1st October

I have discovered the cure for insomnia is mojitoes. I slept from half two till half eleven today. It was glorious. I hope it keeps up, though maybe not the half eleven part as I technically have a lot or work I am not really doing.

Despite the late start I have managed to avoid work all of this morning. Not very good going by me. I just can’t seem to get down to it. I am finding it really difficult to get my argument together. I want to be able to talk about Sidney in such a way that combines what I have said about Plato so far and neo-platonic theory without sounding like an idiot/jackass. So far, this is proving difficult. Every sentence sounds terrible and I forgot how to spell ‘influential’. Never a good sign.

After lunch decided that half the problem was the scenery and went to AIM café instead of the hostel. My room feels like it has under-floor heating for most of the day anyway (there is a brief period between 4am and 6am when it is normal) and my bed ALWAYS feels like it has an electric blanket on it. There is no way to get cold…its terrible to work in. And even if you open the windows, it is just as hot outside so there is no change, and all you get is some pollution. Last night in the rickshaw we were stuck on a road between some trucks for a little while and today my silver bracelet that I cleaned only the other night is rusty brown in colour. All due to the air which we breathe. Yummy. I may as well start smoking 20 a day; I hardly think it’ll make much difference to the mass amount of smog I am taking in daily.

I managed to get a bit of work done in AIM finally. I have finished the Plato section, and begun to talk about Sidney. So we are on schedule for finishing by the weekend, although I already know that won’t actually happen.

Tonight we are going out to Brunelles and Guillame’s flat to have dinner. They have been very sweet and invited us round, as they are going away on Friday and want to spend time before they go. I love their flat – so nice and homely and studenty. Marie is going to come with us, as she is slightly better today compared to last night. When we met Marie she told us she had been sitting in Barista all day and had ordered almost everything off the menu. A pleasant change to the puking.

We bought lots of crisps and some pomegranate juice in payment for the food. Brunelle was typically French and made crepes for us with cheese and ham with courgette or else you could have apple chutney and nutella or jam. Absolutely amazing, and so much to eat! I think I ate my weight in crepes and nutella. It felt like we were at home. Such a nice feeling. We sat and chatted about everything and anything. The girl from South Africa was there as well and she told us about South Africa: about Johannesberg and the area she lives in, which is more countryside. Apparently it is very unsafe for girls to go out, and there is a lot of violent crime. She thinks that the tourists don’t see it, as they only go to Cape Town or on safari. She was very enthusiastic about her home though, despite the crime being so widespread. I would love to go to Africa I have to admit. Brunelle and Guillame think they will go and stop there on their way home to France next summer. I doubt I would be able to do that, and I don’t think I want to go to South Africa particularly. I would love to go to Botswana, Kenya and Ethiopia however. See all the great ruins of the ancient Ethiopian civilization. It would be wonderful, but I feel more money is necessary and travel companions are definitely needed. Perhaps one day…