So here is the weekly update. As you will be able to tell by reading, this was another frustrating week for me. Mostly due to school. I don't like my teacher.
It is once again really hot. This makes everyone tired and cranky and makes class hard to deal with. We got through it. After class, Nikki, April and I went back to April’s apartment. We were going to watch a movie in French so we could practice our listening skills. On the way, we all stopped to get lunch, which when I discovered that I lost a 20€ bill. Needless to say, I was (still am) upset. Money is tight for the rest of this month and that 20€ could have gone towards food or the last few souvenirs I want to buy. So, I’m still looking for it but it hasn’t turned up yet. Anyways, we got to the apartment and we decided to watch something that wouldn’t be too hard for us to understand. We decided on the Le Roi Lion (The Lion King). We’ve all seen this movie enough times in English that we can probably quote it so why not try it in French. I didn’t have much of a problem understanding what was being said, the only problem I had was staying awake. The time “Be Prepared” came on, we all had found a spot to lie down and take a nap. We ended up sleeping through the whole movie. I remember waking up every so often, usually when a new song started. I hung out with the girls for a while before heading back to Mady’s for dinner. Mady made taboulé (the cold couscous thing) and a zucchini gratin and turkey. I wasn’t a huge fan of the zucchini this time but I ate it anyways. I liked the taboulé. The turkey was just deli slices for sandwiches. Mady was trying to not heat up the kitchen too much because of how hot it was. For dessert, Mady gave me a bowl of raspberries. Raspberries are my favorite so even though I was really full, I could make room for raspberries. I finished off my night skyping with my mom. It was nice to catch up with her and see how everyone is doing. I miss them a lot.
Class felt longer today, not sure why. So far everything in this class seems to revolve around us being able to go into a store and buy something. It would be nice to have a different subject soon. It’s getting a little dull. I discovered during class that I needed another notebook to get me through the next three weeks. I went to Monoprix and got one, it’s just smaller than the last one. It should be more than enough for the few weeks. I went back to Mady’s and just hung out there today. I got an email from CEA about and internship. It sounded interesting so I applied. I’m interested to see if I get it.
Mady’s friend and Mady’s mother came over for dinner again. We had the zucchini gratin again. And a tomato and tuna salad thing (not sure what to call it). This wasn’t too bad. I’m not a fan of tuna but I ate it anyway. Mady also made pasta. There were several different spices in the sauce, but I couldn’t tell you what they were. But it was a little spicy. Mady was very concerned that it would be too spicy for me. It was just the right amount of spiciness for me; anymore would have been too much. Several times during dinner, Mady and her friend tried to help me practice my speaking but it’s still difficult for me. I get so nervous when I talk. It doesn’t help that I couldn’t think of the right words to answer their questions. I’ve started practicing my French online at memrise.com (thanks Nikki). I really like this site I and I think going on there for an hour or so day will help me improve.
Class went okay today. After class, I went over to a boulangerie and grabbed some lunch. I went back to Mady’s and switched out my backpack for my purse and went over to the bus station. Vivienne took us to Marseilles to see a new museum. Even though we didn’t get to see more than the outside due to the number of people, it was still pretty cool. There were two buildings; one was an old fort and the other was brand new. If we had tried to see everything, we would have need about 4 or 5 hours.
(Here you can see the layout of the two buildings. I really like how there is an interesting combination of the old and the modern)
Apparently, there are exhibits on Mediterranean cultures. If I have the chance, I will have to go back and check it out. The newer building is right on the water and there are rooks that you can climb down to the water. We sat on the rocks and dipped our feet in the water to cool off. We started making our way back to Aix not long after because those of us in home stays had to be on time for dinner. I had told my host mom before I left that I might be late so I wasn’t too worried. We hit some traffic on the way back which made the trip take a little longer than it was supposed to. And then it started raining. When we got back to Aix, it was only sprinkling. The walk from the bus station to my home stay wasn’t very far and I made it home before it started raining really hard. Mady had dinner waiting when I got back. We had a typical provincial meal of fish with roasted potatoes, carrots, green beans, a hard boiled egg with mayonnaise (I’m a huge fan of mayo but this had more of a garlicky taste and it was pretty good). For dessert, we had la glace de noix coco (coconut ice cream). I’ve never had coconut ice cream before and I really like it. I was really tired after the trip to Marseilles so I went to bed pretty early.
