hi all-
quick review of yesterday and then on to todays events...
YESTERDAY
Still in Barcelona. We started out the day, slow as usual. We caught the metro and went to the Spanish village at the top of a huge hill. We didn´t feel like going in so we opted to head to the castle at the top of a mountain. Wow, I know I´m currently lacking proper names for these places. I have to hurry though, so I´ll correct this all later. The castle turned out to be more of a fortress but it was cool all the same. It offered a spectacular view over all of Barcelona. We laughed cause we thought we had done well in really covering the entire city... turns out it spanned way further than we had initially thought. No matter. I felt like I really saw a lot of important sites from the bus tour. It is entirely possible that with a felt tip pen we might have been able to doctor up our bus passes so that they were extended one more day. It´s a distinct possiblity. Anyways, we took some pictures then took a bus down back into the city. Ashley and Amy headed to the Picaso Museum, and me, all museumed out decided to people watch at the port. I bought a gilato and chilled out. I took some really cool pictures and loved watching the different people. So many different nationalities represented. I hopped back on the tour bus and rode back to the hostel. It was a great moment- the sun was setting and I got have my final moment sitting on the top of the bus. Ashley laughed at how much I loved riding that stupid bus. After that, we chilled at the hostel then went out for a tapas feast. I do mean feast. Though all the food was tiny, it was great and we all shared. And of course, sangria graced our table. It was a nice night. We plan on going back when we hit up Barcelona on the final night.
Seville
We took a plane early this morning to Seville. Our hostel is awesome. Seriously, I could get used to this life. Everyone here is young and open to meeting new people. I´ve never encountered so many nationalities in my life. You never know where the person sitting next to you is from. We had a lazy day. Sleep deprived after the whirlwind that was Barcelona, Ashley and I slept in the hostel and then got food and walked to the river and basked in the sun. We´ve yet to really discover the pretty part of Seville yet, but we will. We enjoyed the weather- it was so great. I wore my yoga capris and a camisole... the three of us sat at the water and wrote in our journals and joked around. Because our hostel ROCKS, they´re having a dinner here tonight and then maybe an activity afterwards. We also plan on going out. I really wish I could explain this atmosphere- music is playing, its an open floor plan and I can look up and see the other rooms. There´s a rooftop terrace, mod decor with a lot of wood and candles. Cool place with even cooler people. I´m psyched to be here.
Alright- gotta get ready. I hope you all know that I am continually mocked for my obsession with blogging. I sacrifice myself for all of you. lol no, but its true. Tell Ashley to be nice. haha
much love- you´ll be hearing from me soon.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Day 3 in Barcelona
Hola!
Yea, day three and the extent of my Spanish remains "yo quiero taco bell."
We had an amazing day today. At one point, Ashley turned to Amy and me and said, "Let´s just treat this like the `Amazing Race´." I think that accurately describes how we tried to power through our sites today. We woke up later than we wanted to (hey, it is our vacation after all) got ready and took the tour bus again. Barcelona was sunny and warm and it was such a wonderful way to start the day off. We rode the bus until we got to Gaudi´s Sagrada Familia. It is one of the most famous monuments in Barcelona. It is an amazing church that began construction in 1883. Gaudi spent 40 years of his life working on it, and died before it was finished. There is still major work being done on it today. It was magnificent. I mean really breathtaking. I overheard one woman say, "It´s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Although I´m not ready to make that commitment, I will say that it was quite the experience standing at the foot of such an impressive monument. We took so many pictures, but there´s no way to accurately capture it. At first glance it looks like it was created out of melting wax. The intricate detailing made it hard to take the whole thing in. I could have spent hours looking at each little scene on the sides of the church. The three facades represent Christ´s life- the nativity, the passion and the glory. We only were able to see the nativity and the passion. We walked around inside and took an elevator up to one of the spires. From there we could move from spire to spire. (I´m not sure that´s really the correct termanology, but for lack of a better word, spire will be used). It was a spectagular view of Barcelona but Ashley and I were nervous that high up. We took a lot of pictures that I can´t wait to post. The tour guide had said that it was easy to see Gaudi´s religous fevor due to his work on the church- its true. The incredible attention to detail did make it easy to see the passion motivating him to create such a masterpiece.
After the Sagrada Familia we hopped back on the bus and headed to Gaudi´s Park Guëll.
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Hi again- I´m writing the rest of this post Tues morning. We only get 30 min on the computer at a time and there was a line waiting for it after me yesterday. So let me continue the story. Just thought I should tell you because I plan on writing about last night and didn´t want to confuse people.
The park was awesome. It was an gorgeous day and the park was buzzing with people. I really like Gaudi´s work and the park was a cool place to hang out. Very beautiful. Instead of struggling to describe it, just know pictures will be on their way once we´re back in Aix. We basked in the sun (short sleeve weather), people watched and met some Americans on vacation from NY. (We could tell right away they were from the east coast.) *To the St. Louis bunch- it was a bunch of aunts and cousins and they were calling their Grandma on the cell phone. I definitely thought of all of you. :-)We checked out the Casa Museu which is located in the park. It was a house was built under Gaudi´s direction but by Gaudi´s assistant. Gaudi lived in the house for 20 years and the museum had Gaudi´s furniture (especially many pieces he himself designed) as well as sketchings of his for his many projects. The museum also housed works done by artists that had been associated with Gaudi.
After the park we headed back to the bus and took it around the town until it finally reached our hostel. It was starting to get a little chilly- especially because its windy sitting on top of a bus. The sun started to set and Amy and Ashley went inside the bus to stay warm. Motivated by the fact that I may never see Barcelona again, I stuck it out on the top of the bus as long as possible. Although I was FREEZING it was worth it. I got some great panoramic views of the city. After the bus finally came back to our hostel (the first stop on the tour is literally three steps in front of our hostel-how perfect is that) it occured to us that we only ate one meal that whole day. It was like we were reminded of how hungry we were cause we weren´t paying attention. Suddenly with hunger that can only be described as ravenous we LITERALLY ran to a food joint. Prior to our tribal food hunting run, there was debate for where to go. When we got to the food area of town, we still couldn´t decide. Spanish fast food? Slightly sketch and we didn´t know what to order. Pitas? Again, not looking that good. We finally saw Subway and a decision was unanmiously made. BEFORE I GET COMMENTS ABOUT HOW I NEED TO EXPERIENCE SPAINISH CULTURE MORE FULLY know that we had a Spanish meal the first time and plan on eating many Spanish feasts in Seville. We just don´t have the time in Barcelona.
We ate our food, chilled at the hostel and then started getting ready to go out. We went to the square where Tarantos- the flaminco bar from the first night- was located. The Spanish really like to live up the whole night. It was already 12ish when we went out and the club scene wasn´t happening yet. We decided to wait out some time at an Irish pub. We met a cute young couple from Ohio who we talked with for a long time. They had both studied abroad so we were sharing our opinions of the experience. It was a chill way to start the night, but the Americans wanted the full Barcelona experience so after the pub we hit up the club we could find with the longest line. It wasn´t a bad wait and it was SO WORTH IT! It was a great club- the girls danced it up. We also met some guys who lived in Seville. I turned on the tourist mode when I found out and had them copy down places to check out in Seville on a napkin. There were three guys total- two from Seville and one of their British friends. The Brit and one of the guys were heading back to Seville and offered to show us the city. We got their number and might call them when we get there. It was funny talking to them. The British guy told us that we had cool American accents. haha The Spaniards were fun too- I told them the few phrases I knew in Spanish and planned to use habitually throughout my trip. One of which is Feliz Navidad. They cracked up and told me that I probably should´t walk around Spain wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
All in all, I´m in love with Barcelona and living it up. We have some ambitious plans for today... I´m hoping we do well. Much love- hope to post again tonight.
Yea, day three and the extent of my Spanish remains "yo quiero taco bell."
We had an amazing day today. At one point, Ashley turned to Amy and me and said, "Let´s just treat this like the `Amazing Race´." I think that accurately describes how we tried to power through our sites today. We woke up later than we wanted to (hey, it is our vacation after all) got ready and took the tour bus again. Barcelona was sunny and warm and it was such a wonderful way to start the day off. We rode the bus until we got to Gaudi´s Sagrada Familia. It is one of the most famous monuments in Barcelona. It is an amazing church that began construction in 1883. Gaudi spent 40 years of his life working on it, and died before it was finished. There is still major work being done on it today. It was magnificent. I mean really breathtaking. I overheard one woman say, "It´s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Although I´m not ready to make that commitment, I will say that it was quite the experience standing at the foot of such an impressive monument. We took so many pictures, but there´s no way to accurately capture it. At first glance it looks like it was created out of melting wax. The intricate detailing made it hard to take the whole thing in. I could have spent hours looking at each little scene on the sides of the church. The three facades represent Christ´s life- the nativity, the passion and the glory. We only were able to see the nativity and the passion. We walked around inside and took an elevator up to one of the spires. From there we could move from spire to spire. (I´m not sure that´s really the correct termanology, but for lack of a better word, spire will be used). It was a spectagular view of Barcelona but Ashley and I were nervous that high up. We took a lot of pictures that I can´t wait to post. The tour guide had said that it was easy to see Gaudi´s religous fevor due to his work on the church- its true. The incredible attention to detail did make it easy to see the passion motivating him to create such a masterpiece.
After the Sagrada Familia we hopped back on the bus and headed to Gaudi´s Park Guëll.
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Hi again- I´m writing the rest of this post Tues morning. We only get 30 min on the computer at a time and there was a line waiting for it after me yesterday. So let me continue the story. Just thought I should tell you because I plan on writing about last night and didn´t want to confuse people.
The park was awesome. It was an gorgeous day and the park was buzzing with people. I really like Gaudi´s work and the park was a cool place to hang out. Very beautiful. Instead of struggling to describe it, just know pictures will be on their way once we´re back in Aix. We basked in the sun (short sleeve weather), people watched and met some Americans on vacation from NY. (We could tell right away they were from the east coast.) *To the St. Louis bunch- it was a bunch of aunts and cousins and they were calling their Grandma on the cell phone. I definitely thought of all of you. :-)We checked out the Casa Museu which is located in the park. It was a house was built under Gaudi´s direction but by Gaudi´s assistant. Gaudi lived in the house for 20 years and the museum had Gaudi´s furniture (especially many pieces he himself designed) as well as sketchings of his for his many projects. The museum also housed works done by artists that had been associated with Gaudi.
After the park we headed back to the bus and took it around the town until it finally reached our hostel. It was starting to get a little chilly- especially because its windy sitting on top of a bus. The sun started to set and Amy and Ashley went inside the bus to stay warm. Motivated by the fact that I may never see Barcelona again, I stuck it out on the top of the bus as long as possible. Although I was FREEZING it was worth it. I got some great panoramic views of the city. After the bus finally came back to our hostel (the first stop on the tour is literally three steps in front of our hostel-how perfect is that) it occured to us that we only ate one meal that whole day. It was like we were reminded of how hungry we were cause we weren´t paying attention. Suddenly with hunger that can only be described as ravenous we LITERALLY ran to a food joint. Prior to our tribal food hunting run, there was debate for where to go. When we got to the food area of town, we still couldn´t decide. Spanish fast food? Slightly sketch and we didn´t know what to order. Pitas? Again, not looking that good. We finally saw Subway and a decision was unanmiously made. BEFORE I GET COMMENTS ABOUT HOW I NEED TO EXPERIENCE SPAINISH CULTURE MORE FULLY know that we had a Spanish meal the first time and plan on eating many Spanish feasts in Seville. We just don´t have the time in Barcelona.
We ate our food, chilled at the hostel and then started getting ready to go out. We went to the square where Tarantos- the flaminco bar from the first night- was located. The Spanish really like to live up the whole night. It was already 12ish when we went out and the club scene wasn´t happening yet. We decided to wait out some time at an Irish pub. We met a cute young couple from Ohio who we talked with for a long time. They had both studied abroad so we were sharing our opinions of the experience. It was a chill way to start the night, but the Americans wanted the full Barcelona experience so after the pub we hit up the club we could find with the longest line. It wasn´t a bad wait and it was SO WORTH IT! It was a great club- the girls danced it up. We also met some guys who lived in Seville. I turned on the tourist mode when I found out and had them copy down places to check out in Seville on a napkin. There were three guys total- two from Seville and one of their British friends. The Brit and one of the guys were heading back to Seville and offered to show us the city. We got their number and might call them when we get there. It was funny talking to them. The British guy told us that we had cool American accents. haha The Spaniards were fun too- I told them the few phrases I knew in Spanish and planned to use habitually throughout my trip. One of which is Feliz Navidad. They cracked up and told me that I probably should´t walk around Spain wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
All in all, I´m in love with Barcelona and living it up. We have some ambitious plans for today... I´m hoping we do well. Much love- hope to post again tonight.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Barcelona Day 2
And now, for today´s post.
My group had a lazy morning. After going on such little sleep for so long, we needed it. It was a gray day today, unlike the GORGEOUS yesterday we had. Yesterday the sun was out in full force and we were comfortable walking around in jeans and a thin shirt. Today it was cold and the forecast called for rain.
We ate breakfast at the hostel and then went out and got a 2 day pass for a bus tour. They run all over Barcelona and are a great way to see the city. We started riding on top of the bus but then it rained and we were forced to go inside it. It was really great to see more of Barcelona. I hadn´t anticipated Barcelona being as HUGE as it is. Its also very spread out which, after living in extremely condensed Aix, also suprised me. It was really neat to see some of the Gaudi buildings- especially La Sagrada Familia which is huge cathedral. It is Gaudi´s most famous work and has yet to be finished. They started construction in 1883. It´s breathtaking with its 12 spires for each disciple and all of its intricate detailing. We plan on seeing more of it tomorrow. After our bus tour, we went to go get food. We were starving and got some great gelato. Later as we were walking to dinner, Amy pointed out a French sandwich shop that looked good. I quickly shot down that idea citing the fact that we were in Spain, so we couldn't possibly get French food. I then quickly recommended Subway and the girls cracked up. lol Seeing as how I genuinely wanted Subway, was confused. The girls pointed out that I shot down French food and suggested we eat at an American chain. lol-oops. It was a funny moment. After dinner we went to Mass at Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. It was so beautiful and after Mass we took pictures. We then walked back along La Rumblus which was bustling with people and walked back to the hostel, where I am now.
General Observations of Barcelona-
People don´t sleep here. We think Barcelona should steal NY´s nickname. This is truly the city that doesn´t sleep. We came back at 2 last night (we went to dinner after the show- I had a very Spanish dish...some type of rice. didn´t like it) and the streets were still packed with people.
Spaniards are nice!! Or, at least the one´s we´ve met. They´re friendly, helpful and are a definite change from the French that we´ve met. That being said, we are slightly homesick for France. At least there we can somewhat speak the langauge. Here langauge barriers are definitely more pronounced for us. haha- pronounced. Another funny thing, we keep trying to speak French to them. I guess its habit for us to respond to people with "oui" or "si vous plait". lol We keep laughing at ourselves for doing it. Ashley ordered at Starbucks in French and the guy talked to her in French, thinking it was her first langauge. haha hilarious.
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We're doing a girls night tonight. We are going to take a nap (because we have to stay out as late as the Spaniards) get dolled up and hit the down. Maybe go out dancing... we really are loving Barcelona. I'll try to keep you posted (oh so many lame puns tonight) with the events of the evening and tomorrows happenings. There is a lot do and much to see. I´m taking a lot of pictures and look forward to showing them to you! Hope all is well!
My group had a lazy morning. After going on such little sleep for so long, we needed it. It was a gray day today, unlike the GORGEOUS yesterday we had. Yesterday the sun was out in full force and we were comfortable walking around in jeans and a thin shirt. Today it was cold and the forecast called for rain.
We ate breakfast at the hostel and then went out and got a 2 day pass for a bus tour. They run all over Barcelona and are a great way to see the city. We started riding on top of the bus but then it rained and we were forced to go inside it. It was really great to see more of Barcelona. I hadn´t anticipated Barcelona being as HUGE as it is. Its also very spread out which, after living in extremely condensed Aix, also suprised me. It was really neat to see some of the Gaudi buildings- especially La Sagrada Familia which is huge cathedral. It is Gaudi´s most famous work and has yet to be finished. They started construction in 1883. It´s breathtaking with its 12 spires for each disciple and all of its intricate detailing. We plan on seeing more of it tomorrow. After our bus tour, we went to go get food. We were starving and got some great gelato. Later as we were walking to dinner, Amy pointed out a French sandwich shop that looked good. I quickly shot down that idea citing the fact that we were in Spain, so we couldn't possibly get French food. I then quickly recommended Subway and the girls cracked up. lol Seeing as how I genuinely wanted Subway, was confused. The girls pointed out that I shot down French food and suggested we eat at an American chain. lol-oops. It was a funny moment. After dinner we went to Mass at Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. It was so beautiful and after Mass we took pictures. We then walked back along La Rumblus which was bustling with people and walked back to the hostel, where I am now.
General Observations of Barcelona-
People don´t sleep here. We think Barcelona should steal NY´s nickname. This is truly the city that doesn´t sleep. We came back at 2 last night (we went to dinner after the show- I had a very Spanish dish...some type of rice. didn´t like it) and the streets were still packed with people.
Spaniards are nice!! Or, at least the one´s we´ve met. They´re friendly, helpful and are a definite change from the French that we´ve met. That being said, we are slightly homesick for France. At least there we can somewhat speak the langauge. Here langauge barriers are definitely more pronounced for us. haha- pronounced. Another funny thing, we keep trying to speak French to them. I guess its habit for us to respond to people with "oui" or "si vous plait". lol We keep laughing at ourselves for doing it. Ashley ordered at Starbucks in French and the guy talked to her in French, thinking it was her first langauge. haha hilarious.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We're doing a girls night tonight. We are going to take a nap (because we have to stay out as late as the Spaniards) get dolled up and hit the down. Maybe go out dancing... we really are loving Barcelona. I'll try to keep you posted (oh so many lame puns tonight) with the events of the evening and tomorrows happenings. There is a lot do and much to see. I´m taking a lot of pictures and look forward to showing them to you! Hope all is well!
February 25- but yesterday´s post
hola!
I am writing this post from my hostel in Barcelona. I am actually just going to type what I wrote in my journal yesterday. It´s split up into different sections- hope you enjoy!
Feb 24
And so Barcelona begins...
As I write this, I am sitting at the port in Barcelona. The sun is slowly climbing higher in the sky and the day is beginning. Barcelona has already been quite the adventure. The bus ride took 7 hours and left Aix at 11PM. Ashley and I took sedatives hoping to sleep the bus ride away. Mission not accomplished. Needless to say, it was a long 7 hours. As we stepped off of the bus, weary and worn and began collecting our bags, we were just in time to see the rest of our group step off into a cab. Still groggy, it took us a minute to realize what had happened. At first we thought they had gotten the cab for us. As their cab sped off we realized this was not the case. They handed us a piece of paper bearing our hostels name before they left. We just stared. Shady business. We laughed because we couldn´t believe it. Ashley, Amy, Ryan and I walked around, slightly bewildered and not fully awake. How do you ask for a cab in Spanish? Luckily Ryan had studied Spanish and asking someone for help. We halied a cab without any problems and proceeded onward to our hostel. We´ll be optimistic and agree with what Ryan said- the other girls just had faith in our ability to get a taxi in a language we didn´t know and somehow find our hostel.
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Sure enough we did and tried to check in. When we reserved the rooms, they said we could check in as early as we wanted to. Turns out, this was not true. The rooms were not vacant for us yet. So we left our stuff there, and went to kill time in the streets of Barcelona. Allow me to say, that the city is slightly shady and night. We were surprised however at how many people were out and about. Ryan, Ashley, Amy and I wandered around until we found the port. We had gotten food before we left, so we sat and ate a little breakfast. Afterwards, we went to a flea market that had set up near the port. We also strolled along La Rumblus which is this famous street in Barcelona. The street was lined with animal vendors and street performers. The street performers were elaborately painted and acted as human statues. One "statue" winked at us, gave us glass pebbles and conned us into taking a picture with him. We laughed and kept walking. We stopped at Starbucks (aaah, finally a big coffee) and chilled out for a while, still killing time before the hostel. Ryan is an art major and he drew our pictures while we drank our coffee. After Starbucks we checked out this ridiculously huge market. So many colors and choices- it was overwhelming. We walked around the city for a while and then decided to try to find Ryan´s hostel. We walked for 30 min to get to the area and then couldn´t find it once we were there. We kept asking locals for directions. We got contradicting directions and were even told at one point that it didn´t exist. We did finally locate it and then Ryan treated us to a metro ride back to our hostel. We all took naps back at the hostel- we completely crashed.
Later that night, we reunited with the other girls and all went to a flamenco dancing place that an Irish woman I met at the market had told us about. It was a real hole in the wall. Really for locals and luckily for us- cheap. It was the coolest thing ever!! The dancers were amazing and it was nice to be in a place that was really Spanish, not simply a show for tourists. There was a band that played- 2 singers (one man, one woman), an acoustic guitarist, a man doing precussions and another man at a bongo. There were two dancers- one man and one woman- who took turns dancing. They both were amazing. The woman was fierce. She was the definition of confidence and the whole performance she had this great look of pride and power on her face. The man was PHENOMENAL! I´ve never seen anyone dance so hard before in my life. He was so into his dancing. Sometimes his face looked like it almost hurt to dance like that- his lips would quiver and show his concentration. Other times he would stare down the audience like it was a bull he was about to face in an arena. He wasn't cocky but he was confident and each move he made showed his self-assurance. He was sexy and sensual but never in an obvious way. He wore black velvet pants and jacket with a red button down shirt and a scarf. He certainly looked the part. He used the coat when he danced and would tug at it or swirl the bottom of it. He tapped his feet faster than I thought it humanly possible. One of the coolest parts of the show was when the music stopped and he slowly stopped his feet from moving... pat...pat..pat. stood still, took a very casual step forward and then slowly built it up again until he was furiously tapping them. He stomped so loud, I´m impressed the heels of his boots didn`t break. That was a cool part of the dancing- the dancers were the primary drummers. The music followed them. The dancing was in no way secondary to the music. At the very end of the show, the dancers brought up two little girls- ages 4 and 8 I would guess. They were clearly daughters of the dancers or the band. The 4 year old was dressed in a full flamenco skirt that reached the ground. It was adorable. They both took turns dancing for the audience. Both had unbelievable stage presence, especially for being kids. When the 8 year old started to dance, her face changed experssions and she looked just like the older dance- every bit as confident and proud. The 4 year old was the same. There was no trace of fear or shyness on her face as she danced in front of the whole audience. It was an awesome show and a great way to end our first day in Spain.
I am writing this post from my hostel in Barcelona. I am actually just going to type what I wrote in my journal yesterday. It´s split up into different sections- hope you enjoy!
Feb 24
And so Barcelona begins...
As I write this, I am sitting at the port in Barcelona. The sun is slowly climbing higher in the sky and the day is beginning. Barcelona has already been quite the adventure. The bus ride took 7 hours and left Aix at 11PM. Ashley and I took sedatives hoping to sleep the bus ride away. Mission not accomplished. Needless to say, it was a long 7 hours. As we stepped off of the bus, weary and worn and began collecting our bags, we were just in time to see the rest of our group step off into a cab. Still groggy, it took us a minute to realize what had happened. At first we thought they had gotten the cab for us. As their cab sped off we realized this was not the case. They handed us a piece of paper bearing our hostels name before they left. We just stared. Shady business. We laughed because we couldn´t believe it. Ashley, Amy, Ryan and I walked around, slightly bewildered and not fully awake. How do you ask for a cab in Spanish? Luckily Ryan had studied Spanish and asking someone for help. We halied a cab without any problems and proceeded onward to our hostel. We´ll be optimistic and agree with what Ryan said- the other girls just had faith in our ability to get a taxi in a language we didn´t know and somehow find our hostel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sure enough we did and tried to check in. When we reserved the rooms, they said we could check in as early as we wanted to. Turns out, this was not true. The rooms were not vacant for us yet. So we left our stuff there, and went to kill time in the streets of Barcelona. Allow me to say, that the city is slightly shady and night. We were surprised however at how many people were out and about. Ryan, Ashley, Amy and I wandered around until we found the port. We had gotten food before we left, so we sat and ate a little breakfast. Afterwards, we went to a flea market that had set up near the port. We also strolled along La Rumblus which is this famous street in Barcelona. The street was lined with animal vendors and street performers. The street performers were elaborately painted and acted as human statues. One "statue" winked at us, gave us glass pebbles and conned us into taking a picture with him. We laughed and kept walking. We stopped at Starbucks (aaah, finally a big coffee) and chilled out for a while, still killing time before the hostel. Ryan is an art major and he drew our pictures while we drank our coffee. After Starbucks we checked out this ridiculously huge market. So many colors and choices- it was overwhelming. We walked around the city for a while and then decided to try to find Ryan´s hostel. We walked for 30 min to get to the area and then couldn´t find it once we were there. We kept asking locals for directions. We got contradicting directions and were even told at one point that it didn´t exist. We did finally locate it and then Ryan treated us to a metro ride back to our hostel. We all took naps back at the hostel- we completely crashed.
