Finals

The university is blocked again which means the strike continues...

One thing I've failed to mention before is that after the students block all entrances with desks and chairs, they sit outside and guard them. I had my grammar final this Wednesday so we had to sneak into our building. Luckily there is a fire escape kind of staircase and it was early in the morning, so no guards were present at the time. However, all the classroom doors were locked. We had to call an inside source to let us in and, after we managed to find a key, we open the door and there are no desks or chairs. We then grabbed some from another classroom (we were told to do it quietly or "They will hear you") and sat down in fear for a four hour-long exam.

I am currently working on my final paper for 18th century lit. One more page and I will be officially done will the semester :)

Tomorrow night I will be heading to the Marseilles airport, where I will be sleeping and waiting for a 6:00am flight to Portugal. See you after I get back!

Vacances de Pâques

I spent two lovely weeks traveling around Switzerland (and a little bit of Italy) for my spring vacation. I spent around two days in each city and they were all vastly different from the rest. Other than the fact that Switzerland robbed me blind (they still use the Franc...) I would go back in a heartbeat.

Let's start with Geneva...Saw all the touristy destinations and spent a lovely two days with my friend.

Interlaken was my favorite place by far! It is what I generally picture as the stereotypical "Swiss" town. We spent our days hiking around the lake, watching paragliders land and celebrating Andrea's 21st birthday. We even saw Swiss cows!

The third stop was Basel. We spent three days CouchSurfing over Easter. There's generally not much to see or do but it was a nice quiet weekend. The zoo was a lot of fun.

My last stop in Switzerland was Lugano, which is in the southern, Italian-speaking part of the country. This place was crazy touristy and soooo hilly. Be prepared to climb up and down. The lake was very pretty but I do not think I'd want to go back. (Its certainly a Swan-filled country...or so I noticed...)

My final leg of the journey was in Genova, Italy. I didn't spend much time there but in all honesty I didn't get a very good impression of the country. The aquarium was kind of disapointing (its the biggest in Europe but very small compred to Baltimore). It's amazing how quickly you notice the differences between the Italian and the French.

Overall it was a really nice week, despite some of the disappointments. Unfortunetly its back to schoolwork. I've completed two of my five classes and will finish two more once I finish my papers. As much as I love France and speaking French I have to say that I am looking forward to going home. I can't wait to see my family and enjoy the comforts of home. Three more weeks! The depart will be bittersweet.

Boatride on les Etangs

Last Saturday our study abroad program provided us with our second trip of the semester - a boat ride on the sea and les etangs.

Again, just like our trip to Provence, the weather was beautiful.

Or not.... I really was hoping for photos of crystal blue water and sunshine, but that dream didn't come true

First we drove to the Gaur d'Adge and hoped on to a boat to coast around the Mediterranean Sea. The water was very choppy so I was feeling a bit nauseous and had a headache.

We got off the boat and ate lunch in the town of Adge. We stayed in the restaurant for two and half hours because it was raining too hard to be outside.

Then, to the dismay of many students, we had to get back on the boat and travel through le Canal du Midi. You know it's a bad trip when everyone busts out their books and starts reading...They'd rather study for their exams than enjoy the ride. I wouldn't be so bitter if I hadn't known that in all the years past, they've treated the students to a weekend sunny in Barcelona. I know they can't control the weather but I'm pretty sure we paid the same amount of money and our boat ride doesn't cost the same as a weekend in Spain.

In other news,

THE STRIKE IS OVER!

It was frustrating not being able to go to class and learn, because that's sort of the reason I'm here, but in the end it worked out to our advantage. They had to extend the school year for the French students so we don't have to take final exams in our integrated classes :)

Now it's off to Switzerland and Italy for two weeks for spring break. After that I planned a trip to Portugal and Spain for four days. And sadly, after that it'll be time to go home already. Time flies when you're in France!

Toulouse

A friend and I took a trip to Toulouse this weekend. We didn't have anything particular in mind to see or do, but we managed to find a few neat activities.

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France. Its very much a part of the south so the accent there is very thick when compared to Montpellier. Its growing on me though... I'm starting to find it pleasing. I wonder if I'll have a southern French accent when I go back to the states...

First thing we saw on Saturday was La Basilique Saint Sernine. I was told its the oldest basilica in all of Europe. It looks kind of like a wedding cake from the outside...The inside holds lots of relics. Entry is free but you have to pay two euros to go down into the crypt...I'd say its not worth the price unless you're really into religious relics...

