just want to be done

I just want to be done. That's all. I feel like the things I have left to do aren't really adding anything to what I have learned in France (which isn't much because of the strike). They just seem like formalities. I want to be done so I could either enjoy my last weeks in France or be home.

I guess the only thing to do is get on it. I keep telling myself just do it, but then I find something else to do on the internet. I think that is very sad because it is a total waste of time, especially while I am here. So I suppose all that explains why I am posting. I am procrastinating.

ok back to work. ugh...

Back to France

Well...it has been quite some time since I last posted. My family came to visit, which was wonderful. I will try and put some pictures up soon. For now I will post the link to the family home page where dad has already put up lots of photos. Roberts homepage. As you will see, we ate lots of delicious food and recorded all of it with the camera. We all had such a good time exploring Provence.

I left France on the same day that my family did except I was headed for Wales. I finally got to see little Mari. She is very cute and so peaceful. I love her big blue eyes. It was also fabulous to see Mererid, Thanasis, Mamgu, and Taid. It really didn't seem like that long since I was there for a whole month (January 2008). I got to go to Swansea with Mererid and Mari where we saw some very interesting installations (well, I suppose Mari didn't see them since she was asleep). I also got to have some of Mamgu's lovely cabbage and welsh cakes. yum!

I would have loved to have stayed longer, but I had to go and see the Praeders (sorry no umlaut) in Germany as well. II had a great time in Germany. I went to a contemporary art museum with Anne, which was very good and right in the center of Cologne. I then went to Aachen with Lara and met her boyfriend, Jonas. I had a very pleasent stay with them, which included shopping and an exciting volley ball game.

Well, I should probably go now. I sadly don't have internet at my apartment right now for some unknown reason. I really hope it is fixed soon because I don't like going to the near by cafe to use the internet. For one thing, I always have to buy a tea or something and for another, they play horrible music loudly. I have lots of work in the next month so my posts will probably be less frequent although who knows, perhaps it will increase the number of posts since I will be wanting to procrastinate with something. I am super excited for the summer and next year at Wellesley. Summer in Boise is always fun and at Wellesley next year, my classes sorted out and I will be living in my first choice room. Yay!

I don't have time to edit so hopefully there aren't too many spelling mistakes and things.
Bye!

Easter Weekend

This weekend, I went to see my second cousin, Justine. It was lovely to meet her and her family. I found it interesting to discover that there are many similarities between our families even though we have never spent any time together. Their household is incredibly bilingual. They switch between French and English all the time. I really loved their house. It is an old french house, but the inside is very modern. They rent it in the summer if anyone is interested.

Justine and her oldest son Thomas took me to L'Isle sur la Sorgue. It is a little town with lots of canals and water wheels. There was an antique festival/fair thing going on, which was fun to walk through. There were also these random vintage cars. Herby!
They had a big dinner party on Saturday night. There was a lot of French spoken. It is amazing how tired you are after a night of trying to follow all the conversations in French. It was particularly hard when more than one conversation was going on across me at once.
The next day the three boys, their dad, and the cat left for England. I spent the morning talking to Justine about her life, the many places she has lived, and what I should do with my family in Provence when they visit me.
I got back to Aix at about 4pm on Easter Sunday. That evening we had people over for dinner. We had breakfast for dinner. It was lots of fun and very delicious. I think it should be an Easter tradition.
Today I mopped and cleaned the apartment. I also spent some time outside in the lovely nearly 70 degree weather.
I am very excited for my family (minus :( Aled ) arriving on Thursday. I am also very excited because the housing results for next year at Wellesley were announced. I am going to be living in the same dorm as my friends Stacy and Kate. It was our first choice and it is right on the lake. It is also right next to our lovely friend Maria who is going to be the Resident assistant in the Spanish House.
I am a happy camper (except for figuring out classes for next year, but that is for another post)

hair

I got my hair cut! I will put up photos soon. I am not totally pleased, but I am more happy with it than I was with my damaged long hair.

