Another exploratory adventure !

Alright, guys, after getting frustrated that I can never get this internet to function properly when I want it to, now you can finally see the fun photo story of my accidental discovery of the centre historique of Montpellier. I was riding my bike to the Place de la Comédie one day and decided to try a different route. I feel like I'm getting to know the city very well this way, so me, being the time waster that I am (I was supposed to be recharging my phone's sim card: this is at 2:30 in the afternoon, or 14h30 France time), decided to slow down and take some photos. I stopped my bike every so often, looked like quite the tourist but without the map, and enjoyed the pretty trees and buildings.

Here, I spy on two people having a chat in a garden. I pretended like I was photographing the trees, but they look quite cute together :)

At this point in the journey, it starts to get rather hilly...

 

 At this point I also decide to abandon my bike. Look, another side road! Sorry, I'm sure you're sick of them by now.

And finally, what do you know? A massive cathedral packed between these teeny tiny streets: I soon learned that this is the Cathedral Saint Pierre, and they still hold services there to this day.

Hey, when did this get here?

See those two gentlemen in stone to the left? Yeah, that's the school of medicine. There are still classes held there today, though there are others in newer buildings in other areas of the city. It was such a cool thing to see the schedules and offices in there, that such an old piece of work is still functional and not just aesthetic.

Observe among the pretty lions, that universal snake o' health.

So, in my world, what's the next logical course of action? Why, let's go in, of course!

Learning takes place here.

And what is that off to the right?

 

Coffee machine on the right. All the proof I need that students actually study here.

 

Alright. So the first room was pretty cool. But I get the feeling that there's more to see here. Time to snoop and see what I can find.

 

 Doors are locked. I checked. But very pretty. :)

I proceed through this hall, etc., and eventually find myself some stairs. And there's somebody greeting me on the way up.

 

 Anatomical statue. 'Sup?

 Something really old in Latin. I thought it was quite cool. There were lots of them.

Look, more! It's all Greek to me! (ha, ha?)

Alas, students must have their downtime, so I came across this little courtyard. Looking down wasn't much; not much grass to be had in the centre court of a grand building. But let's not forget to look in all directions...

 What an atmosphere for learning...I eventually found my way to the library and got reprimanded for trying to into a room I wasn't supposed to (spoil my fun, why don't ya?). But it was fun checking out all the nooks and crannies, and I couldn't possibly post all my pictures here and expect to get some sleep tonight. So in conclusion (for now, at least!) I give you some idea of what the Cathedrale Saint Pierre is like. The street was impossibly too narrow to get a full view or even a half, but this thing was a behemoth. We're talking HUGE. Check it out:

 Picture number one. Those doors are larger than normal. They're also permanently shut. You enter the church another way.

 Some perspective. See those tiny people and four-story buildings? There is nothing misleading about this picture. This church is that huge.

As far back as I could go, and sitting on the ground. 

So, with all that, I'm still not done with my tour of the centre historique. There's much more to see after I left the medical school and the cathedral, and I ended up coming home three hours later than anticipated. But what a lovely day. Until next time!

 

Somehow, it all comes back to food...

This morning I went food shopping. And just like my mom taught me, seek and ye shall find (the bargains!) This time, the bargains were to the tune of almost old croissants and pain au chocolat for 1 euro a pack. I eat these things like candy, so you can imagine what I brought back with me! That, and I found some super cheap seasonings (black pepper, and curry as well) for 1 euro a piece! Considering how much I paid for garlic, I was flabbergasted! So what's on tonight's menu for Resto-Marisa? Turkey curry with onions, potato, tomato, and cous cous on the side...and pain au chocolat for dessert. Yum. :) A little less water on the cous cous next time, and maybe it could have used another spice or two,but overall very satisfying...and less than 20 minutes form start to finish. I love how not having a microwave is giving me the courage to try a bit more with cooking. I'm no Iron Chef by far, but my school of "whatever Marisa can throw in a pan/pot today" seems to be working out fairly well for me so far. At the very least, it's healthy and something different than pasta!

