Islam and honest opinions

This is a GREAT video

Check out the guy with the sign at 2:53 hahahaha! 

Lately I've had people ask me, "What do Americans think about us Muslims?" And automatically, my mind jumps to wackos like this. Not only is he publicly saying that he is against Islam, which we have the right to do, but he is bashing and demoralizing the religion. It's not really fair when 1. he is making FAT generalizations, 2. all religions are capable of manipulation religious text for violent causes, etc. 3. he is basing his judgement on one very tragic act that has unfortunately tainted the Muslim community. 

But in response to this question, I take a few extra seconds to reflect. It's a hard question to answer. I am American, but I don't view Muslims any differently than just as humans like myself. I know there are people who are indifferent, people who might be attracted to the religion, and people who might be afraid of it out of innocent ignorance, and people who hate it for the wrong reasons like this dude. So I say that due to 9/11, a lot of people are afraid of Islam, because they don't understand it.  

Now that a lot of time has passed, the fear has diminished and people are not judgmental, most people anyways. But I would bet even a lot of people in my little country hometown are judgmental, cracking inappropriate "jokes" that are racist but claim to just be an innocent. I say that I myself have no problems with Islam, simply that I didn't understand it either, but I wanted to, and that's one of the reasons I chose to come to Marseille. 

Here in Marseille, I'd say every 1 out of 3 women I see wear the veil. Very, very few cover themselves completely. I've only seen a handful of them. But here it is part of the daily scenery, and I have no problem with that. However I often reflect on the veil because it has become so politicized in discussion of Western politics. Here in France, to comply with la laicite, which translates to our secularism (which we don't really follow- perhaps I should write a whole separate blog post on that), all religions signs are technically forbidden in public areas belonging to the state (i.e. schools, government buildings, etc.)- yamikas (sorry if I spelled that wrong), crosses, veils, etc. If the French state is neutral in regards to all religions, it has to represent this position in all areas, not just in policy but it must be practiced. This I agree with, but it does get tricky when Muslim children who want to wear their veil can't at school while it is a part of their identity, etc. A lot of people think that forbidding the veil is targeting Islam. 

Here's my response, and it may be harsh: It's not the French state's fault that wearing the veil is a religious sign which happens to be much more obvious and sometimes not a choice within Islam, while within Christianity there are no religious garments required. The French state is laic, "secular" and it is simply following the rules. HOWEVER, at the same time, while I agree with French laicite or secularism, I am personally not against the right to wear religious garments in these places. Even though I agree with the political neutrality to all religions, I personally am not offended by religious signs. And see the thing is, while it's the French states' neutrality, it also shows to some people who France is afraid of "becoming Muslim." That is some people's fear anyways. I read a quote in a text we were reading for my religious communication class that said, "A Muslim's worst fear is for a non-Muslim to fear him or his religion." That's to say, Muslims know they are feared by some, and they don't want it that way.. so outlawing the veil makes them frustrated because they feel misunderstood. I think it's a combination of misunderstandings, because they must understand that it is the French states' attempt to be neutral and encourage a neutral perspective on the citizen's level as well.

I love the diversity that Islam and the veil brings to Marseille. Their religion and their culture is an extremely nurturing and generous one, and they are some of the warmest people- I experienced this in Morocco but also in Marseille. I connect with people when I tell them I went to Fez, and if they happen to be Moroccan, I can count on a response with something like, "OH I am from a nearby city! Isn't my country beautiful? Didn't you just love it? Next time you are there, you are welcome to my home." Seriously, it's happened a number of times. And it just makes me smile. 

So I say to those who fear Islam, there is nothing to fear... 