Lately the strike has continued as has the blockade. All of our classes that were held at the school have been moved to various places around Aix and the classes that are on strike have been converted to independent studies.

I am doing laundry today, which I hate. It is such a pain going to the laundromat. I now appreciate the $1 laundry machines at Wellesley and I REALLY appreciate the laundry machine at home.

I am also going to make some scone/shortbread things today to go with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert tonight. Ali has a friend staying and we are inviting a few people to have dinner with us. I bought strawberries at the market as well as some gerbera daisies. So pretty!

Ali and I made a very successful quiche last night. We put ham, leeks, and peas in it. It was very yummy and we have left overs!

Alright time to pick up my laundry. ugh...

Wellesley Excursion

This is from the excursion I went on with the Wellesley program last weekend. We went to the hospital where Van Gogh stayed in St. Remy de Provence, an ancient Roman city called Glanum, and Les Baux where there are awesome ruins of a medieval castle. This photo was taken at Les Baux and it was raining by then. We had just had a very yummy lunch in town. It was a good day.

I'm not making this up

The strike continues and is getting worse. The students are now blockading the building. I thought you might want to see some pictures. Here are some photos that a girl on the program took. The first one is of the protests that happen outside of the school. That is the main reason we can no longer get in.
The second reason is clearly the fact that they make it as difficult as possible to get through the doors. It is not impossible though if you put in quite a bit of effort as displayed below by another girl on the Wellesley program.

Apparently Stalinism is that way

It might be hard to tell since the picture is pretty small but the hallways and staircase in the background are totally blocked with furniture. Pretty impressive. The director of our program says that the students continue to strike now because there is no point in starting the semester at this point. The professors have caused this semester to be a waste so the students think there is no point in going to school this late in the semester.

Oh the French.

p.s. notice what bad shape the building is in to begin with. There really isn't much care for the school facilities.

Ryan in Europe

It was great to have Ryan here. I went and picked him up from the airport. I was worried something would go wrong in Paris since he can't speak the language, but he arrived in Marseille without having any problems.
The first thing we did when we got back to Aix, even before returning to the apartment, was go to Crepes-a-Gogo. My favorite crepe place.
The highlights of his stay include climbing Mount St. Victoire, going to Cassis, and of course visiting family in England.
We left early on a Sunday morning to go to the Mountain. It was a good thing to do on a Sunday since everything is closed here on Sundays. The day before we had picked up all the things we needed for a picnic from Monoprix. This included wine, cheese, and bread. Very French. We also brought pistachios, cookies, and bananas. We took a little shuttle bus to get to the base.
We got off the shuttle at a stop where there was a resevoir and a big dam. It turned out to be somewhat of a mistake not to bring a map of any kind. We started going in the direction that everyone else was going, but after awhile there were so many forks that there wasn't a clear path. We sorta just went towards the mountain's peak.

We ended up on some random little trail that was difficult to follow. In the end, we did get near the top where we realized we had gone on a very old trail and there was a much easier way to get to the same destination. Oh well. It was an adventure.

(our picnic)

(one of the paragliders)

(on the mountain)

Near the peak, we had our picnic. We relaxed in the sun for a long time and enjoyed all the food. It was a lot of fun. We pretty much spent the whole day up on the mountain. We didn't get back to Aix until about 7 pm.

(on the beach in Cassis)

Later in the week, we went to Cassis. It is a beautiful little town on the coast. There, we relaxed on the beach, had icecream, went on a boat ride, and had dinner at a lovely Italian place.

