Italia

Wow. Been way too long by the looks of it. About time to wrap up my voyage to Italy. It was an interesting week here for sure.

So I left last Wednesday, leaving Lyon and all the tasty french goodness in the rearview mirror.. if trains had rearview mirrors. A good 12 hrs later I arrived at my first stop, Florence! It was basically a little slice of America with some italians sprinkled on top. Very pretty but wayyyy too many tourists, specifically Americans. WE are soooo annoying as tourists. I thought it was just a stereotype, but no. You can pick us out a mile away, and still probably hear us as well. Though to be fair, its mostly annoying northerners and midwestern accents. So yea, but Florence was cool. Rained, and rained and rained. But that was this whole week really. Stayed at the best hostel ever. Within two minutes of walking in I had met three cool guys who I would spend the next days with. And over these next few days I had to have meet close to a hundred people.. many frenchies as well. So home away from home a little bit. Most nights were spent having some beers and chilling in the courtyard just getting to know people from all over the world. I didn't want to leave... but, Rome was calling. So I went to Rome. Wasn't impressed. Stayed in two really tiny hostels that were sausage fests. However, one day was interesting because there I was.. looking at some old thing, and I look to my left, and it is a guy from the hostel in Florence I had stayed at. Love small worlds. We decided to hang out together the rest of the day. Then we're waiting in line for the Colosseum and we see three more guys that were at our hostel in Florence.

So I get the heck out of Rome and down on to Napoli, headquarters of the good ole Mafia.. You pretty much don't go out after dark. But Pompeii is here and that was cool. Not as many dead people in the streets like I thought though.. bummer. However I did run into even more people. For instance when I walked into this hostel I saw a guy I had met in line at a Museum two cities before.. last week. So we hung out, then today on the train to Pompeii I saw the three same dentist guys I had run into at the Colosseum haha. I think they're CIA... yeah. But besides Pompeii and the other archaeological sites Napoli doesn't have a lot to offer. I did meet a really cool Russia chick at the station. She was lost, I was nice, then boom, spent the day together exploring. And now I'm back in the Hostel chilling, about to head to the common room see if I can't meet the last few foreigners of the trip, maybe get some pizza up the street from this mafia restaurant. So yea, that was the very very abridged version of this week. Looking forward to getting back to France! Ciaoooo.

J'arrive

Well... I'm here! I've successfully escaped from crazy family and am living with my friend Quentin in Lyon. His family is amazing. Ridiculously nice and good hosts. The food here is just as good and there is more of it. Finally I'm sampling some drinks in France. I had just water before so its nice for a change! There are also two dogs here which are crazzzyy.. they're love in life is to eat and chase tennis balls. If I don't see one, usually two, in their mouth something is wrong. They're dumb but adorable haha.

Yesterday Quentin took me around downtown for a little bit. Lyon is a very pretty city around two rivers and mountains. So I think I'm going to try to find one more climbing expedition before I leave :)

Edit: Started writing this earlier but not motivated so I'll finish lataa. In the mean time watch some Eddie Izzard!

:) Just about covers it

Man oh man things are looking up. This past weekend was nothing short of amazing I think.

Friday was a day full of trains for me. I went to meet the girl I'm seeing here, in Montpellier down on coast for the day. I wasn't going to be able to because I didn't think I'd have enough time but things always seem to work out for the best. We met at the station and she showed me the city... we spent a good part of the day looking for a park to just relax in but couldn't find one that wasn't 'hyperbondé'. But nevertheless, good times were had and I was sad to say goodbye. I then headed to Marseille for the weekend. So it was... take train from my town to Avignon (40min), wait, take train to Montpellier (2hr)...zippiddy zip day goes by.. then anotherrr train to Marseille (and another 2hrs). Can get expensive, but I'm starting to not buy as many tickets as before and take my chances with the conductors.

SO, got to Marseille and took about 3 hours to find the place I was staying. In fact, its only a 10 minute walk from the station I just decided to choose the wrong direction. Typical fashion for me. I stayed with the same couple I had couchsurfed with a month ago. In France it is not polite if you come to someone's house empty handed so I stopped by a bakery and picked up a baguette and some mille feuille <-- delicious delicious scrumptious cake.

Saturday we headed out early to the Calanques to do some climbing! The hike was a long one from where we parked but it was worth it. It was my first multi-pitch climb... the cliff was probably around 500-600ft, and over 1,000 from the water, which made for beautiful views. So we reviewed a little bit at the bottom for how to set up the anchors and belay someone below you (normally when you belay they are climbing above so its different). As amazing as the climb was I did poop my pants twice... or at least I almost did. Two close calls: The first was a rock slide that happened just to the left of us. Verrrry unnerving because you're hundreds of feet up hanging off the side of a cliff and you hear what sounds like thunder with nowhere to go. The second was when I was climbing and took a fall... but when I fell my leg got tangled in the rope on the way down and when I stopped it flipped me upside down and I almost fell out of my harness :/ At that point I began to get a little nervous because that particular section was very difficult climbing and I didn't want to fall again haha.

But after we reached the top we hiked alllll the way down to the water to this little bay with beach shacks and boats and people laying out. And it was there I witnessed my first nude beach in France! it didn't disappoint, though it was quite awkward at first just because it caught me off guard. We took a dip and the water was like the titanic minus life preservers and not enough boats.. oh and the sinking ship. But it was a nice break from the heat. Speaking of which, I got toasted... and walked through a million prickly bushes just to aggravate it :) The rest of the day was spent climbing a shorter cliff but much much harder, on the other side of the water. However there was a peculiar site, one I haven't seen climbing --v

The hike out was again brutal, especially being a lobster by this point. But ahhh it felt so good to climb again after two months off.

Now I'm back 'home', Sunday. It is mother's day here so some people were over, but I just avoided them and took a nap. I needed one after the train I was on decided to pass my town and go to Avignon... so I had to wait 2 hrs before I could catch yet another train back to my town then walk that oh-so-lovely mile or so to my house :) But hey, I'm leaving Thursday.. and I get to see homegirl again Tuesday so I'm not complaining! So until then, cheers :)

La Feria!

