I should be in class right now

I returned to Grenoble from Eastern Europe Monday night. Pictures and details forthcoming, but suffice to say it was an awesome whirlwind tour: Geneva->Budapest->Zagreb->Ljubljana->Bled->Vienna->Budapest in about 10 days. I received no fewer than 7 stamps in my passport. Meanwhile, in Grenoble...

There was another large strike yesterday (information here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/07/news/france.php), with large demonstrations and protests across France as students and unions protested a new government temporary employment plan called the CPE. I went to the university for my usual 8:30am class and... it was blockaded. There were construction barriers placed across every entrance, some secured to the doors with padlocks, others fastened to chain-link fences. It felt like I was in a zombie movie, wandering around a barricaded complex (but unlike the movies, it was safer to be on the outside than inside). A couple hundred students milled around and occasionally glanced at the student union leader as he ranted through a megaphone urging people to head downtown for a late-morning march. Determined to be a diligent student, I circled the building in search of an entrance, but every single one was securely closed. Darn.

The university was blockaded again this morning, but I found an open door and went to my French grammar class. (I debated not going, but decided to tough it out... a wise decision, since we ended up having our midterm exam as scheduled.) Halfway through my second class, five female students opened the door and loudly announced that a decision had been made to prolong the strike, the university would be blockaded shortly and if we could all kindly leave, it would be for the best. The professor loved every moment of it and told us that in light of the new events and out of concern for our safety, he would cancel the rest of the class and postpone the midterm until next week. Darn.