Week 1

Week 1 is over, and I cannot believe it has just been a week…it feels like we have been here for a month! We had a ton of things to do this week like buying phones, setting up bank accounts, getting tours of Aix and of the university (la Fac), and going to an intensive course for four hours every day (soo long!). Aix is absolutely beautiful and I already love it here! La Fac is not the best looking building, but it suffices. Apparently people who went to school there 20 years ago say it still looks the same. There is graffiti everywhere which really helps as a benchmark of where you are, because everywhere you go it looks the same and it is very easy to get lost. I have seen tags that say Eliot and ER everywhere (my brother’s initials and name with the same spelling) and it looks just like his writing, it is so weird!

 

La Rotonde

The weather in Aix has been wonderful, getting up to the 50s and always sunny. The past few days have been colder, and today is the first non-sunny and rainy day. Aix is called the city of a thousand fountains, so as you could imagine, there are many fountains. La Rotonde is the large fountain in sort of the “downtown” area, and one of the streets coming off of the circle is Cours Mirabeau, which is the main street. When we first arrived, people were decorating the trees along the Cours Mirabeau as an art exhibit for the cultural events this year. Marseille is the European cultural capital in 2013, and Aix, along with Arles, are grouped with Marseille. This weekend was the opening weekend of the events, and in Aix, there are various art exhibits (like the trees) and other events going on. Yesterday, a few planes flew over while letting out streaks of red white and blue behind them to leave the colors of the French flag in the sky.

Cours Mirabeau

La Rotonde

 

Some things I have found so far to miss about the US are public restrooms, free water, and drying machines for laundry. I also miss bagels, but the food here is delicious. Typically for breakfast we have tea, coffee, or juice, and options of pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), small bread that has a buttery taste, fruit, and yogurt. For lunch we get something at a café or food stand, typically sandwiches or pizza. The other day I ate a tasty omelet and fries sandwich. The boulangeries and patisseries are very beautiful and tempting. Whenever you walk past one, you can smell the breads and pastries and it smells so good! One of the best things I’ve had so far is a beignet I got at a food stand on La Rotonde. It was filled with chocolate and was delicious! There is also a coffee/chocolate café where the petit chocolat (basically warm pure chocolate) is very good! For dinner, we eat some type of salad (so far we have had lettuce, tomato, and beet salads), then the main dish (some things we have had are omelets, cordon bleu, turkey, mashed potatoes and chicken), then cheese or yogurt, followed by dessert (flan, brownies, packaged chocolate mousse). Our host grandma or the cook who comes 3 days a week always offer more food, even when we have told them many times that we are full!

 

petit chocolat

Today Claudia and I saw a movie about Renoir at the Renoir theater on Cours Mirabeau. It was very good, and also interesting to see what a French cinema was like. The main difference was that there were only 3 theaters and you had to enter through the door that your movie would be in, so the lines for the other movies starting later were outside and not in the way of people seeing the first movie. It has been a great first week, and I have loved meeting everyone in the program. My host grandma and her daughter are very nice and I enjoy talking and listening to them. It is les soldes (sales) right now, so this week I will be shopping and finishing the intensive course, as well as planning my courses for the semester! And next weekend, we go to Marseille!

ET, our host cat

Me, Victoria, and Claudia enjoying our cafés and petit chocolats