THIS is the Last France Post

How does this happen two years in a row on the same weekend?  The big weekend before Christmas, when one of the Rochford twins try coming home from a long semester abroad.  I don't know how a blizzard suddenly decided to hit Paris.  Or how it picked the weekend I leave.  Or how it decided to last until Tuesday.  But here I am, nestled up in the Hotel du Parc in Montpellier, much thanks to Emily.

Shall I commence with the events that took place yesterday?  Maybe I should start with Saturday.

Emily's mom was supposed to fly into England and then Paris and then take a train from Paris to Montpellier.  She got stuck in England and was there until early this morning.  Luckily Emily was able to book her a seat on the Eurostar, the train that goes under the English channel.  Apparently her poor mother slept in the hallway of a hotel Saturday night, but Emily was able to get her an actual room for last night.  As soon as we saw that so many flights were cancelled on Saturday, I had a terrible feeling about my flights.  But after getting to the airport and the gate with no sign of a delay or cancellation, I felt better.

I had gotten up at 5 to make sure I had everything ready and would have enough time to lug my stuff down the staircase in Triolet and hand in my key.  Plus, I wanted to make sure my cab showed up.  It did, which would have been great if my flight had actually taken off.  I checked my bags, they were both slightly over the weight limit, but no one cared.  If they care on Tuesday I'll flip out.  Maybe if I show them my receipt from already checking my bags on Sunday they'll let me off the hook.  We'll see.  So I was sitting in the lobby, waiting to go up to security because I had a ton of time before my flight would board at 9:50.  I saw the girl that lived with Emily, Melissa and then we met up with her friend Becky.  We went up to the gate, no problems at security, took a seat.  At 10:20, when our flight was supposed to take off, we were still sitting there, with no update even about a delay.  People were asking the workers and they had no idea.  Finally, about 20 minutes later, Becky checked the flight on her phone because she had the internet on it and it was cancelled.  How did the internet know this before the people at the airport?  So the three of us starting freaking out, along with the Greek girl sitting next to me.  There was no one even at the customer service desk.  So we ended up going back downstairs and waiting in line for 2 hours before booking flights for Tuesday.  At least I only have to stop in Paris and Boston, as opposed to Paris, Montreal, and New York.  We had to collect our luggage.  It never made it onto a plane, and yet when I got it back it already had a tear in one bag and a cracked handle on the other one.  How does that happen, Montpellier airport workers?  Are you fucking retarded?  Thanks for ruining my brand new luggage.

After booking my flight I started to panic, not knowing where I was going to stay or how I was going to get back to the city.  I finally realized that Emily had a room at a hotel near the Place Albert Ier tram stop because her mom was supposed to come.  So I called her and asked if she thought I could get a room there.  So I went to find the shuttle, which had moved from the last time I took it.  While I was searching for the new stop, I ran into the Greek girl, Victoria.  She was looking for it too, so we figured that out.  And thank God we were together or it would have been impossible to get all our luggage onto the tiny shuttle.  Team work!  I'll never forget her- she was next to me when we all found out the flight was cancelled, told me everything would be ok, stood in line behind us when we were waiting for new tickets, and then we happened to run into each other while looking for the shuttle.  Thank you Victoria.

I met Emily at the Place de L'Europe tram stop and she helped me get my bags to the hotel, I got a room, and here I am.  I had a wonderful breakfast with 2 cups of real coffee, none of that European gulpful of coffee.  And the women who work here are wonderful.  The one lady said she'd reserve a cab for me, but I don't know if she'll remember, so I'm gonna do that after I shower in a few minutes.

I will say this: I freaked out yesterday.  I was actually doing ok for while.  I cried when I called home to tell Mommy my flight was cancelled and again when I was getting my ticket when Mommy called to check on things.  But the lady finding me a ticket was so sweet.  She was a little older that Mommy and after I got off the phone, she put her hand on my shoulder and said that it was going to be ok and I'd get home.  Then she asked how to pronounce my first name (on my tickets, my whole first name appears as Heather Mary).  So I told her and she said she's never heard it before and that its such a pretty name.  Thank you lady at the airport for being so sweet to me.  I'm glad I've managed to run into the nicest people in this city these last two days. 

I think it's safe to say that I completely lost it when I found out that Carl might not make it to the airport on Tuesday.  I was completely exhausted after being up at 5 and not sleeping well the night before and standing in line for 2 hours and then going to a concert that Emily had originally bought tickets for her and her mom. 

But now, I'm rested and have a clear mind.  I know I was a bitch yesterday.  I've always had it in my nature, hence I know every word of Daddy's "nothing to fear but fear itself" talk.  I'm especially horrible after not sleeping or not eating, and I hadn't done either yesterday until late.  So I'm better now, if anyone wants to know.  Sorry for freaking out. 

All the love and see you all tomorrow evening,
Heather *muahs*

Last France post??

So Shannon wanted me to write another blog this week.  I don't see it being very long or funny or even interesting.  My whole life is focused on getting home.  It's all I think about day and night.  I can't even sleep at night because I think of going home.  Can this week just end?!  It's only Sunday, I have a shit load of crap to do involving leaving, 2 exams, and I can't take it.  If one little thing goes wrong, I'm going to snap.

On a high note, Carl and Psych introduced me to one of the most amazing songs.  It's called "I Go To The Barn Because I Like The" by Band of Horses.  It's amazing.  Check it out.

Hm, nothing else to say.  Honestly, nothing has been going on except for me packing, trying to clean my room, and obsessing over going home.  I've watched all of the first 4 seasons of Psych, mostly in the last week.  Sad?  Yes.  What's even sadder is that I only have one Law and Order episode left.  What am I going to do after I watch it?  Seriously, these tv shows are what have been getting me by.  Thank you Carl.  I watched Christmas Vacation last night.  Maybe I'll have to start watching movies instead of tv shows.  I've already started rewatching my favorite Psych episodes.  It's so addicting and I can't wait to catch up on Season 5 when I get home.  So amazing.

So can I just go home now?  Sorry Shannon, this is your fault for telling me I had to write another blog.

Oh I actually just thought of something really weird:
-Emily decided to move to an apartment because she can't stand her host mom anymore and I went to the rental agency with her the other day so she could give the man copies of her passport and visa, etc.  Well, he asked me if I was from Baltimore, too, like Emily, and I said, no, I'm from Buffalo.  And he got really excited and said 'That's a great town!  I love the Buffalo Bills!  I love to watch them!'  Um, can someone please explain this to me?  I was too much in shock to ask him how he knew about the Bills.  Fast forward to a day later:
-Emily and I just finished up our dinner at our favorite crepe place (La Grange aux Crepes) and the waitress who knows us by now as we go there every Friday for lunch came out of the kitchen to chat with us.  When she found out I'm from Buffalo she said 'You have the team.  Is it basketball?  The Buffalo Bills'.  Can someone please explain this to me??  Two people in two days know the Bills?!?!  What is going on here?

So I think that's all I've got.  Except that I'm currently sending facebook posts back and forth w/ Anna about a fake passionate kiss and no one understands it but the two of us (and Kelly).  It has cheered me up just a tiny bit.

See you all soon and love,
Heather

Ready to Come Home

I think I've done an excellent job of not complaining about wanting to come home.  I did not (probably much to Mommy's surprise) call home once my first 4 months here to say I wanted to come home.  Not once.  But now, as I enter into my last three weeks, I'm going to say it: I WANT TO COME HOME!!!!!!!!  I think all this excitement is getting to me.  Knowing I can actually start shipping stuff home and packing is killing me.  This past week felt like the longest week in months, only because I knew I'm so close to coming home!  I hope the next 3 weeks go by much faster!

Maybe it's not all excitement, maybe it's also part due to stress: I have a 10 minute presentation on Thursday about a Shakespeare Sonnet (Sonnet #2, if anyone is interested in helping....Thanks again Shannans!!).  What, you may be asking yourselves, can someone possibly talk about for 10 minutes that pertains to a freaking sonnet?!  It's 14 lines long for crying out loud!!  All I can say is that even after discussing things with my professor, the British girl in class and myself are freaking out.  It's not going to be a good day, I can say that much.  My prof tried to make us feel better by saying that no one was going to rate us on how well our French was, just on the content.  Well, thank you M. Marty (yes, Marty), but that doesn't make me feel any better about standing up in front of a bunch of French students and trying to speak about a dumb sonnet for 10 minutes.  I pray no one is in class (last class there were 6 if us).  It'll make it somewhat better.

After that is over with I'll have one week left of classes.  So maybe after this week everything will be ok.  Either way, I'm ready for home and Mocha and our wonderful coffee maker that BEEPS when the coffee's finished brewing and my beautiful brand new washer and dryer and Mommy's home-cooked dinners and EVERYTHING!!!!  I can't wait to go out and get a normal sized coffee.  It's going to be soooo good.  And I'm going to wear every piece of clothing I own, I'm sooooo sick of wearing the same couple pairs of pants and tops every day.  And shoes - a girl who sold shoes for 3 years should NEVER go to France for 4 and 1/2 months with only 4 pairs of shoes: it's suicide.  My boots had better be up from the basement, that's all I'm saying....

I guess I should get back to this sonnet analysis.  Awesome.  23 days, and then I'll never have to deal with Shakespeare again, never have to go to that dumb Anthropology class again (sorry Anna, but it's boring), never have to go to that ghetto campus, and NEVER HAVE TO LIVE IN THIS DORM EVER AGAIN.  Hallelujah!!

The Final Stretch!!!!

So, here we are: I have 27 days until I am home :)  Not counting this week, I have 3 weeks to go!  I have ONE more Medieval History class!  I also have my Shakespeare Exposé next week, December 2.  The only plus side to that is that it'll be December!  But I just sent that prof (the Justin Sane look-a-like) an email saying I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  So hopefully he gets back to me tomorrow and we exchange a couple e-mails until he realizes it would just be better for both of us if I just write a paper instead.  (Wishful thinking). 

News update that I totally forgot about: there is a boy in that same class who looks EXACTLY (and I mean EXACTLY) like Rabbit in U-571.  I'm not talking about older version of Justin Sane, I'm talking about you could probably re-film the movie with him in it!!!!  Kelly, you must know exactly what I'm going through - only you could understand!!!!  I want to take a picture, but that would be really weird.  But everytime I watch my favorite actor ever, Will Estes, in U-571, I'll be reminded of this french guy....  Absolutely crazy: TWO doppelgangers in the SAME CLASS?!?!  It can happen people: this is proof!!