Later that night, we reunited with the other girls and all went to a flamenco dancing place that an Irish woman I met at the market had told us about. It was a real hole in the wall. Really for locals and luckily for us- cheap. It was the coolest thing ever!! The dancers were amazing and it was nice to be in a place that was really Spanish, not simply a show for tourists. There was a band that played- 2 singers (one man, one woman), an acoustic guitarist, a man doing precussions and another man at a bongo. There were two dancers- one man and one woman- who took turns dancing. They both were amazing. The woman was fierce. She was the definition of confidence and the whole performance she had this great look of pride and power on her face. The man was PHENOMENAL! I´ve never seen anyone dance so hard before in my life. He was so into his dancing. Sometimes his face looked like it almost hurt to dance like that- his lips would quiver and show his concentration. Other times he would stare down the audience like it was a bull he was about to face in an arena. He wasn't cocky but he was confident and each move he made showed his self-assurance. He was sexy and sensual but never in an obvious way. He wore black velvet pants and jacket with a red button down shirt and a scarf. He certainly looked the part. He used the coat when he danced and would tug at it or swirl the bottom of it. He tapped his feet faster than I thought it humanly possible. One of the coolest parts of the show was when the music stopped and he slowly stopped his feet from moving... pat...pat..pat. stood still, took a very casual step forward and then slowly built it up again until he was furiously tapping them. He stomped so loud, I´m impressed the heels of his boots didn`t break. That was a cool part of the dancing- the dancers were the primary drummers. The music followed them. The dancing was in no way secondary to the music. At the very end of the show, the dancers brought up two little girls- ages 4 and 8 I would guess. They were clearly daughters of the dancers or the band. The 4 year old was dressed in a full flamenco skirt that reached the ground. It was adorable. They both took turns dancing for the audience. Both had unbelievable stage presence, especially for being kids. When the 8 year old started to dance, her face changed experssions and she looked just like the older dance- every bit as confident and proud. The 4 year old was the same. There was no trace of fear or shyness on her face as she danced in front of the whole audience. It was an awesome show and a great way to end our first day in Spain.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
le 21 fevrier: Mercredi des Cendres
Hi all!
I should be doing many other writing assignments before this, but I'm chosing to consider this a warmup. Hope all are well- I'm doing pretty good. I've been pretty tired this week so I haven't done much. Resting up for Spain- 2 more days!! Today is Ash Wednesday. Amy, Ashley and I went to Mass in the Cathedrale. It was a little different- they poured ashes on the head instead of marking a cross on your forehead. It was also white ash. lol Now before you all have images of me walking back to my seat, hair dyed white by massive quanties of ash I should clarify- they just poured a little bit in your hair in the sign of a cross. I'm pretty sure mine blew off as I walked away but Ashely's stayed in for quite some time. :-D Ashley and I teach our class tomorrow so she came over for dinner afterwards. When we went into the church we tried dipping our fingers into the holy water in the huge basin that holds it, but there wasn't really any there. The man next to it (who was dressed in shabby clothing- we think he might have been a bum) told us that there wasn't any there. We began walking to our seat. I noticed Ashley was no longer right by me so I look back and this old woman had grabed her arm and was saying something to her. When we were back in our seat, Ashley laughed and said that the woman had told her that the grungy man had used all of the holy water to brush his teeth. lol We laughed at this old woman's apparent joke and also how random it was that she chose to grab Ashley.
After they poured ashes in our hair, everyone proceeded out of the church into the street. I was very confused and expected to finish Mass. The priest had said however not to return to our seats and taking everyone else's cue, Mass was done. Ashley and I came back, ate dinner and lesson planned. Isabelle happily helped us prepare our lesson. Tomorrow's lesson: meal time. We're doing food words. I'll let you know how that goes.
Mardi Gras: Although it is a French term, I am sad to report that not much was done in Aix for Mardi Gras. Actually when I asked Maxime, he just mentioned New Orleans and shrugged. Marie, my French cousin who I met the first night I was in Aix and who took me to the night club came over however. I love her- she's so sweet! She had brought me a cd that I had asked to burn from her. I'm impressed she remembered. Anyways, with our new wireless internet here we also get new TV channels that you can access from the computer. One new channel we have- MTV. Maxime and I watched Laguna Beach two nights ago. It was hilarious to watch it with him- he kept saying how the kids didn't do anything but talk about relationships. He kept telling the girls on the screen to shut up. lol I told him several times that MTV wasn't a good representation of America's youth. Anyways, Isabelle, Marie, Maxime and I all watched "Parental Control" (a show where the parents choose a new significant other for their son or daughter cause the current one is horrible). Although they think MTV is ridiculous, they seemed to appreciate it quite a bit. They liked commenting on each new date. Ah MTV, bridging all cultures... We also get the Simpsons now... which I love. Its a French version, with French voices. The French voices are very close to the actual voices. I really liked watching it. Now if only they would get Family Guy or better yet, the Office. (I have to buy the new episodes off of iTunes on Fridays)
In the words of Bugs Bunny, that's all folks. Hope this post finds you all well! Much love.
I should be doing many other writing assignments before this, but I'm chosing to consider this a warmup. Hope all are well- I'm doing pretty good. I've been pretty tired this week so I haven't done much. Resting up for Spain- 2 more days!! Today is Ash Wednesday. Amy, Ashley and I went to Mass in the Cathedrale. It was a little different- they poured ashes on the head instead of marking a cross on your forehead. It was also white ash. lol Now before you all have images of me walking back to my seat, hair dyed white by massive quanties of ash I should clarify- they just poured a little bit in your hair in the sign of a cross. I'm pretty sure mine blew off as I walked away but Ashely's stayed in for quite some time. :-D Ashley and I teach our class tomorrow so she came over for dinner afterwards. When we went into the church we tried dipping our fingers into the holy water in the huge basin that holds it, but there wasn't really any there. The man next to it (who was dressed in shabby clothing- we think he might have been a bum) told us that there wasn't any there. We began walking to our seat. I noticed Ashley was no longer right by me so I look back and this old woman had grabed her arm and was saying something to her. When we were back in our seat, Ashley laughed and said that the woman had told her that the grungy man had used all of the holy water to brush his teeth. lol We laughed at this old woman's apparent joke and also how random it was that she chose to grab Ashley.
After they poured ashes in our hair, everyone proceeded out of the church into the street. I was very confused and expected to finish Mass. The priest had said however not to return to our seats and taking everyone else's cue, Mass was done. Ashley and I came back, ate dinner and lesson planned. Isabelle happily helped us prepare our lesson. Tomorrow's lesson: meal time. We're doing food words. I'll let you know how that goes.
Mardi Gras: Although it is a French term, I am sad to report that not much was done in Aix for Mardi Gras. Actually when I asked Maxime, he just mentioned New Orleans and shrugged. Marie, my French cousin who I met the first night I was in Aix and who took me to the night club came over however. I love her- she's so sweet! She had brought me a cd that I had asked to burn from her. I'm impressed she remembered. Anyways, with our new wireless internet here we also get new TV channels that you can access from the computer. One new channel we have- MTV. Maxime and I watched Laguna Beach two nights ago. It was hilarious to watch it with him- he kept saying how the kids didn't do anything but talk about relationships. He kept telling the girls on the screen to shut up. lol I told him several times that MTV wasn't a good representation of America's youth. Anyways, Isabelle, Marie, Maxime and I all watched "Parental Control" (a show where the parents choose a new significant other for their son or daughter cause the current one is horrible). Although they think MTV is ridiculous, they seemed to appreciate it quite a bit. They liked commenting on each new date. Ah MTV, bridging all cultures... We also get the Simpsons now... which I love. Its a French version, with French voices. The French voices are very close to the actual voices. I really liked watching it. Now if only they would get Family Guy or better yet, the Office. (I have to buy the new episodes off of iTunes on Fridays)
In the words of Bugs Bunny, that's all folks. Hope this post finds you all well! Much love.
Friday, February 16, 2007
le 16 fevrier
Coucou!
We just learned in my Oral French class that “coucou” is a popular way of saying hello here.
Ah, I finally I post. I feel like its been a while, and I have a lot to tell you about. So lets begin…
First, to answer some questions. No Cathy, I have not cooked any American cuisine for my French family yet. If I could cook like many of the talented chefs in our family then maybe I would. I’ve been trying to think what would be a really American meal for me to cook for them. My mind always reverts to mashed potatoes. I know my mom is probably smiling at that one- yes, my favorite food. But I am not a very coordinated cook and all of the appliances in France are old school so I don’t know if they would even have electric beaters that I would need. It took me a while to figure out how to work an old fashioned can opener back home this summer, so I’m thinking that I would struggle with the utensils here. So I have chosen to avoid further embarrassment and instead sit patiently, waiting for them to feed me. ☺
But please know that on days where I am being fed raw meat (by their relatives) or parts of birds that I didn’t believe were possible to eat, my mind wanders back to eating at Grandma’s house. The pain is intense in those moments, and I long for the Wasem’s spaghetti, Aunt Abby’s dip (that she makes especially for me) as well as all of the other culinary delights of our family.
Also, Aix is pronounced “ex” for those of you who were wondering.
A few more trivial things that I have noticed throughout my four weeks here… The pigeons here are numerous and they are not afraid of people. I’ve found that the big fat pigeons here walk more than they fly and they hang out around cafes waiting for a handout. One time I was leaning up against a fountain (coincidentally eating a pastry- how cliché is that?) and the birds kept walking up to me, heads bobbing furiously back and forth as they approached. They seriously would have walked straight into me had I not stopped my foot. I’m not sure what the animals of Aix have against me. Maybe they too spot me as a tourist and plan their modes of attack accordingly. Having distracted me with a pastry, they ram full speed into me in hopes that I will drop it. Who knows? But you gotta watch out for them. They know what they’re doing.
Oh the mopeds- as I have told some of you, after living in Aix I now have a strong desire to buy a moped. They seem like they are so much fun. Alas, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with mopeds. They are small and fast and thus can zip in and out of herds of people rather quickly. I have often played chicken with the mopeds here. “Are you going left? No? Right… I’m gonna go to um, I, um… this side?!” followed by a quick barrel roll out of their path. Haha ok, maybe I exaggerate. But I do think that often the moped-ists laugh at my indecision to chose a side to move to sometimes. Cars are like that too in Aix. The streets here are very narrow and often pretty crowded with people. As a logical American, I think to myself- this street is too small for a car to fit in. Also, it would be extremely dangerous for all of the pedestrians. -But the Europeans never cease to amaze me with their driving abilities. Where some would see a dangerous situation for all involved, they see an opportunity. Lol Let me recreate a typical day in a street here. People are walking in the middle of the street. Suddenly, you hear a noise. It is an approaching car. Everyone moves to the side and the car speeds by. The pedestrians flood the road again. At first, I was scared to death of the cars. No joke. I would jump each time one came. Now I confidently know the streets the cars can come down and from what direction. The street that my school is on is very narrow and cars come up it a lot. There is still a part of me that sometimes questions if me and a car will both fit in the street at the same time- especially at the top (it tapers and is even narrower). The French always answer that question with a yes, and zoom up RIGHT beside me. Another thing about the roads is some of them have these little posts in the middle of the street that attempt to slow traffic. As a car stops at the little light, the car is sensed and the little posts recede into the ground. The car passes, and they spring back up. It’s kinda cool in my opinion.
Alright, now onto more interesting topics…
My Archeology Teacher.
This is a post that I have been longing to write since my first archeology class. I don’t pretend to have an incredible interest in archeology. When I was signing up for classes I looked for opportunities to travel and also looked for classes that I figured would be interesting. So, I’m taking archeology and I couldn’t be happier. The class is taught by this young French teacher. He is absolutely, positively HILARIOUS. The class is taught in English and his accent is very strong. For those of you who are familiar with Father of the Bride think back to Frank (pronounced Fraunk). It’s kinda like that. I am continually impressed with his ability to make English sound like French. He is really funny anyways so add in the accent and he is a riot. We’re always wondering what he’s going to say next. Often in class I take more notes on what the phrases he has said than the actual material for class. SIDENOTE TO PARENTS: I AM FOCUSING ON THE LESSON AS WELL. :-D Lets go through some of the gems that he has said…
First off: The Affirmations…
In order to check his English, after almost every word he says we hear…
-yes?
-that’s ok?
-that’s logical?
-yes- you agree?
-that makes sense?
-yes, that’s fine?
Moving on to some truly great pronunciations/phrases….
I hope these don’t end up being one of those “you had to be there” kinds of thing, and it’s hard to type out how they sound. Just know, its funny to see which syllable he’s going to emphasize each time. Also, words seem to suddenly take on more syllables.
(Often the h is silent which makes sense because the French don’t pronounce it but its often funny to hear continually…) ‘elpful, ‘aven’t
-o- cured (occurred)
-veg-JET-tables (vegetables)
-I. D. (idea) as in “just to give you an I.D. (idea)…
-care-ACT-o-rized (characterized)
-un-AL-eezed (analyzed)
-inter-PRETING (interpreting)
- arpoo (harpoons)
- teef (teeth) the “th” is always pronounced as an f- understandably hard for them
-ans-WERE (answer)
-ca-MENT-aries (cemeteries)
-knowl-EDGES (knowledge) things often get “s”es that don’t have an s
-at (ate)
-peezants (peasants)
-soap (soup)
-fir (fear)
- to afraid the animals (to scare the animals)
-ma-moof (mammoth)
-lab-or-AT-ory (laboratory)
-when the tree was bornt (born)
-huge fire forests (huge forest fires)
The Quotes…. (it was hard to regain composure in class after hearing these)
(talking about cannibalism and religion- and being totally serious) “Isn’t that one of the ten? Isn’t that one of the ten commandments- not to eat your wife?”
(also on the topic of cannibalism) “Ok, so Grandmofer iz lying by the fire- she iz not moving, not reading stories to the children… pfff…ok, time to barbeque.”
