They said it would be exciting...they were correct

So story time:  I've been living here for quite a while now and it was starting to feel like home, fully adjusting, knowing my way around everywhere, and then something happened. It was a Saturday night and we were sitting in the main square on the church steps like we've done a million times before. When we had just gotten centre ville, Gabby said something about people being crazy that night and boy was she right. While we were walking to get something to eat I went just around the corner to an atm and this group of crazy and obviously very drunk guys threw a water bottle at me which ended up hitting my leg, I didn't think too much of it and I went back to where my friends were ordering food. We then where eating on the church steps when the same guys were getting in my friend's faces who were sitting near the back. My friend Scarlett stood up and started talking to them just to get them to just go away, however this one guy decided to take his phone out for some reason and she threw it. He then proceeded to pull her hair and punch her repeatedly in the face until she collapsed on Robby. They tried to reassure us, and to NOT call the cops, they even stuck around the square but ended up fleeting, they were a huge group. Anna immediately called the cops and explained to them what happened while some bystanders who had been watching kindly stepped in. We were all in complete shock. Because who does that?! To a woman let alone anyone, they also tried to claim it was "alcohol" that caused it, well then don't drink simple as that. I started crying when saw how much she was bleeding and someone handed her napkins and offered her a place to sit in front of a restaurant while we waited for the cops described what happened and then Scarlett was taken off in the ambulance to the hospital. She's fine now and in good spirits with her black eye, she's been a real trooper (you can read her account of the story here). I guess lesson is no matter where you are you've got to be careful, I still would say this place is much safer than Kalamazoo (as college campuses and towns do have crime obviously) but I remember my host mom telling me just how safe France is, and it is reasonably safe I think we were all just really shaken up. I also think we all handled it pretty well for being completely stunned.

 It's a great thing that we're all going away for a weekend in Luxembourg. Then it's one more week of school and then 2 weeks of spring break! I'll be off to Lyon, Dijon and London as well as exhausting my options here in Besançon in terms of exploring and also the color run here! Vacation couldn't come any faster, the warmer it gets out the harder it is to get to class for sure. Especially because this time in Kalamazoo things are just beginning to warm up, time goes by so fast when you're laying by the river with all the French people on a sunny day. It's been 60's even 70's sometimes which feels a lot hotter to me. 

My masterpieces, cooking can be fun when I feel like putting in the effort, and there's actually space in our kitchen to cook on the hot plates (nope no oven)

I enjoy living in a country where you can buy ready made croque monsieurs and crêpes

"American Sauce" really thousand island also called "Hamburger Sauce" haha there also many variations of the "Americaine" sandwich as well

I finally found real actual bacon! "Bacon" here usually is just a thick tougher piece of ham, this was "Bacon Crispy"

Looking up towards the citadel from the park

Les canetons!

And that's all for now!

Bisous, Liz