Taryn's Traveling Tales

mon dernier message de Montpellier...my last message from Montpellier!

2009-07-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was so excited because the Ukranian girl, Natalia, made dinner for us! She made pork in the oven and she fried potatoes in a skillet...but she used different sauces and methods of making them, so the potatoes definitely looked like fish to me! It was all DELICIOUS, and I ate a TON (shocking, right).

We sat around the table after dinner just talking, joking around, etc. It is always so interesting because we have the French family, Didiers, Catherine, and Jules, their friend Christine from Paris who is in town staying with us, the two Columbian girls, Daniella and Daniella, then Ukranian girl, Natalia, and me, the American : ) This makes for GREAT conversation every night, as everyone has different ideas for things based on where they come from and what is standard in their country. This means that every night our dinner lasts at least 2 hours, its great!

This morning, I went for my LAST jog in Montpellier. I was not so upset about this. I hate running, so I was very happy when that was over : )

We just got finished with class for the day -- I am about to head to a little shop to buy a bottle of wine for the family for dinner tonight -- then I will return "chez Gardair"...a.k.a. back to the Gardair house, my host family.

Tonight, I will be packing my bags, studying a good bit, and spending my last hours with my host family. Tomorrow, I will wake up early and go immediately to school for my final exam. I will then catch my train to Paris around 130, putting me in Paris just short of 5 o clock.

THE TIME HAS COME. I consider this the definition of "bittersweet."

I have now spent just about 2 months in Montpellier. It has been probably the most beneficial growing experience of my life thus far. I have learned so much about independence, taking initiative, and mostly about myself in general. I have loved living with people from different countries and cultures and learning to connect with them despite language barriers. This experience, to say the least, has put me out of my comfort zone, and forced me to immerse myself into a completely different environment in which I have learned and have grown more than ever before.

I am, however, ready to move on. I look forward to spending a week in Paris with my mom (WOOT WOOT!) and then returning back home to see my family, my friends, and MY collegetown : )

I will try and write again from Paris! (and possibly include some pictures too)

I'm off to enjoy what is left of my stay in Montpellier!

CIAO

BARCELONA : Sagrada Familia

2009-07-21T03:56:00.001-07:00

the side of the church that represented the death of Jesus

Gaudi studied the geometry of nature, and built every facet of this church according to his discoveries...these windows were built to resemble honeycombs.

the side of the church that represented the nativity

some other of his geometry in nature symbols...i cant remember what these represented, but they look cool : )

BARCELONA : Sagrada Familia

2009-07-21T03:42:00.001-07:00

notice the crane outside the window! anddd all the pretty reflections on the pillar from the stained glass windows.

the church has been under construction for CENTURIES, because they are trying to finish Gaudi's plans. The construction is funded by generous donations as well as these tours, a.k.a i helped fund it :) so there was all of this going on while we were there! SO interesting!

i loved all the different shades of blue

GORGEOUS COLORS!

BARCELONA : Mount Tibidabo

2009-07-21T03:30:00.001-07:00

The 100 yr old Blue Tram we took halfway up the mountain

Then we took this rickety thing up the rest of the mountain...I could have sworn it was about to break down at times.

Me at the top overlooking Barcelona and the Mediterranean sea in the distance!

Some of the amusement park at the top of Mt Tibidabo!

BARCELONA : Sports Complexes

2009-07-21T03:25:00.000-07:00

The famous FUTBOL CLUB BARCELONA stadium!!...If only I got to witness a match...or even a riot in the streets afterward...I'll hafta go back.

1992 OLYMPICS

the Olympic stadium...beautiful!

where the torch was lit

BARCELONA : Port Vell

2009-07-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

People relaxing in the park by the port.

So many yachts!

The water was SO blue!

oh, the exhausting life of being a tourist...BARCELONA!!!

2009-07-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just returned back to Montpellier from Barcelona! The weekend was WONDERFUL! Aside from Paris, Barcelona is my favorite city I have visited in Europe. (okay, so I haven't visited THAT many, but still...i loved it!)

We took 2 different trains to arrive to Barcelona. The train tracks are different in Spain than in France, so we had to switch trains in Port Bou, Spain, just over the border.

Upon arriving in Barcelona, we were a little nervous about not speaking the language. Luckily, I took Spanish this past year at UGA, so while I am FAR from being capable of carrying on a conversation, I was at least able to recognize signs, etc.

Friday night, Erin and I splurged and went to a nice restaurant. We got SANGRIA which was delicious and tapas. We have been missing mexican food like CRAZY, so we were pumped to be able to order chips and salsa and quesadilla tapas :) We stayed there for hours just enjoying the atmosphere and chatting. We then walked down to the port and enjoyed looking at all the gorgeous yachts that I plan on having when I'm older.

We called it a night around midnight as we were very tired from traveling. We returned to our hostel, which was far from 5 star, but it was still pretty great :) Erin and I were the only girls in a room of 14 beds. Needless to say, I slept only 2 hours that night despite being exhausted. The guys in the room were really drunk and loud when they came in and then even when they fell asleep they managed to keep me awake with their snoring...but its an experience, right?!...

We woke up Saturday morning and, following the advice the columbian girls who live with me had given, we went to buy tickets for the Bus Turistic of Barcelona. We figured since we only had ONE full day here, we needed to participate in something touristy like this in order to see all the main attractions. The buses were so funny, they were double-decker and open on top so that you could take pictures and see everything...but it was windy, so by the end of the day, my hair was...as paul would say...SO GRITZY!

There were SEVERAL buses running the three routes and the style was called "hop on, hop off" because you could ride past and just look at one of the attractions, or you could get off when the bus stopped, spend as much time as you want there, and then catch another bus later. The buses ran from 9 am - 11 pm. Here's where I "hopped off:"

-Sagrada Familia - famous church designed by Gaudi, which has been under constant construction, according to what he designed, for centuries. It is expected to be complete it 2030!

-Tibidabo - a mountain that overlooks all of Barcelona. First, we took the famous 100 yr old Tramvia Blau - a blue tram, up the first part of the mountain, and then a cable car up the rest. At the top of the mountain, there is a basilica (and a wedding was going on!) and an amusement park!
-Futbol Club Barcelona - the pitch where the WORLD FAMOUS soccer team plays! It was so awesome being here, as it is SUCH an important part of their culture. I even bought a little something at the FCB Megastore!!
-Estacio de Sants - this is just the train station haha, we made a pit stop to buy our reservations for our train back :)
-Anella Olympica - the site of the 1992 Olympic Games! We got to see where the torch was lit and all the venues for the different events!
-Montjuic - this is a mountain in Barcelona, where we walked around in the Botanical Gardens.
-Port Vell - famous port of Barcelona! There is an IMAX here, an aquarium, and a little amusement park...not to mention all the BEAUTIFUL boats in the harbor! We got ice cream and sat watching the boats come and go.

At this point, it was about 6 pm, and we had seen everything that we thought was the MOST important. We were exhausted, after having eaten ice cream, we passed up the bus option and decided to walk back to the hostel.

We rested for a little bit, then got ready and headed out for dinner. We picked up sandwiches along Las Ramblas (i realize i spelled that wrong in the previous post). While walking after dinner, a guy stopped us and convinced us to attend the PUB CRAWL that night. We figured we were only in Barcelona once, so we might as well. The Pub Crawl proved itself a little pricey, but it was a great experience, as the group was comprised of mainly tourists from ALL over. We went to 4 different bars and got 1 or 2 drinks at each for "free" -- but they were actually covered in our initial charges for being part of the Pub Crawl. It was so fun!

