march madness

Spring is officially here!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I am sorry it has been a couple weeks since my last post. I didn't do too much worth while since then. I climbed the mountain here twice. And the second time was definitely the most fun i have had On Mont Saint Victoire in the 8 or 9 times i have climbed it. I went up the difficile (difficult path) which involves a little bit of rock climbing. Then just chilled at the top with the friend that went with me. After we woke up from a mountain top nap we went and hiked the ridge line for a mile and then decided to bushwhack our way down to a village we saw. This seemed like it would be easy as pie. But oh no, it was not. took about 3 hours to get down and to this village (Vauvenguardes). We ran into cliffs and walls of bushes and trees. But we pushed thru and finally made it back to flat land! It was great. And we still had time to check out the village before the bus left for Aix.


(the way up)


(the way down)

Other than this. I went into Marseilles again and had a charwarma by the Mediterranean Sea. Got lots of rest. Finished Harry potter number 5. I just started number 6 today!

I went to my friends 41st birthday party on Saturday. It was a blast. We started with a little petanque tournament and some grenadine. My team made it to the finals. And then once more people showed up and night fell. we lit up the grill and started opening up the bottles of wine. There must have been 50 people at this house out in Tholonet (about 15 mins drive from Aix) Great atmosphere and great food. And then at about 11 some friends from Tunisia came over with there drums and put on a show for like an hour and a half. so things got loud and crazy for those of us still there. Oh, yeah the birthday boy is a huge cigar guy, and someone gave him a box of cubans. So I got to try a Cuban (don't worry, they are legal here). And then as the night really wound down I got to talking to a guy there about a possible job opportunity here. So cross your fingers for that. But yeah i got a ride home from a french guy at the end of the night. It was a good time, and i am sure we will have a few more outings there. Especially when they open up the pool!

So i also got thrown into a petanque group that meets every week. And so i went and had some fun this Sunday with them. I schooled a couple old french guys, always fun to do. We played 3 rounds. And now i am so hooked on this game. It is the French equivalent to Bacci, i guess. But since i do not have my Koob game here, this is a great replacement, and classic french. i will have to buy a set and bring home to share. (maybe we will get a game going at the Backyard BBQ?)

well that should just about catch you up. I have only got 3 more weeks of school here, so right now i am trying to plan my 2 months free time (french schools make no sense). I will try and keep you updated on that. And if anyone wants to come for a visit, just let me know and we can start figuring it out. I already have Jojo and Don, Mark and Angie, and my household coming over. But i got plenty of time for you too.

Have a great week everybody. I know i will in this 60 degree sunny park weather!

Spring time is here

Hey everyone!

So i am still having a great time here in southern France. The sun is out and we have gotten a couple of 50 degree days already. I just finished my last class of the week, and now i have got a vacation week. Since i have last talked with you I have climbed the mountain 2 times, met a few french people in my new classes, and started to really understand my new classes also. I still have not recieved any of my grades from fall term, but i am registered for classes at GSU this coming up Fall. I think i did fairly well tho. Oh, the trip to Cassis was great. It really is a beautiful little coastal town. There are a lot of vineyards there and i hope to tour some of them soon. unfortunately i am having to postpone the hiking trip until more people have got time to go, But i still have got high hopes of completing this feet before i leave.

I also got my first haircut since being in france! and i went to an american football game not too long ago. I also went and watch OM (the soccer team in Marseilles) play against Twente. We lost. Oh and the fair is in town for a few weeks.

So durring this vacation period i have finally dicided that i am going to explore the Bouches de Rhone rgion of France (this is where i live). I would like to see a village a day. here is the bus route, just to give you an idea of what i am talking about. http://www.lepilote.com/img/_info/CG_PlanReseau2008.pdf so hopefully it will be a lot of fun!

So do you have any questions for me about life here in France?

Another week in south France

so this week i have been keeping busy. Sunday night some friends and i went to a gelato place right on cours Mirabeau. this place it awesome and i will definitely take you there if you come and visit.

On Monday i went to an underground dance club with a group of friends (i was the only American in the crowd). That was so much fun. we danced to all sorts of music (not country of course) and drank and talked til about 2am.

On Tuesday i had a friend turn 26 here. Her name is Loni. There were 16 of us that went out to celebrate at this new Italian restaurant in town. we were there for over 3 hours having our meal. mmmm it was so good too. I had the duck in a honey sauce. you would die for this food. Another place i will take you.

And tonight, Wednesday i am going to a wine tasting in town. Its me and like 20 other people (maybe 3 of us will be guys. i like those odds. lol), six types of wine, and a whole lot of fun. I can't wait. It was a great time the last one i did in the fall, so i have got high hopes for this one. My friend Hilary runs this tasting business, and she is a great person.