I will have to say though that although I am not against the veil, I do struggle with some of the reasons that some women choose to put it on. In Morocco we had a discussion with a group of women who wear their veil. In terms of reasons, here were some of the responses:

1. Form of protection from men

2. Personal/religious conviction, Allah wills it so I wear it

3. Part of my cultural and religious identity in general

There were some other nuanced responses but they were all basically leading back to these main three. That's what I gathered anyways. And I have reproaches to two of them:

1. Form of protection from men- some of the girls disagreed with this because really, it's only a form of protection in the sense that it provides a peace of mind. If you wear the veil, you are seen as more pure and respectful and therefore will receive less attention. But that's not always the case, if you're really pretty, you're really pretty and guys will give you attention anyways. The question us Westerners asked, was, why not create a culture or teach the males a way of thinking where the women don't need to cover their bodies completely in order to gain respect and not be given attention in the streets? Women shouldn't have to go into defense mode, it's the men who owe them respect from the beginning. All said that there are verses in the Coran that command men to lower their eyes towards women to show respect. But it's not done, and we still viewed that as an inequality between the sexes. So we struggled with this question...

2. Allah wills it- Islam holds that a woman is a pure and precious thing to protect. A thing. Hm.. I don't like that. A woman has characteristics that separate her from a man but do not lower her, in my opinion. Both sexes are to be appreciated and respected, as all humans are "pure" in the sense that Islam holds, but why are women to be hidden in order to protect them? That's why the veil exists, or at least that's how some of the girls explained it. The veil hides the woman so that her purity and beauty is protected. One could say that's putting the woman on a pedestal...... But it's lowering her in my opinion. Now I am not saying that every Muslim woman is under-appreciated and lowered in her social context or her family, I'm just saying that in Islam, there is already a gender separation that is stronger than in the other two Monotheisms.

 If wearing the veil is a part of your religious or cultural identity, then so be it. I understand that. It is like a t-shirt, it's a normal garment that is part of everyday wear. I get it. It's just when you do it simply because your religion demands you to, well I could never do that. I do what I want (haha that sounds so ignorant, but really...) and I will question the authority of a "God" or "prophet" because why would I do something I don't agree with just because some book tells me to? With all honesty that's how I see it- but to them, the Coran is not just some book and they take pride in following Allah's will. So I respect that 100%. I just can't agree with it is all. 

It was a very fascinating discussion. I found that I walked away feeling dissatisfied and with more questions, I didn't agree with all of their answers, and the whole time I wondered, these women are asking for our respect but do they respect us for not wearing the veil? Do they see us as impure and lacking respect for our own bodies? One woman was quite pious and I could tell, she spoke very strongly and with conviction to Islam, in a way that made me feel uncomfortable that I wasn't Muslim. Like she was secretly judging me and pitying me. She said that to not wear the veil is to lack respect for your body as a woman, woah there I respect my body and I don't wear the veil and I show my skin a lot. I had a problem with that. But the rest of the girls were so kind and sweet and curious about us too and they simply were explaining their perspectives, while that one other woman was on the defense. But we weren't there to be on the offense. 

In all, I have learned a lot about Islam this semester and the culture within it. And might I add, there is definitely a difference between Occidental Islam and Oriental Islam. Islam that is developing in France for example, in order to for mosques to exist and stuff, has to comply with the ideals of the French constitution- equality of the sexes, neutrality towards other religions, et cetera. It's very interesting. I love the culture, even though I will never be truly a part of it. I say Insha'allah and Alhamdullilah all the time, as do many of my classmates, and sometimes when we're with Muslims they laugh and respond with, "Oh you're Muslim now are you?" Haha, but really I just love the expressions. I like the ability to adopt little things like that into my own individual culture. 

I am grateful for the chance to learn about Islam and break down preconceived notions... only adding to my ability to try and be more culturally relative and objective rather than subjective. In my interreligious communication class we learned about the theory Relativism- everything has value in it's own cultural or religious context (everything being values, customs, teachings, etc.) It holds that we cannot place ignorant or subjective judgment because it all depends on the cultural context in which X factor exists. I love discussing stuff like that...

Well, this was a very impromptu post. I wanted to simply post the video but then I got on a rant. I think this will lead into my next post being about my trip to Morocco as I already touched on it a bit in this post. Afterwards I hope to write about French laicite versus American secularism. I wrote a paper on that and I am really interested in the topic so I will share some observations for that... 

