Blaess writes a letter to her parents about the terrible weekend she had. She waited at the train station for her aunt, but she never arrived. She decided to take a train to Villeparisis but missed it. She took the next one, and heard her aunt was complaining in the street when she arrived. Her aunt scared the grandma because when her aunt arrived she had suitcases and was crying, everybody thought Paris was under ruins and Yolande and Madeleine dead. Blaess insists that her aunt if acting very strangely, and to not believe her. She says she's not the only one to have struggle to work, the other students seem to suffer from the same thing as well. She insists that she feels very sad for the refugees and she wants to help but can't drive and isn't a nurse. She introduces a new inhabitant at her lodgings, a 80-year old lady called Marthe Bassen. Blaess is horrified by the woman: she thinks her ideas are 'pre-1789', that she (Blaess) isn't a communist because she doesn't know how that system would work but she thinks she might be compared to the old lady and her ideas, that Marthe is supposedly a writer (but Blaess has never read anything from her and that she hopes she does scientific research), that she dyes her hair black (even though she's over 80 years old)... Blaess keeps using religious terms like 'heaven help us', 'deliver us oh Lord'. Marthe speaks loudly, louder even than Mme André - Blaess thinks they would make great companions, always trying to scream louder than the other. She insists that she didn't react to what the new woman said, that she focused on her plate instead, but that it was really hard because what the woman said was really stupid and she wanted to intervene. She tells her parents she is not surprised women in France don't have the right to vote yet. She is relieved the commander is here- he is the most intelligent man, and she wants a husband that is intelligent, with whom she can make great conversation. She also says he treats her like an intelligent person, capable of thinking, and not like a doll you need to flatter, tame and possess, like one would possess a table or a book - just for its usefulness and beauty. She says the tall Polish lodger is also an intelligent man: he was a engineer in Russia for a long time before the war and tells Blaess about it. There has been an air raid alert on Tuesday night but it was a false alarm. Ever since, they can constantly hear the anti-aircraft defence firing shots. She has been to the visa office - lots of people, 2 hour wait, and no passport or visa. According to Blaess, Vendryès (the Gaelic teacher) was a bit angry that she was planning to leave before the end of the course in June, but the other student was worried about her and asked her about the paperwork etc. Afterwards, Vendryès was much more amiable, offering for her to stay at his place should her boarding house be evacuated. Blaess says she is surrounded by nice people (apart from a few nasty ones at the boarding house), but isn't too worried because she is SURE (underlined 4 times) she will be able to leave the country and go back to York. She's ready to travel for a few days, hitch-hike to the Great North, stay at sea for a few days, hide etc, if that means she can go home. She's waiting for her parents to send her a note asking her to come home so she can give it to the visa office - she'll also ask Vendryès for a certificate. Blaess says she's excited to see her parents again after eight months, that she's sure they've changed, and she says she has - she's not a school child anymore. She's thinner and her eyes are more tired and she's developed dark circles. She believes her parents stayed the same, physically speaking. She then asks about the dog and the garden. She's sad words can't express everything she wants to say.