Hello all! Yes, I'm still alive :-) I've just been swamped lately and havent had the time or energy to post. I had midterms for the past two weeks that just finished Monday. I have a lot to share, so buckle in for a long post :-)
First: A Very Quick Review of Today- Sometimes its bad to dwell.
haha, so I had a bit of a troubled moment at the post office. The woman was just rude that I was working with. It wasn't because I was foreign (though that might have had some effect later) but rather because thats just how they are at the post office here. When my French family asked me "Ca va?" today I answered "Non- pas de tout" which means that no, things were not going well. They listened and were like "Even the French hate the people working at the post office." haha I thoroughly gave my opinion to Gig (shortened version of Guillaume) and he listened. He had a bad day today too. He's studying to be a chiropracter here and its a big deal in France that chiropracters are not recognized as full doctors and don't have a medicine license. Apparently, there's a law (maybe starting today?) that said that chiropracters couldn't work with babies, do any manipulation of the neck, etc. and Gig was furious because he's been studying really hard and they've been taught to do these things. By the time he's done, he will have studied for this major for 6 years. That's a long time to work really hard and not be able to fully practice what you've learned. So, rough day here in France. But by the end, we were all laughing and watching "Nouvelle Star" here which is the French version of American Idol. I happen to be hooked and was getting choked up today when I was watching it. (One of the canidates is this really sweet cute blonde and she has a BEAUTIFUL voice and she teaches singing lessons and works with the mentally challenged because her sister is mentally challenged. It was really touching cause they were interviewing her sister about her and her sister was saying how much she loved her big sis and then looked into the camera and begged that France voted for her- it was really sweet)
haha. ok, now that all of you can follow along with the Nouvelle Star... let's go back to recent developments in my life.
we'll start with last night.
Mon Anniversaire Francais (My French Bday)
So yesterday was my bday. It was a really really great day. I had class, came back home and went running. After coming back from the run, I had a huge beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me from Brian :-) It was funny because my face was already so red because I had just finished running and then I was so excited and blushing- haha anyways, I was a mess. So I was cooling down by drinking water when my French mom was eating lunch. She offered me champagne so that we could toast to my bday. haha So I sat down my glass of water I had been chugging and took the flute of champagne. It was a funny moment- you have to picture me in workout clothes, still sweating from my run and taking time to drink champagne. Pretty hilarious. After that, I talked to the parents on Skype which was fun. We got to chat for a while and then I had another class. After that, one of my French cousins came over and started making dinner. Maxime helped. I kept offering but wasn't allowed to lift a finger because I was the bday girl. Ashley came over too and gave me my bday gift, a necklace I have been drooling over in Eric's jewelry shop. Soon after, my other two cousins and my French aunt came over. My French aunt gave me this very delicate shell that was supposed to give me "bonheur" (good luck) from this island off of Madagascar where they used to live. Marie, my French cousin gave me a beautiful blue necklace. It was really sweet of her. We moved into the other room and all sat down and drank the apperatif (before meal drink, which was some yummy apple? wine) and then dined on tartes specifically made for me (sans meat) and this other pizza like thing. After dinner, they dimmed the lights and brought in a tarte au pomme with 20 candles on it and sang me "Happy Bday" in English. It was really cute, especially because they forgot the "dear" in the line "Happy birthday dear _____, happy bday to you" and just sang "Happy Birthday (pause) Kelly, Happy birthday to you." Ashley and I laughed. Afterwards Ash spent the night. It was a really great bday. :-D
Last Weekend: Toulouse- la ville rose.
Last weekend my friends Starlynn, Vanessa, Ashley and I went to Toulouse. It was four hours by train. Toulouse is known as "la ville rose" (the pink city) because of the color of the stones used for the buildings. The train ride passed by quickly. A kind man vacated his seat (and later persuaded a woman to do the same) so the four of us could sit together. Again another example of the French being sweet (darn that post office woman for trying to ruin my opinion of the French). We were disappointed when we walked out of the metro station that it was raining. It was a cute city and (as promised by one of our guide books) was a refreshingly unique French city. It had a slightly different look than most, probably because of the pink bricks. Toulouse is on of the biggest cities in France. Because it was raining, we decided to shop to stay warm. We hit up some stores and then got lunch. Afterwards we shopped some more and got coffee. One might characterize our weekend by shopping and eating. lol We tried to go see a movie at night but there was a huge line and no movies we really wanted to see. We walked past this huge young hippie fest in the courtyard in front of one of the movie theaters. The next morning, we walked around and saw that everything was closed. France kind of shuts down on Sundays. So we walked around in the cold rain and went to a museum. It was a pretty building. The museum was housed in an old monestary and had many Romanesque works of art. We decided to have fun by interpreting the works ourselves. You can see this in the picture album. After the museum we again walked around in the rain, found some food and then saw a little festival going on in front of the city hall. It was a festival for the region of Aquitaine (I think- I'll double check). We saw people doing American country line dancing which cracked me up. Then we saw people dressed in the traditional clothes do a dance from the region. There were tents where people were selling food representative of the region. I tried some lemonade, yogurt and some chocolate from the region- it was good! After that we headed again out of the rain, waited at our hotel and then left on the train. It was a fun weekend despite of the rain- Ash and I had a good time with the other two girls.