Oh man, j'ai la flemme parfois, et à l'heure actuelle, j'en ai. Mais je suis de bonne humeur encore :)

This weekend was the best I've had by far in France. The festival in Nîmes was just ridiculous and crazy. Basically a weekend of enjoying friends (which I now actually have some here haha), drinks, music and excessive amounts of dancing.

Europeans love to party, and party with everyone. Especially this guy. --v

All in all, in our group, there was me, and English girl, and a bajillion germans. The communication consisted of speaking Frenglemandish. Going back and forth from three languages is interesting, but I loved it. I had met some of them the week before at my friend's going away party, but there were a lot of new faces. Saturday we spent the day eating in the gardens over looking the town, or just walking around until later at night when the real fun starts. I was sad however I didn't get to see a bullfight. None of the girls wanted to pay :( It was even in the old arena from Roman times so it would have been really amazing. I think after seeing the photo of the matador having a bull's horn rammed through his chin and out his mouth had something to do with it.

The sleeping arrangement was.. tight. One bedroom with 6 or 7 of us in there.. got pretty toasty. We were staying at one of the German girl's apartment where she is au pairing. The family wasn't there but all their friends were, and would come and go at all times of the day and night. You wouldn't be surprised to walk into the living room to see five new strangers, dancing to techno, smoking and carrying on. I got a very big hippy vibe from the house. And the all bio kitchen kind of solidified that.

However, the thing I think that made the weekend really special to me was meeting a certain girl the first night. Well, re-meeting I should say, I knew her from the weekend before. One minute we were dancing and the next, bada bing. Romantic european movie moments commenced lol. Ultimately ending of course with the kiss goodbye at the train station. (insert sappy music). So I'm kind of in a pickle with that now, I don't know the next time I can see her because she does not live close to me. Still trying to figure out what to do but we'll see where it goes! Kind of relying on facebook for communicating.

So now I'm back in L'isle sur Sorgue, just chillin. Got word that the climbing expedition is a go for this weekend! Still stoked of course. Expect many a pictures.

Oh, and remember that guy Jean-Luc I was talking about? Here is a video. Can you guess which one he'd be?

Whew it worked! Just testing out a video I snuck on their computer somehow? and for some reason? and good news my charger is on its way so i can post pics n video and all that again.

Gettin excited for this weekend! oh and the fact that Matt has appendicitis haha. i want to show him my scar from when I had it to scare him but the mom won't let me. Oh well.

Bull dookie

I figure about time for an update. I'm also writing this with the taste of window cleaner in my mouth... Matt thought it would be hilarious to spray me in the face while eating lunch haha. Of course that caused me to deliver a beating on him as much as I could legally do.. then spray him relentlessly. I then went to the bathroom to rinse my eyes and he locked me inside. I think he won that one. I know where he sleeps though. Dealing with 14 year old boys is no easy task. I've givin up on the english lessons. But to be honest I could care less at this point. Oh, and the mom is back to being a sneaky you know what. Its two days in a row now she has walked right in front of me on her way to the gym and didnt ask if I wanted to come... knowing full well I paid 100 euros for a membership there. The ONLY thing that has kept me from absolutely exploding on her in a frenglish tirade is the fact that she brings home tasty treats that put me in a sugar coma.

But hey, two more weeks and I'm living with my french friend in Lyon and having a blast again. This past weekend I went to Nîmes again to see off my american friend. Had a chance to meet some german girls who I'm going to meet there this coming weekend for the festival! Its one of those where bulls run through the streets and there are bunch of games going on. There is one that I want to do where a bull chases you through a pool and if you make it to the other side you win money. I say this now, we'll see when the time comes.

Also can't wait til this Mistral ends. 50 mph winds alll day everyday is getting old. Though it did cause me to notice all the trees here. I couldnt help but notice them because its me who has to sweep the leaves up. But still, they are very pretty. Id say perfect but there are no elves baking cookies inside them.

Languedoc

Two to Nil. That was the score of my dictation battle with Matt. I'm just one of many tutors he has. The other day his French tutor came. I was surprised that he was struggling a little bit with his own language. So I challenged him to some dictation and we played best of one lol, until he lost. Then it was best of three. Needless to say I spanked him ;) But I write this because I'm noticing first hand what Ive heard... that the French are losing their language with the youth. I think all the modes of technology is to blame, like text and chat. It tends to be the way they are the most exposed to their language written down. If you see it, it looks like they're typing half the words with invisible ink.

Yesterday I headed down to Martique on the coast to work on the boat with the dad. We sailed it to a dry dock and spent the day scraping, scrubbing and painting. I forgot how gross barnacles are alive... and how sharp. Jean-Luc was there as well! You probably aren't excited like me but he his one of the most hilarious people i've met. i have video but i dont know when i'll be able to upload the next one... freaking chargerrr.

Oh, also got my first french haircut today, and i gotta say, the hairs fell the same way they do in america. It was a little awkward because I thought Valerie was taking me to a salon, but nope... definitely some lady's basement.. a basement with the little toddlers staring at me or trying to eat the hair on the floor haha. And once again, I left somewhere without paying. I felt bad when I remembered and ran back. I'm surprised no one has yelled at me yet?

Internet Café Alongée

Well. I'm now reduced to using internet cafés haha. the mom took the family computer and keeps it at work now. prices are ridiculous.. like 3 dollars for 30 minutes. but I need my email to communicate with everyone here and my family so guess I'm stuck til my charger comes.

Speaking of paying, everything is sooo expensive here! A coke costs almost 3 dollars. Good luck finding a meal under 20. Restrooms cost 50 centiemes to & Euro to use. I'm surprised they dont charge to use sidewalks, or breathe their french air =) So my money is going fast. Just took my last little bit out today.

I also finally figured out my plans. I'm staying here in L'islesurlasorgue until the first week of June, bouncin, then going to live with one of my friends in Lyon, kinda using it as a home base so i can travel around to everywhere i want to see. I'm also beyond stoked about climbing the Calanques in a couple weeks. They're giant seacliffs, some over 1,000ft that end in well... the sea.

well my hour is uppp

Nimes

Hello. Still typing with the french box so bear with me!

