Romains

 It has been a crazy past two days! Two days ago I woke up and skyped Spegan with Paul. Then went to my last class for the early week program. Thank goodness because I was getting sooo tired of it. The class just needed more structure and didn't turn out to be what it was supposed to be which was how to live in the culture and what the expectations are for us within the family but it ended up being not picking pronunciations and the prof going off topic a lot. Which is fine but I really would have liked more of the info that was promised instead of trying to figure it out alone. But all is well that ends well.

 After class Julia, Lauren, Sophie, Claire, Kelan and I went to find some lunch and walk around. A few of the girls ended up buying cell phones from Orange for 35 euros for 470 texts and 117 minutes for the three months plus a phone for 30 euros. They also had the option for unlimited text and minutes inside France for 20 euros a month. They seemed confident that they won’t go over but I’m not so sure. To text 5 people where or what time to meet. That will add up pretty fast. But I didn’t say that and since a rep from one of the cell phone places is coming tomorrow (Monday) I decided to just wait and see what would be the best deal. Though I know it would be expensive… I still wish I had the ability to text home. I almost wish that I had splurged for a newer phone and the international plan for 3 months. But… Oh well… I feel like having the ability to text home would ground me a little bit which is why I would want it. I feel sort of disconnected from everyone right now which is, I guess the point but I wish I had more of an anchor to people that I know really care about me? Here everyone is nice but there isn’t any depth yet. But I will wait until the guy comes Monday and see what is up for phones. I have survived a week without one so I could do another.

 For lunch we went to the market and then to a little vendor who sells sandwiches with steak and French fries in them. We had never gotten them before but always wanted to try it. Like every other sandwich we buy it was huge, but also pretty good! We went and ate them in the “Cave” which is the student lounge part of the school. After that I left them in order to go home and pack. Even though I didn’t have much to pack I liked having the extra time. Madame came into my room and asked me what I was wearing that night while I was packing and because I had just been thinking about best P.C. pajamas that wouldn’t be super hot I showed her my pajamas. She looked very displeased and I said does that not work? It being athletic shorts and a t-shirt, and she said “no this won’t work at all”. Then it clicked that she was asking me what I was wearing to the party and I was like oh to the party! I thought you meant to sleep! And we both had a good laugh. I wanted to repaint my toes before the party because my polish had half worn off. I asked Madame where the best place was to get some nail polish real quick and she pointed e towards the Sephora store. I have never been there being a non-makeup person obviously so going there was pretty eventful! Lots of stuff and all very expensive! I got a very small bottle of pink nail polish and it was 4.50 euros so like 6 dollars, for a tiny bottle! But it will last me until I leave I hope so that is what matters? But I should have just walked around more to find another spot but oh well. If I compared prices here to US dollars I would literally never buy anything because everything is really expensive… But I did that and then came home and Paul had a friend over. Oh this is when I skyped my parents. My bad. And then it was time to get in the car to leave! Jean-Claude has a car I guess that they keep in the garage downstairs. It is little like all European cars but it feels big on the inside. I found it pretty interesting that on the back of the car chairs here there is a tray like in airplanes. When I thought about it I decided it was a pretty good idea if you had kids but I think that Americans don’t do it because they want the extra space for storage.

I also noticed here that they have A TON of roundabouts, and that they don’t go very slow in them. Driving in France is a lot like driving in Mexico. No one uses turn signals and they don’t try to drive smoothy it is just go slow go slow without regard to how it feels to passengers. I think some people would have a problem with that but I just accept that it is how the French roll. I really want to change that to that’s how the French baguette. There has got to be a good joke here somewhere… But the trip to Romains to go to the family birthday party was not bad at all. We took the Auto-route which I learned costs money and was very expensive. When I asked if it was cheap Laurence said everything is expensive in France, even if you breathe it costs money! I thought that was pretty funny but then I felt like I should try and not breathe as much. Just kidding! Paul played on Laurence’s phone the whole time and Madame pointed out different cities we were passing and when we entered a new province (not to be confused with Provence!) and she told me what each one was famous for and what number it was for the cars. You can tell where cars are from here by their number on the license plate as each province has a number. Aix has the number 13. We passed a nuclear plant and Madame told me that it is like a crocodile farm over there because of the heat from the nuclear plant I guess that it is a good spot to have them. Madame says they have all different sizes of them and it seems scary! After about two plus hours we arrived in Romains which is (from what I could tell) more like a small town where there isn’t as many shops but there are more houses. There was a beautiful cathedral that we passed that I wish I could have gone inside but it was late and dark so I didn’t get a very good picture. But we went through Romains and about five minutes outside the main city part was the house of Daniel and Christelle. I’m pretty sure that those were their names! And boy was the party kicking already!

 When we walked in we were given champagne and a buffet of assorted crackers and things. There was lots of music and dancing and it was really fun! We drank rose and red wine and champagne and I’m sure that night we went through at least 10 bottles. After crackers and stuff we had vegetable salad and cous cous salad for dinner. After that we had two cakes! One was chocolate and the other strawberries and cream. Guess which I liked better? Oh it was sooo delicious! When I first walked in they were playing American music and I thought it was to make me more comfortable or whatever but they actually knew all the songs that were played! I think that the French must listen to more American songs than we listen to French songs because it seems like a common thing that I hear American music in the streets and such. I asked Jules about it who was the 17 year old guy who went to Houston to work last summer for his uncle, and he said that it is very normal for the French to listen to American music because it is a hit here. He spoke pretty broken English but when we talked we would speak until one of us would not know the word in the other language and then we would say it in the opposite and then stay there until the next word we didn’t know. It worked well because we got to use both languages. He was really nice. We talked about the states, colleges, and stuff like that. He drank beer and I drank wine and then we both decided that we had better switch to water.

 

In attendance we had:

4 enfants: Paul, Matisse, The twins : Leah et Manon

3 Plus grand enfants : Elise, Jules, Me

9 Grands: Christelles and Darcel, Christelles sister and her husband, Their mom, Madame, Laurence and Jean-Claude, Madames Ex-husband
The French sure do know how to have a good time. They are very welcoming and try to include you in whatever is going on which I have found really surprising. I have been treated so well here that it shocks me. I had expected to be mostly ignored for a few weeks before they knew that I wasn’t a weirdo as I have heard they do, but it has been the complete opposite. I feel honored to be treated as one of the family. For Christelle, I put a few bucks in an envelope because she is going to NY to be a nanny for three months. I also gave them a box of Spree candies that I happened to not have eaten on the airplane. They went over pretty well at the party and I was glad that I had them.

At the party the kids are as much kids as those in the US that get bored of the adults and sitting at the table and after a while went to playing Gameboy or on iPads and phones. They played with each other, against each other, by themselves but surrounded by each other. They were always getting yelled at too for running through the house of causing mischief. That is one thing that I have learned, all children are the same universally! I was surprised by how late they were staying up too. I passed out at 1:30 am and they were all still up with no sign of the party dying. I slept in Elise’s room by myself which I told them I could share no problem but they had none of it. I felt bad kicking Elise out and I told her she could sleep in her bed and I would sleep on the air mattress but she was having none of that and she was only 12! She was very excited to have been allowed to wear heels for the first time at the party.  She showed them off but once it came to dancing she said her feet hurt and she went to take them off.  The party was really fun and I was glad that I went instead of going to the coast city this weekend. Especially because it ended up raining! But that is a story for the next day!

I woke up at nine and went into the living room where everyone was having breakfast. I wasn’t the last one up so that was good! I had cereal “Coco Pates” or pretty much coco puffs but in animal print form, and some of the breakfast cake that Madame had made and brought. It was just like a plain sweet cake. Elise had 6 pieces. After I was insisted that I could take a shower, which was amaaaazing and the best shower I’ve had here yet, Christelle, Madame and I went to town to get some things for lunch. When we got to town though it was raining pretty hard and after waiting in the car a few minutes we decided it wasn’t going to stop so we got out. We had one umbrella but I said I’m an Oregonian I will be fine and gave it to Madame. Rain is not a problem for me like I guess it is for them. 