(the beautiful water around Cassis)

(the cliffs)

(Ryan and his favorite kind of pastry with apricots)

Over the weekend, we went to Southend to see my family there. It was lots of fun and great to see everyone. We went into London for one day. There was a great exhibition on at the Natural History Museum called, Wildlife Photographer of the year. It is a photography exhibit made up of the winning photos from a competition put on by the museum and the BBC Wildlife magazine. We bought a little booklet and brought it back to show everyone, which inspired Pete, Jo, Rowena, and Rob to go later on.
Another big event of that weekend was Peter's announcement that he and Jo will be getting married. Yay! It is very exciting.
Overall Ryan's stay was wonderful. We went to many great places, spent time with family, and had great food. Both of our bank accounts have large dents in them now, but it was well worth it.

(Ryan in Hyde Park in London)

Rome

I am going to have trouble remembering everything Hilary and I did in Rome. It is such a big city with so many things to see. It was somewhat overwhelming. I didn't like Rome as much as Florence. It felt a bit chaotic to me. Although the sites are brilliant.
We arrived late in the evening from Florence so we just found our hostel and went to bed on the first night. I didn't like this new hostel as much. There were a lot of party type people there so it was noisier and messier.
The next day we started our Rome adventure. Hilary likes to walk so we walked everywhere. It is quite a large city so that got tiring. We headed to St. Peter's Basilica. On the way, we saw quite a few things like a castel/fort thing and the Pantheon.
St. Peter's is crazy. There were so many people there and it is soooo grand and ornate. Hilary and I went into a small museum off the side where they had a lot of past jewels and goblets and other various decorative things from old popes. I find it unbelievable that so much money and time has been poured into this religion. Looking at the pope's thrown, I thought about the fact that you aren't allowed to worship anyone or anything more than God and yet there was all this stuff for the pope. It is as if he is worshiped. I don't know too much about Catholicism in detail so I could have the wrong impression, but it certainly did seem overboard. I do appreciate the art that was produced though. It was wonderful to see Michelangelo's Pieta.
Next we went to the Vatican museums. We found the signs for the Sistine Chapel and followed them. Hoards of people followed the signs as well. They take you through a maze of hallways and rooms. I suppose they want to make sure that the people who are just coming to see the Sistine chapel see a few other things as well. I really liked seeing the School of Athens painting by Raphael. I also enjoyed the map paintings. I have always liked maps. Since some of them were so off from what we know the world looks like today, it made me think of when Aled would draw made up maps of his own worlds and spend hours coloring them in and naming all the countries.
We finally arrived at the Sistine Chapel. People were packed into it. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer for the main tourist season. People kept trying to take pictures. You were supposed to be silent and photos weren't allowed. The security guard would yell, "Silent! Silent! No photo! No photo!" Then it would be quiet for about a minute until the noise level raised again and people regained confidence to snap another photo. Hilary took this photo. I don't think I would have taken a photo even if I could. My camera was too full and couldn't take any more pictures.
Hilary and I actually preferred the exhibition right before the Sistine chapel. It was a Contemporary Religious Art exhibition. It included artists such as Dali, Chagall, Klee, and Matisse. Most people wizzed by; I don't think they knew what they were missing.

After the Vatican we walked around the city more. This is a picture of the Castel fort thing we went into earlier, but at night. We saw the Trevi fountain and walked down one of the main shopping streets.
The next day was Colosseum and ancient ruins day. We saw the Trajan Column and then got in line for the Colosseum. There were all these guys dressed in gladiator costumes. They would try and get tourists to take photos with them and then charged them a euro or two. There were also a bunch of people trying to get tourists to join tours and things. It felt pretty chaotic. When we finally got inside it was nice, but not spectacular. It basically looks just like the photos. Still, I am glad I waited in the line to see the inside. Now I can see I have seen it.
After that we walked around the ancient ruins, which I really enjoyed. I didn't realize how much is left. I guess I didn't expect that much. I love columns. I don't know what it is about a row of columns that no longer have much of a purpose, but I just find them beautiful. I feel like they really give you a sense of how grand the buildings were. They give you a sense of the dimensions. We also got to see these old frescoes. I find it really amazing that they have survived all these years. They were so lovely. I wouldn't mind having them on my wall today. The deep yellows, reds, and greens were quite modern.
So that was Rome. My one piece of advice to anyone who is going to visit Rome would be to bring a guide book specifically about Rome. I felt like there wasn't much information printed about the ruins and things. I would have liked to learn more about what I was seeing. The next day we got on a train and headed back to Aix. Actually, we only made it to Nice that day. We stayed in a lovely hostel, but we were only there for a total of about seven hours. I will have to go back though because they were so friendly.