I slept better Saturday (last) night because I was so tired from the long day. This morning, we woke up early again and ate our complimentary breakfast at the hostel :) We packed up our things, checked out, and headed to Las Ramblas. On the weekends, there are little markets set up, where local artisans can showcase their work. There was some really great stuff, but I didn't make any purchases. I controlled myself.

After that, we headed to the train station. I slept most of the way on the ride back, so it was not bad at all. This time we switched trains at Cerbere (which we called Care Bear) which is just on the French side of the border.

I'm so happy to have spent my last weekend of the program in Spain! What a great experience! I do not have my camera cord with me, but I will upload pictures one day this week -- when I am not busy with all the school work we have, as we are wrapping up!

I better head home and let my host family know I am still alive...

MISS EVERYONE!! ADIOS!

im leaving on a jetplane...actually, more like the TGV.

2009-07-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after class, I got to see HARRY POTTER...IN ENGLISH! i was so excited :) and then i decided to go to the indoor Olympic-size swimming pool here in Montpellier. I swam 50 lengths, and my legs just about died from cramping up. Very good work out though :)

I had my LAST project due for Business French this morning! Now we're home free until the final next friday...WOO!

After class today, I went to the beach with a friend and we layed (laid?) out for HOURS enjoying the Mediterranean coast...welcome to the good life.

I cannot believe I only have one week left in Montpellier! I have already bought my train ticket to Paris to meet my mom once our final exam is over next friday. Its a weird feeling having everything wrapping up! No one can believe its almost over.

BUT I do still have a FULL WEEK ahead of me, and my friend Erin and I (she is in my sorority at UGA) have planned a trip to BARCELONA FOR THE WEEKEND!!

I am VERY excited that we are doing this for our last weekend of the trip, gotta go out with a bang right?! We are leaving tomorrow at noon after class for the 4 hour train ride. We have booked a hostel there that is off Los Ramblos (which Ive heard is the place to be there - very touristy). We are staying until we catch our train back Sunday night.

Hopefully I will have access to a computer there, but if not, I will just have to write ALLL about it and put up they MANY pictures once I get back :)

Have a good weekend yall!

travel duck!

2009-07-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today, after going for a morning jog, I decided to pick up some lunch and have a little picnic in the nearby park.

When I finished eating, I decided to give the crust off of my sandwich to the ducks. There were a lot of little ducklings that were so cute, but they wouldn't come near me! I was able to coax one up onto the bank with the bread crumbs, and took some pictures for Averi :)

MARSEILLE

2009-07-14T08:19:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Marseille!

it was gorgeous! i wanted to go hijack a boat.

i look rather large. pay attention the port, please.

MARSEILLE

2009-07-14T08:05:00.001-07:00

beautiful! me, that is..not the background...

there were gardens behind the palace, and i decided to pick this berry. i was going to eat it but it exploded all over my hand...then my friend read the sign saying that the berries were poisonous. my life was on the line and i had no idea.

fun fact: having a train pass in europe does not guarantee you a seat.

2009-07-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the group met at la gare (train station) and we were off to Marseille! It is about a 2 hour train ride. It was SO crowded on the trip there that I had to stand most of the time and was SURROUNDED by people (good thing I'm claustrophobic, right?)

Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France, based on population, aside to Paris of course. We ate lunch upon arrival next to the beautifulll port that Marseille is famous for. There were fishermen and boats everywhere, it was great! We then walked to see different monuments, churches, blah blah blah. We went to the Palais Longchamps (yes, like the purse brand!) which was absolutely GORGEOUS. It is now a museum of fine arts.

I don't have my camera on hand, but I will upload pictures of Marseille as soon as I have it with me at this wretched, smelly, hot internet cafe. It is interesting though to see what other people are looking at on their computers. Its just like those times when you're on a roadtrip at 4 in the morning and you see other cars and think, "I know why I am here, but what the hell are you doing here?" ...the same feeling at an internet cafe.

Anyway. Saturday evening, a family from Kenya came over for dinner. They spoke both french and english, which came in handy when I needed to know exactly what was in our mystery casserole...it was a very fun evening. Jules played his new electric guitar for us after dinner. He just bought it and has not put it down since!

Sunday, I went to the beach allll day with the group. It was overcast, but I managed to get a little sunburn! It was very relaxing.

I somehow had enough energy to go for a run yesterday evening after returning from the beach...I think it was only to avoid studying for our midterm that we had today : P I studied for it last night and this morning, and I think it went pretty well.

We don't have classes tomorrow because it is BASTILLE DAY! It is of zero significance to me, but if it means a day off of classes then damn it, I will celebrate it.

Until next time :)

so much to do, so little time

2009-07-09T09:41:00.001-07:00

The Ukranian girl came Sunday, and she gave me this really cool magnet that is made out of real grass, sticks, flowers, seeds, plants, etc. It is SO pretty! I cant wait to put it on my mini fridge :)

Since then, the days have been a blur of school work and working on the manyyy projects we have due for Business French. BLEH!

I did, however, get to catch part of the Tour de France on Tuesday after class, as it had passed through Montpellier that day. I wasn't too upset about having to miss most of it, because it will be ending in Paris at the end of the month when I am there with my mom!

On Wednesday, our classes were cancelled for our pre-planned trip to Arles to see a bullfight! It was SO interesting (I posted pics below). I also got to see where Van Gogh painted a lot of his pieces and even the hospital he went to after he cut off his ear :)

Wednesday night, after returning from Arles, the group went out to dinner for a girl in our group's birthday. We went to a creperie, where I ate a crepe that had ham, cheese, mushrooms, and RATATOUILLE! (I was think of the little rat movie when I hear that word) It was DELICIOUS! I then got a honey and almond crepe for dessert!

We have a few ideas for this weekend -- Toulouse, Marseille, Aigue-Mort, but we have not yet decided what we are gonna do...so many options!

I am sure that whatever we decide will be great and I'll end up posting tons of pictures after we go :)

COURSE CAMARGUAISE

2009-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

the introduction of the bullfighters!

the bull! they actually switch out bulls often so there were many. the red thing in the middle of his horns is what the bullfighters are trying to get. yes, there is a method to this madness.

so close!

yikes! one guy actually got trampled...his own fault. 2 points: bull.

COURSE CAMARGUAISE

2009-07-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

The "raseteurs" (bull fighters) run and jump over the red fence once they get the bull to charge them.

...sometimes the bull decides to jump too.

and then the bull runs around in the crowd!

Le Week-end!

2009-07-05T07:19:00.001-07:00

Friday night, Jules and Arthur made dinner for us. For an appetizer, they made little palm tree type things out of a cucumber and half of a tomato as the top...it was SO cute. We took a picture of all of them and it looked like a little jungle. For the main course, they had previously taken all of our orders for what we would like in our quesadillas, and they made them as we were eating the appetizer. For dessert, they made each of us a dessert plate--a fruit cup with chocolate sauce on top and an ice cream bar covered in whipped cream.

It was such a fun dinner! I was so impressed at the time and creativity these two young boys put into this meal! And they were cooking for 9!