After a ways Christelle said for us to wait for her under cover and she would return shortly with the stuff she needed. We waited and talked with passerbyers about the rain. Which I decided that the French in Villages are much more open to each other than in the city where you never talk to people you don’t really know. Here we talked to a lady with a plastic bag over her hair and families with babies that were protected under plastic stroller covers. It was fun and pretty soon the rain let up. 

After Christelle returned we went to a patisserie to get ANOTHER cake. This time an ice cream cake which I didn’t end up having because I was outside. But that was okay with me because I have had SO MUCH dessert. We walked around town for a bit and went to a bakery to get the two specialties in food of Drome which are a brioche and another sweet bread with Pralines in it. I have discovered that everywhere in France is known for something. Aix is known for art and fountains and calissons which are like little cookies (which I need to try!) and Romains is known for its shoes and the two breads. They were telling me that people from all over France come to Romains to buy shoes, even Paris.

When we got back to the house the adults made lunch and the kids played outside with the snails Elise, Manon, and I had caught that morning. We had lunch which was some kind of meat and potatoes and tomatoes, with again another 10 at least bottles of champagne and wines. It was good and then we had the cheeses. I decided that I really like brie and goat cheeses. They are quite good. We had cheese the night before but I think I forgot to say that. After lunch, we went outside and found Charlotte the tortoise, who likes to eat strawberries exclusively. Sound like anyone else you know?! ;-) And the kids started playing outside because the sun had come out and the adults had kicked them out of the house. 

Elise asked me if I wanted to be a part of the “la grande spectacle” which I said sure to but regretted later. I learned that meant that we were playing pretend and planning a little play for the adults. It was fun but also difficult because they kept giving me lines and I couldn’t remember them for the life of me each time. It was fun though to play with the younger twins. I think Leah liked me and understood that I was shy and didn’t want to have lines. We picked all the flowers in the yard and Leah and I threw them over the princess and prince (Manon and Paul) at their party. I learned Elise was the planner and organizer and didn’t have to have lines. We performed this to the adults and then I thought we were done but NOOOOO we had to do another one!!! By this time the younger kids were bored of this and wanted to go play with the snails or anything else. That didn’t please Elise too much who was having fun telling us what to say and do. She also kept calling me “Kate” because my name is so weird for the French. I was fine with it and understand but Paul kept correcting her which made her self-conscious but I told her she could call me Kate if she wanted. That made her happier.  

By then it was almost 4 and we got ready to leave. Elise was mad we never finished the last play and I told her that we could next time. She liked that. We said good bye to everyone in typical everyone says bye to everyone fashion and got in the car and to go on our way. We all slept on the way home because of the wine, so much food, and having stayed up the night before. It was a great trip and I am so glad that I went. It was a lot of fun and I got to have a really authentic experience. When we got back I started writing this, taking a break to have pasta and a piece of hamburger for dinner. And now it is bed time for bonzos! Once I get all the things up on the blog… 

La Montagne Sainte-Victoire

This morning I did my usual routine though it took me longer because I had to shave. Here the showers are only handheld and you are not supposed to use more than 6 minutes of water. Usually I shave in the shower at home but here I don’t have time so I figured out that if I stopped the drain I could use that water to shave! How brilliant am I? Pretty brilliant. So the way it works here is you get wet then turn off the water. Do soap and then turn it back on to rinse and then you are done. Except that in order to go out in public I guess you have to dry your hair which in my case takes FOREVER!

Class today was exquisitely boring. The professor talked about dog poop for literally 25 minutes of our 2 hour class. We were all so bored out of our mind and can’t wait for real classes to start that have a bit more structure. The professor is really nice and excited about what she is saying but she has a habit of just re-saying the same thing over and over. I think that with a bit more structure it would be a fun class but because it is so scattered it gets repetitive and boring. I will be happy when it is done tomorrow, though our class is an hour later because it is Saturday. I wish we didn’t have class at all but of course we do… 

 Today I met with the class schedules dean guy and he said I could take 4 classes but he didn’t want me to take three because he thinks I would get too bored. I have to check with WOU though to see if I can take 4 without problems because I thought I couldn’t take more than 3 with our credit system. While I was talking to him he said he wanted me to think about doing an Internship somewhere. He set me a big list of them and there are some that are cool like working in a bakery or for a theater company but I am not sold on the idea of an internship. I don’t know how many hours it would be or whether it would inhibit me being able to do things that I want to do so I don’t know how I feel about it… Part of me says that would be good experience but part of me says that wasn’t why I came to France. So I am unsure about it. 

