the long awaited post

Well its been just over a week since my arrival in Aix. It has been a very long and crazy week for me. We were conditioned before we left by the study abroad office with lessons on the adjustment phases of living in a new country. There's the honeymoon phase, the hostility phase, the humor phase and then the settled phase. I would like to liken my experience thus far to what I imagine a true, slightly lenghty honeymoon is like. First the excitement and exhuberance, then the annoyance and realization that you are forever stuck with that person, than back to enjoying your trip. lol I really am enjoying myself here. But there have certainly been some trying moments already. I think most of the dramatic moments were partially a side effect of jetlag, but dealing with the language/custom barrier has been trying at moments. This is going to be a lengthy post- I apologize but I have a lot to tell. I'm going to break it up into the major events that have happened.

The Monoprix Experience
Monoprix is our equivalent to a Target. For a French store, its huge. For an American going in search of something, its overwhelming. My host mom Isabelle showed me Monoprix on my first day. Its the most convienent place to go if you have many things you need to get because the French are still running on Mom and Pops. So, after I unpacked and realized that I desperately needed some things, I headed out determined to conquer Monoprix. I went in and first looked for the most important thing on my list- a hair straightner. I am a girl who likes her straightened bangs and with the whole electrical converting problem, taking mine from home wouldnt have worked. (I have already had to lay to rest a great pair of speakers... please, recognize a moment of silence in their honor) So I went to Monoprix and began my search for a hair straightner. I looked upstairs, then downstairs, then upstairs again... after walking around the store for a while I figured I'd ask someone. I went up to a woman sitting behind a cash register and right before I got up to ask her, she put out a sign that said that her register was broken. Alas, I went in search again and some kids started asking me for a Euro. In hindsight, this was a fairly entertaining encounter because once I had told them that I was an American and that I didn't understand their French they started describing what a Euro looked like to me as if I didn't know which of the many coins it was. Then I went to ask a woman and she wasn't the nicest to me. I finally went back upstairs (since I now knew what level it was on) Right before my absolute breaking point, tears welling, Jack Johnson's "Good People" song came on with the line "And all I want to know is where'd all the good people go?" and I started to laugh. I finally found the stupid straightners only to find out that they are way to expensive for me to waste that much money to only use it for such a short time. I ended up buying bobby pins and calling it a day. I went home and cooled off by watching "The Office." Then my French brother Maxime came home and I told him about my encounter. He was very sympathetic and told me how the French weren't very friendly which is something that really bothers him. Fed up with the French for one day, I changed into my workout clothes and went for a run. I'm sure I looked very American by jogging in the streets in my slightly baggier workout clothes and listening to my Ipod. If anything, knowing I stood out empowered me that day. lol I felt much better by the end.

It was sweet because later that night I went back to Monoprix, this time with Guillome and he showed me what to buy. He also pointed out stores I could go to to get things I needed as we walked the streets. I'm sure Maxime had told him about my bad day :-) All in all, it was a learning experience.


The French Parties
I have had quite the social life in France thanks to my AWESOME host family. One of my favorite nights here was when I went to a party with Guillome. His friend Yyan (that's probably not how you spell it) came over for dinner beforehand. Yyan was so cool. He was really nice and really helped me with my French. He made me speak in French to him which I needed because it got more challenging for me to speak French as the week went on. (Its hard when you're tired) We had some really great conversations about the differences between Americans and the French. It was fun because we both had a sense of humor about it. He would talk in an American accent to me and I would do the French one right back. I told him and Guillome about how we were advised not to smile as much here because 1. its not done as much by French women and 2. because its a dead give away that we're Americans. They both told me that I should never stop smiling. It was a really cute moment.

We went to the party which was a type of fundraiser for some kids who want to travel or something at Guillome's school. For it being roughly the same age bracket as the parties I hit up in the States, it was so impressive! It was so... chic. There really is no other word for it. It was in an apartment in Aix, on the top floor. The door was covered with a curtain type thing and there was a coat check as soon as you went in. We then went up a spiral staircase to the main floor which had a room with all of these cools lights and this lava lamp type thing being projected on the wall. There was a bar where two women were making drinks and finger foods for people. There was a guy playing the piano and also techno music blaring. In another room, there were cushions on the floor and a lot of wall hangings. It was kinda a Morracan vibe. Everyone was smoking in that room. We sat in the corner. As I coughed because of all the smoke, Yann laughed at me and commented on how Americans don't smoke like the French. I replied in French that I had lungs like a baby. I had a lot of fun talking with him. The whole night we kept joking about how "artistic" we were because we could look at the different shapes the lava lamp thing made and interpret it for what it truly represented. There was also a truly hilarious/mortifying moment where I tried to say something in French which made him crack up laughing. After the laughter subsided and his tears were dried, he translated what I had just said. I can't bring myself to tell it here, but just know that there is no way that I meant to begin a sentence with that phrase. :-/

All of the other French kids were really nice to me too. A lot of them were really curious about life in the States. I was really proud of myself because I really tried hard to understand them and speak to them completely in French. I was doing pretty good too. There was this great moment where Guillome introduced me to this whole group of French kids and then there was this slightly awkward moment where no one really knew what to say. So Guillome told me that they called one of the kids in the group "Jesus" because of his long hair and beard. This other kid then turned to me and told me he was his roommate. I turned to him and said in French that he was lucky to have Jesus for a roommate. Everybody in the group laughed.

