Noël antillais/africain, sickness, Belgium

Hey everyone! Sorry it has taken so long to update, but not too much interesting was going on the last few weeks. I finished my first semester (I still have 3 finals in January) but everything finished off rather smoothly. Although I admit I havent been a great student this semester but really? I am a foreign student so it's ok, this is my time to travel and enjoy myself...

So to tell about my Christmas... It was, well, amazing, to say the least. I spent Christmas in Paris with Ingrid and her family. Although really we were only technically in Paris for about one day because we spent 3 days at Ingrid's aunt's house. So I arrived in Paris Thursday evening and we spent the evening resting in the apartment. Friday Ingrid and I went shopping with her friend Wendy (she's from St. Maarten but she has an American name). I bought myself a nice new wool sweater and, to be honest, Im so glad I did because it is FREEZING right now in Belgium!!! Anyways, so we spent the entire day getting gifts for Ingrid's family and then that night we all took the metro to Chatillon Montrouge, a little Parisian suburb just outside the city. Ingrid's family are some of the nicest people Ive ever met! Ingrid's aunt Ali is from Senegal as well as Ali's sister Nabu and their children. At first it was hard for me to understand because Ingrid's uncle Patrick (from Guadeloupe) has a super thick accent and plus a lot of the conversations were a mix of French and Creole. By the end of the weekend though not only was I understanding the Creole, but I was able to speak it a lot more than I was before. At one point Ingrid's dad was speaking to me in Creole and I didn't even know it but I understood what he said and responded back to him in French.

I dont think Ive ever eaten so much in my life as I have the last 3 days. One thing is for sure: African women LOVE to feed you!! Christmas eve we started our meal at 10pm and we didn't finish eating until 4am. No joke! Between each course there was LOTS of African/Caribbean dansing! and just when we thought we couldn't eat anymore, Ali brought another huge course. There were at least 6 or 7 courses total and plenty of champagne. I was designated the official champagne bottle opener and I can officially say that I am now an expert (and I have the sores on my hand to prove it!). So after we all finished eating, dancing, and drinking around 4:30am, most people went to sleep but I ended up staying up with Ali, Nabu, and Ingrid's brother Gary. We finished off the last two bottles of champagne and stayed up talking and laughing (in French we'd say doing bêtises, or silly things) until 6am. Finally I put myself into the mattress on the floor and fell asleep. At 10:30 the next morning we were all 10 of us awake and the apartment. After some coffee and showers, the party started again and we spent the entire day eating, drinking, and dancing AGAIN! The fête finally ended around 2am and Ingrid's uncle drove us back into Paris in the bus des handicappés, which, I admit, we all had a couple jokes about (shame on us, but it was 2am...). The next day we all slept at Ingrid's apartment and then after eating a little lunch together when we all woke up, we all get ready and headed back to Ingrid's aunt where we all ate, and ate, and ate. That makes 3 days of almost non-stop celebration. Now I am beyond exhausted and sick. Ingrid and I took the train this morning from Paris to Belgium (after only about 4 hours of sleep) and as soon as we arrived at our hotel in Brussels, we napped for 4 hours). We are now both freezing, stuffy nosed, and infectious... Tomorrow we are going to get up, eat breakfast, and prepare ourselves for some sightseeing! Personally, I am excited for the delicious Belgian beer and, of course, LOTS and LOTS of CHOCOLAT!!!

I will keep you all up-to-date with my travels and as soon as I get back home (in France I mean) I will add photos!

I hope everyone had a good holiday and that you are not all as cold as I am here in Belgium!

Love,
Doog

Aix-mas is in the air!

It has officially turned into winter in Aix! (Selon MOI that is!). Average high temperature is now between 7-10 degrees celsius, 40-50 degrees fahrenheit. I only like it because I love the time before Christmas when there are beautiful lights everywhere. The Cours Mirabeau has turned into a magical winter wonderland, with all sorts of Christmas lights hanging from the trees, a big carousel at the end, and wooden Christmas booths with all sorts of goods from delicious Christmas pastries, cheeses, and all sorts of Christmas gift-type dealios. The weekend before last I spent in Aix with some good friends of mine. We went to this store that has some American products and bought stuff for pumpkin pie and cheesecake. On our way out, we walked to the Cours Mirabeau which was just magical. We ended up getting some vin chaud (warm wine), which is a typical winter/after-skiing drink. It sounds disgusting but it was delicious! It's basically just red wine that's been heated and mixed with spices and lemon. Delicious! After that we were hungry so we went to the best crêpe place in Aix (which just happens to be a 2 minute walk from me!) and then we walked back to my friend's apartment to spend the evening baking. The only thing that could have made that more magical would have been if it had started snowing! The rest of the night we spent baking and hanging out at my friend's place and then we ended up going out, which was quite fun.

I straightened out my library problem finally. It took me 3 tries though (Go France!). The second time I went I brought the papers the guy had told me to the last time only so I could have someone tell me this time that it was my card and I had to get it reactivated. So I walked out of the library, furious, and in my little moment, I didn't see a little set of stairs (it was pitch black out and there were no lights) and I ended up falling and landing flat on my face. Woohoo!

In other news, my French proprietaire (landlady) of 85 years has officially been placed on my shitlist. Last week, after her daily trip into my room while Im not there so she can "air it out" (no, Im not smelly or dirty, she just has this obsession with airing out all the rooms, especially the bedrooms after we've slept in them all night) she noticed that I had a bunch of laundry in my hamper, which I planned on doing the next day. So she tells me to put them out so she can do them in the morning since we now have to do our laundry in the morning so that it has time to dry outside since it's so cold. I told her it was fine since I had to get up in the morning anyways. Needless to say, the next morning I did NOT get up as early as I wanted to. I reset my alarm so I could sleep again until 9:15 but at 9 I get a "tap tap tap" at my door. I try ignoring it so she'll go away but a minute later she comes back and does it again this time with an added "Dooglass!". I reply with a vague "oui", sit up  in my bed, and there she is in my doorway, reaching for my laundry hamper. She makes some sort of comment about how she knew I wasn't gonna get up early enough and then closes the door. First of all, bitch did NOT just come into my room while I was sleeping! It's bad enough she does it during the day while Im gone (I specifically close my door every day, my sign that I do NOT want people going in my room, but apparently she doesn't get the hint) but really, while Im SLEEPING!? What if I slept naked!? Luckily it's winter and Im cold, otherwise I usually do. What the hell! I was furious! Then the fact that she's touching all my dirty clothes! I hate that! Yeah, so today she was pissing me off again with the running commentary about my laundry. I put too many things that were heavy into the washer (my towel and one of my sweatshirts), I have to hang this up here, do this, this, this. OMG, LEAVE MY FUCKING LAUNDRY/ROOM/STUFF ALONE!!! Anyways, that's my rant about that.

So Thursday was Thanksgiving. I spent it with the wonderful people in my program, who arranged for us all to have a very nice Thanksgiving dinner in one of the nicer restaurants in Aix. It was absolutely delicious! Im pretty sure I ate the best stuffing of my life! Later that night I skyped my family for 3 hours since everyone was at my parent's house for dinner. It was cool, I sort of felt like I was right there with everyone. Pretty cool. All in all it was a good day. :)

I just realized that I'm only 3 weeks away from my Christmas trip to Paris and New Year's trip to Belgium! I am so excited but I have sooo much work before then! I don't know how I'm ever going to get this all done, but I know I'll pull through. Also, still haven't seen Harry Potter yet! I want to see it once in French and once in English. Maybe this will be my treat after I get some of my work done.

Alright y'all, Im off to buy a baguette to have with my dinner. 

Deuces,

"Doog"

Couple pictures from my phone:

The Cours Mirabeau lit up with Xmas lights. 

My French family (or at least a part of them!):
Véro, moi, et Audrey after we gave blood in October.

Je ne donne pas une merde! (I love literal translations that don't make sense!)

Hey y'all! I feel bad because I haven't been keeping as up-to-date with my blog lately as I should be, but things in France are starting to get into a routine, which is a good thing. I feel as though now I have the basic understanding of how things work here in general. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with things and I'm feeling a lot less lost (except for the other day when I went to the library for the first time and everything just turned into a huge fiasco with me leaving without any books and extremely pissed off) BUT yes, other than that, much less lost!