Anyway, I had a perfect time with Carl.  Arles was wonderful.  I also had a great time with Marsha and I cannot thank them both enough for loving me enough to fly across the ocean pour me rendre visite!  Merci à vous deux!!  *kissies*  I would go into every last detail if only I had the time!  Alas, I have so much to do, and it seems to have crept up on me out of nowhere!

Let's see, the to-do list:

• Anthropology: finish reading a huge section of a really boring book.  There are a ton of words I don't know, so I look them up and it's the same word in English.  Problem is NOT solved.  Also, finish reading another book (the whole thing this time).  It is easier to read, so that's good, but the main reason why I haven't succumbed to the torture is the lime green cover.  It's what keeps me going, seriously.  In-class essay for the final, but I don't know if it's in 2 or 3 weeks....
• Comparative Literature; I have the *dreaded* exposé on the 2nd.  Followed by in-class essay in either 2 or 3 weeks, he "wasn't sure".  Isn't it your job to be sure, Mr. Older Version of Justin Sane (mind you, I would never speak in this tone of voice with the real Justin Sane).
• Poetry: Originally, I would have had to write a dissertation on a poem by Ronsard to hand in on the last class day (December 9th).  But grâce à la grève, she doesn't think we have had enough time discussing poetry (I've spent MORE than enough time discussing poetry, thank you VERY much) to write a dissertation, so now I have a "reflection" due the same day.  What exactly is the difference?  I believe the dissertation would have had a question to answer.  For the reflection, I just need to analyse the poem to the best of my ability.  I will be putting "Je suis américaine" on the top of this paper for suresies.
• Medieval History: nothing really.  I have to look over my notes and then 2 Mondays from now I have to answer some short-answer questions in class.  We're not exactly sure about this, so I'll be emailing him later this week to be sure of what exactly is going on.
• Grammar: nothing really, again.  Mondays, we learn more grammar stuff (yay!! --note the scarcasm--), and on Tuesdays, we do writing practice.  So we'll continue with that for the next 2 or 3 weeks, have a little test, et fini. 

I'm looking forward to the end of this.  It's been a long time!  It hasn't been a bad time, but I'm more than ready to come home.  I can't believe I have to finish buying Christmas gifts already, and start shipping stuff home!!!!  I hope you're all ready for me ;D

Vive La Grève!

So, it's Grève Week here at Université Paul-Valéry.  That is the official name we American students have given this crazy crazy week!  What is a grève some of you may wonder?  A grève is a strike.  As in the students here blockaded the entrance to campus as well as all the entrances to classrooms and buildings.  As in I sometimes wonder if I am currently living in a civilized country or not....  I never got to see the students outside the campus striking (grèving, as I like to call it), but apparently it was something else.  I did, however, see the artwork of the blocked doorways.  There is an outdoor staircase which was blocked with many chairs and desks and how they got them to stay in place is beyond me.  It took some skill.

Grève Week was officially declared earlier in the week.  On Tuesday, the students went on grève, then decided to grève the rest of the week as well.  So as to lower the amount of damage to school property, the school officials decided it would be in their best interests to close campus for the rest of the week.  Now hopefully this doesn't continue into next week, or I have to figure something out.  Apparently, the International Relations office emailed all of our professors to tell them that if this continues they have to email us our assignments so we still get grades and credits this semester.  This is important, as Paul-Valéry students apparently enjoy grèving, even when it lasts a whole semester....so we shall see how this pans out!

The grève is all thanks to the French government trying to raise the retirement age from 60-62.  SIXTY TO SIXTY-TWO!!!!  And people are lighting cars on fire and blocking oil refineries for this?!?!  Do you now see why I feel like I'm living in an uncivilized country sometimes?!  First, I can't buy decent coffee in a grocery store, now people go ballistic because of 2 extra years of work!  TWO YEARS!!!!  Grow up and deal with it!  Oh my gosh!!  Trains are only running about 50%, theres no gas to be found, people are losing their minds, high schoolers are getting themselves involved (violently sometimes) just because they can get out of school....  Will I be living in a dangerous 3rd-world-esque country soon, I wonder? 

At least planes are still landing and taking off (knock on wood).  Air France announced that it will keep  running 100% of its flights.  Most planes are just asked to refuel before landing in France, or have to stop somewhere right outside of France to refuel on it's way somewhere else.  Crazy crazy craziness.  All over 2 extra years of work. 

Such has been my life recently.  Gotta love France.  At least I really get to see what French culture is really like: there's the grève and my Anthropology memoire, which I don't technically have to do except that I've pinned myself into a corner....  I honestly can't wait for some Buff State classes next semester!

I'm Halfway Done!!

So as of today, I am more than halfway done with the semester here!  I thought the day would never come, haha.  And Carl is coming in 12 days!  It's so close I can't stand it!

So I haven't written in a while, I know, but not much was going on.  I've just been doing schoolwork, which isn't fun.  I also somehow got myself into doing more work than is actually necessary: my Anthropology professor mentioned to the class about signing up for some paper in class the other day, so I caught her after class and asked what she was talking about, as I didn't recall her ever mentioning this before.  She told me to come to her office the next day to discuss it with her.  It turns out that the paper she mentioned is the Memoire that all the License 3 (final year) ethnology students have to do to be able to graduate.  They hand in a dossier/CV in December and then write the paper throughout next semester.  My professor decided that it would be a great French cultural experience if I handed in the first part of the paper.  Good job Heather, for trying to be a good student and getting yourself messed up in all this business!  So I'm doing a bilingual dossier for her.  Awesome.  I don't really have much to do, she even admitted it.  She gave me the name of some book to read and said I should just interview American students about their motivations to study in Montpellier (the topic of my Memoire).  She actually said the most difficult part would be to find American students to interview.  Little does she know I know about 40 of them and have 2 other Americans in my hallway....  So I basically just have to write down important quotes (in English, without translating), explain them and compare them to what other students said, and then write summaries about different topics I will be discussing (that part is all in French).  She finally put up a little outline online, but it's confusing.  So luckily I have to hand in a rough draft in the middle of November so she can let me know what I have to change.  I guess it will give me something else to do beside read because I feel like that's all I've been doing lately.

On another school note, I have to find out exactly what is expected of me for this Shakespeare sonnet expose (with accent mark on the second e)/commentary.  The British gal and I are both so confused because all the French students have done this before and know exactly what is going on.  So we are both planning on emailing him within the next day or so to figure that out.  As soon as I figure it out, I'm doing the whole thing in a couple of days, as my 'expose' (if I end up having to do one), will be December 2nd.  I don't know if I have to also do a commentary or what, so we shall see!

I also get to find out the topic of my Ronsard dissertation this week, and that will hopefully be almost finished by next weekend, as that will be due December 9th.  And honestly, after Marsha leaves I won't have much time at all!  And I'm thinking the Athropology dossier will take up more time than the two literature assignments, as I'm used to papers for French literature, but not Anthropology.  I'm also expecting my Anthro prof to tear my format apart, as I really don't know how these things are done in English, much less in French. 

Now for the fun stuff!  Last weekend, Friday to be exact, Emily and I took the train to Carcassonne!  Can I just say that it was one of my favorite places in the world?  It's like a fairytale land!  I will have pictures up soon (hopefully tonight or tomorrow), so that everyone can take a look.  Honestly, I didn't want to leave!  It was just absolutely gorgeous and medieval and terribly romantic.  I would love to go with Carl for a weekend if we ever get to travel around Europe for a couple of weeks.

The train station is in the newer section of town, so we set off in search of the tourist office, which of course was closed indefinitely.  I feel like that's the story of our life: it's either closed or we can't find it.  So without a map to guide us to the Cite (accent mark on the e), which is the old fortified medieval city, we set off in what we hoped was the right direction, wandering around and peering down side streets until we saw towers.  We crossed a bridge, from which we saw the most beautiful scene in the world (beside the Buffalo skyline, obviously).  There was a little river below us, and across the river was the gorgeous fortified city, with a park full of trees below it!  And since it was raining lightly, there was the faintest mist in the air, making it absolutely romantic and fairytale-esque.  My pictures can't really capture the full beauty of the moment.  All I can say is, if you ever get yourself to Carcassonne, make sure it is on a misty morning in the Fall.  You won't be disappointed.

After crossing the bridge and trying to figure out how to actually get to the hilltop where the Cite is, we ended up following an older British couple.  They were so adorable.  They were maybe 5-10 years older than Mommy and Daddy, and held hands the whole way up to the entrance, where we lost them.  The woman had a slight limp, and had to walk very slowly, especially since we were walking uphill.  But the man was so patient- he just held her hand and walked beside her.  It was so cute.  Once we got to the hilltop, the view was wonderful!  You could see everything!  And inside the walls, the city was so cute!  We walked around the ramparts (I was terrified!), then toured the castle, and then wandered around town for a bit.  We ate at the cutest little restaurant, L'Ecu D'Or, where Emily and I both had Cassoulet.  It was perfect for a chilly, wet Fall day in France!  I want to find a recipe when I get home to make it for everyone!  You'll all me very happy with it, especially the dog.  I know Daddy would have just loved it!  We also had the best chocolate mousse for dessert, and my starter was a chevre chaud salad, which was absolutely amazing.  However, I would have to say that the most memorable part was hearing Moby's big hit from years and years ago.  It was called "Southside" or something, and I think it was on the Now (insert number here) CD that was always advertised for on TV.  It was just so strange and funny because all the other songs were typical French restaurant songs, very mellow and relaxing, and then all of a sudden Moby came on!  I haven't heard that song since I saw one of those dumb commercials!

Another highlight: La Maison Hantee (accent mark on first e), aka Haunted House.  A bunch of highschool-aged students were standing outside waiting to get in, it was quite funny.

Also, there were a TON of British people there.  If you want to see Brits in France, just go to Carcassonne.

