Pictures! or So I Finally Gave in and Became a Typical Tourist

Hi everyone! I don't have time to write an entry because Caitlin, Lauren, Erin and maybe Christian are on their way over to watch a movie, but I wanted to let you all know that I have posted my pictures on Facebook. The page is public and you should all be able to see my pictures, but if you can't, please let me know!

Love!

The Beginning: Part III or Yay for Les Soldes!

Today I only had one class-- Provencal History and Civilization. I think it's going to be a wonderful course. In it, we will be studying the history of Provence (obviously) beginning with the Gauls and Romans and ending with present day. One of my favorite things about the course is that we'll get to go on a quite a few field trips to places such as nearby Roman ruins, medieval cathedrals and Marseille. We'll study art, architecture, customs, everything. In fact, our textbook is basically a travel guide to the area. It should be incredibly fascinating. Also, our professor is great. He's very young, very French, and is trying very hard to make this class the best ever. Which he may do. I think this course will be right up there with my course about France during the Occupation and may even end up being better. Although I'm not a huge fan of the 30 minute presentation I'll have to do at the end of the semester... entirely in French. Eek!

After class, I went out with my shopping buddy, Lauren and made my first real purchases in France. Clothing, of course. During January, France has all of its wonderful sales. You can get 20-60% off of pretty much anything (clothing, electronics, housewares, etc) with the exception of brand new items. So today I bought a dress and two shirts from these really adorable and incredibly French boutiques. The clothing at these stores are amazing and I wish I could just redo my entire wardrobe here. And it's been a really nice experience because instead of getting frustrated with our not so perfect French, the owners/workers of these stores have been very polite, kind, and understanding-- not at all what I was expecting.

After shopping for clothing, I headed to the grocery store to buy some lunch supplies with a girl named Phalyn. She's pretty neat, too. I got my ham, cheese, lettuce and bread for sandwiches and some granola bars for snacks. It was amazing how much American food, or I suppose brands, they had at the grocery store. There was Dannon yogurt, Coco Puffs, Special K cereal, etc. But their selections in cheese were obviously WAY better. The cheese and bread here are so good. And I had my first crepe with Nutella today and it was delicious.

I didn't do much tonight other than read for my Contemporary French Novel course. Madame Rosso got stuck in major traffic on the way home and then had to run to her daughter's house to babysit her grandson for a bit. She had asked before she left if I was going out and as of then I hadn't heard of any good plans so I said no. I talked to Caitlin, though, at 9:30 and she said that a bunch of people were going out and that I should join them, but I didn't think it was a good idea because Madame Rosso might get worried about me not being here when she got home. But we plan on going out this weekend.

Also this weekend, we have quite a few things to do. Friday I have one final class to begin (my French language course) and then the entire program is going bowling in the afternoon. On Saturday, we're going to check out the large market in town, do a scavenger hunt put together by the program, then grab dinner and go out since Saturday is our day to fend for ourselves. On Sunday, we're goin to have a picnic lunch at the beach at Cassis. And if I can judge Sunday by the weather today, it's going to be a beautiful, sunny day. I left this morning and was quite cold so I threw on my scarf and jacket. But by my walk home at 2:30ish, it was so incredibly hot that I had to take both off. I believe it may have gotten up into the upper 50s/lower 60s today. Or at least, that's what it felt like. Hopefully Sunday will be a beautiful day as well so we can enjoy the beach. Although that reminds me, I seem to have forgotten my swimsuit at home... Not that I think it would be a good day to swim. Not yet. But I should look into getting mine from home/getting one here so that I'm prepared when it does become the perfect beach weather. :)

The Beginning: Part II or Classes

I think I'm going to combine Tuesday and Wednesday here.


Tuesday was a great, but very uneventful day. We finished up our Orientation stuff and began our courses in the afternoon. Lucky me, however, does not have any Tuesday afternoon courses. So instead I spent the afternoon with this really cool girl named Lauren. She's from Louisiana and is oh so sweet. I really like her and I think that by the end of the semester, we'll be great friends. Also, we've decided that while we're here, we're going to be shopping buddies. We walked around Aix for several hours because neither of us had anything to do and I helped her pick out a pair of really cute boots.


