Friday, January 25, 2008

It’s officially been a week since I was shipped off from Chicago and I can’t even believe it. Experience wise I feel like I’ve been here at least a month, it’s out of this world! I had my very first French class today, and I’m feeling better about the language already. My pronunciation was nothing to write home about and I keep reflexively using a Spanish accent but the fact that I’m actually in a class learning the language makes me feel a lot better. The class only has about 10 people in it, which I’m sure will be nice in the long run, but made today’s individual pronunciations pretty intimidating. The professor is v. nice though and makes me feel like I’ll be able to rock it out if I practice a lot. After French, voila! I was done for the day. Hung out in the cave per usual and got a chance to read some of the emails from the fam! I’m glad they’re keeping in communication so well; it’s always nice to have a few newbies in the inbox.

During the cave time, we also continued the incredibly difficult task of planning our travels. Surprisingly we’ve made some important decisions and have a lot of booking to do. I’m not looking forward to the email my parents will send once they see how much traveling will cause our co-signed visa to be swiped. I’m realizing why people say study abroad goes so fast! In an afternoon I booked my entire February, weekend-wise. Care to hear my travel plans? Thought so!

February 1^st-4^th—Carnivale in Venice!

We leave Friday on a 10-hour, overnight bus ride to Venice, where gondolas replace cars and papier-mâché masks come alive! Apparently it’s all kinds of magical and I’m turbo excited to see it in action!

February 9^th-10^th—Coast Trip to Nice and Cannes

This one’s set up through the school. The brochure boasts of the narrow buildings, pastels and the promenade des Anglais in Nice. Cannes is supposed to have a pretty boisterous street life and beautiful waterfronts. Apparently a girl on the trip drank half a bottle of Jose Cuervo on the beach last year and almost got kicked out of the program, oops!

February 16^th—DANA PETERSON ARRIVES IN PARIS! I’m going to take the fast train out to meet her and hopefully Zider and co. as well! We’ll spend Saturday and Sunday exploring the city.

February 18^th-21^st—We’re off to Switzerland! Hopefully staying in Interlock (sp?) and enjoying some Swiss outdoorsy activities.

February 22^nd—Traveling back to Aix to show Dana around

February 23^rd—Day trip to go skiing in the Alps

February 24^th—Alas, Dana goes home L

February 27^th—Going to the ballet! We apparently get to do a meet and greet with a prestigious ballet academy touring the area. Maybe they’ll help me begin my career as a world renown ballet dancer!

We were pretty exhausted after all this figuring, so we decided it was time to picnic. With a gingham blanket, baguettes, brie, and wine we headed to a park to enjoy the beautiful day. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. But then comes the time old question, how can something be perfect without jumping pictures? You’re right, it just can’t be. To remedy this situation we all flocked to the nearby fountain and jumped our hearts out, producing some truly phenomenal photos.

From there began a lackluster treasure hunt which led to a much needed rest period. I bummed around and watched arrested while waiting for dinner. A couple hours later Madame T announced that dinner tonight would just be Andrew and I due to her prior engagement. She of course left us a magnificent multi-course meal in her stead. We sat down and ate, having a major H2H which was really nice. After that, I got ready for one of my all time favorite nights out.

WARNING: Drunk addition, read at your own risk

I sit here with red wine on my breath, nutella on my lips and global politics on my mind. Lauren, Emma and I took on our first real Friday night with a casual gusto that left us comfortably directionless. We walked with a purpose to nowhere in particular and just enjoyed each other’s company on our search for a late night grocery store to cater our wine needs. We eventually found one and bought a few bottles of red wine. After a discussion of life goals which included musicals and ballet Lauren returned from the liquor store to tell us of our newest gig; a position in a French film! Apparently, in a month or so we’ll be getting a call back as American actors in a film that will run in New Zealand, France, America and Singapore! Haha, it will probably be a way low budget weirdo thang but seriously, how ridiculous is that? We’re both pretty stoked and I can’t wait to see where this leads. Tell Zac Efron to watch out!