My family gets here in less than 24 hours, I am so excited!

Bises mes amis,

Katherine

Ce n'est pas un adieu, c'est un au revoir

Photos from Sara and Suzie's last night out in Marseille.

Sara, until next time sista! 

Suzie, see you in a month girly!

Reflexions

I think it's timely that I give everyone an update, especially after this past week's events, here and in my other home...

Ever since we got back from Morocco, time flied. They warned us of that, and they were right to. I wish I could give you all specific details of my time here and how I spent it this past month but really, even though I have some specific things to talk about, it wouldn't do my time here any justice. I want everyone to know what's going on, but sometimes it's just so hard to transfer my experience over into words that capture the feeling. Being abroad to some people is the fashion or the food or the romance, but that's missing the point by a long shot. Life is different abroad not just because of physical things, but because you learn to think and see things differently (in another language too) and that changes you. You create a whole separate life that no one but you can understand. I really feel like I live here now. How do you want me to tell you that this past week was one of the best weeks of the semester? It was great for this reason and that, but that won't mean to you what it means to me. So I have a hard time putting the energy into going into real detail about those things anymore. I still do (for those lucky ones out there ;)) but it's also made me realize who is truly important to me. I can already tell how much I have changed and grown up, because I no longer waste my time worrying about things I can't control (okay, relatively speaking). I see and understand the world and people differently. It's one of the most beautiful gifts I've ever received. I still have six months left, alhamdullilah, and I can't imagine what other changes I will be going through in that time...

This is not to say that home means less to me now, or that the people I truly care about at home mean less. On the contrary. It just means I know how to separate the two worlds, two lives, and I'm okay with that separation. It's reality... But this brings me to my next subject: The massacres. In Clackamas Town Center by my home, and in Connecticut. I have had many French ask me how I'm doing and how everyone at home is doing because of these tragedies, and it's so touching. To hear about it on French news is really interesting. But honestly what makes me cry is seeing all the pictures and posts on news sites and Facebook about it, and thinking of the families and how that morning they sent their little loved one to school like any other day, only to discover that some fucked up kid took his own problems out on 20 innocent beings. It's the most disgusting thing a person could do. To a human, not just children, but to someone who has life. We don't have the right to take an innocent life. It makes my heart heavy, I woke up these past few days, while happy, feeling like something was wrong. It's interesting how this kind of event has effected all of us Americans while we're abroad. Here's my opinion on guns. Yes, people kill people, not guns. But people with guns kill more people than people without guns. People buy guns to protect themselves from other people with guns. It's a vicious cycle. I'm sorry but you cannot argue that point. It's futile, it's pointless, it's plain stupid. If it was actually difficult to get a gun, or if we just didn't have the right to one (because we don't need them........), then so many of these problems would be solved.... I don't know too much about the critics' opinions in France, but I know they want Obama to make political change and they are horrified for us because it's one of the worst modern massacres we've seen... I'll share some quotes from an article in Le Monde, a reputable French newspaper...

“Les larmes ne suffisent pas. Si l’Amérique veut éviter que de telles tragédies se reproduisent, il faut faire de la politique. Maintenant." – "Tears do not suffice. If America wants to avoid such tragedies like these from happening again, it must make political change. Now."

France recognizes that these things happen around the world, even in pacifist countries, yet it claims America as "the theater of repetitive shootings": "Les Etats-Unis sont le théâtre de fusillades à répétition parce qu'il est beaucoup trop facile de se procurer des armes. Le taux d'homicide y est cinq fois plus élevé qu'en France, celui par arme à feu seize fois plus fréquent qu'en Allemagne." - "The United States is the theater of repetitive shootings, because it is so much easier to own an arme. Le homicide rate is 5 times that of France's, and 16 times more frequent than in Germany." What does that tell you?!

The last important thing, that I touched on already: People say this all the time, but I don’t get buy their argument… "Ce ne sont pas les armes, mais les gens qui tuent". Les gens désarmés tuent moins" - "'It's not the guns, but people who kill.' People without guns kill less."  

