A girl's gotta eat.
*falls off her chair, asleep*
Welcome to Aix-en-Provence, where the people don't believe in jet lag or sleep...or food apparently.
I got to the Charlotte airport on Tuesday at 2ish. There were no parking spaces as they were rebuilding the parking garage or something stupid like that...so my dad couldn't even come in to say goodbye. I checked in and managed to have kept both my bags under 50lbs. After that, I sat around with my mom and Geoff for awhile. Goodbyes are terrible...but I am very much looking forward to a happy return. I went through security and got picked as the random search of the hour so I had to be patted down and all that. I just laughed about it because I'm the last person that would blow anything up. I forgot my cell in the car (good job me...) so I had to hang out around security while they made it look all official to hand it through to me. *rolls eyes* My flight was on time. I was in this ginormous plane and sat next to a very nice lady who was on her way to a retirement party in a small village in Germany. The food was terrible, my seat refused to recline, and my headphone jack didn't work. It made for an interesting flight. I had a pack of sesame crackers, two mouthfuls of rice, some cheese, a roll, and another roll the entire 8 and a half hours. My layover in Munich was alright. My terminal got switched and the time got changed so I was freaking out trying to figure out how to call France from a German payphone. I was so exasperated because I asked for help and still couldn't figure it out. So, I got on my plane and hoped for the best. We flew past the Alps (spectacular) and the landing in Marseille was ridiculously picturesque. The water here is brilliant blue and Marseille is ridiculously cute all along the coast.
I met up with the people from my program and we waited on a few others to show up...then piled on a bus thing that took us to Aix. We dropped some people off and then we got dropped off. We were dropped off a few blocks from the actual apartment and had to drag all our luggage down the teeny streets and try not to kill people.
I love my apartment. My roomie and I really lucked out because we have separate bed areas. All the other girls have a shared loft...but in our apartment I have the loft and Angie's room is downstairs. It's cute. I will post pictures soon.
Okay, so we get here and are given like 2 hours to unpack and find food...and then we were expected to meet up at this bar thing on the other side of town for drinks and to get to know each other better and everything. That was alright...I had what they call "un kir" (white wine with red currant syrup) and I didn't hate it. All the girls in my program are super nice and I really am enjoying getting to know them and getting to learn the town together. I'm apparently super bad with names, though. So, a small group of us decided to leave the bar and try and find our way back home. We got a little turned around but we made it back. I was in bed by 10 after not sleeping at all for 40 hours before that.
Today, we met up at a café called Le Petit Cactus or something like that...we had croissants and café crème for breakfast. We went through some orientation stuff and then we were taken on a tour around town. Lots of history, lots of lovely archetecture, gorgeous fountains, and amazing trees. We were given two hours to get lunch...but we were given the two hours when everything closes for lunch. I managed to find a pizza place and got a slice of pizza. My first real French exchange. I felt slightly like a moron...but I muddled my way through it and she didn't look at me strangely...so it was okay. After that, we met up at our school (l'Institution or IEFEE) to take the language placement test. The idea with the test was you could only make so many mistakes before it kicked you out of the test. Well, for whatever reason, I managed to make it all the way to the end of the test and was the last one to finish. I knew that I had made mistakes and I know that my French is not that good...so I'm a little nervous that there are going to put me into a level that I am not going to be able to handle.
After that, me and two of the other girls ventured over to Monoprix (kinda like Target) for some random supplies and some food. Uggghhhh. EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE. So, I get some stuff and am going through the checkout...I say hello and how are you and stuff, which wasn't too scary. Then, I slide my debit card and it gets rejected. Fan-freaking-tastic. So, I'm trying to figure out how to tell her to let me do it again...and she starts scowling at me and rolling her eyes. So it gets rejected again and she looked extremely put out when I had to dig through my purse for some euro bills. Then, there are no bags...you have to ask for them...but I didn't know that. So all my stuff is like piled up at the end of this register belt and I'm like what the heck do I do now...but other of the other girls I was with had the sense to ask about bags and the cashier sorta tossed some at us. Ohhh, I was so shaken but that one. So, I go to the ATM across the cours and try and take out some money...no problems. So, I'm not exactly sure what that means...but yeah. Also, 80euro cost me $101.97. BLARGH.
Alright, so brought the groceries home and headed back out to meet the group for dinner at this fancy little café. Had a three-course meal (this vegetable paté thing, chicken kabobs with mashed potatoes, amazing chocolate cake) and chatted with the girls for like two hours. Then, a small group of us headed back to the appartements to get coats and cameras...and I ran into Brandi! She had been waiting for me for awhile and I was so excited to see her. The group of us wandered around town for awhile, just exploring. Aix is seriously a maze and I am convinced that the roads shift when one isn't looking.
Anyway, here I am. Exhausted. I have to be up and meet the group tomorrow at 9 for a treasure hunt, a picnic, and then who knows what else. I'm so tired and just want to slow down for like 5 seconds...but "c'est impossible." They want us to stay busy so as to avoid homesickness as much as possible. I'm going to post pictures soon.
Things I love so far:
-the city of Aix itself
-Coca-Cola Light
-French grocery shopping
-French cuisine
G'night.