This weekend was a relief. I had so much fun with a bunch of new people. Saturday morning I caught the train to Nimes and Abbie the american girl met me there. We just walked around for a bit and she showed me the sites. Nimes is a very beautiful city, lots of canals, trees and art. Got to meet the family she is living with. The mother speaks a little english. The daughter is autistic and the other one, the dude, is mute with a disability I forgot. So communicating was interesting. Later that night abbie's friends from england and germany came over along with some french guy they know, who turned out to be an awesome guy. He's a carpenter and he took us to a really old house he was renovating in town which was interesting to see... well once he explained it all I guess. The fun began after that when we all headed to a party their friend was throwing. It reminded me a lot of the more artsy parties at uncg that I miss... meaning ones where you actually have good conversations, play games etc while enjoying your favorite brew. I love to meet new people and in this case when they find out you are american it makes it that much easier.

An hour or two roles by and everyone decides to head out to the club. definitely not my scene lol. i'm just glad it was free. to be honest i was dreading it, but i think thats because I have the way people dance in america engrained into my head. I was pleasantly surprised to see how girls dance here... with more rhythm, its almost swing style, and better than the dry humpin I usually see. Soo yeah that was fun. Took more pictures than anyone should. One weird thing was I never saw a line for the bathroom and this is why: When one drinks something, usually you need to take a leak afterward, and tonite was no exception. I ask the french guy if a certain door was the toilet and he just shakes his head a motions for me to follow him. We go to an alleyway just behind the place and instead help continue the life of a poor plant with our generosity. When I look down the street its full of other guys doing the same. It kinda startled me for a second when the lights on the car next to me blinked. I dont think the guy was too happy with me either because he put it in reverse and tried to squish me against the plant in its giant boxlike planter. Was time to split. But, thats apparently how nightlife goes in France, and I wondered why the streets here smell so bad....

Just one thing interesting I noticed while there is that I FINALLY know what international students feel like when they have to talk to each other in english. It felt so awkward everyone speaking french in the group when i knew it wasnt their language but you had to to communicate. Its kinda cool at the same time because as the night wore on you began to speak and understand so well that you honestly wouldnt be able to differentiate hearing english or french.

So today, Sunday, I left Nimes to meet Sam for the day in Avignon. It was really nice catching up. We went to the castle where the frenchie closed the door in our faces last time and it was definitely worth it. Although, on the bus on the way there, we were wondering if it actually was... because a homeless couple smelled soo bad one girl went around and opened every single window. I mean it was... bluhhh I honeslty believe a cockroach, or something else hard to eradicate, could meet its end with that stench. But we perservered. We're survivors. We didnt pay either which I thinkk came back to bite us later because we were waiting for the same bus on the way back but the dude drove right by us and the stop. Touché. So that led to a wonderful hour long unnecessary walk back to the train station! arrived just five minutes before my train left.

So more happened this weekend but honestly im not motivated enough right now haha soo ill see if i cant get another video done loaded up on here. I've had one eye closed and the other half open while writing this so i think bed is calling my name. Though here it says it like Daveed :P

pièce de résistance? nay... pièce de crap

Well, glad to see things can get even more complicated. Im writing this from a french computer which looks like something youd find on an archealogical dig with tons of strange symbols. It also feels like im doing a math equation just to type any punctuation; notice the lack of it. you have to press so many buttons!

so yea my computer died. i think it ended up choosing computer hell considering the fiery blaze it went out in. the power chord is actually melted in two now haha. im not sure what to do. i might have to bite the bullet and get an ipad or something. horrible timing! its my only means of communication and i have a lot going down right now to take care of. but hey, ooooh i found the coma key! , at least im not getting electrocuted daily anymore by that piece o crap!! its a nice feeling. or lack of feeling i should say.

tommorow im stayin the night in nimes to hang out with another american here and her friends. then off to avignon sunday to see my fraternity brother sam coming down from lyon to hang out! hopefully ill get everything figured out buttt its another french holiday tomorrow which means nothing will be open. yay.

:)

Glass House

Who knew that drama would even follow me to France? If you know me, you know that I try to avoid confrontation, but if its inevitable, oh man... i'm opening a can of something nasty on you. and make you it eat. edible whoop-ass i'll call it (verbal edition). patent pending. and that made no sense but I'm tired and have no idea what I'm writing so go with it. Annywhoo.. got a lot resolved today. The agent called while I was preparing dinner with Valerie. umm AWKWARD. <-- actually the word awkward is kind of awkward as well i think. As is any word if you say it repeatedly... yes.. you know what I'm talking about. try it! after saying the word like 20 times you'll be thinking to yourself "what does it even mean?".

So Val hands me the phone and Madame Malow asks how things are going and told me she found me a new family, and if I want to stay with the Gledhill's or change. Talk about being on the spot! The new one would be an older couple in an even smaller town so it didn't sound too appetizing. "I've got to think about it and I'll call you tomorrow," I told her. So I go back into the kitchen and Val asked what she wanted (she really knew). I can be blunt so I just said it... I might be changing families. We then got into a lonnnng conversation about what I want to do, how we've been interacting, etc etc. I could tell she was getting a little emotional at one point so I just calmed her down. The conversation basically ended with I'm probably going to stay, but I'll let you know tomorrow... but I might not stay as long as we had agreed on. I might just leave at the beginning of June and nomad it around europe. Put my rail pass to good use.

So hopefully this will be the last post regarding this crap. Sick of writing about it :) But besides this nothing too much to write about today. Though we had an interesting argument at dinner about different races and the problem of immigration in France. I loved it because if you know me you know I absolutely detest political correctness. hate it. and the french are not, so I spoke quite freely. its quite funny to see how quickly the French build up their anger during little disputes. oh well... i'm gonna go bug the cat a little bit and call it a night! (you know its time when you start to hear birds chirping outside)

Oh, and because I like to leave you visually stimulated.. I guess I should leave a video or something. Its not related and probably not too interesting but ... je m'en fou ;) *edit* screw that actually, i'll just put a picture up i think captures the mood of today :P

Vive la liberté! Yeah, well not here.