So that was Carcassonne, and also the only thing of interest from last week.  This weekend, yesterday to be exact, Emily and I took a bus for only 1E50 to a tiny village called Clermont-L'Herault.  We never would have heard of it, except for the fact that on Friday after lunch Emily took out a Southern France tour book she found in her hostmom's house and we saw something about it.  It seemed cute enough so Emily found the bus routes (she's amazing at that, if you ever need a train/bus route, just ask Emily for help), and we left around 10am yesterday.  It was only an hour bus ride, through the mountains and some cute small towns.  The town itself was so adorable.  It's a perfect place for a romantic, peaceful weekend away from it all.  There are mostly just locals, but still things to do, such as shops, a gorgeous church, a feudal castle (which was closed, but maybe we'll go back as it was so cheap), and beautiful streets to wander down.  It reminded me of day trips while on vacation in maybe Saratoga Springs, when we went to a little town and had breakfast or lunch at a little diner.  It was Fall, so it must have been during that trip. 

Anyway, we both decided that it would be a great place to live someday, as it's near the countryside but close enough to the city, is soooo quiet and peaceful, and is absolutely gorgeous.  We also decided that someday, even if it's in 50 years from now, we are going to get together and backpack/bike/rent a car/whatever seems most convenient at the time across France, mainly to check out all the tiny villages in the countryside and in the mountains.  We made a pact, and we won't break it!  I'm excited for that, maybe I should save it for a mid-life crisis!

We got back to Montpellier early, at 3 or 4 and wandered for a bit.  Then I came back here and made myself CHICKEN NUGGETS with MIKE'S HOT SAUCE!!!!!!!!  Amazing!!  I'm so excited I found his hot sauce, it absolutely made my life!

Today I've just been sending facebook messages to Carl and reading for Anthropology.  Sooo much fun.  At least it's cooled off here: it's only been in the low-mid 60s for the last couple of days, and it's not supposed to get any warmer!  Yay, it kind of feels like Fall (finally!)! 

I hope all is well at home!  I'll post another blog soon and hope to have pictures up asap!  I love you all, please send my love to the Grandma's and Mocha!

3 Year Anniversary :)

So today was me and Carl's 3 Year Anniversary.  3 years already!  Can you believe it?  Us neither.  It's kind of crazy, especially when I go through pictures and remember everything like it was yesterday.

To start things off, Emily came over early to drop something off.  I thought it was just the papers for my Monoprix fidelity card (it's like a bonus card), but she had a big bag with her.  She said I couldn't look at it yet, but that by the end of the day I would know what it was and would know when to look in it.  After she left, something kind of clicked a little bit....

Anyway, the other day Carl told me that if my phone were to ring with a number I didn't know today, that I HAD to pick it up.  Even if it wasn't him talking on the other line.  Of course, I didn't like this idea at all, as I hate talking to people I don't know on the phone and I didn't even know what it would be for!  The only times it has been perfectly easy for me to talk to strangers on the phone was at Sears doing shoe checks because I knew the person on the other end was in the same boat as me.  Plus, it was kind of my job.  So I was worried all day that I'd miss the call, so I turned the volume up really high (I have to remember to turn it down before I go to bed, or I'll wake up with the loss of hearing in one ear), brought it into the bathroom with me when I showered, carried that huge, clunky phone in my front pocket while grocery shopping, brought it into the kitchen while cooking lunch, and then had it glued to my side for the rest of the afternoon.  No call.  I was kind of starting to get worried by now, as maybe my number wasn't working (Carl had said it might be a local number). 

So you can see where I thought that maybe these two things were linked....the phone call which had something very important to do with our anniversary and something wrapped in bags that I couldn't open until I knew the time was right....  maybe right when a phone rang?

But the phone never rang.  I had enjoyed my lunch and a light snack and tea and was enjoying myself watching highlights of the Sabres vs. Senators Round 2 of the 2006 Playoffs.  In the middle of my highlights, there was a knock on my door.  Thinking it was either Emily about my mysterious gift or Bronwyn telling me my hockey highlights were too loud, I got up and opened the door only to find ---- a random french girl standing there holding a baguette.  She informed me that when she had asked for her mail at the 'Acqueil', the guy working there had asked her to go to room B24 and tell the girl there that he need to talk to her.  Right away I thought that something must be wrong, such as my rent or something equally as important.  So I originally planned on going down tomorrow morning, so as not to let it ruin our anniversary.  But after a few minutes, I literally felt sick with worry, so I went down to the 'Acqueil' and said, "You needed me?" (only in french: "Tu as besoin de moi? Chambre B24?") "Room B24?".  He asked me what my name was (probably to verify that it was really me), and then walked over to the door, where I followed him (our conversation had taken place through the little window).  Then he handed me this giant box!!  I was in shock, until I looked through the see-through lid and saw flowers!!  My heart nearly fell out of my chest!  I don't think I've ever had such a wonderful surprise!!  Right away, I almost started balling my eyes out, and I know the look on my face must have been full of such joy and surprise because then the guy said, in english, "Enjoy!" with a huge grin on his face and I said "Thank you!!" and walked myself and this big box of flowers back up to my room, trying not to cry with happiness!!!!

And then what do you know....I opened my pink roses (!!) and realized it was time to open what Emily had brought me this morning.  Lo and behold, it was a vase!!!!  So as I started trimming my roses, Carl came online!!  Perfect timing!! 

So, yes, I have to admit that even though we are 4000 miles apart for our anniversary, it was still a perfect anniversary (if you don't take into account that he was here to spend it with me - but we talked on the webcam for a really long time, so it was almost the same thing....almost....).  I can't believe how thoughtful Carl is.  A+ for being extremely romantic even when we're so far apart :  )

I took it upon myself to dress up a bit in a nice sweater (and skirt earlier, but then I got chilly so I put on my dark-wash skinny jeans, very classy) and to make myself a nice dinner.  I made stove-top macaroni and cheese, which turned out to be amazing!  I'll send anyone the recipe if you want it!!  And it was quick and easy, too!!  I also had some Chardonnay (Carl had some in Belhurst, so when I saw it, I just had to get it).  And in a little bit I'll be having my dessert of french vanilla coffee (from Carl <  3) and crousillant chocolat noisette, which I'm not exactly sure what it is, but the picture on the box looks like it involves chocolate mousse.  I'll let you all know.

In other knews, the fantasy hockey draft went better than I had expected last night, after my draft decided not to load.  But luckily I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world, who put his own draft on the line to help me out with mine *smiley face*!!  I have a pretty good team and I'm excited about it.  And I'm pretty sure that I'm already addicted....

Tomorrow there is apparently a bazaar thing going on at Comedie, with vendors selling all sorts of things, including food, so I might head out there in the morning/early afternoon just to check it out.  Otherwise I'll be couped up all weekend because Emily has a friend visiting and they are doing all sorts of things together.  Plus, I have an essay to write so I'd rather get that done tomorrow or Sunday rather than wait til the last minute on Monday.  So even with getting out tomorrow I'll still be couped up doing that!!

I also have been reading du Bellay's Defense et illustration de la langue francaise (Defense and illustration of the french language) FOR FUN!!  Well, not really for fun, more like because it's on all the French M.A.  reading lists.  But I already had the book because we are going to be referencing it a lot in my Ronsard class, so I figured I'd like to have it for that.  So I've been reading it.  It's an easy read, and pretty interesting so far.  Never thought I'd say that, but it's true.

I hope to write soon!
I love you all.  Please send my love to Mocha and to Gramma and to Bushie.
And don't forget how amazing Carl is next time you see him!!!!
Luvvies forever,
Heather

The Bike Ride That Never Happened....

Not much has happened since I last posted.  I don't really recall what I did last Saturday.  Probably groceries like I said I'd do.  Maybe some reading.  But Sunday....now that was quite a day.  Colleen and I met Emily at the Comedie, hoping to rent bikes and ride to the beach.  So, we went to the closest place and they told us they were all out of bikes, even though there were like 10 of them outside.  They must have been on hold for people, but grr, why couldn't we have them?!  So then we went to the tourist office, but you have to give them 150E just to rent one bike!  That's $200!!  You get it back afterward, but it's just not right handing over $200 for a bike you're using for half the day!  So they told us we could go to the train station and rent bikes there by just giving them an ID to keep until returning the bikes.  So we strolled over there and what do you know?  They were ALSO out of bikes!!  How does this happen?  We assume it was because it was a Sunday afternoon and since nothing much is open, everyone had the same idea as us.  But it just wasn't fair.  So we wandered back over to the tourist office (thank goodness all these places are nearby eachother) and asked about taking a bus to the beach, which really defeated the purpose: we hadn't really wanted to go to the beach just to go, we wanted to ride bikes to the beach.  But the bus idea wouldn't work out anyway because the next bus was really soon and the last bus to bring us home was in an hour from when we'd catch the bus to the beach.  We'd have to walk to the next 2 stops to get home, and we had no idea how far apart they were, or even if you could walk to them, so we didn't go to the beach.

Instead, we walked over to the Arc de Triomphe to see if we could walk up to the top (a lot of things were open that weekend because it was a Patrimony weekend or something like that), but the line was really long so we walked to the Plant Garden instead, which was absolutely gorgeous.  It reminded me of a mix between Sonnenberg Gardens and the Botanical Gardens (woot, Kelly!!  Botanical Gardens!!).  Then we went into the old Medical School because it had some old books on exhibit, which was pretty cool.  Emily read Dante in it's original form, so she felt very accomplished!!  Then we went inside the Cathedrale: it was massive and gorgeous!!  I would actually love to see a mass in there.  And yes, I did just say I would like to see a mass.  Haha, please don't all die of shock.  It's just that the cathedrale was absolutely gorgeous and I can only imagine it when it's filled up with people.  Or imagine a wedding!!  How pretty!!

Afterward we wandered around, ran into Maria and Arielle again (who we'd already seen at the Plant Garden), and then said our goodbyes.

This week has just been school school school.  What fun!!  Not really, though....  It went by so slow, probably the slowest week since I got here, even slower than the first week!!  Hopefully it picks up a little, geez!  I mean, France is great and all, but I want to be with my love and my Mocha and my family :)  My classes are going well.  However, by the hour and a half mark of my 3 hour classes I can no longer focus.  And then I'm completely exhausted afterward, even though I didn't do a damn thing!!  I've had 3-hour long classes at Buff State (Zola, for example), but a) Zola was a 5-person class so you were always involved in the conversation, and b) my speech class was half lecture, then the second half people giving speeches, which was entertaining.  But when someone tries going on for 3 hours about the basics of religious anthropology, you almost want to kill yourself.  I'm sure I'll get a bit more used to it.  Thursdays are the worst, though, just because it's 2 3-hour poetry classes.  I know everyone must be wondering at this point if I am intentionally trying to torture myself, and the answer is no.  They just both happened to transfer over to Buff State perfectly and had to be on the same day.  I'm so glad I have off Wednesdays to relax before my day of hell!!  At least my last class, Comparative Literature (Shakespeare and Petrarch....blah!!) keeps me up a bit more because the teacher is Justin Sane's older doppelganger and I am actually quite interested in analyzing English poems in my French class.  Haha.  I feel bad for those French students having to read Shakespeare in English, though, because that's even difficult for me.

