Et le dernier, mais pas le moindre..

Friends! :)

Au Time

Au Shamrock

Le Luberon!

Le chateau qui a ete devalise. 

Lourmarin

Albert Camus's grave!! How awesome! 

Le Gibassier

Suzie, Sara, Kendra and me! 

A Roman bridge. This thing is OLD.

Roussillon!

The ocher cory

My class! Elizabeth, Alexandro, Nick, Sara, Elyse, Brenda, Kendra, Me, Jeremy, and Suzie! 

Troisième semaine en détail…

Ma troisième semaine a commencé avec une petite sortie au cinéma avec des amies. C’était moi, Suzie, Camille, Manu, Sara et Kendra. On a vu « Hommes Sans Loi » et c’était un trèèèèès bon film. Beaucoup de sang, beaucoup de violence, mais une bonne histoire et bon dialogue à mon avis. Je le recommande à tout le monde ! Après un ami nous a retrouvé et on est allé au bar pour boire un pot. Le moins cher, c’était le Pastis, ce qui est aussi assez fort haha. Après ça on est rentré chez nous parce que nous les américains on a dû se lever très tôt (7h00 du matin… c’était un miracle que je me suis réveillé à l’heure et même en avance au bus…) pour aller…

Dans le Luberon ! Comme j’ai dit, on est allé à Aix pour chercher les filles Aixoise. Aix est très jolie, mais dès que je l’ai vu j’étais contente que j’ai choisi Marseille. La ville elle-même est beaucoup plus intéressante et diverse que Aix. Notre groupe, on était tous très content d’avoir choisi Marseille au lieu de Aix. On est peu nombreux, mais on s’entend très bien. On est comme une petite famille J J’aime ça.

Premièrement on est allé au Lourmarin. On a vu le vieux château qui a été dévalisé de ses richesses par les révolutionnaires, donc il n’y avait rien dedans. On a appris que les révolutionnaires a volé beaucoup de richesses des nobles parce qu’ils ont pensé que ces richesses appartenaient à tout le monde, pas l’église, pas les royaumes, etc. Après on a bu un café au café dans le petit village et on a mangé un Gibassier, c’est une spécialité de Lourmarin qui est entre un biscuit et un gâteau, fait avec du citron et de l’huile d’olive au lieu du beurre. Après ça on est allé.. en fait malheureusement j’ai oublié le nom de la ville mais c’était mignon, jolie, et vieille. On a piqueniqué et exploré la ville un peu. Après ça on est allé au Roussillon, une ville avec une carrière d’ocre, alors les maisons sont rouges et la terre est rouge.

Le trajet en retour était un peu long, peut-être 2 heures. Quand on est rentré, je me suis reposée et j’ai rencontré mon frère d’accueil pour la première fois ! En fait, il n’habite plus chez moi parce qu’il a 26 ans. Mais il est très gentil et facile de parler avec, on a dîné en famille et après ça j’ai retrouvé mes amis au bar Shamrock et on a bu un peu. Puis on est allé à un autre bar qui était touuut serré, donc on est allé en boîte ! Elle s’appelle « Le Time » et en fait on nous a dit que c’est très sélective. Je portais pas des talons ou une jupe ou une robe (petit mot mentale : achète une robe ! Le problème avec une robe ou une jupe, c’est que si je rentre toute seule, je vais me faire draguer ou agresser par des hommes dans la rue…) et c’est possible qu’ils ne m’auraient pas laisser entrer. Mais comme nous sommes arrivés en avance, c’était ok. Pourtant, je pense que l’âge moyen était 25 ans, et la plupart de femmes étaient habillées très élégamment. Moi je me suis bien habillée mais pas comme elles ! Il n’y a pas de comparaison avec les femmes françaises haha. En plus, d’acheter une boisson coutait environ 10 euros. On peut acheter une bouteille pour 12 euros, donc euh non merci… haha. Mais c’était très « fun » comme ils disent les français haha, et j’ai envie de le refaire.

Dimanche nous sommes allés aux Calanques ! C’était incroyablement belle mais la descente et la montée… waouh ce n’était pas facile, hein ! haha. Mais ça valait la peine, comme vous pouvez bien voir, c’était « breathtaking » J On ne s’est pas baigné parce qu’il faisait beaucoup du vent et il y avait beaucoup de vagues, c’est pas très sûr ça. Mais on s’est bronzé et déjeuné et c’était une bonne journée.

