Guitars, Lazy Days, and Good Company

The past five days have been some of the most relaxing of my life. We haven't traveled anywhere really, just spending time with people, going out, exploring town, avoiding the little amounts of homework that even exist.

The other night we had an impromptu group of people in our room, playing impromptu music, telling stories. We’re in a country other than our own. We did not know each other at all three weeks ago, and here we all were, on a rainy Sunday night, just spending hours in each other’s company. No real reason to all be together, just a want for company, just because we live close and have things in common and enjoy each other. No internet, no movie watching no technology. Just good, old fashioned time with people. 

Perhaps this is partially because our internet was not warking, and if this is the case, I think it is good for us to have to be separated from it every now and again. The internet does so many things. Connects people across oceans and languages and cultures. It allows us to share, as I am sharing this moment in time, but the actual moment when we were all away from our computers was so much more satisfying that any blog post. 

We need to remember what it is like to be in the company of the living and breathing bodies of the people we enjoy. Just to talk to each other and not need to record it all the time. Even though we did take pictures I suppose…it is such a simple happiness. It does not take much effort, just everyone being there and adding themselves to the experience. There is something so powerful about live music too. Especially acoustic guitars I think. It adds the calming element, this peaceful underlying connection that just puts everyone at ease. 

The Alps, A Crepe and Scott Fitzgerald

Hello all! Things are still lovely here in France. Last weekend we went to a portion of the French Alps and I skiied for the first time! Not a bad place to start, I'd say. The mountains really were indescribably breathtaking. I love our mountains in Washington, but next to these, the Cascades may not even consider themselves mountains.

 Overall, the trip was worth it, even though it was one of the least organized things I have ever been a part of. Come to find out, the culture in the French Riveria, especially amongst young people, is one of beacoup de partying. I guess I should have assumed that considering Monaco is here and what not, but actually experiencing living here is a whole different story. The bus ride there was a party in itself, and the parties continued all weekend. Some people didn't even sleep, and yet still managed to ski. It was impressive, in a way.

While I did not participate fully in this party culture, it is definitely something worth seeing. I may not go on future "Suberman" (the student government at SKEMA) trips because of the disorganization, but I do not regret the experience in the least.

Which is partially thanks to this delicious crepe that I had in a restaurant on the mountain after we took a ski lift up, sans the skis:

In addition, I did learn to ski (not well, but it counts) thanks to the help of some of the wonderful people I am studying with here. Every day I am amazed by the people in CEA, and the people I continue to meet who attend SKEMA. I just found this quote by Scott Fitzgerald that so accurately sums up the way I am feeling about what I am learning through experiences and people here, that I welled up a bit. Also, the fact that Fitzgerald and his wife actually spent quite a bit of time on the Riviera makes it that much better. Here it is:

"For what it’s worth, it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

—	F. Scott Fitzgerald

I italicized my favorite parts. His words are so true. So true. For me, finding startling things and living a life I am proud of included leaving the country. Others have different ways of finding and being themselves, which is wonderful. I just hope everyone gives themselves the time and the opportunity to do so.

Finally, List Item Number 2

As promised, here is the story of the quest for a church:

 As attending a church was one of my personal goals, I was originally planning on going it alone. Come to find out, however, several other people in CEA were interested as well, which was quite exciting. So, two Sundays ago we started looking for directions to an English-speaking church we found in Cannes. This part of the adventure alone took around 2 hours. A FUN FACT (or actually no-so-fun-fact) about the French is that, from what I have seen so far anyways, their websites are not the easiest to figure out. Even if you speak French.

It took us a while to find the correct address, locate it on the map of Cannes we could take with us, and then find a corresponding bus route. We persevered, however, and after two hours were pretty confident in our directions. We found the correct bus, got the the center of Cannes, and promptly found the second bus we needed to get us to the church.

The kind bus driver then dropped us off where he thought the church was....unfortunately, it was not the correct church. So we consulted our map, walked several blocks in one direction, and then stopped at a random patisserie that we found to ask for directions.

It was an outdoor bread/pastry shop. I got to test out my French-skills also, even though the lady later revealed she did indeed speak English.

Delicious, non? I wish I could say I tried one...

Come to find out, we were headed in the wrong direction. So we turned around, and low and behold, found the church with 20 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, there was no 6 pm mass to speak of and it seemed as though the church was deserted. Travel-weary and disappointed, we decided to take a look inside anwyas since the doors were unlocked.