Afterwards, we both headed home for the night. I ate dinner with Madame Rosso and then we watched some television and talked.


Wednesday was a bit more eventful. I had my first three classes and I think it's going to be quite the semester.


The first course I had was Contemporary French Novel. This class is going to be doozy. Not only do I have to read 4 different French books (one every three weeks) and discuss them, but I also have to figure out what the hell my professor saying. Here in Provence, they have their own dialect of French. And my professor most definitely speaks it. Oh mon Dieu!


The second class I had was France During the Occupation (which is thankfully taught in English). I think this course will be very interesting. It's both a history course and a communications course. So every class we will learn some of the history of the Occupation and watch excerpts from a movie to reinforce what we have learned. For this class, I will have to keep a journal of responses/criticisms/questions/etc on the two mandatory texts, four mandatory movies and either three more books or six more movies. It's going to be a lot of work, but I believe it's also going to be a lot of fun. The professor is incredibly nice and very enthusiastic. This may possibly end up being my favorite course of the semester.


The last class I had on Wednesday was Topics in French Contemporary Media. This course doesn't require much of us, other than that we must read French newspapers, watch French news programs and be able to discuss their stories. We will have a few major assignments such as discussing prominent themes within the newspapers (the Sarkozy government, unemployment, environment, etc) but I don't think this course will be all that hard or demanding. I really like this course and already find it to be interesting. Our professor asked us what we thought the number one topic in French newspapers was and it took us probably a good 20 minutes to guess it. I guessed the economy and poverty. Another girl guessed France's high rate of unemployment. And someone else mentioned the environment. Surprisingly, however, the most prominent topic in French news is the conflict between Israel and Palestine. And not simply within the past few weeks. The government is concerned about the conflict because there are so many emigrants from these two countries living in such close quarters in large cities like Paris and Marseille. Personally, I never would have guessed that was such a prominent topic in French journalism. And the professor is incredibly nice and cool. He's one of the younger professors I have and really seems to understand how to work with people our age and is very understanding when it comes to our French language skills, or lack thereof.


After classes were done for the day, I came home, did a bit of homework, ate dinner with Madame Rosso and then we settled ourselves on the couch to watch the big soccer match between Marseille and Lyon. She's a huge fan of the Marseille team and gets very into the game. It's great. And I think she likes the fact that I want to watch the soccer matches with her. I loved every second of it. Although I'm kind of sad that Marseille lost to Lyon (0-1). But she told me that Lyon is the number one team in France so I guess it's to be expected.

The Beginning: Part I or My First Bar Experience in Aix

These past three days have been incredibly busy, so there's much to talk about. I think I will probably break it up into a few posts. I suppose I should begin with Monday.

Monday was the first day of our orientation. We had many things to cover like passport/visa formalities, how to get along with your host family, scheduling meetings and a course called "Aix with Margaux and Friends." Now, Margaux is awesome. She does all the planning for excursions, tells us different things to get involved in around Aix to better immerse ourselves, and is just an incredibly neat woman. For this course, she brought in her son Luic and one of his friends, Pauline. She talked for a little bit and then said, "OK. I'm going to turn things over to my son because I know that you're dying to find out what the young people do and what bars are the best." So she turned it over to him and he told us all about the best cafes, cultural sites, and bars around town.

Feeling the itch to go out, a bunch of us decided that we were going to meet up at IAU at 10PM and walk to Le Passage, a jazz bar Luic had mentioned, because they have live jazz every Monday night. was the first to arrive at IAU since Madame Rosso insisted on driving me. A few minutes later, a girl I hadn't met from IAU, named Ellie, came up to me and asked if I was a part of the group that was going out to celebrate another girl's birthday. I hadn't planned on it, but once the other members of my group arrived and we began walking towards Le Passage, we ran into the birthday group. One of the girls in the birthday group lives in a flat with one other IAU student, two study abroad students from Switzerland (I think), and a young French man. Well, the young French man came out with us because he knows what places around town are good.