What argument do you have against that, huh? I'd really, REALLY like to hear a legitimate response. Because I don't see one. And excuse my language, but it's an issue that shouldn't be a fucking issue. Come on people, a little political change for our protection isn't going to hurt us. 

That being said, onto another subject... 8 of the other Americans are leaving this weekend. Last weekend we had a large birthday party at Max's for Sara and Nick and then after we went to the Vieux Port, it was so fun to go out all together! One of my favorite memories of the semester. It was eventful for all of us that night... :) Last night we had our Soiree d'Adieu, and I cried. A lot of us cried. I just felt especially grateful for my classmates. They're a great bunch. Throughout the semester we  had "secret admirers" and we were supposed to observe the person and the changes we see in them over the span of the four months we're all together, and then tell them at the end what we noticed. Sara and I had each other, and while everyone's letters to their admirers were sooo touching and made us all a little emotional, but I burst into tears when Sara said to the class, "My secret admirer may be a secret but it is no secret that I adore you... KATHERINE." It was so sweet!! Merci Sara pour tes mots de gentillesse :) We're a little family and I am going to miss that so much. I can only hope that Suzie and Brenda and I will be able to transfer that familial ambiance into the next group, or that we won't have to at all and it will feel just as natural, even if different. I am excited to welcome two girls from my school to Marseille, and meet the others coming from America, and to get to know the two girls coming from Aix better. I couldn't be happier with my life right now. I literally honestly don't think I've ever been this happy before (KNOCK ON WOOD. don't wanna jinx it...) and I feel so humbled and grateful for this experience and mostly the personal connections I'm making with people. I really feel Marseillaise. This is my city now. I am spending more and more time with French people and people of Arabic origin, too, and I just feel fascinated by what I'm learning about people who live here all of the time. It's so wonderful. But with this week's events, saying goodbye, and the massacres, I felt really emotional this week. And I just feel guilty for being so happy when there are people enduring such pain right now... yet happy that I am so happy, I can't make myself feel guilty for something I have nothing to do with... 

I also forgot to talk about going to Norway to see Erin!! First of all, I am happy to announce I had NO TRAVEL COMPLICATIONS, alhamdullilah. My experience coming to France seriously scarred me... ahaha. Anyways, it was cold as ________ < insert exaggeration/inappropriate phrase here. Seriously, 1 minute outside and my legs were numb and my face hurt. No wonder that country only has 5 million habitants!! But as soon as I saw Erin, we ran up to each other, hugged really hard and sobbed in each other's arms and didn't let go. The emotion came out of the blue, even though we expected that to happen, I was fine up until that moment. We kind of caused a scene, so people either thought we're lesbian, or someone died, or I'm not sure what... But we didn't care. Seeing her for those two and a half days was wonderful. Oh how we laughed! And reminisced and discussed and all those things I miss doing with my girls face to face. Skype just isn't the same... I met several of her friends and we walked around and ate out a lot :) We went out both nights in a row but we were awfully lazy... :) My camera broke so I have mediocre pictures and from now on all the pictures on my Facebook and here will be stolen from other people's cameras until I get it fixed or get a new lens :/ Major bummer...

Tonight is Sara's last night in France :( We're going to have dinner at Manu's and then go out for one last time. I'm exhausted, I have been going to bed very late lately............ But it's worth 100% of it. I have a month long, relaxing vacation that awaits me and my lovely family is going to be here in just under 5 short days!!!! And then before I know it Suzie will be back for spring semester and the crazy shenanigans will begin once again, insha'allah. 

Here are some photos, and I promise a detailed description of Morocco soon. And I mean it, cause I'm gonna be hella bored these next couple days haha. 

Sara and Nick's birthday

Our professor took us to Starbucks!

Me, Alexandro and Suzie!

Caro Suzie et moi!

Polenta "A l'etale" (Polenta Sdraiata) Spread polenta for Sara's birthday dinner! Right off the table

Erin and I!!

