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

La Premiere Jour

So I woke up on Saturday super early , 4 am because I got a Charlie horse in my left leg and I couldn't sleep. The time zone jet lag was causing havoc. I decided to hop online to talk to my people while I still had Internet access not knowing if my host would have it or not. Next thing I knew it was 6 and I was staying up to Skype Thad who was still at dinner with his work group for another half hour. I was tired I could tell but too excited and nervous to sleep. Finally I skyped and then took another nap until my alarm went off at 9:20.

Then I took another shower and got water all over the floor again. By then it was only a few minutes and breakfast arrived. I happily ate it though i wasn't hungry and then packed up my stuff and headed down to checkout. From there I took the shuttle to the airport to meet an IAU representative at 11. Only I didn't know where to meet them.

So after 10 minutes of walking around I decided they weren't there and that if they didn't arrive in half an hour that I was going to go and call them. But then while I was standing there an older lady on the phone saw me and came over and started telling me she was from the college and stuff and that Madame Raibaud (my host) was so sad that I didn't come stay with her for last night and that her son in law was going to come get me but that fell through so she was putting me on the bus to Aix and paying my ticket. She rushed me on and told me not to get off until I stopped twice paid my ticket and ran away.

So I sat on the bus while we drove out of Marseille looking like a total tourist as I took a bunch of pictures. But whatever. We stopped and I didn't get off. And then once we got to Aix I wasn't sure whether this was really my stop because I wanted to be totally sure.

 The driver said it was so I hopped out and saw an older woman and a little ginger boy holding a sign with my name! We got my stuff out of the bus and Madame insisted on carrying one of my bags. Ginger headed Paul tried to help but was discouraged that my duffel was heavy but was delighted to find that my suitcase with four wheels could be pushed around. Once he got tired of that Madame and I both pushed it around stopping to lift it out of little storm drains or holes in the ground. Madame pointed out budings to me as we walked about 15 minutes to her house. It was also really hot and my vocal cords were starting to act up from carrying this heavy suit case up hills.

Once we turned onto Rue novembre Paul ran ahead to a man that I learned was Jean-Claude who is Paul's dad and Madame's son in law. But not because I guess they aren't really married yet but they say they will be. He speaks some English so he started asking me how my trip was. We spoke English a bit and then Paul got mad so we switched back to French. Paul is probably like 7 or 8? They call him "Paul the Terrible" because he is a free spirit.

When we finished lugging my suitcase to the third floor (Paul, Jean-Claude and Madame's daughter live below us) Madame insisted that we eat. Which as really not high on my want to do list since my stomach already wasn't handling eating breakfast well. I begrudgingly said sure. We talked while she made lunch.

She asked me what I wanted to drink and I said whatever she had was fine. Then when she came and set the table she put a one liter bottle of absolute vodka on the table. And my bought was "ohhhh no this lady goes hard I do not want to do this." And then she says " it's water" and I felt so much better!!! But I was still apprehensive drinking it! :-)

She asked about what I like and don't like. Then made me lunch which was tomatoes and mozerella, salad; and an avocado. Not wanting to be rude I tried to eat it even though I a) wasn't hungry b) don't want to be picky but I really can't stomach tomatoes well at all. Avocados either but it is easier to chew those and not taste them than it is a tomato. So after trying to eat them and getting most of the avocado down I had two bites of tomato and my tag reflex kicked in and sold me out... I literally almost threw up... Which made me feel really bad because I was trying to be good about it. But she told me I didn't have to eat it so I didn't. I told her my stomach wasn't adjusting very well and I wasn't very hungry. She sort of understood. Then we went back into town and walked around. She showed me some buildings like the office de tourisme and the marie which is like the town courthouse. We also passed by a church that was super pretty and old looking and of course a lot of fountains.

We stopped at the monoprix which is like the only supermarket place in town, otherwise everything oh buy comes from a store that is specific to a type of product. There I bought soap and face wash, lotion, an adapter for euro plugs and toothpaste. We had to go to a pharmacy to get contact solution. After walking around we came back and I was so tired that I took a nap for 3 hours. Oops...

After that we had dinner which a was pasta with stuff in it. Really specific I know but I dunno what it was perhaps spinach stuff? Again I wasn't very hungry and she told me that if I didn't eat more I would come back skinny and my mother would say that I was never fed! After every meal she offers me fruit or cheese or something but I am always so full. But it is nice here.

After dinner we watched a really cool game show that I can only compare to the end part of Legends of the Hidden Temple but harder and one room at a time. The concept is that there is this big castle and the wizard has a treasure so you have to collect keys to unlock it by winning them doing all these crazy things in each room. It was really cool. And had no commercials for two hours! What! I wish American game who's were like that. Anyways at the end they won 18k € which all go to charity so it is pretty cool.

After that we went to bed and I figured out how to get Internet for my iPod. So now I have communication again! My room: