November 27th

Today was an awesome Tuesday. First awesome part was that I was allowed to miss class. I emailed my professor and she responded that it was fine. Sweet. Why was I missing class? Well Mama Duck, M. Hauchecorne, emailed me last week about how he was having interview sessions with some French students about studying abroad with the ISEP program aka in the States. He asked if I could join him and perform the English speaking area of the interviews. I asked my professor first and then promptly told Mama Duck that "I'd be happy to help" once I received my prof's a-ok. Well today is the day of the interviews! I found the room, after some help from Martine, and made myself comfortable. Mama Duck was soon to follow, he was a little delayed due to his daughter being sick. The first interview went wonderfully; the girl was just fantastic. She had exceptional confidence and had experience living away from home, even in a foreign country. Both Mama Duck and I approved of her. The other interview candidates were not as strong as her, good thing too. Out of seventeen options we had to pick seven. Talk about pressure! Hey this wasn't in the email, Mama Duck tricked me. Oh well, it was interesting to see what ideas of the States these kids had. One girl wanted to study in Mississippi. I was more than shocked about that choice. She didn't seem to grasp that although yes the culture is very different there than other "typical" areas of the States, the accent is near inaudible. Another girl loved to dance and had her heart set on L.A., her backup plan was New York. I had a lot of fun doing the interviews, it was neat to work with Mama Duck that way. Actually I learned that Mama Duck does not like the word "cake". I have no idea why but to him it sounds very harsh and not tasty. Guess the cake really is a lie, least to him. After the interviews I chilled at the library until it was time to leave for the Racadot residence. This session went well, but there was a surprise at the end. I had brought my camera and was able to take some pictures of my adorable tutor children. Something else that happened today was Lycamobile. Oh how I laugh and shake my head. Lycamobile is my cellphone service provider. I currently have no credits on my phone, zip, so I am unable to communicate with anyone. It is very one-sided I must say. Mary, audience says, why can't you just buy more credit? Well I've tried, I really have. Every time I try to buy credit online, or today over the phone, my card doesn't go through. Mary, audience says, why not use another card? Does using four different cards, different providers by the way, count as using more than one? Aight Mary, audience says, surely you can have your parents try with one of their cards. Tried it, their cards were blocked too. On the phone the woman was shocked that all of my cards were blocked, even the French one. I finally figured out why as well. The genius that I am realized that every time I try to buy credit, the website redirects me to verified by visa, master card secure card, or LCL online security. The redirection depends on which card I am trying. Well, once I am redirected a blank screen stares and me before telling me that my payment did not go through. What's the problem here? The fucking redirection keeps blocking my cards and nulls the transaction. I swear I am going to kill whoever started this process. By the way, I tried to register a card on Verified by Visa, sorry I didn't try all of them but I'm a bit suspicious of these types of "security" websites, and it rejected it. The site said that it "could not accept this card" or something along those lines. I really was hoping that I would be able to "Top-up" over the phone too. Guess it wasn't meant to be that way. My last shot is to find a tabac that sells Lycamobile minutes. Great, another wild goose chase of an adventure. Whatever, it is time for bed. Fingers crossed for a more relaxing Wednesday.