Updates!

Hello all! So I’m just kind of going through what my trip’s been like so far, so that I don’t have to recount it a million times in emails, and so that you don’t have to read all my long and poorly written emails.
First things first, I’m living with a 60-something widow, who’s very French and quite cool. She has two daughters, one of whom in Paris, and the other in Marseilles. We also have a kitten living with us who is absolutely adorable, and named Dora. We’ve been eating absolutely amazing cuisine every night, so I’m definitely trying to walk a lot to make sure I don’t bloat up while I’m here! Last Friday, we ate what’s called Ratatouile, basically zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes kind of sautéed in some sort of garlic/basil/general herby sauce. It was totally fantastic and absolutely Provencal. So I’ve been eating totally fabulously.
The coolest place I’ve been so far is known as Luberon country. It’s definitely the kind of Provence you see in movies when people are traveling through France by train and are gazing pensively out of a window. The lavender is only beginning to grow right now, but already while in the area, it’s totally beautiful, and you can definitely smell it. We went to L’Isle sur la Sourge, which apparently has the 3rd largest antique market in all of Europe. It was really pretty and cute, but I’m not really into antiques, so the other towns were a little more interesting to me. We continued to Fontaine de Vouclouse, which is a totally cool place because it has these caves and caverns that water flows through. Apparently they’ve been trying for years to figure out the reason for all the water and the caves, but have not had success. While in Fountaine de Voulouse, we hiked up this steep path to the ruins of a castle that used to be one of King Remy’s favorite vacation castles. The ruins were very neat to see, and the view from the top of the city gave me an absolutely breathtaking picture. Our next stop on our Luberon tour was Rousillon, a small town that definitely breaks some stereotypes about French scenery. I had no idea that there was red rock anywhere in France, but Rousillon looked like a town straight out of Utah. According to local legend, the dirt was stained red when a local women flung herself off a cliff after her husband discovered her infidelity. I guess it’s a pretty French explanation. The houses are all made of the same rock that’s in the ground, so all the houses all match the red dirt, and it’s really a cool scene. It was a very large difference from the lavender fields that we had all become accustomed to during the drive. Our last stop was the beautiful city of Gordes. We stopped on our way there to get a picture, and I immediately thought it looked exactly like Rivendell in Lord of the Rings. For non LOTR fans, Gordes is a beautiful city built into a hill and the buildings are all a sort of off white, pale color. We walked around the town itself, but the real highlight is seeing Gordes from a little distance away because it’s just amazing.
Anyhow, after sightseeing in Luberon over the weekend, my classes started Monday morning. I’m taking French language, phonetics, French theatre, Greek mythology in French literature, and Romanesque prose. It’s too bad my school doesn’t offer any art history classes (we are in the city of Paul Cezanne), but I’m pretty happy with all my courses. My teachers speak very fast and it’s sometimes difficult to understand them, but all in all, I’m doing pretty well. They’re very good about repeating stuff if we have questions, and slowing down if us students look totally confused. There’s only one other American girl in most of my classes, which totally surprised me. The vast majority of kids here are from China, Japan, or Taiwan. I have a pretty close friend from Iran, and already it’s been so exciting learning about her life! Apparently Iran isn’t a super sketchy place to live, it just gets that reputation because it’s right next to Iraq, which is always being sketchy.
We speak in French pretty much all the time, though when I’m with all Americans, we definitely speak in English. The French here in Aix are super nice though! I’ve only had one bad experience, and that wasn’t in Aix, it was in big city Marseilles. Today, I had lunch at a sidewalk café, and our while we were ordering our waiter asked us (in French), if we were Americans. When we told him that we were, he burst out with, “Oh! I love America! I don’t always love the President, but I love your country! And I love Americans!” He could have just been fishing for an extra large tip, but it’s always nice to have the occasional person understand that the government in the US isn’t all that Americans are about. Most of the French people I’ve met are just super about speaking with bad French speakers too. Whenever I speak to locals, I always feel a little self-conscious about my French, but anytime I say anything like, “Excuse my French, it’s not very good, I’m just learning,” they always say, “No no, not at all, it’s great.” That’s always refreshing to hear!
Yesterday, we went into Marseilles for the day. It’s only about 20 minutes by bus from here, and it was absolutely great! We didn’t plan very well, so the day could have definitely been more productive (as my roommate and I discussed on the ride home, she’s also an engineer), but for the most part, we had a very nice day. Upon arriving in Marseilles, we got some panini sandwiches from a restaurant, and walked along the water. It was just so weird to think that the water that I was walking next to was the Mediterranean Sea. I’m just so used to the Pacific Ocean that all the other large bodies of water in the world seem very foreign. We walked up to a palace and garden called “Jardin et Palais de Pharo,” which was very picturesque. My roommate Avery and I decided that when it got warmer, we would just bring our books to Marseilles and just sit on the beautiful beaches and just do our homework there because it’s so amazing. I’d better sign off now so that I can have ample time to read my French theatre book. Au revoir!