Today for class, our teacher took us to the market. She wanted us to practice asking questions. I’m really bad at asking questions and I get nervous especially when I ask strangers questions. We had to ask if certain vendors had certain items. After going around the food market, she took us to the flower market. She gave me money and had me buy flowers. She had me ask questions about how to take care of the flowers. It was really nerve wracking for me. Like I said, I get super nervous when I have to talk to people. We went back to class for about an hour and then class was over. I got lunch and went back to Mady’s. I took a nap and watched a movie. Once again, too hot to go out and I’m trying to save money.
Class went by super slow today. I felt so bad for Nikki, who was pretty sick today but came to class anyways. Our teacher is such stickler for the rules now that it’s practically impossible to enjoy going to school now. I was sitting in the hall, waiting for my teacher to show up for class because the room was locked, I was finishing my pain au chocolat this morning before class started and she got mad at me because “we aren’t allowed to eat in the classroom or the hall, only in the student lounge.” I’m glad I only have class with her for two more weeks. I wouldn’t be able to handle a full semester with her. Nikki had to leave class once to go to the bathroom and our teacher got made at her. I felt so bad for her. I was so glad to get out of that class.
So we had dinner really late tonight. We were supposed to eat at 7:30, but the friend that Mady invited over didn’t get here until after 8:30. I could tell Mady was a annoyed that she was so late. Mady’s friend brought sushi and dessert. Mady had asked me earlier if I liked sushi, I told her no, so she made me some pasta. I tried a few pieces but I’m not a fan of raw fish. Mady and her friend asked me a few questions in French and I was able to response pretty well. Thankfully they were simple questions. Most of the conversation at dinner was between Mady and her friend, each trying to get the other to eat more of the sushi that had been brought for dinner.  For dessert, Mady’s brought an ice cream tart thing. The crust was made of nuts and caramel. Inside, there was meringue and then 7 or 8 different scoops of ice cream on top. It was really good. I had a piece with strawberry and coconut ice cream. I also tried some with what I believe was mango. I liked the strawberry and coconut. Â
I was supposed to go out after dinner with Nikki. In one of the parks, there was going to be a projection of the opera, Rigoletto, which was being performed that night. But since Nikki was sick, we didn’t go. There was also an issue with transportation. We would have had to take the bus, which stops running at 10. So we could get there but have no way of getting back. But I guess it doesn’t really matter since we didn’t even finish dinner until around 10:30.
Most of the CEA students went to Barcelona for the weekend, leaving me, Nikki and Courtney to figure out something to do this weekend. So we decided to go Cassis and go to the beach. Getting there and back was quite an adventure. We took the bus to Aubagne, it took about half an hour, we changed buses and it took about 30-45ish minutes to get to Cassis. I really liked Cassis. It was a cute little seaside town. It felt about 20 degrees cooler which made the day so much better. It wasn’t as crowded as Marseille was and just nicer in general. We laid out on the beach for few hours, taking turns going in the water so there was always someone watching our bags. Courtney thought that the water was too cold while Nikki and I thought the water was perfect. Having been to the beaches in Maine where you’re legs go numb if you’re in the water too long, this water was perfect.
Before went back to the bus stop, we bought some post cards, and grabbed a snack at a café. When we got back to the bus stop, we discovered a very large crowd and we thought we weren’t going to be able to get on the bus. We soon discovered that this group was a very large group of tourists. I’ve discovered that anytime I say tourists now it never sounds nice. We did get on our first bus; it was just about 20ish minutes late. And because that bus was late, we missed our second bus, which was the last bus back to Aix. Thankfully, Courtney’s friend from school has a car. She called him and he came and picked up. Before he got there, Courtney warned us that he likes to drive fast. I didn’t realize how fast she meant until he started driving. At point, I looked at the speedometer and we were going at 180 kilometers an hour!!! I was so scared. I kept praying, “Please God just don’t let us crash! Just let us get back to Aix safely!” I’m never getting a car with him again! We got back safely. Courtney and Nikki went out to eat while I went back to Mady’s. I ate one of the frozen lasagnas that I bought earlier. Afterward, I skyped with my sister, Erinn, for a few hours. The time difference is so weird. I was getting ready to go to bed and she was just starting to make lunch. This just reminded me that I have to readjust to that in a few weeks. Fun.