Well today was one for the books for sure. Ugh where to begin... probably with me waking up, yeah. So I did. I woke up. Which is always a good way to start your day, I feel.


I hop in the shower and try to shake off my headache from all the pounding on the wall next to my head all morning long (they're renovating the bathroom). I manage to shake it off and it goes down the drain. Headache free, and I'm fresh. I had to hurry though because I needed to meet the agent for my stay here (Malow) at one o'clock in Orange, France. It is not too far away but it's still no small undertaking. I have to walk 30 minutes to the station, take a train to Avignon, then another different train to Orange. And of course it would be raining. The reason I was going is because the mother here called Malow while I was in Marseille complaining about me. So the agent lady called me and told me to meet her.

She picks me up and we go to a cafe. She does not look happy. We get to talking and I tell her my side of things and we come to the conclusion that I need to be with a new family. Woo! I didn't even realize that was an option. But after the things the mom complained about, which was such crap and infuriated me, I do not want to stay here with her. So Malow is looking for a replacement family and will get back to me. Needless to say the next week or two will be quite awkward around the house.

After our talk she showed me around Orange and the roman ruins there, as well as their version of the arc de triomphe. Quite nice.

It came time to go home. I purchased my ticket and hopped on the next train back to Avignon. At least I thought I did. I sat down and struck up a conversation with a guy in my compartment (like the trains from harry potter lol, but unfortunately no one saying "Annnything from the trolley?" ). It was amazing because it lasted at least 20 mins and was the first time I had no problems at all speaking! Amazing feeling. There is definitely a steep curve with language, a good one in this case. so yea we were talking and the train stopped. which would have been okay if I was on the right train. I realize this, say au revoir, and bolt off the train just as it was leaving.

I'm now at a tiny station in the middle of nowhere with one other person. I ask him when the next train is coming, and he told me not for a couple hours! whhhat?? poopsticks. He notices my accent and asks where I'm from. Charlotte I tell him. Turns out he lives in Atlanta working with a mining company there. It confused me when he said he was visiting France for a week haha, but it then made sense. He was waiting for a while too so we had good conversations about the two countries, cities here, cities there, girls here vs girls there, etc. Swapped facebooks because he actually has most of his family in my town here, so we might hang out later. I believe everything happens for a reason, my incompetence with train tickets would classify. So met a genuinely cool person when i thought things were going badly. But anywhoo, eventually got back to the house. Everyone seemed unusually happy and I haven't figured it out yet. I don't think the agent called because they didn't bring it up, so I walked around all night in an unsure awkwardness. and then watched the marseille vs. someone else soccer game while downing some tasty mentos. yum.

cool. well thats all. sorry for the rant!

Bussss

So, just got back from Marseille, and off the phone with the agent for my stay here. Seems as though the mom didn't know I was staying there overnight, even though we had talked about this a little while ago. I guess its kind of how she forgot Glenn was coming at all this weekend. Now I'm once again in a pissy mood because of this woman. She called the agent to complain about me saying she wasn't happy with me. Her reasons: I get up late. Which can be true, I do sometimes get up around 11. But lets think about this... why on earth would I need to be up before then? I would just sit around. Not to mention no one is home. I don't teach til the evenings. Second. My room is messy. Imagine moving into someone else's room that has their old stuff in it, then adding yours. The room is most of the time clean, there was a period of like 3-4 days last week when I'll admit it got a little messy. Her third thing was I don't do enough to help out around the house. COME AGAIN...???? Who is the person who does the dishes, every, freakin, day, offers to help prepare each meal, and then cleans and washes the table. Some days I'll randomly vacuum the house as well. Yeah, I guess I never help out.... I just can't believe the nerve she has complaining (to essentially my boss) about these things. So I'm going to meet the agent lady in Orange tomorrow afternoon to talk things over. Best case scenario, new family away from the crazy lady! But I don't see that happening. It'll probably go like, oh well work on your communication, you need to this and that. I'm pregaming with wordreference.com studying all the vocabulary I'm going to be using tomorrow in this altercation haha. Maybe even tonight?

Well enough venting. Marseille was amazing! Too bad it rained most of the time. (I'll just cliff-note this one because I'm tired). We saw all the old areas, took a boat out and toured the coastline. Very beautiful. Spent the rest of the day walking around getting lost, eventually ending up at our Couch Surfers house! They said their name was on the buzzer but.. nope. So we just hit all of them and they ended up being the only ones home, so we lucked out! Annemarie and Pierre were their names and they were a very nice young couple. We were their first couchsurfers and I hope we left a good impression. They had just gotten back from biking to India for a year, and came back through Africa. Turns out they love to rock climb and are going to take me sometime soon, as is the plan! It will most likely be a multi-pitch climb, i.e. around here 500ft+ :) Perfect!

So me and Glenn headed to the train station this morning and were waiting on our connecting buses or trains when one of the station employees started asking us to move back, move back. He was clearing everyone out of our area. I said whats going on? So he goes, "You speak french? Il y a un colis" Basically, move there is a bomb. Soo that kinda freaked us out a little bit. Glenn decided it was a good time to leave and take the earlier bus. And here is that moment.




I say bus like a German. Also Glenn I realized your last words were "I don't want to die." And I agree, that would not have been good.

Hurry up and Wait

So received some bad news a couple nights ago, my grandfather passed away :( The family is headed down there today. I'm sad I can't be there.... Wish I had known the last time I visited was the last time I was going to see him. So got that on my mind.

But on a happier note Glenn is here! He got in last night. I ended up having to take a train to Avignon because the buses weren't running. It turns out the day we decided on happened to be a no-work holiday in France. The only one of the year. I guess the two hour lunch breaks everyday were wearing on them.... So after waiting a few hours on this hoodini bus I bought a two-way ticket to Avignon. I thought I was going to have to wait another hour or so for Glenn's train to arrive but when I stepped off there he was... turns out we had been on the same train lol. We didn't know it went through my town. Which got me thinking, how many times in our lives have been really close (physically) to someone we knew, but we'll never know that they were there as well.

