Paperwork and Protests

Greetings from MacDo!  Yes, I have found the local McDonald's, and am ashamed to say that I have already eaten here and have only been here for a couple weeks haha.  Mounia and I are just hanging out taking advantage of the free wifi (or weefee as they say in France).  I ordered a coffee and when the girl asked if I wanted a large coffee I hesitated a second thinking that I didn't really need very much.  I got a large coffee anyway and when she gave it to me I laughed cause it was teeny.  I'm pretty sure the large coffee is smaller than the small coffees back in the US.  But, good thing it was small cause Mounia just spilled it all over my stuff. :(  Oh well no big deal.
We've actually been here for a couple of hours now haha- eating, Mounia's been studying, I've been working on lesson plans (going to be doing some Halloween stuff this week.)  There's not too many people here now, but about a half an hour ago the place was packed.  There's a football match going on at the stadium right next door.  Le Racing Club de Lens is playing, yes the name of the team here is the Racing Club.
So, this week has been fairly busy.  Mostly it has consisted of frustrating paperwork and protests.  This week I went to la Caisse Secu (the Social Security office) 3 times to try to figure out what I have to do to get a social security number, which I need to have in order to get paid...well I guess I need the health insurance too.  Each time I have gone (twice with Jessica, and once by myself) they tell me the same thing, that I can't get a number until my visa is validated by L'OFII (office of immigration and integration of France)...but L'OFII won't be able to validate my visa for another month or so- they like to take their time in France.  Uhhggg.  It's just confusing because I have some people telling me to do one thing and others telling me another thing.  Oh well I guess it will get figured out.  Eventually I will get a social security number and eventually I will get paid, even if I do have to wait. 
Also, this week, as you may have heard, there have been a ridiculous amount of protests, even here in Lens.  Just little ones throughout the week...but it gets annoying to wake up every morning to people yelling in the street and cars honking their horns, and it was mostly high school kids protesting this week.  I doubt they even know what they're protesting, they just want to get out of class.  But this Saturday morning was a bigger "manifestation" in the square right outside my window lol.  Mounia told me to be careful and not go outside in case people started breaking windows or something, but it wasn't violent.  They were just loud, yelling stuff like "Sarko, dit non!"  and the police were blowing whistles and honking horns. There were probably a few hundred people, all protesting again the change in the retirement age.  Well we'll see what Sarkozy decides to do.