Saturday morning, not only was I kinda bumming about not being with relatives for 4th of July, but also I was sad because Stella left :( I had SO much fun with her while she was here, I can't believe the 3 weeks went by so quickly! Im hoping to be able to visit her some time in the next few years--either at her house in Bologna or their vacation house in Tuscany. We're gonna keep in touch on facebook.

I was happier though when we left Saturday at noon to go to Pont du Diable to go cliff jumping! It was AMAZING!! Most of the people I went with and I went off the highest cliff you could go off without actually jumping off the bridge (which looked lethal). I went off this cliff no less than 10 times, and I could have sworn I blew my eardrum once haha.

I PUT PICTURES UP OF IT SO PLEASE LOOK AT THEM! ...Even though I feel like they don't do a justice for how beautiful the Rivière Hérault is.

Last night I went out with the group, and we met up with some people they had met who live here in Montpellier. It is always great being able to hang out with the locals and really put our french to the test :)

Today, I woke up and ate breakfast with Claude, my host grandma who is in town. It is so funny because she is a teacher, which is quite evident when she insists on correcting every mistake I make. I appreciate it though!

After that, I went to the Musée Fabre here in Montpellier and just walked around by myself. It is free the first Sunday of every month, so I did not want to miss the opportunity! I don't know much about art, so it was nice going by myself and being able to sit down in every room and read the information about each piece and really be able to examine all the work. I enjoyed it!

I have some homework I need to get done today...we are all kind of stressed about the workload we have on us right now, which is why we did not go on another excursion today. Plus we are all exhausted and sore from yesterday!!

We have a Ukranian girl coming tonight to live with us. I'm excited...I've never met a Ukranian person :)

Hope everyone had a great 4th!

P.S. dad, I found it funny that yesterday when I called you said you were out to dinner with PawPaw and all the uncles...and I immediately responded,"Cunninghams? Fish sandwiches?"
...now I know where you get your obessesion with going to the same restaurants all the time.
gotta love it. miss all of them.

pont du diable...CLIFF JUMPING!

2009-07-05T07:04:00.001-07:00

sarah jumping off our other favorite cliff there. she had chacos on...i was SO jealous, as my feet were THROBBING from climbing all over the rocks!

me jumping! i dont know why but i cant jump without plugging my nose...and yet i still manage to let go right before i hit the water and end up getting water up my nose every time. doesnt make sense.

all those years of ballet...look at my form.

pont du diable...CLIFF JUMPING!

2009-07-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

pretty background!

NOTICE the guy standing on top of the bridge. he jumped right after i took this. about 3 or 4 people jumped off of it while we were there. one guy ripped the whole back of his bathing suit doing so.

i live for places like this.

NOTICE the boy hanging out in the little arch of the bridge...he is CRAZY!

FREN 4150

2009-07-02T08:40:00.001-07:00

Business French started today...looks like we are gonna have TONS of work, but it seems very interesting!

We have our Final paper due tomorrow on Medieval Paris for the class we took while we were there.
I also have a final project for Le Midi (our southern France class from last month) that I will be making a film for this weekend. I decided to do it on National Parks and Outdoor Activities (bird watching, hiking, etc) in the south of France. I am going to visit some places and make a video.

So much work for such a short period of time!

Anyway, enough with the boring stuff, the dinner went VERY well last night! With all the exchange students, the family, the grandma, and Jules's inseparable friend Arthur, we had to cook for 9! We made the pasta bolognese and then for dessert, we made little cups for everyone with layers of crushed up cookies, carmelized pears we cooked, vanilla yogurt, and honey. Everything was a big hit!

Tonight, the two columbian girls are making one of their typical dishes...it is interesting because they were telling me that in Columbia, any family that is fairly well-off has a maid who lives with them, cooks all meals, and cleans. The girls called their maids last night to get recipes, but told Catherine (our host mom) to have the number for the pizza man ready in case things go wrong! ...theyve only cooked twice before they said. Hopefully they get it right though and it is delicious!

Seeing all of this, I think Jules and Arthur wanted to be like the older kids, so they said they are cooking for us tomorrow night. They said it is a "surprise"...slightly nervous about that!

Well, I need to get working on homework! I put up some more pictures from Paris!! I think thats all Im gonna post from that trip...I have WAY too many photos!!

BISOUS

LE LOUVRE

2009-07-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

ME ME ME!

pretty sure yall know what this one is :) this always reminds me of scott....

DaVinci

LE LOUVRE

2009-07-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Géricault painting...the story behind it is awesome, but I don't have room to write it here :(

What a typical room in the Louvre looks like...high ceilings, awesome art, lots of people...

Egyptian Sphinx!

Vénus de Milo

PONT NEUF

2009-07-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

the Medieval Paris group!

Pont Neuf was built during the medieval period because the existing Pont Notre Dame was overloaded. Pont Neuf serves as the boundary between Rive Gauche and Rive Droite (River Left and River Right, terms used as a reference to describe areas of Paris)

Bolognese, please.

2009-07-01T03:11:00.001-07:00

Tired from traveling, we spent all of yesterday at the beach :) thankfully, i didnt get so burned this time!

My host grandma, Claude, is in town all of this week. Last night for dinner she made paella...its a spanish dish, because she is half hispanic and grew up in Barcelona. It had rice, different veggies, and LOTS of seafood. I was hesitant to eat the seafood (after my allergic reaction to the seafood pasta...). I decided to go for it anyway because it looked delicious...no rash yet, so...so far, so good.

We sat around on the terrace last night and talked, until I had to go study for my final exam for today : /

Everyone thought the exam was pretty difficult, as the "short answer" questions could very well have been called essays. I think I did fairly well though.

Our new semester starts tomorrow. I'll be taking Business French every afternoon from 2-430. It'll be so nice only having one class a day!

Today, I am about to go meet up with Stella. We are gonna grab lunch at a cafe, go see the exhibit at the Musée Fabre, and then go to the supermarket. We are buying groceries because we offered to cook dinner tonight for our family! We decided that since my favorite food is all things pasta related, and she is from Italy, we're gonna cook Pasta Bolognese! She's gonna give me her recipe, I cant wait! (ill make it at one of our tuesday night dinners, paul!)

I better get goin to meet up with her! Ill let yall know how the dinner goes over!!

exhausted from it all!

2009-06-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

i dont even know where to begin! and i have SO many pictures!

Paris was AMAZING! We woke up at 8 everyday, and I have never walked more in my entire life. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, so during the day we got to go around to literally every museum possible. In the afternoons, we had free time to go visit whatever other sites we wanted to make it to. We would then go out as a group at night.

I am completely exhausted, and I cannot even remember where all I went, and all the days run together in my mind. Seriously. Luckily I have it written down:

Eiffel Tower twice, Notre Dame twice, Louvre twice, Sacre Coeur overlooking all of Paris, shopping on the Champs Elysees, up the Arc de Triomphe, night cruise on the Seine, Pont Neuf, Picnic by the Eiffel Tower, Pantheon, Sainte Chapelle, Saint Dennis (pretty much ALL the kings of France are buried here), Museum Rodin (the famous "thinker" statue is here), the Army Museum to see Napoleons grave, Jardins de Luxembourg, Jardins de Tuileries, and I know there were other museums and such that I just cant remember...