Aix is sorta/trying to turn into fall! Leaves have gotten more colorful and the weather has been steadily getting colder (and by that I mean it is usually somewhere in the low 50s during the day, which isn't bad at all!). It does get quite cold at night though and when that mistral (famous, cold, northerly wind) comes flying through, it can be quite freezing!

This last weekend was fairly nice though, which worked out perfectly for when my Ingy boo came to visit! We had such a good time together this weekend and I can't wait to see her at Christmas! Her and I sat down and made travel plans for our Christmas holidays. I booked train tickets to go to Paris, where I will spend Christmas with her and her family! Then her and I decided to be random and we booked very cheap train tickets to spend 5 days in Brussels, Belgium, where we will spend the New Year! I have then decided that (since I don't yet know my exam dates) if I have some extra time, I may change my return train ticket back to Aix and do a little traveling somewhere by myself. If possible, I'd love to go to London for a few days to see my friend Sarah, who will be doing a winter study abroad session there for a few weeks or maybe go somewhere with my roomie if we both don't have exams the week right after! Either way, should be fun!

So in other exciting news, I have officially checked off one of the things on my bucket list! (I don't actually have one, but if I did, this would be on it!) Yes, I climbed a MOUNTAIN! Mte Sainte Victoire, to be exact. The mountain which many of you would recognize either from my pictures of it from my apartment or from some of Paul Cézanne's famous paintings! But yes, I managed to reach the summit of that 900 meter beast! And I only came out with several blisters and two large open wounds on the backs of both my feet, thanks to my wonderful boots that rubbed the skin completely off. And then some. But it was totally worth it! The views were amazing! Check out some of my pics on my facebook if you haven't already by clicking this link: On top of the Sainte Victoire!

Anyways, that's all I got for now folks!

Deuces.

-THE "Doog"

Updates from the mini Paris of the south

Woa, long time no update! Guess it's time to catch some of yall up on what's happening in my French life! Since my last update I have been to Avignon, Les Baux de Provence, and Toulouse! So far, I'd say Toulouse was my favorite, even though it was cold and rainy almost the entire time we were there...

For the Toussaint (All Saints) holiday weekend, a friend and I decided to do a little exploring in another part of France. So we took a train 5 hours northwest of here and ended up in Toulouse, known for it's bonne bouffe (good grub!) and red brick buildings. The weekend was filled with ups and downs. Some of the ups included us renting some vélos and biking around the city, eating some delicious German food which included a PLATEFUL of sauerkraut (yum!), and some Private Spice watching after our late night club outings (inside joke, sorry). Downs included the Ballet National de Guinée (The Guinea National Ballet) show being canceled, cold/raininess, and lots of general moments of frustration with the way things work here.

I came back from vacation last Tuesday and immediately had to jump back into school mode since I had 2 exams. I ended up not doing any studying though (figures!). But Im ok with it. The exams weren't TERRIBLE, and the professors promised to take into consideration the fact that we're foreigners, which Im ok with. In the end, it'll all work out. On the way home after my second exam I was talking with one of my friends who brought up what I think is a very valid point! Her & I, as well as many of the people on our trip that I talked to, seem to be going through similar points of feeling stressed over the fact that we're not more stressed out with school. I mean, I'm not completely neglecting school but I'm definitely not blowing it off completely. This isn't just school, it's LIFE. That's what her dad's advice to her has been throughout this whole experience and I think I'm going to be taking that advice as well.

In other news, I've had a few problems with my bank card, I'm taking Dutch lessons from a Dutch friend I made on one of our weekend outings, and I have been spending a lot of time with my French family lately. It makes me so happy to be surrounded by such kind and welcoming people. This weekend Dorine, ma soeur française (my French sister) had two of her Australian friends come and visit with them. I spent almost all weekend with them all. We showed the girls around Aix and Marseille and ate lots of delicious homemade food made by Véro, the mom.

I've got lots to do this week but I am super excited because my Ingy boo is coming to visit me in Aix this weekend! I haven't seen her since I came to France so I am very excited to see her again!

Here are some pictures I took of Toulouse (for those who haven't seen on my facebook):

Le Pont Neuf, famous bridge in Toulouse

Le Capitole. We stumbled upon a big bio (organic) food market.

One of my favorite pictures that I took in Toulouse. Got this while we were bikeriding around the city.

Negative much?

So I've just realized that my blog has been way too much of a downer lately. What can I say, I'VE been way too much of a downer lately! I go from having these moments of extreme happiness to suddenly I'm walking down the street to class, bawling my eyes out. Those people handing out the newspapers every morning by the fac de droit must think I'm just some basket case emo-child. Headphones in, head down, eyes red and puffy. Like I've been through some sort of break up or something. More like I've just been through a break up with the US. Or should I say, we're in a long-distance relationship right now...

It's funny how little things here can sometimes just set you off. For example, I almost cried over trying to read my phone bill the other day! OMG, come on man, get yourself together! But seriously though, I can't imagine what it must be like for people who move to a foreign country and don't speak a word of the language. Crazy.

Last weekend I went to Montpellier with 2 of my good friends. I LOVED Montpellier. It was a very cool city! Although getting there was quite a hassle...

As some of you may know, strikes/protests are going on all over France right now because of a retirement reform the government is going through with. Riots have broken out in some cities, only about 1/3 of the country's trains are running, and all of the oil refineries have been shut down, causing massive-panic buying of gasoline which has already caused many gas stations to run out of gas. And then of course, I receive another wonderful email from the American Embassy telling me not to participate in any of their protests since some have turned violent and also advising me to be careful about renting a car since, you know, the country is running out of gas right now. As if I care about protesting over an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with me. Gay rights, bring it on. French retirements, no thanks.

So anyways, Friday afternoon I left with my friends to Montpellier. We took the train from Aix to Marseille, no problemo. But when we get to Marseille, we quickly realize that our train from Marseille to Montpellier is not up on the screens. So we find some SNCF workers and ask what's going on. Well, the protests are what's going on, duh. So this first worker lady tells us that, uh, yeah, there's actually no trains going to Montpellier... Excuse me? Yeah, no trains. Then she turns to her coworker and he goes "ahh, but yes! you need to take this train headed towards Lille and then get off at this stop and then from there NORMALEMENT (there's my favorite French word again) there should be a train going to Montpellier." This, of course, all happened in rapid French in a train station filled with hundreds of stranded travelers aka, I CAN'T HEAR YOU MISTER, PLEASE SPEAK SLOWLY AND ENUNCIATE! So finally we find the right train which, of course, is about to head 5 hours in the complete opposite direction. So we get on with hundreds of other French people who are also looking for different ways to get to their destinations. The train is so packed that people are standing everywhere, sitting on stairs, even laying down on the luggage racks. About 5 minutes we make friends with some French students sitting around us who were also told to get off at this one stop to catch their other trains and when the announcer comes on to announce the stops, ours, of course, isn't one of them. We literally RUN off the train, along with all the other French students around us, and we stand outside confused until some random dude tells us that no, this IS the right train. So we all run back on, doors close literally right behind us, and we are officially on some train headed way to the north, even though we are trying to go south-west. In the end though, we made it to Montpellier (hours later than we were supposed to) and had a good weekend. I shall be posting pictures on my Facebook soon!

In other aspects of my life, things are going ok. School is, well, school. I still have done literally NOTHING for any of my classes. In fact, I just went to the creole library yesterday and got books for my creole class. Speaking of, found out on Monday that my creole professor is friends with one of the French professors I had at Tulane. She cited him in class on Monday and, like she always does everytime she cites some American professor, she looks towards her American students to see if we know who the heck she is talking about. Well this time, I actually DID know the person and so I very excitedly raised my hand and explained that he was one of my professors at Tulane. Small world!

Yesterday and today, the students who were joining in the strikes tried (very unsuccessfully) to barricade the entrances at the school by piling chairs and tables against the doors. Of course, those of us who still had to go to class, simply moved a couple tables so we could walk in the door. Smooth guys. Then of course today they were marching around with their megaphones and signs yelling "1, 2, 3, 4, something in French I couldn't understand." Hilarious. I just can't get over it.