The Weekend Before That: Glanum, Arle, and the Luberon Region
Sat Mar 17th, I went with my archeology class to Glanum and Arle. Glanum was an archeological site. I shall now write from the brochure I kept with me, "The original settlement grew up in 7th/6th century BC around a spring. The town developed from their relations with the Greek world, namely through Marseille. Under Roman domination, Glanum was forced to accept the status of Latin colony early in the first century AD." This is all I will write about the history. It was cool to see and it was in a very pretty area. I took pictures which will be undoubtably posted for your viewing pleasure. After we walked around the ruins of Glanum, we went to Arle. Arle was another Roman city. Arle sits along the Rhone river. It was established by the Greeks as early as 6th century BC (thank you Wikipedia) and in 46 BC it was developed by the Romans. Arle was a sweet little town. We happened to be there on a day where they were celebrating their local language. Our French archeology teacher explained to us that each region had a day where they celebrated their local language (and culture) in order to demand attention from the presidential canidates, and to ask them what the canidates would do in order to preserve that culture. It was funny to be standing in front of the Arle ampitheater and to watch little old men and women dressed up in the tradtional garb (they looked like santons- the Provincial figures placed in the Nativity scenes) wearing wooden shoes, head cloths, full dresses and carrying signs. It was cute. We took pictures. Men were on horses and people played music. There was a little parade. Back to the archeological side of things, we went to the ampitheater (or arena) which was cool. It was once used for glatiator fights, now (as we learned at the bullring in Seville) it is a popular place to watch bullfights. It was beautiful weather when we were there. We had the chance to disperse and eat lunch and my group chose to eat our food from home in the arena, basking in the sun. Mmmm, it was nice. We then walked around for a bit. Then we went to the theater in Arle. Not much really remained of the theater but it was cool to see. After that, we headed to the Musee de l'Arles et de la Provence antiques (archeological museum) and checked out some more things about Roman life in Arle. Then, we piled on the bus and fell asleep. The ride to Arle and Glanum was amazing though. Again, I got to see the beautiful Provincal countryside. Tree lined roads, open fields with little cottages and usually with some mountains as a backdrop. Just beautiful.
The next day, we went with my school to the Luberon Region. It too is in Provence. That was one of the most beautiful bus rides I have ever taken. It was a gorgeous day with the sun out in full force. Again, we passed Provincial countryside and saw the barren lavendar fields. We drove through the mountains for a while and then saw more countryside. We first stopped at the town of Gordes. Talk about picturesque. It was adorable. There we saw the Chateau de Gordes (the fortified castle) from outside and then took a round about way (next to some fields) to get into the town. We had a cafe there and meandered for a little bit. Then we went to Bonnieux, another cute little town. We climbed to the top of the town where there was an old church and everybody went and found a place to eat lunch. We had a great view over the town and the region. Very fun. Then we went to Roussillon which is known for its red and pink buildings. Starlynn said it looked like Mexican buildings. It is close to what is known as le Petit Colorado, where pigment used in a special kind of paint is mined. It does kind of look like Colorado with its natural formations. Check it out in the pictures. It was a very fun day and we got to see some of the prettiest views of Provence.
Well that is all for now. Again, I promise to try to be better about posting more regularly. :-D hope all is well with all of you! Next weekend is Paris, followed by spring break in Italy. I'll let you know how it goes! Much love!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
mardi le 13 mars
Quick Post:
I just wanted to share the fact that there is a French movie being filmed outside my apartment. Maybe you've seen the fountain in my earlier pictures of Aix. It's very cute and apparently is an ideal place for a scene in a movie. ( My French family informed me that this was the second time that the fountain was used as a backdrop for a film.) There is a full crew set up in the fountain area in front of a shop called "Lady Jane." Lady Jane is actually the title of the film. I guess the director and the main actor and actress are famous in French cinema. lol, Sadly, this cool moment is lost on the American who is only familiar with Hollywood names. All the same, its somewhat exciting to be around. I say somewhat because I do have to cross that fountain area to get to school, so it can be a bit annoying if I'm late for class. Ashley and I went to get fruit yesterday and I forgot my keys to the apartment. No one was home so we had to sit outside and wait. We watched them filming. They would stop traffic on the streets and try to get everything quiet. There were guys working on windows of an apartment and one of the fim crew guys kept yelling up to them to stop for two minutes while they filmed a scene. They would do a few takes and then yell up to them that it was ok for them to work again.