Quand je suis rentrée à l’appart, ma mère d’accueil, Marie-Paule, m’a demandé si je voulais les rejoindre, elle et ses amis, chez sa meilleure amie, Sophie, qui est vraiment très douce. Donc je me suis rapidement douchée et j’ai pris le métro et j’ai marché un peu pour arriver chez Sophie. On a bu un peu, on a mangé ensemble, et on a bien discuté plein de choses sérieuses et intellectuelles- l’une des raisons j’adore les français ! On peut toujours discuter un sujet profond parce que c’est toujours beaucoup plus intéressant et leur culture est juste comme ça, pas tout le monde mais la plupart sont des « deep thinkers. » J’adore ça. Ce sont mon peuple J

Demain je vais au marché en plein air pour faire des achats et trouver des « bargains » (je ne connais pas ce mot en français ! faut que je le trouve…) avec Kendra. Et ce weekend, on va essayer d’organiser quelque chose petite pour le soir vendredi. Mais samedi, on peut aller en Arles si on veut. Mais, comme nous allons à MARSATAC ( !!!!!!!!!) je ne sais pas si je vais aller, moi. Marsatac, le samedi, c’est un concert électro et Susie, Sara, Max et moi, nous allons y aller. Si ne sais pas qui d’autre… et je ne sais pas si on va organiser un groupe ou quelque chose comme ça mais on veut se retrouver bien avant le concert pour fêter un peu et après on va sauter et danser toute la nuit !

Donc, voilà mon poste très longue. Observations culturelles à venir, plus tard. J

En Anglais... 

My third week started with a little trip to the movies with friends. It was me, Suzie, Camille, Manu, Sara and Kendra. We saw "Lawless" and it was such a good movie. Lot of blood, lots of violence, but a good story and good dialogue in my opinion. I recommend it to everyone! Afterwards, a friend joined us and we went to the bar for a drink. The least expensive was the Pastis (it's like Jager, only different.. haha) which also happens to be fairly strong. I only had a little though! After that we went back home because we Americans had to get up very early (7:00 am ... it was a miracle that I woke up on time and even got early to the bus ...) to go to...

Luberon! As I said, we went to get the girls in Aix first before taking off. Aix is ​​very nice, but as soon as I saw it I was glad I chose Marseille. The city itself is much more interesting and diverse than Aix, even though Aix is probably a lot cleaner haha and it's actually very beautiful. Regardless, our group, we were all very happy to have chosen Marseille. We are a small group, but we get along very well. It is like a small family :) I love it.

First we went to Lourmarin. We saw the old castle that was robbed of its wealth by the revolutionaries, so there was nothing inside. We  learned that the revolutionaries stole much wealth of the nobles because they thought that these riches belonged to everyone, not the church, not kingdoms, etc.. After we drank coffee at a cafe in the village and ate a Gibassier, a specialty of Lourmarin which is between a biscuit and a cake mad of lemon, and olive oil instead of butter. After that we went to... in fact unfortunately I forgot the name of the city but it was cute, pretty and old. We picnicked and explored the city a bit. After that we went to Roussillon, a city with an ocher cory where they extract the rocks and color from the earth, so the houses are red and the ground is red.

The ride back was a bit long, maybe 2 hours. When we returned, I rested and I met my host brother for the first time! In fact, he no longer lives at home because he is 26 years old. But he is very nice and easy to talk to, we had dinner with the family and after that I met up with my friends at the Shamrock bar and drank a little. Then we went to another bar that was sooo crowded, so we went clubbing! It is called "The Time" and in fact we were told that it is very selective. I wore no heels or a skirt or dress (mental note: bus a dress! The problem with a dress or skirt is that if I go home alone, I'm going to get hit on or approached by men in the street ...) and it is possible that they would not let me in. But as we arrived early, it was ok. However, I think the average age was 25 years, and most women were dressed very elegantly. I was well dressed, but not like them! There is no comparison with French women haha. In addition, to buy a drink costs about 10 euros. You can buy a bottle of anything for 12 euros, so uh no thank you ... haha. But it was very "fun" as they say the French haha, and I want to do it again.

Sunday we went to the Calanques! It was incredibly beautiful, but the descent and ascent, wow ... it was not easy! haha. But it was worth it, as you can well see, it was "breathtaking"! We did not swim because it was a lot of wind and there were a lot of waves, it is not very safe. But we tanned and had lunch and it was a good day.

When I returned to the apartment, my host mother, Marie-Paule asked me if I wanted to join her and her friends at her best friend's , Sophie, house who is very sweet. So I quickly showered and I took the subway and walked a bit to arrive at Sophie. We drank a bit, we ate together, and discussed a lot of things serious and intellectual, one of the reasons I love the French! You can always discuss a deep subject because it is always much more interesting and their culture is just like that, not everyone is but most are "deep thinkers. "I love it. These are my people :)

Tomorrow I go to the outdoor market to shop and find "bargains" (I do not know that word in French! I must find it...) with Kendra. And this weekend, we'll try to organize something small for the Friday night. But on Saturday, we can go if we want to Arles. But, as we're going to Marsatac (!!!) I do not know if I'll go myself. Marsatac, on Saturday, this is an electro concert  and Susie, Sarah, Max and I are going to go. II do not know who else ... and I do not know if we will organize a group or something like that but I think we want to meet before the concert to celebrate a little and then we'll jump and dance all night!

