Ummm...Hi again?

Wow, I am officially the worst.  For the first month I was here I was totally on top of this whole blog thing and now it has officially been more than a month since the last time I wrote.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  I have attempted to write several times, but after all the craziness and excitement of getting here and traveling, my settled life didn't seem very noteworthy.  My mother apparently thinks that anything happening in France, no matter how mundane is more exciting than daily life in the states simply by virtue of occurring in an exotic place.  This is probably true, but sometimes it's hard to see that when I'm just sitting in the sun drinking coffee.

I do feel very settled here now, and my life isn't exactly boring, but I just have a hard time considering it newsworthy.

So, here's a rundown of the past month in Aix.

Mont Sainte-Victoire
 A few days after my return from the emerald isle, I wet hiking in the foothills of Mont Sainte-Victoire, our resident mountain.  It was a beautiful sunny day and a very light-paced hike.  I enjoyed some nice conversation and fun facts about the area.  For example, there used to be a river that ran through the valley that dinosaurs would lay their eggs in and now the dry river bed is one of the most plentiful archaeological sites at which to find fossilized eggs.  Also, there are warning signs to stay away from the dig sites, but I didn't see any legit barriers.  I love the French.

That weekend, some of my fellow students and I decided that it would be a good idea to hike to the top of the mountain.  It was supposed to be about 4 hours round trip and it's really not that big of a mountain.  Yeah, I almost died.  At least, that's what it felt like.  The mountain, though small for a mountain, was still a mountain.  The paths were very steep, narrow, and rocky.  For those of you who know me well, you know that anything more strenuous than a fast walk or climbing a flight of stairs is a struggle.  Well, I struggled.  I consistently brought up the back of the line and usually by a good margin.  And, then when the summit was within reach, I rolled my ankle.  Awesome.  As we started down the mountain via a different path it began to rain.  Even better.  Two young French men assisted the group of us down the path.  It continued to rain. Turns out that the the guys didn't actually know where they were going, so rather than just walking to the bus-stop, we walked all the way to the next town.  In the rain.

By the time i got back to Aix, I was cold and wet and exhausted.  I was alone for the weekend so, naturally I took a shower, made some hot chocolate, and went to bed at 6. Awesome.  But, seriously I kind of want to do it again when it isn't raining and when I'm feeling exceptionally motivated...or fat.




Daily life
My day-to-day life is very calm.  I have class Monday through Wednesday and very little homework.  And one of my professors has only shown up for 3 of 8 classes.  I wouldn't mind except that the class is 8am on Monday and I never find out till I get to school that he won't be there.

I spend at least 2 hours a day walking around town, unless it's raining.  On rainy days I walk to the British bookstore and have a pot of tea while I read.  On sunny days, I  sit outside at cafés and people-watch.  I am constantly amazed at the pace of life here. Everyone has a destination but is in no particular hurry to get wherever they are going.  Friends never pass in the street with a brief smile and a wave.  They always stop to 'faire les bises' and chat for a couple minutes before continuing on their way.  I like it, but for the first time in my entire life I feel as though I don't have enough to do.  I feel like I'm cheating the system somehow because there's no reason why my life should be so leisurely.

I am decidedly going to have a rough time readjusting to class and writing papers and work, cuz I don't really remember what that's like.  I remember that it involves a lot of stress and very little sleep, but it's mostly just an unpleasant blur.


Aix-ventures
I have participated in some fun community-type events as well.  On the first Sunday of every month  it is free to get into all the museums in Aix, so on March 7th I went to 4 museums and an organ concert.  Now, when I hear the word museum I typically think of the Louvre or the Field Museum of Natural history or the Smithsonian, but Aix museums aren't quite like that.  I went to 4 museums in 3 hours and looked at everything in all of them.  Musée Granet was an art museum that mostly consisted of sketches from the mid nineteenth century.  there was also one picasso and 2 (?) Cezannes and a rather nice sculpture gallery.  There was a museum of natural history devoted almost exclusively to dinosaurs except for a temporary exhibit on evolution.  Musée de Vieil Aix had literally 3 rooms.  It was a collection of fancy artifacts (furniture, dishes, trinkets) from the olden days.  Which, in France, are slightly older than in the US.  And finally, the Musée des Tapisseries was located in a very old and large and fancy-type mansion that I believe the bishops used to live in.  There was a set of tapestries depicting various scenes from Don Quixote and some other old stuff that was pretty cool.  (I don't really mean to sound crass, but it's late and I'm tired and it happened a long time ago.)

A couple weeks ago I went to a gastronomie at the local casino with a couple friends.  It was my first time actually being inside a casino and it was pretty neat...and about 100 degrees...Fahrenheit.  And no I did not gamble.   We paid five euros to get into an exhibition of all kinds of culinary specialties including wine, champagne, cognac, macaroons, chocolate, smoked fish, jams, and cooking utensils. We got to go around and get free samples of the foods and beverages (unfortunately they were not giving away kitchen gizmos).  There were actually a couple wines that I would have bought, but I had literally 2 euros with me, so that didn't happen.  Then (shame, shame, shame)  we went and got a little taste of home...but I'm not sure I can bring myself to actually publish where...

On the walk to my friend's apartment in the chilly pollen-thick spring air I developed a little bit of a cough, which I thought nothing of.  I then proceeded to spend an hour and a half smoking hookah.  In case any of you were wondering, smoking isn't actually an effective remedy for a hacking cough.  So, anyway, I have now had said cough for almost 2 weeks, and I have self-diagnosed it as allergies.  WOOT!  My favorite!

And this past weekend was so exciting!  I can't wait to tell you about it! Oh wait, yes I can.