My lovely classmates

Grateful

Grateful doesn't even begin to describe how I feel right now...

Thanksgiving was last week, and I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it with my class mates and our host families, and the girls who are studying at Aix welcomed us to their center. One girl sang some French songs and she had such a great voice! She changed the lyrics for the song "La vie en rose" to fit Thanksgiving: "La vie en dinde" (Life in pink... Life in turkey). It was really cute.

But while the meal was delicious and it had a familial atmosphere, it just wasn't the same. The whole week I kept forgetting it was Thanksgiving and that at home all my friends were already on break. I did get to Skype my family at home when everyone was gathered at my cousin's house for dinner and that was so nice. Otherwise, I hadn't given Thanksgiving and what I'm thankful for much thought.... until now. So now, as I procrastinate on my homework, I've decided to put my distracted mind to better use. Now for some reflection on all that I've been feeling grateful for lately.... (Better late than never right?)


The semester is coming to an end soon. I am lucky enough to be staying, but it's going to be so hard saying goodbye to my classmates. We have become a little family, and while I may not be close with each of them, they all mean something important to me in one way or another.

I look back on this summer before I left for France, or even before, at the beginning of my sophomore year, or even way before, during my senior year in high school, when I first knew I'd be coming here for a year, and all that I had anticipated. I can't tell you how many hours I'd spend imagining what it'd be like to truly live in France. My biggest goal so far. How much it means to me. My dream. And here I am... smack dab in the middle of it. It's a long and ongoing dream with tons of adventures and surprises, and it's the best dream I've ever had. I don't ever want it to end. But I know that it will have to eventually. The only comfort in this is that, just as when one door closes and another opens, I can create a new dream and big goal to work towards (like coming back to France :D).

While I am living in the present, I do think about the future a lot... on one hand I don't ever want to leave Marseille/France, but seeing as I have to, knowing I have my best friends at Linfield and Phi Sig and my family to go back to, that eases my mind. It's not going to be an easy transition. I do fear it will be too painful to handle at times, but I can get through any hardship especially with these people at my side. That, and in general it will be so, so, so, so amazing to see them again at the same time in the context of home. Sometimes I imagine what senior year will be like, just like I did with imagining what living in Marseille would be like. It helps to have something to look forward to, to keep things optimistic.

My American friend Suzie, who is in the same program as me, is leaving at the end of the semester but coming back at the beginning of the next semester to teach in Marseille and we will even be taking some of the same classes together. I have found a true friend in her, and I couldn't be happier to have one of my closest friends here to actually be coming back rather than leaving after just one semester like most students do... Alhamdullilah! For that, I am so looking forward to next semester.

In approximately.... 25 hours, I will be leaving for Oslo, Norway to see one of my dearest friends from Linfield, Erin. I am going to cry I think when I see her. Not only because it will feel so wonderful to spend some time together after all this time (let alone in EUROPE!) but it will remind me (both of us really) of when our friend group at school is all together, and how great that is. I think it will make us really nostalgic, but at the same time ecstatic to create some memories together... halfway around the world! I am excited to meet and hang out with her friends there and see her life in Oslo!

In 21 days, my family will be coming to see me in France for Christmas. Enough said.

I have made some great friends here in Marseille, both American and French, and met some really awesome people. I hope to meet more people and become closer with the ones I already know. My French gets even better every day and I find myself not only thinking in French, but like the French. Of course I cannot change the fact that I am American, I can't change the way I see or think about certain things because I was raised in the American culture. But you can add different facets to yourself and adopt new cultures, too. I learn more about the French culture every day and I love it and am adopting it, observing and imitating and living it. The goals I had for myself before coming here are becoming a reality and that, my friends, is a sweet, sweet feeling. There is truly no better feeling than success (hmmm maybe that's a culturally subjective statement... :)