This weekend was nice, and a bit more relaxing than the last. At the last minute, "Hey, let's have a picnic!" to a bunch of Europeans looks a little something like this:

 

How many bottles of wine can you count in this photo?

Oh, it was a good day, alright...it is starting to get bizarrely chilly around here, though, like in the sixties. I hear that it's uncharacteristic of the region, though, so hopefully it'll go away soon. I'm enjoying this sunshine too much to have to cover up just yet. Besides, I kinda need a cover up that isn't a flimsy sweater or a "in it for the long haul" wintery coat.

In other news, I had my first salsa/merengue lesson yesterday, and even though I knew what I was doing already, it's still fun to learn through a different instructor and practice being the guy as well. Little things like this make me feel more included in university life, even if in only a small way. I very well may take an advanced salsa course as well through the university, all while trying to keep my fitness up at the same time! There's a zoological park a 5-minute jog from campus with a huge path you can jog around, and it's more than enough to keep me interested...I even discovered the most gorgeous overlook of the city's hills, and worked on some upper body strength and balance stuff. I felt like some kind of zen tai chi/yoga master (no, I've never done either, but I imagine the vibe is similar!) up there; it was quite relaxing and soooo picturesque. I'm attempting to stay in shape here, but seeing as I haven't had much luck finding a gym, I may have to suck it up soon and go running in the cold regularly. I may have running buddies soon, so who knows? Until next time, here's a didgeridoo!

Not a vacation anymore?

Hey, wait a minute. I'm nearly three weeks into my time here. The longest time I've ever been away from home visiting a place is two weeks. In my mind, two weeks is the sane limit for a vacation. If you're lucky enough to jet set for longer periods of time, well, that's just not fair. =P

But anyway, moving on. I'm to the point where I'm actually feeling legitimately settled in. Bank account? Done. Cell phone? Check. Homework to do? You betcha. Laundry that needs doing again? Hurray! At $3 USD a wash, those laundry machines can stuff it. I have a balcony and a clothesline. Though I occasionally miss the convenience as well as fabric softener, it gives me time to think and a doing a little dance with my line-dried items tends to help the stiffness...usually to bachata or dance music recently!

But the idea here is that I feel adjusted. I don't know what I did to deserve my good fortune, but after years of feeling like I'm working so hard but can't cut a break, here I am. Life is actually (relatively) easy for once. And I know well enough to appreciate what I've got going. It helps that I'm pretty good at shrugging, saying, c'est pas grave, and heading on my way and just letting it go if something is a pain or annoying. At least I have a bike, which makes it fun to get from A to B to C to B then back to A then to B again...oh, my. I'm going to have some sick legs from all this pedaling.

Speaking of that, I made a wrong turn (on purpose this time, I promise. I'm very curious!) and found myself in the oldest part of the city. There's a school of medicine that's straight out of the Middle Ages, and what did I do? Snoop, of course. I felt like Nancy Drew...and nobody seemed to question me. A nod of recognition and people pass right over you, unless you're trying to go somewhere forbidden (which I did, by the way, and got caught. Oopsie!). Wait till you see the pictures! I'll put them up when I'm done with homework, maybe tomorrow...I'm not on vacation here, remember? =P For now, I'm probably going to go out this evening to a friend of a friend's house party, or something like that. Plans are super loose here, nights are late, and people aren't shy about sharing their wine/beer/tequila. Running into a group of Erasmus students is usually an adventure, since the mix of languages can be something like English, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic, and you all attempt your French together. They're the most warm, friendly bunch of people I've had the pleasure to acquaint myself with/befriend.

Last night, by the way, I made dinner with friends - spaghetti carbonara! We were missing one or two things, but it was delicious nonetheless. It's so much more fun cooking with company; even if the wine you found for 2,50 euro tastes like it costs that much you don't really care. You finish the bottle anyway. There's a reason vin and vinaigre are so close in French. Don't worry, I promise to buy some of the good stuff eventually...I've just got to figure out what the good stuff is. I know as much about wine as I do about NASCAR (left turn, left turn, left turn..zzzzz)

So, that's it for now. Until next time!