So today we got up and went into town and walked around the market for a few hours. Had some deliciousness that is the ice cream here. Eventually we made our way to Avignon to see the sites. Now I hadn't been to Les Angles yet, which is right across the river, so we decided to check it out because we saw a huge castle. Well a few unnecessary miles of a detour later we found the area we were looking for. But as soon as we try to walk in, the douche of a gate guard closed the door in our faces. There were people like 10 feet in front of us he let in but when it came to us he said it was too late for visiting. ummm?? so we were pissed and tried to sneak in the exit. Our tactical insertion was a success. That is until we made our way up the tower and were turned around by a guard following the last people through. The thought had occurred to us we could have chilled in the pitch black munitions room and just been locked in the castle for the night and had fun.

Dejected we left and tried to find a bus back because it was getting late and we didn't want to miss the last train back to L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Well it turns out there was only one bus left that day.. period. And we were pretty nervous either it wasn't coming, because you never ever know in France, or we had missed it, because between the two of us neither had brought a watch. This explains my happiness in the video of saving us a couple hours of walking back.







So tomorrow we're off to Marseille till tuesday. It'll be my first time couch surfing so I'm excited about that!

Note to OCD women.

Okay, pissed off just enough to write a little side note for today. This mom is KILLING me. I helped set the table for dinner tonight, and she told me to clean it afterwards. We all started to, then the dad and son left and I did it by myself. But i left some food on the table because I didn't know where to put it. She comes into the living room just now like, DAVEEEED, come here! So I come and she goes into how there is still stuff on the table and onto a rant about how I need to help out more, and how I never do the dishes, clean, etc... ARE YOU SERIOUS???? So I said "ummm what? most of the time it is ME who did the dishes, and I clean the table every night after dinner! (and take out the trash)" Man I was pissed but held it in, I mean she is completely mental. In a normal day I do the dishes, and at least help prepare the food and keep the kitchen clean by wiping down everything.. always asking if I can help her with something. Never a thank you. In fact she expects it, and I want to remind her its not in my contract. I paid thousands to be here to teach, not to be a freakin maid. And if she keeps it up much longer I'm gunna make that verrrry clear.

Gordes

The last few days have been a good change of pace for me. Wednesday I got a call from the agent here in France telling me an American girl was coming into Avignon and wanted to meet up. So we did, took her around and ended up sitting by the river most of the day. It was pretty relaxing. She's from Wisconsin and is living with a family in Nîmes nearby, so we had a good time making fun of each other's accent.

Thursday I chilled here at the house, taught Matt and his friend. My computer shocks me every time I use it now and I had it placed on a metal table outside during the English lesson, so we kept swapping dares to touch it the longest. It was quite painful. After the mom made me clean something so him and his friend were making fun of me. A spray and rag fight ensued and somehow ended up with a little karate or kickboxing of some sort haha. Even the mother joined in and she can throw a mean punch, not to mention swift kick in the rear. Later though I received some bad news that my grandfather is doing really bad and probably won't make it much longer :/

Today I got up early and went to the bakery with the parents here and got to see how everything works. Video below, pictures on fb. Found out another weird custom, and that is if you can't shake hands.. you shake the wrist. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck he was trying to do, but he had to keep his hands clean apparently. So, I took a walk around the town (Gordes) and it was pretty stunning. My camera died so I'll have to go back. Its an old roman town with lots of houses built into the cliff side and underground on top of a huge mountain. I managed just one photo. Also when i was walking around I noticed the rocks I was stepping on were crumbling, then to realize I was actually ending the life of a lot of snails.... big ones. I kinda felt bad. So the next one I came across I relocated to a plant it could devour haha as if that made up for the dead ones.

So yea, now I'm home, kinda zombie-like and going to go teach some english. Ciao!

C'est bizarre, non?

Sooo been kinda lax on the posts recently. Just not a whole lot going on in the week. I can't really start traveling until May :) but here we go. Today was pretty chill I must say. Got up and drank a lot of coffee, went for a run, had some lunch yada yada. When Valerie came home she asked me if I wanted to come to dinner with her and Bob up in the mountains with their friends. Sounded good to me. The drive up was stunning and I wish I had brought my camera. When we get to the house I’m warmly greeted by everyone and of course the fact that I am American catches their attention. One lady immediately started speaking English because she studied it at Oxford for three years. So we put on some reggae and just chill music in general and headed outside. The backyard dropped off and overlooked a small village and the mountains. Pretty beautiful. Everyone was extremely funny around the dinner table. Typical dirty French humor abounded. I was the victim of some jokes but my French didn’t stop me from responding in kind which they thought was amazing haha. The older man with the beard told me he has a boat down in Marseille and I’m welcome to come down anytime I want. He then told me we have to sleep together lol, picking on me of course. So I just said back… I’m gunna warn you I like to cuddle.. This kind of went back and forth throughout the night with various topics. Unfortunately the topic of politics came up later and I tried my best to explain America’s economics in French, bluhhh. Oh, it was kind of ironic at one point… they asked me which countries I have traveled to and I started out by saying Jamaica and that they smoke a lot of a certain plant there, and just as I say this they’re like, us too! And start passing some around. Won’t lie.. kindddda caught me off guard just a little bit. It then made sense when she had asked if I wanted something from her garden…. I kindly refused. The night then felt a little weird because actually just before that a slew of their neighbors had come running through the house and outside dressed in drag or as Disney characters.
The food was of course delicious, when do I stay it is not? I had a drink only made in Marseille, which tasted pretty amazing, wish I could remember the name. Very strong though, a very high proof, but it still went down soo smooth. So yea, that was today. Valerie told me we should go shopping together tomorrow in Avignon so I’m going to try and find some ultra-european clothes, maybe even those tiny bathing suits for Marseille next weekend… and I will most definitely take pictures of that!

Oh, and I’ll edit into the post the pictures of this night when I get them from Robert (the friend of the family) which should be soon, so you can put faces to everthing!