(explaining why the caveman in the ice didn’t decompose) “the bacteries (bacteria) couldn’t wake up and eat him. “
(momentary loss for English- talking about different objects to make jewelry with) “You can have… a lot of words I don’t know how to say”
After writing these and rereading them, I realize that I cannot recapture the hilarity of these comments. Just know that they are great. Maybe I should record one of his classes for all of you… its truly a treat.
Next topic….
Valentine’s Day in France
So yesterday was Valentine’s Day. All of the American students obviously saw this as a great opportunity to buy gifts for our awesome host families. I, being one of them, eagerly bought my host mom a lovely tin of cookies and a box of chocolates for each of the boys. On Valentine’s Day, I walked into the living room and presented Guillaume his gift, smiled and wished him a happy Valentine’s Day. He looked a little confused but I thought it was just because he didn’t expect anything from me. Isabelle came into the room from the kitchen and I gave her the tin. She looked very surprised. She thanked me and after a minute she asked me in French if Americans give their family Valentine’s Day gifts. I said yes and she laughed. In France, Valentine’s Day is only for people in a romantic relationship. Hahaha Hence their surprise. They were both very happy to get the gifts, but very shocked. Isabelle loved it because she didn’t have a valentine this year after having broken up with her live in boyfriend not too long ago. She didn’t stop smiling. I felt a little awkward having bought my French brothers chocolates, which was obviously seen as a flirtatious move. Haha- oh but it gets better. I still had to give Maxime his gift. I now knew that it would be misinterpreted. Later Maxime was in the kitchen and I presented him with his box and hesitantly wished him a happy Valentine’s day. He also looked a little surprised and gave me a smile. Lol Isabelle quickly told him that in the United States, the family gets Vday gifts too. Hahaha- So I totally hit on my two French brothers by giving them gifts. AWKWARD! So typical of my life, especially here. Flash forward to later that night when Guillaume and a friend were driving me to Ashley’s house. As I got into the car, Guillaume’s friend- who I had met before- smiled at me and said “Happy Valentine’s Day!” and I said the same thing back. Of course, the two boys started laughing. Guillaume said “Kelly- its only for people dating!” (his friend was obviously teasing me) and I said, yes after today’s events- I know this now. They both laughed. Then his friend (who is really nice) started asking me if I had a “petit ami” back home. Knowing its too difficult to translate “yes but it’s complicated” I just said yes and then answered all of his questions. He kept switching back and forth from English and French. Right as I am getting out of the car, he says “ Don’t be sad that your boyfriend is not here- someday us will get married and have the children.” Me, now extremely confused, asked him “You and me? We will get married and have the children?” Guillaume started cracking up and his friend just looked really confused. Guillaume explained that he had said the equivalent of “nous” to me and then his friend started laughing too. He said “No- I meant you and your boyfriend. But sure, maybe someday we will get married.”
Please take a moment and relish the awkwardness of my life. Not only did I hit on both of my French brothers yesterday, but also their friend.
Hahaha- all you can do is laugh. I pity the kids here who don’t have a sense of humor. Except I think I have more embarrassing moments than most- leave it to me.
Moving on…
Teaching at the French School
I am also in a comparative education class here. Part of the course requirement is teaching an English class at a French elementary school. Ashley and I teach a class together and today was our first day. The class we are teaching has students who are 8-10 years old. Luckily last night I told Isabelle our lesson plan and she told me that she thought we had too much material for one class. We changed our lesson and broke it up into two. For the first lesson we had the students pick American names. We also worked on “Hello. My name is _____. I am ___ years old. I go to St. Catherine’s (their school)” and the questions that correspond with meeting someone.
After our class today, Ashley and I couldn’t stop gushing about how cute the kids were. They were adorable- tres mignon! I was nervous before we began, because I was worried that my French wouldn’t hold up. We came into the classroom and the kids were filing in from recess. They all told us “Hello” or “Bonjour” and sat down. “La maitress” their teacher gave us an introduction and then Ashley and I explained our classroom rules to them in French. After we were done, the teacher asked the class what we said the rules were. Hands shot up and they answered her. Then Ashley and I introduced ourselves in English. After we were done, the teacher again asked the students what we said we liked to do. They responded to her in French. It was really cute- some kept repeating what the others said. After that we started by acting out how you say hello to someone. Ashley would say something and then say the French equivalent. The teacher sternly told her not to translate. As we acted out our introductions, we told them that in the United States we don’t do the bissou but rather shake hands. There were some giggles at that one. After we showed them how we say hello, we went around the room and had them say “Nice to meet you” and their ages one by one. They really found it hard to say “years.” The y is a challenge for them. Then we had them pick their new names. First we pronounced all of them in English. Katie, Lindsey, Amanda, Amy, Beth, Rachel, Lauren, Sarah, Anna, Kelsey… etc and Tommy, Kyle, Brian, Matt, Mike, Dylan, Pat, Kevin, Mark…. You get the point. Haha note how many of those are friends or family members of mine. Anyways, Beth was pronounced “Bet” and though the girls loved the name Rachel, none of them could say it. The boys were also excited and really liked Pat and Tommy. After they picked, they filled out a passport paper we had made for them. They drew a picture of themselves and wrote My name is (their new name). I am __ years old. I go to St. Catherines. Next week we are going to do “I like” and “I dislike” which they will also fill out on the passports. They kids really liked us because we were friendlier and more encouraging than their teacher. I don’t know if many of you know this (and I’m sure I’ll discuss this in further detail another blog post) but the education system is very rigid in France. The kids are used to being compared to one another and drilled for memorization. So I think an hour with some nice American students was a good reprieve for them.
I think that teaching this class will become one of my most fulfilling experiences here in Aix and a very important part of my study of the French culture.
Alright, this was a marathon posting session and I think I’ve given a pretty good conclusion of this past week. I will try to post more regularly so you guys don’t have such a long post to read. Hope you enjoyed it and that everything is going well for all of you! Hope that snow melts away. Not that I would know what that’s like. I went for a run today in short sleeves- it was so sunny!! ;-) Sorry, this is my revenge for the kids at U of I who rubbed it in my face that they had two snow days…
Much love.
We just learned in my Oral French class that “coucou” is a popular way of saying hello here.
Ah, I finally I post. I feel like its been a while, and I have a lot to tell you about. So lets begin…
First, to answer some questions. No Cathy, I have not cooked any American cuisine for my French family yet. If I could cook like many of the talented chefs in our family then maybe I would. I’ve been trying to think what would be a really American meal for me to cook for them. My mind always reverts to mashed potatoes. I know my mom is probably smiling at that one- yes, my favorite food. But I am not a very coordinated cook and all of the appliances in France are old school so I don’t know if they would even have electric beaters that I would need. It took me a while to figure out how to work an old fashioned can opener back home this summer, so I’m thinking that I would struggle with the utensils here. So I have chosen to avoid further embarrassment and instead sit patiently, waiting for them to feed me. ☺
But please know that on days where I am being fed raw meat (by their relatives) or parts of birds that I didn’t believe were possible to eat, my mind wanders back to eating at Grandma’s house. The pain is intense in those moments, and I long for the Wasem’s spaghetti, Aunt Abby’s dip (that she makes especially for me) as well as all of the other culinary delights of our family.
Also, Aix is pronounced “ex” for those of you who were wondering.
A few more trivial things that I have noticed throughout my four weeks here… The pigeons here are numerous and they are not afraid of people. I’ve found that the big fat pigeons here walk more than they fly and they hang out around cafes waiting for a handout. One time I was leaning up against a fountain (coincidentally eating a pastry- how cliché is that?) and the birds kept walking up to me, heads bobbing furiously back and forth as they approached. They seriously would have walked straight into me had I not stopped my foot. I’m not sure what the animals of Aix have against me. Maybe they too spot me as a tourist and plan their modes of attack accordingly. Having distracted me with a pastry, they ram full speed into me in hopes that I will drop it. Who knows? But you gotta watch out for them. They know what they’re doing.
Oh the mopeds- as I have told some of you, after living in Aix I now have a strong desire to buy a moped. They seem like they are so much fun. Alas, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with mopeds. They are small and fast and thus can zip in and out of herds of people rather quickly. I have often played chicken with the mopeds here. “Are you going left? No? Right… I’m gonna go to um, I, um… this side?!” followed by a quick barrel roll out of their path. Haha ok, maybe I exaggerate. But I do think that often the moped-ists laugh at my indecision to chose a side to move to sometimes. Cars are like that too in Aix. The streets here are very narrow and often pretty crowded with people. As a logical American, I think to myself- this street is too small for a car to fit in. Also, it would be extremely dangerous for all of the pedestrians. -But the Europeans never cease to amaze me with their driving abilities. Where some would see a dangerous situation for all involved, they see an opportunity. Lol Let me recreate a typical day in a street here. People are walking in the middle of the street. Suddenly, you hear a noise. It is an approaching car. Everyone moves to the side and the car speeds by. The pedestrians flood the road again. At first, I was scared to death of the cars. No joke. I would jump each time one came. Now I confidently know the streets the cars can come down and from what direction. The street that my school is on is very narrow and cars come up it a lot. There is still a part of me that sometimes questions if me and a car will both fit in the street at the same time- especially at the top (it tapers and is even narrower). The French always answer that question with a yes, and zoom up RIGHT beside me. Another thing about the roads is some of them have these little posts in the middle of the street that attempt to slow traffic. As a car stops at the little light, the car is sensed and the little posts recede into the ground. The car passes, and they spring back up. It’s kinda cool in my opinion.
Alright, now onto more interesting topics…
My Archeology Teacher.
This is a post that I have been longing to write since my first archeology class. I don’t pretend to have an incredible interest in archeology. When I was signing up for classes I looked for opportunities to travel and also looked for classes that I figured would be interesting. So, I’m taking archeology and I couldn’t be happier. The class is taught by this young French teacher. He is absolutely, positively HILARIOUS. The class is taught in English and his accent is very strong. For those of you who are familiar with Father of the Bride think back to Frank (pronounced Fraunk). It’s kinda like that. I am continually impressed with his ability to make English sound like French. He is really funny anyways so add in the accent and he is a riot. We’re always wondering what he’s going to say next. Often in class I take more notes on what the phrases he has said than the actual material for class. SIDENOTE TO PARENTS: I AM FOCUSING ON THE LESSON AS WELL. :-D Lets go through some of the gems that he has said…
First off: The Affirmations…
In order to check his English, after almost every word he says we hear…
-yes?
-that’s ok?
-that’s logical?
-yes- you agree?
-that makes sense?
-yes, that’s fine?
Moving on to some truly great pronunciations/phrases….
I hope these don’t end up being one of those “you had to be there” kinds of thing, and it’s hard to type out how they sound. Just know, its funny to see which syllable he’s going to emphasize each time. Also, words seem to suddenly take on more syllables.
(Often the h is silent which makes sense because the French don’t pronounce it but its often funny to hear continually…) ‘elpful, ‘aven’t
-o- cured (occurred)
-veg-JET-tables (vegetables)
-I. D. (idea) as in “just to give you an I.D. (idea)…
-care-ACT-o-rized (characterized)
-un-AL-eezed (analyzed)
-inter-PRETING (interpreting)
- arpoo (harpoons)
- teef (teeth) the “th” is always pronounced as an f- understandably hard for them
-ans-WERE (answer)
-ca-MENT-aries (cemeteries)
-knowl-EDGES (knowledge) things often get “s”es that don’t have an s
-at (ate)
-peezants (peasants)
-soap (soup)
-fir (fear)
- to afraid the animals (to scare the animals)
-ma-moof (mammoth)
-lab-or-AT-ory (laboratory)
-when the tree was bornt (born)
-huge fire forests (huge forest fires)
The Quotes…. (it was hard to regain composure in class after hearing these)
(talking about cannibalism and religion- and being totally serious) “Isn’t that one of the ten? Isn’t that one of the ten commandments- not to eat your wife?”
(also on the topic of cannibalism) “Ok, so Grandmofer iz lying by the fire- she iz not moving, not reading stories to the children… pfff…ok, time to barbeque.”
(explaining why the caveman in the ice didn’t decompose) “the bacteries (bacteria) couldn’t wake up and eat him. “
(momentary loss for English- talking about different objects to make jewelry with) “You can have… a lot of words I don’t know how to say”
After writing these and rereading them, I realize that I cannot recapture the hilarity of these comments. Just know that they are great. Maybe I should record one of his classes for all of you… its truly a treat.
Next topic….
