Man, the disaster in New Orleans really makes me sad ... Not that I could do anything if I were in the States, but I feel completely helpless here. In fact, none of the television stations are in English, so I found out about the huge imapct of the disaster through interpreting a free newspaper someone handed me this morning.
This year was one of the first years in my entire life that I didn't visit New Orleans. Now, whenever I return, it will never be the same. Apparently, my parents are hosting a friend of a friend who evacuated in time -- it's not much, but I know it makes them feel better to know that they're doing something. New Orleans is close to all of us.
Anyway, in other news, I made it to Toulouse today. I'm getting a bit more comfortable with speaking in French, and was able to buy a train ticket today and get directions to my hostel without having to resort to frantic pointing and broken English. Of course my next destination is Spain, and I have virtually no hope of communicating there.
Toulouse is much bigger than I expected, with a population of over 300,000. It's a university town, and the streets are packed with people my age. I bought a Metro pass, so I should be able to get around fairly easily and see a lot while I'm here.
Observations: The French are much friendlier than we give them credit for; If you can navigate the subway in one major city, you can handle them all; Walking around like you know what you're doing is a good thing -- you don't get panicked and, eventually, you do find your way and do know what you're doing; People-watching really is fun, especially on a sidewalk patio with a good café.
Off to explore Toulouse. There's a laundromat near my hotel -- a sight for sore eyes. Backpacking isn't bad, but je ne suis pas très à la mode.
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