Nice in Nice, part deux
More on our exciting trip:
Thursday morning we got up and were greeted by beautiful weather! The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the sea was as bright as could be. We took the bus into the Port area. There, we visited the Museum Terra Armata. It focused on the evolution of man and had prehistoric human and animal bones from a 400,000 year old site found in Nice. We always visit all kinds of museums and places. One good way to do it is pick up a ton of brochures in hotels and things and just do whatever looks interesting the night before. You end up seeing a lot of cool and not so touristy things.
After that, we strolled along the port and looked at all the rich people’s yachts and got into another discussion about capitalism versus socialism (Both of us are becoming hard-core capitalists after living the socialist system).
The weather was so nice, we walked down to the beach and played in the water and I did some sketches for awhile. I was
about as happy as I could be sitting in the warm Mediterranean sun, hearing the waves crash and drawing in my sketch book. We then went up Castle Hill. It is a giant hill at the end of Old Nice that overlooks everything. It used to have a fortress on top, hence the name. It was so cool to see all of Nice from up high on a cloudless, sunny day. We made it to the top, looked at the view and a waterfall that was built there and then made our way down to the cemeteries at the bottom of the hill. There was a Christian and Jewish one. They were pretty typical except at the entrance to the Jewish cemeteries there were two memorials. One contained ashes from gas chambers during the Holocaust and the other actually had “savon a la graisse humaine fabrique par les Allemands..” or soap made out of Jewish prisoners by the Germans. I read that they did that but I had never seen a memorial with any such thing. Crazy.
I was all depressed by seeing all the dead people, but it was also interesting. But to lighten the mood, we saw this statue. We both found it humorous.
After that, we visited the famous Russian church, went back to Old Nice, visited the Palais Lascais (an old palace with lots of artifacts), more churches, cathedrals and shops. By then, we had been everywhere and were very tired and hungry. We actually went to the same restaurant we went to the first night because it was the only place open. We got different food and enjoyed it very much.
We came in and left Nice on a high note. After dinner we went back to the hostel, got our bags and got to our train. After once again being yelled at for tickets for the wrong month, they actually stuck us in our own compartment.
We got back to Tours in the morning, got ourselves some crepes, and relaxed. This vacation went almost perfectly. We saw everything we wanted and then some. I got to really experience Nice and the South of France. Already, I’ve seen so many things and there is still more to come.
Then we finished off our wonderful French vacation by coming back to the dorms and watching the American classic, "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" and drinking hot chocolate.
nice in Nice, Part 1
Bonjour! How are you doing? I had a wonderful week in Nice. It was INCREDIBLE. Tchykita and I took a night train down there (since Nice is about 10 hours away) so we actually left Tours at about 8pm. We had a slight problem with our tickets too; they were actually for March instead of February! We bought them on-line and forgot to check the date. However, they were nice enough to just give us spots. The night train is bizarre.
It is a little tiny compartment with 6 bunks, 3 on each side. There was a mother and son and a chick with a pet rat sharing our room with us. Its kind of funny, its like Tchykita and I have our own private code language when we speak American English to each other. We talk so fast that even someone who knew English would probably not understand, so we sit and talk about people right next to them and they have no idea. Its cool. The car was dark and quiet, and I actually slept ok. When we woke up around 6am or so, we watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea as we went through Cannes and Antibes. It was amazing.
Upon arriving in Nice, we eventually found our way to our hostel. Our room was pretty big and had a private bathroom. The view overlooked Nice and was beautiful!
We got a map, figured out the bus routes and took a bus to a nearby park. It had an old monastery, an Italian-style cathedral (complete with relics; there was a dried out/mummified saint in a glass coffin) and some nearby Roman ruins. To show you how much I know about catholicism, I used to think there were like 20 saints or so, but there are saints for everywhere for everything. I bet I kind find a patron saint for brushing your teeth if I tried.
Nice’s history goes back incredibly far! When we were looking at the ruins, a British woman came up and told us all about them and how the Romans lived, etc. She was an old history teacher, and was really interesting. You meet all kinds of cool people.
