It's the Little Things

There are the big things I will miss and not miss. But when you live somewhere you notice the little things as well as the big things. So here are two little lists of the little things.

Things I Will Not Miss:
- the tiny smelly bathrooms at IAU
- RyanAir
- dog poop piles on the streets
- sidewalks big enough for half a person
- pigeons flying at your face
- benches in the cave that have no cushions 
- being confused about which side the bise starts on
- handheld shower heads
- things being closed on Sundays 

Things I Will Miss
- not having to wash my fruit
- the streets smelling like bread
- walking in the middle of the road and not getting run over
- all people of all ages in any place stopping to give the bise to someone they know no matter where they are, even if they're in a car and the other person is walking
- the nonpolluting buses
- the colors of Provence
- casually picking up cheese at the market
- wee tiny dogs all over the place
- the adorable window shutters everywhere, America just doesn't really have them
- euro coins: the one and two euro coins are decidedly the most useful things, it's too bad America's golden dollar idea tanked (the other day, I actually forgot we had a one dollar bill in the US)
- the Provence sun

I think I'm actually more nervous to go back home than I was to come here. Maybe it's because I knew I'd come back home on a very specific date and I don't know when I'll be back here. France was full of unknown things, but that was to be expected. Now home, the place I'm supposed to be the most familiar with, is now strange. When you go abroad, you think that life back home has stopped because you left. Logically, you know that's not what happened, but that's what it feels like. Now everything back home has changed, you just weren't there to see it happen. So in my last few hours I have to remind myself to chill out, because I know everything will be absolutely fine, and instead enjoy my last bit of France!

It's the Final Countdown

BAH DA BUM BUM BAH DUH DUM DUM DUM
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Here I am on my last full Sunday in Aix. Next Sunday around this time I'll be heading to the TGV station to make my way up to Paris to catch a flight the next day. It's unreal. Time has flown while I've been here. It seems I was just arriving, trying to find my other suitcase, getting lost on my walk home, and being totally overwhelmed by French. Now I'll be starting finals week, trying to put everything back in suitcases, starting to say goodbye to the people I've met and places I've gone, and worrying about how much I'm going to struggle speaking in English all the time. (thank you, French syntax)

My friend and I were talking this morning that it's very weird to think of going home. Being here used to feel like a dream and our real life was back in the US. Now it's the other way around. This is our real life and back in the US seems like a dream. I just still can't wrap my brain around the fact that I will be leaving here and going home. That I'll be leaving this beautiful place and all these wonderful people. I can count down everything on two hands now. Seven days in Aix, eight days until I'm home. Seven more dinners with my host family, one more load of laundry. One more day of classes, four more days of school.

But this past week was a wonderful one. Friday and Saturday were super hot, up in the 80s with no cloud cover and I realized that I actually forgot what it felt like to be so hot. Aix does not ease you in, it goes from pleasant in the mid 60s one day to scorching upper 80s the next. I don't know how I handle summer back home.
However, the hot weather meant that out came the shorts, skirts, dresses and color! Our French teacher told us that French people don't really wear shorts unless it's hot or if the girls are trying to be sexy. For most of the students in my program, 65/70 was hot enough for shorts. But apparently not until 80ish are shorts acceptable for the Aixois. And the color. I've gotten so used to the neutrals that when they were walking around sporting bright colors and sundresses (!) I was shocked. Thank goodness they finally think it's hot.

Yesterday we went to the market for what might have been the last time. Stocked up on Provencal things like lavender, herbes, and tiny pottery with sunshines on it. Last night my friends and I cooked a meal at their house. We managed to make a sort of eggplant Parmesan, chicken Parmesan, and spaghetti with homemade sauce. It was a great way to spend our last Friday night all together. Since some people are leaving super early Saturday, it was really our last Friday night. I'm so glad that most of the people I have met live close enough to me that I can go visit them on weekends and keep in touch. (Although I think it's hilarious that my host mom thinks a three hour car drive is far. For me that's pretty close!) 

And now I have to go start working/studying. Five finals in the next five days and one paper. I am not used to this much work anymore.

Election Reflections: with Catharine

As you may or may not know, the French presidential elections just happened yesterday. They are by far the most dramatic event I have ever seen in France, seconded by the presidential debates.

