of a free local arts festival. There was four days of music, theater, and artwork in the streets of the center of Poitiers. We were pretty sapped from the three planes and the train, so we mostly listened to the music wafting in our hotel window.

The view out of our hotel window onto the Place de l'Hotel de Ville with a music tent and temporary beer tent, which they didn't finish taking down until two days later...

We would like to thank everyone who helped us along the way and made it possible for us to move here, especially:

Carla & Griff for the lodging and patience, Luke for that phone call, William Savage for the Baltimore crab dinner, Mr. Jim & Sherri for their encouragement, Josh for even reading our blog, Kristi for the empathy, Kyle Wehman for the...beach, Eric Day and Stacy for the guest room, Paul Prior for the "sabbatical", and the ESIP for claiming that Rebecca's paychecks should nonetheless start on the first of September.