Valentine’s Day in France
So yesterday was Valentine’s Day. All of the American students obviously saw this as a great opportunity to buy gifts for our awesome host families. I, being one of them, eagerly bought my host mom a lovely tin of cookies and a box of chocolates for each of the boys. On Valentine’s Day, I walked into the living room and presented Guillaume his gift, smiled and wished him a happy Valentine’s Day. He looked a little confused but I thought it was just because he didn’t expect anything from me. Isabelle came into the room from the kitchen and I gave her the tin. She looked very surprised. She thanked me and after a minute she asked me in French if Americans give their family Valentine’s Day gifts. I said yes and she laughed. In France, Valentine’s Day is only for people in a romantic relationship. Hahaha Hence their surprise. They were both very happy to get the gifts, but very shocked. Isabelle loved it because she didn’t have a valentine this year after having broken up with her live in boyfriend not too long ago. She didn’t stop smiling. I felt a little awkward having bought my French brothers chocolates, which was obviously seen as a flirtatious move. Haha- oh but it gets better. I still had to give Maxime his gift. I now knew that it would be misinterpreted. Later Maxime was in the kitchen and I presented him with his box and hesitantly wished him a happy Valentine’s day. He also looked a little surprised and gave me a smile. Lol Isabelle quickly told him that in the United States, the family gets Vday gifts too. Hahaha- So I totally hit on my two French brothers by giving them gifts. AWKWARD! So typical of my life, especially here. Flash forward to later that night when Guillaume and a friend were driving me to Ashley’s house. As I got into the car, Guillaume’s friend- who I had met before- smiled at me and said “Happy Valentine’s Day!” and I said the same thing back. Of course, the two boys started laughing. Guillaume said “Kelly- its only for people dating!” (his friend was obviously teasing me) and I said, yes after today’s events- I know this now. They both laughed. Then his friend (who is really nice) started asking me if I had a “petit ami” back home. Knowing its too difficult to translate “yes but it’s complicated” I just said yes and then answered all of his questions. He kept switching back and forth from English and French. Right as I am getting out of the car, he says “ Don’t be sad that your boyfriend is not here- someday us will get married and have the children.” Me, now extremely confused, asked him “You and me? We will get married and have the children?” Guillaume started cracking up and his friend just looked really confused. Guillaume explained that he had said the equivalent of “nous” to me and then his friend started laughing too. He said “No- I meant you and your boyfriend. But sure, maybe someday we will get married.”
Please take a moment and relish the awkwardness of my life. Not only did I hit on both of my French brothers yesterday, but also their friend.
Hahaha- all you can do is laugh. I pity the kids here who don’t have a sense of humor. Except I think I have more embarrassing moments than most- leave it to me.
Moving on…
Teaching at the French School
I am also in a comparative education class here. Part of the course requirement is teaching an English class at a French elementary school. Ashley and I teach a class together and today was our first day. The class we are teaching has students who are 8-10 years old. Luckily last night I told Isabelle our lesson plan and she told me that she thought we had too much material for one class. We changed our lesson and broke it up into two. For the first lesson we had the students pick American names. We also worked on “Hello. My name is _____. I am ___ years old. I go to St. Catherine’s (their school)” and the questions that correspond with meeting someone.
After our class today, Ashley and I couldn’t stop gushing about how cute the kids were. They were adorable- tres mignon! I was nervous before we began, because I was worried that my French wouldn’t hold up. We came into the classroom and the kids were filing in from recess. They all told us “Hello” or “Bonjour” and sat down. “La maitress” their teacher gave us an introduction and then Ashley and I explained our classroom rules to them in French. After we were done, the teacher asked the class what we said the rules were. Hands shot up and they answered her. Then Ashley and I introduced ourselves in English. After we were done, the teacher again asked the students what we said we liked to do. They responded to her in French. It was really cute- some kept repeating what the others said. After that we started by acting out how you say hello to someone. Ashley would say something and then say the French equivalent. The teacher sternly told her not to translate. As we acted out our introductions, we told them that in the United States we don’t do the bissou but rather shake hands. There were some giggles at that one. After we showed them how we say hello, we went around the room and had them say “Nice to meet you” and their ages one by one. They really found it hard to say “years.” The y is a challenge for them. Then we had them pick their new names. First we pronounced all of them in English. Katie, Lindsey, Amanda, Amy, Beth, Rachel, Lauren, Sarah, Anna, Kelsey… etc and Tommy, Kyle, Brian, Matt, Mike, Dylan, Pat, Kevin, Mark…. You get the point. Haha note how many of those are friends or family members of mine. Anyways, Beth was pronounced “Bet” and though the girls loved the name Rachel, none of them could say it. The boys were also excited and really liked Pat and Tommy. After they picked, they filled out a passport paper we had made for them. They drew a picture of themselves and wrote My name is (their new name). I am __ years old. I go to St. Catherines. Next week we are going to do “I like” and “I dislike” which they will also fill out on the passports. They kids really liked us because we were friendlier and more encouraging than their teacher. I don’t know if many of you know this (and I’m sure I’ll discuss this in further detail another blog post) but the education system is very rigid in France. The kids are used to being compared to one another and drilled for memorization. So I think an hour with some nice American students was a good reprieve for them.
I think that teaching this class will become one of my most fulfilling experiences here in Aix and a very important part of my study of the French culture.
Alright, this was a marathon posting session and I think I’ve given a pretty good conclusion of this past week. I will try to post more regularly so you guys don’t have such a long post to read. Hope you enjoyed it and that everything is going well for all of you! Hope that snow melts away. Not that I would know what that’s like. I went for a run today in short sleeves- it was so sunny!! ;-) Sorry, this is my revenge for the kids at U of I who rubbed it in my face that they had two snow days…
Much love.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Catch Up Posting- Feb 12
Hey all! Below are posts I wrote the past two nights. I haven't had internet at my French home so I have to post them at school. Hence the delay.
Hope you enjoy!
Saturday Feb 10
Hi all!
I am currently alone in the apartment. So naturally I am blaring The Supremes and dancing around. :-D Aaaand now catching up my poor neglected blog. I am actually waiting for Guillome to pick me up to go to Marseille. His best friend, a girl named Perrine, lives there. He invited me to go there and hang out with some of his friends tonight. I’m excited. Isabelle is out with friends tonight and Maxime is skiing so I’m looking forward to heading out of the house.
I serenaded Liza- the evil cat- as I walked through. She scratched me earlier. She didn’t seem to appreciate my singing. I seriously cringe as I walk past her sitting on the couch. I can see her suddenly lunging at me. She randomly punched me one day. Haha I say punched because I was just sitting at the table and she took a paw and smacked my face. Luckily with claws retracted. She’s the meanest of the French that I’ve encountered thus far. She did let me pet her today. I should have known our friendship would be short lived. I now bear her claw marks in my right hand.
I never liked cats anyways.
Today I went with my photography class to Avignon. It was pretty cool. We went to see an American photographer’s exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was… interesting. I actually had seen some of the exhibit displayed in Peoria at the Art Guild. How random is that? The photographer had a section of his work that was just portraits of Americans (which was part of what I had seen) as well as- kid you not- sections entitled “bodily fluids”, “the morgue”, and “desire items”, and “the history of sex.” It was a bit hard for me to stomach, not gonna lie. haha I can’t even blame France for this one- it was an American artist. To break it down a bit, “the morgue” contained pictures of human cadavers, “desire items” were close up pictures of guns, and as for the other two, I’ll let the imaginations run free. Lets label the exhibit “creative” and move on…
I should tell you that when we got to Avignon in the morning it was gray, cold and raining. By the time we left the museum, the sun was out and the sky was blue. Provence has yet to fail me.
Afterwards, we had time to roam the streets of Avignon. Amy and I went to go get food. We were starving, so we decided to go to this random restaurant. Not the best, but not horrible. I ate a lunch crepe and we went in search of the Palais des Papes. The “Palace of the Popes” is Avignon’s main claim to fame. It acted as the host of the Popes when there was a need for them to leave Rome. I don’t pretend to fully grasp the situation, even after listening to the tour guide phones we were given. Anyways, it was beautiful. There was a great moment where I was wondering the halls and decided that the room I was in should be documented in a picture. Haha… I wasn’t even in a heavily populated room, but after the flash went off I hear a voice yell at me in French not to take pictures. Oops- missed that sign. I wish I could accurately describe what being in the Palais des Papes was like. It was HUGE and stairwells kept winding up into different rooms. My favorite part was when we got to go up onto this lookout type thing. The view of Avignon was great. We were starting to run out of time, so we left the Palais to go find the Pont Saint-Benezet- Avignon’s famous bridge. We had to majorly book it. The bridge juts out into the Rhone River. It doesn’t lead anywhere and in my opinion is a bit random. It is very pretty though and by the time we were there, the sun was out in full force. There is this French song about people dancing on the bridge. So, naturally we danced and took photos. It was really cute because there was this group of older, British people walking the bridge and taking pictures too. The two older women in the group went into the middle of the bridge, held hands and posed as dancers. Amy and I smiled, and after seeing our amusement, they asked us to join them. So we went, held hands with British strangers and danced on the bridge of Avignon. It was a really cool moment. We all laughed.
Then Amy and I noticed that we were really late and needed desperately to get to the other side of Avignon to meet the bus. We started sprinting through the streets, dogging the French right and left. Haha We seriously ran for it! Luckily, the bus waited for us. Our photography teacher came to the back of the bus and told us about how the area used to speak its own Provincial language. He is an old Scottish man and in his shaky voice he sang to us a song he knew in that language. It was like being serenaded by a Scottish grandfather (or a very old Sean Connery). It was great- we all loved it and clapped when he was done.
We got a great view of the mountains as we drove the hour it took to get home. It was hard to stay awake though- it had been a long day.
Sorry this was the only post from this week. Not much happened- my Spain group booked our first night’s stay in Barcelona. We got a “guest house” type thing. It is supposedly not quite a hostel, but who knows. We’re very excited! If only we didn’t have school until then…
I tried using the calling cards that I was given. That was a frustration beyond belief. It didn’t work, and I need to find “access codes” for France. If anyone knows how to work one- please, enlighten me.
I keep waving. Ashley and I have decided that after habitually waving for 19 years, it is too much to ask us to stop our waving reflexes in three weeks. Perhaps with time…
______________________________________________
THE SUNDAY POST
Feb 11
Hey all. Today I am not doing much. Working on a paper that should have been done a while ago and going to church tonight.
Last night was fun. Guillome and I drove to Marseille. It was neat getting to see the city at night. It’s weird though. I know that France is going to be different than the States but each time I’m surprised at how different it is. I’ve heard many times that Marseille has bounced back and forth from being France’s second largest city to third largest. So when envisioning it, I pictured a big city and a skyline of a city like Chicago, St. Louis, etc. I kept waiting for the moment where the city opens up in front of you and there are a ton of lights. It’s not the same here. True, there are many buildings and there are lights but the intensity is not the same. The buildings are still very old and the lights are yellow and dim. It’s not like I’m being closed minded, but you just come to expect certain things. It took us a while to find a place to park. Europeans are crazy drivers. They zoom so fast in the narrowest, most populated streets. Driving with Guillome even in Aix I begin to pray for the safety of the pedestrians further up the street. “Please let them get out of the street… please.” Mom, as we drove on the autoroute I kept thinking about how nauseous you would be. My ears popped as we slowed back down nearing the city. They don’t take regular lefts either. There are all of these circles that you follow around to your turn. So coming from a high speed into one of those somewhat reminds me of a rollercoaster ride. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but riding with a French person driving is an experience. It’s true. Guillome laughed at me because as we were crossing the street there was a red sign to the pedestrians. A car was coming up and Guillome quickly crossed the street and I started to but then went back. Lol I didn’t think I would have time to cross. They just drive so freaking fast. I had to wait a minute before I felt I could get safely across.
Anyways, the party was ok. Yet another potentially awkward situation for me. We came in and –kiss kiss- said hello to everyone. The whole “bissou” (kissing) is still weird for me. Especially to the guys that I don’t know. I always hesitate like “Do I initiate this? Do I just go and kiss you now?” It’s random. I think that I’m supposed to say my name as we kiss because they usually tell me theirs and after I did the kiss kiss to one girl she said “Well I’m (insert name here) but I don’t know who you are.” Guillome told her my name and reminded her that I was the American. Then she smiled and was like “ok!” Perrine was awesome. So nice. When I told Guillome how much I liked her later he smiled and said “She’s not my best friend for nothing.” She spoke a mixture of English and French to me. She kept teasing Guillome and would include me in it and let me poke fun at him too. She is a journalist in Paris and both her and Guillome said that I had to go to Paris with Guillome when he goes. They told me they would take me out to where they go and let me sleep at her place. How great is that? So far, I have two different housing options in Paris- Perrine now, and Nicholas, Isabelle’s other son who lives in the heart of Paris. La vie est belle. The rest of the party went well. The three of us talked most of the night because we didn’t really know many of the other people there.
Another great moment from last night- Perrine was talking about how she used to know a lot of American students who went to the art school near her house. She called them her big sisters and Guillome said in French that he now had an American little sister. :-D
Gros Bis! Kelly
FINAL NOTE: Ashley and I went to Mass at the Cathedral tonight. We cracked up at the end because we kept trying to sing this song in French and we were butchering it. Hey, at least we tried!
Hope you enjoy!
Saturday Feb 10
Hi all!
I am currently alone in the apartment. So naturally I am blaring The Supremes and dancing around. :-D Aaaand now catching up my poor neglected blog. I am actually waiting for Guillome to pick me up to go to Marseille. His best friend, a girl named Perrine, lives there. He invited me to go there and hang out with some of his friends tonight. I’m excited. Isabelle is out with friends tonight and Maxime is skiing so I’m looking forward to heading out of the house.
I serenaded Liza- the evil cat- as I walked through. She scratched me earlier. She didn’t seem to appreciate my singing. I seriously cringe as I walk past her sitting on the couch. I can see her suddenly lunging at me. She randomly punched me one day. Haha I say punched because I was just sitting at the table and she took a paw and smacked my face. Luckily with claws retracted. She’s the meanest of the French that I’ve encountered thus far. She did let me pet her today. I should have known our friendship would be short lived. I now bear her claw marks in my right hand.