More to come

I just put up the Florence post. As you can see, I started it long ago so it is dated March 10th even though I just published it.
I will try and put up both Rome and Ryan's Visit tomorrow. I have the pictures chosen and ready, which is the part that takes me the longest.
Today I met up with Maud. I was put into contact with Maud through my second cousin, Justine. Maud was the babysitter for Justine's daughter Eva when they were living in Aix. Maud no longer lives in Aix either, but was here for the day and was kind enough to meet me. We went to a cafe and then went to a few shops. She was very friendly and it was nice to find someone with whom to speak French.
That sounds crazy since I am in France, but as a result of the striking, I haven't had much of a chance to meet French students and therefore haven't had all that many opportunities to speak French. When I say speak French, I mean more than what you would say to someone in a shop or a restaurant and different from the way we speak French in class. It was good to have a normal and somewhat lengthy conversation.

oops

So it has been quite some time since I posted. I promise I will catch up. I still need to finish writing about Italy. Then I also have to write about Ryan's visit, which was great. I am sick again. Miserable. I have a lot of homework to do today so I need to get that done and then I will work on my blog. Expect lots of posts for the rest of the week!

Florence

I love Florence. Hilary and I arrived from Bologna in the late morning. First we walked to our hostel, which was really close to the train station. Our hostel, Plus Florence, was great. The service was excellent and the rooms were clean and chic. I liked the pink curtains.
After we put our luggage away, we headed back out to see the sites. First we went to the Michelangelo piazza. It was on the other side of the city so on the way there we were able to see lots of Florence. Once we got to the top, the views were very pretty and even in the big city you could tell we were in Tuscany. We walked through a graveyard at a monastery and found a place to get some gelato.
When we got back down, we headed back towards the center of town by crossing the famous Pont Vecchio. There are lots of little jewelry shops on the bridge. They were all so cute and expensive. Hilary and I spent a long time looking in all the windows. My favorites were these coral rose earrings. Too bad my ears aren't pierced.
We then looked in the Duomo briefly and then went to the Pitti Palace where they have a large collection of paintings and also have some of the old royal apartment rooms on display. I enjoyed seeing the ornate rooms filled with paintings and glamourous furniture.
If I am remembering correctly, we then had dinner at a pizza place. It was very yummy. One thing Hilary and I found during our whole stay in Italy is that we got hungry way too early. People in Italy don't start eating dinner until at least 8pm. Since Hilary and I were so busy trying to see all the sites, we always got hungry early and wanted to be eating at about 6:30. We would try to hold off as long as possible, but usually gave in by 7:30. The restaurants would be empty and the waiters would look at us strangely. By the time we were paying the bill, others would start to file in. When I am in Aix, my roommate Ali and I rarely eat before 8pm. I think it was just because Hilary and I were so active during our vacation.
So...the next day was a museum day. We started by going to the Uffizi. I am so glad that we went early. We got there at 9am. When we were leaving I saw the lines and I would not have wanted to wait in them. Also, at the end, we started noticing a lot of big tours going through the museum. I understand that a tour could make a museum trip more enjoyable and interesting for some, but they just annoy me. They travel around in huge packs whispering to each other and blocking off paintings from other viewers. I am very happy that we avoided them for the most part.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Uffizi. It was wonderful to see all of the art that I have learned about in my Art History courses at Wellesley in real life. Some of my favorites were by Botticeli. I also like seeing some of Carravagio's work. I think quite a large portion of the museum was blocked off for renovation. That was diappointing, but in some ways I suppose it might have been helpful. I think I could have spent a whole day there and Hilary might not have been too pleased. Actually, we were pretty good museum buddies. We took about the same amount of time to look at things. We also both like to look at EVERYTHING.
Next we had lunch at a famous "hole in the wall" panini place. It was so good. I had a tomato and mozzerela and basil panini. There is always a line, but it moves quickly. He put mine together and poured olive oil on it. Then he put the other side of the bread on and squished it together to get the juices to spread all around. yum everything about it was delicious. You can also get a glass of wine from this place. They give you real glasses and they have these wooden shelves on the wall with numbers where you can put your glass while you are eating your panini. The numbers are so you remember which glass is yours.
After that, we went to see David. He was so much bigger than I imagined. I think the statue made an impression on Hilary. I don't think she was expecting much, but afterward she said that she liked it a lot more than she thought she was going to. I also liked the struggling statues. Mum told me that she had an unexpected emotional response to them. They really make you feel like you're suffocating.
When we finished there, we went back to the Pitti Palace to see the gardens. The gardens were beautiful with lot of fountains and statues. I know I would have loved to spend hours there as a child. There was so much to explore.
That evening we grabbed something to eat on the train and headed to Rome.