After that, we went back, took a nap and took a bus to the Old Nice. They had a Ferris wheel and other things set up for Carnaval. We walked around and admired the sea and the palms and the fountains and then got dinner in a great restaurant in one of the old squares. The seafood was great and not very expensive.
Nice is cool because it feels more like Italy than France, and is a night and day difference between it and my region (Centre).
After dinner, we went to the parade. It was amazing; the floats were very artistic and covered with flowers. They barricaded the whole street and you actually had to pay 10 Euros to see it, but it was worth it. (What a French concept, paying to see a parade) The performers in the parade will interact with the crowd and pose for pictures. I got a picture with one of the lovely men in drag.
It’s also a tradition for the little kids in the crowd to dress up in costumes and spray silly string at the people in the parade. The official flower of Nice is these yellow little puffball-type flowers called mimosas. They throw them and other flowers to people in the streets.
We ended up with a quite a huge bouquet. When we got back to the hostel, the cat that lived there followed us to our room. We played with him for awhile but couldn't get him to leave. We eventually had to push him out because Tchykita is allergic so we couldn't have him there all night.
The next day, we took a bus down to the sea and walked into the Hotel Negresco. It is a historic and very rich hotel overlooking the sea. It was SICKENINGLY luxurious and rich. Even the bellmen had these little red and blue outfits with gold buttons.
We had lots of fun looking around and pretending we belonged there. Then we went back to Old Nice, got some food and watched another parade. This time, we didn’t want to pay to get in so we climbed some stairs and could see over the barriers. There were lots of naked woman and other such things in the parade, despite the large number of small children. No wonder the French are like they are...
After that, the weather got bad so we went to a Matisse museum; which was quite interesting. I like Matisse, and had never been to a big collection of his art. We got some cheap food at a grocery store and went back to the hostel for the night.
There is still another entire day and a half, but I'll fill you in this weekend!
Long week, Long blog
Bonjour!
Hope everything is going well for all of you! Things have been more than a little rough for me lately with everything going on at home, but I try to focus on the good instead of the bad. I just kind of need a trans-Atlantic hug right now.
Friday night though, we went out to dinner and got a big, very French dinner. I had Soupe de Poisson (fish soup), Brochettes de Gigot d’Agneau (lamb kabobs), Tarte aux Pommes (Apple tart/pie thing) and a glass or Bordeaux (a dry red wine). It was delicious, and made me feel better about the world.
This next week, we have a weeklong “Winter break.” They don’t get a month long Christmas break like we do. They only get about a week off between semesters and then they get this Winter break and a 2-week long Spring Break. So, I guess it is just a bonus for us little Americans to get so much time off. Tchykita and I are going to Nice, in the South of France. They have a festival called “Carnivale” going on there right now. I think it’s kind of like Mardi Gras, but not so crazy. It has light parades and all kinds of good stuff. Not to mention Nice has beaches, art museums and all sorts of things to do. I booked the hostel myself and am in charge of all that. I am starting to get excited! Expect lots of sweet pictures from Nice next week!
There has been all kinds of crazy stuff going on here. French students love to protest and that has been very evident lately. Apparently, the government just passed some law that the French college students are against (it has to do with work laws, I think). They had a “manifestation dans la rue”(street protest) earlier this week and now they put angry posters EVERYWHERE, and for some reason barricaded most of the doors going in and out of the classroom buildings. This is very stupid in my opinion. How is making it hard for students to enter and leave the building (not to mention a wicked fire hazard) going to help their cause? The students here are very passionate about their causes, but mostly when it enables them to skip class.
I have foreign friends here who I have to do the French two kisses on the cheek thing with. It is really weird. I can’t say I like it. You say “Salut!” or some other greeting and kiss left to right. So far, I haven’t screwed up or anything, and there are a couple very attractive boys that I much enjoy getting the two-kiss thing from, but other than that it seems too intimate to me. I know that we hug in America, but that seems way less personal than sticking your face in someone else’s and kissing them. Plus I have no idea what to do with my hands. Some people just keep their hands in their pockets; others do kind of a half-hug, steady-yourself-on-their-arms thing. Maybe I’ll get more used to it as time goes on.