I never liked cats anyways.
Today I went with my photography class to Avignon. It was pretty cool. We went to see an American photographer’s exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was… interesting. I actually had seen some of the exhibit displayed in Peoria at the Art Guild. How random is that? The photographer had a section of his work that was just portraits of Americans (which was part of what I had seen) as well as- kid you not- sections entitled “bodily fluids”, “the morgue”, and “desire items”, and “the history of sex.” It was a bit hard for me to stomach, not gonna lie. haha I can’t even blame France for this one- it was an American artist. To break it down a bit, “the morgue” contained pictures of human cadavers, “desire items” were close up pictures of guns, and as for the other two, I’ll let the imaginations run free. Lets label the exhibit “creative” and move on…
I should tell you that when we got to Avignon in the morning it was gray, cold and raining. By the time we left the museum, the sun was out and the sky was blue. Provence has yet to fail me.
Afterwards, we had time to roam the streets of Avignon. Amy and I went to go get food. We were starving, so we decided to go to this random restaurant. Not the best, but not horrible. I ate a lunch crepe and we went in search of the Palais des Papes. The “Palace of the Popes” is Avignon’s main claim to fame. It acted as the host of the Popes when there was a need for them to leave Rome. I don’t pretend to fully grasp the situation, even after listening to the tour guide phones we were given. Anyways, it was beautiful. There was a great moment where I was wondering the halls and decided that the room I was in should be documented in a picture. Haha… I wasn’t even in a heavily populated room, but after the flash went off I hear a voice yell at me in French not to take pictures. Oops- missed that sign. I wish I could accurately describe what being in the Palais des Papes was like. It was HUGE and stairwells kept winding up into different rooms. My favorite part was when we got to go up onto this lookout type thing. The view of Avignon was great. We were starting to run out of time, so we left the Palais to go find the Pont Saint-Benezet- Avignon’s famous bridge. We had to majorly book it. The bridge juts out into the Rhone River. It doesn’t lead anywhere and in my opinion is a bit random. It is very pretty though and by the time we were there, the sun was out in full force. There is this French song about people dancing on the bridge. So, naturally we danced and took photos. It was really cute because there was this group of older, British people walking the bridge and taking pictures too. The two older women in the group went into the middle of the bridge, held hands and posed as dancers. Amy and I smiled, and after seeing our amusement, they asked us to join them. So we went, held hands with British strangers and danced on the bridge of Avignon. It was a really cool moment. We all laughed.
Then Amy and I noticed that we were really late and needed desperately to get to the other side of Avignon to meet the bus. We started sprinting through the streets, dogging the French right and left. Haha We seriously ran for it! Luckily, the bus waited for us. Our photography teacher came to the back of the bus and told us about how the area used to speak its own Provincial language. He is an old Scottish man and in his shaky voice he sang to us a song he knew in that language. It was like being serenaded by a Scottish grandfather (or a very old Sean Connery). It was great- we all loved it and clapped when he was done.
We got a great view of the mountains as we drove the hour it took to get home. It was hard to stay awake though- it had been a long day.
Sorry this was the only post from this week. Not much happened- my Spain group booked our first night’s stay in Barcelona. We got a “guest house” type thing. It is supposedly not quite a hostel, but who knows. We’re very excited! If only we didn’t have school until then…
I tried using the calling cards that I was given. That was a frustration beyond belief. It didn’t work, and I need to find “access codes” for France. If anyone knows how to work one- please, enlighten me.
I keep waving. Ashley and I have decided that after habitually waving for 19 years, it is too much to ask us to stop our waving reflexes in three weeks. Perhaps with time…
______________________________________________
THE SUNDAY POST
Feb 11
Hey all. Today I am not doing much. Working on a paper that should have been done a while ago and going to church tonight.
Last night was fun. Guillome and I drove to Marseille. It was neat getting to see the city at night. It’s weird though. I know that France is going to be different than the States but each time I’m surprised at how different it is. I’ve heard many times that Marseille has bounced back and forth from being France’s second largest city to third largest. So when envisioning it, I pictured a big city and a skyline of a city like Chicago, St. Louis, etc. I kept waiting for the moment where the city opens up in front of you and there are a ton of lights. It’s not the same here. True, there are many buildings and there are lights but the intensity is not the same. The buildings are still very old and the lights are yellow and dim. It’s not like I’m being closed minded, but you just come to expect certain things. It took us a while to find a place to park. Europeans are crazy drivers. They zoom so fast in the narrowest, most populated streets. Driving with Guillome even in Aix I begin to pray for the safety of the pedestrians further up the street. “Please let them get out of the street… please.” Mom, as we drove on the autoroute I kept thinking about how nauseous you would be. My ears popped as we slowed back down nearing the city. They don’t take regular lefts either. There are all of these circles that you follow around to your turn. So coming from a high speed into one of those somewhat reminds me of a rollercoaster ride. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but riding with a French person driving is an experience. It’s true. Guillome laughed at me because as we were crossing the street there was a red sign to the pedestrians. A car was coming up and Guillome quickly crossed the street and I started to but then went back. Lol I didn’t think I would have time to cross. They just drive so freaking fast. I had to wait a minute before I felt I could get safely across.
Anyways, the party was ok. Yet another potentially awkward situation for me. We came in and –kiss kiss- said hello to everyone. The whole “bissou” (kissing) is still weird for me. Especially to the guys that I don’t know. I always hesitate like “Do I initiate this? Do I just go and kiss you now?” It’s random. I think that I’m supposed to say my name as we kiss because they usually tell me theirs and after I did the kiss kiss to one girl she said “Well I’m (insert name here) but I don’t know who you are.” Guillome told her my name and reminded her that I was the American. Then she smiled and was like “ok!” Perrine was awesome. So nice. When I told Guillome how much I liked her later he smiled and said “She’s not my best friend for nothing.” She spoke a mixture of English and French to me. She kept teasing Guillome and would include me in it and let me poke fun at him too. She is a journalist in Paris and both her and Guillome said that I had to go to Paris with Guillome when he goes. They told me they would take me out to where they go and let me sleep at her place. How great is that? So far, I have two different housing options in Paris- Perrine now, and Nicholas, Isabelle’s other son who lives in the heart of Paris. La vie est belle. The rest of the party went well. The three of us talked most of the night because we didn’t really know many of the other people there.
Another great moment from last night- Perrine was talking about how she used to know a lot of American students who went to the art school near her house. She called them her big sisters and Guillome said in French that he now had an American little sister. :-D
Gros Bis! Kelly
FINAL NOTE: Ashley and I went to Mass at the Cathedral tonight. We cracked up at the end because we kept trying to sing this song in French and we were butchering it. Hey, at least we tried!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
le 7 fevrier
Salut!
Yesterday was a fun day. I had class and then decided to go for a run before I had my next class. I decided I would also look for the hotel that my Aunt Char is going to be staying at when she visits Aix. I had looked on a map the night before and had googled the address but the next day I forgot the name of the street and my home internet connection had just stopped working. I figured I would just ask people as I went and just run around and see if I found it. I had a great run and got quite a bit out off town and saw some hotels. I didn't see the one that she was going to stay at though. So, being my father's daughter, I started asking people. I like practicing my French anyways and asked quite a few people. Each would get me a little closer. I walked further and further back into the city and still couldn't find it. I asked one more woman who gave me a really strange look and told me that I was standing next to the Aquabella Hotel. lol Sure enough, I looked up and there it was. It had a different sign on the other side and the sign that said its name was facing a different direction. haha I laughed because after this huge long search, it ended up being on the very same street as my school. So Aunt Char, be glad- its a great location from the Old Aix- and an even better one from where I am! :-D
I then went in search for this walmart-esque store that you can buy food for cheaper than Monoprix. Again, I asked a bunch of locals if they knew where it was. I didn't end up finding it. It's called E.D. and I found this store called EuroDiff which ended up being like a Bed, Bath and Beyond. I was confused and wanted to know if it had another layer that sold food so I approached a woman to ask her. I knew she didn't work there, but I figured she could at least tell me if this was the only level. So I walked up and started asking her in French if it was the only level but she interrupted me and told me that she didn't work there. She had this half amused, half smirk on her face and I got really embarrassed and blushed. I told her I knew she was a client but that I was just wondering if there was another level. She told me no and I left- I didn't really appreciate her attitude. Maybe it was because I was still in my workout clothes. Regardless, not a big deal. I went to Monoprix and then asked my French family later where it was.
Today it rained. I feel like its karma getting me back for teasing all of you who are enduring cold weather. Granted, it hasn't rained very long and it is still warm. But the sun wasn't out, and that's considered horrible weather if you live in Aix.
I'm in the library right now and all of the other students are scurrying around trying to book hostels and flights for the upcoming break. Starting Feb 23rd we have a 10 day break. My group is going to Spain. We're starting in Barcelona and working it out from there- let me know if any of you have suggestions for where to go!
Hope all is well- much love.
Yesterday was a fun day. I had class and then decided to go for a run before I had my next class. I decided I would also look for the hotel that my Aunt Char is going to be staying at when she visits Aix. I had looked on a map the night before and had googled the address but the next day I forgot the name of the street and my home internet connection had just stopped working. I figured I would just ask people as I went and just run around and see if I found it. I had a great run and got quite a bit out off town and saw some hotels. I didn't see the one that she was going to stay at though. So, being my father's daughter, I started asking people. I like practicing my French anyways and asked quite a few people. Each would get me a little closer. I walked further and further back into the city and still couldn't find it. I asked one more woman who gave me a really strange look and told me that I was standing next to the Aquabella Hotel. lol Sure enough, I looked up and there it was. It had a different sign on the other side and the sign that said its name was facing a different direction. haha I laughed because after this huge long search, it ended up being on the very same street as my school. So Aunt Char, be glad- its a great location from the Old Aix- and an even better one from where I am! :-D
I then went in search for this walmart-esque store that you can buy food for cheaper than Monoprix. Again, I asked a bunch of locals if they knew where it was. I didn't end up finding it. It's called E.D. and I found this store called EuroDiff which ended up being like a Bed, Bath and Beyond. I was confused and wanted to know if it had another layer that sold food so I approached a woman to ask her. I knew she didn't work there, but I figured she could at least tell me if this was the only level. So I walked up and started asking her in French if it was the only level but she interrupted me and told me that she didn't work there. She had this half amused, half smirk on her face and I got really embarrassed and blushed. I told her I knew she was a client but that I was just wondering if there was another level. She told me no and I left- I didn't really appreciate her attitude. Maybe it was because I was still in my workout clothes. Regardless, not a big deal. I went to Monoprix and then asked my French family later where it was.
Today it rained. I feel like its karma getting me back for teasing all of you who are enduring cold weather. Granted, it hasn't rained very long and it is still warm. But the sun wasn't out, and that's considered horrible weather if you live in Aix.
I'm in the library right now and all of the other students are scurrying around trying to book hostels and flights for the upcoming break. Starting Feb 23rd we have a 10 day break. My group is going to Spain. We're starting in Barcelona and working it out from there- let me know if any of you have suggestions for where to go!
Hope all is well- much love.
Monday, February 5, 2007
le 4 fevrier
Wow. Buckle in for a long post. So you know, this was written in a few stages so when you get to the part about the Super Bowl, just know that it was written right after we were done watching it. lol I hope this doesn't seem too randomly written.
Today marks my third week in Aix. Quick review: awesome. Today I got back from a weekend trip. Before I go into those details I would like to share a few things about today. When I got back, Isabelle informed me that we would be having crepes tonight in honor of “la chandeleur” which was actually on Friday. La chandeleur is a French tradition that I shall blissfully remember as “Crepe Day.” On February 2nd, in honor of Jesus’ presentation at the temple, they eat a meal of crepes. They are supposed to hold an old coin called a “Louis d’or” in their hand and flip the crepe in the air. If it falls back into the pan, they will have good luck and if not, well… they need to make another crepe and try again. Lol. Its mainly little kids who actually practice that tradition, so we didn’t flip our crepes. Isabelle was sick Friday so we didn’t eat them on the actual day. Fear not though. The American did eat a crepe on “Crepe Day” thanks to other knowledgeable American friends. :-D We ate a nutella/banana crepe on Friday for lunch as we walked around. It was great. (For those of you know don’t know, because I didn’t know before I came, nutella is a hazelnut and chocolate spread that Europeans adore and eat in bulk) Yet Friday pales in comparison to the crepes that I dined on tonight. We began with dinner crepes full of cheese, turkey and ham (and later one of egg and cheese) followed by dessert crepes. Mmm-- Prior to my feast, I went to Mass in the church that Isabelle was married in. It’s a beautiful church named “Eglise St. Jean de Malte.” This is my third Mass since being here and each one has varied. Of course they aren’t radically different from the ones in the US, but one noticeable difference is when the French go to receive Communion. They don’t believe in a well-behaved line. In the U.S. Communion is choreographed- one row neatly follows the next. Not the case in France. In fact in most public places, it’s a rowdy crowd-all to the front. There is no order. Lol, it is funny though because each time I have really hesitated to merge into the line. Its been slightly awkward, but I figure it out as I go.