Inside, we found two pastors. Turns out they no longer do a 6 pm mass in English, though they do still translate their morning masses. Again, I got to use my French-speaking skills, and they were quite impressed with the journey we had taken to try and find a church. The younger of the two men who spoke some English, then offered to give us a ride back to Antibes (which is around 20 minutes by car). We agreed, and then proceeded to fit seven people into a car made for five. The pastor was kind and told us about his family and church involvement on the ride home. Then, he invited us to dine at his house and meet his family at some point in the future!

While we did not actually get to go to church that Sunday, the dedication we put into finding it and the end result was really a spiritual experience in itself. Therefore, I would say it is a solid start to List Item #2.

Laura and I were excited to find the correct street name. 

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the church until next Sunday, as we are going hiking in the Esterelle Mountains this coming Sunday. I will keep you posted once I go, though, promise!

A Couple Other Places of Writing...

Just a quick post about another blog I just started. It is actually a Tumblr, which is like a mix between Twitter and blogs. It is a photo-oriented blog of interesting doors we find here (myself and another American student here started it, and others are encouraged to submit.) Wanted to share it with you all, since this is apparently what I do with all of my free time now...:)
foreignenterancesandexits1.tumblr.com

Also, I have a different Tumblr account that I keep all year round, even when I am not abroad. If anyone is interested in looking at that it is:
lifewithasparkle.tumblr.com

More updates to come, I need to be productive now!

List Items #26 and #27

So I managed to complete one and a third list item all in one day last week. It was a Thursday, and though I did not have class, I was headed to SKEMA to use the internet and get some class/scheduling stuff figured out. While I ended up having to wait 30 minutes for the bus and then spend about 20 minutes on the bus, I was ready to get to work once I got there.

FUN FACT: Buses in France can actually go quite fast, when there is not a lot of traffic. And when there is a lot of traffic, I would not want to be anyone driving next to a bus because they edge themselves out there just like a small car would. ALSO, motorcyclists like the use the dotted lines on the road as another lane. Crazy drivers. 


However, when I got there, Julia and a couple other girls we met were headed to Nice. So, I ditched all the responsible things I was going to do (well, I did check an email or two) and just SPONTANEOUSLY headed to the train with them.

FUN FACT: There are major sales happening all around the area that started about a week ago and will go into February. All the shopping areas are quite bustling all the time, and the sales run as high as 70%. 


I was not going to buy anything, was just excited to spend some time on a train and in Nice. Then, however, I tried on a leather jacket. Poor decision on my part. And the wonderful ladies I was with were so very convincing, on the quality and the superb fit of the coat. And it had roses on the lining. And inside pockets. And some French words on the inside. And it made me feel FABULOUS, therefore completing item 27 on my List. I couldn't say no.

(Also, this is a small portion of our apartment...I'd like to say it is usually cleaner...)

I'm excited to give you an update on the progress of List Item #2 as well, quite the story! But I must go wait for the bus to head back to class again. Talk to you all again soon. :)

European Wifi and Some Updates

Hello all! Greetings here from the land of spotty internet connection. The wifi in our apartment has not been working well for the past few days, so I apologize for the gap in posts. It is amazing how much we all rely on the internet now, for so many different things. I mean, it is our primary connections to all of you lovely people, to travel plans, to homework, to financial planning...Lord help us all if the internet crashes entirely one day. We won't understand how to go back to the days where you had to wait to get information about things and talk to people.

Anyways, back to France. I'll try and do a quick update of life here, including some fun facts about French culture I am picking up.

School started this week and I had classes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Not bad, I know, except that three hour classes are brutal. Especially from 4-7 pm. I mean, 4 pm is usually when I hit my wall for the day anyways, and then you're hungry, and tired. But, you can also go to a gelato place when you get back to little old Antibes, so I guess that may make up for it. :)

FUN FACT: French people do in fact, smoke a ton. Since the classes are 3 hours long there is always a break in the middle, during which time there is a mass exodus to the courtyards to smoke. Instead of having anti-smoking ads everywhere, there are ads about eating healthy...including under signs advertising McDonald's. This is how the French stay so thin: smoke and eat fruit. 

On Thursday I went to Nice with a few girls from our CEA program to do some shopping. I made a purchase rather larger than I meant to, but it also fell under one of my List items, so more to come on that later. That night Julia and I and a few other people went to a party at a French villa (umm...ya...even I can't believe that one all the way), and then to a club to dance the night away.


FUN FACT: The French party HARD. The party at the club we went to was hosted that night by the US equivalent of student government at SKEMA, and it started at 11 pm and went to 5 pm, which is how most parties are here. ALSO: there is no open bottle policy here. So you can drink wine in the street...our Limon Cello on the train...not to give specifics or anything. 