Today we went to Vauvenargues which is a cute little village at the base of la Montaigne Sainte-Victoire. It is also where Pablo Picasso had a house built and where he lived for a few years before he dies and his kids inherited it. It was reaining when we first got there so we waited two minutes for it to stop by singing a song. It was super good. Not. But it was fun. After exploring th village we got back on the bus and went to the dam near Monte Sainte-Victoire.  It was super gorgeous and the lake it makes is so clear we were probably 40 yards up and we could see the fish swimming in the shallow parts. It was really breathtaking and my brain could hardly process how amazing ad beautiful it was. We walked up past the dam a little ways to a big clearing where we could see the mountain and see off into the distance. It was very gorgeous there and I could hardly imagine such a beautiful place existed.

After we got home we split up to go to dinner and maybe go to a club tonight but I decided not to go. I am just so exhausted that I get tired just writing this and it is only 10. Paul was over and he has been enjoying playing my iPod. I showed Madame my American money because she had never seen it before. I wish I had had the Oregon Quarter because I had to just show her on the computer. Paul was fun, we sorted pokemon cards and he looed at his cards. For dinner we had pasta and broccoli. It was good. Bow I am so tired I am going to pass out!

Musee Garnet

Today I had class as usual. It was kind of boring but only because we have no real structure to class and the professor spends most of the time talking and rambling. Some of the things that she says are important or are good information but she likes to elaborate a lot or repeat the same things over and over. It gets a little dry after 2 hours. Today we also learned some practical info about our visas. About one out of 10 people who get their student visa are randomly selected to do a “carte de sejour” process. This pretty much is just really annoying… But you have to pay 58 Euros to go to a doctor visit here and fill out a bunch more forms in order to be legally able to stay here. I was lucky to not have to do that!!! From what it sounded like it was a lot of work and filling out forms and paying money and having to take more passport photos and blah blah blah. But basically a lot of work. I got the address for the school that you should use to mail me anything:

Kacy Helwig

IAU College

27, place de l’Université, BP30970

13604 Aix-en-Provence CEDEX 1

FRANCE

IMPORTANT !!!! If you are mailing me a package and don’t do this I will get charged a boat load of money. If you are mailing me a package you need to write “Articles usages pour étudiants” on the package or forms or both. And then you need to declare it as a gift on the package or form or whatever. And then value the package at $25 dollars or less. If you don’t do these then I get charged Duty Charges which are lots of money, more than 30% of the package cost. OUCH!

After that she took our passports which it seems unsafe to not have but I have a laminated copy if I run into trouble and it is only for a day or so. After that we went to the market to get lunch. I bought two peaches and a sandwich though once school starts I should probably start bringing lunch because it gets very expensive. I got permission to keep things in the fridge so that is a step in the right direction. Also we stopped in at a patisserie and I bought a little strawberry tarte. It was very delicious and I am going to try and not buy them in bulk because they are so pretty and incredibly good. Then we went to the Musee de Garnet which was full of pieces by Cezanne and Matisse and other cool painters. One was a Monet WHAT! Famous people! And they were the actual paintings! I wish they had allowed cameras because there were a lot of really beautiful pieces that I wish I knew the name of now. Perhaps I can find a site for the museum online and I can find them. Mostly it was Julia, Kelan, and I that were together for that (some pretty cool people I’ve met). We stayed there for about 2 ½ hours looking at the pieces and I could have definitely spent more time there, easily. After that we went to the park to sit down and debrief our day and our hosts and our experience so far.  A few of our other friends were passing through the park on their way home and sat with us for a while. After that we went back to IAU to use the computers but they were locked.