Alright, on to the good stuff. The memories of this weekend…
IAU sponsors trips for the students. The first of which was the weekend excursion to Nice, Monaco, St. Paul de Vence, and Cannes. We left at 9 Saturday morning for Nice. It was about a 2 hour drive from Aix. It was great just to see the scenery as we drove. It was a sunny day and we really got to see the mountains around Aix. We arrived in Nice and could hardly believe the view. We first drove along this great stretch of beach. People were out running, walking, riding bikes and even swimming. It was warm and sunny but there was a slight wind that made it a little colder. The bus let out and Amy, Ashley and I decided to eat first. We found a cute pizzeria (yes, we’re still drawn to familiar food) and at there. Ashley made a good point when we were there- it looked like a local hangout. Not too touristy, but more for the actual inhabitants in Nice). We ate our pizza and drank our wine and then grabbed a pastry and walked around a bit. We decided to climb this giant hill that our tour guide had pointed out. (Physical exertion was necessary in order to work off the pastry.) At the very top of a monstrous hill was supposedly a great lookout with a breathtaking view. Also, the signs in French there described a type of castle that was supposedly also at the summit. (We never found that, but we did see the remains of an old Cathedral.) So climb we did and when we started getting nearer and nearer to the top, the city began to open up to us. Peering through the trees we could see the harbor with all of the sailboats and the sun pouring down on the pink and beige buildings. We climbed further up and could then see a lighthouse and a great panorama of the ocean. At the very top we could see the city stretch out into the distance. We could see the older, distinguished part of the Nice near the harbor and then note the progression into the newer, more modern part of the city further away. We then took a right on the hill and started to go down the other side where you can see the rest of the city with its many hotels and a great strip of beach. As we went down, we loved looking at the buildings’ bold blue accents. Once down, we sat on the beach made solely of pebbles and soaked in the view. I wrote in my journal and took a ton of pictures. Later we ventured further into the city, shopped (but sadly, to no avail) and then met up with the bus. Haha- we we’re afraid we were going to be late for the bus so we started to run which was HILARIOUS because as I was running, this one French guy yelled “ATTENTION!” to me and pointed to something on the ground (which we will assume was the work of one of the many lap dogs that they drag around French cities- don’t get me started on Aix’s problems…) so I kinda did a little hurdle thing and gave him a really confused look. Lol maybe you had to be there, but it was another awkward moment of me not understanding the French and another prime example of why American’s might be seen as slightly nutty to the rest of the world.
We loaded into the bus and traveled up to a perched village. This was my favorite part of the entire trip- it was gorgeous. It was right around sunset so everything was absolutely drenched in golden sunlight and our bus kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains. The sea spanned out beneath us and we kept passing tiny, old towns nestled into the mountains. Finally, we got to where we spent the night at the Centre de Mediterranean which was this estate type place turned into a kind of hostel. It had beautiful grounds, which included an amphitheater made by a famous French artist. We got out, unpacked and started trying to get dressed for Monaco. Lol I say started to, because it was quite the process. We knew Monaco was ritzy and that you had to be well dressed to get into Monte Carlo. Well, Ashley only brought flip-flops and black capris because she had thought it would be warmer. Worried that one of our comrades might be left behind, we all started swapping clothes until everyone had an outfit that not only maximized style, but warmth as well. Girls will be girls. We boarded the bus again and hit up Monaco at night. It was beautiful and we came at it from the top of the hill. Grace Kelly’s former castle could be seen on its rock, all illuminated and we had a great view of the city lights with the ocean. We then went to Monte Carlo, the famous casino, and Ashley and I each gambled away a Euro. After having quenched our need to give away our money, we left and walked around the stores, dreaming about being rich enough to shop there. We took a bunch of pictures- it was great. Coming back from Nice our bus driver made a U-turn in a place so narrow that I doubt I could have done the same in a car. The bus erupted in applause once he had accomplished that feat. They are insane drivers here.
I woke up fairly early the next day and attempted to see the sunrise. I was early enough but the sun rose in the wrong part of the sky and my view was partly blocked by the tall trees. Still it was a peaceful moment that I somewhat enjoyed (I say somewhat because although it was beautiful, the lure of my bed was strongly felt). Everyone woke up and my group was a little late to breakfast. We had coffee given to us in cereal bowls. I know my friends from school are appreciating what it meant to me to be given a coffee that huge. Yes, it was a dream come true for me. Though after two weeks of drinking my morning espresso (in what I first believed to be a toy teacup) at Isabelle’s house, I was seriously alarmed at the size of this coffee. Have the French not heard of a coffee mug? Regardless, like Alice in Wonderland I drank from my cup three times too big and then we loaded into the buses and headed to St. Paul de Vence.
St. Paul de Vence was so cool. It is this fortified city up in a mountain. All of the streets are very narrow and windy and run one right off of another. All of the Americans kept saying they couldn’t believe people actually live there. It’s true. You kind of feel like they see us coming and yell to one another “The Americans are here!” and everybody goes and pretends to be the Provincial Frenchmen that we expect them to be. You can walk along the wall around the city and it has some great views of the countryside. I took a lot of pictures- be sure to check them out. (Again, the links are on the left) St. Paul de Vence had this quaint, quiet feel to it. It was really peaceful and calm. Ashely and I both said how we wanted to come back. It just seems like such a great place to spend a day slowly meandering around. We also went to this really great modern art museum, which I would talk about in more detail if it had really meant that much to me. It was cool to see, but we didn’t have much time in the town so we didn’t focus on it too much.
Again we loaded the buses and then took off for Cannes. We were starting to get tired. We got to Cannes and saw a nice view of the harbor. We went to an outdoor café and got lunch. Afterwards we walked around a bit and saw what we thought to be where the celebs had their pictures taken at the famed film festival. So of course, Ashley and I take pictures. We did find it odd however that the carpet was blue. We thought it was because they only rolled out the red one when celebrities were there. We were getting some pretty weird looks as we posed for pictures on the stairs, including the doormen who were watching us. We didn’t have much time in Cannes. As we were driving out of the city, however, our tour guide pointed out a building with a red carpet and said “I hope you all got your pictures taken that you wanted to there.” Ashley and I looked at each other and started cracking up. For a while, we thought we walked wrong carpet! Hahaha… leave it to us. But I just double checked with google and the theater where we took our pictures was in fact one of the ones that shows movies during the festival. It just wasn't the main one. lol, still... I will now forever cherish the pictures I have of us walking the blue carpet.
And that was my first excursion out of Aix. It was funny because when we got back to Aix and were walking along Le Cours Mirabeau, we all agreed that we felt like we were home. I think that’s a good sign :-D
For those of you who were wondering, the weather has been pretty nice here. Its been going back and forth a bit. When we first arrived it was like spring. We stepped off of the plane and immediately started loosing layers. Every French person I met told me that it wasn’t typical of Aix around this time and that it would turn colder. Which it did. It turned to coat and scarf weather fairly quickly and one night there were the slightest flurries. It was hilarious because I came home and told Guillome that it was kind of snowing out and he told me I was wrong and that it never snowed in Aix other than a week in December. Later, he went out and called home and said I was right. Psh, of course I was. Don’t tell a girl from Illinois that she doesn’t know what snow looks like. After a few days of it being cold though, it started to warm up again. They have this cold wind that they call “Mistral” which has all of these rules associated with it. If it blows for so many days, it will blow for so many more before stopping. Well, all the same, it has been kind of warm the past few days. Last Friday I walked around in sleeveless in the afternoon because it was so warm. In Nice I wore a thin long sleeve with jeans and wasn’t too cold. Today I wore my coat and was fine. The warmth comes and goes but you do get the feeling that spring isn’t far off. One thing that rarely changes though is the sun. It has been sunny 95% of my time here so far and the sky has been so blue. It’s been really nice by my standards. It was 63 degrees today.
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Super Bowl
We just got back from watching the Super Bowl at a French club. Haha We decked out in as much American garb as possible. I, for example, sported my pink Illinois shirt and a gray zip up hoody with jeans and tennis shoes. As soon as we walked in, we knew the Americans were dominating the place tonight. Loud cries were coming from clusters of them sitting around “giaraffs” of beer. The great thing about it was the extreme variation in the club. You had the Americans intensely watching the game right next to the group of European cross dressers dancing by the bar. However, the line was not finely drawn. We heard chanting of “Go! Go! Chi-ca-go!” from them later when Chicago had the ball. Now, I am not one to pretend that I follow football, or even that I fully understand it. (Although, I really should seeing as how I had to cheer at high school football games for four years.) But the fact that there was a little piece of home being celebrated somewhere in Aix, made me appreciate that beloved sport like never before. It was cool to know that all of my friends were probably doing the same thing at the same time I was, just elsewhere in the world. Guillome went with us and when Chicago fumbled, or when the Colts scored, he made a disappointed face at me. It was nice to share something like that with him. One of my major complaints of watching the Super Bowl in France, however, is their lack of American commercials. As an advertising major, I enjoy them. Tonight they played British commercials because it was a British channel. Bummer. Ashley is spending the night tonight. Isabelle set up a little mattress thing on my bedroom floor. I’m having flashbacks to middle school sleepovers, but I’m glad she’s here.
(Written last night)
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Also, to answer the question concerning the jams and jellies, I have tried them. They are great! There’s this strawberry one that I’ve been eating every morning. This area is especially known for its olives so we always have olive oil on the table during dinner.
Well, that’s it for now. Hope everyone is well! Much love! A toute!
Today marks my third week in Aix. Quick review: awesome. Today I got back from a weekend trip. Before I go into those details I would like to share a few things about today. When I got back, Isabelle informed me that we would be having crepes tonight in honor of “la chandeleur” which was actually on Friday. La chandeleur is a French tradition that I shall blissfully remember as “Crepe Day.” On February 2nd, in honor of Jesus’ presentation at the temple, they eat a meal of crepes. They are supposed to hold an old coin called a “Louis d’or” in their hand and flip the crepe in the air. If it falls back into the pan, they will have good luck and if not, well… they need to make another crepe and try again. Lol. Its mainly little kids who actually practice that tradition, so we didn’t flip our crepes. Isabelle was sick Friday so we didn’t eat them on the actual day. Fear not though. The American did eat a crepe on “Crepe Day” thanks to other knowledgeable American friends. :-D We ate a nutella/banana crepe on Friday for lunch as we walked around. It was great. (For those of you know don’t know, because I didn’t know before I came, nutella is a hazelnut and chocolate spread that Europeans adore and eat in bulk) Yet Friday pales in comparison to the crepes that I dined on tonight. We began with dinner crepes full of cheese, turkey and ham (and later one of egg and cheese) followed by dessert crepes. Mmm-- Prior to my feast, I went to Mass in the church that Isabelle was married in. It’s a beautiful church named “Eglise St. Jean de Malte.” This is my third Mass since being here and each one has varied. Of course they aren’t radically different from the ones in the US, but one noticeable difference is when the French go to receive Communion. They don’t believe in a well-behaved line. In the U.S. Communion is choreographed- one row neatly follows the next. Not the case in France. In fact in most public places, it’s a rowdy crowd-all to the front. There is no order. Lol, it is funny though because each time I have really hesitated to merge into the line. Its been slightly awkward, but I figure it out as I go.
Alright, on to the good stuff. The memories of this weekend…
IAU sponsors trips for the students. The first of which was the weekend excursion to Nice, Monaco, St. Paul de Vence, and Cannes. We left at 9 Saturday morning for Nice. It was about a 2 hour drive from Aix. It was great just to see the scenery as we drove. It was a sunny day and we really got to see the mountains around Aix. We arrived in Nice and could hardly believe the view. We first drove along this great stretch of beach. People were out running, walking, riding bikes and even swimming. It was warm and sunny but there was a slight wind that made it a little colder. The bus let out and Amy, Ashley and I decided to eat first. We found a cute pizzeria (yes, we’re still drawn to familiar food) and at there. Ashley made a good point when we were there- it looked like a local hangout. Not too touristy, but more for the actual inhabitants in Nice). We ate our pizza and drank our wine and then grabbed a pastry and walked around a bit. We decided to climb this giant hill that our tour guide had pointed out. (Physical exertion was necessary in order to work off the pastry.) At the very top of a monstrous hill was supposedly a great lookout with a breathtaking view. Also, the signs in French there described a type of castle that was supposedly also at the summit. (We never found that, but we did see the remains of an old Cathedral.) So climb we did and when we started getting nearer and nearer to the top, the city began to open up to us. Peering through the trees we could see the harbor with all of the sailboats and the sun pouring down on the pink and beige buildings. We climbed further up and could then see a lighthouse and a great panorama of the ocean. At the very top we could see the city stretch out into the distance. We could see the older, distinguished part of the Nice near the harbor and then note the progression into the newer, more modern part of the city further away. We then took a right on the hill and started to go down the other side where you can see the rest of the city with its many hotels and a great strip of beach. As we went down, we loved looking at the buildings’ bold blue accents. Once down, we sat on the beach made solely of pebbles and soaked in the view. I wrote in my journal and took a ton of pictures. Later we ventured further into the city, shopped (but sadly, to no avail) and then met up with the bus. Haha- we we’re afraid we were going to be late for the bus so we started to run which was HILARIOUS because as I was running, this one French guy yelled “ATTENTION!” to me and pointed to something on the ground (which we will assume was the work of one of the many lap dogs that they drag around French cities- don’t get me started on Aix’s problems…) so I kinda did a little hurdle thing and gave him a really confused look. Lol maybe you had to be there, but it was another awkward moment of me not understanding the French and another prime example of why American’s might be seen as slightly nutty to the rest of the world.