I was curious about the film. So I, being my father's daughter, walked up and asked one of the actors about the film. He was an extra and explained the plot to me in French. It's a mystery with a kidnapping. They're filming here and in Marseille. I had asked another woman who was sitting around- another extra I bet- before what the title was. When she told me "Lady Jane" she said, "like the song." I told her I didn't know the song. She was surprised and started singing it. So did the ladies sitting around her. lol It was funny and still didn't jog my memory.
After having harrassed the extras for long enough and wanting to wait somewhere else instead of the street, Ashley and I went into the tea store right next to my apartment (still in clear view of the filming). We got some tea and I talked to the owner of the shop and reminded her that I met her my first day in Aix. We also talked to an old man who lives in Paris but who was staying at his vacation apartment in Aix. We were drinking our expensive flavored carbonated water in the second story of the tea store when Ashley spotted Maxime walking down the street. haha My French brothers are tall so its fairly easy to spot them. Excited, we quickly paid and scurried next door to have Maxime let us in before he left again. lol... oh goodness.
A day in the life.
It was interesting though- I'll keep you posted about the developments with the film, if I see any more of it. Much love to all, and to all a goodnight.
I just wanted to share the fact that there is a French movie being filmed outside my apartment. Maybe you've seen the fountain in my earlier pictures of Aix. It's very cute and apparently is an ideal place for a scene in a movie. ( My French family informed me that this was the second time that the fountain was used as a backdrop for a film.) There is a full crew set up in the fountain area in front of a shop called "Lady Jane." Lady Jane is actually the title of the film. I guess the director and the main actor and actress are famous in French cinema. lol, Sadly, this cool moment is lost on the American who is only familiar with Hollywood names. All the same, its somewhat exciting to be around. I say somewhat because I do have to cross that fountain area to get to school, so it can be a bit annoying if I'm late for class. Ashley and I went to get fruit yesterday and I forgot my keys to the apartment. No one was home so we had to sit outside and wait. We watched them filming. They would stop traffic on the streets and try to get everything quiet. There were guys working on windows of an apartment and one of the fim crew guys kept yelling up to them to stop for two minutes while they filmed a scene. They would do a few takes and then yell up to them that it was ok for them to work again.
I was curious about the film. So I, being my father's daughter, walked up and asked one of the actors about the film. He was an extra and explained the plot to me in French. It's a mystery with a kidnapping. They're filming here and in Marseille. I had asked another woman who was sitting around- another extra I bet- before what the title was. When she told me "Lady Jane" she said, "like the song." I told her I didn't know the song. She was surprised and started singing it. So did the ladies sitting around her. lol It was funny and still didn't jog my memory.
After having harrassed the extras for long enough and wanting to wait somewhere else instead of the street, Ashley and I went into the tea store right next to my apartment (still in clear view of the filming). We got some tea and I talked to the owner of the shop and reminded her that I met her my first day in Aix. We also talked to an old man who lives in Paris but who was staying at his vacation apartment in Aix. We were drinking our expensive flavored carbonated water in the second story of the tea store when Ashley spotted Maxime walking down the street. haha My French brothers are tall so its fairly easy to spot them. Excited, we quickly paid and scurried next door to have Maxime let us in before he left again. lol... oh goodness.
A day in the life.
It was interesting though- I'll keep you posted about the developments with the film, if I see any more of it. Much love to all, and to all a goodnight.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Kelly Stonebock- Mountain Climber Extraordinaire
Alright, maybe that's a slight exaguration. But I have climbed two mountains in two days, so I've gotten some climbing in.
Yesterday, Guillaume, Ashley and I climbed Saint Victoire, the BEAUTIFUL mountain near Aix. It was an absolutely perfect day- the sun was out and it was clear. Ashley and I asked Guillaume earlier in the week if it was hard to climb the mountain. He asked "Just you two?!" and after we nodded he laughed and told us he would go with us. So off we went. It was a very scenic (and short) drive there. Quaint country cottages, blooming trees and the greenest grass I've ever seen. We started our hike- Ashley and I had to walk fairly fast to keep up with Guillaume- he has the longest legs! We laughed when Guillaume pulled out a cigarette to smoke as he hiked. Oh, the French! It was a fairly difficult hike. The higher we got, the more slippery the rocks got. The little rocks kept sliding out under our feet and I didn't have hiking boots like Ashley and Guillaume (I put my faith in my Nikes) so it was a challenge. It took at least 2 hours for us to get to the top. There was a chapel and a cross at the top of the mountain. We had a really calm moment where we sat on the base of the cross and overlooked Aix and the countryside. It was one of my favorite moments thus far on my trip overseas. Gorgeous. Please check out the pictures- I think you'll get a good idea of what it was like.