So then yesterday Emily and I went out for our weekly lunch of crepes.  We are regulars now, and the waitress knows us and even asked us if we were students or just living here for fun or for jobs.  When we walk in she greets us like friends, it's rather neat!  Then we planned on seeing a movie, but we just missed all the afternoon shows, so we went back to her place to plan daytrips and then decided that since it was raining (it rained the night before and that day!!  I was in heaven!!  I didn't even want to take my umbrella out but Emily whined a bit, so I opened it up!!) we'd go to an exhibit called Le Reve Americain (The American Dream).  It was amazing.  It had photos of America, including some of people watching the twin towers fall, which I thought was kind of weird.  Our favorite was of an older couple holding hands and crossing a street in a small town to an antique store.  Very cute.  Then there was an Elvis exhibit, where some guys dressed up as Elvis and a photographer took pictures of peoples' expressions.  It was hilarious!  If there's a book out by these guys, I'm buying it!  Then we watched some short movies, my favorite being the one about Alaska, as it showed a 2 second clip of an old-school hockey game and a 30-second clip of Don Cherry and the poor bastard that has to work with him on Hockey Night In Canada!!  I was ecstatic and Emily had to deal with it, poor thing!!  Plus, that video had snow in it and moose, so it was clearly amazing.  Another cool one was about the videographer's great grandpa who had come to Cleveland from les Cevennes in France and it was just funny because it talked about how he gambled and the first thing he won the first time he played was money, a car, and a building.  Haha.  It just had typical pictures of him and his American wife, like with the car, the bike, the house.  But it was funny because at the end it had a quote from an old lady relative back in France saying something funny.  I don't remember what it was, but we were laughing so hard.  In fact, we were laughing through all these videos because we totally understood everything, and the French people probably had no idea what we were laughing at!  The 3rd video wasn't so cool, though.  It was about druggies in NYC.  Interesting, but not as good as the other two.  Then we parted and today I just hung around, did a lot of work, talked to Carl through Skype IM for a long time and then tried to webcam it, but that didn't work, so we IMed for a long while longer, and then I made dinner, and then I talked to my wonderful family for about 5 minutes!!  And that was my week!

I love you all and hope everything is wonderful :)

Kiss Mocha for me!!

Luvvies,
Heather

Kelly was right - Aquariums are AWESOME!!!!

Not gonna lie, when Kelly said she went to the aquarium in La Rochelle a lot, I kind of asked myself, why would you want to go to the aquarium??  Not having been to one in a really long time (I don't even remember my last trip to the aquarium), I shouldn't have judged.  I went with Emily to the Montpellier aquarium today and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!  I saw seahorses (real live seahorses - they are so flexible in real life!!  They wrapped their tales around plants and napped!!), sharks, penguins, sting rays (RIP Crocadile Hunter), EELS!!, starfish, crabs, lobsters, tropical fish, and just a million amazing things!  Emily and I befriended a fishy who would come over to us everytime we went near the tank!  He had teeth and loved us!  I took a picture, so that'll be up shortly.  We also saw scary sharks with creepy teeth and 2 with saw-like noses!  Soooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!  But my favorite parts were: a submarine-type room (I obvi took a pic of that!!) and a room that looks like you're steering the ship and there's a storm and the room rocks back and forth like you're on the ocean during the storm and there's a screen so it looks like it's pouring out and there's thunder and lightening and at one point something "came undone" and went flying into the water.  Emily couldn't be in there for long, but I loved it!  I think Daddy would have just loved it!  So yes, I love aquariums now!  I want to go back!!

We went to the aquarium today because the weather was supposed to be crappy and we didn't want to go to Carcassonne if it was crappy out.  But the sun ended up coming out!  Yes, it was chilly (yay!!), but not crappy and rainy like it was supposed to be!  So we went for lunch (crepes!!) and then to the aquarium and then I sent some postcards (finally, sorry) and then we went to Monoprix so I could buy some soap (it's orange flower and smells oh so yummy!) and another notebook for school.  Then we parted as she had a tummy ache and I was exhausted from all the aquarium excitement.  Then I talked with my darling on Skype and made dinner (pasta with bolognese sauce - amazing!).  Then I watched an episode of CSI and washed my dishes *sigh* and a french girl came in to make herself some food and said bonjour and au revoir to me!!  Lol.

So my classes went well yesterday: I had poetry of the 16th century in the morning.  We will mostly just be reading Ronsard because he spanned a long time and 3 different kings, so his style changed with the times.  The prof seems really nice and said she'll work something out for the foreigners as far as the evaluation goes.  Then in the afternoon I had comparative literature and my prof looks like Justin Sane in 15 years.  And I mean EXACTLY LIKE JUSTIN SANE!!!!  He would probably even wear the same clothes if he wasn't out in public!  Same height, same build, same voice - it's creepy!  I'm convinced it's his doppelganger, just 15 years older..  Kelly, I will try to pretend I'm texting someday and take a pic for you lol!  I'm serious, it's creepy!  He walked in and I was like "woah, now!"  Freaking crazy!!

Anywho, that class should be good.  We are focusing on praise and desire and seeing if you can write about one without the other.  So we'll read Shakespeare (parts in English!!  I feel bad for the French students lol) and some Plato and Petrarque, which works out, because in my poetry class we will be referencing Plato's Le Banquet (that's the French title, I don't know what it is in English), but not reading it.  And we'll be reading it in the other class!  And we'll be looking at Ronsard in my comparative literature class!  This works out great for me!!  It's kind of like when you pick a bunch of random classes at Buff State and they all end up talking about the same things within days of each other!

Tomorrow (Saturday), I have some plans: groceries, textbooks, purse.  I figure I'd rather get my groceries out of the way now rather than wait until half-way through the week like normal when I'm almost out of everything.  And as for textbooks, most classes only want me to get 1 or 2 cheap books and then recommend other ones for reference.  So I'll get what I need and see how much some of the reference books are and if they are cheap I'll get them, too.  For example: we don't need a book for history, but I might take a look at the 3 books he recommended in case I can't follow along well enough; I'm gonna take a look at the 16th century literary dictionary for my Ronsard class; and there's a book we'll be referencing in my comparative literature class but won't be reading, but since it might be a difficult class I think I'll get that, too.  And for Anthropology, we can choose like 3 out of 4 (I'll choose the 3 cheapest, lol) and then there's a list of other books we can look at if we want to.  So for right now, I'm just getting what I need for that class and then if I need anything else I'll either go to the school library or see what they have at Sauramps (book store).

And I would like a new purse so I don't ruin my scarf by using it as a strap.

And if I have time I'd like to get cleaning supplies to clean my room!

I hope everyone is doing well.  And I expect comments on each of these last 3 posts this weekend!!!!

Have fun boozing and cruising, Kelly *muahs*

*kissies* to my Mocha

Luvvies,
Heather

When I Get Home, I'm Never Doing Dishes Again

I always knew I hated doing dishes.  Even when I was a kid I hated it.  That's why I chose to do the household's laundry when Daddy said we had to each have our own chore to do.  I love laundry.  Dishes though....I'd almost rather die. 

So imagine me having to wash my own dishes every day....  I'm not enjoying this one bit.  I only have one dish, one bowl, one frying pan, and one sauce pan.  Which means I have to do dishes at least once a day, but sometimes twice if I cook for breakfast or lunch and then want to cook for dinner as well.  It's a royal pain in the ass.  It's what I least look forward to every single day - it's not even missing Mocha and Carl really badly before I go to bed: it's doing my dishes! 

And let me tell you, I'm not very good at it.  I feel like it takes me forever to do a few dishes.  So instead of taking up space in the kitchen, I've been doing dishes in my bathroom sink if I only have a few.  It's horrible, such a pain in the butt.  And my hands feel pruney!  And you all know how much I hate germs and I'm handling a sponge!  If I had lots of money I'd use a knew sponge every time I did dishes!

Oh my gosh, I'm getting all worked up over this now.  Let's change the subject to something else I can get worked up over: I had to buy nail polish today at Monoprix.  I swear to God I packed my red nail polish, but after searching and searching and researching for it I came to the conclusion that I left it at home.  So out I went to Monoprix to buy pink polish (cuz what girl would chose red when she can have pink instead).  Firstly, I couldn't find the perfect pink (also known at Avon's Strawberry Pink).  I ended up with super hot, shiny pink, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted Strawberry Pink!!!!  And to top things off, there was no polish under 5Euros unless you wanted the tiniest little bottle of nail polish I've ever seen in my 21 years!!  Not cool!  And then I tried to find soap cuz I'm almost out and I couldn't find it.  I swear to God, Monoprix does not sell soap.  I'm gonna have to find some tomorrow.  I might have to go to the store in the mall.  Thank you Monoprix!  Thank you soooo much!

One more day of my first week of classes.  Hallelujah!  It hasn't been a bad week, but I just want to get it over with!  My schedule is looking like this right now: morning class and afternoon class Mondays and Tuesdays, off Wednesdays, morning class and afternoon class Thursdays, off Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  I had originally planned on having one class Wednesdays and one Thursdays, but I messed up the times for the literature class today so I'm going to the one tomorrow instead (it's the same class, just different times and we're reading different books).  So it works out for me.  But I feel like I'm going to have a crapload of free time.  Where is Sears when you have so much time on your hands?  They loved putting me on the schedule when I had 6 classes and mad homework to do!  I actually want a lot of homework just to pass the time, otherwise I'm gonna either be sitting around a lot or spending money going out to cafes and what-not.  Oh well, it's better than having a lot of classes, I guess.  But really, I'm finding a job right after Christmastime, I can't stand not doing anything (never thought I'd say such a thing!).

I should go to bed soon, I guess.  But my hands are still so pruney and I'm gonna have to get them wet again to get ready for bed!  Ahh I hate you dishes!!!!  If I could buy a little dishwasher that plugged into the wall, I'd be all over that shit!  $500?  Sure, no problem, here ya go!!  Wash my dishes!!

