In Which Charlotte Talks of Laundry and Food

I did laundry today. (Yes, yes, hold the applause) The washing machines are not terribly different here, but the dryers are. That is, they are not here. Apparently, Europeans don't really use dryers, preferring to let their clothes air dry. Unfortunately, my host mom does not appear to have a clothes line, so I had to content myself with draping my wet clothes over all the radiators in the apartment. My room is currently festooned with socks and underwear. (I briefly considered taking a picture to illustrate this, but quickly reconsidered. It is highly doubtful my readers are interested in seeing my unmentionables.)

Last night, my housemate and I made chili and it turned out surprisingly delicious. You should be proud of me friends, as this chili contains a few tablespoons of cayenne pepper, and yet I tolerated it. Weirdly enough, kidney beans are nigh impossible to find here. After trying two large supermarkets, I finally unearthed a few cans at a tiny ethnic grocery store. Am I the only one who thinks that that is a little weird? I thought beans were a staple in one's diet! Apparently not the French one, though.

As storage containers are in short supply, I had leftover chili for lunch today, with couscous and again for dinner, with a potato and peas.

For dessert, I indulged in a chocolate pot and a banana.

Let me tell you, those chocolate pots are rich. I was expecting some sort of weak chocolatey pudding, but oh no. I checked the ingredients list.

That's right: 55% whole milk, 12% creme fraiche and 10.5% fresh eggs. Not a monosaturated wotsit in sight. This is France.

Life Goes On

Sorry about the radio silence of the past week. I have been caught up with classes and some culture shock and homesickness, so blogging hasn't been at the top of my list. While France isn't a whole different universe, there are certain major differences that really remind me that I am not at home. Everybody smokes, even kids! My homestay is right across from a middle school and sometimes when I step out of the door, I see kids sitting on the school steps and smoking. Also, people don't clean up after their dogs here, so you have to be careful where you step.

It's strange to be cooking for myself all the time. At school, the cafeteria (sorry, dining hall) is always there and at home, I can usually rely on my parents to whip something up every now and then. Here, I'm on my own.

Actually, that's not strictly true. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I go have dinner with another homestay. The first time we met was this past Thursday and it was very nice. The host, Mme. Francisco, doesn't speak a word of English, so I was able to practice my French all evening. Mme. Francisco is absolutely lovely and a great cook. We had vegetable soup, a Provencal dish called "quenelles" in Bechamel sauce, salad, cheese and the possibility of fruit and yogurt for dessert, but I was too full. All in all, it was most enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays now.

Friday was a quiet night in for me. I watched rather a lot of television. It is staggering how much French television is actually dubbed. About 60-70% of the shows that I saw were imported and dubbed. For a country that has so much national pride, it is bizarre that they don't produce more French television shows. I saw a fantastic documentary on the Alsace region, but I also saw a French dub of an American show called "Ghost Whisperer." The dub of The Simpsons was quite amusing, just because of the strange voices each character had and the American accents.

Just so this isn't an entirely pictureless post, here is the breakfast I made for myself on Saturday morning.

It was yummy, if I do say so myself.

Also, I was browsing a book stall at the market this morning and I stumbled across this. Even in French, people don't want it.

Aix-cursions

On Sunday, the group went on its first excursion to the area around Aix. We hopped on a tour bus and went to the town of Isle sur la Sorgue, which was a lovely little village with a fascinating market. You could find almost anything there. There was food, spices, clothes, books, and lots of touristy trinkets, all tucked away in winding little streets.

Isle sur la Sorgue is called the Venice of France, because there is a river running all the way around the town, with lots of bridges over it. Up to the 20th century, the town used waterwheels to power paper and fabric factories (although I didn't see any).

It might be the Venice of France, but I think they would have a hard time getting any gondolas under that bridge.

Then, we went to the source of the Sorgue River, Fonatine de Vaucluse. It was the spring, up in the hills. The spring itself wasn't terribly impressive, but the river flowing down was. The water was so clear! It was absolutely gorgeous. 

We also went to Gorde, which has been called one of the prettiest villages in France. It was very cute. On the way there, we stopped for an incredible view, which really took my breath away. The day was lovely and so clear. You could see for miles. 

On the way back to Aix, we stopped at a few more villages and at a bridge that was built in 3 B.C.

I was getting pretty tired at that point, so I didn't take any more pictures. When we were just outside Aix, we must have hit rush hour, as the traffic was terrible! Still, I managed to get home in time for dinner (not terribly difficult, as I cooked for myself).

In other news, this morning I went grocery shopping in search of peanut butter and Ramen, to satiate some odd cravings. Yes, I know, I'm in France and I'm searching for Ramen. There is something definitely wrong with me. While I didn't find authentic Ramen, the local brand is called "LoveMe," which amused me greatly.

I also bought a baguette for lunch. It cost about $1 and was so fresh from the oven that I had to keep tossing it from hand to hand to stop my fingers burning. Yum!