I am grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way and will continue to.
I am grateful for the connections I've made here and will continue to develop.
I am grateful for the friends and family from home that have written me and taken the time out of their day to talk with me or Skype me to keep in touch. That means.... so much.
I am grateful for my family and friends in general. I've got some damn good ones :)
I am grateful for my host mom, who is basically an older version of me. Or rather, I am a younger version of her. To some extent anyway. We just get each other.
I am grateful for the ability to travel, to those who have opened their homes to me and shared with me their cultures. My list of places I've been to keeps growing and it's fantastic.
I am grateful for the coffee machine at school that provides us 50 cent cappuccinos every day.
I am grateful for Bastogne cookies to eat with my 50 cent cappuccinos.
I am grateful for French cuisine.
I am grateful for RyanAir and the train.
I am grateful for public transportation- the metro, especially.
I am grateful for Pastis and Rose wine. My besties on Friday and Saturday nights... hahaha.
I am grateful for crazy good memories and unpredictable nights.
I am grateful for the Vieux Port and le parc St. Victoire and Barbarousse, which are my favorite places in Marseille... bahahaha.
I am grateful that Mcdo is right across the street from Barbarousse for snack time and refueling... :) And that they have a 2 euro snack wrap... !
I am grateful for meaningful conversations.
I am grateful for my country- don't get too excited, that doesn't mean I like the US more than France now :) It just means I have learned more about and how to understand my own culture by being here and I accept the fact that I can't remove myself from my American culture (even if I really want to at times!). The point of study abroad (or one of the many points...) is not to learn to like one culture more than the other (although that's possible), but to learn to be neutral, to see things from both sides and have empathy for both cultures in their own contexts. All this has helped me learn about myself.
On a patriotic note...
I AM GRATEFUL FOR OBAMA.
I am grateful for the opportunity to put myself outside of my comfort zone in order to understand and learn more about myself and others and the world.
I am grateful to be here. 






I think that about sums it up for now. And in any case, I think you all get the idea.

I love my class!

Les filles :)

Manue! 

Sara!

Suzie!

My class in Aix for Thanksgiving

Sara, Clare, Suzie et moi

Our wonderful professor/advisor/mentor/American ally.... :)

Vacances Toussaint- Sardegna!

So, in France we get a week long vacation for All Saint's Day. The 27 of October to the 4 of November I planned a trip to Sardinia to visit my friend Valentina. I don't speak Italian and I've never been to Italy, so I got to re-experience the feeling of being a complete foreigner all over again. Since I practically understand/speak French almost fluently now, I rarely feel like an outsider in Marseille. The Italian language is so beautiful, and being in Sardinia and living their culture made such an impact on me, more than I expected it to. I think it was more than just a vacation, it was a really great experience because I made connections with the people I met and was welcomed so warmly by people that didn't even know me. That opened my eyes and made me realize that Italy would come to mean a lot more to me and made me realize that I want Italy to play a role in my life in the future. My summary of my trip doesn't do it justice. It's too hard to transmit how great it was through words, it's just a feeling I had when I was there that I can't reproduce in an explanation that will accurately capture it. It was just so wonderful I am already impatient to go back again.

Day 1: I left on Sat. the 27th. Got up at 8 because I was too nervous to sleep. Travelling alone means you and only you are responsible for yourself- if you know me well you'll know why this is scary hahaha. Moreover, I had to walk to the train station to take the shuttle to the airport, so I had to manage my time wisely. I left on time and caught the right shuttle and got to the airport at 3 o'clock on the dot. My flight left at 5 and I went with RyanAir, so it was the most relaxed thing ever. No assigned seating, the announcer/flight attendant on the plane was some goofy guy announcing everything in a Darth Vader voice, so it was really funny. The whole thing was so laid back and once we landed in Cagliari, an hour later, they sounded a victorious trumpet sound and everyone clapped! Haha. It was a nice way to start my vacation.
Vale picked me up and we drove back to Guspini where her family lives. We stopped by her friends house and I met some of her girl friends, and I didn't understand anything. But I loved listening to the sounds! Then I met her parents, Michele and Lina, who are THE sweetest and warmest people ever. And make really good food. So much pasta- so much yum. Her mom speaks French so it was easy to communicate with her, but her dad speaks only Italian. So it was fun, in a challenging way, to try and have conversations with him. But he was really funny and always trying to teach me new things about Italy. Thanks to him I tried the cachi fruit for the first time which is really interesting... but really good!
The first night we went out to some local bars, and it was fun meeting people and attempting the little Italian I tried to teach myself before going to Sardinia. Like, very little... haha. It's hard to teach yourself! But after awhile we were both exhausted and so we went home to sleep. And we slept a really long time haha.