We passed through la Place du Capitol, the main square in the heart of the city. Notice all the buildings are rose colored. Toulouse is known as la Ville Rose (the Pink City). I personally find it to be more of a rust color...

We spent the afternoon relaxing in Parc de la Prairie Filters. Its the largest green space in the city. Part of the park is a Japanese garden, complete with cherry blossoms, koi fish, a temple, and a golden buddah.

Day two we went to La Musee Abattoirs, a modern art museum. The collection wasn't very large and the artists aren't incredibly well known, except for one work by Picasso.
We decided to couch surf for the night because we're too cheap to stay in a hostel. Check out CouchSurfing.com if you want to find out more. Basically you sleep on a random strangers couch while you provide one antoher with an interesting cultural experience. Its basically for those interested in a bit of a cultural exchange. We stayed with a girl in her apartment...Hung out, had dinner and spent the night with her friends. Overall, a lovely evening!

La grève continue

Professors are still on strike after a month and a half. And to make things even better, a couple of weeks ago the students decided to show their support and go on strike too! And how do French students go on strike?

By physically barricading the university, of course!

Last Tuesday, hundreds of volunteers piled chairs and desks in front over every single entrance to every single building on campus. That night, to show just how dedicated they are, many students pitched tents and slept in and around the buildings. I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that there was torrential downpour rain that night into the next day...

So here we are, over a week later, and the campus is still blocked with no sign of letting up any time soon.

I find it fascinating at how well organized this strike has been...Look at how neatly they've placed these chairs. Very ironic when you think about how much of a mess the French university system is overall. If only they could be this must effort into providing and caring about a quality education...
But, negative aspects aside, it has been a huge cultural experience and its interesting to be here during something so huge.

C'est la vie francaise!

Lille

The last three days of my vacation were spent in the northern city of Lille. It seemed like such a random city to visit and we were asked on several occasions why we were there. Apparently, not many Americans visit Lille so we were treated with a lot of enthusiasm and graciousness! We were asked on several occasion if we were British (and on one occasion German). Northern France is known for its hospitality and friendliness and I can now vouch for this! C'est vrai! Every one we met was incredibly nice.

We were fortunate enough to get in contact with a local guy who took us out at night and gave us tips on what do to in the city. I don't think our trip would have been the same without him and his local knowledge. He introduced us to several of his friends and we ended up having a great time! I think without the guidance of a local, Lille isn't all that great of a city if you go on vacation. There are some museums but other than that, I'd say there's not much to do if you're not in the loop.

The first day we went to La Piscine (The Swimming Pool). It's an old pool converted into a museum. They had some interesting pieces of art and is definitely worth checking out if you're ever in the north. That night our newly found friend took us to a bar to enjoy some live music (one band played traditional music of the north - very cool and cultural!).

On day two we ate at the Restaurant Universitaire for 2,85euros (its similar to the university restaurant in Montpellier - a lot of food for less than 3euros) and took a guided tour of the city. Honestly, the tour wasn't worth the price. We didn't see anything incredibly exciting and I'd say it was too long (2 and half hours of walking!). That night we went to the Palais des Beaux-Arts, a huge museum. They were having a nocturnal exhibition, free for students. Students from the college of architecture showed off their unique chair designs and we saw a "concert" from John Cage. Actually, this was a concert de silence...He sat at a piano and didn't play for 4 minutes and 33 seconds....Very strange. I guess it was what some would call l'ART.

On day three we walked around La Citadelle and the zoo. There were two red pandas (the cutest animals ever)! For dinner we ate faluche with regional cheese and drank beer at an awesome restaurant which was recommended to us by a man at our hostel. While the south of France is known for its wine, northern France is known for its beer. Try a kriek (cherry flavored beer from Belgium), its amazing! The name of the place is La Pate à Sel - go there, I highly recommend it. After dinner we went to quiz night at a bar with some locals and ended up having an great night out.

My friend and I bought Lille t-shirts and we shall wear them proudly!