The Milgram Experiment

So I'm just writing this in case my computer finally goes to computer heaven. Or maybe computer hell because I'm of the opinion it is trying to kill me. Every time I plug it in the whole thing starts to electrically charge... to the point where it hurts to type because my fingers tingle. If i touch a metal part (like 90% of the casing) i can't distinctly feel the electricity. Or if I touch any buttons or screws it feels like that game where you hold the sticks and then it goes lalalalduhnahlalala----zzzzzzappppp! I tried fixing the power plug with metal pliers today which probably wasn't the best of ideas. So pretty much I might have to be looking into a replacement sometime soon before I get fried for good.

Kiss, Kiss, Quoi???

Another day in the books. I woke up this morning to my already crappy computer even crappier. The crappiest of crappies. Because, well when I got back from the disco last nite it was around 3am (there is no last call in France btw), I whipped out the ole mac for a little something to put me to sleep, and that was the Antiques Roadshow haha. Somewhere between a really old valuable object... and this other really really old more valuable-er-est object I dozed off, to awaken and find my computer had fallen to the floor... the floor of doom. The little charger plug I found had been bent like crazy and wouldn't fit back into the computer. So great... and let me first explain to you how awesome this laptop I have is. Prepare.. to be jealous. If I don't have the screen at just the right angle it cuts to black until I shut it, thus putting the computer to sleep. If its not plugged in period the battery lasts all of 3 minutes if I'm lucky. Every now and then the speakers short out into a loud static sound (like you hear between stations on the radio) that won't stop and you have to yell over. (Also on that note, when I was real young I used to think that that static sound on the radio came from a dog chewing on a diaper on the other side of the radio... yeaa...). Oh, and when I'm online, if I want to go to a new website I have to force quit the program :) Amazing. But yea... so luckily I straightened it out enough to use.. or else I'd be screwed.

So I went on another way too long run today and when I came back the mom asked me with the look of (Quoi???) as to why I was shirtless. Because I was running I said. She then told me it is "interdit" or "forbidden" to do that in France. I find this quite odd because all I see around here are billboards with totally nude women. Thats sexism haha. I can't even have my shirt off? I'll just be sneaky because I refuse to hardcore farmer's tan it.. and honestly.. I run through the countryside with nothing but dogs chasing me. Maybe they know the rule too and THATs why they are chasing me... barking "C'est interdit !!!!" in barktalk.

And the title for today's little entry is referring to the expression that is probably on my face when I see two guys doing the kiss cheek thing as a hello. Apparently that is only a southern thing here.

Also, I put up some pictures on Facebook. Check it out. There aren't many yet cuz I've been taking mostly video.

I woood laaack to buy a ammburgaarrr...

Not too much to talk about today. This week has been kinda chill. (P.s the French can't say Hamburger enough. The line from the Pink Panther. I'll post a vid soon with that.) So anyway, I'm becoming domesticated haha. Today I did the dishes, prepared the food for dinner, did everyone's laundry and cleaned the terrace. I'm going to buy my maid's uniform tomorrow. Nahh I really don't mind that much, I just think I could pull the outfit off, what do ya think? Really the only other thing I did was a 4 mile run this morning through the countryside, which I'm trying to do everyday now. Exercise is so much easier to do with this view. I'll try and get some pictures up soon. Oh, and tomorrow I'm going to get a taste of my first European Disco haha. This should be interesting. But in the meantime enjoy meeting the guy I'm here for.. Matt!

Nicities

You reach a point eventually when living with someone new where you start to notice little quirks about them. I think I'm getting to that point. When sitting around in the living room I'd hear random sounds like muffled popping and a sound like a fish thrashing to and fro trying to get some of the food that I'm dangling just above the water. It finally dawned on me its a family trait where (I think) they're biting their fingernails and doing some funky tongue action. Gets kind of annoying but I love em anyway. I've also noticed the mom is a wee bit OCD about her house being clean. I washed the dishes today while she was gone, but when she got back she called me inside to show me the dirty counter top, without a thank you for the dishes. Not to mention it was her son who left it like that, and honestly I didn't even know that was considered dirty, but whatever.

Bub's (the dad) mom came by today, got to do the cheek thing again, never gets old. She was extremely sweet and actually spoke some English. We started to make fun of how everyone in the south speaks (very fast and say every-freaking-syllable.. not how they teach in the classroom for sure).

Later... oohhh later.. the food :) once again so good. Baguette, then chinese, some stuffed pastries, seasoned fish with some thick ass bacon and come canna patta for dessert. The fish... was probably some of the best I've had so I asked what it was... anndd you just gotta see a picture of it haha -->--v




Not too much else. Glad to hear my boy Glenn is coming to visit in a few weeks! Yea you Glenn, I know you're reading this. He's one of those headless figures under "Followers" to the left of this post. Everyone say "Hi Glenn!"

En haut!

Pants on the ground! Pants on the ground! Well no longer... I finally bought a belt today at H&M. Woo! good times. Lance drove me into Avignon for the day so we could go to spin class later at night. I found my favorite spot in the Pope's gardens overlooking the river, town and mountains and just chilled out for a while. I also finally ventured into the the Pope's Palace as well and holy crap is that thing big. Not to mention the rooms. I guess it figures seeing the size of those Popes... they probably needed room to roll around when they fell out of their chairs, etc. So anyway, after the palace and eating too many pastries in the square I headed to Lance's bike shop... anddd in my typical fashion, it took me 2 hours to find. I had to go through Baghdad to find it. (The locals refer to a lot of places here as Baghdad because of all the Arab immigrants... and there are tons for sure). It actually does kinda look like Baghdad around his shop, and I feel bad for him because they broke into his store and stole two bikes last weekend. But they say its not really a racist thing, its more of the immigrants come and just cause trouble, mostly with drugs and stealing and all that.
So we get to the gym and he immediately starts introducing me to all the women there, which I guess I didn't mind. But holy poopers, if you have never done a spin class, you gotta do it, that snuff is insane. I mean I don't know about the ones in the US, but here they are obsessed with biking. I would've passed out if I wasn't by the window (no A/C and 40 people in a small room). Oh and I've come to the conclusion I love french gyms, just because they have some of the quirkiest things or ways doing stuff. I mean they had a hula dancing class right next to ours with grass skirts and all = amazing. I mean... in France? Hula dancing? And its not like belly dancing in the states where the girls take a step or something and their belly jiggles, i mean these ladies were legit. The changing rooms were interesting as well because the door opens up for a full view of the gym, and its stuffed with smelly naked french men and myself lol.
So now I'm home, beyond tired, and full of more delicious desserts from Valerie's shop and coffee that could wake the dead.