After sitting around for a while Julia and Kelan left and I went with a bunch of other people to Happy Hour at the bar down the street which was one of our activities. They had a buy one get one free deal for Happy Hour which was pretty cool. I ordered the frilliest drink on the menu which was 7 euros but to get 2 was not that bad I thought. Granted I picked one of the ones with the least alcohol J But a glass of wine was 3 for two glasses. It was a pretty good deal. I also tried a beer with grenadine that someone had. It wasn’t bad as well as an Orangina which is like orange soda but different. More fruit flavored than artificial and apparently they have them at some stores in the states? I dunno! It was nice to hang out with a different crowd and everyone here is so nice that it is easy to jump between groups without much trouble. It was getting towards 7:30 and we usually eat dinner between then and 8 so I went home (4min.). A bunch of them were going out after dinner but I don’t know how because I am so exhausted each night! Maybe once I am more adjusted to time here and it isn’t so hectic I will try to go out. But it is interesting because it is such a popular thing to do here. Whenever anyone talks about the students here I guess it is about how they go out and the teachers are all like yeah go try it have a good time, which I find a little weird. But I will try it at least once and then when I hate it I will stop.

I got home and found a letter from Ms. Cassidy on my bed. It was fun to read J I guess now I have to send her one back! Oh darn…  J My host seemed upset or something so I tried to stay in the living room as much as possible in case I had been rude by not being home earlier. But then she started dinner. We had les croques monsieurs, which in laymans terms is grilled cheese with ham. It was good but they eat it with a fork and knife here which is a bit difficult, but I managed. Then we watched tv and talked and I think that she was in a better mood by the end of the night. She worked today so maybe it was that? I dunno. But we also had ice cream before bed which I am really fine with the dessert thing but I am worried that it is going to be too much! So I try and eat fruit for dessert when I can. So today was cool.

Tomorrow we are climbing up Mont Saint Victoire which is the super famous mountain here that Cezanne painted at least 88 times. I am excited, but also a bit nervous for my vocal cords so I hope they don’t act up too much!

Chateau de la Coste

 Today Madame didn’t work so she was home when I woke up. I tried to take a shower and stuff quickly so that I would have time to Skype Thad before he fell asleep and I had to go to school. I was eating pretty fast when Madame was like you should slow down and I was like oh I am trying to have time to Skype call and she was like oh! Well go do that quick or else you won’t have time! She offered to clean up which I always feel guilty about but she always insists and won’t give in. Then I ran and talked to Thad before it was time to go to school. Notice I say school and not class? Yeah today we watched the move “Intouchables” which in English would be “Untouchables”. It was a super good film that I guess is French. It came out in 2010 and I guess that since its big success in Europe Hollywood has bought it and now are going to do something with it. It was a fantastic film. I would recommend. It reminded me a lot of Rainman but instead of mentally handicapped the main guy is a Paraplegic.  It was a bit sad at parts but still good. I was expecting a different ending but it was still good!

 After that we went to “Crepe a gogo” which is a delicious place that makes crepes the size of pizzas and they have like 34792057 different kinds of toppings and stuff. It was super delicious and pretty cheap from 2-4 euros each!  Then we went back to the school to go catch the bus to take us to “Chateau de la coste” which is a winery and vineyard that dates back to the 1600’s. They have some areas that are old and some that are new. Apparently, the vineyard was bought by a super rich Irish guy who now owns it all and pays money to have sculptures and stuff brought in to be there. It is super nice and we got to tour the cellar and try some of the wines. I ended up buying a bottle for my host. It was gorgeous property and I wish I could have walked around in the vineyard more but it was very cool. We learned about the wines and that this vineyard last year made 770,000 bottles of wine which 50% went out of the country and 50% stayed in France. They have 76 wine tanks and only 3 people who work on bottling process. It was really cool. At the tasting we tried a rose, a white, and a red. I didn’t care much for the red but the other two were good. I feel like wine here doesn’t taste as harsh with the alcohol as it does in the U.S.  After doing the Chateau we broke up and went home. There was another bar outing tonight but I was too tired and ready to be done for a bit that I didn’t go plus none of my group was going. 

 Instead I came back home and tried to figure out my class schedule and talked on Facebook. For dinner we had fish and green beans. I ate half of it but she still said I was making things difficult for her to know what to buy me for dinners. She learned I like carrots and we had those today as well as more kiwis. The bread here is really delicious and I seriously love it. 