We loaded into the bus and traveled up to a perched village. This was my favorite part of the entire trip- it was gorgeous. It was right around sunset so everything was absolutely drenched in golden sunlight and our bus kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains. The sea spanned out beneath us and we kept passing tiny, old towns nestled into the mountains. Finally, we got to where we spent the night at the Centre de Mediterranean which was this estate type place turned into a kind of hostel. It had beautiful grounds, which included an amphitheater made by a famous French artist. We got out, unpacked and started trying to get dressed for Monaco. Lol I say started to, because it was quite the process. We knew Monaco was ritzy and that you had to be well dressed to get into Monte Carlo. Well, Ashley only brought flip-flops and black capris because she had thought it would be warmer. Worried that one of our comrades might be left behind, we all started swapping clothes until everyone had an outfit that not only maximized style, but warmth as well. Girls will be girls. We boarded the bus again and hit up Monaco at night. It was beautiful and we came at it from the top of the hill. Grace Kelly’s former castle could be seen on its rock, all illuminated and we had a great view of the city lights with the ocean. We then went to Monte Carlo, the famous casino, and Ashley and I each gambled away a Euro. After having quenched our need to give away our money, we left and walked around the stores, dreaming about being rich enough to shop there. We took a bunch of pictures- it was great. Coming back from Nice our bus driver made a U-turn in a place so narrow that I doubt I could have done the same in a car. The bus erupted in applause once he had accomplished that feat. They are insane drivers here.
I woke up fairly early the next day and attempted to see the sunrise. I was early enough but the sun rose in the wrong part of the sky and my view was partly blocked by the tall trees. Still it was a peaceful moment that I somewhat enjoyed (I say somewhat because although it was beautiful, the lure of my bed was strongly felt). Everyone woke up and my group was a little late to breakfast. We had coffee given to us in cereal bowls. I know my friends from school are appreciating what it meant to me to be given a coffee that huge. Yes, it was a dream come true for me. Though after two weeks of drinking my morning espresso (in what I first believed to be a toy teacup) at Isabelle’s house, I was seriously alarmed at the size of this coffee. Have the French not heard of a coffee mug? Regardless, like Alice in Wonderland I drank from my cup three times too big and then we loaded into the buses and headed to St. Paul de Vence.
St. Paul de Vence was so cool. It is this fortified city up in a mountain. All of the streets are very narrow and windy and run one right off of another. All of the Americans kept saying they couldn’t believe people actually live there. It’s true. You kind of feel like they see us coming and yell to one another “The Americans are here!” and everybody goes and pretends to be the Provincial Frenchmen that we expect them to be. You can walk along the wall around the city and it has some great views of the countryside. I took a lot of pictures- be sure to check them out. (Again, the links are on the left) St. Paul de Vence had this quaint, quiet feel to it. It was really peaceful and calm. Ashely and I both said how we wanted to come back. It just seems like such a great place to spend a day slowly meandering around. We also went to this really great modern art museum, which I would talk about in more detail if it had really meant that much to me. It was cool to see, but we didn’t have much time in the town so we didn’t focus on it too much.
Again we loaded the buses and then took off for Cannes. We were starting to get tired. We got to Cannes and saw a nice view of the harbor. We went to an outdoor café and got lunch. Afterwards we walked around a bit and saw what we thought to be where the celebs had their pictures taken at the famed film festival. So of course, Ashley and I take pictures. We did find it odd however that the carpet was blue. We thought it was because they only rolled out the red one when celebrities were there. We were getting some pretty weird looks as we posed for pictures on the stairs, including the doormen who were watching us. We didn’t have much time in Cannes. As we were driving out of the city, however, our tour guide pointed out a building with a red carpet and said “I hope you all got your pictures taken that you wanted to there.” Ashley and I looked at each other and started cracking up. For a while, we thought we walked wrong carpet! Hahaha… leave it to us. But I just double checked with google and the theater where we took our pictures was in fact one of the ones that shows movies during the festival. It just wasn't the main one. lol, still... I will now forever cherish the pictures I have of us walking the blue carpet.
And that was my first excursion out of Aix. It was funny because when we got back to Aix and were walking along Le Cours Mirabeau, we all agreed that we felt like we were home. I think that’s a good sign :-D
For those of you who were wondering, the weather has been pretty nice here. Its been going back and forth a bit. When we first arrived it was like spring. We stepped off of the plane and immediately started loosing layers. Every French person I met told me that it wasn’t typical of Aix around this time and that it would turn colder. Which it did. It turned to coat and scarf weather fairly quickly and one night there were the slightest flurries. It was hilarious because I came home and told Guillome that it was kind of snowing out and he told me I was wrong and that it never snowed in Aix other than a week in December. Later, he went out and called home and said I was right. Psh, of course I was. Don’t tell a girl from Illinois that she doesn’t know what snow looks like. After a few days of it being cold though, it started to warm up again. They have this cold wind that they call “Mistral” which has all of these rules associated with it. If it blows for so many days, it will blow for so many more before stopping. Well, all the same, it has been kind of warm the past few days. Last Friday I walked around in sleeveless in the afternoon because it was so warm. In Nice I wore a thin long sleeve with jeans and wasn’t too cold. Today I wore my coat and was fine. The warmth comes and goes but you do get the feeling that spring isn’t far off. One thing that rarely changes though is the sun. It has been sunny 95% of my time here so far and the sky has been so blue. It’s been really nice by my standards. It was 63 degrees today.
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Super Bowl
We just got back from watching the Super Bowl at a French club. Haha We decked out in as much American garb as possible. I, for example, sported my pink Illinois shirt and a gray zip up hoody with jeans and tennis shoes. As soon as we walked in, we knew the Americans were dominating the place tonight. Loud cries were coming from clusters of them sitting around “giaraffs” of beer. The great thing about it was the extreme variation in the club. You had the Americans intensely watching the game right next to the group of European cross dressers dancing by the bar. However, the line was not finely drawn. We heard chanting of “Go! Go! Chi-ca-go!” from them later when Chicago had the ball. Now, I am not one to pretend that I follow football, or even that I fully understand it. (Although, I really should seeing as how I had to cheer at high school football games for four years.) But the fact that there was a little piece of home being celebrated somewhere in Aix, made me appreciate that beloved sport like never before. It was cool to know that all of my friends were probably doing the same thing at the same time I was, just elsewhere in the world. Guillome went with us and when Chicago fumbled, or when the Colts scored, he made a disappointed face at me. It was nice to share something like that with him. One of my major complaints of watching the Super Bowl in France, however, is their lack of American commercials. As an advertising major, I enjoy them. Tonight they played British commercials because it was a British channel. Bummer. Ashley is spending the night tonight. Isabelle set up a little mattress thing on my bedroom floor. I’m having flashbacks to middle school sleepovers, but I’m glad she’s here.
(Written last night)
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Also, to answer the question concerning the jams and jellies, I have tried them. They are great! There’s this strawberry one that I’ve been eating every morning. This area is especially known for its olives so we always have olive oil on the table during dinner.
Well, that’s it for now. Hope everyone is well! Much love! A toute!
Thursday, February 1, 2007
le 1 fevrier
I had a great moment today that I would like to share. I went shopping with my friend Amy for a while because there are huge city wide sales going on in Aix right now. Well, I was on my way home and had just said goodbye to Amy when I was distracted by this cute little jewelry shop. haha I can see my mom rolling her eyes now... yes, I was interested. So I walked in and said the customary "bonjour" to the man and woman behind the counter. In the very next second after I had said it, the man asked me in French if I was a foreigner. I laughed and answered "oui" and I'm sure I had this look on my face like, "How on earth did you know!?" In my mind I was thinking, "I only said bonjour! And I tried to say it as French as I could!" He smiled and told me again in French that I gave it away by waving. No one waves in France. I laughed because I didn't even know that I had done it. I told him "ah, oui...j'ai oublie." (yes, i forgot) and then he asked me if I was Canadian. I told him I was American and he complimented me on my French. *THIS WAS MAYBE THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TRIP! lol I told him (again in French) that my French was horrible but that I was hoping that it would be much better by the time I left.
The woman eventually left and the man and I conversed in French for quite some time. He asked me where I was from in the States and then we talked about how I liked Aix (I told him how I liked it- how it was very beautiful and very old too which he responded that to him, and to the French, it was not at all old). We talked about the difficulties of speaking another langauge and how he traveled. (I would like to point out that all of this was conversed in French) I complimented him on the beautiful jewelry in the store and he told me that he made all of himself. haha I felt so French as I responded "ahh, oui? c'est vrai?" They say that a lot here when they are surprised. He also told me that Sharron Stone, John Malcovitch and other celebrities shopped in his store before. As I was leaving, I told him that I thought that I would come back some time but I said it using the verb "aller" which means to go and he corrected me. I needed to say "revenir" which means to return. lol I'm telling you this because there were a few funny moments where he was teaching me to say it correctly. Its really hard to pronouce the r the right way, especially for Americans. (When I was out with Guillome and Yyan that one night, Yyan called me on it and would say words with flat r's like how we pronounce it as a joke) As I left, I smiled and said "merci, au revoir" but again waved! lol He said "NON NON NON!" to me and I laughed and then turned very serious and snobby, stuck my hands in my pockets, turned up my nose and said "au revoir." He then told me in English "That is very French." I laughed and said goodbye.
It was a really great experience. :-) I'm telling you, for the most part the people here have been so kind. Especially if you make an effort to speak their language and give them a chance to talk about France.
One more thing to share. The other night I was talking online to Brian and eating a piece of "gateau de roi" the delicious ephiphany cake that I keep having here. (Sadly since the Christmas season has passed, the cake has left too. When I told my French family of my sadness, they told me that they had plenty more cakes to feed me- lol) Anyways, I'm eating this cake and talking online and not really paying attention when suddenly I'm chewing this really tough piece of cake. The cake was a few days old and it has candy pieces in it so I kinda kept trying to eat it. After I bit down hard and realized that I was going to break a tooth if I kept trying, I stopped and looked at the cake. It was the "feve" - the little ceramic toy that they bake into the cake! Whoever finds the feve is the king or queen for the rest of the party. (The cake comes with paper crowns) Hahaha... here I was making a serious effort to eat this little toy. It's a miracle that I didn't choke. I thank the cake's religious affiliation for preventing me from dying.
Well, thats all for now! A bientot
The woman eventually left and the man and I conversed in French for quite some time. He asked me where I was from in the States and then we talked about how I liked Aix (I told him how I liked it- how it was very beautiful and very old too which he responded that to him, and to the French, it was not at all old). We talked about the difficulties of speaking another langauge and how he traveled. (I would like to point out that all of this was conversed in French) I complimented him on the beautiful jewelry in the store and he told me that he made all of himself. haha I felt so French as I responded "ahh, oui? c'est vrai?" They say that a lot here when they are surprised. He also told me that Sharron Stone, John Malcovitch and other celebrities shopped in his store before. As I was leaving, I told him that I thought that I would come back some time but I said it using the verb "aller" which means to go and he corrected me. I needed to say "revenir" which means to return. lol I'm telling you this because there were a few funny moments where he was teaching me to say it correctly. Its really hard to pronouce the r the right way, especially for Americans. (When I was out with Guillome and Yyan that one night, Yyan called me on it and would say words with flat r's like how we pronounce it as a joke) As I left, I smiled and said "merci, au revoir" but again waved! lol He said "NON NON NON!" to me and I laughed and then turned very serious and snobby, stuck my hands in my pockets, turned up my nose and said "au revoir." He then told me in English "That is very French." I laughed and said goodbye.
It was a really great experience. :-) I'm telling you, for the most part the people here have been so kind. Especially if you make an effort to speak their language and give them a chance to talk about France.
One more thing to share. The other night I was talking online to Brian and eating a piece of "gateau de roi" the delicious ephiphany cake that I keep having here. (Sadly since the Christmas season has passed, the cake has left too. When I told my French family of my sadness, they told me that they had plenty more cakes to feed me- lol) Anyways, I'm eating this cake and talking online and not really paying attention when suddenly I'm chewing this really tough piece of cake. The cake was a few days old and it has candy pieces in it so I kinda kept trying to eat it. After I bit down hard and realized that I was going to break a tooth if I kept trying, I stopped and looked at the cake. It was the "feve" - the little ceramic toy that they bake into the cake! Whoever finds the feve is the king or queen for the rest of the party. (The cake comes with paper crowns) Hahaha... here I was making a serious effort to eat this little toy. It's a miracle that I didn't choke. I thank the cake's religious affiliation for preventing me from dying.
Well, thats all for now! A bientot
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