Also, I actually made a couple French friends. It was crazy; I was in my room being my usual anti-social self when this French guy, Bruno, came and knocked on door asked if I wanted to have lunch with him and some other Frenchies. I was really surprised, but I did. He and I got along and ended up hanging out all day today. He is a musician and I listened to him play his guitar and he was very interested in my drawings. He is very patient with my language skills and he knows a little English for when I get stuck. It was really funny, whenever weird people would try to talk to us around town, he would just yell at them in very heavily accented English “Sorry I do not speak French!” because it made me crack up. He walked me around town and told me where to go and where not to, and was just really awesome.
It was weird though because of cultural differences in how people act, we just kept confusing each other all day. Sometimes he would talk and act like he was purely being a good Samaritan in showing me around, other times like he wanted to be friends, and still others like he liked me more than that. Needless to say, I had a bit of a crush on him by then. However, he is a fire-breathing socialist and we were at odds several times. But it was so sweet because I spoke French all day and when I got home I was talking to some other French guy Bruno knows and I could hardly believe how cool I sounded. Yay for me!!! All in all, it was a very valuable experience and I made some really cool friends. But now I have more people I have to kiss when I see them, dammit.
Also, I saw my dad’s books in French in a bookstore off the main street yesterday. Pretty cool, huh?
Mmmm...Baguettes
Bonjour mes amies!
I just picked up a fresh baguette from the market. And I mean fresh; it is still warm. Baguettes are interesting because when you get a fresh one, like now, it is the most delicious soft-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside bread there is. But, if you leave that bread on your desk for a day or two (which I have also done) it gets so hard you could knock someone unconscious with it. Fortunately, they only cost about 50 cents and can be eaten fresh with every meal. Today, I had one with butter and jam for breakfast, one with tomatoes and chevre (goat cheese) for lunch, and one with garlic and butter with dinner tonight. And if you’ve never been to France, you have no idea what a real baguette tastes like (Anna, Erin, Amanda and my parents can vouch for this). Truly an invention for a poor college student that was invented before there were even college students to feed.
One really weird thing about living in a new country is that I constantly keep thinking I see people I know. I’ll be walking down Rue Nationale towards class and think I see friends from UW or my mom or something. Then I remember I’m in France. Then I am mad at my brain for being so stupid. I think it is because everything and everyone is so unfamiliar and I keep wanting to see people I know so badly my brain just starts seeing them. It really sucks.
Also, I loved how green everything is here until I figured out why it is so green. It rained ALL DAY today and is expected to do the same tomorrow. And, like a person from Wyoming, I never carry an umbrella. So when I was miles away from my room and it started pouring, I was quite unhappy. At the same time, I didn’t want to go buy another umbrella when I had one already, so I decided to just tough it out. I looked like a drowned and very red rat. One funny thing, the protesters that have been out all week weren’t today. I guess their cause wasn’t worth getting wet for. this is a pic of the front of my dorm building.
I put a bunch of pics up in my room. It makes it nice to see everyone. One thing that sucks though, since we all went digital I have no hardcopies of pictures. My most recent pictures are from San Francisco this summer. Good idea for a care package
.
More naked people pictures! This is a sketch I did of a crouching woman statue in the Musee Rodin.
One cool thing about the French is their love of dogs. Everyone here owns dogs and they are allowed everywhere. Stores, buses, trains, etc; everywhere allows dogs. They are all incredibly well-behaved too. Except I did see a Labrador today that was pulling so hard on the leash it was practically choking itself. I guess French labs are the same as American ones. The one bad thing about this though, is that no one bothers to clean up after their canines so you have to watch your step constantly.
Also, I have lived for 4 1/2 weeks without a phone or internet in my room. Think about that for awhile.
Que faites-vous?
Hello all!
