5 (fire)

Well, today on my way to school I had my second run in with a side-view mirror (get it?) I'll take the blame this time, though. I was walking in the street, against traffic, because my path was obstructed by the massive truck parked on the sidewalk. My bad.

While we're on the subject, I'd like to point out that fire safety doesn't appear to big concern for anyone here. See, my host-family's apartment has what appears to be a pretty standard deadbolt kind of key lock. You get home, pop your key into the slot beneath the handle, spin it twice, push down the handle and the door opens. To lock the door from the inside, one turns to the keyhole that is on the inside of the door and does the same kind of thing. The door can only be locked with a key. So in case you're opening your door when the Hamburglar rushes by and into your flat, he has no way of locking you out. Clever? Yes. But when walking Anna out the other night, I discovered that if the door is locked and you're keyless, there is no way to exit, excepting the third story balcony. I don't know who still installs two-way locks on front doors. How do you market that? Hostage friendly apartment? I've already been scared to sleep naked since it first became a viable possibility (i.e. college) for fear of the impending inferno pensively waiting for me to lose my boxers, that it might expel me in nude shame from my home to the delight of rubberneckers in the street below. So I'll just add this inescapable apartment thing to my list of "Fire Related Paranoia".

There's also only one stairwell in the building, which I don't think is uncommon. There seem to be no back doors in French cities. All stores, apartments and houses are butted against each other. That's why there are no dumpsters in France. Oh yeah, hey, how about that? I have not seen a single dumpster since entering this country, which means no free Hot 'n Ready Pizzas for yours truly (although some other factors may have pre-emptively thwarted that plan anyway.) At closing each day, businesses take all their garbage and put it out front. And garbage men come nightly (and loudly) to pick it up. I think that may be related to how much the French litter. I can't quite piece it together, though.

It other news, this apartment has only one wastebasket.