Day 2: We took our time waking up and relaxing, and we decided that it would be a perfect day to go see a movie because it was like a freaking monsoon outside. We had lunch with her friend Sonia and then went and got coffee. I probably drank coffee about 3 times a day there. They drink coffee even more than the French do haha. Luckily Sonia speaks French so I was able to communicate with her better than everyone else I'd met, and Vale understands French so it was a win win situation haha. We kinda just hung out for awhile and then had dinner and went to a friend's house and then went to the movies. We saw Ted. Which, even in Italian it was funny but I understood maybe like 20 percent of it. All well! It was a fun experience.

Day 3: We took the train to Cagliari because Vale had classes at university. In Italian universities, anyone can go to the classes and learn. But if you want a degree or recognition, you have to sign up and pay obviously (like 200 euro a year...). But that means if I randomly moved to Italy and I wanted to learn like Russian, or Chinese history or something random, anything really! I could do that. For free. It's beautifully unfair isn't it? We rode her motorbike to school and let me just say... I'm obsessed. I. WANT. ONE. Now the thought of me driving a motorbike might scare you but I assure you it's safer than it looks.... Hahaha.
For 2 hours we sat in the Spanish literature class, taught in Italian. All I got out of it was they were talking about Don Juan and it was a complicated love story. Either way, it was so cool to sit in a real Italian university class. Afterwards we went to her English class, and they were translating an excerpt from the American presidential debates, that was really neat to see a foreign English class in action. The professor was really cool too and we chatted for a brief moment.
I met all of Vale's school/Cagliari friends, and we made dinner with a few of them that night in Vale's cute little apartment and stayed up late talking, some in English, and a lot of me just listening to the Italian. It was so fun, and one thing I really noticed is how everyone treated me so normally. I feel like, in the US, if you're foreign, you're viewed differently. But in France and in Sardinia I felt like "one of them" even if I felt disconnected from the language. They were just so welcoming and treated me like a person rather than an American in Italy. It is just a fresh of breath air. Her friend Paolo also showed me some of the prettiest views in Cagliari- by night. It was sooooo pretty seeing the lights and the ocean and the monuments during the night like that. I won't ever forget those sights!

Day 4: We took our time waking up in the morning, had some coffee, and just sat around and talked. Sometime in the afternoon we got ready and headed over to her friend's house for lunch. The four boys, Claudio, Mattia, Nicola, and Alessandro, were so nice and made us pasta and sausage for lunch and it was very yummy :) Three of the boys are studying to become doctors, and the other an information tech (I think..).
We played some guitar hero and hung out for awhile, and then all met with the friends from the night before for coffee at the T Hotel. It's a hotel built by an American architect. It's very modern, and shaped like a cylinder. At the top is a floor of lights, and if you tweet colors to it's specific twitter name, the lights of the hotel will change colors to the color you tweeted. So if you send #yellow or #blue to @THOTEL or something like that, it's supposed to work. It's pretty cool! Paolo, one of Vale's college friends, showed me more sights of Cagliari by night so we all went on a long stroll and it is probably one of my favorite memories from the trip. Eventually we got really hungry so we went back to the boys' house and had dinner- hot dog/onion pizza. It's a thing. It's delicious. And I ate a whole pizza to myself. Well, we all did! That's how they do it! :)
We started talking about Halloween plans because we had about three different options, we could have gone back to Guspini, or gone to another town in the countryside and had a more private party at a house. The boys were planning on going to a night club and invited us along. We decided it'd be best to stay in Cagliari and so we decided to go with the boys to the night club the next day. After dinner we hung out and went for a walk on the town at night and tried to luck with the twitter/T Hotel thingy again. We eventually went back home, Floriana stayed the night and the three of us stayed up late talking :)