Ashley and I plan on going to St. Victoire as much as possible.
"Today" (I am finishing this post at a later time then when it was started- so on Sunday) I went with a group from my school to a village called La Ciotat that was is fairly near Cassis. When I signed up for the excursion, I was under the impression that I would get to go to Cassis. Unfortunantly, I was slightly mislead as we did not get to see Cassis except from a high cliff. Oh well. Ciotat was charming. It's a small costal village. It's claim to fame is its being the site of the first showing of an animated film. The film was by the Lumiere brothers. Luckily I had taken a film class at U of I so I knew a little bit about them. They were pioneers in film- and one of their first films was filmed in La Ciotat. The film shows a train pulling into the station and people getting on and off the train. Simple by our standards but incredible by theirs. The train station is in Ciotat and as you enter the town you see a bush in the middle of a cirlce drive shaped in the form of a train in honor of the film. Ciotat also has the oldest movie theater in France. We didn't stay in Ciotat very long. We grabbed food to picnic with and then went to a pretty park along the coast (still in Ciotat I believe) and ate. Very nice. There were the Mediterannean palm trees and a very unusual mountain by the water- our tour guide George described it to us. George spoke to us soley in French. It was a great way for me to measure my French. Safe to say, it has improved. I had no trouble understanding what he was saying. He cracked a joke on the bus that Ciotat was reknown for another reason- it was his hometown. I was very proud that I could follow along.
After we ate, we boarded the bus and went to the highest cliff in Europe. lol- yes. We had a great view of Ciotat and (I believe, on the other side) Cassis. The landscape was beautiful. We hiked up a while. It was easy in comparison with St. Victoire, though Ashley's and my muscles were considerably sore from the day before. We got to what Ashley and I believed to be the top. Whew, what a drop. Terrified (because I am a coward and afraid of heights) but still wanting to get the full effect, I layed down on the rock and looked over the edge. Needless to say, it would have been a long and painful fall. Ash and I took a few pictures and then climbed a bit further up. We could see our bus so we figured we were almost done. Tired from yesterday, we went and sat by the bus. haha Little did we know, the cliff followed up for longer than we thought. Oops. We didn't really regret it and didn't mind taking the bus to the top of it. We fell asleep on the ride back.
Did I mention it was a windy day? Made walking along the highest cliff in Europe seem slightly undesirable.
It was a long weekend. Long, but great. I cannot tell you how much I loved our day at St. Victoire. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
A bientot!
Yesterday, Guillaume, Ashley and I climbed Saint Victoire, the BEAUTIFUL mountain near Aix. It was an absolutely perfect day- the sun was out and it was clear. Ashley and I asked Guillaume earlier in the week if it was hard to climb the mountain. He asked "Just you two?!" and after we nodded he laughed and told us he would go with us. So off we went. It was a very scenic (and short) drive there. Quaint country cottages, blooming trees and the greenest grass I've ever seen. We started our hike- Ashley and I had to walk fairly fast to keep up with Guillaume- he has the longest legs! We laughed when Guillaume pulled out a cigarette to smoke as he hiked. Oh, the French! It was a fairly difficult hike. The higher we got, the more slippery the rocks got. The little rocks kept sliding out under our feet and I didn't have hiking boots like Ashley and Guillaume (I put my faith in my Nikes) so it was a challenge. It took at least 2 hours for us to get to the top. There was a chapel and a cross at the top of the mountain. We had a really calm moment where we sat on the base of the cross and overlooked Aix and the countryside. It was one of my favorite moments thus far on my trip overseas. Gorgeous. Please check out the pictures- I think you'll get a good idea of what it was like.
Ashley and I plan on going to St. Victoire as much as possible.