things that I now eat

I am still not writing about the rest of my trip, but I promise I will when I have more time. I want to do it justice. Right now, I am procrastinating the relatively (compared to the Wellesley workload) small amount of homework I have to do today. So, here is a list of foods that I eat now. I would have never imagined about two months ago that I would eventually enjoy this list of foods.

zucchini (courgette)
eggplant (aubergine)
olives
shallots
cooked tomato chunks (although I have to mash it with my fork)
onion (at least to a much larger extent than before)

The number one thing I still don't like to eat: mushrooms

...untitled

Sorry I haven't posted about Florence and Rome. I actually have quite a bit of homework to do this weekend so it might have to wait until next week. Ryan arrives next Friday so that is very exciting. That's all for now.

Bologna

Hilary and I left Cinque Terre early in the morning on Monday and went to Bologna where my friend Catherine is studying. It was great to see her. When we first got there we went to her dorm, where we got to check email! I can't believe how hard it is to go just two days without email. Catherine has such a different experience from us in Aix. Since she lives in a dorm setting instead of apartments she gets to meet a lot of Italians very easily. It was so nice to see them all getting along and joking around. I think two other things play into this as well. One, Catherine is a very out going, friendly person and makes loads of friends wherever she goes. Two, I think Italians may be easier to get to know then the French in general.

So after we had finished checking email and resting for a brief moment, Catherine showed us around some of the city. We visited the park where she goes running (I went running today!) and then she took us to a fabulous gelato shop (see picture below). After that we went into the Basilica in the center of town and looked at the Neptune fountain that is there as well.
That evening we went to get aperitifs with a lot of people from Catherine's program. It is such a great deal. You just have to buy one drink and then you can help yourself to as much of the apertif food buffet as you want. They had great mini pizzas, salad, cheese, olives, salami etc.

The next day Catherine had class so Hilary and I wandered around the city. We found excellent hot chocolate. It is very different in Italy. Almost like chocolate pudding (American pudding). We also climbed to the top of one of the Bologna towers where the views were very pretty. That burned off the calories from the hot chocolate : ) We met up with Catherine for lunch and had delicious pizza. At the end of our meal Catherine struck up a conversation with the guy at the cash register and we ended up staying another 20 minutes and having a free liqueur...it was an interesting experience.

That night we bought groceries at a market and cooked dinner for ourselves at Catherine's dorm. It was yummy. We then finished the night with a trip to Grom. Grom is a gelato shop and it is amazing. Hilary told me about them. Apparently there are two in NYC. We went to the one in Paris and I fell in love. Our goal is to go to one in every country we visit. I don't even know if there are Groms in any other countries. I just went to their website and there is a Grom in Paris, NYC, and the rest are in Italy.