First a little general knowledge: voting in France happens Sunday from 8AMish- 6PM precisely. To vote you take a piece of paper for Hollande and a piece for Sarkozy and an envelope. You go in a little voting booth like in the US and put one paper in the envelope. Then after signing your name and all that stuff, you drop your envelope in a clear box that someone opens and closes. At 6PM they count all the votes and any that are empty, or double stuffed, are invalid. Fun fact, France had 80% participation this year. Impressive compared to the US, no?

So. I went downstairs at 7:55 to watch the grand reveal. And grand it was. They count down to their elections like we count down to New Year's. There were newscasters all over France with the crowds from both parties and the newscasters in the room for France 2 (news channel here). They counted down like crazy. And we have two minutes left. One and half. One. THIRTY SECONDS. Then the news room got dark except for the lit up French flag on the floor. Then on the screen a picture of the Palais de l'Elysée showed up and a red carpet began unrolling from the gates to the front door. Dramatic music. Rolling carpet. It reaches the front door and BAM! Picture of Hollande. I was mildly stunned, I didn't think it would actually happen, but it did.

Afterwards we saw Hollande's supporters jumping up and down and yelling and cheering and crying. They had "FH" painted on their faces and "PS" for the socialist party. It was like a crazy sports event. Soon after we see Sarkozy's supporters. They all have their umbrellas up and all you see is a huge crowd of people covered with umbrellas. It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. I can only assume it was umbrellas of defeat? Covering their shameful faces? It was definitely not raining so I guess they were symbolic. And among the crowd of umbrellas there were people waving white surrender flags. Very weird.

Then a little later Sarkozy came out to gave his 'defeat' speech. When he walked out people started booing and yelling-- but mind you, these are his supporters. He gives a nice speech about how he takes responsibility (they boo), how he lost in a democratic election so that's good (they boo), thanks them for their support, all those good things. He also tells them to be good French people and stay united and act proud-- unlike what the opposing party would have done if they had lost. Oh, snarky Sarko. Then they start cheering and yelling "Vive la France" and continue to cry and yell. Then they start singing La Marseillaise and waving French flags and I got some goosebumps because it was kind of creepy and rebellion like.


I didn't get to see Hollande's winning speech, he took forever to show up and I had to study for my test today and get some sleep. Anyways, who knows what this will bring for France. There are good parts and bad parts to it. In the words of the French, on verra.

Hello May, You Got Here Rather Quickly

Err... hello there May! Didn't expect to see you here so quickly. Honestly, it's May already? How did that happen?

This week was nothing special. Did some homework, did some procrastinating, the usual. Yesterday was the best day of the week. I went to the park with a few of my friends and we picnic-ed and then lounged in the park for a few hours. Then that evening I went to my friends' double birthday party and it was a blast. I realized last night how many great friends I really have made here and how much I'm going to miss every one of them.
Sadly, this morning I discovered that yesterday the sun got to me. Usually, I can sit in the sun for hours and nothing happens. I know it's still bad, but I don't change colors. Except this time. The backs of both of my legs are terrifically sunburned. Lobster status. And wearing tight jeans last night did not help that at all. Ouch. :( s

Maybe ready-for-home-ness comes in waves. Because recently I've started feeling ready for home again. I'm still doing just fine here, but it's so hard to motivate myself to finish these last weeks of the semester. I know I'll be home soon surrounded by familiar things and the little things here that get on my nerves start to get on my nerves more. I start counting down the days, how many loads of laundry I have left, how many Wednesday classes, how many more days until I can cook and bake in my own kitchen, use a stand up shower, and sleep on my favorite pillow. It's just the little things that are getting to me all around. I still miss people at home, but I know they'll be there and they'll be waiting in 16 days from now for me to arrive at the airport.

Sixteen days seems so short but so long at the same time. Five more days of classes, four days of finals, and one full weekend left. I keep needing to remind myself to live here and now, I'll be home soon enough. And once I'm home I'm sure I'll want to come back here. And someday I really hope I do. For now I need to finish all this homework in a great blast of productivity so that I have nothing to worry about until finals. So, brb, being productive!