Video! C'est super!

Hi, everybody! Video quality on this blogging website is terrible, but for all the time I spent with my camcorder glued to my hand, I'm determined to show some fun little clips! In this first one I sneak a quick peek at Nimes and wonder how many kebab stands/shops there are per capita in France (lots, I imagine). At the same time, my buddies ham it up a bit for the camera =)



For the second clip, I offer you a sampling of the musical flava of the Féria. There was a lot of music around the city, but I wasn't quite sure what to think of this gentleman...I don't even know what the singer's saying. The video's taken from a poor location because I just had to catch this bizarre French song before moving on:




And, in case you want something a little less out there, here's one of the marching bands we found wandering the centre ville. They played lots of fun, jazzy tunes, and people would randomly start dancing/bopping along. Anyone know what "Teddy Shoes" are?

 

Until next time!

Off you go!

You know, I realize that these blog posts make it sound like I'm on a neverending vacation. I promise I'm actually doing work here...yes, it's true. Combined with classes, homework, chores (I'm handwashing for the next 9 months!), it's a wonder I'm able to do anything else. By the end of this trip I'll be set to be the perfect housewife. However, I most definitely make time for fun, and even blogging. Am I good or what? That being said, I'm doing so much that it's impossible to tell everything I do, but I'm happy to give the high points and leave out the mundane stuff. Besides, who really wants to know what I did in grammar class today? But in case you do care to know, one of my grammar teachers is a rotund, balding French gentleman with grey hair who wears a bow tie to class. I want to hug him. He's just that adorable. And he actually makes grammar fun to go to (mais non!).

But what was the coolest part of this weekend? Besides clubbing on Friday and the beach on Sunday? I traveled! Approximately 25 minutes by train is the city of  Nîmes. It's very easy to take the trains in France. I was amazed. You basically go there, buy a ticket from a vendor to anywhere you care to find yourself, and off you go!

Oh, just another boring day on da train, seeing new places...time for a nap.

The reason we decided on a lark (as in, the night before) to go to this random city is because of this huge bullfighting festival that goes on there a couple times a year, called the Féria de Nîmes. As a result, the city was positively buzzing.

 

 Ah! We missed the party! Let's go find it!

Don't worry, that picture is misleading. This is what we saw when we first walked outside the train station, and we were a little disappointed. But, as it turns out, the fun wasn't going to find us...we had to find the fun!

 

 Balloons? Lots of them? Much better.

 

So, once we got downtown, we saw this awesome arena where they hold the bullfights. It was expensive to go in and see, so we decided as a group (me and my friends-we speak French together!) to skip the fight and just enjoy the city.

 

 Enjoyment. =)

I took plenty of pictures, lots of video (there were musicians everywhere!), and we even attempted to do some shoe shopping. However, my big feet aren't the easiest to find a size for. Those dainty European women...sigh. But we had fun regardless.

 

 This is our new friend. We felt sorry for him. Observe the bizarre growth on the groin. I say cancer or a birth defect, because something ain't right about the positioning there. He wouldn't talk about it.

Haha, jokes aside, I'm super happy to have friends here. It's nice when they're the ones inviting you out all the time, and not really caring that you can't speak quite as well as they do (not that it matters much in the bar musicale!).  It's made it a lot easier to transition to life here without missing home quite so much when I'm alone in my room with nothing to do (which doesn't seem to be happening often, thank god, since the internet here is near nonfunctional at night).

So to make up for the sad lack of blog posts the past few days- the only time I seem to have to do these is at night, which doesn't work- here are some more photos of Nimes!

Bullfighting blanket? Tacky?

 

Tacky. Delightfully so!

At any rate, I'm super glad I got a chance to check out life outside of Montpellier...I will be making more travel plans soon, probably to "cooler" places than Nîmes, but I think I prefer sometimes just seeing the France that tourists usually don't. It's why I have plans for a big bike adventure this coming weekend, just to see where I end up. You can go for miles safely as a pedestrian here, so I think that could be a lot of fun.