Luvvies and wish me luck in my dish washing....,
Heather

2 Day Trips and 1st Day of Classes

The point of writing that long blog last week was so that this one wouldn't be as long.  However,that's impossible as I've been extremely busy lately.  I went to beautiful Sete on Friday, followed by a magical day in Tarascon, both accompanied by the wonderful Emily.  While Sunday was terribly uneventful, today was the first day of classes, which turned out to be as perfect as classes could get.

1) On Friday, Emily and I took an early train to Sete for only 8,20Euros round trip, which is ridiculously inexpensive.  Then we saved more money by having a huge "formule" lunch for only 13,50.  It was so much food I didn't even eat dinner that night!  The food was great - I got shrimp cooked in garlic (like Mommy makes with angelhair pasta!), which was really good except for the fact that the heads with eyes and all were still attached.  So after cutting the heads off and taking the shells off I could eat in peace.  For my main dish, I got some kind of fish.  I think the French like leaving their food looking like how they caught it, because my fish looked like a fish!  So once again, after opening him up and covering the head with some other food on my plate, I ate in peace!  The only problem was that there were a million teeny tiny bones, so Emily and I had to take tiny bites to ensure that we didn't eat any!  They were the smallest fish bones I've ever seen - like the size of a piece of hair!  But it was very tasty.  With that, I also had a tomato provencal, some yellow string beans and a baked potato with a tad bit of sour cream on it.  But I dipped it in my rouille sauce, which is absolutely amazing.  It's like mayo/sour cream but better!!  For my dessert, I had Baba du rhum.  So good!!  It's a little cake cooked with rhum topped with whipped cream and mine even had a touch of strawberry syrup!  Sooooooo good!!

We also had a little adventure in Sete: we walked up a ridiculous hill and a million steps to get to the top of a little mountain where there's a huge cross and a chapel.  It's called Mont St-Clair.  And the view was just gorgeous!!  Pictures are up on Facebook :)

Afterward, we wandered over to a navette store that's been open since 1913.  I got a huge bag for 4,50 and they are absolutely amazing!  Dipping them in coffee (or nutella) is heaven!!  I might be going back just to get some for home!  We also wandered around the town for a while, which was so pretty.  However, around 5:45 we headed back to Montpellier, as we figured we'd have a long, busy day at Carcassonne Saturday.  But alas, those dreams were dashed when we discovered that the earliest train to Carcassonne on a Saturday is at 11, so we wouldn't even arrive until 1 or 2.  Then we'd have to take a 7 or 8 o'clock train back that night!  Am I wrong when I say it would be better to spend a whole day in Carcassonne?!?!  So we decided to put that off until this coming Friday (however, that dream may also be dashed as it's supposed to be one of the rare occassions where it decides to rain in southern France).  Instead, Emily and I went our separate ways and researched where we should go Saturday.  I ended up planning a little trip for when Carl comes, but Emily made a list of towns on the train line, so I looked at them and picked two and she picked two and we ended up both picking Tarascon, so that's where we went!

2) Tarascon is probably my favorite place I've visited so far, right behind Saint-Guilhem-Le-Desert.  It's a tiny little town with a castle!!  When we first arrived, we set our usual goal, which is to find the tourist office.  However, much like in Sete, we couldn't find it and got diverted elsewhere.  This time we were diverted to a castle.  It is the Chateau Royale de Tarascon, built by le Roi Rene a long time ago.  My first real Medieval Castle!!  (Avignon can't really count - it's a pope's PALACE).  So we toured this castle and I (quite literally) took hundreds of pictures.  Only a handfull are up online because I figured people would get bored with pictures of castle architecture.  So if anyone is interested you can see them when I get home (I'll probably force you to look at every single one of them even if you don't want to muahahaa). 

After the castle visit (where I ended up buying a little book about castles and a knight pen - see Facebook photo!!), we looked for lunch, but as it was around 2 o'clock, the places that were still open weren't serving food anymore!!  Lesson learned!!  Eat first, visit castle after!!!!  So we ended up going to the grocery store and buying a picnic for ourselves.  The best part was that when we were full and had half a baguette and a huge block of goat cheese left, Emily saw a homeless guy and said we should give it to him.  Afterall, it was too hot out to keep the cheese in our purses and who wants to carry a baguette around while you're exploring?!  So we gave him the food and he was so happy!  It was probably the best moment of this stay in France so far :)

Then we found the visitors center and visited a gorgeous old church (St-Marthe) which is named after the Saint who tamed or killed this monster thing that lived beneath the town and ate people!  I hope that's a true story, because it reminds me a knights slaying dragons and there is a castle!!!!  We also visited a cloister museum about this order of nuns, which was actually really interesting - they are celebrating their 400th anniversary this year - 400 YEARS!!!!  WTF?!?!  We then wandered around and saw some other sites and then finished the visit at the pastry shop!  I got a cream puff thing with honey over the top!!  SO DELICIOUS!!  More photos of that can be found on Facebook. 

So Tarascon was definitely successful.  Emily and I decided we should have that castle and if not, then a better one.  Especially since I was able to master the spiral staircases and make it all the way up to the top!!!!  And I didn't even faint!!!!

Sunday was extremely uneventful.  I talked to Carl on Skype and when we weren't webcamming, we were IMing on Skype. 

3) Classes started today!!  I was pretty nervous, not gonna lie.  I don't think I've been nervous for classes starting since freshman year of high school.  I think it's because I've always had people with me - especially at Buff State: Kelly's always been in several of my classes and we always drive in with Anna, especially the first couple of days.  So I got up extra early to get to campus extra early to make sure I could find my building and my classroom for my first class (Medieval History from 10:15-1:15).  But I lucked out - I walked into the building, and there was Maria from the presession!  We were so happy because we were both nervous and then when we sat down in the classroom, another girl named Sarah from the presession showed up, so it was much less nerveracking.  Not to mention, our prof is really nice.  He's probably in his mid-30s and is really into medieval history (which is just fine cuz I'm a total nerd when it comes to that kind of stuff!!), and he told the class that if there were any international students that we could talk to him during our 15 minute break.  So the 3 of us went to talk to him and he was awesome - he said if we have any questions, just to ask him after class or email him.  And then he took our emails so that if he gives an assignment, he can email us more instructions because he knows it might be difficult for us at first!  Yay!

My second class was Grammar, which is done by the international institute on campus.  So I was placed in the upper level based on my grades from the presession.  Maria was in that class, too!!  The prof is cool - she's probably around Mommy's age and was born in Croatia, grew up in Australia, and then has lived in Montpellier since she got a scholarship to study here for college.  She's a good prof from what I can tell, too, so that's good.  I have that class Monday and Tuesday from 2:15-3:45.  Monday's we'll be doing mostly grammar stuff and Tuesday's will be writing, so I still have a week to do homework and what-not.  Plus it gives my brain a rest, because the grammar every day for 3 weeks just about killed me during the pre-stage!!

Then I did some grocery shopping and here I am!  Tomorrow is Religious Anthropology from 9:45-12:45 and then Grammar.  I hope it's as successful as today!!

I'll try and post again by the end of the week!  Luvvies to all!

-Heather

And Finally....A Coffeemaker!!

Drum role please........I am now the proud new owner of a coffeemaker. A 10$ coffeemaker, at that. I even managed to find Maxwell House coffee at the grocery store, but after making it realized it is a) powder (I can just pour hot water over it) and b) flavored with a hint of chocolate. So while it's not the coffee I truly desire, it is surely better than no coffee at all. I'll most certainly use up this little container within a week and find something that tastes more like real coffee. I believe the coffeemaker is also part of the problem. For one thing, it is no cuisinart. It's a proline.... For another thing, after running water through it to clean it out and get the new-plasticky taste/smell out of it about 4 or 5 times, it still has just a hint of that new-plasticky taste/smell to it. Oh well. My life is still better with the "coffee" I have than no coffee at all.

So let's see, what have I been up to since I last posted.

On Sunday, the pre-session enjoyed our final moments together at Saint-Guilhem-Le-Desert. It is a beautiful medieval town nestled in the mountains. If anyone ever gets to the south of France, this is a must-see. I have a gazillion photos up of facebook, if anyone wants to see. I spent that day with my good friend Emily Bates, wandering around the streets, stopping in a little bakery for some lunch, taking lots of photos, wandering in and out of boutiques (mostly selling jams and different culinary masterpieces, which are Emily's favorite type of shops). We also had the most French experience we will probably ever have: we stopped for some ice cream at a little 'Y' in the road. I got vanilla (real vanilla) and Emily got melon sorbet (a big thing here - and a tastey one, too!!). We took a seat nearby on a ledge off someone's porch and music started to play! And not just any old music: a man was winding an old music-box thing as he fed paper with notches punched out through it. It played what must have been a really really really old French folk song. What made it so French, though, was that every single person walking by sang along as they passed. And it wasn't just old people - young people were singing at the top of their lungs, too. My favorite part was when an old woman came out of her house across from us to walk her dog and as she stepped outside she began to sing her heart out. And everyone was so happy and had huge smiles on their faces. It was so French and so small medieval village! It was probably one of the best experiences of my life!

After this, Emily and I wandered around for a bit longer. She "stole" a fig off a fig tree and then we had to meet the group for a trip to the Abbaye de Gellone. It was a gorgeous old church. We got to go into the basement to see the tomb of the founder of the church and village. We also saw the organ from the 18th century and the relics of St-Guilhem (including something about Charlemagne!!). And I lit a candle for Gramma, so hopefully she feels better soon : )

Afterward, we all went to the Pont du Diable which is a bridge from the 11th century. We got to swim in the icy cold water beneath it!! Quite the experience!!

Emily and I got some souvenirs: postcards for tout le monde and some pottery: I got a gorgeous new coffee mug that I'm saving for some really good coffee.

Before I write another word, I have to charge my camera battery, as Emily and I have decided to take a day-trip to Sete tomorrow.

....
....
....
....

On Monday, I met Emily for lunch at Comedie. We walked around forever trying to find the perfect (inexpensive) cafe. We finally found one near Montpellier I (university) and the Louis Blanc tramstop. It was called 26ieme or something like that and really good and cheap. I got a huge sandwich on a baguette with lettuce, tomatoes, chevre, and some other kind of cheese and of course a coke. After that, we went to campus to look at classes which turned out to be really frustrating and then even more frustrating when we ran into Colleen who said she found everything perfectly. Not fair. Then it turned out that everything was listed online finally, anyway. Jerks. I want online registration! And I can't even register myself for my last semester of college!! UUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

I also got to talk to my love on Skype. It was wonderful.

