Une Colocataire

For this week in limbo between work and vacation, I've been living with Camilla in Cassis. It's been a great way to finish out the year, resting and spending time with my friends before we all leave to go our separate ways.

We've been going on adventures to the nearby beaches, concerts for the annual French 'Fete de la musique', and even so far as visits to Nice and Cannes.

Here's a little photo journey of our adventures so far:

First we spent a lazy afternoon lounging and swimming at the beach in nearby La Ciotat.

Then we did a whirlwind trip of Nice (pictured above) and Cannes all in one day.

And here we are on the red carpet in Cannes!!!

Valerie

Valerie came to see me!

Yep, she flew all the way over here. Amidst volcanic ash, flight delays, and rescheduling, she managed to arrive only 5 hours late. Not too shabby.

We had a blast. The first day in Marseille we checked out Chateau d'If for my third time, climbed the mountains of Iles de Frioul in the middle of the mistral (exceptionally strong wind), watched an old man get attacked by an angry boyfriend for taking inappropriate pictures of the girlfriend, and got attacked ourselves by a giant seagull.

The next day, we spent an entire day sneezing as we strolled down the shady boulevards of Aix-en-Provence, the pollen floating off the trees around us like a sparkling, golden fairy dust. It felt horrible. But the shopping was great. We checked out American Apparel and had a serious 80s flashback. I don't know how many times we caught ourselves saying, "Hey, my mom had that!" We also found toy stores, gelato shops, cafes for hot chocolate, and of course, crepes. I have discovered that having company is not beneficial to my waistline.

Sunday, we had a nice lunch with Camilla and two of her Polish friends in Cassis. Then we walked to the port and had a lovely time sleeping on the rocky beach, listening to two British brothers singing 60s songs, and eating more gelato. When it was time to go home, we went in search of our friends who were going to drop us at the train station. I don't know what it is about Cassis but I always get lost there. It is one of the smallest towns I have ever been to and all roads lead down to the sea and somehow, I still get lost, every single time. Long story short, we didn't find our ride and we walked an hour to the train station arriving exaclty 10 minutes after our train had left. Oh well.

Monday and Tuesday I had school so Valerie was left to fend for herself in Marseille for the morning. The first day seemed to go just fine. She hung out at Vieux Port and did some shopping and still managed to walk all the way to school to meet me for lunch. The next day she went to the park and had some less than pleasant experiences. But she was fine and after it all, we had a crepe picnik in the grass in the middle of the city beside the carousel and it was fun.

And in between all of that, she got to meet my host family, play with the kids, and get very familiar with Aubagne's two good restaurants. It was a relaxed week and I had a lot of fun getting to show her how I've been living this year.

I am now feeling bittersweet about coming home in a little over a month. I will desperately miss things about my life here and I'm sure I will get homesick for this life, but I can hardly wait to come home to a place where I am surrounded by familiar: the language, the sounds, the smells, the food, the faces. I'm ready to be back somewhere that I feel like I fit in. Haha, this is exactly opposite what I was feeling when I left for this crazy adventure. We'll see how long it lasts once I'm stateside.

Risk and Ice Cream

Today, we held our lives in our hands.

We dangled our legs over the cliffs of Cassis' Cap Canaille.

It was exhilarating...

...and scary.

So we rewarded ourselves with gelato.

Yum!!

Alliance Francaise

This week has been fantastic! One of the best weeks ever!

It started on Monday with the beginning of language school. Many of you know that I was concerned about the scheduling because I was told I had to go to school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday but I have to work Wednesdays. It turns out I go to school Mondays and Tuesdays from 9-1 and that is perfect. It means I have to wake up at 6:30 to get a parking place at the train station, ride the train, eat breakfast in the station, take the Metro, and walk to the school. But it's really kind of fun. I was able to show someone else how to do it the other day and it made me feel like a pro.

I love the class, even though it's a little over my head. The teacher, Sandrine, is great. She only speaks French in class but she rephrases things if you don't understand. She laughs a lot and I feel like we'll learn a lot with her.

There are about 12 people in my class. 4 are German, 2 American, 1 Canadian, 1 Indonesian, 1 Russian, 1 Czech, 1 Columbian, and 1 Italian. Only the Czech one is a boy. We outnumber him greatly but I don't know that he minds. I feel I got lucky with this class. We all work together really well and I like everyone in there. I had made two friends by the end of the first day and we added one to our group on the second. The four of us have spent most of the week together. Luise I met first. She's German, 20, and really funny. Camilla next. She's also German, 19, and also really funny. Finally, Hannah, 22, who's from Lynchburg, VA. Not only is she from Lynchburg, but she went to school in Charleston, SC (where I almost went to school) and she was born in Johnson City, TN (where I did go to school). Weird how small this world is. The four of us speak English most of the time but we're trying to speak more in French.

After school, we eat lunch and shop some before catching our trains back to wherever we have to go to pick the kids up from school. On Thursday, Luise, Hannah, and I went to la plage (the beach) in Marseille. It was amazing! Hardly anyone there and it was really warm and beautiful. The water was cold and clear and so salty I could just float forever. Fantastic. So the view in the direction of the water is beautiful. The view on the beach just makes me laugh. Men wear speedos, women go topless, and everyone just changes clothes on the beach, sometimes hidden by towels. It is definitely a different life here.

Friday night was the best. The four of us girls spent the night at Camilla's house in Cassis. We dressed up and went out to the harbor for dinner at 11:30pm. Unfortunately, everything was closing but a nice man told us of an outdoor cafe where we could go for some good pizza. We went and spent probably two hours there. We flirted a bit with some French boys (including a waiter) and the restaurant gave us free wine and lollipops. Then we made our way up the forever long, uphill driveway and fell into bed.

*In the photo, Camilla (purple), me (green), Luise (gray), and Hannah (black). Those are the colors we're wearing, by the way, not the colors we are.

This weekend was spent relaxing and doing mostly nothing. We had friends over for lunch today and spent hours by the pool. Each time we have people over, I recognize more and more of what they're saying. I'm not ready to have conversations with people but I like to listen. I don't want to do anything halfway. When I start talking, I want to be good at it. I'm not sure how that'll work out for me but it's what I want. Tomorrow is the third day of language school and another day to see my friends. I'm so excited!