Happy July 4th! .... minus everything except burgers
Celebrating the 4th of July in another country is quite a unique experience. Of course the art kids had class which went a half an hour over regular time, so we were all starving when we were done at 13,30. So Best, Olivia, Christina and I walked over to the Old Bulldog, this English restaurant on the main circle of Aix. We go in and sit down and all of us order burgers. Best and I order Strongbow because it's on tap and Olivia gets a Guiness (You'd be so proud of her hunny-bunny). The waitress brings over our Strongbows.... and drops one on the table. The glass bounces, then lands, luckily it didn't shatter, but she did pour cider all over pour Best's dress. Ugh. Oh well. She apologizes profusely and brings us another drink. Life goes on. Then she brings out these humongous plates that are piled with a monstrous hamburger, fries and a small salad. rofl over the salad in comparison to the burger; it's so tiny! So we laugh and eat our burgers; they weren't amazing (had mayo on them, how's that for random) but when you're craving American food and it's the best you can get, you work with what you've got. And there were these two black bulldogs that must be the restaurant owner's that we took pictures of and petted; they were SO CUTE!!!!! Made me miss my Sadie girl a bit.
Anywho, Best and I parted ways with everyone and ran some errands. I FINALLY MAILED POSTCARDS TO PEOPLE! 27 in total, which cost an arm and a leg for postage (it's 0,85 euros for a stamp for a postcard here) but they're mailed so that's that. Best and I walked all over the friggin' city looking for a dance store that we never found which uber sucked. I got a meringue on the way home from a patisserie and it was teh amazement. *Licks lips* I have to learn how to make them when I get home, along with getting a bread machine so I can have fresh baked bread whenever I want. ANYWHO I head home for dinner and Madame Ketty's grand daughter is visiting for the night so we all eat out on the terrace together. We have nummy ratatoullie and chicken and tabouli with couscous in it which was quite tasty. Then we had our cheese and bread and chilled out watching the news on the couch. Ketty's grand daughter is a dancer (she's five years old and such a sweetie) and I tell her that I used to dance, too, and that I was looking for a dance store in town to buy some new shoes from (Dance stores usually sell the best ballet flats and most of my shoes are, well, dead at this point) and Ketty tells me SHE KNOWS WHERE THE DANCE STORE IS IN TOWN! HOMG teh squee!!!! So she gives me directions on how to get there so I can go next week. YAY!
Anywho, Best and I meet up around 21,30 and go over to her friend's apartment before going out to hit the club scene. IPN was going to be doing 1/2 price drinks for all Americans so we definitely wanted to go there. We hung out for a while, playing "American" songs like "Born in the USA" and other fun stuff, then this weird group of girls shows up. Ugh. Insert airheads here. Cannot stand people like that who act ditzy and stupid because they can. None of them even speak French, which is a wonder to me; I can't figure out how they're surviving if they don't know a word of the language spoken in the area. Whatever. So Best, Olivia and I get antsy and decide it's time to go. After much coaxing and waiting we finally get them all out of the apartment and we start to head over to IPN, but then the airheads decide that we're not going there because "there are shady guys there." Um, excuse me? You're in the south of France on a Friday night! Of course there are going to be shady guys there! WTF??!?! So we head over to Le Scat instead. We walk in and it's dead there. Totally dead. So Best and I go to use the restroom and the whole group ditches us. Again, wtf? SO we decide to head over to IPN and meet up with some of our other friends there. We hit the dance floor and it's awesome! The music wasn't quite loud enough for my taste but I didn't care, I just wanted to dance. And the best part? They played ALL AMERICAN MUSIC! It was a blast from the past, playing everything from Sisko's "Thong Song" to Britney Spears "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" and so much more. Had a totally rawkin' time there until about 1,30 when Best and I both decided we were going to die from fatigue and we had a group outing to go on in the morning at 9,00. So I caught a cab home and crashed. But wow. Lots of fun.