I FINALLY got WiFi for my computer!!! We figured it out with no help from anyone here. Tonight, I actually was able use my computer for the first time in over 3 weeks. We still don’t get any Internet in the dorms, but there is a library that is a 3-4 minute walk from our residences that has a wireless port. Ahhh, it feels good to type on my little Mac again.
Yesterday was lovely. I only had one class and it got canceled so Tchykita and I met up and strolled around. Tours is a very, very old town and the main part of town is completely made up of buildings from the 15th century. It is pretty cool on the way to class to walk down the worn cobblestone streets between these tall, ancient stone buildings and listen to my iPod while munching on a baguette. I could get used to this. While walking around Place Plumereau (‘Place Plume’ for us hip, young people) we found the remains of a church and some building that used to be an underground cellar or something. Also, there were some French cats following us along the top of a wall. It was a nice way to spend the morning.
There are all kinds of cool, old things here you can just run into. Besides oodles of churches and bridges, there are all kinds of centuries old-oddities. On the other side of the main street (Rue Nationale) on Rue Colbert, I was just looking around and found this little tunnel that runs under some buildings to a little square. I looked it up and found out they used to lead condemned criminals through that tunnel to be guillotined or hung in the square. It’s amazing to think of all the people that lived and worked (and died) in the old streets and buildings I walk through everyday.
There is this French dude that has my room number, compliments of the International office, and came by tonight. Apparently, when I signed a paper saying I’d be willing to go to some meetings to meet French students, this authorized them to tell Frenchies my room number, e-mail address, etc. Fortunately Florril (the French guy) is extremely friendly and me and Tchykita made plans to hang out with him later this week and work on my language skills. I’m at a rough spot. I comprehend French almost perfectly now, I read it very well, I write it very well, etc but I still translate in my head when I try to speak. So, I’m slow and use the wrong tenses a lot. It’s frustrating when I know what people are saying to me but I can’t just chatter back. Tchykita is so awesome though and has been helping me out. She does a lot of the business stuff, and I interject and do the basic conversation stuff. I build more everyday, and she is going to make up quizzes for me on all the tenses so I can pound them into my head. It is tough and frustrating, but really is the only way to learn a language.
Oh, and I tried to dye my hair mahogany brown and it turned out a purpley red maroonish color. I am bummed its not the color I wanted but it is sweet nonetheless. Everytime I see myself in the mirror, I am shocked. Tchykita did it while we worked on an insane translation assignment. We had to translate this into French, “It is now well-nigh an Olympiad since I endured the misery of a change of sheets; and the customary state of my outer man you may gather from the fact, that I merely shift my linen and shave myself when I wish to preserve a strict incognito.” That is one sentence out of a half-page passage. I don’t even know what some of that means in English.
The people in this picture of the group are German, Moroccan, French and American (me and Tchykita are the only Americans).
Also, I was late to class today because there was a protest over something in the middle of town that stopped the buses so I had to get off and walk an extra half mile to class.
Il est beau
Bonjour!
How is life in the States? The weather here has been beautiful. Three straight days with sun! You never realize how much to take sunlight for granted until you live in a cloudy place.
I have been keeping myself busy. Friday night, we went out and watched the Olympic opening ceremonies in a bar and met up with some other exchange students. It is so bizarre to just walk into bars but quite fun all the same. You have to be careful though, because social standards as far as men and women are very different. Mostly, guys and girls seem to operate in separate groups, but the guys go to bars and cat-call girls on the streets. It comes across as sleazy as it sounds. Everywhere you go, there are guys trying to bug you and you just have to completely ignore them. I have no idea how the French start relationships. It seems like they are either harassing or completely ignoring each other.
Tchykita and I are very safe though. We never go anywhere alone and we created an action plan if someone won’t leave us alone. Between us, we have a can of pepper spray and a pocketknife. We decided I would mace them and she would use her knife to cut their Achilles tendons and then we’d run away and they couldn’t chase us. Then, no one would ever mess with us again because word spreads if there are chicks that will mace you and cut your tendons.