In other news, life is starting to get a routine. Bitch upstairs is still vacuuming and waking us up in the mornings, my students STILL aren't participating that much in my English class so it's come down to me making each person talk and read through directions (really guys? come on!), and, of course, it's getting really cold out which means one thing: I'm getting sick, again! ayaya!

This weekend I am going to Avignon and Les Baux de Provence on another one of our group outings and then the weekend after is our Toussaint holiday! I am going to Toulouse with my good friend Emma. We will be there for 4 days so we are hoping to do some awesome exploring.

Keep a look out for pictures on my facebook this weekend. I'll probably just post Montpellier in the same album with the pictures I take in Avignon and Les Baux de Provence.

Paix!

-Doog, the Basket Case

One of us/It's true what they said

The title says it all. It's true what they said. It doesn't really hit you until you're a few months in, things settle down, and you have a lot more time on your hands to start thinking about home. I'm afraid to really talk to anybody about it in the program because some people just act like everything is oh so wonderful (even when it's not). Hence my one sentence complaint about it in the blog. Ok, now that THAT'S over...

So last Tuesday I had my first day of teaching. Things went OK. My first class had the most students, about 8 total. There was one really smart (and really cute!) guy who spoke English very well and answered my questions correctly. Then there were two really bitchy girls, another guy who was too shy to talk, and two other girls who didn't even make a peep. French students are so much different from American students. There are generally not as many amicable (?) relationships between teachers and their students, students sometimes talk in class when other people are talking (including the prof), and they don't participate as much. Thankfully though, my program director gave me some tips how to work around it. My last class of the day only had 4 students in it, 4 really nice French girls. With their class I finished the activities early and I ended up spending the last 15-20 minutes trying to make conversation with them (in English) so that they could practice speaking.

Nothing interesting happened until Thursday/Friday. Both days put me in horrible moods, mostly because of the fact that I think Im just starting to miss home. So I get up Thursday, already in a horrible mood, and I head to the Fac where what do I find? Students on strike! Hundreds of them are in the streets blocking traffic and several students are yelling things through megaphones. They are all, of course, protesting the retirement reform that the government is doing right now which, really, I think is ridiculous. But whatever, another one of those culture things... So Im walking around this crowd, trying to get to the main entrance so I can get to class on time and I soon realize that the yelling through the megaphone is not getting any quieter. I turn around and find that the students are all marching behind me, girl with megaphone in hand is following me. GREAT. So I call my friend to ask what the hell's going on, the students continue following me down the hallways, yelling through the megaphone, and I end up getting lost trying to find my class. Wasn't having it... Thursday night I talk with one of my good friends back home for 2 hours, which was awesome but I think it made me feel even worse. Then I im'ed with several friends and called my mom at work and then talked to my aunt.

All this made me wake up in a really bad and homesick mood. I walked to class and, of course, like my stupid usual self, I put on my "sad song" playlist and I start to cry. Once I got to class, eyes red from crying, I started to feel better and the rest of the day continued to slowly get better. In my history discussion, I was so out of it and my friend and I were so lost. We were sitting there and every student is on either this page or this other page, and everyone is frantically writing things down and I am just so lost. Then I almost have a panic attack when I see the professor going around to check what everyone is writing. OH SHIT! I literally have a minor panic attack and my friend and I just look at each other and start laughing because hey, we're just those dumb foreign kids, right? I always wondered how foreign students in some of my classes  back home just seemed so lost sometimes but I TOTALLY get it now that I am the one in that situation. Luckily though, my history professor for this class is really awesome and after he finally clarified what page we were on (the foreigners weren't the only ones who were lost it turns out) I understood what was going on and the prof even came and looked at what I was writing and made conversation about it, which made me feel good.

Friday night I had my typical dinner with my French family. I absolutely LOVE them, I feel like they are becoming a sort of second family to me. I don't know if I could ever really explain this to them though, but they really are helping me in more than just a "we're gonna help you learn French" environment. Audrey, one of the daughters, had her friend Ségo come over for dinner. She was super nice and asked me questions about what things were like in the States. They asked me how things were going for me and France and I explained to them that I was having a great time except I was having a hard time meeting French students and I was starting to get homesick. Audrey was like "Doug!" why don't you start hanging out with us!?! So that night I went out with her and her friend Ségo, who were heading into Aix to go out dancing. We ended up at this bar where we decided to do some shots. We did a round of these delicious cherry flavored shots that the bartender lights on fire and you have to stick a straw into the bottom of it really quickly and suck up. Ségo's first try ended up with her lighting her straw on fire and then when she tried to drink, she ended up choking it down. It was pretty funny! So we ended the night at a club which had OK music, but we still had a good time.

Saturday night I went out clubbing again (even though I had just intended to go out for a friend with a drink) but I had SOO much fun! I got pretty, well, drunk and stayed out until 4:30am and then I left for Monaco the next morning at 8:30am.

For those who don't know, Monaco is the 2nd smallest country in the world with a population of about 33,000 people. It's located on the southern coast of France. I had a great time there and it was cool to say I went there, but idk if I'd go back. The day we went we got to see the changing of the guard at the royal palace and then everything was free to get in because it was kind of like the "journées du patrimoine" that France had where all government things and museums are free. So we got to go inside the palace (couldn't take pictures though) and got some amazing views. I didn't go to the casino though lol. But we did buy some tea and chocolate from this amazing little chocolaterie. Here are some pictures below:

La relève de la garde (Changing of the guard) at the Royal Palace

View of the Port of Monaco. The other side, off to the right, is Italy

Grace Kelly's grave. Grace Kelly was a famous American actress from the 1950s who married the Prince of Monaco and became a princess. She died in 1982 in a car accident. 

Un mois chargé de vacances!! (a month filled with vacations!!)

So I am very happy to be updating yall with a rather HAPPY blog this time! Of course, that's not to say that every day is just so fucking magical (cause it's not!) but I have had quite a few good days and good experiences to talk about. So last week was my first official "full" week of school since my other two classes started up at the fac (fac is short for "faculté de lettres", or the school of lettres and sciences). So last Wednesday I went to my psychologie clinique (I assume yall can figure that one out) class. It was, well, horrible. It was a huge lecture filled with about 200+ 1st year students. The people around me talked for the entire lecture and it was VERY hard for me to understand what the professor was saying because she kept using very technical words in the field of psychology which I obviously don't know in French. Halfway through I decided to leave the class and I ended up dropping it and taking another history class. Phew! That's over with!

On Wednesday afternoon I had my Philosophy of Education class, which I ended up really liking! The teacher was RIDICULOUSLY French though. Halfway through she assured us that we will always get a pause in the middle of class because she needs to have a cigarette! lol

On Friday we had our first Introduction to French University Methods class. I think it's going to be one of the most boring and most pain in the ass classes that we have to take. And apparently the professor asked one of our program directors how much work he should be giving us a week and she told him 2-3 hours. 2-3 hours!! That is ridiculous!! Im sorry, Im studying abroad. Yes, Im here to learn and to study, but I am also here to learn things OUTSIDE of a school context. Sheesh.

On Saturday we had an outing to Nîmes, a city in the south of France about an hour and a half west of here. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I got some really cool pictures too.

View of Nîmes from the top of this old Roman tower we climbed up. Beautiful view!!

We stumbled upon a professional photo shoot going on downtown.

Our last stop was to see the Pont du Gard, the oldest and best-preserved Roman Aqueduct in the world. Here's a pic with me and some of my good friends on the program. We got some awesome pictures here at this place.

Everything else here is going quite well. I have for the most part well adjusted to living here, although I am still adjusting to school. To be honest, I have done literally NO schoolwork since classes at the uni started. It's very hard for me to know what to do because the professor just hand you out a bibliography of 20-30+ books for the class and then all you are graded on is the final exam. It just makes me really stressed out that Im NOT stressing over schoolwork for once. Im afraid Im going to fail, even though I know I won't. But oh well, I said this was a happy blog, right?

So to wrap it up, I will tell you guys about some of my exciting, upcoming plans! October is going to be a busy month for me! I am going somewhere every weekend! This last weekend we went to Nîmes. Next Sunday I am going to Monaco for the day. The weekend after that I am going with two friends to Montpellier for the whole weekend to visit another one of our friends who is studying abroad there. Then a week after that we have another group outing, this time to Avignon and Les Baux de Provence, which my French dad tells me is absolutely beautiful. Then the last weekend of the month I will be spending my Toussaint (All Saints) holiday in Toulouse. I have some friends who are going to Barcelona, Spain for a couple days and invited me to go, but it was too complicated for me to coordinate meeting up with them so I decided to do some exploring on my own. Toulouse is a rather large city of about 450,000 residents in southwestern France. I am excited to get out and explore things! It should be rather exciting!

