Pictures from le lac Sainte Croix

The weekend of Saint Croix(e)'s

I'm writing this to procrastinate - I have to write a 1 page narration of a story, and it's just not happening.  There's a moth in my light that's making it incredibly hard to concentrate. (I also got internet at my house - can you say "danger"?)

To put it lightly, this weekend was a full-force, jam-packed weekend, Provencal summer style: from visting art museums, tasting fabulous wines from Bordeaux and la fete de la musique on Thursday, through bars and nightclubs and sunny Mediterranean beaches, to fire festivals and beautiful lakes.  Oh, right, and those lovely things called Midterms that we took Friday afternoon.  It's been tiring, but so worth it.  And, as the half-way point in our program, it seemed like the perfect culmination of the last three weeks and the beginning of the next; the somewhat notable progress in my French speaking ability and the level of comfort I feel in Aix truly became apparent in the last few days.  I also came to realize how lucky I have been in regards to the number of French students I have been able to meet - it's truly remarkable how many people I've been able to connect with.  It only adds further to my admiration for the people who live here, that they are willing to invite and put up with American students with a base knowledge of French.  I feel like I would do the same, but I can't be sure; the language barrier can be so frustrating for both sides.

But the value of speaking French with French people is absolutely incredible - that really is the advantage of being here, in France, as opposed to something like the Middlebury program in Vermont or California.  While the language pledge is incredibly helpful, it just can't replace the fundamental difference between speaking with other students who know as much or less than you and speaking with real native speakers.  Speaking with native French is more work, bien sur, but it's much more rewarding; they speak quicker, more fluidly and more familiarly, something you just can't replicate with other students at our level.  Also, when you speak with other students, you're making the same mistakes as each other, therefore you keep internalizing those mistakes, since no one is there to correct you.  With a native speaker, they will probably correct you or not understand what exactly you are trying to say.  They will attempt to clarify, and you're forced to re-evaluate and make a change in your linguistic knowledge.  It gives you basic, quick phrases and expressions that French people use daily, and it makes you quick on your feet and really stretch your vocabulary base.  It's really the only way to fluency, because books and literature can only teach you so much - the point of learning to speak the language is to be able to communicate effectively and succinctly with native speakers of the language, something you only gain from actually attempting to practice with them.  That is not to say that I don't believe in speaking French with other American students.  On the contrary, I think it's also quite helpful, both in proving that you can communicate in another language as well as continuing to force you to think in French.

Overall, this weekend was incredible.  I managed to get a little bit tan (a little bit of sun-burn, but so it goes), speak a lot of French, and learn/visit even more of Aix and the Provence area.  I can't wait to see what the next three weeks has in store!

Bisous! xoxo

Pictures from the Luberon

This past Wednesday, the AUCP program organized a day trip for us to the Luberon region of Provence to see three of the best known hill-top villages in the region.  Luckily for Jackson, Aidan and I, one of the French students we've become friends with took us to the region last Saturday as well, so we got to see an additional two villages, including my favorite, Ansouis.  Here are some of the pictures from the two trips; I feel like my words aren't quite enough to describe the calm beauty of these small towns.

 Ca c'est Ansouis - une très petite ville, et très calme.  On a vu peut-être 5 autres personnes pendant notre petit marche.  J'ai envie d'habiter ici :)

La deuxième village que nous avons visité - j'ai oublié le nom, désoléeeee! Mais c'était très belle aussi, elle avait quelques magasins d'art, et seulement des artists locaux.

La troisième ville était Lourmarin, ou on a visité samedi et mercredi.  Il y a un beau chateau, et c'était la ville ou Albert Camus vivait - sa tombe est dans la cimetière de la ville.
J'aime cette photo de mon ami Jackson.  Il n'a pas un Facebook, mais c'etait très difficile de prendre un photo de lui.  Il semble très content :)

 Et a gauche, c'est un photo du jeu très populaire, Boule, ou Pétanque.  Nous avons joué samedi soir contre quelques étudiants français et nous avons gagné, c'était très amusant.