All of our group could barely even walk at the end of the trip. It was SUCH a great experience! Im not going to bother to sit and upload pictures right now, so I will have to get them done in the next few days.

Some funny things that happened to me during the trip:
-At the Middle Ages Museum, I was walking down stairs and my ankle turned, so I literally fell on the floor. None of my friends were around--the only people there were an old french couple, who didn't say a word or even make any expression at all. They just stared blankly at me as I got up off the floor....smooth.
-A persian woman came up to me at the Louvre and wanted a picture with me, she thought I was famous. I said no...first time, and most likely only time, that that happens to me.
-In the metros, you have to put your ticket through a slot, then walk through the turn stile, and push the swinging doors open. When coming back from Sacre Coeur, I walked through the turn stile, pushed the swinging door, then realized my purse was still stuck on the turn stile...naturally, I decided to bend over and unwrap it from around the turn stile, forgetting I had already pushed the swinging door. POW it swings back and cracks me in the head. Im actually glad all my friends saw...if Im gonna do something THAT ridiculous, then dammit, someone needs to see it.
...needless to say I had a quite visible knot on my head the next day.

ANYWAY, we just got back to Montpellier. Our final for Le Midi is on Wednesday, so the whole group is going to the beach tomorrow to lay in the sun all day and be able to study together. This time-- Im wearing some SPF.

Well, I better get back to my host familys house -- Im sure theyre wonderin where I am!

BYEBYE

ps MOM...means of reaching the top of the eiffel tower:
1. take an elevator all the way up
2. cheaper option - walk half, elevator the rest
and yeah i laugh thinking about going up there together too.

the whole time we were in paris, whenever i would see a cute couple having a picnic in front of the eiffel tower, taking a riverboat dinner cruise together, etc, I would turn to my friends and say, "i cant wait to do that with my mom."
romantic times ahead, mom, romantic times.

J'adore Paris!

2009-06-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

I just put up TONSSS of pictures -- they even go onto the next page! So make sure you look at them ALL so that I didnt put em up for nothing!

We arrived in Paris YESTERDAY (thursday) at 3 pm. We have already done SO much since then!!

BASICALLY here are the main things weve seen:
-Luxembourg Gardens
-Saint Sulpice
-Eiffel Tower
-Notre Dame
-Pantheon

The pictures show EVERYTHING ive been doing in Paris, so it would be pointless to write it all (and i just really dont feel like writing a lot) .... :)

side note -- its really funny here because a lot of their movies are american movies, so they keep the titles in English, but make them simpler for French people to understand and translate. some good examples I have seen:

-the new movie "The Hangover" is called here "Very Bad Trip."......how catchy.
-the dance movie "Step Up 2" is called here "Sexy Dance 2"....cuts right to the point.

Anyway, Ill try and keep putting stuff up when Im not busy! We are only staying here until Monday so we have a LOT to do in a few short days!

EIFFEL TOWER! love of my life.

2009-06-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

the stairs were numbered...needless to say, this was not very far up...

i saw this written on a beam on the eiffel tower...seemed fitting after my freshman 29

beautiful view overlooking a SOCCER FIELD and the Seine!

EIFFEL TOWER! love of my life.

2009-06-26T07:43:00.001-07:00

SO many stairs to climb!! i almost had a heart attack when i dropped my lens cap and it almost bounced through the cracks...

hello, pretty background of Paris.

so TALL!

my favorite.

PANTHEON

2009-06-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

big columns!

apparently this is where i am to be buried...

VICTOR HUGO!

PANTHEON

2009-06-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

HERE LIES ALEXANDRE DUMAS...aka wrote my favorite book, The Count of Monte Cristo. aka Dumas in Gregs favorite word.

Braille, as in braille...yes.

HERE LIES ROUSSEAU! so many famous dead people here.

PANTHEON

2009-06-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

VOLTAIRE BURIED HERE!

yes.

PANTHEON

2009-06-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

this is AWESOME! this swinging pendulum measures the rotation of the Earth throughout the day.

NOTRE DAME

2009-06-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

love stained glass windows!

me in front of Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME

2009-06-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

AT SUNSET! GORGEOUS!

i love black and white setting :)

POINT ZERO - center of Paris.

from across the river

random...

2009-06-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

i just really wanted to put this up :)

LES DEUX MAGOTS!! MONSIEUR B!

SAINT SULPICE - biggest church in Paris

2009-06-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

i thought this was really cool

SUCH a pretty organ

Jardin de LUXEMBOURG

2009-06-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

never too far from home...

Jardin de LUXEMBOURG

2009-06-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

A Paris!

2009-06-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

I finally got the pictures up from the past weekend! YAY!

For dinner last night, we had a salad with HUGE chunks of potato and grilled salmon--SO SO SO delicious! My host mom put out different dressings we could eat it with...one of them was a tube of a mixture made by Heinz that is half mayonnaise and half ketchup. Apparently its really common here! I ate it with a chunk of potato, and it was actually very good!

We had a great group last night at Australian Bar -- most of the students from UGA, and then some from Columbia, some from Switzerland, one from Mexico, and one from England. VERY FUN!

My presentation went really well today in our Le Midi class. It was the last day of the semester! We have our last Accent Francais class today as well. My class is doing some sort of activity out of the classroom today - some assignment around the city - but I am not quite sure what the concept is yet.

Tonight, after dinner, I am going to pack, because tomorrow morning we leave for PARIS!!! We do not have to be to the train station til 10 am, so I will get to sleep in about an hour later then usual.

It is about 2.5-3 hours on the train to Paris, if I remember correctly. In Paris, we are taking a class from 9-1 in the morning, with free time all day after that. We have some really cool things in mind to do during the free time. Hopefully we get everything done!

We got to choose and separate into 3 groups with different themes for Paris, there is: Francophone Paris, Napoleon Paris, and Medieval Paris. I chose the medieval one, because I LOVE this time period! We'll be touring the city to see different monuments, museums, etc. that correlate to this. This is going to be the best 3 credit hours of my college career.

I'll have to use the computer at our hotel to keep yall updated on what we are doing!
Next time I write, I'll be à Paris!
CIAO!!

CARCASSONNE - OLDEST MEDIEVAL CITY

2009-06-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Carcassonne! the train station.

some of us outside of the city walls!

CARCASSONNE - OLDEST MEDIEVAL CITY

2009-06-24T04:03:00.001-07:00

just beautiful.

hayley and i!

inside the cathedral, actually its a Basilica

CARCASSONNE - OLDEST MEDIEVAL CITY

2009-06-24T03:56:00.001-07:00

stained glass marvel!

cathedral inside the castle walls

Cassoulet : beans, sausage, and some other rando meat

very well known dish of carcassonne -- it is the "must have" if u go there

...oops...

CARCASSONNE - OLDEST MEDIEVAL CITY

2009-06-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

tourist!

i want to hang this going down the stairs to little school (il sool).

TORTURE MUSEUM!!!!!!! bum bum bummmm

taken over the wall of the castle overlooking the city

CARCASSONNE - OLDEST MEDIEVAL CITY

2009-06-24T03:37:00.001-07:00

inside a tower! during the crusades, men shot arrows down through the big slits.

ive always thought i was born in the wrong century.

the view from the city -- the castle up on the hill!