Well, I am done with this update. I have to go prepare my lesson plans for tomorrow since that is when I start teaching!! I am excited, but nervous!! Wish me luck!!

Paix,

Doog

Too much Aix-citement for me!

Well it's been a week since my last update, so I thought it would be a good time to catch y'all up on what's going on in my life. I have had quite an exciting week! Last week classes started at the uni but since only two of my classes started last week, I have had a lot of free time! Last Wednesday I ended up hanging out with my girls, Paula and Dijana, and we went out to a bar with some other friends and we met up with a French guy who we had met at a club the weekend before. He was really nice and we had a great time! Thursday I had my second class, Modern History. The lecture was HUGE, probably a couple hundred people at least and every single French person took notes meticulously! They even use RULERS here to take their notes, I kid you not! So then that afternoon we went to the discussion section which is with one of the professors. It was my scariest class experience yet! The professor is about 30 minutes late for whatever reason, so he comes in and starts taking attendance. After he finishes the names, me and my two friends from the program haven't had our names called, along with numerous other French people. The French students raise their hands and tell him that he didn't call their names to which he responds (translation): "ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE REGISTERED!? WELL, YOU MUST BE MISTAKEN! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CLASSROOM, NOW! GO, GET OUT!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS! WE SHOULDN'T HAVE 40 PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM WHILE OTHER SECTIONS ONLY HAVE 20. GO ON, GET OUT!!" I was TERRIFIED and I didn't know if we should go or stay, but then my roommate gets the courage to ask whether or not the APA students are allowed to stay, to which he responds "YES!". It was very terrifying and Im not so sure about this class now, but it is too late to change...

 Thursday night I went out again. My friends at Sciences Po (the political science school) invited me to go with them to their "soirée d'intégration", which is where the school rents out a club for the night for all the students of the school and we just party and have a good time. Beforehand we went to Lorrenz's apartment. Lorrenz is this really cool guy from Germany who is studying at Sciences Po for the year and we hung out with him and his two French roommates. They were all really awesome. Then we walked to the club around 1am, where we arrived at the biggest shitshow I'd ever seen. Im pretty sure we were the only sober ones in the bunch. On the side of the building there was a group snorting cocaine and at the entrance we find a girl with her face in the bushes, puking her guts out. Lovely. Inside the club the shitshow continues but we end up having a lot of fun. They played some kuduro (although I was the only one who knew how to dance to it) and then towards the end of the night, they started playing weird American 80s songs and then they played Cotton Eyed Joe, which I just don't understand why it's so popular here. That would have cleared the dance floor if they played that in the States...

Friday night I met with my French family with whom I am doing an exchange. I am going to be working with their kids on English and then they will feed me dinner and we will speak only in French. My mom, Véronique and her daughter Dorine picked me up at the Rotonde. We greeted each other with the bise and then they drove me to their lovely home which is about 30 minutes from downtown Aix (45 in the traffic we had). They have the most beautiful home on a hill with a view of the other side of the mountain and the countryside surrounding it. They have a beautiful garden, pool, and just a beautiful home in general. Everyone was so welcoming to me and it really felt nice to be in a family environment since I am so far from home. We didn't even speak one word of English. Instead, me, Véronique, Dorine, and her other daughter Camille ended up watching a classic French film, Les Visiteurs, and then we had this amazing dinner and finished the movie afterwards. I spent 5 and a half hours with them and they drove me home around 10:30pm. I was so unbelievably grateful for their hospitality! I can't wait to meet up with them again this week! After that, I ended up meeting up with some friends for "tequila Friday". We drank tequila at my friends place and then went to a bar where there was dancing. We stayed until close and then decided to go home afterwards instead of going clubbing because we were too tired.

Saturday I helped my friend Emma prepare for our friend Ashley's birthday. We got some wine, cheese, bread, and a delicious "tarte aux framboises" (strawberry tart) which I ended up dropping on the way home, but luckily it was in a box and we just had to put a bunch of the strawberries back on top. A bunch of friends, new and old, came over to celebrate. We ended up chilling outside (literally, it was freezing) with a bunch of friends. Even Emma's proprietor joined in the celebration. Then we moved inside to play "la bataille corse" aka Egyptian Ratscrew. It was so much fun and so intense that David, our French/Belgium friend, ended up breaking the table! haha. Afterwords we went out for a little drink and then we all turned in early.

Sunday I spent the day with my roomie and another friend. We had a nice leisurely lunch and then we went to this big "vide-grenier" (garage sale) thing on the Cours Sextius. I bought Ashley a German-French dictionary for her bday and I bought two classic French books. Monday I had my creole class again, which I love, and then I got some books for my history class. That night a few of us went out to dinner with Ashley for her bday and we spent at least 3 hours at the restaurant. Im starting to love this slower pace of life here. It is nice to be able to just spend hours around a table eating food and spending time with friends.

This evening I am heading to the Fac d'éco to meet my boss so she can show me how to use the equipment in the room since I START TEACHING NEXT WEEK! WOO! I will be teaching 3 English classes all on Tuesdays. One from 9-10am, then 10-11, and then an afternoon one from 1-2. I am so excited! I think this will be a great opportunity for me and it will technically be my first real job in the career area that I am studying for! I am so excited! Plus, it'll be nice to be at least getting a little income while I'm here. Well, Im off for now. Finish some laundry and then I have to go out and get a baguette for my lunch and dinner.

Paix,
Doog
<3

Crazy Sunday.

So I know I just updated like 3 days ago, but so much has happened since Saturday that I just needed to update. So Saturday night I had a great time. Ashley and I walked around all afternoon doing some of the Journée du Patrimoine things and then that night, we met another one of our friends who wanted to introduce us to some of her new friends at IEP. We met her friend Ceren from Turkey, David from Belgium, and Céline, who is French. We all had a nice drink outside at a café but then since it was getting cold, David suggested we go back to his place to smoke some hookah and chill. It was awesome. David is a very nice guy and a wonderful host. We ended up staying til about 2am before we all decided it was best we leave since we wanted to get up early and do more Patrimoine stuff the next day.

So Sunday morning, Ashley and I met so we could walk around, take pictures, and visit some museums and things. We ended up walking about 30-40 minutes to Paul Cézanne's studio, which has been preserved as a little museum. I couldn't take pictures inside, but I took one of the sign outside.

Sign at entrance to Paul Cézanne's studio

The inside was cool, but it was just one room so Im glad that we went during the Patrimoine and didn't have to pay to get in. Afterwards we walked back into town and took some cool pictures and things. We ended up stumbling upon an old ruin from the 14th century. It's called La Tourreluque, and it is an old tower and part of the wall that used to surround the city of Aix when it was the capital of the Kingdom of Provence. Only in Aix!