Welcome to Aix-en-Provence, where the people don't believe in jet lag or sleep...or food apparently.
I got to the Charlotte airport on Tuesday at 2ish. There were no parking spaces as they were rebuilding the parking garage or something stupid like that...so my dad couldn't even come in to say goodbye. I checked in and managed to have kept both my bags under 50lbs. After that, I sat around with my mom and Geoff for awhile. Goodbyes are terrible...but I am very much looking forward to a happy return. I went through security and got picked as the random search of the hour so I had to be patted down and all that. I just laughed about it because I'm the last person that would blow anything up. I forgot my cell in the car (good job me...) so I had to hang out around security while they made it look all official to hand it through to me. *rolls eyes* My flight was on time. I was in this ginormous plane and sat next to a very nice lady who was on her way to a retirement party in a small village in Germany. The food was terrible, my seat refused to recline, and my headphone jack didn't work. It made for an interesting flight. I had a pack of sesame crackers, two mouthfuls of rice, some cheese, a roll, and another roll the entire 8 and a half hours. My layover in Munich was alright. My terminal got switched and the time got changed so I was freaking out trying to figure out how to call France from a German payphone. I was so exasperated because I asked for help and still couldn't figure it out. So, I got on my plane and hoped for the best. We flew past the Alps (spectacular) and the landing in Marseille was ridiculously picturesque. The water here is brilliant blue and Marseille is ridiculously cute all along the coast.
I met up with the people from my program and we waited on a few others to show up...then piled on a bus thing that took us to Aix. We dropped some people off and then we got dropped off. We were dropped off a few blocks from the actual apartment and had to drag all our luggage down the teeny streets and try not to kill people.
I love my apartment. My roomie and I really lucked out because we have separate bed areas. All the other girls have a shared loft...but in our apartment I have the loft and Angie's room is downstairs. It's cute. I will post pictures soon.
Okay, so we get here and are given like 2 hours to unpack and find food...and then we were expected to meet up at this bar thing on the other side of town for drinks and to get to know each other better and everything. That was alright...I had what they call "un kir" (white wine with red currant syrup) and I didn't hate it. All the girls in my program are super nice and I really am enjoying getting to know them and getting to learn the town together. I'm apparently super bad with names, though. So, a small group of us decided to leave the bar and try and find our way back home. We got a little turned around but we made it back. I was in bed by 10 after not sleeping at all for 40 hours before that.
Today, we met up at a café called Le Petit Cactus or something like that...we had croissants and café crème for breakfast. We went through some orientation stuff and then we were taken on a tour around town. Lots of history, lots of lovely archetecture, gorgeous fountains, and amazing trees. We were given two hours to get lunch...but we were given the two hours when everything closes for lunch. I managed to find a pizza place and got a slice of pizza. My first real French exchange. I felt slightly like a moron...but I muddled my way through it and she didn't look at me strangely...so it was okay. After that, we met up at our school (l'Institution or IEFEE) to take the language placement test. The idea with the test was you could only make so many mistakes before it kicked you out of the test. Well, for whatever reason, I managed to make it all the way to the end of the test and was the last one to finish. I knew that I had made mistakes and I know that my French is not that good...so I'm a little nervous that there are going to put me into a level that I am not going to be able to handle.
After that, me and two of the other girls ventured over to Monoprix (kinda like Target) for some random supplies and some food. Uggghhhh. EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE. So, I get some stuff and am going through the checkout...I say hello and how are you and stuff, which wasn't too scary. Then, I slide my debit card and it gets rejected. Fan-freaking-tastic. So, I'm trying to figure out how to tell her to let me do it again...and she starts scowling at me and rolling her eyes. So it gets rejected again and she looked extremely put out when I had to dig through my purse for some euro bills. Then, there are no bags...you have to ask for them...but I didn't know that. So all my stuff is like piled up at the end of this register belt and I'm like what the heck do I do now...but other of the other girls I was with had the sense to ask about bags and the cashier sorta tossed some at us. Ohhh, I was so shaken but that one. So, I go to the ATM across the cours and try and take out some money...no problems. So, I'm not exactly sure what that means...but yeah. Also, 80euro cost me $101.97. BLARGH.
Alright, so brought the groceries home and headed back out to meet the group for dinner at this fancy little café. Had a three-course meal (this vegetable paté thing, chicken kabobs with mashed potatoes, amazing chocolate cake) and chatted with the girls for like two hours. Then, a small group of us headed back to the appartements to get coats and cameras...and I ran into Brandi! She had been waiting for me for awhile and I was so excited to see her. The group of us wandered around town for awhile, just exploring. Aix is seriously a maze and I am convinced that the roads shift when one isn't looking.
Anyway, here I am. Exhausted. I have to be up and meet the group tomorrow at 9 for a treasure hunt, a picnic, and then who knows what else. I'm so tired and just want to slow down for like 5 seconds...but "c'est impossible." They want us to stay busy so as to avoid homesickness as much as possible. I'm going to post pictures soon.
Things I love so far:
-the city of Aix itself
-Coca-Cola Light
-French grocery shopping
-French cuisine
G'night.