The rest of the pictures are from our AUCP program trip, from two other hill-top villages.  We ate a picnic lunch at the top of the hill of the village from the first two photos - we had purchased lunch at the market in Lourmarin - and got to admire the views from the chateau, which is in need of a tiny bit of renovation.

 La dernière ville était Roussillon, dans la Vaucluse - there are huge ocre canyons here, hence the drastically different appearance of the buildings and the surroundings.  They sometimes call it the "Little Colorado", reminiscent of a few of the national canyons in the West of the US.

It's a really pretty little town though, perched on the top of this hill, with all the buildings a pink-ish red.  The color of the rock really makes blues and greens pop, so the vegetation looked incredible while the sky took on this other-worldly blue color.

So that was a quick summary of our Luberon tours, it's a really beautiful region, and there are so many other cute little villages that I would love to explore; it's incredibly calm and seems like quite the enchanting place to live.  Sorry for the switching between languages - it's just a bit more fun to write in French sometimes :) 

Lots of love! xoxo

P.S. I don't know why the formatting is being so weird, but I give up trying to fix it!

Almost Half Way

As we begin the third week, I find myself falling ever more in love with this city.  It’s incredibly easy to get around, fun to explore, interesting architecturally, and the weather always seems to be beautiful, so it’s hard to even try to validate staying indoors.  I feel like this is exactly what I needed in my life.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I can’t stand to be idle, so sitting around all summer wouldn’t end up being relaxing to me.  Last summer, in Oman, as well as the summer before, when I interned at Enviance, I was often stressed – not nearly as bad as during the school year when I go un petit peu crazy, but still stressful.  But here, I feel so relaxed.  Time here takes on a funny meaning.  You see few people sprinting through the streets trying to make it to things on time.  On the contrary, you can’t walk down a single street without seeing a café full of people lounging, casually talking and drinking a sirop a l’eau or un petit café.  Students here usually get two hours for lunch; we usually get an hour and a half, but it’s still plenty of time to walk leisurely to a restaurant, sit down, order, eat, and sit for half an hour talking.  You just can’t not feel relaxed here.

Apart from the day to day stress, this trip has also relieved one of the bigger worries I have been pondering: my choice to spend all of Junior year away from Middlebury, the place that I’ve grown to love as my second home.  In high school, I always wanted to.  Freshman year at Midd, I was even considering trying to go abroad Spring of Sophomore year or Fall of Senior year as well.  Not studying for a year would never have crossed my mind before.  But, as a testament to the amazing community at Middlebury, at the end of this semester, I didn’t want to leave.  Unfortunately for all the people who hoped I would decide to come back in the Spring, I think that chance has been diminished to about 1% haha.  It seems my younger self knew me better than I know myself.  It’s only been two weeks and I can barely imagine leaving France for the few weeks in between this program and when I return to Paris.  But it’s nice to know now that I made the right choice.  I’ll miss Midd, but this is what I love – the place, the people, the language and the culture.  Oh and of course the food and wine!

My host sister also just started taking the French Bac today - she's been studying so hard, I can't even imagine!

I posted a few pictures from the first week and weekend, so check them out!  We do have some work here, so between the homework, exploring, and of course, shopping, I haven’t had a ton of time to post, and so I apologize for that.

Hope everyone is doing well at home!! Bisous

Photos from the first week/weekends

 A view of Cassis.  I went the first weekend with my host mom.

 Marseille - it's huge en fait.

 Lots of fun little places - this was in the old quarter of Marseille, much calmer than the rest of the city.

 Aidan and I above the Vieux Port of Marseille - this is where the original city was built way back in the day.

 We visited the mental hospital where Van Gogh spent a year - this is his bedroom.  Recognize it?

 We also visited these amazing caves where they projected the paintings of Van Gogh and Gaugin - it was a 20 minute show and it was super cool.

And finally, we visited an old medieval city that is on the top of a mountain - quite the views.