La Tourreluque, from the 14th century

After our walk, I decided to get a sandwich for lunch and we sat down around the big fountain at the Rotonde. I was chatting with Ashley when suddenly, across the street, I see an older man stumble, fall back, hit his shoulder against this billboard poster, and then fall back to the ground. I move into emergency mode and I'm like oh my god, we need to help this guy. Ashley and I rush over to help him. The man is just laying there on the ground attempting (unsuccessfully) to raise himself off the ground and asking people for help, but everyone just keeps walking past. My heart broke. I run over and ask if he needs help and he asks if Id be able to help him up. I grab his hand and begin to lift him, but he is unstable and begins to fall again. Another young guy runs over to help me and another girl walks up to help. We order the man to sit down on the ground since he clearly can't stand, and the girl sees an ambulance across the street so she runs over to get some medics. Meanwhile, Im trying my best to understand everything that's being said. The medics rush over, and a long series of questions begin, blood pressures taken, and the man gets upset when the medics suggest that he needs to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, the girl is trying to keep the man calm by conversing with him and asking him to please go to the hospital. The medics help the man stand up to see if he can walk. He can barely walk so we all sit him back down and the girl practically begs him to go to the hospital and get help and has to turn around to hide her tears when he refuses. The medics ask him to sign a paper saying that he refused to go to the hospital and they ask us to sign on as witnesses, to which the girl refuses because she thinks that he should go to the hospital. The medics say there is nothing they can do so they end up leaving and we are left alone with the man, not wanting to leave him by himself in case he collapses or falls again. After telling us there is no one there that could pick him up and take him home, we manage to get him back up and walk him over to the bus stop across the street where he says he can take one of the buses home. We sit with him for almost 3 hours talking about numerous things from politics to travels in Africa. The man, even though at this point we can tell he is homeless, is actually very intelligent. We try to convince him to let us take him home on the bus and we'll take the bus back, but he refuses, most likely because he is too proud to admit to us that he is homeless. After a while, we finally find what he says is the right bus and we help him get on and get a seat and I pay for his voyage. The 3 of us got off the bus and waved to him as it pulled away. We stand there silent for a minute before we all realize we are crying. After a minute, we begin talking to each other and the girl tells us her name is Aseuma. She is a French girl of Moroccan origin and it turns out she goes to the same university as me. We ask her if she'd like to take a walk with us and get some food and sit in the park. We end up talking for about an hour or so. Aseuma is probably one of the kindest hearted people I've met. It broke all of our hearts to see this man suffer and it broke our hearts that we were the only ones that did anything to help him. In fact, we probably gave him what he needed most: a friend to talk to.

Good things did come of it though. I made a new friend at the university and probably experienced one of those life-changing moments. We were talking afterwards about how much it puts our lives in perspective. Aseuma was telling us that she works as a housekeeper at one of the hotels in Aix as well as being a full time student who is starting the first year of her masters degree. She said even though sometimes she thinks she has it rough, things like this just remind you how lucky you are, which is so true! Aseuma and I are now facebook friends and we are going to try and get together during the week to get lunch. Im not very religious but I do believe in God and I definitely think this was one of those defining moments where God is trying to show you something. This experience has really opened my eyes to the good and the bad in this world. Bad things like the sad situations that some people are in and good things like people like Aseuma, who are there to help lift people up when they fall (both literally and figuratively). Couldn't be more grateful for the life I have and the great people in it. There has just been such a whirlwind of extremes of emotions on this trip. To be honest though, I am having the time of my life. I love it here! This morning I finally, for the first time, took my breakfast and coffee out onto the balcony and looked out onto the mountains as I ate. It was absolutely gorgeous. Life is good...

"Excuse me? Do you have a fire?"

I have officially made it through the last week of intensive courses, and I am still alive! I am so happy to be done with those. This week, however, we enter the real world of university life in France.

I think I spent an overall good last week though. On Wednesday I went with my friend Lyndsy to the local Aix couchsurfers weekly meeting. For those of you who don't know what couchsurfing is, in short, it's an online organization/community of travelers around the world. Couchsurfing connects travelers around the world with each other so that they can meet local people who can show them around the city and/or put them up in their homes for a few days. I joined CS this summer and so far, it's been great! The CS meeting was at Woohoo's, a cool little bar that has a downstairs that looks like a cave. I met tons of awesome people. We met Christopher, one of the main guys who runs the local Aix CS group and organizes the weekly meetings. We also met a bunch of other local French people from Aix, a girl from South Africa named Ruby, Brigitta from Germany, and some guy (didn't catch his name) from Turkey. We all chilled for a couple of hours and just drank and talked. It was awesome. And of course I got to speak French all night, which was great! Brigitta ended up walking home with me and we talked about tons of things, from politics to just things like what it feels like to live in a foreign country. Brigitta is German and she is living in Aix working as a German assistant at one of the local high schools. It was really cool to meet people from all over the world and I can't wait until next week's meeting!

For our last day of class on Friday, our teachers had us watch the movie "Le premier jour du reste de ta vie" (The first day of the rest of your life). It was SUCH a good movie and I would recommend everyone see it, even if you can only get it with English subtitles. So good! There were so many really hilarious parts but at the end, we were pretty much all crying...
 Then, during our "petite pause", the guys that run the cafeteria, an old Provençal man who we all wished could be our grandfather and his son brought us out a special surprise of pastries, coffee, fruits, and juice to celebrate the American's last day! It was so cute and so nice of them to do that! We all said "merci" like a million times and then chowed down on the food. Mmm, so good!

Last night we all decided to have a party and go out to celebrate the end of our intensive courses and to celebrate our last weekend before the university starts. I brought my speakers (these really nice, awesome speakers that I won from the program office) with and a special playlist on my ipod and we partied it up at my friends' apartment. After a couple hours we were, well, a little tipsy, and then headed up to their French neighbors' apartment to party it up with some French people. Everyone was really nice (except for the guy who kept wanting to talk to us about American stereotypes, which was kind of annoying) but we met this cute little French girl named Pascaline, who is, I must say, just beyond adorable! After a couple hours there, we all decided to head out to a club. We ended up walking around the streets for a while as Pascaline ran into like 100 people she knew. Then we somehow ended up talking to these 3 REALLY cute French boys who told me and my friend that we spoke French like natives. I was so proud of myself! Then we ended up running into another French friend and we all talked for a while and finally around 2am, we ended up at the club. We danced for about 2 hours. Everytime an American song came on we were just so excited! French people really like American music though, we hear it a lot. And of course, Paula and I heard our song "We No Speak Americano", which is probably one of the most popular club songs here right now, along with "Alors on danse", which I recommend you all listen to on youtube!
After dancing for a couple of hours, we decided to step outside and think about heading home (since it was now 4am). Instead, we ended up meeting two other French guys who introduced us to their friends and we all talked for a while. They were really cool. Then Dijana and I got cravings for "un coca", so we walked over to a small food stand next door. I walked up to the guy and asked for "un coca, s'il vous plaît" and in the process of getting my money out, I dropped my American ID. This super cute French boy next to me picked it up and handed it to me and then looked at me and asked (in French) if I was French. I replied no that I wasn't, and then after a couple of awkward seconds the guy looked at me and was like "mais si!!" ("but yes!!") and I was like, no really, Im not French. He smiled at me and then my friend Dijana walked up and started talking to me in English. It took him a minute but he finally was like "ahh, américain?" and I was like "oui". And we preceded to have an entire conversation in French of him insisting that I spoke like I was French (which made me so happy!!) and then him flirting with me and asking me all sorts of cutsy questions about where Im from and pretending to have heard of "Wisconsin" before. It was one of the highlights of my night. I got mistaken for a French person twice in one night and also had several other French people tell me I spoke really well! I was so unbelievably proud of myself! Even Ingy boo tells me (since now I have a cell phone and we call each other every day) that my French has already improved since my being here. I am just so unbelievably happy, I swear I could cry! This week has been such a turnaround from the last, very stressful couple of weeks. I know that next week is going to be just as tough, if not tougher though.

So since I didn't get home until 5 am this morning, I ended up sleeping until 1pm and then I met my friend Ashley so we could walk around the city for the "Journées du Patrimonie" (Days of Patirmony) which is like a national holiday type thing where all sorts of places such as the town halls, cathedrals, etc, are all open to the public to come in and see. We went to two cathedrals, inside one of which we sat and watched a baptism, and then we went to one of the local art museums which was having an exhibit on Matisse's jazz collection. It was pretty cool. Then we ended up finding this really nice little café that had, get this, BAGELS! And not just bagels, but GOOD bagels, and they had all sorts of yummy bagel sandwichs. Everything was New York themed, so I ordered a "Chinatown" bagel sandwich and a smoothie. So delicious! Then we decided to get some food shopping done (since you have to food shop here like every couple of days) and we found this amazing little "jardinerie" (fruit/veggie shop thingy) where we got tons of really amazing fresh fruits and veggies for suuuper cheap. I got a quarter of a watermelon, an avocado, some roma lettuce, some "reines de" something little fruit thingys, and some nectarines all for only about 4 euros. It was great! Tomorrow we are going to the "Musée Granet" which is having an exhibit of Alechinsky, a Belgian abstract expressionism artist who is displaying his art in the museum as well as putting on an exhibit where people are allowed to watch him at work in a studio there. I am very excited!

Well I am off for now. I am catching drinks with my friend who is going to introduce me to one of the French guys she met at her school, who wants to meet some American students! Im excited to get to practice my French again with more native speakers!