I decided not to go to the beach trip this weekend because Madame invited me to go to see her son with her. Which I guess is actually a family birthday party which I didn’t know. But oh well. It is in… Romans-sur-Isère. And I guess all of the family is going so that’s kind of cool. Real French experience? Could be cool!

Quatrieme Jour

 Today I woke up and took a shower, had breakfast as usual, and Facebooked a little. This is the first night I haven’t woken up around the three thirty mark. And I was very grateful for that! But I did get up at six. Then went back to sleep for two hours. It is very difficult to get a full night’s sleep so far. Also I end up having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because I am drinking SO much water but feel like I am still dehydrated. I went to class as always and it was relatively boring. I don’t feel like I am really LEARNING very much but what we are doing is good but not really anything new. We looked at the map of Aix and I learned that I have been going home a long way from some of the main streets, oops.  

After that we were set free to visit the markets. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday there are more markets than usual, they add the flower market and the clothing market, and the stuff market. It is pretty cool to walk around in. We walked around and I bought a peach, sandwich, and strawberries for lunch. It was probably the best peach I have ever eaten. I have also heard it said that farmers here make more than doctors though whether that is true? I don’t know. My friends and I walked around a bit and then decided to go back to the Institute to chill out before the supposed picnic with other students from other colleges.

But when we got to the (gorgeous) park we learned that it was just us. And that it was not allowed to sit on the grass so we sat around on the gravel for a while before deciding to leave. We then had to wait a few hours to go to our cooking class at five. Luckily, we all were in the same group so that was cool. So we wasted time by walking around which seems to be the fall back activity, but it is nice because then we get more familiar with the city. After a while it was time to head back so we could make it to our class on time.

The place we went was called  “Dolls in the Kitchen” and it was pretty small but quaint. Two younger women had us make “caviar au aubergine” which doesn’t actually use fish eggs like suggested but was kind of an eggplant paste that you could put on bread and tapenade noir et le tapenade vert which is like an olive paste with either green or black olives and part of a sardine. It was surprisingly not bad. We also got to try pastis. All of these things are traditional Provencal foods but pastis is like THE drink of Provence.  It is an alcoholic licorice drink. It was way less strong than I anticipated but I don’t really like licorice at all so it wasn’t my favorite. But it was something on the list of things to do. After the cooking class we decided to all split up to meet back up for dinner in a few hours. We had all pretty much hit the wall on tiredness so it was good to have some down time. The Institute was hosting a bowling night but for 13 Euros which we kind of all decided we’d rather spend that on going to dinner because we all could go bowling cheaper in the U.S. and we’d rather do something less American.
 

When I came home Paul was getting back from his first day of school. I decided to put some more of my pictures on Facebook and Paul decided to tell me what everything was. It was pretty amazing actually because a lot of the places look very similar here so it was kind of amazing to me that he knew where things were but I guess it would be the same if he had pictures of St. Helens. Then all too quickly it was time to go back to meet my friends. We met in front of the big fountain here (which is also 5 minutes away for me) and then walked around until we found a place. We sat down and ordered and I had pizza and our group decided to have wine as well. I have heard a lot of people say that French Pizza sucks but that was not the case for me! It was a lot like Pizza  Schmitza. Very delicious and then we went and walked around until we found a gelato shop. I have never had Gelato so I was excited to try it even though it was a bit spendy at 3.50 Euros for a tiny cup. But it was really delicious!!!

We also walked by a catholic church and it was so gorgeous on the inside! I didn’t want to take pictures because I figure it is frowned upon? But it was really gorgeous! We then walked back towards the college so one of the girls could meet up with another group and then we went our respective ways together so as to be safe. Then I came home and wrote a little paper about the markets for my class and Madame offered to proof read it for me which I gladly accepted. Then I sat down to write this and now I am exhausted! Tomorrow we are going to a wine chateau to do a tasting and I have heard that it is really pretty there.

We are all excited and tomorrow instead of class we are watching a movie which is awesome! A lot of people went out tonight because Tuesday nights girls get a lot of free drinks because it is ladies night so I think that might have something to do with the movie. My group didn’t go out and I don’t think that I would really want to at all… Not really my scene but it was nice to go out ourselves instead of with the program doing stuff. I am excited for tomorrow though!