Chantilly

Day three of my northern France trip lead me to Chantilly. It was about a 25 minute train ride from Paris... The total cost of a round trip ticket from Gare Paris Nord is 7euros with a 12-25 card. The reason we went was to see the Chateau de Chantilly. I have a strange affinity for castles so if I'm near one I want to go. I spent a few days traveling around castles in the Loire Valley a few years ago and absolutely loved every minute of it. Chantilly, however, is not a royal residence for kings or queens, but a chateau built for the descendants and relatives of the royal family. Most notably, the grand Prince de Conde, Louis II de Bourbon.

The Princes de Conde loved to hunt and race horses. The chateau is decorated with several hunting paintings and there is a large horse stable and race track on the grounds. The parc is huge and unfortunately we didn't have enough time to see it all. I want to go back just to finish walking around the gardens!

There is a museum located in the chateau called the Musee Conde, which houses the second richest collections of artwork, second to the Louvre.

Paris

This past week was winter break so I headed off to northern France with a friend for six days. I spent two days in Paris, one day in Chantilly and three days in Lille. Most students decided to voyage in other surrounding countries, such as England, Ireland, or Italy, but I came to the conclusion that I am studying abroad in France to learn French, therefore I want to spend as much times as possible speaking the language. There is so much to see in France that I could spend a life time exploring every corner. I've never been to the north of France so that's basically why we choose Chantilly and Lille. Paris, I've been there but my friend wanted to go so we could meet up with her other friends.

So the first day we arrived on TGV and checked into our auberge de jeunesse (youth hostel). We stayed at L'Auberge Internationale des Jeunes...It wasn't anything to get excited about but I would probably stay there again if I were in Paris. The price was cheap and the accommodations were fine.

We went to Pere Lachaise cemetery with the intention of seeing Edith Piaf's tomb. There was a map at the entrance that showed the locations of all the famous people buried there but, after over an hour of searching, we couldn't find Edith! What a disappointment...I think the map was wrong because we looked all over for her :( We then successfully found Jim Morrison's tomb which was easy to find because there were a bunch of people crowded around it.

We then went to Montmartre and walked around Sacre Coeur. It was a beautiful, chilly day so I got some gorgeous photos from the top.

During day two, we ate lunch near Notre Dame on Ile-de-la-Cite, took a stroll around the Tuileries and eventually ended up at Cite de Science et de l'Industrie. We later went out to an Irish pub that night.

En grève, encore

Another day, another strike...

I went to class today and the teacher showed up 20 minutes late to tell us that she's on strike indefinitely...Apparently the Francophonie literature department has some beef to fry with the heads of the university so they won't work until they're needs are satisfied. Perhaps I should consider teaching in France after I graduate. I would have job security until death and get plenty of vacation days! I could also b.s. my way through assessment and give all my students 11 out of 20, because there's no such thing as perfect grades in France.
I hope they can reach some sort of compromise because I really need the credit for this class. This strike could go on for months which would result in the cancellation of the course! Eek!

In other news, it's been raining for the last four days. I had the most miserable walk to school yesterday because of the torrential downpour. The pavement here is so uneven that you're forced to walk in an inch of water everywhere you go. And then there's always the inevitable two-feet deep puddle every couple of yards. My shoes are still drying and my pants were soaked well past the knees! Fortunately, tomorrow looks sunny and pleasant :)

I just finished the details on my winter break trip! I booked my trains and hostels for the week and I'm ready to go! I leave next Saturday - I'll be in Paris for three days and Lille for three days. ON Y VA!

La grève et les pantalons

This Thursday (January 29), French [public] workers held a nationwide strike (or, as the French say, une greve). It was the biggest strike since Nicholas Sarkozy took office in 2007. Basically, the majority of the French population (nearly 70% supported the strike) wants their president to do more about the economic crisis. As a result, dozens of trains and planes were canceled and public transportation was severely delayed. Here in Montpellier the tramway comes about ever 3-5 minutes on weekdays - this Thursday it was running about every half and hour and the service completely stopped by seven o'clock. Also, a lot of professors were on strike which meant few to none classes for students of all ages.

I decided to make it a day of shopping and ended up buying a pair of flats and skinny, black pants. After searching for a few hours and many failed attempts at trying them on, I finally found a pair that fits perfectly! And they were only 7Euros - I love sales! Too bad January is coming to an end...I'm going to miss those cheap prices.
One thing that bothers me though are the sizes in France. While I'm considered a petite, thin person in the US, here in France apparently I'm a complete fatass. Women (and men!) here have the skinniest legs, calves and hips I have ever seen. This made my life severely more depressing while pants shopping because the number on the tag was way higher then I'm used too.

