Nice

This is a short movie I made using video I took on my digital camera! I know it's dark- bear with me. I would have taken video when we were walking outside (when it was still light!) but I didn't think about it then. I'm going to London on Friday to visit a friend, so you can expect more video blogs soon. I tried to upload more pictures to this post but my internet is being really slow. Check back tomorrow!

Embarassing stories and Christmas decorations!

Haha...so, being in a foreign country and all, I am bound to make stupid mistakes. This week has been full of them. I was sitting on a bench waiting for the bus and this woman comes up to me; I thought she was begging for money so I shook my head, no. What she actually asked me was if she could sit next to me. So I basically insulted her. Luckily she sat down and started talking to me, so I think it was no big deal.

I bought some Christmas decorations at the store the other day so here are a few pictures. On the left is a little Christmas tree. I needed some red in my room! Then I put some lights shaped like snowflakes around my bulletin board. I'm all ready for the holidays now! : )

Obama, weather, and the French education system

I don't have any pictures, but I have plenty of things to talk about! For one, the election! I never really realized how involved the rest of the world is in American politics until I got here. The day the election results were announced, I had random French people ask me if I was happy about Obama's win. I don't think most Americans could even tell you what kind of political system France has, let alone know Sarkozy's name. The French people in general were all Obama supporters, and they were pretty excited. People were yelling his name in the streets that night, I heard. Let's hope he earns all their enthousiasm.

Next item up for discussion- the weather here in "sunny" Provence. These past few weeks have been rainy and cold! I honestly thought I could leave my red rain boots at home in my closet, but I have needed them more this semester than ever, I think. I heard there are about 200 or so days of sunshine here (more, I think) but when it rains it rains. And rains. And doesn't stop for a whole week. And all of the gutters here drain onto the sidewalks so you get even more soaked. Cold weather with no snow is not, in my opinion, any fun. Apparently they don't believe in heated classrooms here in Europe, so tomorrow during my litterature class I will probably be freezing!

I will never again complain about the price to attend college in the United States. If you could see the building I have classes in, you would understand what I'm talking about. I will take pictures and post them soon. Imagine an old, abandoned building- a place with graffiti on the walls, unisex bathrooms that always smell like urine and that rarely have toilet paper or toilet seats, and you've got the FAC. Because no one pays for university here, and the government doesn't provide the school with any money, they can't do anything about it either. The teachers are amazing though. I think this is supposed to be one of the best universities academic-wise in France. I think they are all tired of teaching in such awful conditions, too, but they are more used to it than I am!

It is very late now and I have a 10 a.m. litterature class in the morning so this is where I sign off. I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Meredith

Moustiers Sainte Marie et Les Gorges de Verdun

So I know it's been a really long time since I've posted, but the last few times I tried to upload pictures it wouldn't work for some reason. And I've been really busy with classes so I haven't had a lot of free time. But I have some now, so here you go! Yay, it worked!

To the right is a picture I took in a little village called Moustiers Sainte Marie. I went there on a trip with a bunch of other study abroad students on Sept. 28 (I remember because it was my birthday). The city is known for being really picturesque and also because there is a church there where miracles are supposed to happen all the time. It's on a mountain and it's really pretty there, which you can see from the picture on the left. I took a bunch!


This one was at Les Gorges de Verdun. It's basically a smaller version of the Grand Canyon. And it's not holes in the Earth, it's like mountains. We rode the bus up them so we could take pictures there. They said we were going to be able to climb a little but it was kind of dangerous so we just stopped by the side of the road to take pictures. That's me and my friend Celina to the right. And that's her down there to the left. We rented these paddle boats and were able to go out on the river! There's Celina trying to push us off the beach.







Haha, so I thought I was taking a picture but I was actually taking a video. Just thought it was kind of funny : )

Marseille

Today my program organized a trip to Marseille, which is apparently second only to Paris when it comes to France's biggest cities. It's on the Mediterranean, and I got a bunch of amazing pictures of the ocean! The sun was shining the whole day and I got quite sunburned! To the right is the view from our bus. It only took about 25 minutes to get to Marseille from Aix.