First Weekend and Orientation

It feels like I have already been here forever - my host father has already come and gone from Paris, I've been to Cassis, walked around the city while learning about the history, been shopping in the market with my host mother, talked basic fashion with my host sister, watched two French films (Les Bronzees et Les Bronzees 3, part of a series - quite hilarious, even with my limited understanding) and spoken more French than I probably spoke in half six weeks this semester. Its absolutely crazy to think that it hasn't even been a week since I LEFT. Aix is a lovely city, a bit smaller than I imagined, but that's even better. But it also seems a bit more alive and interesting than most of the guides make it out to be. The two guides I read made it sound like a somewhat sleepy, relaxed town that one can fully discover in only a day or two. Yet there is such complexity and such wonderful history here that I can't imagine only spending a week here. And in regards to the idea that the town isn't lively is definitely false - youth, teens, adults and even older folk are active and walking around, talking animatedly, though still privately. French are plenty expressive, but they do know how to maintain a low profile - somehow they mandage to be super expressive and animated while still being respectful, composed, and somewhat aloof. Now that stuff at the AUCP center has started picking up, I can tell that this is going to be quite the jam-packed trip - even though there is a lot of free time built into our schedule, that time is not going to be just casual, go back to the house, take a nap and watch tv time. That's going to be "go out and explore the town, meet French people, listen in French, and attempt to speak French" time. Which I guess is what you want out of an experience like this. I'm feeling better about my French level too, which is reassuring. Just meeting the other students from the program and hearing how they are struggling too made me realize I'm not the only one. But my host family continues to be incredibly supportive and incredibly welcoming; they are trying to make sure I'm getting language exposure and that I'm at least getting to listen to the language even if I'm not talking myself, which is so nice of them and so generous. I feel incredibly lucky to have been placed with them, because not only are they opening their home for me and feeding me, but they are welcoming me into their family and attempting to integrate me into their lives, even while putting up with my sometimes stumbling efforts to speak their native language. I know how hard it is to have the patience to speak with someone who doesn't speak English well, so I can't imagine how hard it must be for them to hear my constantly butchering words and conjugations that they have been doing since birth. I can only hope my language gets better, for their sake as well as my own ha.

That's all the time I have for now, but I'll try to blog again Thursday or Friday - we're going to Marseille tomorrow so no time then!

Bisous XOXO

There's something about France...

I don't know what it is, but somehow the country just evokes happiness. Maybe it's due to my lack-of-sleep delirious state, but I just couldn't help but smile as our plane descended out of the clouds and I first glimpsed the Provence scenery. Sitting in business class definitely didn't hurt my mood though (There really is something to say in favor of being a loyal United member)... But that being said, even losing my bag and finding out that I won't get it till tomorrow morning has yet to faze me. Even waiting around the airport for two hours until one of the other students arrived seemed like no big deal. Maybe it is the sleep deprivation. But more likely I think it's just the enchanting nature of the south of France. The architecture, the relaxed feel, the narrow streets of Aix, and the outdoor cafes; it truly has its own unique character. The center is beautiful - smaller than I initially imagined, but definitely sufficient. There's also a beautiful courtyard garden in between the two buildings. The other student who arrived today, My, and I walked a bit into town to get lunch this afternoon and I can't wait to continue exploring. I know that the windy roads will at first present somewhat of a maze, but I feel like the town is small enough that hopefully I will start to get a good mental layout over the next few weeks. I couldn't help but notice the large number of young people walking around, but even the older adults seemed so lively. It was fun to just sit and observe and get a feel for this thriving culture. The comfortable confidence that French people exude is enviable; it makes me both want to speak French so I can one day seem so at ease with the language, but it also makes me nervous. Quiet confident people are sometimes more daunting than the outgoing ones, and the French have definitely nailed the quiet confidence. And let me tell you, I can already tell this is going to be much different from CLS last summer. The organization, the set up, the emphasis: it's all different. But an adventure is an adventure, so here we go! I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog, but I will try to keep it up somewhat regularly. We're only supposed to use the internet/speak in English for an hour, so definitely limiting the Facebook usage - no pain, no gain :) Hugs and kisses