I will be updating again this week about how my classes go! Im sure that post won't be quite as happy as this one though...

a bientôt,
Doogie

Reflections/Growth

I'm sitting outside at this nice café (that has wifi!) and I've realized that this is the first time I've had time to sit and reflect on, well, I suppose life in general. This morning I stumbled upon some saved conversations (that I didn't know were saved on the computer) with some people during my freshman year at college. Needless to say, these weren't exactly conversations (nor people for that matter) that I particularly wanted to be reminded of. But unfortunately, that's how life works. So I stumbled upon them and against my better judgment began reading them. It brought back a lot of pain and hurtful memories for me. Even though I really thought I had worked through a lot of the problems I had in my freshman year, it just reminded me how close these cuts are beneath the surface. What it also did however, was to remind me how far I've made it since then. I've made a great life for myself in Madison. I've met lots of amazing people. And with the support of everyone, I've finally made it all the way to my life dream in France! How incredible my day turned around since reading those conversations this morning...

Things here are going well. We have one more week of intensive courses with the program and then on the 20th, our classes at the university start. I am a little bit nervous about starting classes, especially since they will be all in French with French students. It's a little bit overwhelming but I definitely think I'm ready for it. My attitude since I've been here has been very much "BRING IT ON!" I can take whatever gets thrown at me!

It's funny how little things here make you so proud of yourself! Yesterday I went with some friends to the IKEA in Vitrolles, which is a suburb of Marseille about 30 minutes south of here. We managed to find out which bus to take to Vitrolles from the main bus station, and then the guy at the station told us we'd just have to take another bus once we got to downtown Vitrolles. As soon as we got to the Vitrolles bus station, I went inside with a friend and asked which bus to take to IKEA. I was so proud of us! I just wanted to shout to the world "I TOOK A BUS IN FRANCE AND FIGURED OUT MY WAY AROUND!" But then I realized how silly it sounded...

Sometimes it's funny here the little cultural differences there are. Such as the bise. For those who don't know what the bise is, the bise is the way way French people greet each other by kissing on the cheek. The operation is a lot more complex than it seems though. The number of times you kiss on the cheek depends on the region and often the age of the person you are with. If you are in the south, where I am, it is usually 3 times and you start on the right cheek. But with people of my age, it's only two. With old people it's sometimes 3 or 4. In northern regions, it's often only two and you start on the left. It's just confusing. I've had a few awkward moments with people where I go to shake their hand but then it turns into a half awkward handshake/kissing on the cheek at the same time thing. I'll get the hang of it eventually...

I also love the mindset of people here. People seem to be much more open-minded about things. Or at least, I should say, they have more of a "let-live" attitude. People in general don't care if you're gay. Even if they don't like it or it makes them uncomfortable, they still believe that gay people are allowed to live their lives as they want to. Everyone has the right to their own personal life and make their own personal choices, regardless of whether or not you are against it. As long as it's not hurting anyone, who cares? I wish America was more like this. Instead, I feel like America is stuck behind an un-progressive, religious, puritanical view point. I hate that religion controls so much of our politics. Religion should have nothing to do with it. In fact, I think that the constitution should read instead of "freedom of religion", it should read "freedom of and FROM religion". You can practice whatever religion you want, I really don't care. As long as you're not hurting anyone or suppressing the rights of groups of people such as women or homosexuals, it shouldn't matter. But just because you picked that life for yourself doesn't mean you have the right to force your points on other people. These are some of the political viewpoints that I am starting to understand about France and to be honest, I think it's a much better attitude than most people have in the US. The right to live your own life, that's all I want.

Well ok, now that I've sort of ranted a bit, I think it's time for me to go on. I have moved from having café to a "pression" of beer. Mmm. :) I've been at this café all afternoon, I love it.

à la prochain, (until next time)
Doog

Aix, the city of beggars...

So last time I posted, it was more a just "this is what's going on" kind of post, but I thought that since I have been in Aix a little over a week now, I have had sufficient time to start remarking some of the cultural differences that exist between France and the US.

First off, I think it must be duly noted that French pigeons do NOT like Americans! I have been pooped on TWICE already within the first week. Also, avoid walking/sitting under trees. Pigeons are bound to be lurking and waiting for the American tourist so they can quick take aim and fire! THIS IS NOT A JOKE!

Okay, so, other than the French pigeons hating on Americans, there really hasn't been any SHOCKING cultural differences. I mean, I just think back to our study abroad orientation where they talk about how to deal with culture shock, etc, but I just kept feeling like I hadn't really felt any. But it's really not necessarily things that hit you full on. Culture shock has been a lot more subtle...

Anything you try to get done here takes at least twice as long as it does in the US. Why is that?? To be honest, I really don't know. But it could have something to do with the fact that 1) French people strike all the time, 2) the fact that French is not my first language so sometimes I don't fully understand things, and 3)  some things here just work differently in general. For example, last week I went with some friends for what seemed to be a rather simple visit to La Poste (the post office) to make some copies and buy some stamps. It turned into a half-hour+ affair, with us having to wait in line for 20 minutes just so one friend could get change for a 20 cent piece. Seeing as how she wasn't sure how to say "I need change for this please" she ended up having to explain (in French of course) that "I have a 20 coin. I need 2 coins of 10." only to have the woman say to her that oh darn, I don't think I have anymore 10 cent pieces... Then my other friend attempted to buy a "carnet de timbre" (book of stamps) but accidentally hit 10 carnets, not knowing that "carnet" meant booklet. Then, of course, the post office closed and we were the last ones in there. The shut and locked all the doors and then we couldn't figure out how to get through the back door where they told us we could get out. It was just ridiculous.

Other cultural things just make me laugh... Like, for example, the fact that everyone here buys baguettes once every other day and they carry them in their hands on the way home from the bakery. It just makes me laugh. So stereotypically French...

Other things have been a little bit harder to catch on to. For example, our French professor explained to us that people don't usually smile at each other in the streets and if you do, you could be hinting at something else, which could be slightly inappropriate. Also, something I discovered today: French people don't sit or lay outside. During our "petite pause" in class today, I went outside of the classroom and laid on the concrete because my back was hurting me. Five minutes later, a French guy came running out to me asking if I was hurt and needed an ambulance. I then had to explain that I have back problems and that it feels good to lay down on a hard surface to stretch out my back. He still didn't seem to understand, though, and he asked me one more time if I was sure that I was ok and then told me to let him know if I needed anything. Right after, one of our French teachers came walking out of the classroom with a big smile on her face and goes "ahh, les différences culturelles!" ("Ohh, the cultural differences!") and then explained that French students don't usually sit or lay down outside in the grass. It was pretty hilarious...

We have also learned that French people like to provoke. Provoke as in the French sense, like the verb provoquer, which in case I think I mean more like push your buttons. They LOVE to talk politics! Especially to foreigners! I ended up talking politics with our tour guide on our trip to Marseille on Saturday for more than an hour. He was very eager to share his opinion about Bush, the oil spill, Obama, etc... It almost throws you off because I feel like in the States, it's kind of a faux-pas to talk about politics with anyone, especially with someone you barely know. But here, EVERYONE talks politics, regardless of whether or not your opinions match theirs.

But alas, I must get going since I have to get up early tomorrow. The national transportation system is on strike, which means I may or may not be able to catch the bus to class, in which case I would have to walk about 45 min to an hour just to get to school... Just another one of those cultural differences (French people go on strike fairly often...).

Well, bonne nuit! (good night!)

Paix,
Doog

P.S. They really do call me Doog here. Today at the burrito stand, when I gave the lady my name and said it like I would normally say it, she didn't understand, so then I spelled it to her and she goes "ahh, Doog!" Then she understood... lol

Aix-citing and overwhelming...

I would first like to start this post by thanking the two AMAZING Asian ladies who I met at the Aix TGV Train Station who not only helped me carry my heavy ass luggage, but who also walked me to the bus stop AND got me a taxi once I got to downtown Aix. It seriously made my day!

The first night in Aix, we had a sort of "welcome" meeting, where we were handed out schedules, talked about a couple details of things, and then got fed. After that we were all pretty tired and went to bed not long after.