Aix is tiny. Or rather, the old city, where I am living and where the school is, is tiny. You can walk from one side to the other in 10-15 minutes, provided that you don't get lost in all the small, winding alleys that they call "streets." It is so easy to walk straight by the front door of my homestay, as it is slightly set in to the wall. On the inside of the door, there are intimidating-looking latches and bolts, like the inside of a bank vault.

As you go in, you immediately turn right and walk up a twisting, narrow stair case until you reach my room. It's too dark to be able to get a good picture of the stairs from the bottom, so here is one from the top. The door on the right is the door to my room. As you can see, it opens straight on to the stairs. If any ax murders get in, I'm the first to go! Also, it is inadvisable to try to navigate this doorway while sleepy as accidents are almost certain to happen.

Here is my bed, in all it's glory. I have a tiny little window, which looks out on a tiny little courtyard.

 Here is the view down.

And here is the view up.

Yesterday was orientation and today was the placement test. During orientation, I learned where to buy bus tickets (the bus station), when to not get sick (the weekends), and not to smile at or make eye contact with people in the street (they will think you're a weirdo). I also learned that if I smile at a guy in a bar, that will be interpreted as "I would like to have sex with you." Thankfully, I did not learn that through experience. 

Despite its small size, Aix is very easy to get lost in. After eating lunch, I wandered around looking for the phone store to buy a SIM card. The tour had passed that store and the program director had taken us to it later, but it still took me several tries and many maps consultations to find it. Although the upper part of the town is a little difficult to navigate, it is easy for my to find my way back home. Just down the street is this lovely Dolphin Fountain, so I head straight for that and I'm home within minutes.

The placement test was today and I think it went fairly well. The oral exam was in the morning and later we took the written exam. The lady I spoke to for the oral exam was very nice and lovely to talk to. She said that she was sure I would be in Level 4 (Advanced), which made me feel wonderfully confident. Perhaps too confident... I'm not sure I did as well on the written part.

To soothe my worries, I bought a caramel tart. It was delicious.

Not Yet Dead

I think that, once one gets over the fear that the plane will crash into the ocean and everyone will die a horrible, cold, soggy death, flying is quite fun. (I am aware that the previous sentence is pretty mangled, but then so is my brain from lack of sleep, so I'll let it slide.)

So, to get to Provence, I left from Newark airport to Frankfurt and then took a connecting flight to Marseilles. On the way there I talked to a man who was visiting his brother in Saudi Arabia, who was turning 50. I did manage to get a bit of sleep. Unfortunately, some genius at United Airlines came up with the fantastic idea of making the little television in your headrest a touchscreen. They also were kind enough to include games, like Solitaire that you can play. What a modern way of amusing yourself! They neglected to take into account the fact that that means that some idiot is going to be poking the back of your seat while you are trying to sleep.



When I departed from Frankfurt to Marseilles, the airline gave us these adorable little breakfast packs. It was vanilla and honey flavored muesli with milk that tasted sort of yoghurty. With tea, it was excellent.







We flew over Europe and saw some fantastic mountain ranges. The sun had just risen, so it was quite bright. Nevertheless, I certainly enjoyed the view. We arrived in the Marseilles airport, passing over the bay, which was just magnificent. There was a small island in the middle, with what looked like a yacht harbor.

It was amazing. One of the things I love about air travel is the way things look so tiny from above. You can find a whole new perspective on things when you look at them from a different angle.

So yes, I have moved into my accommodations, which are tiny and old but have wifi, so I am happy. We had Orientation today and will have the placement test tomorrow. I think I am still fairly jetlagged, so I will stop now, rather than risk slipping into incoherence.

What a Relief!

Clarification about my situation has arrived! The program director responded to my queries, saying that I am doing a "partial" homestay. Apparently this means that I am living in someone's house, but they will not be feeding me. I am responsible for feeding myself. The "someone" is apparently a British lady who teaches English in Aix and rents out her rooms to students. I have a housemate, so I won't be all by myself. My housemate emailed me and told me that the English lady is very nice, the apartment is very nice and (best of all) there is wifi! Hallelujah! Also, my housemate has already been in Aix for a semester, so she knows her way around and hopefully can show me around as well.

Numerous fears and trepidations keep flip-flopping around in my brain, but at the moment, I am feeling good. This will be an amazing experience!

ETA: I've received an email from the program coordinator in Aix that said I would be having dinner a few times a week with two different French families. This is getting quite exciting!

Ah...

I just found out my housing placement for Aix and it's not a homestay. This is quite disappointing, as I had marked it as my first choice on the application form thing. However, CEA's disclaimer is that housing placement is based on availability, which is perfectly understandable, but nonetheless frustrating.  I realized that some people wouldn't get their first choice of housing, I just didn't think it would be me!

This means that instead of being fed delicious French food for breakfast and dinner, I will be cooking my own food. Ah. Instead of conversing with native speakers on a daily basis, I am sharing a room with another CEA student, who is almost certainly an Anglophone. Also, I have to provide my own bed linens. Boo!

There are definitely bright sides to this situation, but at the moment I am just wallowing in disappointment.