"Today" (I am finishing this post at a later time then when it was started- so on Sunday) I went with a group from my school to a village called La Ciotat that was is fairly near Cassis. When I signed up for the excursion, I was under the impression that I would get to go to Cassis. Unfortunantly, I was slightly mislead as we did not get to see Cassis except from a high cliff. Oh well. Ciotat was charming. It's a small costal village. It's claim to fame is its being the site of the first showing of an animated film. The film was by the Lumiere brothers. Luckily I had taken a film class at U of I so I knew a little bit about them. They were pioneers in film- and one of their first films was filmed in La Ciotat. The film shows a train pulling into the station and people getting on and off the train. Simple by our standards but incredible by theirs. The train station is in Ciotat and as you enter the town you see a bush in the middle of a cirlce drive shaped in the form of a train in honor of the film. Ciotat also has the oldest movie theater in France. We didn't stay in Ciotat very long. We grabbed food to picnic with and then went to a pretty park along the coast (still in Ciotat I believe) and ate. Very nice. There were the Mediterannean palm trees and a very unusual mountain by the water- our tour guide George described it to us. George spoke to us soley in French. It was a great way for me to measure my French. Safe to say, it has improved. I had no trouble understanding what he was saying. He cracked a joke on the bus that Ciotat was reknown for another reason- it was his hometown. I was very proud that I could follow along.
After we ate, we boarded the bus and went to the highest cliff in Europe. lol- yes. We had a great view of Ciotat and (I believe, on the other side) Cassis. The landscape was beautiful. We hiked up a while. It was easy in comparison with St. Victoire, though Ashley's and my muscles were considerably sore from the day before. We got to what Ashley and I believed to be the top. Whew, what a drop. Terrified (because I am a coward and afraid of heights) but still wanting to get the full effect, I layed down on the rock and looked over the edge. Needless to say, it would have been a long and painful fall. Ash and I took a few pictures and then climbed a bit further up. We could see our bus so we figured we were almost done. Tired from yesterday, we went and sat by the bus. haha Little did we know, the cliff followed up for longer than we thought. Oops. We didn't really regret it and didn't mind taking the bus to the top of it. We fell asleep on the ride back.
Did I mention it was a windy day? Made walking along the highest cliff in Europe seem slightly undesirable.
It was a long weekend. Long, but great. I cannot tell you how much I loved our day at St. Victoire. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
A bientot!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
le 8 mars
Hi all!
Last night we had an impromptu dinner party at my host house. Marie, my French cousin, and my aunt and uncle came over to dine with us. We had this dish that I have had a few times now where you melt cheese and put it on a potato. I really should remeber the name of it. It was nice that they all came over. I didn't hesitate this time to walk up and kiss them hello. Marie is also one of my favorite people here- always extremely friendly to me. I wasn't prepared for this dinner party though, and was a bit surprised when I walked out of my bedroom and they were there. Parties in general (especially French ones) can be a bit exhausting for me because its like a 4 hour long oral French test. They talk really fast (faster now that I've been here a while and am getting better) and there are ususally a few different conversations going on at once. Plus I had a full day yesterday- I will describe a bit further on- and was tired to begin with. lol They kept offering me wine which I politely declined until after the meal. I thought falling asleep on the dinner table probably wouldn't be very polite and I figured if I drank it after the meal then I wouldn't have to wait very long before they left. haha- Wrong. It was funny though because it kept reminding me of my first night in France. We ate pizza and champagne with the aunt and uncle that first night and I was soooo tired after my long flight and walking around Aix twice. lol It was almost the same situation- me being acutely aware of exactly how far I was from my bed and me zoning in and out of the French coversations. Except this time I was more comfortable and more ready to join in. All the same, I definitely thought back to that first night and smiled. It seems so long ago.
The reason I was tired: long day with Ashley. After class, Ashley and I hung out at my French house, got some lunch and then went to talk to Eric- our jewlery shop owner friend- for a while. Eric waved hello to us as we entered (I was careful not to wave to him) and we chit chatted for a while. He wanted to know how our Barcelona trip went. He had given us shopping tips before we left, so I was sure to tell him that we hit up all the stores he had suggested. Ashley had a project for her business class that required that she interviewed a business owner in Aix, so she asked him questions while I looked at the jewlery. I love his shop. Because I am a jewlery freak anyways, its like a little piece of heaven for me. He makes each piece by hand. Did I ever mention that he has some celebrity clients? Sharon Stone, John Malcovitch and the Queen of Sweden. No joke. haha and me- I bought a necklace from here after the first time I went in. After a good conversation, we left and went grocery shopping. Afterwards I worked on my computer for a while.
After typing that, I realize that does not sound like I did that much. Just take my word for it that it was a full day. Wow, this post doesn't seem so interesting. Let me share a few gems from my archeology class to redeem this post.
Our archeology teacher asks "What do we get at night?"
The Americans (genuinely trying) respond, "Drinks??!?!"
Teacher's desired response- the moon.
A phone goes off in class. Archeology teacher tells student whose phone rang, "Thatz not the first time. Next time, itz a finger."
On the subject of cave art: the slide showing is a picture of a hybrid creature. Half bison, half man.
"If you see such guy in the street, you come find me. Phone me immediately."