And as a side note, while sitting and taking in the people around me I inevitably heard babies crying. I just find it ironic that babies have the least worries in the world... but cry more than any of us.

It's official. I'm going to be fat when I return. The food they keep feeding me is beyond ridiculous. Tonight I had a gourmet salad, then pastry stuffed with sausage, a fresh baguette, fries, chicken patties, and finished it off with this eclaire-like thing stuffed with some cream and caramelized sugar on top. Usually I'm not one for sweets but that thing was sick. But that doesn't even touch a normal night's meal here. Good thing I've started running again. I've agreed to go to spin class with 'Lance' tomorrow. Should be fun. I've never been to one but I have been assured that beaucoup des filles seraient là. Time to turn on some charm while out of breath and sweating profusely.

Today was pretty relaxing. Got up and helped Valerie with a little TLC. She is demolishing the bathroom and we took out all the tiles from the walls. Its all part of a huge makeover for the house. Besides that I just took in some sun in the garden while tutoring Matt and the dad a little, as well as just reviewing a crapload of french for myself. As for right now, we are hanging out in typical fashion... that being sitting around the TV and watching shows where amazingly beautiful women are with amazingly not beautiful men, yet they are still cheated on. The french love stories involving cheating and I haven't figured it out. Speaking of French-ness on the screen... I saw a trailer for a new movie in the US coming out called Dinner for Schmucks. All it is, is what looks like a poor remake of the french classic Le Diner de Cons. Oh well. C'est tout.

I woke up to the sounds of l'aspirateur and les volets smacking against the side of the house outside my window. After managing to get out of that ridiculously comfortable bed I spent a good few hours sitting in the beautiful weather in the garden, reading and enjoying a nice cigar. Though, probably the last cigar for a while. They are amazed by the size of our cigars. The French mostly smoke cigarellos, neither which you inhale, but taste oh so delicious. The dad 'Bub' asked for me and Matt to come to town so he could buy us some ice-cream. There was no way I was going to refuse that. I ended up having to ride Valerie's bike... a very sexy shade of pink that I thought went well with my outfit, and was sure to command me the respect of everyone in the village. I'm going to throw it out there that was the first time i've been on a bike in a good 10 years. It was interesting for sure, especially crossing traffic... but then again they couldn't miss me with that color. Bub's friend was there and we got to talking about various things but rock climbing came up. Turns out he has an extra harness and knows some places around here to go. He also helped me hit on the waitress which was easier than I thought. He gave me some advice saying the girls here like it when we speak english to them instead of french... the exact opposite of what I had heard before coming. So perfect!

Valerie came home around five o'clock and we left shortly thereafter to go running in the countryside. I underestimated how beautiful southern France is. We started on a trail near cherry farms and the base of a huge mountain range, following a canal/spring. We stopped on top of a huge dam in front of Fontaine de Vaucluse. Aside from the amazing scenery there was a group of guys who wanted me and 'the pretty lady' to *reposer with them, i.e. share some heinekens. All in all in was about a 7km run... pretty stout considering I haven't run in like a month, especially cross-country. Soon after we returned home, I taught Matt speaking Franglish for an hour or so, then had some gooood chicken and pastries from Valerie's shop. Not too much else going on, except for watching with everyone this quintessential french show with nudity and laughter... family programming for all haha.

Soo, concluding an interesting day for sure. After this morning's let down I figured a good remedy would be some chocolate. I walked into town again to find this Chocolatier place. I ended up buying a big egg. I'm gunna go with because it was just Easter... yeah. My pants are starting to hang gangsta because I think I left my belt... on the airplane? I'm not sure but I'm gonna go with that. But no luck finding a replacement. As I was walking home I finallllly saw some girls my age. Too bad they were in a ravenous pack and totally unapproachable. Yeah, excuses. So when I got home the parents were actually there, at the same time, which is very rare. The mom asked if i wanted to go with them to Gordes (a small town nearby), and the next thing I know I'm at the mayor's house with champagne listening about Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and classical dance. Who knew. Oh, and may I just say the old ladies here are adorable, and I get to do the kissing cheek all the time now... keepin it old school. After helping the mom walk through the cobblestone streets in heels, we headed back to L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue. No sooner were we on our way to Avignon for a delicious meal at an Irish pub. The mom (Valerie), wanted me to eat some red meat since the family doesn't eat it and she knew that I liked it (how sweet). I had a nice 50cl Guiness to wash my meal down. Oh, our waiiter was a prick so we didn't tip. I love it. He waited in NYC, so maybe that had something to do with it. After our meal we headed to Marine's bar. The place was PACKED. Far different from the sleepy little café in the morning where I had my coffee a few days ago. All the guys were ridiculously European and could dance too well for their own good. We hung out for a while and split... a good sign though is that I can now understand french in a club setting... mile-marker passed! haha.

Figured I'd try a blog

Well, I’m starting this a few days after I have arrived here in France.