 

Biking through here? Not a chance!

 

Don't worry, I've got plans to leave the country eventually. I'll let you know how my illegal immigration plans go. If you have any suggestions of the best city to hide in, let me know. ;) Anyway, I'll be putting up some fun video later. For now, I leave you with my last shot of Nîmes:

 

 

Until next time =)

A little love for the home state

So. When I came here initially, I was actually ashamed of my level of French. After these years of study I've put in, I was able to function at a minimal level and that's about it. I could ask for things, understand (for the most part) what was asked of me, and fill in the little gaps in between. Well, I'm still kind of ashamed given the abilities of the people around me, but the situation is most definitely looking up! It's been nearly two weeks here, and already I'm observing a noticeable improvement in myself. Most of it is probably gaining some self-confidence to say the things I actually know how but have never really used, and then being okay with bumbling my way through the rest. Even already I feel myself speeding up a little bit and not having that look of "quoi?" on my face quite so often. I won't say I'm magically speaking fabulous French, but I'm on my way. Just gotta keep on truckin' and learn/remember how to say those seemingly simple but important phrases. It's kind of unfortunate when I want to say one thing in English, such as "As long as we do blah blah blah" and having to sit there and scratch my head, attempting to work my way around that first part when I know how to say the rest.

So, to anybody out there looking to study abroad, I offer you a bit of advice if you want to be sure you'll kick-start your language skills: get the HECK away from your English-speaking companions every once in a while! Of course, when you're tossed in a situation where you know no one and your slow self doesn't feel up to trying French after a long plane flight, long day, etc., friends from your country are an absolute blessing. However, I have a new friend originally from China who has been at Montpellier two years. She tells me that a lot of the Chinese students just stick together and speak Chinese, and that it really hurts them. I hear the same thing with Americans. All I can say in response to that is to come armed with a few apologies/explanations, smile a lot, and giggle when you make a mistake (if you're a dude, you can skip the giggles. It's ok). Even if your friends speak English well enough, why not practice? Some phrases that I've used often?

Oui, je parle le français, mais j'apprends encore (Yes, I speak French, but I'm still learning. This one's usually accompanied by a shrug + grin combo, and people are quite understanding once you tell them thins)

And also, Je sais que je parle comme un enfant, mais j'essaie! (I know I speak like a kid, but I try!)

Also, amusing anecdote. I've got introductions down pat by this point, right? Hi, how are you, what's your name, where are you from? what city? what are you studying? Etc, etc. My favorite part usually comes when I'm asked "De quel état?" Of course, I respond to this with Alabama. What happens almost every time?

They sing "Sweet Home Alabama," people. Sure, nobody wants to visit and most don't know what part of the country it's in (Hey, we have 50 states and we're not New York or California. Completely understandable, in my humble opinion).

Seriously, though? This happens all the time. Fun fact o' life. Roll Tide? Having Sweet Home Alabama sung to me several times a day lately amuses me greatly!

But now, it's time for bed. I ventured outside the city today, stayed out fairly late (again?), and j'ai besoin de dormir (I need to sleep!) Until next time!

Getting there from here?

Today, for your viewing pleasure, I give you yet another nameless picturesque itty bitty side street.

I know. They don't make 'em like that in America!

On a side note, the street grid system here is quite bizarre...actually, I'm not even sure it exists. You can be standing in the middle of an intersection (which I've done with a buddy and map, by the way!) and have 6 possibilities of directions. It's like a game some city planner from centuries past decided to play called "Hey, let's mess with the tourists." There's even helpful signs that, in reality, aren't all that helpful. For example, on top of a large sign with multiple arrows stacked on top of each other, atop them all was "AUTRES DIRECTIONS." (other directions). There's also "TOUTES DIRECTIONS" if you prefer! Those crazy French. But I laugh it off and do my best. Thanks to said crazy French, I ended up on a nice long bike ride. I rode downtown to buy a grammar book for French and chill for awhile. Eventually, I decided it was time to come back. I've created a handy Microsoft paint diagram that reveals the extent of my artistic ability:

 

  Letter A is in the middle of downtown. The blue arrow is where I live. The green arrow is where I ended up.