Archeology teacher asks us to the characteristics of the bison guy. One student offers the the animal has "tusks." Archeology teacher looks confused. Five minutes later he goes "OH, TUSKS!!! I heard toast. I was thinking breakfast."
Hahaha- I don't even remember the exact context of this one. Maybe on the topic of how nature grows over archeological remains.
"Yes? Mushrooms popped up...(does a boddy wiggle) smurfs er-merged? (emerged)
a few minutes later... in a very serious tone-
"Yes, the smurfs are not the friends of the archeologists. I hate the smurfs."
I'm still working on putting up those pictures- should be coming at ya shortly. Much love!
Last night we had an impromptu dinner party at my host house. Marie, my French cousin, and my aunt and uncle came over to dine with us. We had this dish that I have had a few times now where you melt cheese and put it on a potato. I really should remeber the name of it. It was nice that they all came over. I didn't hesitate this time to walk up and kiss them hello. Marie is also one of my favorite people here- always extremely friendly to me. I wasn't prepared for this dinner party though, and was a bit surprised when I walked out of my bedroom and they were there. Parties in general (especially French ones) can be a bit exhausting for me because its like a 4 hour long oral French test. They talk really fast (faster now that I've been here a while and am getting better) and there are ususally a few different conversations going on at once. Plus I had a full day yesterday- I will describe a bit further on- and was tired to begin with. lol They kept offering me wine which I politely declined until after the meal. I thought falling asleep on the dinner table probably wouldn't be very polite and I figured if I drank it after the meal then I wouldn't have to wait very long before they left. haha- Wrong. It was funny though because it kept reminding me of my first night in France. We ate pizza and champagne with the aunt and uncle that first night and I was soooo tired after my long flight and walking around Aix twice. lol It was almost the same situation- me being acutely aware of exactly how far I was from my bed and me zoning in and out of the French coversations. Except this time I was more comfortable and more ready to join in. All the same, I definitely thought back to that first night and smiled. It seems so long ago.
The reason I was tired: long day with Ashley. After class, Ashley and I hung out at my French house, got some lunch and then went to talk to Eric- our jewlery shop owner friend- for a while. Eric waved hello to us as we entered (I was careful not to wave to him) and we chit chatted for a while. He wanted to know how our Barcelona trip went. He had given us shopping tips before we left, so I was sure to tell him that we hit up all the stores he had suggested. Ashley had a project for her business class that required that she interviewed a business owner in Aix, so she asked him questions while I looked at the jewlery. I love his shop. Because I am a jewlery freak anyways, its like a little piece of heaven for me. He makes each piece by hand. Did I ever mention that he has some celebrity clients? Sharon Stone, John Malcovitch and the Queen of Sweden. No joke. haha and me- I bought a necklace from here after the first time I went in. After a good conversation, we left and went grocery shopping. Afterwards I worked on my computer for a while.
After typing that, I realize that does not sound like I did that much. Just take my word for it that it was a full day. Wow, this post doesn't seem so interesting. Let me share a few gems from my archeology class to redeem this post.
Our archeology teacher asks "What do we get at night?"
The Americans (genuinely trying) respond, "Drinks??!?!"
Teacher's desired response- the moon.
A phone goes off in class. Archeology teacher tells student whose phone rang, "Thatz not the first time. Next time, itz a finger."
On the subject of cave art: the slide showing is a picture of a hybrid creature. Half bison, half man.
"If you see such guy in the street, you come find me. Phone me immediately."
Archeology teacher asks us to the characteristics of the bison guy. One student offers the the animal has "tusks." Archeology teacher looks confused. Five minutes later he goes "OH, TUSKS!!! I heard toast. I was thinking breakfast."
Hahaha- I don't even remember the exact context of this one. Maybe on the topic of how nature grows over archeological remains.
"Yes? Mushrooms popped up...(does a boddy wiggle) smurfs er-merged? (emerged)
a few minutes later... in a very serious tone-
"Yes, the smurfs are not the friends of the archeologists. I hate the smurfs."
I'm still working on putting up those pictures- should be coming at ya shortly. Much love!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
le 6 mars
I never anticipated the day where I would walk away from a group of boys and feel genuinely guilty that I didn't kiss each of them goodbye. When I signed up for study abroad, I was fully ready to embrace a new culture- I just didn't figure it would be so literally.
Stupid bissou. Making me feel like a fool.
France is going well- I am happy to be "home" from Spain. It was thoroughly exhausting and amazing. Many good memories and pretty pictures to share. They should be posted soon.