La Troisième Jour

 Today was my first day of the early start program classes. I woke up with the house to myself because Madame had already left for work. She left me breakfasting the table. I took a shower and talked to Thad a bit and then got ready to go. Last night I had out a pair of ear plugs by my bed so that if the neighbors across the way never shut up I could turn them off. When I came back from the bathroom I found Beebow and one of the ear plugs. Uh oh. I thought "oh no! If I kill her cat this would be bad news!!!" But I later found it under the other end of my bed. But it was very touch and go for a while. Once I put away breakfast I went to the school to begin the activities. I'm literally like a five minute walk away :-) closer than anyone else I know. When I got to the school there were folders for everyone in boxes. We walked in and the staff all said encouraging hints about being abroad. They gave some nice speeches about most often time drives you but now we need to drive it. It was good. After that we got talked to about basic housing respect and what will earn us bonus points with our host. I was already doing all of them. :-) 

After that we split up into 4 groups to go to classes. They were pretty much based on ability level and I was placed in highest group which wasn't bad. We went upstairs and did some conversations and introductions and then it was time for lunch!! Some of us from the program went to a little sandwich shop and got sandwiches and stuff. We also poked in a store called la cure de gourmand which was a dessert pastry, chocolate, and carmel shop. It was cute. After that we went back to the school where two French girls explained to us how the French interact in the street, bar, and at home. It was amusing and fun. Then we split into our classes again to be led arou d Aix on a tour of some places that they recommend. It was cool to get back into the main part of the city. After that we went back to the institute to be talked to about the other colleges in the area and how they are trying to link the together via a bunch of activities. Then once we were done with that we were free to go for the optional bar crawl tonight. My group of peeps opted against it as we were all tired and dehydrated. We went to the monoprix and I bought pencils. From there we split up and went back to our houses but I get kinda lost on the way back. But I was in no hurry and I got to see new stuff so that was cool. I came home and Paul was over. He showed me his Pokemon cards again and told me what type each of them were. We watched tv until Madame had us sit down for dinner. We had rice and cordon bleu and I was very happy. I like having Paul here it dumbs down the food a bit. But still delicious. This time I said yes to cheese as well and it was delicious as was the kiwi for dessert. We watched tv which was cartoons and a show about baby zoo animals and then Paul went home. I talked to Madame a bit about her day and explained to her about why I wrote every night on my iPod. She bought it was a phone.

 Earlier in the day a guy came who organizes trips for internationals on the weekends. He told us about the optional one this Sunday which is to Coatia which is more east than Marseille but is on the sea. It costs 25€ for most of his trips he says but they are cool and are difficult to get to if you don't have a car. I decided I was down. I also learned that next Monday a rep from a phone company is coming to the institute so I will probably buy a phone then. Probably. Or I could buy one tomorrow if I have time. 

La deuxieme jour

Today I woke up at three and had to use the bathroom and I felt really bad because I woke up Madame. Then I fell in and out of sleep for the rest of the time until 9 when I figured I'd better get up. Madame had breakfast set out for me and I had bread and Nutella and a kiwi and a peach ( which I learned I like fresh).  I drank a lot of water because I think I have been dehydrated. Water isn't as readily available here I have noticed or it isn't a go to beverage.

After that we went on another trip around town. This time we we t to the open market hat is apparently there everyday every time of year. It was really cool to see all of the vegetables and fruit and chickens and stuff. We walked around and bought this and that and strawberries. Se went to a bakery that Madame likes but for some reason they were closed and she seemed pretty perplexed by that.

Then we came back and went to Madame's daughters with Paul and Jean-Claude. I forgot her name... :-/ But we stayed there for a few hours. There was also a fete or party holiday thing today in Aix apparently. A lot of people were dressed in traditional provencal clothing and they rose white horses and held flowers and stuff. It was pretty cool and Madame says that it is really common to have these sort of things so most French people don't really notice anymore. We probably stayed at Laurence's for four hours. We had lunch and played with Paul. He likes Pokemon so he was showing me cards and telling me which had genders and who evolved from who. He thought a Snorlax evolved from a Phanphy? Is that true? He dressed as a cow boy, a wizard, a Jedi, and a rock star. I think he was showing off for me. They all call him Paul the Terrible because he doesn't like to listen and is always full of energy but any 7 year old boy Is like that. He starts school on Tuesday.

