International Cuisine | Monday, first period

[sharp_as_knives]

Class today was met at Portalocity by Hannibal wearing a lightweight suit much less formal than the previous week's. "Good morning." He nodded to them. "This week, in deference to those of you who had difficulties with the utensils last week, and because there was a request for coffee, we will be heading to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, for some traditional food of the region."

He smiled. "This food is eaten with your fingers, which hopefully you are all fairly adept at. And coffee in Ethiopia is very serious business; there is an entire ceremony surrounding it, which I have arranged for us after lunch."

He let any discussion die down, then raised one hand in caution. "There are many local languages, the primary one being Amharic. Unlike our previous outings, I do not speak it, either, but most of our hosts should speak English or French, and they do have English menus. Please continue to be courteous and polite, and if you have any difficulties, ask."

He waited for any last-minute questions, then waved them through the portal, which dropped them off on a wide and somewhat dusty street, bright and sunny, in front of Kategna restaurant.

Library, Sunday

[gavegoodface]

Face was back behind the counter this week, attentive and ready to do his job.

If by 'attentive' you meant 'relaxing back in his chair', and by 'ready to do his job' you meant 'reading'. But he was actually behind the counter, so one out of three.

Bailing 101, Monday

[suitably_heroic]

Large chunks of Atton's memory had come back to him already - which hadn't put him in the best mood. Considering that, and the fact he was still having trouble remembering his students' names, he was going to go out and avoid addressing anyone personally if he could at all help it.

That seemed like a great plan. That's why he'd brought them to the Danger Shop and everything.

"So," he said, "Today, we're going to be talking about planning ahead, instead of looking back. Because it's one thing to make sure people don't follow you, but it's another to go somewhere that's both as safe and anonymous as your situation needs."

They were standing just outside a large apartment building. There was a bar located in the basement, and stairs in the back leading up.

"You need to think this stuff through. You want to avoid anyone spotting you? Find a crowd you can get lost in. Strangers, preferably. The last thing you need is to try and hide in the middle of someone's family bash, unless you're really good at grifting and pretending to be someone's third cousin or something. But you also have to make sure it's not an obvious place. Is there anyone you're running from in particular? Well, what places would they never think about going back to? Is there a faction you're running from? Well, where are they strongest? Where are they weakest? Where do they pay the least amount of attention?"

He shrugged.

"It doesn't need to be big-scale, running-away-for-life stuff, either. Like today, we're going to assume you pissed someone off you just met on the street. This person is coming after you. You're going to want to run and hide, but where?"

He waved at the apartment building. "There's a park behind here, too," he said. "I want you to scout the area and find the best places to hide. Once you're done with that, I'm going to give the signal, and one of your fellow students is going to come after you. It's up to you to outsmart them."

Outdoor Adventures Time! Tuesday, period 1

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

[The Up the River Job]

Like last week, there had been a portal waiting for students at the school, and like the week before that, they were told to bring swim-suits.

"We don't have a lot of time before we get goin' today," Eliot said. "Our activity's gonna take the whole class period. So we'll get right to it." He gestured everyone through the portal, then spread his arms as they came out the other side, on a clear patch of a tree-filled hillside. "Welcome to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers converge!"

“And yes we asked for swimsuits, but that’s going to be because you’ll get wet, not necessarily go swimming,” Parker added, looking gleeful. “We’re going tubing!” She pointed down to the small docks a few dozen yards away. The large inner tubes were visible in the water from there.

"As always, we're givin' you options: we got a nice, easy, mellow ride on the Shenandoah,. If you can't swim, this one'll be for you. It's never too deep or fast for most people to just walk out of. But everyone'll be wearin' a lifevest anyway. It'll keep you floating and your head above water if something happens." Eliot held up one of the vests. "For those of you lookin' for excitement, there's class II rapids on the Potomac. Those are beginner rapids, but plenty excitin' anyway."

Parker beamed. “Helmets too, just in case you fall out, because there’s rocks. But it should still be pretty safe. And you don’t need them on the float trip, just the rapids.”

"You get into trouble, you yell out for me or Parker. Or make noise in any way you can if you can't yell."

“Keep an eye on the people in the same group, and let’s go!” Parker looked ready to vibrate out of her skin.