Tonight I went bowling with Maxime. It was fun- I was doing well for a while but then started slacking. I blame the pressure of representing my country. Each time, I would tell myself "This one is for America." Ok, maybe not. The kids were nice but it was hard to break into the group because of the langauge barrier. They asked me to go dancing with them afterwards but I was tired so I headed home. Hence my "do i kiss all of you?" moment. You have to kiss each of them twice. Always awkward to intiate it to boys too.
I watched trials for a Europe wide talent show with Guillome. We laughed at the contestants- Guillome told me that France hadn't won in a long, long time. After seeing their final choice, I understand why.
All I have for today- too tired. Much love
Stupid bissou. Making me feel like a fool.
France is going well- I am happy to be "home" from Spain. It was thoroughly exhausting and amazing. Many good memories and pretty pictures to share. They should be posted soon.
Tonight I went bowling with Maxime. It was fun- I was doing well for a while but then started slacking. I blame the pressure of representing my country. Each time, I would tell myself "This one is for America." Ok, maybe not. The kids were nice but it was hard to break into the group because of the langauge barrier. They asked me to go dancing with them afterwards but I was tired so I headed home. Hence my "do i kiss all of you?" moment. You have to kiss each of them twice. Always awkward to intiate it to boys too.
I watched trials for a Europe wide talent show with Guillome. We laughed at the contestants- Guillome told me that France hadn't won in a long, long time. After seeing their final choice, I understand why.
All I have for today- too tired. Much love
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Spain Recap- started in Spain, finished in France
CORRECTIONS TO THE LAST HURRIED BLOG
Montjuic is the name of the hill overlooking the city that we climbed up in Barcelona to get to the fortress type thing. Poble Espanyol is the name of the Spanish village that we skipped. Also, funny story about climbing the hill- we discovered that the behavior of construction workers is universal. There is a lot of construction going on around the fortress and as the three of us climbed the hill, all work stopped and we got many "hola senioritas" as we walked. It was hilarious. Our personal favorite was this man in a mini bulldozer. He smiled and waved at us, honked his horn twice, swiveled his machine left and right and then raised the claw to make it wave at us. He then honked this other horn that no joke sounded like the cat calling whistle you make- roo roo- type. I guess we could have taken offense, but was rather endearing. We joked that the Spaniards took flirting to new levels by having it built into their machinary. We laughed because ALL of the workers had something to say to the three girls walking up the very tall hill.
Seville activities: we paddle boated on the river, saw a bull ring called La Maestranza and learned about bull fighters (bullfighting season doesn't happen until april, so we couldn't see a show even if we wanted to- and after learning about it, we didnt want to), saw the third largest cathedral in the world called Cathedral de Sevilla and the belltower attatched called La Giralda (btw it was the largest Gothic cathedral- the actual motivation for the architects, i kid you not, was "let's build a cathedral so big that the rest of the world thinks we're crazy," the tour told us so), saw a beautiful palace called Reales Alcazares that had some awesome gardens and walked around Seville and ate gilatos. It was nice. At first I was a little hard on Seville because it was under construction a lot and it was similar to Aix, except Aix is more quaint and adorable. But Seville with its sunshine eventually won me over. I loved the bull right. Ashley and I went right when the sun was starting to set and took the last tour of the day. The guide was awesome and Ashley and I asked her so many of our bullfighting questions that it was almost like a one-on- one tour. Very cool. Paddle boating was funny too. Ashley let me steer for a moment and we started heading towards the side of the river where there were a ton of people laying out. A group of Italian (? maybe Spanish) boys started yelling at us and pointing to the other side of the river. Seeing as how a large group of foreign guys were yelling at me in a language I didn't know, I freaked and Ashley laughed- she turned the boat more towards the center and we kept going. There was also a moment when Ashley and I decided to get to the other side of the river as a large tour boat was coming forward. I got nervous and thought that we couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Again, Ashley laughed and we safely made it to the other side. It was a funny moment though- paddle boats don't move very fast, no matter how hard you peddle so here we are peddeling furiously (in the path of a giant tour boat) trying to quickly move to the other side.
Other Seville moments: we met up with Mike and Inyego (don't know how to spell his name... Mike, the Brit explained the pronounciation as "Something you say to your mates when you want to go in the pub... in ye go" haha which cracked us up cause we would never say that). It was so much fun hanging out with them. The guys were sweet and we were sad to part with them. Mike cracked me up with all of his British phrases, On the phone with me he told me to "drop a bell" when we were ready later that night. Drop a bell?? It means give someone a call. He also kept saying he had to buy something for his mum. He had many memorable phrases, but I'm forgetting them now.
