Wow! Three months!

Hello, I'll get back to the rest of my Germany trip later (Heidelburg!), but for the moment I felt like just doing a bit of writing. It's come to my attention that I'm a couple days over being here in France for not one, not two, but three months. And I'm not even halfway there! I've got to say, I've been learning a lot while I'm here: not just about the language, but about myself, about others, and life in general. I've also been picking up, more so than ever, on my personality quirks. Sometimes they disappoint me, but I think bit by bit I'll come to accept them and try to be a bit more secure. But these things take time, you know.

More interestingly, after several days of intermittent sprinkly rain, it's finally gorgeous here in town and the kind of day that makes you just happy to exist. I love these sorts of days, so I'm going to hammer down some interesting updates on life before I motivate myself to go for a jog. What have I done recently?

-Had the most spectacular Cameroonian meal, prepared by a friend's friend who happens to be a masterful cook. He made us salad, two types of chicken - one with an onion and vegetable sauce, and the other with a peanut sauce that made me want to die and go to heaven - fish in a delicious lemon sauce, rice to go with it all, Cameroon-style fried bananas, which are actually eaten as part of the meal and not dessert, chocolate covered bananas roasted in the oven, dessert tart, and some more I'm surely forgetting. I paced myself and still walked out feeling like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. We had hours of good conversation and listened to blues and jazz music, trying to translate from English to French. Lots of fun!

-Went ice skating! Montpellier has this awesome ice skating arena with two joined areas; one is your standard rink for hockey and competitions, and the other reminded me of a disco roller rink on ice - it had hills (!!), turns, and bumpin' music that kept us entertained for hours. I felt accomplished when I re-learned how to switch from forward to backward without stopping, and managed to do so without seriously injuring myself. I did look like an infant giraffe from time to time, though. Amusing anecdote: as we were skating by, a guy nearby tried to do a cool turn and smile (flirting on ice?) at us but ended up falling on his behind. We giggled and kept going, feeling oh-so-fly ;)

 Faisant le patinage makes us happy!

Chillin'. :)

-Finished round one of exams! I feel like I've come out of this, despite some of it being quite difficult, fairly well. Have to continually remind myself that French standards of grading are different than American ones, and just do my best regardless. The only two exams I have next weeks are ones that you don't really study for (written expression, and oral comprehension), so I'm kinda lovin' it at the moment. Haven't heard back from Montpellier II about taking integrated biology courses, but fingers crossed! If there's a way, I'll find it.

-Saw snow in the south of France? Really, there were at least five flakes on one reeeeeeally cold weekend, when we went to Montpellier's big Christmas market that's up all month to wander around. We bought heated wine (vin chaud) and I munched on a crepe, and all of us were pretty excited despite the icy chill to see those wimpy little snowflakes. Thankfully, as I mentioned above, the weather's quite a bit milder now.

That's the highlights, for the most part! This weekend I'm going to Lyon with a friend for the Festival des  lumières, so I'm bringing my sweaters and tights for what is sure to be a chillin' weekend. Until next time!