This weekend i am planning on going to Cassis, a small coastal village about 45 minutes away from here. It is supposed to be really beautiful. I will be checking ou the site there and also meeting with someone at the tourist info building to discuss my upcoming trip in march. I am going to hike from Cassis to Marseilles along the coast with some buddies of mine. We are planning to take 2 days one night to complete the 25k journey. It should be a great time. Look up the Calanques if you want to get a glimpse of some of the breathtaking views that are in store for me.


well, that is it for now. i got to get heading to that wine tasting. I will try and update you again next week.

The Semester is underway

So i have been in my new classes at my new school for a couple of weeks now. It is going great. My classes are generally britty big (all are taught in theater size rooms, the teachers have to use microphones, and i sit in the middle of at leaste 100 french kids). It is about as opposite as it can get from the school i was in last semester. But i understand a good bit of what is being taught. Actually in some of my classes i think i understand a little better than the french kids, and yes everything is taught in French. A couple of my teachers pass out some note sheets to help us, one uses powerpoint, and then a couple of them just sit on the stage and talk for 2 hours (and we are expected to sit quietly, understqnd, and take notes at lightning speed), but the french kids have a lot of trouble in these class as well. So you might be wondering what i am taking this semester: French constitutional law 2h, Market Economics 5h, Accounting of entreprises 5h and Demography 3h. It is proving to be a good size load. But i am welcoming the challenge

I am still staying in contact with my friends from last semester. In fact i want to a party with some of them the other day. Also, my grades are starting to come in, and it looks like i did pretty well (lots of 15's or higher).



um interesting story. So i am currently looking for work here in Aix (i will be looking for a job when i get back to america too, if you know of any). The only thing i have found so far was to help a doctorate student with her research study. So i called her up and set up an appointment. She is doing a study on how people from different mother maguages apprend the french language. So i met her at the hospital in town to get tested. Sh e proceeded to hook all sorts of electrodes to my face and then an electrode cap on my head. She hooked all of these up to a big computer. She thyen left the room and i had the test. For the test i starred at a copmuter screen (blinking was not allowed, as it would interfer with the signal from my brain) and i watcher sentences in french go by very fast word by word. at the end of each sentence i had to push a button saying weather it was correct gramatically and comprehension wise. The whole process took two hours, and boy was i tired after it ( i had stayed awake til 4am the night before watching the SuperBowl, but that is another story). So she told me the results. I am average in my knowledge of weather words are correctly written in feminine or masculine form. And my common sense and comprehension is a little above average. So all good news. I took my 15 euos and was on my way.



Well that's all for now, let me know if you have got any questions.

Le fete de Saint Marcel

the pictures say it all.

this is literally the craziest festival i have ever been to. Every year, all the people of the town dress up in these traditional Provencal clothing and parade around town. They dance, sing, jump, shoot muzzle loaders, and carry the bust of Saint Marcel down all the streets of the town. And every 4 years they slaughter a cow and parade it around town as well. This was my lucky year. So you are probably wandering just as much as i was, What is the point of this celebration? well the the story is pretty hazy at best. but i will try and tell it.

A few hundred years ago... when all the plagues and pests were hitting Europe pretty hard and killing a lot of people, there was one man who found the answer. This was a man who was walking down the road one day and saw a vision of Saint Marcel. The saint told him that if the people of his village ate the Tripe (cow intestines and stomach lining. gross, and previously always discarded as trash) then they would be safe. So the man told this to the village of Barjols and believe it or not the town prospered and was spared from the coming plague. Crazy. I know.

Well. we went, we saw, we jumped, we sang, we did not eat tripe, and we left. It was awesome. Definitely the kinda thing that tourists never hear about. I am glad to not be a tourist. I live here, and thus i sometimes here about these crazy events. I hope to find a couple more before i leave.

We made it to Paris

So we landed in Paris on the morning of New Years Eve! We had to take a train from the airport into town. On the train we met a cute french girl and an American girl. And the french girl is actually related to President Sarkozy! crazy!!! and she helped us find the right metro to get to our hotel, and she also had some pretty good stories. So we got off the metro and found our hotel like right outside the front doors of the station. We actually got our own room and shower and toilette. It was a real hotel. great way to end the trip and relax. So it is New Year's Eve, and their is no way that we are just going to sit in the hotel. Good thing i had friends in Paris. We met up with a guy named Nizar (friend from school, and the ambassador from Libya's son). We find the rest of our group (about 15 people) at the Arc de Triumph. From here we start drinking and walking towards the Eiffle tower for the big party. We get pretty good spots a little ways away and have the most perfect view for the countdown. There are thousands of french people around us. It was so great. Cinq, Quatre, Trois, Deux, Un, Bonne Anée!!!! it got crazy. Everyone cheering and happy. and then after a while there, we started the long walk back to the hotel and partied and met french people all along the 3 hour journey. It was truly a blast, and thus we woke up at 2pm the next day.