I talked with Jean-Claude who apparently got in an accident on his moto with Paul three months ago and he lost half his finger and sprained his wrist. I was surprised I hadn't noticed. Laurence (Madame's daughter) ((I just asked)) and I talked about her travels to Amerikesh Moracco and New York. We also talked about what I will do for a job and about unemployment and stuff. I was very glad to of had an unemployment lesson in my French class. I think I came off as in the know.

We had rose wine for lunch with them as we'll as a vegetable dish that Provence is known for that wasn't my favorite. It consisted of stewed tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and eggplant. We also had chicken roti and fries. This again followed by crackers and nuts and then fruit or strawberries, raspberries, and grapes. It was very good and I felt like I was following the conversations pretty well. Whenever I really didn't understand something Jean-Claude would say it in English.

I learned that Laurence and Jean-Claude aren't married yet but they will be he says. They just haven't gotten around to it. This is his second marriage and he has a 27 year old son. I think he was married really young because he doesn't look very old. Paul showed off his Disneyland Paris postcard and complained that he was too short for a lot of the fun rides and it was not big enough of a park. Afterwards, Paul went swimming in the blow up pool they have. I wasn't really feeling it though  it is hot here.

Then we talked to the neighbor over the wall and asked if we could come pick some of his figs. We went over we had to climb up a ladder to get to them so Jean-Claude did most of the work because be is the tallest. The neighbors are redoing the house pretty much gutting and redoing from what I can tell. Next to us was a garden that was fenced by slatted bamboo. While we were standing around there was a bunch of noise coming from behind the slat so I was trying to figure out what it was. Paul and I investigated and discovered that it was ... A tortoise! Walking around really fast and making to a of noise! It was really amusing to us and I guess it isn't common at all. He was seriously like booking it though around that garden. I wanted to steal it... But I didn't.

Then we came back and after Paul got yelled at for not flowing directions we left and went back upstairs. I took a nap for an hour and then went and got ready to leave for the open house at IAU. Paul came up right before I left and asked where I was going. He tried on all my shoes before I left and tried walking around in them. It was pretty funny.

Then Madame walked me to the university which is like literally 2 minutes away. There I meta bunch of people and we spoke ENGlISH! Which was then surprisingly hard to do because I wanted to say French words. But it was nice to learn what people's plans were and how they are doing phones. A lot of people have iPhones and then turn off the data and only use the wifi with a new SIM card. Apparently that is really the best way to go. But also Orange the same company that I got wifi from can sell you a phone for 20 € a month with free unlimited everything within the country. I think that is probably what I will do. It seems like what other people were doing. I stayed for the full hour and a half until we were kicked oh and then another 20 minutes talking in the street. Everyone is super nice like it is awesome. And there were a couple west coasters but most people are from somewhere on the east coast. There were also some students from India who study in America who are on study abroad here. That was pretty funny to hear them explain.

We talked about our hosts and issues we are having like the phones or finding our way around. We also talked about places that we want to go. Apparently I have a fall break from October 26 to nov 3? 5? Which I didn't know about but a lot of people want to travel during it. There are a lot of people who want to go to Octoberfest. I don't really know much about it other than people drink a lot of beer. So I don't have the greatest interest in going but it probably would be interesting. A lot of people want to do Paris and Italy and Morocco. But it was really cool to talk to other people. I look forward to tomorrow when our classes start.

I came home and Madame made the pasta from last night, the vegetables from lunch and cordon bleu. That's code for delicious morsel of meet and ham and cheese and other meat and delicious goodness. I finished off the last of the strawberries for dessert. Then I started writing this and we are watching a movie.

I found out that Madame works cleaning a giant house she says. She used to work at a restaurant but then she broke her wrist and it became too hard. She also watches Paul a lot she says because his parents go to work. She use to do secretarial work too. I don't think she was ever married. She says she was with a guy friend for ten years but then it didn't work out but they are still friends. Tomorrow I start classes at 9 and I think our activity is going to a bar? But I may be wrong I don't remember. I hope they give us a schedule tomorrow. But that has been my day!

Beebow