JULES ET ARTHUR

2009-06-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

this is the game we were playing in the kitchen - it was so funny, especially because it was 1230 in the morning and they had to get up for school the next day. notice the table is wet from all the orange juice they spilled!

j'ai oublié la batterie!

2009-06-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

DARN! i took the battery out of my camera last night to charge it, and i forgot to bring it with me today! Ill be sure to get it so that I can upload pictures tomorrow during our break.

The columbian girls returned from their trip to Cannes and Monaco. They said it was BEAUTIFUL! I think I might schedule a weekend there -- we are all trying to figure out our traveling plans for July. Such a rough life.

Today we had our normal class, Le Midi, in the morning. I have a project in there tomorrow that I have been preparing for, so I'll let ya know how that goes!

During our lunch break, I went to the market and got a weightwatchers meal -- I was feeling optimistic about my new diet....until....

I decided to eat a chocolate bar after watching my friend eat one. Oh, and then my other friend stopped at a Patisserie, so I decided to get a little something. GAH! How are the people in France so skinny!!

Then, for our afternoon class that is with the TAs, my group did a bike tour of Montpellier. I haven't been on a bike in no less than 5 years, so I almost hit a few poles, animals, and people...you know, minor things.

It was SO interesting, because our TA took us to parts of Montpellier that I would have never gone to otherwise -- I thought I had seen the whole city! She even showed us the Arab Quarter, which is a block past my apartment -- I didn't know it even existed! She knew all of the history of everything too, so it was really great.

We stopped at a dessert shop that made speciality chocolates and pastries -- It was the cutest little shop EVER! Naturally, I had no choice but to buy a Mille Feuilles -- you should google it. It literally means "thousand sheets." It has alternating layers of bread/crust pastry and custard, with a top layer of really good vanilla/chocolate swirl icing that is not like the icing in the US. OH MON DIEU! It is greattt.

...so much for my diet today. as kevin always says, "diet starts monday."

Tonight, I am going to International Student night at Australian Bar. I didn't get to go last week because I got caught up hanging out with the mass of Irish people, so I am excited to see how it is!

Tomorrow is the last day of our first "semester" of classes. WHOA it has flown by! Our final for Le Midi is not until after we return from Paris though. Phew.

Well I better get home for dinner! Be ready for tons of pictures tomorrow WOOHOO!

excuse-moi

2009-06-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

just read over my last post...disregard all my words spelled incorrectly and sentences where I just left out words entirely.

i swear im not dumb, just careless...i guess thats not much better.

ANYWAY the point of this is to say that I am putting up pictures of Carcassonne TOMORROW, because I have a lot of work I need to get done at the internet cafe before returning home for dinner.

So YES, Mom, you need to wait ONE more day for pics from the weekend. You can do it though, I have faith in you.

BISOUS

the last supper

2009-06-22T08:29:00.001-07:00

Elloooo

So both Friday night and Saturday night this weekend my host family was busy, so Catherine made dinner for us to eat on our own. With the columbian girls gone to Monte Carlo, this left Stella and I to dinner dates with eachother both nights! It was GREAT because both nights our dinners lasted about 3 hours because we were talking so much and enjoying the great food! It was very enjoyable, and I appreciate the opportunity to get to know someone from such a different background and lifestyle!

After dinner on Friday, Stella and I went to a club called Le Huit (huit means eight). There was reallyyy loud techno music, so we danced the whole night! I LOVE going places like that here because everyone dances SO different and has their own style. No one cares how youre dancing or if you look dumb...its great! We ran into some of my friends from UGA there and hung out the rest of the time. We ended up meeting two guys who are backpacking through Europe and just graduated from UGA!!...small world! They were wearing backwards baseball hats and greek teeshirts...needless to say, they stood out a little bit...

Saturday morning, we left for Carcassonne! It is about a 1.5 hr train ride, and I slept both ways. Upon arriving to the city, we walking the hour trek up to the medieval castle which is up on a hill looking over the rest of the city. It is magnificent.

It was interesting making this walk, because I was able to imagine how the catholics felt while traveling this same path during the crusades...kinda nerdy, but that's how I was thinking the whole day. We've been learning about the history of this medieval city everyday in class, so I was really able to appreciate its significance. Check out the pics :)

While there, I went to the torture museum. It was sick and twisted, but its not like that wasnt expected. One things I thought was funny though was this huge metal clamp that was used for nipple tweaks (nibbo fweats, greg).
...im kind of embarassed that people who arent in my family are gonna read that...whatev.

Saturday night, I was supposed to go to Lydia's barbeque, but my host mom had forgotten I told her this and had a really delish tarte cooking in the oven for me when I got home. I didn't have the nerve to tell her, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so this is when I had my second "dinner date" with Stella.

After, we went out to a bunch of different places. (insert ridiculous stories here.) Then, we walked home when the bars closed down at 6 in the morning. Needless to say, we enjoyed a nice sunrise while we ate our breakfast after returning home. Catherine had a head ache, so she came to the kitchen to get medicine, where she laughed upon seeing us sitting there, fully from going out, eating our cereal.

Sunday I got up and grabbed lunch with my UGA friends. We got sandwiches then walked to the Corum, which is some random building here. We climbed the stairs all the way to the top, where we sat on the roof and overlooked the whole city (wow i just spelled that "sitty" then erased it...my english is declining). It was GORGEOUS!

Yesterday was also "La Fete de la Musique," which is a well-known music festival that is on the 21st of June every year. Stages are set up all around the city in different locations (sometimes outside of cafes, sometimes in parcs, etc) and up-and-coming local bands play. It is a HUGE deal here and was written up about in all the papers. We watched them set up as we sat on top of the Corum.

After returning home, doing some homework as I sat on the terrace with Didiers and Catherine, and taking a cat nap, I returned to the city. Stella and I offered to our host parents that we would take Jules and his friend Arthur to the festival for them. They were so funny...I was watching them as they worried about their shaggy hair getting messed up from the wind...too funny. When we brought them home, they decided to have a contest to see who could pick up a glass of orange juice by suctioning it to their face...Stella and I took many pictures, too funny.

The festival was great! We got to dance to a lot of techno again and the city was PACKED!!

We had our normal classes today, nothing special. The whole group, including TAs and professors, went out to lunch at a lovely cafe!

I am starting a diet tomorrow. I figured its ok to eat unhealthy on vacation, but not if that vacation is 2 months long...plus I have some making up to do from freshman year.

Therefore...I ate TONS of sweets today...I figure its kind of like how you feed a pig a ton before you kill it....tomorrow, I die.

I think that is all for now. My head hurts from all the typing..or maybe it was all the pastries..not sure.

SEE YAAA

example of a trompe d'oeil

2009-06-19T08:36:00.001-07:00

tricky!

and yes mom, i remember the one we had in our bathroom in st louis with the stone wall, flowers, and tree.

most people notice that its an eye trick before they go peeing on the tree though....SCOTT.

desserts :)

2009-06-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last night was my host dad's birthday (prime opportunity to finally find out what his name is...Didiers), so they had a few family friends over to the house. The dessert "birthday cake" was AWESOME! There was one lemon meringue tart and another strawberry cream tart from a local patisserie -- naturally I had a slice of both. After a few glasses of champagne and good conversation, stella and I decided to go out for the salsa dancing. The columbian girls REALLY wanted to join, as this is their forté, but they needed to go to bed because they got up early this morning to travel to Monte Carlo for the weekend.