So for the rest of the trip we just took it easy and explored as many sites as we could (both durring the day and at night). This city is just magical really. I have been here before and i was still in Awe of so many things. So we saw: Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, Galleries Lafayette, Bastille, Les Invalids, Arc de Triumph, Eiffle Tower, Mars parc, Champs de Essays, Louvre, Jim Morrison, Versailles, Sorbone, Parthenon, Statue of Liberty, Notre Dame, and so much more. And we ate some really good food along the way including my favorite; charwarmas (kinda like a Gyros, it's Lamb meat in a sandwich with fries and sauce. Awesome!) almost everyday.

So we spent a lot of time just walking around and exploring the city. All types of weather fell upon us except for rain. We got the sunny days, the cloudy ones and then the snow came one morning and covered the city. It was amazing being able to see this city in so many different lights. We also learned how to use the metro pretty efficiently after a day or two. It became second nature to take line 5 towards Place d'Italy and get off at Republique and catch line 8 towards Balard and get off at Concord. that is just one example, but it is fairly easy to get around the city if you know how to use the underground city. and that is exactly what it felt like when on the metro, you were in a whole other city. Sometimes the subway trains would surface and go thru Paris and give you some great views too. Like when we went to Versailles. This city which is not too far from Paris is owner to the Palace of King Louis XIV which is seated on a massive garden enriched estate. I would suggest this 10euro trip to anybody who has got an extra half day to fill in Paris. You get to see some incredible artwork, and be bewildered by the size and grandeur of the lifestyles that the former kings had lived.

The Louvre as expected was amazing. I feel like we saw the whole thing in half a day. We just kept moving. Everything from the infamous Mona Lisa to the Sphinx, to Aphrodite was before us. This museum is massive, and i would say to most it could easily deserve an entire day, but be ready to do a lot of walking. There are some other museums in town that i would have liked to check out, but we just didn't have any money left by the time we were in Paris. So we went to the largest cemetery in town to search for some of the greats. We got to the map and starred at it for a while along with 20 other tourists. I overheard a couple of cute french girls talking about going to see Jim Morrison, so i barged in on their conversation and invited us along. So all four of us started the journey to the other side of the grave yard. we passed some great looking tombs; fancy, new, shiny, old, big and small. I also was able to make some pretty good conversation with them (and i threw matt a couple bones, since he doesn't know french yet). we had a great time wondering the cemetery and yes we did find the great musician. As the day came to an end we left the graves and the girls and went wondering the town, like most nights.

So i will wrap up the Paris trip now. Matt left, and i still had one more day before i had my flight to get back to school. Some how my reservation for the last night was lost (go figure). so i had to hassle with the clerk, in french, to lower the price and let me stay, as opposed to sleeping on the streets. I got it down to 30 euros from 55. That was doable. so i got another nights sleep in the warm and then the next morning i woke up to more snow. And this time it was snowing hard. I caught my train to Beauvais (50 miles north) and we headed straight into the "little blizzard" as Aunt Angie would say. lol. The first problem was that the last bus shuttle that connects the train station in town to the airport had already left. And i am now out of cash. So what is a college kid to do? Write up a sign on notebook paper that says airport and go stand on the side of the road with his thumb out. Back Pack on, snow falling and a big smile. It took 40 minutes or so to get a ride. I was grateful! A nice lady finally pulled over, she said she lived by the airport and it wouldn't be a problem to take me. She said she remembered being my age. But she was from Antilles (some of the french claimed islands). I thanked her and was on my way. I sat in the airport for 5 hours waiting for my flight. And durring that time the runway froze! the 3 flights scheduled before mine were all canceled! big scare for a minute, but luckily my plane was able to land, and then take us to Marseilles. I little late due to de-icing the wings, we landed in MRS airport and i just had time to catch the last bus into Aix en Provence. I got home at 1:30am after traveling for 14hours (it would have been 4 if i had just gotten the train ticket. lol) I had fun, and now my trip was over. Time to go back to class. But then a snow storm hit Aix and classes were canceled for the next 3 days. so i was able to take a relaxation vacation from my vacation.

so that does it for that. I was safe and had a great time. And if you want to see more pictures then click the photobucket link on the right column. And PLEASE leave any comments or questions for me