First few days in France

I’m writing this Monday night, having finished my first day at L’Institut American.

My trip here was uneventful but exhausting nevertheless. I slept a grand total of maybe a half hour on the plane, and once in Charles De Gaulle, I had to wait about two hours for my train. I was quite pleased that I hadn’t opted with taking the later train, because that would’ve meant four hours of waiting there. Amelia, a girl who goes to Marquette, was on the same plane and train, and there were two other girls, Elle and Allison who were on the same plane. I remembered to “composter mon billet” (thanks to Paul, a friend from MU who told me to do that). It’s basically getting your ticket stamped before you board the TGV, and if you don’t do it, they don’t accept your ticket. I was exhausted on the train, and I dozed off a few times but managed to wake up in time to get off in Avignon. The scenery along the way was beautiful, but it did look an awful lot like Northern Michigan, only more green and without any snow. Due to my exhaustion, I managed to convince myself that I’d gotten on car 15 instead of car 16, and I was all set rehearsing apologies in my head before the conductor took my ticket without any problems. As though I didn’t have enough worries, I had to start inventing some myself!

My host parents, Vincent and Monique, are very nice. Their children have all left home, but they visit often with the grandchildren. After I arrived at their house, I spoke with them for an hour or so, but then Madame encouraged me to take a nap. She promised she’d wake me at 7:30 so that I could eat dinner with them. I unpacked first because I was hesitant to sleep, but around 5:30 I gave in and crashed. Despite my usual tendency to worry as I fall asleep, I didn’t get much beyond worrying that I hadn’t brought an adapter that worked and worrying that I’d used ‘la traffique’, not ‘la circulation’ when I spoke with Monsieur. I then slept for, oh, some 15 hours. Madame said that when I didn’t respond to her knock, she decided to let me sleep, and I certainly did sleep.

She knocked again the next morning (Sunday) around 8:30, and I finally woke up then. The Merciers, their daughter, their grandson (Angel), and I went to Saintes Maries de la Mer. Saintes Maries is a town on the Mediterranean, and the Merciers are going to rent a house there during the summer. They told me that though there weren’t many people there, when it gets warm out it’s packed. We stopped at a café, then they went to look at the house they were renting while I played soccer with Angel, who is soccer-crazy. After that, we went to have lunch at another café (I had a crêpe with an egg, ham, and a cheese that’s called Râpé). We walked down by the beach after that (more soccer for Angel, who not only hates losing, but he hates if the score is even close), and it was quite pretty. After wandering around town, we stopped at café #3 if you’re counting, where I had quite possibly the most amazing hot chocolate of my life. Expensive as the café life is, I’ll have to be careful to stave off a fondness for the hot chocolate. The drive back was pretty uneventful. Dinner was good, but I don’t want to know how much oil was used in its cooking. I’ve no idea how I’m going to stay in shape over here, and I think I might have to start running despite the fact that my left knee hates even the idea of running. My attempts to eat healthily are often commented on by the Merciers, who constantly tell me that I’m not eating enough. I watched the news and then the beginning of a movie with them before going to sleep a little before 10.

We didn’t have classes today, just orientation (and I use that word very loosely). I arrived around 8:30 this morning, and I met a few other students before they started at 9. The director of the center spoke to use about security and the classes, and four students who were here last semester had other things to add. They had someone come in to hook our computers up to the internet there, and we were also able to buy used cell phones. I bought a phone for €20 just so that I can have one. I’m not sure how much I’ll use it, but it was cheap enough so that I don’t have to worry if something happens to it, and I still get the security of having a cell phone. We took a test so that the director knows where we are in relation to the others, and we then left for lunch at a crêperie. The crêpes were almost exactly the same as the café I was at yesterday, just a different type of cheese, and we also had a crêpe with Nutella for dessert (Yum!). I must confess, however, that if my choices are starving for lunch every day or getting more crêpes, it’s not going to take long for me to pick starving. It also won’t be difficult, as I haven’t been hungry once since arriving here. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m so overwhelmed with other things or because I haven’t been working out, but for whatever reason, I’ve had no desire for food. It also could be that because I don’t recognize any of the food, I don’t feel the need to eat it. After a lunch that lasted until 3pm (I almost went insane, especially considering that all the girls I ended up sitting by were from the same University and the same sorority within that University, so they talked about a lot of people I didn’t know), we returned to l’Institut. I went to a store called Monoprix with several others who had to buy school supplies, and after that we went to buy ‘les cartes des recherches’, or cards with minutes for cell phones on them. I still haven’t figured out how to use mine, but I’m going to ask people tomorrow. I went back to l’Institut once more, where I used the internet before leaving for home. Unfortunately, I got veryveryvery lost on my way home, and I had to return to l’Institut to get directions. Even after that, I spent about 45 more minutes wandering around my street and desperately trying to figure out where the house was. I finally arrived after being almost in tears and convinced that I’d be forced to spend my night on the streets.

Avignon itself is a bizarre mix of the very, very old and the very, very new. There’s an actual city wall, which just seemed crazy to me. It’s not a city for the claustrophobics or those who love order. While I’m not claustrophobic, I certainly do love order, and the streets here are enough to drive me mad. I knew coming here that there are few cities like Chicago, with almost entirely straight streets. Still, I was expecting something maybe a bit like Boston, where I almost went crazy with all the curving streets. HA! I didn’t know the half of it. I’m not even sure how I’d describe the streets here, but street signs are almost non-existent (which didn’t help when I was lost), and streets curve, begin, and end constantly. The streets are also extremely small, and there are so many buildings cramped together that it’s hard to see very far at all (thus, not a city for claustrophobics). Because I’m from a big city, I’m always hearing that there isn’t room to breathe and that people need wide open spaces. All I can say is that at home, downtown is essentially a wide open space compared to here! All the people from the suburbs and country who say downtown is too cramped need to come see Avignon if they want to see cramped.

In terms of language, I’m getting along pretty well. I can usually get across what I want to say, though I often have trouble understanding the fast-paced speaking of Southern France. I definitely notice a difference between the accents here and the accents of Northern France. The hard part for me is switching between English and French. I was in French mode before writing this, so I’m still half-thinking in French, which is making it a little difficult. However, a lot of the students at l’Institut speak English, and after talking to them it’s incredibly difficult to switch back into French mode. I’m pretty sure that I’m speaking neither language well right now.

Classes at l’Institut start tomorrow, and I’m very tempted to just go to sleep now. It’s been a long, long day. I’ll post this tomorrow morning, and I hope everyone at home is doing well.

Days since skim milk: 4

It’s now Tuesday morning, and I thought I’d add a bit more before I post this. I haven’t been feeling very well this morning, probably as a result of the weird foods. I bought some stamps on my way to class this morning, and that was quite successful. After that, I successfully managed to get lost again. I wandered around for about five minutes, trying to figure out exactly why the street I was on ended suddenly and which of the five other streets near by I should continue on. Much to my relief, another IAU student was walking by, and he showed me the way to l’Institut. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’m going to remember it. I think part of the problem is that Monsieur showed me a slightly different route yesterday morning, so it’s quite tricky. I think I’ll be able to get home tonight, but whether or not I can find my way back to school tomorrow is a different story. My first class starts at 1:30 today, but I gave myself a lot of extra time to get lost and to have trouble buying stamps. I don’t finish class until 6pm every day, which is hard for me. I thought last semester was rough finishing at 3 every day, but that’s starting to feel like nothing. It does make some sense, since most people don’t eat dinner until 8, which is another adjustment in itself. No other news since last night other than my inability to find out where the heck I’m going.

Days since skim milk: 4.5