Stella and I met up with the rest of my UGA group, as well as other exchange students living with them. We went to a salsa bar (I can never remember the name of it, so I just called it Cubanitos - that may or may not be right). It was a great night! My friend from UGA named Lydia is from Puerto Rico, so she knew all the "moves" and tried to teach us. I looked like a fool I'm sure.

Class went well today, although the classrooms are SO hot, so it makes it that much more difficult to fight off sleepiness! I had a presentation due today in my second class - so naturally, I chose to do it on desserts :)

Did you know that a shop cannot be called a "patisserie" here unless it has a licensed "maitre patissier" - pastry chef - who has gone through intense training, passed several examinations, and completed an apprenticeship?!.....no wonder the pastries here are so good!

I brought in chocolate noisettes for my class....my version of sucking up to the teacher. She that immediately won her decision for favorite project. I ate my noisette victoriously :)

I am about to return home for dinner tonight. There is a group of people going out, but I am not sure yet if I will join, considering our big plans for tomorrow!

We have to be at the train stash at 830 to go to Carcassonne, which I previously mentioned is the oldest medieval city in France. We will be there allllll day. Once we get back, Lydia is having a cookout at her host family's house! She has another student staying there from Romania I thin it is - that could be completely wrong, but its some random country - and all his classmates are coming as well! We all signed up to bring different dishes, and I am bringing....desserts :)

arent u supposed to lose the FRESHMAN 29 the summer after you gain it? ...not looking too promising for me. I'm not like scott -- im not "hesitant to try new foods"

salsa salsa

2009-06-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

I skipped 1 day of updating my blog and my mom emails me to see if I am alive...not cool, mom.

YES i am alive. Two nights ago, I went out with the Columbian girls I live with. Stella was tired and decided not to join. We met up at the park with a bunch of Irish people who they are in class with here. The Irish people were so funny -- they were so interested in the US, and one girl even said that it is her DREAM to go to an American high school for one day. HAH!

They taught me the word "whopper"...apparently it means that something is REALLY cool :) It was a fun night!

Yesterday we had our classes as usual. Nothing too special :) I had to take a siesta (not to be confused with FIESTA, dave...) Then we had a GREAT dinner as usual!

Today, for our second class (the one where we experience things out in the town) my group went around looking at "trompes d'oeil." This refers to something that "tricks your eye." It is a style of art here, where an artist will paint a fake facade onto a building, with windows, people on balconies, even windows with fake reflections of the buildings across the street! It was VERY interesting, I have never seen this style of art before.

After that, I went back to one of the Teaching Assistants's apartment. She is studying for her Master's degree in the French Language, and she is doing a experiment to observe the progress a student makes throughout the course of studying abroad. I had met with her back in May prior to our trip to record a conversation of me speaking French, and I met with her today to do another. It will be so interesting at the end of the summer to be able to listen to my progress!

Tonight, a bunch of the people in my group here are inviting all of their foreign students they live with and we are going SALSA DANCING! Im slightly nerv (thats for you, paul. mom, it means nervous). It'll be so fun though I bet! I really hope the girls I live with will join me!

I can't believe it is almost the weekend AGAIN! We have a day trip on saturday to the oldest medieval city in France - Carcassonne. It is very interesting because leading up to every trip we go on here, we study all the history/information about the area so that we can fully appreciate being there. So expect a lot of pictures of castles after the weekend!

We are also in the process of figuring out plans for our week long Paris trip, which we leave for next thursday - hard to believe! Ill fill you all in on that once the time comes, but itll be great!

We get our tests back tomorrow! Cross yo fangasss

Well, gotta go get my salsa on :)

partayyy

2009-06-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

Last night, my family had a HUGE surprise party at their house for a friends birthday. The food was AWESOME! We had tons of appetizers, a wine bottle that was half my height, a main dish of some sort of delicious chicken with rice, and then chocolate cake and various cheeses for dessert.

It was such a neat experience -- the party was for a Turkish man, there was a family of Spanish descent, the two columbian girls, the italian girl, me and another student from the States, and tons of French people -- all gathered in the same place speaking French, laughing, and completely understanding eachother! What a neat experience.

We all sat around singing songs after, because one man who was there is a musician. He sang songs in all different languages, and people would join in whenever they knew the words.

Im getting along SO well with the Italian girl, Stella. She is such an interesting person, as she has traveled a lot and is able to share many stories. Two columbian girls arrived yesterday, both named Daniella, which I was immediately thankful for considering I am bad with names.

I am going to invite them out tonight with my friends and I after we eat dinner with our family. It is "International Student" night at that really cool Australian Bar, so all the people in my group are getting all the other exchange students living at each of our houses to join!
Needless to say, itll be a very interesting group of people and mix of cultures! I am so excited!

We had our midterm today, even though its only been a week and a half! We have this class for 2.5 hours every morning though, and we have LOTS of homework every night. They condense a semesters worth of information into a few weeks -- oy! The midterm went well though!

This afternoon, for my Montpellier class, we had a scavenger hunt, where we had to find information about Montpellier by asking people around the town. My group kinda cheated and googled some of the stuff ;) Im sorry, but it was SO hot today! I heard it is the hottest day they have had in a few years.

Well Im gonna get going to dinner! I dont have anything too terribly exciting planned for the next few days, but I will keep ya updated!

Love you all!

NIMES

2009-06-15T09:14:00.001-07:00

Nimes train station

part of the group in front of a water fall

woohoo!

NIMES

2009-06-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Tour Magne!

Sarah and Kate in a pretty waterfallll

NIMES

2009-06-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

an oasis!

the gardens leading up to the long trek

NIMES

2009-06-15T08:42:00.001-07:00

the group!

des Arènes

AVIGNON

2009-06-15T08:01:00.001-07:00

Avignon train station

this is a real guy!! he looked exactly like a statue, it was creepy! and thats the orchestra playing in the background.

a castle off in the distance and the Rhone river

such a tourist.

AVIGNON

2009-06-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

THIS IS FOR AVERI!!

this is where i ate cookies for lunch because i forgot to pack one

me chillin in some rocks

the view from our picnic table at lunch. we were on top of the big hill/mountain, overlooking the city.

AVIGNON

2009-06-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

we were very high up

good ole JC

like it

Palais des Papes (palace of the Popes)

some festival going on in the center of town

The broad is abroad

2009-06-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend was FANTASTIQUE!

Friday night, the group met up at a cafe and sat outside to drink some wine and enjoy eachothers company. It was very nice, but we cut the night short because of our big plans for the next day :)

Saturday morning, we all met at the train station at 8h45 to catch a train to Avignon. In Avignon, we saw the Palais des Papes, a castle which housed 3 Popes during the Great Schism. We walked to the top of a garden type area and took pictures as we looked out over the city. After eating lunch in this area, we walked back down and enjoyed an orchestra which was playing in the middle of the square. I also saw a guy playing "Dust in the Wind" (reminded me of scotty!) The city was overall very beautiful, mainly consisting of narrow winding roads and unique little shops.