Monday night was wonderful: it stormed! I mean thunder, lightning, rain, the whole thing! I was so excited because it reminded me of home, as the forecast for home was stormy stormy stormy!! And it stormed here, too! Crazy!

On Tuesday, I was planning on doing laundry and then decided I'd let the dirty clothes keep piling up for a while, as doing laundry is expensive. So that'll wait for a little while longer. I'm slowly running out of clean clothes, however. This is partially do to dropping undershirts in puddles of dirty water on my bathroom floor after showering and partially due to somehow managing to get toothpaste stains on my shirts that just don't look very nice at all and won't come out with some nice hot water. And of course there is the splatter from my scrambled eggs. I never realized how messy I can be until I don't have a washer and dryer 5 feet from me at all times. Especially a brand new washer and dryer that sings to you when the load is finished. Gosh how I miss my laundry duties at home. And that is not sarcasm. It's straight up truth. Anyway, instead of that, Colleen sent me an im on Skype saying that she and Emily wanted to go out for pastries and tea/coffee and wanted to know if I would like to join in. Of course I did, as it wasn't storming like I had hoped, just blustery and chilly outside. So Colleen and I took the super crowded tram (thanks to the national strike that made the trams run much less often than normal) where we had to get off at the stop before Comedie (le Corum, again thanks to the greve), where we had to climb the neverending staircase and were out of breath by the time we met Emily in front of Louise (ice cream!!). We had planned on going to a moroccan tea room near Antigone, but it was closed for some dumb reason so we wandered around for a while before settling on a pastry shop near Emily's host mom's house. While there was no coffee/tea, I did manage to have the best treat in the world: a thick, fudge-like cake with chocolately syrup all over it, decorated with white chocolate drizzle. Yum!! Best dessert ever!! That night it stormed again (awesomeness) and rained like crazy. In fact, the parking lot in front of Triolet is still flooded. I'm glad Henrik's not in that parking lot!!!!!!!!

On Wednesday, what did I do? Oh yes - my group (C) had to meet Soumiya from the International Relations office to discuss choosing classes. That took up a good hour and a half of my morning and then I was trapped in my room with a migraine (first French migraine) for about an hour. Then I decided to venture out on a quest for a cheap coffeemaker. I ran into my next-door neighbor Bronwyn (it's a Gaelic name, in case you were wondering, and no, she's not Irish, she's American) and she said one of the other girls found one at Odysseum, which is a mall about 30 minutes away via the tram. I didn't want to venture that far out after my migraine, so I thought maybe I'd have some luck at the mall at the Comedie. No such luck. I also figured that since I was there, I'd look for a new purse, as I don't want to ruin my scarf using it as a strap, but had zero luck there as well. Oh well! The rest of yesterday was pretty uneventful except for talking to Carl on Skype, talking to Mommy for a bit before our connection was lost (*tear*), and then talking to Gramzabelle. Emily and I were going to try and meet to discuss a weekend getaway, but that never happened, as she was trapped shopping with a very indescisive friend! Poor Emily!

Today was a good day. I have all my classes picked out: Medieval History, Comparative Literature, Advanced Grammar (for foreigners muahaha), French Poetry (mainly focusing on Ronsard), and Religious Anthropology (which will be exactly the same as Buff State's Religion, Magic, and Culture class based on the course description). I also got a reply from Leann Grace at the Buff State Study Abroad Office saying that all these classes will count toward credits and that she emailed Dr. Raffel and he said I can use Medieval History and Religious Anthropology to finish my minor requirements! Yay! So that was a success. My French credits will also be taken care of, but I'm 100% positive I'll still be taking a French course or 2 (depending on what's offered) next semester just for fun (and to use up my remaining elective credits)!! Leann Grace also said I shouldn't even need to fill any forms out for the non-major courses, because she said the email trail we compiled over the last few days should be all the proof we need!! Yay!! Life seems so easy sometimes : )

I met Emily at Comedie at noon and we walked toward Antigone for lunch at a creperie. It was so adorable - like a little farm house out in the country!! I loved it! Even better, it was delicious and affordable!! And I had my first cafe creme (be proud KK!!). It was the best! Not the best like coffee at home is the best, but the best in France ; ) Then we went to Emily's host mom's place, who I met and is very sweet, and we looked at train info after deciding to go to Carcassonne. Then we went to the train station to see if we could buy our train tickets in advance, but you can't do that if you have a discount, which Emily has, so we have to buy our tickets before we leave Saturday morning, which is fine. Afterward, we decided we might as well make the best of no classes (and ridiculously cheap train tickets) and go to Sete tomorrow. We won't leave until 11 because it's only a 20 minute train ride. Plus, we want to save all our energy for the beautiful fortified city of Carcassonne on Saturday!! I'll take lots of pictures to post of facebook and write about our adventures in a blog next week.

Has anyone been printing these to show to Gramzie? Also, has anyone been able to show her some of my pictures? I want her to read these and see my pictures so she knows that I'm enjoying myself. I'm also missing her and Mocha lots. (I'm obvi missing everyone lots, don't worry, but I feel like I have to mention them specially).

One more thing: I dreamt last night that I was filthy rich and was going into every single store in some high-class mall and buying every single item I thought Mommy would want because she deserved it all. I had a million shopping bags in my hands and was holding tons more items that I wanted to buy her. I hope it's a sign of things to come! But I would first and foremost pay off the house/credit cards, and then I'd buy her a house wherever she wanted and decorate the whole thing with lighthouses!! Now I just have to find a way to become filthy rich. I think Carl needs a nice promotion ; p

I love you all! I'll write again soon. Until then, just follow my posts of facebook to know what I'm up to day-to-day!

Kissies *speciall major-kissies to Mocha, cuz it's major-kissie-time*

Luvvies so much
Heather

"Home-cooked" Dinner + Getting Lost On Campus

I'm sitting on my bed, sipping some pink wine and listening to "Chelsea" by Mest....and a bunch of tweens playing basketball and being noisy....at 10:12 at night. Gotta love the Cite Triolet!

It's been a pretty good day: I had classes from 9-12:30 as usual, and then I went back to my room to have lunch. Then around 2, Emily and I walked back to campus because we had to sign something in the International Relations office for registration. The thing was, we couldn't quite remember which building the lady's office was in. So after roaming around for half an hour, most of it in the wrong building, we managed to find the right one. That taken care of, we walked to the St. Eloi tram stop and went into town. We decided to get postcards, and ran into two girls from orientation, Maria and Arielle. So we went together to a bookstore near Place de la Comedie that Emily remembered had cheap postcards. I got a couple, so be excited! They should be in the mail by next week (fingers crossed!!). This bookstore is amazing, by the way. There are like 4 floors of books and the top floor is all music and movies. And records, too, so Jake would probably love it (although it's mostly French musicians). I couldn't resist buying 3 books, however two of them were kind of necessities: a student cookbook! and a French comic book making fun of George Bush!! I'll try and upload a pic of it to facebook next week ;) I can totally see them doing a random suitcase check for me on my way back home haha. The 3rd book I got is a novel (in english) called In Our Strange Gardens by Michael Quint. It's about kids during WWII. I got all that and the postcards for around 10Euros, so yay!! I was smart, too, and didn't go out for the usual 50% off crepe night dinner. But that's why I won't buy anything next week!!

After wandering around with Emily for a while (which included going into a cheese shop that smelled like every kind of cheese in the world except for cheddar), we returned to the Cite and decided to make dinner together. This was a brilliant idea, as I never would have figured out the kitchen by myself. There are buttons on the wall you have to press and lights go on, but it only lasts a couple of minutes....it's complicated to say the least. Plus, Emily has dish washing fluid and I have yet to buy some. So it all worked out. She cut up some veggies for herself to make a little carrott-potato saute in olive oil, and I made couscous with roquefort cheese mixed in. We learned that we only need the tiniest bit of water and couscous for one helping. But I was apparently hungry enough to eat the entire plate, so I guess it worked out okay!

Now that I know how to use the kitchen, I plan on cooking a lot more. For instance, at least on the weekends I would like to make pancakes or crepes or eggs or something. And for lunch, an omelette or grilled cheese sandwich would be amazing. And I'll have plenty of pasta, rice, couscous, and veggies for dinner. It's kind of exciting planning your meals out, until you have to decide what you need to buy at the grocery store! Then it gets kind of stressful! But I'll get the hang of it!

After dinner, I went back to my room to study and opened (with only slight difficulty) my bottle of wine (yes, the same bottle that's been sitting in my fridge for the last 2 weeks). It's not bad, but it's no white zinf ;p

Tomorrow is a test for civilization, which will be easy. Today I had a test in my culture class, which was just listening to a phone conversation and selecting the correct answers. I was surprised at how easy it was. I'm glad, though!! Then on Saturday are final evaluations and possibly the beach and then dinner with Elodie and Floralie (the monitrices). And of course on Sunday we are going to St-Guilhem-Le-Desert. Then it's registration week!!

I'll keep everyone updated. I love you all. Please send my love to Gramma and Mocha. And if possible, let Gramzie read these!!

Luvvies forever,
Heather

IKEA, Strikes!, & Olives!!

So I have so much to tell everyone. I really should just post a short blog every night instead of having to go through the last couple of days and write a novel. Sorry!! But this is what you get!!

So I mentioned that I went grocery shopping: I bought some apples, bananas, pain au chocolat (haha Kelly!), cookies, rice, couscous, bread, cheese, mustard, jam, and apple juice. Plus I get a baguette for ,80 Euro every day or so on the way back from classes. I'm gonna get some pasta, sauce, peanut butter (which is really hard to find here!), tomatoes, and lettuce when I go next, which will probly be next week, unless I get out there tomorrow or Friday. We shall see. I need KK's advice on what to cook, though. I'm prob gonna do Couscous a lot cuz a little goes a long way, and I can cut up tomatoes and cheese for that. I can do the same thing for pasta and rice. I'm probly gonna buy eggs, too, so I can do scrambled eggs and omelettes for lunch and/or dinner. I don't have an oven, so if anyone (especially you, ma chere jumelle!!) has any tips or ideas, PLEASE let me know!! I actually found a stove-top chicken parm recipe, which is soooo exciting!! If you know me at all, you know how much I love my chicken parm lol.