I don't think it's really possible to get totally lost in Montpellier and the surrounding area unless you're completely hopeless. There's maps everywhere, and with the tram lines running around you really can't go wrong. There was a point halfway between A and ? that I knew I was going somewhere not quite right, but then I decided, why the heck not? Let's see where I end up. I ended up seeing some really cool stuff (no camera, silly me. Next time. Kicking myself here.), and found a really good market that reminds me of the marchés in Montréal. It's called Carrefour, and it's super well priced for cheapos like me. I found some kidney, by the way. Yum....? Rabbit is also quite common here, as is lamb, a bajillion types of sausage, and I've even seen pigeon (Oh my!).

This blog post had a point, but it ended up going in a totally different direction. I will show pictures from the rest of last weekend eventually. They're quite nice. Until next time!

Montpellier, la ville où la fête ne termine jamais

Hey, guys! I have an address, so I thought I'd post it here in case anybody feels like some correspondance:

Bâtiment D 409
Cité Universitaire Vert-Bois
192 Rue de la Chênaie
34096 Montpellier Cédex 5


So, I have some general commentaries today. I think I'm a lot more self-reliant than my parents believe me to be. I've encountered numerous roadblocks, hit dead ends, and occasionally feel like I'm caught in a neverending stream of errands that have to be done. I can see the stress starting to get to people already. I think my awful scatter brain over the years has prepared me mentally for my trip to France, in that if something goes wrong or doesn't quite work out the way you want, you find another way or try, try again. If it doesn't happen, well, then it's just not meant to be

Despite the upbeat tone of my blog entries, no, it hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies here! It's hard work, and I feel kind of like a Sim in that life is a constant effort to get things done in between feeding myself. It's an effort and a half to get groceries at the price I want, but am I complaining? No way!! Am I tired? Well, sure, but that's my own fault =) My social life here so far is active and bustling, as indicated by my title (translated: Montpellier, the city where the party never ends!). According to the directeur des études of the IEFE (Institute d’Études Françaises pour Étrangèrs), in a city of 250,000, nearly 1 in 4 people are students. And it shows! It's impossible to describe the energy here. There's always something going on.

On a side note: aside from my professors today (first day of classes, whoo hoo!), nobody here cares about being on time. Now, you're talking to the queen of punctual here. I can't not get somewhere on time. So, knowing this, upon arrival I just decided, so what? Sure, I'm having to wait 2 weeks for my bank account papers to go through. Yeah, I just sat around for half an hour waiting to meet a buddy to go out. And? What's the big deal? As long as I catch the last tram home at the end of the day, it's all good.

My only real complaint? Grammar. ick. Alas, what can you do? Over the next day my efforts are concentrated in getting a french health certificate saying I'm ok to participate in sports. I'm going to take an advanced salsa dancing class, fingers crossed I get in before it fills! Until next time!

This is from Sunday, at a park just outside of the centre ville, overlooking the city. I'll post more pictures later :)

Photos, hurray!

I've had quite the weekend! Here are some highlights, in pictures:

The one, the only...just outside the most fabulous outdoor mall, the Odysseum.

Here is a piece of it. Open to that gorgeous Montpellier sunshine.

Friday night, downtown: the last festival of the summer

Here is the "Estivales de Montpellier," this big gathering that has apparently been going on every Friday for most of the summer. Tons of vendors come out to sell their things, there's live music, wine tasting (I even have a souvenir glass!), and tons of great food. I'm definitely not in Alabama: there was a vendor selling nothing but dried fruit, and another for assorted cheeses...culture shock, mais non?

Myself and Julianne, doing the touristy hat thing. I liked this hat so much I bought it.

Place de la comedie, by night. Absolutely extraordinary.

