June 3, 2008
Today was the second day of class, which is a lot more work than I thought it would be! After my extremely relaxed semester at London, my brain is a little overwhelmed at everything that’s getting thrown at it. Class is Monday through Friday, 8:30-12:30, and we get maybe one or two 5-minute breaks for the entire four hours. I’m in the highest level, and the teacher, Madame Cavert, is okay…she tends to ramble on about things for much longer than necessary while everyone in the class can’t help but zone out. We have quite a bit of homework every day, and we have to give 15-20 minute oral presentations – I volunteered to go second, on Thursday, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the month, but now I am kind of freaking out because that is in two days!
Two nights ago, I watched “Ce que les femmes veulent” with Madame Orsoni – “What Women Want,” the Mel Gibson movie, but in French! It was really easy to understand, but afterwards, I was so drained from processing all of the French. I definitely want to go to see some films here in Aix, as it is a very cultural city with cool mainstream and independent films playing at a few different cinemas. However, I’m not sure I could fully understand something arty. I’ve also been watching “La Plus Belle La Vie” with Madame Orsoni after dinner. It’s a 20-minute soap opera that is set and filmed in Marseille, and it comes on every day. When I was in Marseille, Pam even pointed out a café that is used for filming, which was cool.
Yesterday was exhausting since it was the first day, but I stopped at Monoprix to buy a few things that I could eat for lunch for the week and some wine (for 1.49, yes!). I don’t think I could ever get sick of baguettes and fromage.
Today I got to explore the markets a little, during our break and after school until they closed down. There’s a food market in Place Richelme every day, which is nice because it’s on my way to school, so I pass them every single morning. During my break I went down there with another girl and we took a lot of free samples of olives and tapenades and bread. There’s also a big market right where I live, in front of the Palais de Justice, which has jewelry, clothing, art, pottery, shoes, and Provencal things like soap and olive oil. Across the street from that, right next to my apartment building, there’s a huge food market. I passed the most gorgeous spices, tea, bread, cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, and tapenades. I think I might try to get my next loaf of bread there instead of buying it from Monoprix, as cheap as I am…I’m in France, the food is amazing, and I need to live a little.
I went back to my school to use the computer lab to research and print articles for my presentation on Thursday and then wandered into the famous cathedral in Aix, La Cathedrale Saint Sauveur, which is across the street from IEFEE. It was gorgeous – old (5th century) and kind of crumbling but in a beautiful way, and not overly flashy or gaudy like the Italian churches are. I found out that there is a concert of choral and organ music as part of the Festival of Organ Music, which I think I may go to on the 24th. Then I took a different route home than usual (I always take the one that passes by the Place d’Albertas, which is my favorite square in Aix) and came across an old chapel on Rue Mignet that I think was in the process of being restored. Now I am taking a break from my homework by writing and I think I am going to prolong it by taking a shower before dinner.