We left Avignon around 1 and took the train to Nimes. Nimes had more of an open feeling to it than Avignon, as the streets were wider and spacious. We saw a VERY old coliseum called Arènes, which was built during 1st century AD while Nimes was still part of the Roman Empire. Bull fights, concerts, and various shows are held here. Our group is planning on buying tickets to see Jason Mraz play here later in the summer :) We then hiked veryyy high Mount Cavalier to Tour Magne. Tour Magne is the oldest Roman building, which stands at 92 feet tall. The city looked très belle from up here!

Saturday night,when I arrived home, completely EXHAUSTED from the rough life of being a tourist, my famiy informed me that it was 104 degrees outside! OY!
After resting and eating dinner, the group met up for a night out on the town. We went to an AWESOME Australian bar, where the bartenders would juggle/do tricks with handles of alcohol and glasses. The place was packed, and it was SUCH a cool atmosphere! Not to mention our bartender liked us Americans and was very generous (sorry mom, i had to throw that in there) The night as a whole was SO much fun, as we had MANY funny things happen to us (ill spare you and be vague on that part mom)

Sunday morning, I got up and arrived at the beach at around 11. We stayed until 6 that evening, and I got SCORCHED! I decided sunscreen is not a necessity, and I immediately regretted that decision upon returning home last night.

Yesterday another girl arrived at my house to live and study in Montpellier. I cant remember her name right now to be honest, but she is SO sweet, and she is Italian! She studied for a year of college and then decided to go work at a museum in London for 4 years, so now she speaks fluent English. She decided that before she returns to school, she wanted to live in France and learn to speak the language, so here she is doing just that!

I was POOPED after the long, AWESOME weekend, so I went to bed rather early. I woke up this morning, and my eyes would barely open. I was very confused so I got up and went in the bathroom...my eyes were SWOLLEN so MUCH because I got burned so badly on my eyelids and right under my eyes. Needless to say, I rocked the glasses look today. I bought some hydrocortisone cream (2 bottles) and took a bunch of advil (i know what youre thinking dad--i never learn my lesson about sunscreen). So I am red as a lobster and my eyes look like theyre sunken into my head -- not to mention my face is covered with blisters -- you cant see them though, thank heavens.

Today, we have 2 more girls coming to live with us!! That will fill up all the bedrooms, so there wont be anymore coming. The two girls are from Columbia, so hopefully Ill be able to practice my spanish a little!

My host family is having a surprise party for a friend tonight at their house so there is gonna be TONS of food and TONS of people tonight, I am SO excited!! Im gonna pick up flowers on my way home from my afternoon class for a little décor :)

We have our midterm tomorrow in our Le Midi class (i know, SO soon, we just started!) so I will be studying and doing work a LOT tonight.

Well, thats all for the weekend and today! I wish I could have written EVERYTHING about the places we went, but that would be a novel.

ps...mom, thanks for the comment about my pics...PREESHIATE it. I wanna get some of em printed and framed for my room next year :)
and if the dueckers are looking at this at all-- I have ducked my head into EVERY childrens store I have seen, I am keepin on the lookout for things for mason and averi! tell them i miss them!

THE GARDENS

2009-06-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

THE GARDENS

2009-06-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

THE GARDENS

2009-06-12T08:25:00.001-07:00

a bee!

the tree was so COOL

2009-06-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

After my quite depressing post yesterday, my day took a turn for the better once i returned home for dinner! after eating a DELISH meal of porkchops and various other things, the singing group that my host dad is in came over for their weekly practice.

He is in a group that meets just to sing for fun, and it is lead by a professional singer who performs at the Opera Comedie here in Montpellier. They INSISTED on me participating, making sure to point out that it does not matter how good you are, because they sing just for the enjoyment of it.

I joined in, and it was actually VERY fun! They were singing mostly songs in English, so I would explain to them in French what the words they were saying actually meant.

I could not stop laughing because it was a very funny group of people. First of all, let me say that they start off the practice by sitting around and having a few drinks because it helps them loosen up, haha.

There were 3 ladies who were very sweet, but took the practice quite seriously. The 3 men were the funny ones. One was VERY old, his name was Claude. He had to take a smoke break in between each song, and they would yell at him to hurry up. Another man could NOT sing without snapping his fingers and tapping his foot, and when he did, he was off-beat 90% of the time. The last man was my host dad, who thought he was putting on a show. He sounded like a reverend from one of the huge southern baptist churches, shouting the lines of the song after theyd been sung.

It was overall quite an amusing scene, and they ended up staying for a few hours joking around, then singing a song, having another drink... I loved it! So mom and dad, I bet youre happy to hear that I went to bed in much better spirits :)

Today, I went to the doctor which was interesting because he did not speak english...apparently I have some bad allergy to something I ate. He gave me medicine for the next 2 weeks, so hopefully itll all be over soon!

Tonight, after dinner, I am meeting up with the group to go out, which should be fun. The night life here is pretty lively--my host family seems shocked that I dont go out on school nights, because apparently that is normal here.

Tomorrow, we are going to Avignon and Nimes, so I have to wake up VERY early. I have a project due next week on Avignon, which is convenient, because I will be able to use all the pictures I take!!

On Sunday, we are going to the Mediterranean coast ALL day :) I cant wait!

CIAO!

and mom, read this to greg for me: g-man, you would not believe their version of "tato" salad here. it is mainly green beans, with tomatoes, eggs, and chunks of potato in it. You spoon it on your plate and THEN put a SPOONFULL of mayonnaise on it. Its VERY different than moms potato salad. Ill have to make it for you when I get home because it is actually very good!
Oh, and they take their "tato" salad seriously, the way you do...it is the MAIN course. No sides needed :) love you and hope you are feeling better!

the beautifulll cathedrals

2009-06-11T07:57:00.001-07:00

this is St. Pierre, where I went to mass the first Sunday here

larger view of St. Pierre

St. Anne

St. Anne again

FOOOOOOD!

2009-06-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

this is what the markets on the side of the street look like

there are little places like these all over -- good to grab a panini or sandwich at for lunch

this is for you greg

and this is for you mom

pretty Montpellier pictures : )

2009-06-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

les Trois Graces in la Place de la Comedie

la Place de la Comedie

a knock off Art de Triomphe ;)

school of medicine

2009-06-11T07:36:00.001-07:00

say CHEESE!

2009-06-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

thank you gabi for the concern!! that is SO cool that you know them, ill have to tell them i know you too!

well today we had our normal classes, for my second class (the T/Th where we do stuff in Montpellier) we learned about how cheese is made and learned a bunch of different kinds. Then we went to the park and tried different types of cheese with bread. It was yummy :)

As far as the chiggers thing goes, they are not chiggers. It has spread even more and now I have big welts all over. The director of our program is trying to get me a doctors appointment, because its unlike anything I have seen before. And I am not gonna lie, it sucks. I have had the most awful day because my whole body itches and stings. I have not been able to enjoy the fun things we have been doing : /

Well...I guess I will let yall know what happens once I get to the doctors...until then, Im gonna upload some pictures of Montpellier : )

PICTURES OF THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL...yeah some things never change

2009-06-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

our lunch break! eating at a nearby park.

kate and i on the balcony outside of our classroom.

the view from the classroom.

us in class!

the pastry shop right next to our school that i try to pass by without looking at.

mega lame

2009-06-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

so last night i woke up REALLY itchy all over and could not sleep well. It continued all through the night. I woke up today...turns out I have chigger bites (I dont know how its spelled so Im gonna rely on phonetics). They are ALL over my body, and I mean ALL over. Even in places that are inappropriate to scratch out in public, therefore making it worse. They are even all over my scalp, so I keep itching my hair like mad.