Aaaand, on Saturday... à la plage! I've been swimming in the Mediterranean! I swear, I feel like I'm living in the land of eternal sunshine and happiness here. Winter will come, for sure, but for now I'm soaking up the warmth (much milder than 100 degree Alabama, sho 'nuf.)

There were lots of these lakes on the way to the beach from the bus stop.

I think I've discovered the meaning of life.

Yep, c'est un paradis.

People here are not shy about their bodies. At all. Men wear tinier swimming suits, and women may only wear half (oh, my!). It's all very relaxed and casual, though. Something I appreciate so much about the French lifestyle is that they value their leisure time and spend it well. The clock definitely does not have the same importance here as it does back home. This is taking some adjusting, but I'll get there.

One last photo, until the next post with some more details of my very busy weekend!

A cat sunbathing. Sums up life here pretty well.

Until next time!

City life!

Entering into my first weekend in town. In the middle of handling a truckload of administrative errands (will they EVER end?), I still manage to find time to do enjoyable things. To the north of campus there's the Zoo, and on the other side of the street is by far the coolest jogging park you've ever seen. It's gravel paved and consists of a variety of loops to customize your path. The way I see it, there's the easier, relaxed loops, the medium ones for the more earnest joggers, and then the "Your poor legs will die by the time we're through with you" loop. The whole park runs through a lovely wooded area, and there are hills. On the last loop that I spoke of, it seemed like the uphill would never end. And yes, my legs were toast. But the French are kind, and they set little stretching and exercise stations periodically around the track so if you do need to stop and "stretch," you can fool everybody else. Haha! But I did enjoy my jog, and I intend to tear up this town with my running shoes.

But exercise isn't all I'm doing, don't worry. I get the feeling that transportation's going to cost me some serious cash...it's 2,50 euro for one round-trip ticket (which, today, is 3.17 USD), so while I try and hunt down a bike I bought an unlimited 7-day pass for 13,80 ($17.50, people!!). I'm going to use this thing to death...and as a result, here's some video for you of downtown:

Nice, ain't it? This is the  Place de la Comédie, which is spectacular. All the action happens in and around this part of the town. Last night, I went out with some of my ISEP friends to Les Estivales de Montpellier...which, as I gather, is a weekly festival on Friday nights that they've been having all summer, and this was the very last one. The centre-ville is five times as gorgeous by night...there was live music (no video this time, sorry :( ), people selling just about anything, and tons of food vendors. But the food was very french. Of course there were crepe salespeople, but I also saw a stand selling plates of assorted cheese with meat and brea (your choice), middle eastern food, a stand with every type of dried fruit imaginable, and so on. There was even the wine tasting vendor: 4 euro for the glass and three tests of wine, or something like that. It's so nice to not have to feel bad for being a few months under 21! Here, they honestly do not care. No policing whatsoever. The drinking age is 18. I promise I'll sample responsibly, don't worry!

Fooooood.

This will be a fairly quick post as it's morning and I'm on my way to take care of business, but it's time to talk about my first few meals. Perhaps I want to do this because, at the moment, without a student card it's quite the effort to feed myself. The nearest grocery store is a 10-minute walk from my dorm (it's called the Shopi, by the way, and it's quite cute), and seeing as I'm quite budget conscious and certain things are more expensive over here, I'm always hunting for stuff I can buy cheap.

My first night here, I arrived on campus and didn't get hungry till later, so I headed to an off-campus café. Nutella crêpe for 2 euros and a crêpe jambon et fromage for 3. Not bad, not bad at all. I sat there as night fell and listened to the French around me. Speaking of, my French definitely needs some work. I can get by, but if things get advanced I start sounding like a confused child...but for the most part, people are understanding and I even got complemented on my pronunciation at customs. Victory!

The next day, I went to the Shopi. Baguettes cost 70 cents (YESSSS), and I bought some camembert, jelly, and nutella. Hello, breakfast for the next few months! For dinner? Eggs (no seasoning- they were out of the cheap salt), but I tossed in some smoked sausage and had myself a meal. I'm very grateful for the frying pan I brought...the others on the program are having to buy pre-made stuff and can't cook a thing.