On Friday, a few of us went to Vintmille, which is an Italian city that is an hour train ride away. I am so in love with trains now. The view everywhere is beautiful, and it is so peaceful. I mean, check out this view:

Friday evening we also all pitched in on dinner made at the apartment of one of the girls in the program. It was a delicious dinner and grand company. The people in our CEA program (all Americans) are really interesting, outgoing and generally amiable. I am almost learning as much about my own country as France because we are from all over. I am so excited to state hop in the US now.

FUN FACT: We also had a King's Cake that night, which is a tradition in France I believe based around the Epiphany, a Catholic holiday. For the entire month of January you can buy a King's Cake. You share it with friends, and whoever finds the tiny figurine baked inside gets to wear the crown. See below: 

Saturday we went to another couple of towns in Italy (because I can just go to Italy for the weekend...I don't understand that yet either). One of the towns was really more of a fortified village - gorgeous and full of history. Some of the guys in our program played soccer with some of the local kids. Quite a lovely day.

I must head off now to eat and get ready for a day in Cannes! More to come on the List also, lots have been getting checked off. 

List Item #4 (part C) and #19

Item #4 Part C: 

List item number 4 is not too difficult to get through, as wine really is more prevalent than bottled water in this country. We had an impromptu dinner with a few of our CEA friends in their apartment a few nights ago, and shared a bottle of wine. On Sunday, Julia and I hosted another dinner with several more people, and we are hoping to have community dinners at least a few times a week. 

I do love how food brings people together, it is the main reason I am excited to learn to cook more. Julia and I are doing pretty well so far, check out dinner from last night:

The chicken was seasoned with a spice mixture created by a local woman who was selling spices at the open air market. It is delicious!

Item #19

This list item is never completely finished because I will continue to try new food, but I had my first escargot with lunch the other day. Not bad at all!

Our First Excursion

The internet here can be a little spotty at times, so the blog posts are probably going to be rather sporadic, and I may just do a few at one time as well. Here is a bit about our adventures on Thursday (January 5). 

We took a quaint little Mercedez-Benz bus to tour through Nice, Eze, and Monaco. Our CEA advisors came with us, as well as Cecilia, a French woman who knows an amazing amount of history and current information about the area.

NICE:

I think I could really get used to this view...

There was a man selling his paintings on canvas at the market here. They were beautiful oil paintings, and he found Julia to be beautiful, so he gave one of our friends quite the discount on a painting.

“You should thank Julia, I give you discount because she is so beautiful and will be my wife.”

An outdoor market is one of my favorite simple things. People giving their talents and personalities and passions in many different forms. I love it.

EZE:

A hilltop village where I could live, or at least live close to so that I could visit often to write in the sun-kissed alleys. I hope to go back perhaps a couple times and hike around the area. It has quite the view.

  

MONACO:

The center of gambling and extravagantly dressed people. The amount of money circulating in this town is unimaginable, and everything is sparkly clean and shiny to prove it. It was a beautiful country/principality with quite the interesting history and governmental set-up. If you don't know much about it, take some time to read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco

List Item #4 (parts D and E)

Tonight we went out with most of the students from CEA to a bar called Hop Store, which is also where many French students from CEA go quite often. So I have checked off part D and E of list item #4, going to a bar and having a drink with Julia. Both of which I did and enjoyed very much. The French adults may be somewhat standoffish at times, but the young people, at least at this bar are fantastic. I met possibly the most French-looking person I've seen so far also; the longer, dark hair, slicked back, and the prominent nose, very tall and always carrying around a bottle of wine. Quite fun, as they all were. I will be visiting this place often (budget allowing) so expect pictures in the future!

A Picture of Travel Essentials

We've arrived! The travelling was long and exhausting and a bit mindboggeling. Though they turned off the lights on the plane to allow for "night time," there was not much sleeping to be had on the plane, nor in the 8 hour lay over in Paris. There was much digging through the bag to find more entertainment, and once we landed in Paris, much struggle not to look too blatently American. The big bags, wide eyes, and smiles made hiding our nationality difficult, however. The French, at least in airports, really don't seem to smile much. 

Still, I ordered my very first drink and meal in French with my very first euros. And did lots of reading, of course. And some nomadic travelling from seating area to seating area in attempts to be out of the way and close to our gate. The final flight finally did come, however, and we slept through that one no problem.

Then, one more ride from the Nice airport to our Resideal (apartements), with a driver who was smoking the whole time (in the car! I'm going to have to get used to the smoking for sure) and we finally arrived at our home for the next few months! 

More details to come!