I did miss my family terribly, though. Nothing can ever top spending July 4th on the beach watching the fireworks, or having the big huge barbecue with all of my cousins and taking pictures of everyone and Grampa playing old country music that I know all the words to. I miss them all a lot. But again, a-venture of a lifetime and I'm living it up! Except for the bugs; mosquitos are eating me alive which sucks. I bought lavender essential oil and have been putting it on the bites and that seems to be helping a lot with the itching and inflammation. What is it with bugs and me? Oh, and I might've gotten a teeny, tiny tan! YAY! Anywho, that was my 4th of July, minus, well, everything except for the burger. Oh, burger, how I love thee!
@~>~~
Anywho, Best and I parted ways with everyone and ran some errands. I FINALLY MAILED POSTCARDS TO PEOPLE! 27 in total, which cost an arm and a leg for postage (it's 0,85 euros for a stamp for a postcard here) but they're mailed so that's that. Best and I walked all over the friggin' city looking for a dance store that we never found which uber sucked. I got a meringue on the way home from a patisserie and it was teh amazement. *Licks lips* I have to learn how to make them when I get home, along with getting a bread machine so I can have fresh baked bread whenever I want. ANYWHO I head home for dinner and Madame Ketty's grand daughter is visiting for the night so we all eat out on the terrace together. We have nummy ratatoullie and chicken and tabouli with couscous in it which was quite tasty. Then we had our cheese and bread and chilled out watching the news on the couch. Ketty's grand daughter is a dancer (she's five years old and such a sweetie) and I tell her that I used to dance, too, and that I was looking for a dance store in town to buy some new shoes from (Dance stores usually sell the best ballet flats and most of my shoes are, well, dead at this point) and Ketty tells me SHE KNOWS WHERE THE DANCE STORE IS IN TOWN! HOMG teh squee!!!! So she gives me directions on how to get there so I can go next week. YAY!
Anywho, Best and I meet up around 21,30 and go over to her friend's apartment before going out to hit the club scene. IPN was going to be doing 1/2 price drinks for all Americans so we definitely wanted to go there. We hung out for a while, playing "American" songs like "Born in the USA" and other fun stuff, then this weird group of girls shows up. Ugh. Insert airheads here. Cannot stand people like that who act ditzy and stupid because they can. None of them even speak French, which is a wonder to me; I can't figure out how they're surviving if they don't know a word of the language spoken in the area. Whatever. So Best, Olivia and I get antsy and decide it's time to go. After much coaxing and waiting we finally get them all out of the apartment and we start to head over to IPN, but then the airheads decide that we're not going there because "there are shady guys there." Um, excuse me? You're in the south of France on a Friday night! Of course there are going to be shady guys there! WTF??!?! So we head over to Le Scat instead. We walk in and it's dead there. Totally dead. So Best and I go to use the restroom and the whole group ditches us. Again, wtf? SO we decide to head over to IPN and meet up with some of our other friends there. We hit the dance floor and it's awesome! The music wasn't quite loud enough for my taste but I didn't care, I just wanted to dance. And the best part? They played ALL AMERICAN MUSIC! It was a blast from the past, playing everything from Sisko's "Thong Song" to Britney Spears "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" and so much more. Had a totally rawkin' time there until about 1,30 when Best and I both decided we were going to die from fatigue and we had a group outing to go on in the morning at 9,00. So I caught a cab home and crashed. But wow. Lots of fun.
I did miss my family terribly, though. Nothing can ever top spending July 4th on the beach watching the fireworks, or having the big huge barbecue with all of my cousins and taking pictures of everyone and Grampa playing old country music that I know all the words to. I miss them all a lot. But again, a-venture of a lifetime and I'm living it up! Except for the bugs; mosquitos are eating me alive which sucks. I bought lavender essential oil and have been putting it on the bites and that seems to be helping a lot with the itching and inflammation. What is it with bugs and me? Oh, and I might've gotten a teeny, tiny tan! YAY! Anywho, that was my 4th of July, minus, well, everything except for the burger. Oh, burger, how I love thee!
@~>~~