The picture on the left (2nd row of pictures) is of the little islands just off the coast. You can take a special boat just for tourists to go there and spend there. You can barely see it, but the little island that is just in front of the bigger island- to the far left- is where the Chateau D'IF is. This is the castle in which the movie/book The Count of Monte Cristo takes place- the one Edmond Dantes escapes from in the beginning.
Ok, I only added this because my mom wanted a picture with me in it. I look awful because it was really hot and we were all sweating really badly. The view here is gorgeous, though, isn't it? It makes the heat almost bearable. Here, I was walking up the steps to the Notre Dame de La Garde, Marseille's big church. There were so many different languages being spoken by all the tourists! It was the first time I really heard people speaking Italian and it was exciting for me! The bus ride there was a little scary because, like the Sacre Coeur in Paris, this church was on a HUGE hill. We were on one of those big greyhounds, and it was like going up the streets in San Francisco. I really didn't think we were going to make it!
This picture is of my two closest friends in the program so far, Katie (left) and Celina (right). Both are juniors at IU like me.
This one to the right is of the Notre Dame de la Garde. It was so huge!
This one in the middle is a fountain we stopped at for about ten minutes. I don't know what it's called, but it was so gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it.

My dorm room

This is for you mom! Just some pictures of my dorm room.

The scenic tour of Aix

Today two of my friends and I decided to explore a little in Aix, and we kind of got lost. We did see a lot of the city, though. To the left is the mountain we can see from our dorms (although this picture was taken about 10 minutes away from where we are staying.) We stopped at a patisserie along the road here for a pastry, and then we had to ask for directions. The man knew immediately that we were native English speakers, but my goal this year is to change that!


This picture on the right is the Parc Jourdain. It's really pretty during the day. People go there and have picnics, and we saw a guy singing and playing his guitar there this afternoon. At night, though, it gets kind of scary. There are supposedly a lot of drug deals that go on there.

I will post again as soon as I have something interesting to write about!

Bisous,
Meredith

Finalement! I'm in Aix!

Salut tout le monde!

I would write in French, but not everyone who will be reading this blog can understand so I will stick to Anglais, maybe with a little francais thrown in here and there. I've got a few glasses of wine in me, so forgive me if I stop making sense! I got to Aix at about 1 p.m. on Thursday, so this is my second full day here. Everything is going pretty well so far. I'm in a dorm that is located about 10 minutes from the center of town.

The dorms here are so different from at IU! We have to buy our own toilet paper because there is none in the bathrooms! I've also come to appreciate toilet seats more than I ever thought I would- there are none of those, either. The showers go off after about 30 seconds, so you have to push the knob in all the time. We have sinks in our rooms, though, which is nice. I also have a bidet in my room, but it's kind of scary-looking and I haven't attempted to use it yet. It gets really hot here during the day and there's no AC, so that is taking some getting used to.

So far, we haven't really done anything all that interesting. We've had a few meetings, and there are about 35 of us- some from Indiana, some from Wisconsin, and some from Michigan. There are 29 girls and 6 boys in my group. Yesterday we had a guided tour of Aix, and we saw the building where we get our mail and where the program directors have their offices.

Then, we went downtown and saw all the fountains (Aix has over 40!) and shops. Our school is smack dab in the center of town, and there isn't a whole campus like at IU. There are just a couple of buildings and the rest of campus is way across town. So far I've made it everywhere I need to be without getting lost!

Today a few of my friends and I went downtown because they had "les marches" today. There are booths all over the place with fresh fruit and vegetables and all kinds of yummy stuff. I ate the best peach I have ever tasted in my life! We had breakfast at a little cafe with tables outside facing the market. Afterwards, we went to Monoprix, which is kind of like Target but bigger, to get groceries.

I dont' have any pictures yet because I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when we go places! I start my "cours intensif" on Monday, which is like an introductory/review class to help us prepare for classes in a few weeks.

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all!

A bientot,
Meredith

FYI

I'm only saying this because people have actually asked me if I thought Aix was really pronounced "Eggs." No, I don't- it's a joke.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

This is just a test to see if it really works! Check back in about two weeks and I'll have my first real post.