So I've been talking about COOKING because yesterday Emily, Colleen, Robert (in a french accent, of course), and I went to the Odysseum, which is an outdoor mall. It's my little slice of America! I wasn't going to buy anything, but there was an adorable little blue and white striped dress for 19 E, so I bought that. I'm prob gonna wait to buy any other clothes til the weather changes, though. Might buy a pair of sandals, however, as I've been wearing my black flippies almost every day and I don't want to ruin them. So then we went to IKEA and I bought all this stuff for 32 E:
-a pack of 2 cutting boards
-a frying pan
-a sauce pan w/ lid
-a coffee mug (need my coffee maker still though!! AAHHH!!)
-a dish
-a bowl
-a package of silverware (I think there are four knives, spoons, forks, and soup spoons)
-a package of 4 good knives in a wooden holder (Mommy will love this!!)
-a pack that came with a spatula, large spoon, and large fork
-a pack of 3 tupperwares (that is clearly not grammatically correct, but I don't know how to say it....)
-a peeler (for potatoes or carrots or whatever)
-a can opener
-a dish towel
and my favorite:
-a wine opener!! It's practically the same thing as what we have at home, so now we'll have 3 when I get back!! We'll never need to buy another again!!

So I'd say it was a successful trip. And all that stuff will prob have to be shipped back home! Lucky me!

Hmm, what's next on the list? STRIKES! Yes, that's right, I will be having my first strike experience on Tuesday, September 7th. It's people who work for the government (fonctionnaires). So the tram probly won't be running, nor will any trains, so some of the girls here had to switch their train tickets. But I'm not planning on travelling during that week, so it won't effect me! A lot of people are going away for 4 or 5 days, but I'd rather have money when I get home. Plus, we've gone on excursions to Nimes and Avignon, and still have one more. That's plenty of travelling for now, and I wanna do a little when Carl comes! So I'll have to stay local on the 7th!

Next on the list: OLIVES!!
We went to an Oliveraie/Oliverie (I don't remember which one is correct, sorry) today. We got to walk in the olive orchard, and I took some pictures because we were in the countryside and right by the mountains! I think its the Cevennes! Yes, def is, but there's a name for that part of them that starts with an M and I know it's in my notes from civilization class, but I'm not about to look it up right now. So those pictures will be up probably next week with the St-Guilhem-Le-Desert pictures. It was so gorgeous, oh my gosh! And the oliverie was attached to an old house! I'd love to live around there, just for a vacation house (PLEASE BE RICH SOMEDAY!!). It was just perfect, with a wonderful breeze and pure, fresh air! I want to go back! They invited us back for their olive harvest at the end of December, but I won't be around. Oh well. Someday!

We got to taste 2 different olive oils, which was really weird, but cool. All the stuff there was organic, except that sometimes they have to spray pesticides around the area if there are bugs attacking. For instance, they had to spray a few areas surrounding the olive trees recently, because a certain type of fly has been biting the olives, which ruins them. We got to see a good one vs. one bitten by the fly. Dont eat olives off a tree if you don't know they've been bitten!! Ew!! Anyway, these olive oils were sooo strong, but probly mad good in food! They burned on the way down! And they had two very different flavors. I never realized olive oil could be so tasty!

We also tasted some tapenades (olive spreads) and I bought one of each (4 of them for 13 E). I'm gonna save them for when Carl comes. And if we don't finish them (which we probly wont - a little goes a long way), I'll see if I can seal them back up and ship them home for everyone to try!

Now I've been on the computer, putting off doing hw. But I have to do laundry!! But I don't remember how late the laverie is open until, so I think I'm just gonna wash my panties in the sink when I'm done writing this. I'm wearing my last clean pair and didn't realize it til today :O !! Then I'll concoct something for dinner, but I don't know if I'm gonna cook. Might just have a cheese/mustard sandwich and an apple and a PAIN AU CHOCOLAT (haha) for dessert. And some orange juice! And now that I have my wine opener I can open my bottle of wine!! 2E at Monoprix!!

I'll be writing soon, my loves. Take care and I love you all (especially Gramma and Mocha!!)!!

Luvvies,
Heather

Mmm, Crinkled Chips!!

I'm so excited that I went grocery shopping today!! Especially since I'm buying a pot and pan tomorrow at IKEA at L'Odysseum, so I can finally cook something! I'm still extremely overwhelmed, though. There's so much to choose from! I always wanted to do my own grocery shopping, but it's so much harder than I thought! I tried making a list, but it can only help so much. I think that once I get into the groove, I'll be able to shop a little easier. I've been looking up easy recipes, so that'll come in handy.

So we went to Avignon yesterday. Le Palais du Pape (the Pope's Palace) was gorgeous and HUGE (hahahaha I don't miss those commercials). I was soooo in my element! Let's get a big old house like THAT! It was gorgeous, though, seriously, and I was so tempted to buy a pen with a knight on the top of it, but didn't. I figure if I go back with Carl or go to Chateau de Biron, I can get it. After the tour of the palace, Emily, Colleen, and I went to a restaurant called Hiely Lucullus. It was sooo French and so high-class!! We thought they had a fixed-price menu, but apparently its good everyday but Sunday, which is the day we were there. So instead of being really awkward and leaving, we decided to stay. It was still mad awkward. We were clearly tourists in our shorts and tank tops, and everyone else there was older and dressed nicely. But we stuck it out and ordered 20E lunches. I tried ....*ahem*.... Foie gras. Yes, I tried goose liver. Colleen said it was good, plus it was the cheapest thing on the menu, so I tried it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I'm dying to try again anytime soon. It was just weird - I've never had anything like it before. What made this whole experience even better was when a couple came in, looked at the menu, and left. It made us look golden!! Thank you couple!!

Kelly and possibly Shannon will appreciate this: there was a Syngenta plant on the way to the vineyard after Avignon. "Syngenta are killers, k-k-k-k-killers!"

So yea, I'd love to go back to Avignon. I'm thinking a day trip with Carl would be wonderful!!

After Avignon, we went to the Domaine de Donadille. There was a vineyard and vegetable gardens. Apparently it's a school that teaches that stuff to teens and adults. In fact, they grow the veggies and then use them in the cafeteria! I had a taste of rose wine, and it was pretty good, but it's no Beringer White Zinf!!

Kelly: I have been seeing more and more Saabs!! Carl: I saw a Mazda 6!! And a bunch of Nissans, but they are all ridic smaller than yours!!

I got my first reusable bag today *does a happy little dance*. It's not Monoprix (sorry Kelly), but it is for a grocery store. It's for Shopi, which is kind of on the way home from school, plus if I have a lot of groceries, like today, I can just take the tram back. And I'm going to IKEA tomorrow, and Emily says they have huge ones there. Def getting one!!

I feel like there was something else to tell everyone, but I forgot. Oh well.

One thing I hate: bagging your own groceries. I'm used to Tops where there is an extra worker at the end bagging them for the person cashing you out!! Come on, France, get with the program!!

And if you didn't notice, I bought crinkled potato chips!!!!!!!!

Loves to everyone, especially Gramzie and Mocha! *major hugs and kissies*

I'll post again soon,
Luvvies,
Heather

Last Semester Revisited

Today, we went to the Musee Fabre. By we, I mean the large group of American students who are doing the orientation with me. However, it seemed that a lot of people didn't show, which is too bad as they missed out on a very good time. The really good news: once I get my student ID card, I can go the the Musee Fabre for free!! I'm sure I'll be doing that every once in a while.

The first thing I have to say is that I felt like it was last spring semester at Buff State:

• The exhibit we had a guided tour of was of paintings of a man who painted Louis-Napoleon (aka Napoleon III) and his wife the Empress Eugenie. We discussed these people a lot in the Emile Zola class with Dr. Hovland. Kelly will never forget this.
• The painter (Alex Cabanel I think....the spelling might be wrong) had many beefs with Emile Zola. Zola was constantly criticizing his work. Kelly and I spent an ENTIRE semester discussing Emile Zola. No one in that class will forget....not even if they have amnesia!
• This same painter painted a representation of Phedre as she waits to die after hearing of Hippolyte's death. This is by far the most painful reminder of last semester. Kelly and I had to read Jean Racine's Phedre and hated every moment of it. Damn you Phedre! Damn you! The guide told us the story and I was like, "No!! NOOO!! I KNOW THIS STORY LIKE THE BACK OF MY HAND!!" But it was to no avail: she went on and on and brought back painful memories of sitting in the French Dept. conference room trying in vain to have a conversation about that stupid play!

So you see, Kelly, why only you could really understand what I went through today. Oh the horror! Never again!

On the bright side, I liked a lot of the paintings. There was one called Velleda or something close to that and it was beautiful. It's based on a myth about star-crossed lovers and is framed in an ivy design to signify eternal love. There was also another painting (but I think it was by someone else) depicting an Italian star-crossed lovers story about Francesca and Paolo or some variation of that, which I must find a version of online. It also was framed in ivy to signify eternal love. So beautiful! But I liked the first painting better - it was so beautiful!

After the Musee, me and some of the girls stopped at a snack stand for lunch. I got un sandwich Roma, which was ham, emmental cheese (its kind of like swiss cheese), and tomatoes toasted inside a baguette. It was really good - there was soooo much cheese!! And I had a coke to keep things American.>
It cut out a whole thing about not buying anything on our shopping outting today and how I'm not buying anything until I need it, like maybe a trench coat for fall but I don't know if I should get a black one which is more practical or a navy blue one that I saw and which I like because a girl in my International Relations class last semester (again, last semester revisited) and it was sooo cute!! I might have to go with the navy. I had to add that last sentence after I posted it wtf!! ugh!! Here's the rest of what I originally had to say: So let me know what you think! I'll honestly probably get that one. I already have two navy blue winter coats, I think I need to add to the collection! But dammit black would be so stylish!! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found Pimkie. I will go there once the orientation ends, just for Kelly! I believe its here 2nd favorite store after Monoprix....

Tomorrow is Avignon. It should be fun, but we are leaving at 8am because it takes over an hour to get there by bus. Note to self: remember ipod!! Then I have a test on Monday, which I've studied for a little. It's so dumb: the profs know we have little excursions on the weekends and they still do this to us! So annoying! But I'll webcam Carl before anything because I miss him so much and we haven't been able to talk for 3 days!! Dumb work!!

