Little town, full of little people, waking up to say.....

Bonjour! This was a most excellent weekend. Friday night I actually didn't go out for once; instead, it was a pizza and beer kinda night with friends. Pizza here is different; thinner crust, less sauce, and a bit more adventurous with some of the toppings. I got an Indian chicken curry pizza all to myself, and just to show them all what a real woman eats like, I finished mine first. (Okay, not really; I was just super hungry since I had gone for a long jog that day). But the guys I was chilling with seemed a little impressed, particularly since my pizza was the same size as theirs. It's the family "trash compacter" genes, what can I say? =) But we just stayed up, chatted, listened to music, and enjoyed some good conversation. Once the conversation came around to refereeing I had to switch to English for a bit. I notice a pattern here when I mention refereeing and my desire to get into it here (you never know who might have useful information for you!). It goes a little something like this: eyes widen, don't say anything for a moment, then mention that refereeing's different/dangerous here in la France. As if that'll stop me =P

I'm glad I didn't go out that evening, because I was fully awake to enjoy an awesome day trip with the ISEP group. We went to two places: La grotte de clamouse, which is a magnificent cave tucked away in the steep hills northwest of the city. It was discovered in 1940's by some French explorers, and it was cool learning about it in French...particularly since scientific terms don't change much in other languages! Come join me if you don't mind a couple pictures of rocks. I promise there aren't many (I want people to enjoy reading this blog, not be saying "More limestone formations? Hurray?")

 

 This is what you see before going into the caves. Pretty view!

Beach? In a cave. Why not?

"The Cathedral of Time" is what the video called this place.

 Cave lizard. Blind, and not too happy to be disturbed. He kept trying to hide (he was in a tank)

We got to watch a pretty cool light show, set to a very dramatic operatic French woman. I took better video.

 This guy liked it so much, he decided to stay...

Oooh, haunted! 

Afterward, we went to the village (commune, actually: I asked the guide how many people live there, and she said that there are only about 50-60 who stay year round!) of Saint-Guilhelm-le-Désert, a fabulous little medieval town that immediately reminded me of somethign from a Disney movie (Beauty and the Beast? Pinocchio?). It was wonderful getting the opportunity to see that places like this actually exist. I feel like this is the France, the Europe, that few outsiders get to see in their efforts to hit the big sights. And I'm lucky enough to get to visit! But the village is very very small, and it's squished right in the middle of huge hills on three sides. The main street's terminus is called La rue au bout du monde, the road at the end of the world, because it just ends. The steep hills on either side encase it like...tupperware. Check it out:

First picture entering the village. Those hills will feature prominently in nearly every photo!

 

This is one of my many "If I get rich one day..." dream houses. Dog included.

So, everywhere you look, you see stuff like this. Sensory overload!

Hills, hills, hills. Up, down, never ends...oh, and here are some nice buildings too.

The shell says you can drink this water. Do you trust him?

Okay. I took plenty of pictures by my standards and I'm trying to stick to my favorites, but it's hard. There was a ton to see, and I want to share it with you guys! But right now, I have to go grab some lunch before class at the Resto-U. After that, it's off to grammar, then phonetics. I'm a little proud of myself; I'm actually quite good at diction exercises...but I suck at syntax. Ah, well. Hopefully today's a good day, and I can show you  more soon. Until next time!

Elle s'appelle une obsession

So, it's been a super week! Before I really get going, a little update for my friends and family in case you didn't already know: I love love love to dance. It all started spring semester of my freshman year when I decided to be bold and take Beginning Social Dance (ballroom dancing) at Bama. Not sure why, as I hadn't done anything dance related since I was a little girl. But it was one credit and looked kinda cool.

But then the love affair began...I eventually heard of some salsa classes at the Rec, and before you could say "Ra cha cha," I was hooked. Now I am pretty much obsessed...merengue and bachata have my love as well. I'm not the best or most skilled person around, but dancing ranks right up there with soccer/refereeing on my two biggest passions. So, as soon as I got myself to France I was on the hunt for opportunities to do and learn more. The dance scene is rather sparse in Tuscaloosa, though I am a frequent attendee of events hosted by the Tuscaloosa Ballroom Dance Club :)

And whaddya know, I had my first lesson on Monday! Although the lesson started at the beginning with the merengue, it was still fun. I always feel like you're never too good to learn. The professor is Colombian, adorable, and quite the cool dude. Not a single American/anglophone in the mix, and while I did feel a little out of place for a few minutes with my level of French and not knowing anybody, before long I felt right at home when the professor asked my name and introduced himself as Carlos. After that, another girl said hello as well, and suddenly I felt much more at ease. That's the thing about dancing, it brings instant bonding set to a hot beat. It's nice to be part of a group. Now I have an "activity," two hours of dancing every Monday!

Which is then followed by even more dancing on Tuesday! Overkill? Course not. Once I discover someone who's into dancing like I am (or who even wants to learn), we're pretty much instant buddies in my book. There's a bar downtown called Cargo that has Latin parties each Tuesday, and this week was the first night. I dragged along some lovely lady friends to the free course two hours before the party started, all set to have a good time.

Then I found out about Colombian style salsa. I don't know what's in the water to to give them such superhuman abilities to move their feet, knees, hips in any direction independent of the others, but it drove me nuts and I was horrible at it. The footwork is insane. Observe here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEuhOR_Arh8&feature=related

So, I probably made a grand fool of myself attempting to dance it, but at the very least I can move my hips the way they're supposed to! There were people there who were so good I just had to stand there and gawk for awhile. And then, as fortune would have it, a guy from one of those "good" pairings happened to ask me to dance. I told him that I'm not advanced and would do my best, but he still brought out those moves that left me in a whirlwind hoping I could keep up and not fall all over myself. I definitely messed up and even lost him a couple times on the crazier spins/turns, but I couldn't stop grinning. It's just so much fun. I'm usually rather meek on a day to day basis, but stick me on a dance floor with some Latin beats and perhaps a partner to shove me around and suddenly, Instant Diva.

In short, life is good. =) Until next time!

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 =)