The Flying Adventures of DOUG

That's where I am and that's exactly the most original title I could come up with, which is to say, not at all. I have no idea whether that sentence actually makes sense. I'm tired. English = leaving my brain.

I just read a comment on my last post, and laughed so loudly that the French teenagers who have been whispering at the computer next to me for the last half-hour looked around at me wide-eyed, then went back to whispering. I kept my eyes on the screen and pretended to be a carefree eccentric. If only I hadn't been blushing... Thanks Amelia G.

I'm in Bergerac now, having spent the last three nights in Sainte Foy la Grande, which is not "grande" (big) at all, but so small that there is only one internet place and it's closed for the holidays. Nice town though. I assume there must be a Sainte Foy la Petite, but apparently there are towns all over France called Sainte Foy, so who knows... We were camping in our little tent, which was fine after about 11pm, when it cooled down enough to go to sleep. Last night there was a thunder storm, which was great! Apparently I managed to sleep right through two massive thunder storms during the choir tour, so I'm glad I got to experience one last night. There was a moment just before the storm when I was lying on my back looking up through the trees. The sky had turned dark and you could feel the tension building as leaves began swirling around high up in the trees and birds flew past helter-skelter. I felt a tickle against my right arm and heard the wind rise up suddenly. I rolled onto my left side and covered my head just as a fury of dead leaves and dirt and little sticks pelted against my back, stinging the backs of my arms and neck. Boy, it was cool. It rained huge heavy drops for about an hour as Dad and I sheltered in a sort of empty common room by the toilet block. The thunder sounded like huge sheets of velcroe being torn apart, and cracking wood and gunshots and giants' bellies. Luckily our tent was fine and the rain had stopped by the time we went to bed.

We're looking for work at an orchard, but it's proving a little difficult so far (prayer would be appreciated). We asked near Ste Foy, but all the orchards are gone around there, and now it's mainly vineyards. A man reccommended we try Bergerac, so we went to the ANPE today (don't ask me what that stands for), and all their leads are around Perigeux (sp?), which is about 50km to the North. I like Bergerac though (and sleeping in hotel beds) so I wouldn't mind staying here a couple of nights... We'll see.

Anyway, that's all for now. I may try and get down here again to send some photos. It's less expensive here than some of the other places I've been to, and I got another CD burnt in Concarneau of more recent photos. Biya!