So that's my post very long. Cultural observations to come later. :)

At the Calanques! 

Camille, Suzie, me and Manu!

Max's doggie Undi :)

:)

Listen!

If you wanna hear some good tunes, check out the: One day Reckoning Song.

It's chill, but it's got a good beat. 

We heard a remix of this Saturday night in a night club, it was awesome! 

Three weeks

.......................................................................Is this real life? Like, is it possible to live in constant surreality? It's only been three weeks, but it feels like months and at the same time it's FLOWN by already. That's scary because I don't want the rest to fly by so quickly! It's a relief to know I have the whole year here but I've learned from the past two years in college that time passes so fast and it's truly the weirdest feeling to look back on the start of something and when you get to the end of it, it's like, wait, did alllllll that really happen? Like freshman year of college, moving into my dorm and meeting all my new friends and going through rush and joining Phi Sig. Or sophomore year when I moved in with one of my best friends (shout out to Kendra Barton! ^^) It's crazy to think about how much can happen in such little time, so I am trying to appreciate every second here because (not to be all depressing) but it will end at some point. I just try not to think about that, I try to think about how this experience is the best thing I've ever done for myself. There was a time when I was afraid to leave Linfield for a year, I thought, maybe a semester will suffice. But I stuck with my gut and I'm so glad I did because as much as I miss everything and everyone at Linfield, I'm happy I have this place to revel in for a year :)

 The three girls I've become friends with here are done at the semester in December. That makes me sad because I will be here the whole year and they're leaving me! haha I hope I will get along with the next group just as well. I can't forget though I'll have two Linfield girls joining me (shout out to Suzi and Julia! :))! I'm really excited to see them and show them around Marseille, which I know they'll come to love as much as I do. 

This past weekend we went to the Luberon, a beautiful region in Provence north of Aix. We went to a couple small villages and even took a little hike in a cory where the rock they were extracting was red and orange, kind of like in Utah or Arizona. It was so beautiful every where we went! We met the other AUCP class in Aix, too. The girls seemed nice, I met two girls that will be coming down to Marseille next semester so that was nice to meet them since I'll soon be spending lots of time with them! haha These girls seemed to try the hardest to get to know us Marseille kids and they also spoke French with us, but most of the girls though were speaking English. Or Franglish. A lot of girls would say a sentence but throw 'like' in the middle."Je veux aller au magasin, like, demain." Hahaha. So funny. It was really weird... In Marseille... NO ONE, not any one of us, speaks English with each other. We respect our language contract which requires us to only speak in French. But besides that, we WANT to speak in French all the time, that's why we're here! That's why our French is getting so much better.... and that's the point. I wonder what their intentions are with coming to France because some of them were talking in English so much it was like they thought they were on vacation. I mean, hell we're in France, it is a vacation. But there are conditions, and most of us came here to fulfill those conditions. It was just weird to here English, after speaking French all the time it sounds so ugly and harsh to the ears!

Side note to anyone who wants to study abroad/travel, for any length of time: If you are afraid to do it because you don't want to leave your friends/boyfriend/girlfriend, STOP. Studying abroad is about you and what the experience will do for you, not your friends or your significant other. It might be hard to leave them for any given amount of time but if they are true friends/s.o.'s, they will support you and be there for you when you get back. We are only young for so long and we are responsible for just ourselves for a short amount of time before we have to put our families first. This is the time for us to be selfish. Like I said in a previous post, you will thank yourself later!! I think my experience is a perfect example, not everyone can be gone for a year but if I can do a year, anyone else can do any other amount of time. You just don't know what it will have in store for you, but it's always good, and that's exciting. I have had the funniest, most fun, crazy adventures with my new friends here, French and American, just like I would at Linfield only different cause I'm in France haha. I have had great conversations with people of all ages who were raised with a different mentality, sometimes I agree and sometimes I learn something new. I have already improved my French (obvi) since I'm speaking it 24/7. I already feel like I've gained a sense of more independence and confidence in myself, in a lot of different ways. And I already felt like a fairly confident and competent person before. This kind of experience just does something to you that you can't replicate any other way.  If it's money that's holding you back, money can always be figured out later. I'm by no means "comfortable" and  I'm always watching what I spend because I'm spending my own money over here. School isn't easy to pay for either. But this, this is worth it all and 958049234098 times more.

Gotta head to school now for a study sesh, my next post will be with pictures and in French and English, and I'll talk all about my amazing weekend a lot more :)

Bises,
Katherine