For dinner I had my first taste of French McDonalds. In France it's called Macdo. The menu is exactly the same, except with higher prices. I also treated myself to a McFlurry for dessert and was shocked to discover that it contained peanut butter M&Ms! The one thing in the whole world that I am missing right now is peanut butter. I looked for it in the grocery store last week and found it in the international/exotique food aisle, next to the Mexican and Chinese food. It was 6,20euros for a jar...A MINI-jar, about half the size of what you'd find in the US. And it was Skippy extra-crunch...No creamy JIF in sight. Ridicule!

After a day of shopping I decided to go see Les Noces Rebelles (Revolutionary Road) with a friend. We had originally wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire but were told the wrong time...Anyway, it was an incredibly intense movie. While the actual plot of the film was OK, the performances by Kate and Leo were amazing!

Provence

This Saturday we took a day trip to the region of Provence. Unfortunately the weather was pretty crappy - it was rainy and cloudy most of the day, but Provence was still very beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in the Spring! We stopped at four main sights, starting with le Pont du Gard in Nimes. The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct, built in 50 AD. The view was gorgeous...

Next we were dropped off in an adorable little French town, situated in a closed valley, to see la Fontaine de Vaucluse (the fountain of Vaucluse). For some reason I was expecting to see a fountain...but turns out, la Fontaine is the source of the Sorgue river. It's famous, and quite mysterious, for the fact that the water seems to appear out of nowhere, as if it comes out of the side of a mountain. The real source is an immense underground network of waters which come from rain and snow melt.

The third stop was Les Baux de Provence, which was my favorite part of the trip. Les Baux is a plateau with signs of human life dating back to 6,000BC. One thing I found really interesting were the ruins of medieval castles on top of cliffs. You don't really notice them at first glance because they're so dilapidated and the same color as the rocks, so you always have to make sure you look twice in case you miss one! I find it fascinating that people could actually build castles all the way up there....That is quite a feet today, let alone a thousand years ago. It must have been a lot of work! And the history that goes along with them is always cool to learn about...it almost makes me sad to see them in ruins.

Finally, we saw le Moulin de Fontvielle in the town of Arles. A writer named Alphonse Daudet lived inside of it for years so he could write his novel... From le moulin you can see a row of huge, white modern days windmills in the distance. The contrast is pretty amazing, its like you're seeing the past and present come together.

On the way home we say hundreds of tractor trailers lined up for miles along the side of the road. At first I thought perhaps there was some sort of truck driver strike going on...(because everyone knows the French love their greves!) But, turns out, they were stopped because of this storm. They were forced to pull over and wait it out because of the violent, hurricane-sized winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean. Further along, around the France/Spain border, trucks were being blown off the side of the road. Seventeen people were killed in related accidents. Of course as we were being told this we were in a tractor trailer sized bus...so the first thought that went through every one's mind was, "omg why aren't we pulling over?". Montpellier is too far east from the storm to feel the full affects so we were fine. Although, as I was walking home I almost got blown over! I've never felt wind that strong before, I can't even imagine what it was like further south-west from here!

Maguelone

Yesterday I went to Villeneuve-les-Maguelone, a tiny town just south of Montpellier. I thought the journey would be short and sweet but turns out it takes quite a bit of time to get there if you don't own a car.

First, I took the tram to a stop called Saint-Cleophas, et apres, I took bus line 32. The bus ride should, in essence, be about 20 minutes long... However, we didn't know where to get off, thus we completely missed our stop. After speaking to the driver we finally made it one and half hours later. "It's only a ten minute walk from here," said the driver. He totally lied to us...It took an hour to reach the cathedral. Turns out the best way to reach the destination, if you don't have a car, is to ride a bike.

The cathedral is located on an island of sorts and access to the entrance is in the back. Soooo, we had to walk to the other side of the island, across the beach. I suppose the walking was worth it because I got to see the sea and the flamingos (they are very loud birds!). I can't wait to return to the beach when its warmer out.

Once we got to the cathedral I was a little tired but in good spirits. It certainly wasn't as big as I thought it would be (I had Notre Dame de Paris or Chartres in mind) but it was interesting nonetheless. Now I have to prepare notes and meet with my group to present our experience with my Civilisation du Sud class.

