Free Wine and Cheese

See, I knew I could come up with an exciting post title. What's more exciting than free wine and cheese?

The past two days have been the busiest and most interesting so far so, naturally, I haven't had time to write at all. Right now I'm home from my first day of classes, which are going well so far. Wouldn't it be horrible if they weren't? Yesterday was orientation, and although I didn't find Brooke and Clara (who live nearby) right away, we ran into each other on the walk to town. At orientation we learned about some of the history of Aix, what cell phone to buy, not to walk alone at night, etc. We also got a 2-hour lunch break, during which Brooke, Clara and I found a huge market in front of the Palais de Justice (food, spices, soap, shoes, hats, you name it), bought cell phones and met up with Elle and other Katherine (from the night before) for lunch. We got a little lost on the walk from the Cour Mirabeau (the main street with all the fountains) to the area near the Institute, but we made it in the end. Then we had some more orientation, and some French students came to talk to us about nightlife and bar recommendations. Orientation finished with a walking tour of Aix; Elle was in my group, and as soon as we were done we got ice cream. It is hot here during the day! We then promptly got lost. Little streets that keep twisting and turning are adorable, but annoying. I made it home fine, but by that point I was exhausted.

I had dinner with my host mom and then some down time until I met Brooke and Clara to go to the Wohoo, one of the bars the French students had recommended. Well, one of them bartends there and was throwing a free wine & cheese party for us, which was awesome. Unfortunately, we got there a little late so there was only one bottle left. The bar was nice, but it played a lot of American music and was mostly American students (us) so I didn't feel like it was a particularly French experience. However, it was a great way to get to know more people in a less forced setting.

(L to R) Mel, Liz, Brooke

Janette, me, Clara

Look! Friends!

The first day of classes (today) was, surprisingly, much less draining than orientation had been. At the Wohoo, I'd met a girl who had my same class schedule (1-5 pm), so we decided to meet in the morning to do a little exploring. Cara is really sweet and we have a lot in common. She loves Le Petit Prince and Alice in Wonderland; enough said. We went to Monoprix, the big department store/supermarket (think Target), where I bought a bottle of seltzer so I can have a water bottle during the day, and notebooks for class. We also stopped by the daily farmer's market to get fruit to eat during class, and ended up sharing a baguette. Delicious! We're meeting up again tomorrow. I want to explore the cathedral: it's right by the school, but I haven't been in yet.

I'm taking Provence in Film and Literature and Archaeology of Ancient Provence. Prof. Radulescu was insistent that I take classes that have to do with the area, since they will be the most relevant. Both are in French, taught by French professors, but they don't seem like they'll be too hard. Knock on bois.