Sometimes we risk identity theft...

Today I did some smart things, then I did something not so smart.

For Thursday we need copies of every single document on the planet, so I went over during my class break with my passport. Photocopied everything, turned around and left.

Then I ran into people going into La Place de la Comedie, which is basically the town center, to set up their cell phones. I needed to do that and get I.D. photos taken.

We finally got there, sadly we didn't really have time to walk around since we had to be in class by 4:00, but we wandered a tiny bit before we found the store. We passed a man on the street singing the same song over and over again with a sign asking for money for alcohol and drugs. Honest hobo. But I digress.

I then got a sim card and activated my phone, go me. The guy at the counter was really cool, and he and I somehow started talking about Poland, turns out he was Polish but didn't speak it (darn), and somehow we ended up talking about how he wanted to get a specific picture of the virgin Mary that you can only get in Poland, but I didn't get which one he was talking about, so then he got out his smart phone and showed me, and I was like "oh my grandma has that picture"... now that I think about it it was a little strange, but hey, it was a legitimate French conversation, I'll take it.

And then he asked me for some form of identity. Perhaps a passport. Right, yes, I have that, un moment, je l'ai... ici? Hmm, peut-etre je l'ai mis ici....? Oh no.

Yeah, I left my passport at the copy place. And to top it off we were running kind of tight on time. So on the tram we went, I raced over the the place, no "bonjour" or any of the politeness nonsense. I sort of just stood in the doorway: "Je pense que j'ai oublié mon passport ici, est-ce que vouz l'avez?"

He did. Thank God. I think hearing that was better than finding the big grocery store yesterday. Maybe.

And then we had to book it to class, got lost three times, finally got there a bit late, huffing and puffing and probably smelling like sweaty camels. What can I say, deodorant is no match for the Mediterranean heat.

Moral of the story: don't do very stupid things abroad.