Today we got to play a game at the end of class that was kind of like charades but in French. A girl was trying to explain a type of market where you buy things really cheap and she finally goes, "Taryn has them!!" ....everyone shouts FLEAS!
....mega....lame.

(dont worry mom, i went home during lunch break and made sure that my sheets and clothes get washed.)

So it has not been a particularly enjoyable day for me, but I think we decided on traveling to Avignon this weekend which I look forward to :)

MORE MEDITERRANEAN COAST

2009-06-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

Im a mermaid!!

This is taken from the pier.

MEDITERRANEAN COAST

2009-06-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

it was by the beach and i liked it. end o story.

THE REST OF MY HOUSE PICTURES

2009-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Up on the terrace -- yes, that is a hot tub in the background

stairs up to the terrace -- the doorway in the back leads to the other half of the apartment -- i didnt take pictures of it cuz i never go over there : )

family room

dining room -- yes, there is a retractable roof. its always open :) we eat here every night.

2009-06-09T08:23:00.001-07:00

Well, last night for dinner my "mom" made chicken curry. Just thought Id throw that out there because it was DELISH. Jules was talking about his rugby team and asked me what "noob" meant. I found it kinda funny that he would have heard that word, semi random.
(side note--I dont know my host dads name, and I feel awkward asking after being here for a week. Ill let yall know how this pans out for me)
Then we watched Sister Act in French. They had never seen it. I told them that in America black nuns dont normally turn church services into concerts -- I am saving Americas reputation one little French family at a time.

Today, in between classes, I walked all over Montpellier with a friend and took TONS of pictures, so I will be working on getting them uploaded in the next few days!

Then we had our afternoon culture class, in which we went to an underground museum about the churches in Montpellier. Naturally, I sat down and took a cat nap. Then we got to see the Medical school here -- beautiful!

There are some really pretty botanical gardens (jer, dont make fun of me) that were open to the public for free today. I decided to go by myself so that I could spend forever looking at each flower and taking alllll the pictures I wanted to :) I cant wait to put those pictures up -- theyre GREAT!

Our latest dilemma is deciding where to travel to this weekend -- Avignon, Marseilles, Nimes -- ugh, my life is far too exhausting these days.

2009-06-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

kitchen

2009-06-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

my room!

2009-06-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

my PETIT shower

2009-06-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

The previous stairs lead you to this, the front door.

2009-06-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Once inside the building, you go up some stairs, and through a specific door which leads you to THIS which are the outdoor stairs toward my specific apartment

2009-06-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

The apartment building

2009-06-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

The front door to the apartment building I live in

my first encounter with gypsies

2009-06-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

We ended up going to church at Saint Pierre, which was beautiful. We then chose to save the museum for another day, and headed for the beach. THE RUMORS ARE TRUE: many women do not find it necessary to wear the tops of their bathing suit...and let me assure you, it is the ones who need it most who find this article of clothing unnecessary. Gross.

The beach was wonderful though, and the water was actually blue as opposed to the green-brown I am used to : P We spent all afternoon at the beach, which was quite relaxing when compared to the trip home...

Returning home from the beach includes about a 15 minute bus ride followed by a 5 minute tram ride. On the tram, we were visiting with a man from the nearby port town, Marseilles. Suddenly, we heard a lot of shouting. A few rows behind us, a 20-ish year old French woman was being attacked by a gang of gypsy children (paul, they look like cholos!). There were punches flying, people spitting, and I even got some water (or at least I hope it was water) squirted on me. This brawl went on in this small bus for about 5 minutes, until the bus driver pulled off to the side of the road, where he had apparently called police to meet us. The police intervened and escorted the French woman away safely as the gypsy children cheered and shouted POULET, meaning chicken :)

Slightly in shock, we finally reached the stop to switch to the tram. I was not happy when I saw that the gang was switching to the tram as well. As soon as we boarded, they began messing with a homeless man. They took his hat and began throwing it around. They even (you will like this mom) began teasing his dog. I guess this truly was the mans best friend because he responded by kicking the little s**t head (pardon my french) square in the face! The police arrived again, and the little gypsies went a-runnin. I returned to my host home feeling, I guess what some would call, CULTURE SHOCK. I had a great dinner with my host family, watched the European Parliament elections, read my book up on the terrace, and then went to sleep.

This morning, classes began. I have class with one of the UGA professors from 9-11:30 to begin. It is a class called "Midi," which is a nickname for the south of France. We will learn all about geography, culture, etc, as well as take a few "mandatory" excursions...I think that is the BEST "mandatory" event anyone has ever tried to impose on me.

We then have a break for 3.5 hours, in which I will probably grab lunch and go do things around town with the group, which, FYI the group is awesome. All of us are very unlike, yet mesh particularly well together.

After the break, I have another class from 2-4:30. This will be on M,W,F: a class at Accent Francais, the local language school where individuals from all different countries come to study the French language. On T,Th: our class is with Teaching Assistants from UGA (students studying for their masters degree) in which we will experience different attractions in
Montpellier (museums, cheese and wine tasting, etc). Should be great, but we have not had that class yet so I cannot write much about it.

Since today was Monday, we had our class at Accent Francais. We began by taking a placement written and oral exam to determine if we are to be pleaced in the intermediate or superior class. I was very excited when I was then placed in the superior class! It should be challenging, yet equally rewarding.

When classes finished, I headed to the center of town with some friends to work on our homework at a cafe. Then here, to the stinkin internet cafe that I have to come to in order to use a computer. It is, as Kevin would say, "wicked lame," and might I add "anti-clutch."

Well, I need to get going, I think my minutes are running out. BISOUS!

ps mom, here is a term for you "des crottes" -- it means poop that dogs leave behind in the road. arent you happy that out of the whole beautiful French language that that is the word that makes me think of you?! ... ;)

my first few days

2009-06-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

I did not bring my laptop on the trip, so I will not be able to update as frequently as Id like. But this has been my trip thus far:

My trip to montpellier did not go QUITE as planned (mom and dad please dont read this part--youll worry about me). The plan flight to Paris went well, but then I accidentally took a service elevator in the airport down to floor -1, where I found a group of homeless men who asked if I was lost.

I sat in the Paris airport for 3 hours for my train to Montpellier. When the train finally arrived, my ticket ripped in the stamping machine. I quickly ran inside to get it re-printed, but by the time I had, the train had left. I was then left to purchase another ticket and wait another 2 hours for the next train.

After a 4 hour train ride, I FINALLY reached my destination. My host mother met me at the airport. Her name is Catherine. While driving home from the airport, I immediately noticed the beautiful buildings and busy streets. When we arrived at the apartment (which is AWESOME, ill upload pictures when i have a chance) I met her husband and their 14 yr old son. They also have a cat and a dog :)

We had a wonderful dinner, which we ate outside in their courtyard. After that, we went up to their terrace where their son, Jules, sat in the hot tub while we enjoyed some wine.

In the past two days, I have been touring Montpellier with our group. We even went to some local bars last night, where I discovered their taste in dancing is not quite the same. Tomorrow, we are going to go to church at a really pretty old cathedral, an art museum, and possibly to the beach.

Well I would write more but I need to get home for dinner!

Ciao