So apparently my suggested meeting on communication didn’t work. It was my subtle attempt to influence an outcome of an incident that happened last weekend. I’m going to explain the happening to the best of my memory. I will not use hear-say or any other non-creditable source that I cannot produce.

Last Friday we went to a nice bar near the football stadium. All of the students in the program call it the Salsa bar because the first time we went there they were playing Salsa music. Toward the end of the night I was coming out of the bathroom and was lingering toward the exit of the bar. I was trying to find a group that was ready to head back to the apartments. Camlio was at the bar talking with some other students. As I got closer to the exit I saw a bouncer walk Camlio outside. I figured that maybe he was getting sick or got cut off at the bar. This isn’t an unusual thing, almost everyone was intoxicated. It’s a pretty simple formula when you think about it. We as a group don’t know what’s going on most of the time ( for example I have no idea what time I need to be at class tomorrow, or which class I need to be at, I’ll figure it out, I’m sure someone heard something and we can figure it out but I’ll get back to this later ) and although this is extremely frustrating and confusing, we grunt it out and chalk it up to being the “French” way of doing things. It’s hard enough learning a new city, a new language and pretty much a new life. So what do we do with this frustration and extra stress? We relieve it by sports, games, parties etc. It just so happens that when we party everyone gets drunk. It’s how we deal with the stress. In my opinion it’s not a problem until it affects your daily life. We don’t party everyday anymore because we are finally settling into a routine. I won’t lie I had a few drinks. The only reason I wasn’t hammered was because I wasn’t feeling well earlier that week. By the time I got outside Camlio and the bouncer were arguing. By this time there was a bit of ruckus going on and Johan, Benji and I decided it was a good time to help get Camlio home. So we did, we all walked back to the apartments. Somehow a bunch of the others that we went out with already made it back and was outside our apartment entrance. One of the people outside was Florian, he is a student intern that helped with the oversight of our stay in Lyon and setup some of the trips ( i.e Cannes ). There is already some bad beef with Camlio and Florian because evidently Camlio insulted Florian and Florian had Camlio kicked out of the bar. As we hurried Camlio into the apartments, there was some foul words exchanged in English and French. After we got Camlio inside the apartments in the court yard, one of Florian’s friend came in and grabbed Camilo. Benji, Johan and I were there and was able to diffuse the scuffle before any punches were thrown. However Camlio did have some damage to his jacket and shirt. We got Camlio into his room and it wasn’t long before he was apologizing to us and passed out on his bed.

From my perspective, it was a bad situation and although it may have been avoidable it doesn’t have anything to do with school. I know for fact that he knows he was wrong and his very sorry for what happened. If I was in his shoes I really don’t think things would have been very different, if anything they would have been worse. I’m sure the school has some hyped up charges and will use what they can to get him kicked out.

Camlio is a interesting guy. He has spent time in the military and is in someways very disciplined but extremely organized and adept. He is the exact opposite of the typical Frenchman. He has questioned how the program is being run and I highly doubt he is on the blessed side of the administration. The last meeting I attended with the administration, they preached teamwork, unity and faith in the program. I don’t need to explain how hard it is to trust them when we still lack answers and everything “seems” unorganized. Kicking Camlio out for an offense not relating to school is counter to this statement of teamwork and unity. I firmly believe this program needs Camlio. In a group like ours you need someone like him to bring balance. The program will not turnout for the better with out him.

This incident proves we are at the mercy of the program’s directors. We are here on their stipend/grant money. So saying that I will leave with Camlio if he is kicked out is not only a blind threat but would also be gladly received by the administration. However I do have some leverage and power in this matter. Stating them here in public forum would scream blackmail and malicious intent so I am forced to hold my tongue. Splitting a group that has formed life long bonds will not be taken lightly by anyone. With the stress and frustration we have had to deal with, removing someone as critical as Camlio with out taking the time to produce proper evidence would be cataclysmic.

On the other front, officially the orientation month is over. We haven’t received a schedule yet, or an explanation on how or if we will register for classes. I don’t know what they have planned or how they are planning to work things out but maybe explaining to us what we need to do other then wait. Although I can’t blame this completely on them because I was sick during the class where they had some kind of impromptu meeting. However I still can’t get any solid answers from my peers, so evidently they don’t understand what’s going on or what’s required from us. We could make this so much easier with a web based class registration system like we have in America. Who would have thought I would cry out for DePaul’s beloved CampusConnection system now.

Speaking of CampusConnection, I need to pay my DePaul tuition, but I don’t feel comfortable paying it until stuff is square here.

On a plus note, Matt and I started brain storming about winter break. I see Prague, Vienna, Rome and Zermatt in my future!