Together, our group ended up being nine people, seven girls and two boys. We mentioned that we were heading to Le Passage, but we were told that it was very expensive and that we should grab a drink or two at the Sextius bar before heading there. (Insert: Sextius is apparently derived from the Latin name for Aix, Aquae Sextiae. I learned that in my History of Provence course today.) So we walked to the Sextius bar, only to find out that it was ridiculously crowded. Since we had the French guy with us, we decided to ask him what bar to try next. He said that essentially, you can get the same drinks anywhere you go. So we looked for the nearest cafe/bar, which happened to be right next door.

As we walked in the door, we noticed these guys looking at us strangely, which we attributed to the fact that we were Americans. We proceeded to walk in and ask for a table for nine, and we were promptly seated. After we sat down, we got some "why are you here?" looks from the guys at the table over from us who were playing poker. But nobody really cared and we proceeded to order. That's when things started getting a little strange. Rebekah, one of the girls who came with us, returned from the bathroom and informed us that there were only guys' bathrooms downstairs so all the girls were out of luck. That is after she walked in on a guy. Oops! Haha. Then we began looking around and observing the cafe. There were tons of pictures above the bar... only they were all of half naked men and women kissing... people of their own sex. And on the television, there was a music video of a guy... seducing another guy. So by now it had clicked. Oh damn. We were at a gay bar. And then my drink came out with a glow stick in it.

By now, the other guy who came with us, Christian, had begun looking around. And he noticed that most of the Frenchmen's eyes were focused on him. So we decided that after we had finished our drinks, we would leave. And about 15 minutes later, we did.

Afterwards, we decided to hit up the Sextius Bar even though it was busy. We all ordered drinks and sat down. This bar is out of control. On one side, there's the elegant looking bar with clean cut waiters. On the other side of the cafe, there's the shot bar with the hippy looking man serving flaming B-52s. Meanwhile, the music is blaring. And this music-- it's all in English and it's all either Reggae or Metal. The Sextius Bar is awesome. We plan on going back. Quite often.

First Day Exploring Aix

I got to explore Aix today with Mme Rosso and a friend of hers who is also hosting two students, Ben and Libby. I had a great time getting to know them and exploring the streets. Everything is so picturesque. The streets are full of patisseries with wonderful looking desserts, cafes with many of their patrons choosing to sit outside since the weather is so nice, and people running their errands. It's absolutely wonderful.

After exploring a bit, we went to IAU (my school, Institute for American Universities) for a meet and greet. Everyone seems really nice and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together. I've even met quite a few people from Pennsylvania, including a girl who goes to Penn State Berks. This is her second semester abroad, although she spent her last semester in Beijing. I believe she's an international relations major so studying abroad will be great for her.

After the meet and greet, Erin and I went exploring some more since she hadn't been out yet. We walked around town and then ended up at a cafe called Happy Days. It was kind of awkward going to the cafe because we're not quite sure what to do-- sit down or wait for someone to seat us, take the check to them or wait for them to take it from us. But now that we've done it once, I'm sure things will be smoother next time around.

Tomorrow is beginning of orientation so I'm sure it'll be a busy day. We have tons of meetings about housing, passports/visas, scheduling, Aix itself and we'll also be going on a tour of the city. But I'm sure it will all be helpful information to have.

Finally in Aix!

I am finally in France! After 21 hours of waiting, flying, and transferring airports, I am settled in. I am completely unpacked, might I add. Unfortunately, because we got in so late today, I haven’t gotten a chance to see or explore Aix yet. That’s what we’re beginning with tomorrow. Madame Rosso, several other students, their hosts and I are going to meet up and walk around town to check out the sights and figure out where our school buildings are.

Although I haven’t gotten a chance to see Aix yet, I have been having a great time with Madame Rosso, my host mother. She’s incredibly nice, very sweet, funny and is doing everything possible to make sure I feel at home. And she’s certainly doing a great job. We spent the night sitting on the couch, eating dinner and getting to know one another. From our conversations so far, I know that she works at a very popular French bank in Marseille, has two girls of her own and grandchildren, likes playing cards, has been keeping students from IAU for several years and finds George Clooney to be very attractive. She’s pretty neat.

I’m very excited to get this semester started. It seems like it should be a lot of fun. There’s so much to do, so many places to go, some incredibly nice people like Erin and Kate, and it just feels like it’s going to be a good semester.