The plane ride went smoothly. The plane was brand new and we were the first crew to ride it. Don’t know if that was a good thing or not haha, being guinea pigs and all. I sat next to a very nice woman traveling with her daughter’s basketball team. The flight was 8 hours long and went by quickly, thanks to the many free movies I watched. However, the landing was kind of sketchy as the runway was wet and the plane swerved back and forth to give us a pretty good scare haha. Once leaving the plane it took me a while to find the shuttle for the train station. Charles de Gaule is very big and confusing. Though it looks like you are in a huge human aquarium at one point. I finally got to the train station and walked around lost for a good 15 minutes just trying to find somewhere to eat. Had a nice ham and cheese sandwich and was introduced to how small the French coffees are here. Like shots! They apparently don’t have heaters there either because I could see my breath the whole 5 hours I waited on my train. Finally it came and while waiting on the platform I met a nice Cambodian man. We both thought each other were French at first until we realized we spoke English. I ended up sitting next to him on the train and he bought me a coffee. He has worked all over the world and has family all over as well. He was going to Valence and hasn’t been in France for 20 years. The train broke down for 30 minutes on the tracks, maybe a strike who knows lol. So I was a little late, but I met Jilly and Marine at the station. Jilly is Marine’s boyfriend who I didn’t know existed. But he was real nice and speaks English quite well. I arrived at the house and was greeted by the mom and son and a nice easter tarte. I ate a lot of it to be polite and because it tasted so good! They let me get settled in and I went to bed a little later and slept for a good 15 hours. It felt amazing. The next day I got up and had some breakfast and coffee (they American sized it for me). I have bad memory so I’m just going to say I hung out the rest of the day at the house.
Yesterday (Tuesday) I got up early, and went with ‘Lance’ – a roommate here who owns a bike shop and is obsessed with Lance Armstrong - and Matt (the son) to Matt’s soccer match, well we dropped him off. Lance drove me to Avignon where I enjoyed the rest of the day. I started off by having some coffee with him at Marine’s bar, then went on my way. I made my way to The Palais de Papes and hiked up to the gardens and enjoyed the stunning view for quite a while. I then walked down every conceivable street in the town.. people watched and ate some French pizza-ish things. I would eventually walk around the city twice, including the gardens. I didn’t bring my camera but will next time. I went to the bus station and waited about an hour for the bus to come… during which I was offered drugs twice haha. So I moved. Bus driver was a little rude to me but I don’t care. I got off in downtown L’isle sur la sorgue because the bus does not run near my house. I didn’t know the address, go figure! So I spent a good hour or so walking around trying to find somewhere with a map… eventually after talking with a couple nice old ladies I found l’office de tourisme. The lady working highlighted how to get to the street I was lookingw for, because I at least remembered the name of that (Chemin de la musculade)! When I got home no one was here really, or at least I wasn’t sure if they were sleeping. The parents have odd hours that are never the same because they own bakeries. Sometimes the dad will go at 3am… 5am etc. So I went to take a nap and closed my door around 5pm. I didn’t wake up till.. 9pm but when I went to open the door I couldn’t. I didn’t think to go out the window, but if you know me this wouldn’t surprise you. So I went back to bed and didn’t get up til 8 this morning… so another 15hr sleep haha. But this time I went out through the window and came back in the kitchen. A neighbor was visiting and he tightened my door handle for me so my door works now! Valerie told me that Marine and Jilly had come over for dinner last night and they just thought I was tired and didn’t want to knock on the door haha. Oh well. But so far today I went to the store with Valerie to get a whiteboard so it will be easy to teach English.

Some thoughts: The French culture is very interesting. I don’t see a lot of smiling going on. I smile at everyone I walk by and no one smiles back except old people. I am told this is because they think it weird unless you have a reason to be smiling at them. Also don’t pat them on the back. And the cheek kisses are apparently touching cheeks and kissing air. It was nice to have my first real one of those. The French really don’t like working. I asked the dad if he enjoyed work and he said no. I thought that since he was really good at it he would.. but he said he just wants to be out on a boat.

Thursday, April 8th

Woke up this morning and stayed in bed til 11ish. Lazy morning. Didn’t hear anyone moving about in the house. Got up and went to go take a shower to see my towel missing.. so once again no shower haha. Keeping it French. So now that I knew I could leave the house and not lock the door or anything I decided to walk into town today. The walk is more like a trek. At least a mile into town but I need the exercise, which is one thing I’m starting to miss. Today is cloudy so it’s still pretty chilly here. I walked around the town, and around it again. Then one more time. I still haven’t figured out the timing for the French stores. Most stores open late in the morning, then close for an hour or two during lunch. So I really didn’t get to go to many places, not that there is a whole lot of shopping here to begin with… it’s mostly antique shops and shoe places. I poked my head inside a pizzeria and had a decent size four cheese pizza. The cheeses here are quite interesting. There is one in particular that if you could capture the smell of a frenchy’s armpit and harness it into a small ball, and transfer it into taste, that is what it consists of. So I started to eat around those little areas. I’m starting to notice that there aren’t a whole lot of young people in this town. If there are they just stay inside, which I can’t blame them unless they’re really into antiques. However, it would be nice to meet someone my age to hang out with. Seeing stuff is all well and good but I believe experiences are best shared, plus it will start to get lonely after a while after the novelty has worn off. Though tomorrow I’m going out for some drinks with Marine and her friends apparently. As for today… I’ll probably just chill here and watch some movies online, maybe have one of those cigars I brought. **Side note: it is now a running joke about how slow I eat, which surprises me because I thought I ate fast… ohh the French. They count the plates one by one until they get to me, and then laugh. I feel special. As in the kind they have schools for. ALSO. Good news because they told me that Matt’s French tutor is a very pretty 23 year old. Chaaa ching. We’ll see tomorrow**




Friday, April 9

Okay… well. I woke up this morning and went to take a shower. When I got out I heard a feminine voice and said to myself this was the tutor they were telling me about. I sincerely hope not haha. I don’t know if they were playing a trick on me but this tutor (and she is a tutor of some sort) is a woman well in her years… and weight. Ohh man. I’ll give it the rest of the day but I’m pretty sure I’ve been had. Touché Gledhill’s… Touché….

So it’s official. Mrs. Doubtfire was the supposed girl of my dreams haha. Oh well, well played Frenchies… well played! I have to figure out a way to get them back. Maybe tonight when we go to Avignon for drinks, WHICH by the way Lance Armstrong here told me cost 6 euros. I hope for thirsty good time’s sake that he is mistaken. That’d be like $10 a drink. Pas bon.