We endured an 11- yes 11- hour bus ride back to Aix. We were all testy and irratable and badly in need of showers and fresh clothes. Living out of a backpack (sidenote to Aunt Char and the girls who went to FLA with me as well as those who saw how much I packed for that week- I USED ONLY MY TINY BACKPACK FOR THIS TRIP! ONE WEEK WITH ONLY A BACKPACK) is extremely difficult. I feel that I have challenged myself to new levels after accomplishing one week with such a limited wardrobe. We all missed France on the trip- our host families and French food. Not to mention not living out of a backpack which means fresh towels and clothes. Oh yes, France is great. And it truly feels like home. Not to say that I don't have my moments where I long for the blessed US of A. But relatively speaking, France is my home. It's rough speaking French again. It's funny how much you can forget in a week. I'll get it back though.
Alright, this is the end of my notes on the Spain trip- next vacation: Italy.
Thats all for now
Montjuic is the name of the hill overlooking the city that we climbed up in Barcelona to get to the fortress type thing. Poble Espanyol is the name of the Spanish village that we skipped. Also, funny story about climbing the hill- we discovered that the behavior of construction workers is universal. There is a lot of construction going on around the fortress and as the three of us climbed the hill, all work stopped and we got many "hola senioritas" as we walked. It was hilarious. Our personal favorite was this man in a mini bulldozer. He smiled and waved at us, honked his horn twice, swiveled his machine left and right and then raised the claw to make it wave at us. He then honked this other horn that no joke sounded like the cat calling whistle you make- roo roo- type. I guess we could have taken offense, but was rather endearing. We joked that the Spaniards took flirting to new levels by having it built into their machinary. We laughed because ALL of the workers had something to say to the three girls walking up the very tall hill.
Seville activities: we paddle boated on the river, saw a bull ring called La Maestranza and learned about bull fighters (bullfighting season doesn't happen until april, so we couldn't see a show even if we wanted to- and after learning about it, we didnt want to), saw the third largest cathedral in the world called Cathedral de Sevilla and the belltower attatched called La Giralda (btw it was the largest Gothic cathedral- the actual motivation for the architects, i kid you not, was "let's build a cathedral so big that the rest of the world thinks we're crazy," the tour told us so), saw a beautiful palace called Reales Alcazares that had some awesome gardens and walked around Seville and ate gilatos. It was nice. At first I was a little hard on Seville because it was under construction a lot and it was similar to Aix, except Aix is more quaint and adorable. But Seville with its sunshine eventually won me over. I loved the bull right. Ashley and I went right when the sun was starting to set and took the last tour of the day. The guide was awesome and Ashley and I asked her so many of our bullfighting questions that it was almost like a one-on- one tour. Very cool. Paddle boating was funny too. Ashley let me steer for a moment and we started heading towards the side of the river where there were a ton of people laying out. A group of Italian (? maybe Spanish) boys started yelling at us and pointing to the other side of the river. Seeing as how a large group of foreign guys were yelling at me in a language I didn't know, I freaked and Ashley laughed- she turned the boat more towards the center and we kept going. There was also a moment when Ashley and I decided to get to the other side of the river as a large tour boat was coming forward. I got nervous and thought that we couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Again, Ashley laughed and we safely made it to the other side. It was a funny moment though- paddle boats don't move very fast, no matter how hard you peddle so here we are peddeling furiously (in the path of a giant tour boat) trying to quickly move to the other side.
Other Seville moments: we met up with Mike and Inyego (don't know how to spell his name... Mike, the Brit explained the pronounciation as "Something you say to your mates when you want to go in the pub... in ye go" haha which cracked us up cause we would never say that). It was so much fun hanging out with them. The guys were sweet and we were sad to part with them. Mike cracked me up with all of his British phrases, On the phone with me he told me to "drop a bell" when we were ready later that night. Drop a bell?? It means give someone a call. He also kept saying he had to buy something for his mum. He had many memorable phrases, but I'm forgetting them now.
We endured an 11- yes 11- hour bus ride back to Aix. We were all testy and irratable and badly in need of showers and fresh clothes. Living out of a backpack (sidenote to Aunt Char and the girls who went to FLA with me as well as those who saw how much I packed for that week- I USED ONLY MY TINY BACKPACK FOR THIS TRIP! ONE WEEK WITH ONLY A BACKPACK) is extremely difficult. I feel that I have challenged myself to new levels after accomplishing one week with such a limited wardrobe. We all missed France on the trip- our host families and French food. Not to mention not living out of a backpack which means fresh towels and clothes. Oh yes, France is great. And it truly feels like home. Not to say that I don't have my moments where I long for the blessed US of A. But relatively speaking, France is my home. It's rough speaking French again. It's funny how much you can forget in a week. I'll get it back though.
Alright, this is the end of my notes on the Spain trip- next vacation: Italy.
Thats all for now
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