Bats?

Today is Bastille Day, a celebration of modern France as separate from the King Louis the XIV, XV, XVI reigns. I heard a bunch of fireworks last night and I'm guessing there will be many more tonight.

A pack of flying creatures that shriek like banshees day and night have appeared outside my window. I think they are probably bats, based on how they fly, but they certainly don't seem nocturnal. They are hard to catch on camera because they fly so fast, but here is my best shot:

A bat?

There are about five of them that fly around in circles in our courtyard. I've become accustomed to sleeping with my windows open, but recently I've been shutting them for fear of bat bites. 

Any ideas on what these might be?

This weekend has been refreshingly slow. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and read a bunch. Today I worked on a little programming project for work. I enjoy the excuse to do some programming here and there. I plan to go to sleep early tonight so I can have lots of energy to finish up what I need to at work during my last week here. 

While grocery shopping yesterday, I couldn't help but daydream about being back in my own kitchen in Berkeley. All of the kitchen utensils here disappeared on July 1, so I'm left with only plastic knives and plastic plates. No pots, pans, or real knives. I stared longingly at the onions dreaming of making a delicious ratatouille. I then rented and watched the movie Ratatouille. What a great movie!