First Post from France!

Bonjour mes amis! This is the official first post from my new home in Aix. I LOVE it here. It is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! And believe me, I had relatively high expectations so that’s really saying something. Yesterday (which for me actually lasted two days because of the traveling) was unbelievable. The whole day I felt as if I was « dans un rêve ». There were some funny moments in the airport in Madrid. I flew with a large group of fellow students en route d’Aix. That worked out great because people really got to know each other and we all grew closer during the traveling experience. It was hilarious going through customs in Madrid because we had no idea what we were doing. My friend Ashley and I were very confused when it was time to put our belongings in the tray because we didn’t know what they wanted and this woman kept speaking rapid fire Spanish at us, which only confused us more. After we finally made it through, the two of us cracked up at how stupid we probably looked. Then we flew into Marseille and took a bus ride to a place where our host families were waiting.

As many of you know, I didn’t know much about the family I was to have other than that I was living with a woman named Isabelle Goudin. She came to pick me up yesterday and I was extremely nervous. She turned out to be incredibly nice and also the mother of three boys. Only two live at home. Guillome who is 24 and Maxime who is 18. Both boys are extremely nice and have invited me out to hang out with them and their friends. We’ve talked a lot about tv and music. Most of the French tv shows are translated versions of American sitcoms. Maxime is a huge fan of Lost and has all of the seasons which he promised we could watch later. Sadly, they had not heard of The Office, but don’t worry- I brought season two and they will be introduced later. :-D Guillome has been playing Jack Johnson today. I complimented him on “son bon choix.”

After I arrived Isabelle drove me my new home- a beautiful apartment in the center of Aix. No joke, its about as central as it comes. It is surrounded by all of the cafes, shops, etc. It is on this beautiful narrow street. I was really surprised at how compact the city is. It is one narrow, winding street after another. It is all old and absolutely breathtaking. There are quiet little fountains in just about every other street. When we pulled up to the house I just thought “You have to be kidding- this is more quintessentially French than even I had imagined.” All of the windows in my apartment are long and let a ton of light in. After I had unpacked and called my parents, Isabelle showed me the town. There are huge sales going on in Aix now and so the streets were packed with people. Isabelle introduced me to her friend who owns the tea shop next door to our apartment as well as friends of hers that we met on the street. She spoke to me in French and for the most part I understood her really well. She told me about the six and seven year olds that she teaches at her school as we walked through the streets. She showed me my school, the cathedral nearby and other monuments as we walked past. Then we walked to the Cours Mirabeaux- the beautiful tree lined street that is very famous in Aix. Ton of cafes line it- including “Les Deux Garcons” which I had heard about. Isabelle informed me though that les jeunes don’t usually go there. When we got back, Guillome had a few friends over and introduced me. –kiss kiss- They were very nice to me. I tried as best I could to talk to them in French but occasionally we relied on English.

Later that night, Isabelle’s brother, his wife and their daughter Marie came over for dinner. We ate pizza in my honor. Maxime, Marie and I went to get the pizza. We got it from a stand on one of the streets. Marie was extremely nice and even invited me to go to a “boit de nuit” with her on Saturday. We drank champagne (again, celebrating my arrival) and wine with dinner. To my college friends- it was a bit classier than how we eat pizza, I must admit. ☺ No pokie sticks eaten right from the box. Finally I crashed and slept like “un bébé”.

Today I am going with Isabelle to her friend’s house in the country. Later tonight we are going to Mass.

Sorry so long- I just had a lot to share! Gros bisou!