I met a girl from London who thinks I am the coolest person ever because I live in Wyoming and own horses. My American-ness is being shoved in my face 24/7, and I am really starting to embrace it. That doesn’t mean I get ugly towards the French or anyone else, I just like my classification of an American. When you spend all your time describing your home (to the awe of others) and defending your country and its policies, it is hard not to realize what it means to be American. Plus, there are ignorant people in every culture. At an outdoor market, I met a nasty Iraqi man who literally got all up in my face and was spitting and saying how much he hated us Americans when I was actually trying to buy something from him. Not too fun to deal with. I just walked away.
Yesterday, Tchykita and I walked all over Tours and explored some more. There is a cathedral, an ancient castle, the tomb of a saint (St. Martin), a really old tree and a dead elephant here. It was pretty cool to get to spend your sweet time in places like that. Once my art supplies get here, I plan to spend a lot of time drawing and painting places like that.
I am getting good at cooking, believe it or not. I have cooked burgers, spaghetti and some other stuff with no prior experience. I am the supreme hamburger chef. Food is such a huge thing here. The bears in the picture are made out of bread. Pretty cool.
American philosophy
Bonjour!
I have a little downtime before my next class. I promise to try to get those Paris pics before the end of the week. I think I am totally hitting my, "I miss America" phase. I am bummed about missing the Superbowl, not eating American food, not being able to understand or communicate everything, etc. Last night, Tchykita and I did the worst thing of all. We got Happy Meals at the McDonalds here. I just could not help it. I haven't hade a happy meal since I was little, but it was awesome. Plus it was somehow satisfying to see the snooty Frenchies eating burgers and fries too.
I have been thinking alot about American culture. Some people in America think we don't have a culture like other countries in Old Europe do. I say that we have an incredibly strong and defined culture. We are just as obviously American as the French are the French. I have people here tell me all the time, despite how I try to dress, etc. that I "look American." We have a certain way of dressing, doing our hair, make-up, etc that is different from anywhere else.
We have a society based on service and capitalism, and it is obvious when you go to a place like France. Here, I have not been able to pick up my mail for two days because the desk people have either been taking the day off or on a 2 hour lunch break. The way we do things, what we expect of others, all defines our culture.
Our food, even though it is often borrowed (i.e. Italian or Mexican) is still incredibly unique and Americanized to our culture. Nothing is created in a vaccuum, and all socities borrow from each other to create their own individual style. I would even say that our culture (especially the entertainment industry) has infiltrated others to the point it is hard to tell where ours ends and they begin. A British girl I met asked me if it was bizarre to watch movies made in America, because she watches so many American movies she gets weirded out watching British ones. Her own country's movies seem foreign to her. Also, I had some German girls ask me about Brokeback Mountain because they heard I was from Wyoming. How many non-American movies have you seen in the last year? How many states or provinces can you name in other countries? We do not have a lack of culture, we just have a dominating one. I would say our culture is one that emphasizes efficiency and convenience, so that is why it gets adopted to some degree in places like France. Everything in their culture is beautiful, relaxing and slow, but not efficient, like our industry.
To any American who thinks we don't have a culture, I would tell them to go live someplace else for awhile. It is easy for us to be ethnocentric because we are a large, powerful, influential country. But that doesn't make the values of our society universal, but like movies, just exported. They are still uniquely American. We get so used to everything being our way and familiar in our big country we aren't as exposed to regognizing the unique cultural differences in America.
Ok, I guess thats my philosophy for the day. What do you all think? I am really curious.
Par-eee
Hello all!
It seems like forever since I got near a computer! This is definitely a new lifestyle for me.
This weekend was lovely even though it started out really rough. I got up late and we missed the bus to the train station. We were freaking out about missing the train, but I ran over to the main building and called a cab. Not cheap, but at least we got to the train on time!
In Paris, we took the Metro into the main part of town and walked around the Hotel de Ville area until we eventually got to the Notre Dame cathedral (we had left our map on the bus and were wandering around a little aimlessly). We walked through that, checked out some stores and went to the Louvre. We were going to just use the bathrooms, but we decided to get tickets and spent the afternoon there. Tchykita likes to draw too, so we spent the whole time drawing!! One of my dreams come true!