So there are A LOT of stray dogs and cats. The cutest dog moment happened a week ago when 2 stray dogs got on the tram!! It was so cute!! They just followed eachother on, like they knew exactly what they were doing! The cutest cat moment was yesterday when I was waiting for Emily to pick figs off the fig tree outside our building. We looked up and saw a black kitten in the tree!! And then it crawled up higher and higher and I got a picture of it perched in the brances amongst the leaves!! So cute!! It's so hard not to steal on for myself - they are all over the dorm area (Cite Triolet). But if I got one, I'd have to buy all the cat essentials, which would be expensive and then I'd have to bring it home, and I don't know if Mocha would want to share me. I don't want to share Mocha. She's all mine. And don't forget it!

I should be going to bed, I guess. It's 3:40pm at home, which means its 9:40pm here, and I have to be out the door by 8am!! AAAHHHH!!!! I was so excited to sleep in til 8:30 today!! That's so sad!! Why won't they let me get any sleep around here! I swear, the first day without orientation, I'm staying in bed all day!!

I love you all,

send me something in the mail and I'll be sure to send some postcards maybe by next week!,

Love,

Heather

Finally the First 2 Weeks!!

So I've been way too busy these last two weeks to be able to post anything, but I've written in my diary, so everything will be fully detailed! Just so everyone knows, I have 114 days til I'm home, and 63 days til my love comes to visit! I have one more week of orientation, and then a week of registration (confusing, I don't really know what's going on then), and then classes start on the 13th of September, so hopefully things will calm down by then. They've kept us soooo busy that I'm so exhausted, or if I have energy its spent on homework, or I go out with friends, so it's been a little crazy. Not to mention, I've had to figure everything out. I now know where the laundry is and the garbage. I learned yesterday that the maid is supposed to keep coming throughout the semester to sweep and clean the bathroom (which is actually really nice, although I'll have to remember not to keep my valuables out). And today I learned that I need to buy my own pots and pans for the kitchen. I'll probly go to IKEA with my friend Emily tomorrow to get that done....just get one sauce pan and one frying pan and any dishes I may need....and silverware. This will all be mailed home, by the way.

So hmmm, what have I been up to these past 2 weeks. Well, I've been missing my Carl a lot, and my Mocha, and my Gramzie, and everyone else in my family. But that's what skype is for. And Mommy, fear not, for I believe my internet will be strong enough to call Gramzie over skype instead of the cell phone, so I'll try that next week!

So I left for France on Sunday, August 15th and arrived in Montpellier at 9 AM local time on Monday, August 16th. It was very stressful. I had to go back through security at JFK AND Paris, and had to switch terminals at JFK, which was HORRIBLE!! I was about to go back home, until I thought of the down payment Mommy paid back in April, and of the expensive tickets. So I forged on and made it to France. But when I got off the plane, I saw a girl (who I now know as Floralie) standing around, but she didn't have her sign ready (my luggage came out quickly, so I guess she wasn't ready for me). So I called home franticly and all in a dither, and stood around until she noticed me and asked if I was going to Paul-Valery (which I was). So that was all sorted out. There were 2 other students with me, Sarah and Robert, so at least I didn't have to ride the shuttle all by myself.

My first couple of days were horrible - I had horrible jet lag, my head pounded even after taking advil, and I had no food and was in no mood to venture out, so I ate when the opportunity knocked. I also was not expecting this little room they put me in. Its really tiny! Like half of a Buff State dorm, and probly even smaller than Carl's room. But I'm used to it now, and I like the fact that I'm on the end. I have more privacy, and there's only one person next to me. Plus the kitchen is like 2 doors down, too....but I can't use it til I buy my pots and pans!!

The next day, we had to go to the campus to take our placement exam and be welcomed by the program directors. This was stressful because I got lost. Its a 25 minute walk involving turns to Paul-Valery from my dorm, so I couldn't figure it out. I found someone at the welcome booth at my dorm and said I was lost and they had to call a monitrice over to walk me there. I felt so bad, but I couldn't figure it out! The map they gave us didn't even have our dorm on it, just the campus and the nearby roads! So Elodie came to get me, and she's really nice. Floralie and Elodie are our monitrices. They look after us and are living in the dorms with us until the presession ends. They are both 27 but look mad young and are trying to finish up school.

The placement exam was ridiculously easy, but I felt like crap. After the two written sections, we all went to another building for the oral part. It was dumb: we went into a room alone with a professor and they asked us where we were from and why we chose Montpellier and then random shit like when was the Eiffel Tower built. But they ended putting me in Group C, which is the most advanced. I'm very proud of myself for that, especially since I felt like such shit during the whole thing.

I learned while talking to several people that day that there is no Wifi in the dorms, which I find absolutely crazy!! It's a big university and there's no wifi?!?! But me and this kid named Nolan went to a mall to buy internet cables, so I had internet on like my second day, which was awesome. I don't think I could have lasted any longer. And what made it perfect was that Carl came on skype right when I did!! It was magical!! <3

I kind of wandered around the neighborhood of the dorms my first few days, but there's not much here, and what is here has been closed because everyone's been on vacation. But there's a Shopi grocery store on the way home from classes, so I'll probly be going there a lot. I did find a Monoprix right at Place de la Comedie, which was my first stop because that's what Kelly told me to do. I love Monoprix!! I just wish it was closer to where I'm living!

Let's see, another thing I learned on my first couple of days: there is a basketball/soccer court RIGHT below by window. I'm on the 2nd floor, and I feel like all the sound just carries right up to me. So just about every single day from 5ish til 9ish when it gets dark boys play basketball. I have NEVER hated basketball so much as I do now. Luckily I've been out the last couple of nights so it hasn't been able to drive me crazy.

Another thing I learned: they are doing construction on a new dorm across the basketball court and they start working at around 5AM EVERY DAY except Sunday. And on Saturday they still start at 7 or 8. I can't wait til that's done with! I'll go crazy!

Also, remind me to take a pic of the building I'm in. It's so desolate looking. Luckily it's always sunny here, or it would just be something out of a movie.

Also, I learned that if you think you should buy something before you go to France and then decide not to just because, you should have bought it: my 2nd or 3rd day here I dropped my sunglasses and they broke! I was going to buy another pair JUST IN CASE THAT HAPPENED at Sears on my last day and then decided not to. I guess I figured I'd dropped them so much and were fine that I wouldn't need them. But no. I had to take the Tram to Monoprix and bought sunglasses that are almost exactly the same thing (thank God!!) and a box of tissues. I was not very happy with myself, but oh well. Now I have FRENCH sunglasses.

Classes started the day after the placement exam, which was nice because you are busy and with the same 15 people for all your classes. There are 3: culture, grammar, and civilization. But we don't do much for civilization. Last week we went to the Maison des Relations Internationales to look at Montpellier from a rooftop (I actually made it up!) and this week we did a wine tasting. I can't complain about that class. Plus, we learn about the region, which I find interesting.

It's been sooo hot here every single day. It was nice yesterday because at around 4PM it got cool like it was going to rain, but it never did. And it's kind of cool now, but it'll be a scorcher again tomorrow I'm sure. It's funny: I go to weather.com and its 80s and sunny every single day for the 10 day forcast. Then I look at the weather for home and right when September hits, its supposed to be in the 70s and cloudy. So typically Buffalo and I'm so jealous. I hate this heat, I want snow!! I don't think I've ever wanted snow so badly in my life! Oh course when I get home and theres snow I'll probly wish I was back in Montpellier, but at the moment at least I want snow.

We've gone to the beach twice so far: once last week and then again today. There are BEDS on the beach with umbrellas. You rent them out for like 12 euros for the day but have to buy their food, which is ridiculously expensive apparently. But someday, I am sooo doing that! Today it actually got chilly after I went swimming. Yes, I went swimming in the Mediterrannean! I hope you are all very jealous!

We went on a tour of Montpellier by night last Saturday. It was neat and I took some photos. They are up on facebook. Geraldine did the tour, and she also guided us through Nimes. She's so cute but I hate her name for one specfic reason haha. Nimes was really cool. I'd love to go back! Its really old and has narrow winding streets like in Montpellier, but there are so many less people! I think I'd like to take Carl when he comes. Then we did the Pont du Gard and swam in the water underneath it!! So I've swum in the Mediterrannean AND under the Pont du Gard! You must be really jealous now!

Let's see, what else: oh Friday nights is the Estivales: it was last week, today, and the last one is next Friday. Apparently they go all summer long! Last week we did wine tasting (4 euros for a wine glass and 3 pretty much full glasses) and I tried falafel for the first time and it was absolutely amazing! When I get home and class starts we are walking down to the Falafel Bar or whatever it's called!! I can't wait!! Then today me and Emily went and I tried this Okin...something or other... which was described as a Japonese pizza. I was weird but amazing: it had something like maybe tuna in it with veggies and looked like a lobster pattie or something and had a sauce over it. The sauce was like a mild bbq sauce, almost like Arby's sauce!! Mm Arby's!! I don't know if I'm going next week cuz our finals are next Saturday.

Emily, Colleen, and I have been eating at this crepe place a lot. We went last Saturday for dinner because someone told Emily about it and got the formula. I had a glass of cidre and a dinner crepe with cheese, ham, and a sunnyside egg in the middle and my dessert crepe was amazing: sugared with the best whipped cream I've ever had! I think the name of the place is La Petite Creperie or something like that. Carl is def gonna have some of those crepes when he comes!! We went last night for dinner because every Thursday and Friday night everything is half off. So I got a dinner crepe with 3 cheeses in it (emmental, chevre, and roquefort) and my fave dessert sucre-chantilly crepe. Mmm!! I love it!! And it was only like 6E40 for both because of the half off and I just had water.

Tomorrow we are going to the Musee Fabre, which is supposed to be a really nice museum, and then it's Avignon on Sunday. I'm excited! Then I have a grammar test on Monday....yay....

I'm trying to think of everything I've been meaning to tell everyone.... hmm.. I bought two used books: La Poesie du Moyen Age (poetry of the Middle Ages) and Romanciers du Moyen Age (another one about the Middle Ages that has some Tristan and Isolde in it!! I'm such a nerd sometimes. I also bought a francais-francais dictionary, which I'm excited about. And I (finally) got my tram pass yesterday, so I dont have to shell out 2E50 everytime I want to go somewhere!

I'll try and write again very soon. I love you all!
Love,
Heather