Today is the 14 Juillet. It is the fête national for France. It’s their equivalent of our 4th of July. I watched the parade in Paris on TV.  The parade consisted of mostly soldiers. They had planes fly over  the parade route and they trailed colored smoke that made of the French flag, blue, white, and red.
While the parade was on, I skyped with my friend Jeremy, who is studying abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. It was really nice to talk to him and catch up on our adventures in study abroad. It hit me this morning that this is the only way I get to talk to him for a year. He’ll be gone during the Fall semester, I go back to Maine for Christmas break and then I go back to France for the Spring semester and then I’ll back to San Diego to work for the summer before school starts for my senior year. It’s weird to think about not seeing your friends in person for a year. We talked for about an hour and made plans to Skype again before I leave. I had lunch and then went out with Courtney and Nikki. We were going to go to Book and Bar and try and get some studying done, but we forgot that almost everything is closed on Sunday. We sat on a bench on the Cours Mirabeau to figure out where we should go. We made several observations about the differences between the U.S. and France on our national holidays. On 4th of July, we Americans go all out. We dress up, have parades fireworks, wear face paint, have parties, decorate our houses and stores, etc. But here, it seemed like any other day. The only decorations I saw were some French flags hanging on the lamp posts down the Cours. No one dressed up. It just seemed like there was as much expression of pride for their country as we express for ours. I’m sure if we were in Paris it might have been a different story but it still wouldn’t have been on the same scale as 4th of July. We finally decided to go to Carrefour Bar, were CEA usually holds the happy hours. I got my usual Orangina and we sat and talked for a while. I went back to Mady’s afterward. I cleaned my room a little bit, worked on the blog.
I had dinner; another frozen lasagna (I’m poor, it was cheap. Don’t judge me). Mady came back and she asked me if I was going out to see the fireworks. I told her yes. Then she made a comment about how I don’t go out. I told her I went out this afternoon. But she said that it’s not good that I don’t go out all the time. I need to find a way to explain to her that I don’t like to go out all the time. I am an introvert. I can only be around big groups of people a certain about of time before I need to just be by myself. And what about Sunday’s here? Everything is closed; where am I supposed to go? How does one explain to their host mom that they don't like to go out all the time? And that it's okay that I don't go out all the time. That they aren't always comfortable around big groups of people for long periods of time. That sometimes they just want to be by themselves for a while. That they don't like to go out to clubs and bars like all of their friends in their program because they don't drink. Feeling pretty stuck and I don't know how to explain this to my host mom.
I skyped with my friend Terra for about half an hour. I haven’t talked to her in a long time and it was nice to catch up with her. I went out around 9:30 to meet up with Courtney and Nikki to watch les feux d’artifice. Literally translated this means artificial fire but it means fireworks. We walked down to the end of the Cours Mirabeau and watched them for a while. We got bored really quickly. We’re used to the spectacular firework shows on 4th of July and at places like Disneyland/Disney World. I stayed for the whole thing I just moved from the very end of the Cours towards the back of the crowd, that way I could get back easier.
While I was with Nikki and Courtney, I talked to them about my issue with my host mom about me not going out very often. Turns out there has been a cultural misunderstanding. Apparently, the French spend a lot of time outside of their homes during the day. I didn’t know this so this just means I need to try and find things to do or places to go after class. I may start going to the park or to Book and Bar after school to try and take up time now. Now that that has been cleared up, I feel a little better about my situation. The challenge is finding things to do/places to go that don’t cost money.
So I guess that’s it for this week. I have two more weeks. I have trip to the Camargue next Sunday and the workshop that I want to go starts on Thursday. It’s on poetry and songs. So as usual, more to come.
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