The second day here was probably one of the most overwhelming days I've had so far. We woke up early so that Georges, a local tour guide, could give us a tour of the city of Aix. After our two hour tour, I got lunch with the guys, and then we headed back to the hotel for a 3 hour meeting on housing. The meeting was unbelievably stressful, filled with way too much information, and then at the end, they gave us a sheet of paper with a list of available apartments and rooms for rent, and then gave us 2 hours to go start looking for housing.

All of the prices were way over my budget, except for the rooms for rent, which, unfortunately, were for girls only. Emma, Ashley, and I decided to team up and go check out stuff together. Ashley took the first apartment she looked at. Then Emma and I went to check out this Catholic lady's room for rent. During Emma's interrogation, which included numerous questions on religion, I decided to go check out one of the studios. When I got there the landlord, Dr. Guigou, showed me the studio. I couldn't understand a word he was saying and when he showed me the studio, it looked like a mess! I took down his number and decided to head out. Discouraged, I walked around trying to find Emma again, but ended up getting lost down a bunch of side streets.

In the end, however, I ended up with the most AMAZING 12th story apartment. I have a view of the entire downtown Aix and also the famous Mont Sainte Victoire in the background. It is gorgeous! I only got it by chance though. Thankfully, we ran into our program director on the way to dinner that night and she told my friend Caitlyn to come check this place out. As the lady had two rooms for rent, my friend decided to ask if it was okay for a guy to live there, and the nice lady, Madame Chalvet, had no problem with it whatsoever (even though our program director told us it was only for girls). I absolutely LOVE the apartment (other than the fact that our bathroom smells like ass, in the words of my roommate).

After housing, I couldn't think there would be any more reason to be stressed. But I was quite wrong. On Monday we started our intensive courses. We are in class from 9-12, Monday through Friday, and then again from 1:30-3:30 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. It is quite intense. Then we had another assigned meeting the other day, which we all thought could not be any more stressful than the housing one. But, it was... We went through another session of throwing out tons and tons of information at us, followed by the numerous fees and things we have to pay still, and then we got to our immigration papers. Of course, there was a problem. When one of the directors goes to look at my papers, she realizes that my "motive for entry" into the country has been marked by the French consulate in Chicago as me being "conjoint du français". Aka, Im married to a French person. My friend and I could not stop laughing for about ten minutes. It was quite a great way to let out all of our stress.

So far, everything else has been good. Other than the fact that Ive been sick and had a really sore throat. Luckily I know how to say where Im hurting (I told the lady that "j'ai très très mal à la gorge") and she gave me a disinfectant throat spray and some lozenges.

Well tomorrow we are going on a program sponsored trip to Marseille, the big city about 30 minutes south of here that is on the Mediterranean. I am very excited!

Peace out,
"Doog"

Paris. Good days and bad days...

Written August 24-26^th, 2010

            I arrived in Paris around 11am (Paris time) on Monday the 23^rd.  My flight was an hour or more late and Ingrid’s flight had already arrived at like 9 that morning.  We had made plans for Ingrid to meet me at my gate.  As soon as I got off the plane though, I realized this wasn’t possible.  There was a big glass barrier separating the passengers exiting the plane from the people waiting for the flights at the gates on the other side.  I looked extensively for Ingrid but couldn’t see her so I continued along the path that led me to the baggage claim, expecting that she would be there, but my stomach dropped (does that make sense?) when I couldn’t see her.  My first thought was that she wasn’t able to make it to my terminal since I was in Paris Orly Sud (South) and her flight was Paris Orly Ouest (West).  I tried to calm myself down while I waited for my bags, but it was taking forever.  I slowly started working up the courage to ask someone if I could use their cell phone so I could call Ingrid.  Finally I asked someone but she said her phone was dead, so she directed me to the public telephones.  When I get there, I am completely confused to how it works since it accepts either bank cards or calling cards, and seeing as how I don’t have a calling card and my bank cards don’t really work here because their bank cards have magnets and not the strips (well they actually have both, but most machines can only read the magnet kind) I am unable to do anything.  I finally ask an airport worker and he points me to another set of phones which Im like, ok, if these other ones didn’t work for me, this one won’t either.  But after a second I realize there is a machine to buy calling cards right next to the phone, so I spend the 10 euros to buy a calling card and dial Ingrid’s cell.  I end up reaching Ingrid’s mother in Guadeloupe and she reassures me and tells me that Ingrid called her and told her she is waiting outside the baggage claim for me and that I should go get my luggage and then go outside.

            An hour later, I finally get my luggage and I am off with Ingrid in a taxi to her apartment.  We get to her apartment around 1 in the afternoon, I call my mom to tell her I arrived, and then we sleep for 6 hours.  We wake up around 7pm, still exhausted, and start making plans for dinner.  We end up eating at this nice little Italian restaurant in Ingrid’s neighborhood, which served us WAY too much food, but was pretty well priced for a Parisian restaurant.  After that, we walk down to the Bastille, which is this big monument surrounded by a huge roundabout that represents the storming of the Bastille on July 14^th, 1789, which is when the French celebrate their independence day. 

            Around the Bastille, Ingrid and I stumble upon a vélib station.  Vélibs are bicycles owned by the city of Paris that people can rent and ride around the city.  Everything is really high-tech and there are stations all over the city.  After walking around for a while, I finally convince Ingrid to go on the vélibs and ride around the city.  It is now 11pm Paris time, but we are not tired at all since we slept all day and are still somewhat on East coast time.

            I must say, there is a reason Paris is known as the city of lights.  It is BEAUTIFUL at night!  We crossed the Seine at Pont Sully and we ended up stumbling upon the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is beautiful when all lit up at night!  And it’s even better because it’s not crowded with hundreds of people at midnight like it is during the day.  After that, we continue our nighttime tour of the city and stumble upon things such as the Hôtel de Ville (the town hall) of Paris and other various famous monuments and buildings.  Thinking that we were only going to be out to dinner, I unfortunately left my camera at Ingrid’s apartment and wasn’t able to capture any pictures of these beautiful sights.  I would, though, recommend to ANYONE that comes to Paris, that you take the vélibs around the city to see everything.  Nothing is really quite that far away from things (ok, I lie, it’s a little bit of a bike ride, and it can be kind of scary in the middle of Paris traffic, but it is totally worth it!).  Around 2 in the morning we ended our tour and went back to the apartment, where we weren't able to fall asleep until around 4am. 

Paris- Day 2

We woke up at 9 the next morning to start our long day of sightseeing.  We took the metro from Ingrid’s neighborhood to the Eiffel Tour.  It was absolutely beautiful! Finally I got to see the symbol of what has been my ten-year dream of coming to France! I am absolutely ecstatic!  It is very crowded though, with tourists from all over the world, people are walking around trying to get you to buy their cheap souvenirs, and other people from Bosnia are begging you for money. 

At the Eiffel Tour

By this time it is lunchtime and we are both hungry.  I suggest we go walk on one of the side streets around the Eiffel Tour to find some food, since everything right around the tower is very expensive.  From the distance I see a Casino (one of the chain grocery stores here) and we head in that direction.  Seeing as how things here close from noon-2 in the afternoon, I was sure we’d be out of luck.  But then I see a sign that says they are open “non-stop” from 9am to 9pm.  But as we get closer, we see another sign that says “closed on Tuesdays”.  Quelle chance!

On the vélib

            We end up finding this cute little bakery across the street in which we take the menus at 5,90 euros a piece, which includes a sandwich of our choice (I chose chicken curry) on a baguette, a desert, and a drink.  We end up picnicking on the grass by the Eiffel tour and I thoroughly enjoyed my first real French baguette! After lunch we got on the vélibs again and we rode around to different sights such as the Palais Royal (Royal Palace), L’assemblée Nationale (The French National Assembly, kinda like our house of representatives), Les Invalides, Le Musée d’armée, and Sciences Po (Ingrid’s school).  In the neighborhood of Ingrid’s school is where I encounter my first rude Parisian.  This old woman (who apparently thought I was going to hit her with my bicycle even though I stopped and was nowhere near her) starts yelling at me in French “IT’S GREEN!!” and pointing at the crosswalk sign.  Im like, what the f***!? And then she continues yelling “GREEN!! IT’S US PEDESTRIANS WHO HAVE THE RIGHT, YOU HAVE TO STOP!” Then she yells “stupide!” so I yell back “salope!”, which is a very strong swear word kind of like “b****” in English, only a little stronger. Hehe. :\ I was mad...  So we ended yesterday’s sightseeing by taking a nap next to the fountain in the Tuileries gardens, then we took an ice cream and walked up the Champs-Élysées until we ended at L’arc de Triomphe and then took the metro home.

