Invest. Discover. Reflect.: 10/22/12

Bonjour tous!

Lots has been going on lately. Last week was midterms and it was a very tiring week. Needless to say, I feel pretty confident about my exams! For interreligious communication I think I could have done better, but that's okay. On everything else I did the best I could have done; I'm curious to see my grades!

I went to Montpellier two weekends ago to visit some family friends, and it was just what I needed. I really feel at home there, like I am part of the family or a relative or something. I love my living situation in Marseille, but I don't feel at home here like I do at the Coste's house in Montpellier, because I have a different relationship with their family and here in my host mom's house- I feel like a guest constantly. It's hard to explain because that sounds overexaggerated or dramatic, but I guess it's this subconscious understanding that if I do something wrong by accident, that could set off tension between Marie-Paule and I and since I'm here for a long time, that would suck. I am always conscious of what I'm doing so as not to step on her toes; maybe I should relax a little more. But to give an example so it's more clear: So, in my room, I have two large windows. One day I opened my curtains (they're white and don't block out light, but still) and I thought nothing of it because in the US that's no big deal, but Marie-Paule asked me to close them so the neighbors can't see inside. The privacy of the home goes as far as not letting people see inside, because that's like seeing inside your private life. (In France, there is a huge difference between public and private life, and in the US we like to think we have "privacy" but it's much less intense than here) I understood why right away, and it's not a big deal, but if it were my house I would open them. It feels like I'm forbidden to do something that seems so harmless to me. It's little things like that that make me feel more like a guest. It's tiring being/feeling like a guest all the time! But as time goes on that will feel more normal and I think that will help me feel like it's my own home too. In France the home is very private. I think I mentioned this before, with inviting people over maybe? Every family is different, but it's not like in the United States where we can invite whoever we want over even if we just met them, etc. For the most part, it's not like that here. It depends, but if I wanted to invite a friend over to hang out at home instead of in town, I have to ask permission each time, etc. Which is kind of frustrating. It makes sense of course, but I think after living in a dorm for two years it's so hard to not have friends over every day. .....Going to Montpellier made me feel like I could actually really truly relax, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.. It was wonderful to be back at their beautiful home in their little village just outside of Montpellier, and to see them again. I think vacation is coming at a good time..

This past week, I went out to dinner with friends, and then on Friday we (some French friends and Sara and I) went to Suzie's house for dinner! Her host mom is of Algerian descent, and her host dad is Palestinian. They were such neat, open-minded people, and her host mom Leila makes a mean Algerian meal. I don't even know what half the things we ate were, but she made homemade tabouleh and hummus and these meat pastry thingies and a cheese pastry... ohhh it was delicious. With a rice pudding dessert to top it off. Oh and don't forget the tea afterwards. I haven't been that full in a looong time.. After dinner we went out to this cool bar at the Vieux Port that's called O'Malley's. It's got a cool vibe and the guys there weren't too shabby either... :) haha. I took it easy that night because I was exhausted after midterms, but Saturday night I got to invite some friends over for the apero before we hit Vieux Port for the night. My host mom is in Morocco, and I will actually leave for Italy before she gets back, but she said I could have friends over. Since I'm a foreigner here, I am always going over to other people's houses. And I love being a host, so it felt soooo nice to be able to return the favor and welcome people into my own home. I invited my two American girlies of course, Suzie and Sara. But the rest were French friends! I had a great time and I think every else did too! At midnight we headed to the Vieux Port as per usual and we went to Barbarousse (a pirate themed bar that we have gone to several times) and danced the night away!

Saturday, my class went to an island off the coast of Marseille called Ile de Frioul. We took the shuttle boat there, which normally costs 10 euro there and back but AUCP covered the fee :) On the island are a bunch of awesome swimming spots and also, l'Hopital Caroline. This hospital was built at the beginning of the 1800's to host patients diagnosed with the Plague, cholera, yellow fever, malaria, and other diseases. The wind in this region is pretty intense, so the hospital was designed with several different buildings in a circle, with the buildings hosting the sickest patients towards the back of the island. The wind helped prevent the spread of the diseases it literally swept away the unhealthy germs/bacteria in the air. Interesting huh? It was abandoned when these diseases were more treatable and patients didn't need to be separated from the regular population. During WWII, it was bombed by the Americans (oopsie) and underwent some extreme damage, and was left as such for several decades until the 80's when it was dubbed a national historical monument. Now it's undergoing a renovation process, which is taking a long time. Because of this, it's closed to the public. But we got a special tour.

Sunday I went to a movie called Asterix and Obelix, which is actually the 4th movie in sequence of the series, and it's originally a comic. So, needless to say some of the humor was cheesy and it's by no means a "quality" movie by critic standards but it was funny and it's a French classic so it was worth it. I went with Sara, and another classmate Clare and her language partner, Paul. It was a fun little Sunday outing :)

This week is weird because I'm home alone. But I think I will invite some friends over to keep me company and do some homework together. Also, everyone is just ready for a vacation and it's noticeable. We're tired, so over classes, and all are feeling antsy to be somewhere other than Marseille for awhile. It's just like at Linfield, once Thanksgiving break comes around, it feels sooo good to go home. 5 more days until I go to Sardinia! :D

Also, Sunday I was feeling a little homesick. All my friends I could talk to were sleeping in the States, but one of my dearest friends Erin is studying in Norway. I skyped her and that made me feel a thousand times better. We had been thinking about trying to visit each other because, duh we're in Europe at the same time! She might come see me in December, but I said that first and foremost I need to go to Norway, haha. SO I made the decision to go to NORWAY! I am so excited, there are no words to describe how infinitely happy I am to:

1. Be with one of my best friends from home...
2. ....in Europe
3. Go to Norway! One more country to check off my list!

I am sooo looking forward to it. Like, I can't even say that enough. However, seeing her again is going to make me miss all my other girls even more!

It's going to be a crazy month starting this Saturday: Sardinia for a week, come back for a week of classes, leave for Morocco for a week, come back for a week of classes and celebrate Thanksgiving in Aix with all the AUCP students, then go to Norway for an extended weekend (missing classes, sorry not sorry)... and then it's December. It's going to fly by..