Day 5: Halloweeeeeeen! We took our time waking up because we were up so late talking the night before, so by the time the boys came over for coffee, it was already 3 pm and we were still in our pajamas... We hung out for awhile and then everyone left to get ready for our big night out for Halloween. We ate dinner and Flori came over and got ready with us, and then we took the bus back to the boys' house where we began the evening's festivities. Eventually we went to the club, where everyone had skeleton or zombie face paintings. Missed that memo! I would have rather not had a zombie face anyways. It was really fun though! The music was really good and everyone was super friendly and happy. We got some pretty funny pictures, too. At one point we wrote a "contract" on my arm to promise that I would speak Italian fluently by the time I go back to the States. I don't know about fluent, but I will be able to speak better than my first time in Italy! haha. Then one of the boys, Nicola, pretended to propose to me with someone's car keys as the ring... hahaha I have no explanation. It was a really good night, aaaaand we went to bed at 6 am. YOLO. And can I just say that I love being able to go out and I'm still not 21 for six more months :) La vie est belle!

Day 6: Back to Guspini! We were originally going to get up early to take the train back to Guspini but considering we went to bed so late, we decided to take a later train. Thank God because I woke up feeling.... well, I think it's self-explanatory. Needless to say I was very glad coffee exists. And that I still had leftover sandwich from dinner to eat for breakfast. I was kind of pitiful haha. But we got to sleep on the train a little and it felt nice to be back in Guspini. It has that little hometown vibe that reminds me of my own hometown, only Italian and less hick-like haha. We went to a nearby spa with Vale's friend Sonia and got to swim in their really awesome massage pools for an hour and a half. It was sooooooo relaxing and beautiful, and sitting in the water, with the dimmed lighting and calming music, I got so tired. So I literally wrapped myself up in the robes they gave us and laid on one of the poolside chairs and took a nap. It was magic. Afterwards we had dinner and then got cleaned up and went to hang out with Ele and Andrea, we went to a couple bars (but seeing as Halloween was the night before, I refrained from alcoholic beverages) and then went home to go night night.

Day 7: Last full day :( I planned on waking up early to take advantage of the last full day.... but alas, I slept in till noon. No surprises there! We had brunch and then went to meet some of Vale's friends for coffee. Then we came back home and just relaxed for awhile. Vale's friend Andrea took me out to have pizza (soooo goooood) which was so nice of him and I really enjoyed myself- we spoke in Italian the whole time!! With the help of Google Translate, sometimes. But honestly, I am not lying, I picked up on quite a bit during my week there! (If only Arabic was that easy to pick up on....) So we were able to talk about important things and not just small talk. I was pretty proud of myself haha. After dinner we met up with a bunch of people and Vale and Ele rejoined us and we went to some bars again. And then, (one of my other favorite memories), we went to this isolated spot where apparently couples go to get steamy in their cars, haha, but we parked and then turned up the music really loud and got out and just danced, and it was cool cause there was a full moon so it was like a natural discoteca :D hahaha.
Finally we went home and talked until super late again and then went to sleep...

Day 8: Got up, got ready, drove to the airport with Vale and her neighbor, and headed home. I was actually really sad to leave and while most of my classmates were relieved to go back to Marseille after vacation, I was not... I would have been perfectly content staying in Sardinia! Don't get me wrong I love Marseille, but I just wasn't ready for my vacation to be over. In all it was wonderful and I am still so grateful for the warmth and generosity I received from Vale and her family and everyone I met!

Guspini

At the T Hotel

Had to...

Paolo, our lovely little tour guide, Vale and myself

Cagliari!

Flori, Vale and me

The boyssssssssss

The contract

The proposal 

Me and Andrea