           

It was a beautiful day overall. That is, until we got home….

            When we got home we were both exhausted, which was probably a combination of both jetlag and the fact that we had been riding bikes around Paris all day.  The bad news came though when my mom called Ingrid’s apartment to tell me that my dog had passed away the night before.  In some ways I was shocked, but in others, I had known it in my heart all along that she wouldn’t make it until I got back from France next year.  I know I expressed some of these concerns to a few people and I know those of you I told did your best to reassure me that it would be ok, but I just knew it in my heart. 

            I never thought I could be this heartbroken over losing a pet but it really hit me hard.  Especially yesterday when I called home to tell my mom how everything was going and she told me that she had been too upset to tell me yesterday, but that before Scarlet died, she was standing by the door of my room, looking around as if she was looking for me to say goodbye before she died. 

            Right now I am writing this from the train that I am taking from Paris to Aix-en-Provence and I have not been able to stop crying for the last half-hour.  I have never felt so humiliated in my life.  Those of you who know me know how much I HATE crying in front of people, even close friends.  And right now, as I sit and look out at the French countryside, tears silently rolling down my cheeks, all I can think about is how scared I am, how much I miss my dog, my family, and how much I just want to go home.  What was I thinking moving to a different country for a whole fricken year!?!  I have wanted nothing more than to go to France for more than half my life and now that I am here, I should be the happiest I’ve ever been. But to be honest, I am scared shitless. 

I don’t know how I managed to hold it together so well before I left the US.  I didn’t even cry at the airport when I said goodbye to my family.  But I think that was because I felt more like I was going on vacation.  Now that I’m actually on the train though, on my way to Aix, I’m realizing that there’s no turning back.  This is it.  This is my time to shine, right? 

Speaking of shine… we have finally gotten far enough south of Paris that the sun is starting to come out.  Maybe this is a good sign.

Well I’m off for now.  I think I’ve finally cried enough that I’m ready to take a nap.

Paix,

Doog

Gwadloup-la bèl Days 3-5

Written August 21, 2010

DAY 3-La Désirade

            We went to La Désirade, which is one of the smaller islands part of Guadeloupe. People who are désiradien have much lighter skin and some people even have blue eyes because this is where the Bretons sent their prisoners from France a long long time ago. There we met Ingrid’s other mami, her stepdad’s mom. Her stepdad’s mom is another cute old creole woman who sits on a chair outside on the sidewalk by her house and says hello to EVERYONE that passes by, since La Désirade is so small and everyone knows each other. Every 5 seconds she had to stop her conversation to say “bonjour” to everyone who passed by and people in their cars would honk and yell out the window to her, since apparently everyone knows Ingrid’s mami. Then another one of her older lady friends came and they were gossiping in creole. The most I managed to understand out of all of it was that Ingrid’s mami was talking about certain people that didn’t say “bonjour” to her and how offended she was since even the little children always say “bonjour” to her. It was basically typical old lady talk, which I found absolutely adorable.  

            Since the minibus tours were all filled up already when we got to the island, Ingrid’s mami flagged down one of her friends who drove by on his scooter who got one of his friend’s to take us in the back of his pickup truck for a tour of the island. He took us up into the mountain pass and then down to the other side of the island where we stopped at a “source” (not sure what it is in English, but it’s like somewhere where you get fresh water to drink) and then we picked some goyaves (guava) from the trees and ate them. It was so fresh and delicious!

            After our day at La Désirade, we decided to go out clubbing with some of Ingrid’s friends. Everyone was really nice and we had an awesome time! I did have a hard time though because all of Ingrid’s friends speak creole to each other so I was only able to understand half of what was going on and at one point, after waiting in the long ass line to get in the club, Ingrid and I get separated and I had to go in by myself, which was terrifying since the bouncer was yelling at me in French to empty my pockets and had to search me to make sure I wasn’t bringing anything illegal into the club. Finally he let me go and I met back up with Ingrid and all of her friends. At the club, they played mostly popular Caribbean music called dancehall and jumpup. I absolutely LOVED the music. They also played a lot of American hip hop songs that I knew, and everytime I heard one I was like “I KNOW THIS SONG!” and would start singing the lyrics, to which everyone else would attempt to do as well, although I don’t think they really knew or understood the words. Then we had a session of kuduro, which is kind of line type dance which has the same moves as the electric slide, only with a real Caribbean flavor and slightly different footwork. Then they had a session of zouk, which I decided to sit out for since I was sweating my butt off and had been dancing already for probably a good 2 hours. We ended up going home around 3:30 in the morning, which is early for French people when they go out. Normally they stay out until 4 or 5 in the morning. :\

            DAY 4

            We met with two of Ingrid’s girlfriends, Skaranskara and Giselle, to take a tour of Basse-Terre. We went to the city of Basse-Terre, which is the capital of Guadeloupe. We also saw the crazy spider monkey, which is the only one on the island and is the pet of some family. I guess it’s become some sort of unofficial mascot of the island or something. On the way we stopped at a stand where they make kassave, which is made from manioc, which is some type of root vegetable, which is then combined with coconut. It was pretty delicious. Basse-Terre is mostly mountains and is where the volcano, La Soufrière, is located. We went up into some of the mountain towns and drove around, and then we went to an old fort, which used to be a prison several hundred years ago. Then we went to the beach and went swimming to cool off. After leaving the ocean, we decided to go way up into the mountains to Matouba, which is where one of the really cool (as in cold) rivers, called La Rivière-Rouge (The Red River) is located. We went to a part of the river where there were some small waterfalls. We had to navigate our way down among a bunch of large rocks to actually get there, but once we got in, the water was really refreshing (and cold!). We sat under the waterfall and danced and yelled out like savages and just had a general good time. It was probably one of the highlights of my trip. You just feel so connected to nature, which is something I’ve never really felt back home since I’ve always been the one who likes to be inside with air-conditioning and modern conveniences. After the waterfall, we went down to Basse-Terre (the city) and got some sandwiches that we ate on the main boulevard. It was a great end to a great day.

            DAY 5

In my last full day in Guadeloupe, we did the rest of the tour of Basse-Terre.  We had a really nice lunch on the beach and just drove around with Ingrid’s parents and Skaranskara.  It was a nice day, although I am very tired from being in the car all day, especially since I’ve had a bad headache all day. Although the French have this wonderful medicine called efferalgan, which is a large tablet that you drop in a glass of water and it fizzes (kinda like alka seltzer) and then you drink it and BOOM, you’re headache goes away within a few minutes. Absolutely WONDERFUL!

General observations so far:

            Guadeloupeans are crazy drivers. The roads are all very windy but people here drive really fast (although the speed limits are set very high, or at least higher than in the States, in my opinion) and they like to honk a lot. Since a lot of people know each other, they often stop in the middle of the road to chat and yell out the window to each other. There are big beef cows EVERYWHERE and I mean literally EVERYWHERE. All along the highway, in random fields, backyards, front yards, even on the side of the interstate. There are also a lot of goats.  French TV has no limit to how much they show. Ingrid and I were watching TV one night and there were just people having sex on one of the channels (and they showed EVERYTHING) and on another channel (this is all on regular cable, mind you) there were just naked women prancing around. So much different than cable in the United States…

Overall, everyone here has been very kind and welcoming and it has been such a wonderful visit! Ingrid’s mother insists that I come back again soon, only next time stay for a couple of weeks, which I would absolutely love! She has also invited me to go to Germany with them for Christmas when they visit Ingrid’s brother, who lives in Munich. I cannot thank Ingrid’s family enough for their hospitality! They have even started to call me their son, which really touches me. I can’t wait to come back again someday! Well tomorrow (Sunday) I am off to Paris, where I will spend 3 days at Ingrid’s apartment to see the city and celebrate Ingrid’s birthday. I am so excited to see Paris, which has been a symbol of my dreams of going to France for a LONG time now! Well Im off to shower and get some shut eye.

Paix,
Doogie