After that, we grabbed a sandwich (we spent the whole time half-starved to save money) and took the Metro to Montmartre. The area is beautiful; its up on a hill over-looking Paris. We went inside Sacré Coeur, which I had never been inside before. It was amazing! The inside has these religious designs and pictures made out of miniscule mosaic tiles. After that, we grabbed the metro to our hostel and checked in for the night. The hostel was really nice! It was big, had its own bathroom; etc.
The next morning (after stuffing ourselves on the complimentary breakfast) we went to the Musée de L'Armee and saw Napolean's Tomb. It was insane to have so much grandeur for one man. But, the French have so few good military men I guess they have to honor the ones they have.
After that, we went to the Musée Rodin and the Musée D'Orsay and drew some more. It was, again, amazing. After all the museums were closed we walked around and shopped some more and went back to the train station. On the way back, we sat across from this French couple who were really nice. The husband and I spent the whole time talking sports. He explained Rugby to me, while I tried to explain American Football and the Superbowl to him. We exchanged email addresses, and they even offered to tape the game for me.
This weekend was exceptional, but I got kind of homesick. I think because I had been to Paris with my family and friends, being back there reminded me of them. It was hard to deal with a couple times. But, I did, and had a wonderful time.
I have been missing the US a bit, especially the food. A person can only eat so much ham, cheese and bread. In the grocery store, a tiny jar of peanut butter runs at 4.35 € and rabbit and duck are cheaper than chicken and beef. So last night Tchykita and I went all out an made hamburgers.
It was hard to find cheap beef here (or beef at all for that matter)but we got some ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce and buns. Believe it or not, she had a bottle of ketchup too! We both like them medium rare, so I cooked the burgers nice and bloody. Some of the people on her floor came in the kitchen and laughed to see the two Americans scarfing hamburgers. Oh, they were so delicious.
I have great pics from this weekend, and I will try to figure out how to post them this week!
Ca va?
Hey folks! Check this, two blogs in two days!
I’m still a little homesick, of course, but things are going really well. I don’t think I’ll fail ALL my classes J, and I like most of them. My two translation classes are rough, but they are improving my vocabulary everyday. My speaking skills still suck, but I am writing, reading and comprehending French better than ever and it’ll all just keep getting better. Also, I am meeting people from all over the world everyday. Most of them are English-speaking, but when you listen to, write, read and speak French all day it is nice to have an easy conversation in English. Today, I met a really sweet girl from Denmark and ran into a girl I met on the first day who is British but usually goes to a German University. The whole time the British girl and I walked and talked in English, we had a couple guys following us who kept asking if we were American and we said no. (One very bad stereotype is that American girls are easy, so that is one important reason to blend in with your host culture.) Besides other Americans, so far I have met people from Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Denmark, Japan, Iraq, Morocco, Spain, and France (duh). Pretty cool for a chick from Wyoming, huh?
Of the few Americans here, there are two kinds. There are those who attend university classes, attempt to figure out the town and culture, eat French food, etc and those who live with each other, speak only English and don’t try anything new. Thank God I fell in with the former category. Even though every day is a struggle, I am learning a lifetime’s worth every week. Some of the latter were in one of my CUEFEE classes today and they just talked about how much they miss Starbucks, etc. I didn’t even talk to them, I think they have the wrong attitude. The point is not to come here and party with your buds, that can easily be done at home. I want to learn how to live and communicate in an entirely new country, which is something few people get the opportunity to do. Plus, my social life is actually picking up, as I meet people I invite them to stuff and they do the same. And I have Tchykita to travel and hang with, etc. Tonight we bought a gallette du roi (a type of flat cake you buy in January that has a little porcelain figure baked in it. Who ever gets the piece with the figurine is the “king” for the day. Often the cake even comes with a little crown) and a bottle of cidre. Not a bad situation!