The next day, I  made trip #2 to the Shopi- another nice walk. I try to avoid loading myself down with bags, since carrying them would get old after about 5 minutes. My residence is on the far north of campus, so I have to walk all the way across to get to the regular city. I also went to my new favorite store downtown - Monoprix! A small French supermarket chain, and things are a bit cheaper there. I'm proud of myself. Dinner was what I found on sale, tossed into a pan: chicken cut into strips and tomatoes, with butter, garlic and salt. It was really good, and I felt accomplished. After the trip I took to get the food, bring it back, prepare it, etc., I felt somewhat accomplished. I also bought some pain au chocolat from the store bakery...which, if you haven't tried, are rectangular croissants with chocolate stuff on the inside. Heaven on earth. I had two for lunch and one for dessert. I doubt I'll gain any weight here, but I'm starting to feel sluggish. I'm gonna toss on the running shoes and go for a long jog sometime today. Let's see wehre I end up! Until next time!

First post - Finally here!

Hi, everyone! Or, if nobody decides to read this thing, it'll be a fun reminder to look back on if I am dedicated enough to keep it up. I'm about six years late on the blog bandwagon, but anyone who knows me (and sees my electro-gizmos) will know that this is just the way I operate. And anybody who doesn't have facebook (yes, they exist!) can know what I'm up to without feeling left out. My blog title, in case anyone wants to know, isn't all that cool or unique. I'm not creative and didn't want something extra lame like "Marisa in France," so where did I go? Why, Sinatra, of course. I'm an undercover Frankie junkie, and one of his songs I enjoy is "It Happened in Monterrey." It's a swingin' tune, happy and kinda romantic. But the tone of the song is just right for a vacation- or an extended one, in my case. It just fit. If you haven't heard it, get your hindparts over to Youtube, kick back and enjoy your trip back in time.

But enough of that. I'm on my first full day here, and this is what I've got so far. The plane flight was a bit over 7 hours, and we flew through the night. I didn't sleep at all...how, might you ask? Well, I had the spectacular good fortune to be seated by a very attractive homme français on the flight over...so I was kept busy (no, not that busy, thank you very much). Between him on my right, the English girl on my left, and her brother in front (all my age), time certainly passed. That was by far the most fun I've ever had on a flight, hands down. And before I forget to mention, Air France allows you free-yes, I said FREE- wine and champagne in-flight to France. Well-kept secret learned from my French neighbor. I also had dinner and breakfast on the flight, and the fourth Shrek movie on the screen in front of me. Yes, I was living the good life. Beyond that, all my luggage made it with me, so what could be better?

I actually nodded off on the descent into Montpellier, so no pictures of that...but I now have zero jet lag due to some pretty good willpower and a lot of walking. I arrived at the  Cité Universitaire Vert-Bois by taxi at around noon and got my room. I'm on the fourth floor of a fairly old building (not hundreds of years old- talking 20 or so), and my studio is adequate. I had to do some serious cleaning and I've yet to find the cleaning lady to get the sheets I'm supposed to be provided, but it's enough for one. I can deal with all that because, wait for it, I have a balcony!! Only some of us on this ISEP program got them, since my building is the one out of four to have them - and not all rooms are lucky enough, either. My bathroom feels like I'm on a cruise ship all over again, but I'm comfortable just about. Pictures to come when I get this place all nice and tidy...gotta buy a couple more cleaning supplies when I get the chance.

The weather here has been nice and mild, so it's obvious why a/c isn ot necessary. It's been consistently grey and cloudy, and it's just started to storm as I've begun to write. The door to my balcony is wide open since the cover keeps the rain out, and I'm relaxing to the sounds of the weather. Some people around me were speaking French on their balcony earlier, but they've stopped now.

More on my first day and a half in the city later.It's 10 PM here, and I've got to get my rest. French exam tomorrow, and I'm determined to run down that cleaning lady and get my bedsheets. Until next time!