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...