Speaking of which, Paris this weekend is a for sure deal. We booked our room at the hostel and are buying train tickets tomorrow. We are getting the earliest train possible to Paris on Saturday and getting back Sunday night. The hostel we are staying at is only 26 Euros each per night, which is great considering how nice and safe it is.
The weather here has been cold and foggy. Despite my attempts to straighten my hair (I bought industrial strength hair gel and a straightener) I still look like a curly-haired lion by the end of the day. C’est la vie.
Oh, and have any of you ever had Nutella? I’ve gone through 2 jars already, the stuff is awesome.
Les cours
Hello!
Considering I have yet to do so, let me fill you all in on how classes work. I finally got my schedule and classes all figured out.
At Tours, the classes are listed on bulletin boards throughout the schools. Apparently, French stuents do not get to choose a single one of their classes, even though they often do not recieve their schedules until the day before class. Exchange students must walk around all over town (there is no actual campus, just buildings and dorms spread throughout town, so next time you whine about having only 10 minutes to walk across campus, shut up) and figure out what classes you want to take. We are pretty much free to take anything we think we can handle. All you do is attend the class and if you like it, you go up to the prof. after class and say, "I am an exchange student. I want to be in your class," and they register you. On top of that, they offer CUEFEE classes especially for exchange students. These classes are easier on the language skills and are on topics like French culture, History, Grammaire, etc.
Here, every class meets only once a week for either 1&1/2 or two hours and you have either one or two grades in that class for the entire semester. Thats it...you take notes all semester for one final test or have one homework grade that is usually a paper. Crazy, huh? There is WAY less busy work than American classes, but imagine what finals are like around here! Since classes are only once a week and worth only 1 or 2 credit hours, I am taking lots of classes. I have 4 CUEFEE classes, 2 translation classes and 2 regular university classes. Transfering them back will be even more complicated!!
On a personal note, a French guy on my floor actually invited me to a thing on Friday. I was so excited that one of them even talked to me, much less invited me to something. Very cool, huh? Unlike him, most of the people on my floor are weird. This one girl smells horrible even when she just took a shower; and another one glares at me everyday but always makes sure to say Bonjour. She will even run out into the hall when I come home, squint at me and forcefully say "Bonjour," in the most unfriendly way possible, and then stands there watching me until I say it back. Crazy.
Tchykita (chiquita) and I are going to go to Paris this weekend. The museums are all free on the first Sunday of the month and we found a relatively inexpensive but very safe hostel to stay at Saturday night. So, I will be in Tours Friday night (and have actual plans!!) and then have a full weekend in Paris! Yeah, I think I could get used to it here...
Also, we ate in a Chinese restaurant yesterday. I am starting to get better at recognizing the French food I eat, but yesterday was crazy. All I know is that I was eating chicken at one point, but the rest is a total mystery.
about as happy as I could be sitting in the warm Mediterranean sun, hearing the waves crash and drawing in my sketch book. We then went up Castle Hill. It is a giant hill at the end of Old Nice that overlooks everything. It used to have a fortress on top, hence the name. It was so cool to see all of Nice from up high on a cloudless, sunny day. We made it to the top, looked at the view and a waterfall that was built there and then made our way down to the cemeteries at the bottom of the hill. There was a Christian and Jewish one. They were pretty typical except at the entrance to the Jewish cemeteries there were two memorials. One contained ashes from gas chambers during the Holocaust and the other actually had “savon a la graisse humaine fabrique par les Allemands..” or soap made out of Jewish prisoners by the Germans. I read that they did that but I had never seen a memorial with any such thing. Crazy. 
After that, we visited the famous Russian church, went back to Old Nice, visited the Palais Lascais (an old palace with lots of artifacts), more churches, cathedrals and shops. By then, we had been everywhere and were very tired and hungry. We actually went to the same restaurant we went to the first night because it was the only place open. We got different food and enjoyed it very much. 
We came in and left Nice on a high note. After dinner we went back to the hostel, got our bags and got to our train. After once again being yelled at for tickets for the wrong month, they actually stuck us in our own compartment. 