La nourriture

I just wanted to comment on how much I love la galette des rois. It's a cake that is served to celebrate l'Epiphanie. The actual holiday was last week but the French are still celebrating...and I hope they continue until forever because I could seriously eat this cake at every meal. I've had it five times since I've been here, twice today. The cafeteria at the university served it as dessert at lunch and we had a little party at the program office tonight.

You can buy la galette at pretty much every bakery or grocery store here in Montpellier. A little plastic or porcelain figurine is baked into each cake (often a baby Jesus) and the person who gets the slice with the figurine gets to be the king or queen for the day (Most cakes come with a paper crown). To equal each person's chance of finding the prize, the youngest person at the meal goes under the table and randomly assigns a piece of cake to each person.

Speaking of food...
Overall the food has been wonderful. My host mom really goes beyond my expectations and takes great care of me. I was a little apprehensive before arriving because at home I can be a little picky.
Breakfast is usually bread with jam and a piece of fruit. I buy lunch at the university on weekdays and, depending on the day, I eat at one of two cafeterias. The little cafe is for a simple sandwich if you need a quick bite to eat between classes. The big cafeteria is a great bargain and I try to eat there as much as possible. You get an entire meal (meat, starch, fruit, vegetable, dessert) for only 3euros. Then, I'm back at home for dinner and so far I've liked everything she's cooked. The only food I don't think I want to each again is polpetti. Yea...tiny little octopuses. Tentacles and all. My host-sister was popping them into her mouth like pieces of candy and I was sitting their dissecting them with my knife and fork, trying to figure out which part I should try and eat first. Honestly, it wasn't bad. To me they tasted like saltwater.
Sundays are usually a family affair with a big mid-day meal. This Sunday we took a little promenade along the banks of the river le Lez after the meal...Oh, the French way of life is very gratifying!

La Bise

One thing I definitely wish I knew about before arriving in Montpellier was how to properly perform "la bise", that is, cheek kissing. As an American (a very shy, easily embarrassed American), la bise is something I'm still rather uncomfortable with. Americans like their personal space which is why we settle on a distant handshake or a wave. I had erroneously thought that la bise was reserved for close friends and family members so I was caught off guard when I arrived at my homestay and my host sister's boyfriend was the first to approach me with a kiss. Shoving your face against a complete (really good looking) stranger's can be very awkward.
I had also falsely believed that a double kiss would suffice...But of course not! I am in Montpellier and here you triple kiss. The standard double kiss remains in the north of France (namely Paris) and there are some places in France where the double double kiss is commonplace. Oh, and you don't actually kiss cheeks. You place your cheek against theirs and simply kiss the air.
Lastly, la bise is both a greeting and a way of saying goodbye. Girls kiss girls, girls kiss boys and boys kiss boys.

Et voila, la bise!

Bienvenue à Montpellier!

I flew overnight to Paris into the 2nd of January. From there I took a four hour TGV ride to Montpellier. I spent two nights in a hotel with the rest of the students from my program for orientation, moved in with my homestay family and by Monday I was sitting in class.

Before leaving, I had an idea that the French university would be different from my own but I didn't realize just how different until I experienced it for myself.
In America, students are expected to pay thousands of dollars in tuition. As a result, we have beautiful, clean, modern buildings and are equipped with the latest technology. In France, students do not have to pay nearly as much and their universities are reflective of this. Basically, you get what you pay for. Paul-Valery University is covered in graffiti, the bathrooms are pretty gross and its just overall aesthetically non-pleasing. There also seems to be a lack of organization. At Penn State, for example, we sign up for courses online at a specified date and time. The system is organized and has to be because of the number of students. This week, I looked up my courses in an incomplete course book (some of the classes didn't even have a day or time listed and they were due to start the next day) and showed up to the ones I thought sounded interesting. The professors passed out a sheet of scrap paper and had students sign their names to create a course roster. No worries about class size or anything... I showed up to a film class and there was no teacher. Turns out the class no longer exists and they just decided not to tell anyone. The next day, I went to an 18th century lit class and there was no teacher. After twenty minutes of waiting we found out he's sick.
I guess I'll write more about school later...

In other news, I was surprised to see snow today. I never thought I'd see snow on palm trees... I always have my camera in my purse but I have yet to take any photos.