My favorite moment of the night, though, was when we went to the terrace on the top of the building. It was funny because I felt it had such a parallel with a college party back home. There's always that moment where you go on someone's balcony and talk some more, but this time instead of having the view of another shoddy college apartment across the way, I was overlooking this great picturesque view of the rooftops of Aix. It was surreal. It was so beautiful.

The Other Parties-
Isabelle was out of town for three days this past week because she had to go on an overnight fieldtrip to a conservatory to show her students stars. Apparently, its the same in France when a parent leaves. While the cat is away, the mice do play. Guillome had friends over for dinner. Three boys and one girl. The girl was really sweet and would occasionally say a phrase to me in English. The other boys were nice but quieter to me throughout the night. This was partly because I was exhausted and was almost too tired to make an effort. Eventually though, during the course of dinner I started talking to them. It turns out they were really nervous to use their English. I guess I was equally hesitant at first when my Celine (the French girl who stayed at our house) came first. It was nice for me to have the tables reversed for once. Once we started talking it was cool. They were nice and we joked around. I got this wierd vibe from this one kid though and I'm pretty sure he talked smack about me once I went to bed. Other than that, it was a really fun night.

Saturday night I went to Isabelle's brother's house for his birthday party. It was cool because I had met him, his wife and one of his daughters my very first night in France. So for me, they were like old friends! Marie, the cousin I had met before, was really nice and so was her sister whose name completely leaves me now. They both talked to me most of the night. There were older couples there too who were friends with the uncle. I was introduced to all of them- kiss kiss- and they all asked me questions in French that I tried my best to answer. The food there was so wierd. It was all really ethnic in honor of the uncle because he travels a lot. One of the dishes was flat out raw beef. As many of you know, I'm already a very picky eater. I wanted to cry. lol I was worried because I had been told how picky the French are about their cuisine and I know that to say no is kind of an insult for them. Luckily the cousins told me a ton of times that I was not obligated to eat anything I didn't want to. So I ate what I could and later we had this great "gateau" (cake) and drank champagne. All of us kids sat in a corner and talked. It was like the French version of the kid's table. Afterwards, Marie, Maxime and some of Marie's friend went to a "boite de nuit" a night club. It was cool. I was cracking up at the French guys. They were so cheesy. Seriously, if someone busted out those moves in Chambana, they couldn't get away with it. We danced and had a good time and I got really excited when after a ton of lame techno songs some American songs played. :-D

The next morning we woke up and went to a little town near Marseille where Isabelle's mom lives. We went to Mass in this pretty small church. The building wasn't small but it was a very close community. I seriously met half of the people in the Church. This would include both priests. -kiss kiss- all around and whenever Isabelle explained that I was the American student staying with them they would gasp and go "ah oui!?" smile and me and then ask me questions. I really haven't met many people who have resented the fact that I'm American. Most are curious and interested. They start asking questions about how I like Aix, where I'm from and if its cold back home. After Mass we went to look at a wonderful, detailed creche at one of the parishoners house. A creche is something very special to the Provencial region in France. It's a huge nativity scene. It has the normal figures, the magi, Mary, Jospeh and baby Jesus but in addition it has all of these random villiage people like the baker, the butcher, farmers, etc. Its really funny to see, especially because they even have a creche at the church. I was surprised that it wasnt seen as a little bit sacraligous to embellish the nativity story a bit. The chreche at the person's house was seriously ridiculous. It was huge. I'm trying to send pictures, but no luck so far.

The creche was at this absolutely breathtaking Mediterranean house. It was up on this huge hill and it had such a great view. Isabelle explained to me the elements of the house that made it so particularly Provincial, like the ceramic tiles around the windows in order to keep the pigeons from roosting there. It was a really ritzy house with a great library and wonderful seating room. There were many people (who you could just tell were the who's who of the area) there and we all ate finger foods and drank wine. I was given this walnut wine because it was special to the region. It was funny because no one knew the english word for walnut so someone had to go and get them to show me. There were a lot of older people at the house and it was cute to see the little old French men and their distinguished wives. They were very friendly and sweet to me. Finally, we said our goodbyes, I kissed everyone in the room and we left for Isabelle's mom's house.

Her house was also cool. Not as breathtaking as the one before, but certainly a beautiful house with a great view. She cooked us an intense breakfast which included plates of goose and gizzards. Gag me! I struggled again, but I tasted a little bit and then tried to politely decline. I think at first she was slightly offended but then I complimented her on her wonderful gateaux and she warmed right back up to me. After what was probably the longest meal of my life, we drank coffee and ate chocolates and then left. It was a nice day.



Ok. Wow. That was a lot. I have more to tell but I have to go to bed now! I hope that you enjoyed reading this, or at least what you had the patience to read! :-D I know, I need to post daily, it would really help this process. Just know that all in all, I'm having a great time. A lot of adjustments and a lot of laughing at my blunders, but I'm getting the hang of it! Thank you guys for all the emails and messages you've sent me. Its meant a lot to me!

Also, congrats to Cathy and Ryan!! Logan is so cute!

Until next time (A bientot!)

Gros Bis!