Tuesday was our first day of class which was really interesting for me (sarcasm). I tested really poorly on the placement test on Monday so I was placed in the 100 level... After the class was over I went and talked to my professor where I proceeded to explain that I've been studying French for the past two and a half years. Based on the conversation we had, she was able to convince the director that I needed to be in a higher level. So, I got moved up to the 300 level even though I need 400 level credit. It's okay because I really feel like the material we are covering is right on par with my skill level. AND, as you show progress through the semester they move you up through the classes. But enough of Tuesday.
On Wednesday we got to go into the city and visit the Musee de la Castre which was a little like every other museum except for the view from the top of the tower in the middle of the courtyard.
Thursday I got to experience my second day of class in the upper level course with my new professor Claude. I wish there was a way for me to adequately describe this man but it seems impossible; however, I'll give it a shot. He's a short, stout man somewhere in his lower fifties and looks like the most serious person you'll ever meet. But, aside from the looks, he may be the most sarcastic person I've ever met. For those of you who have seen my facebook status today, sorry, and for those of you who haven't, I wrote this, "Never laughed so hard in class in my entire life." I'm convinced that his favorite thing to do is pick on people but he's somehow not rude about it because even when he picks on you, you can't help but laugh. I'll save the actual stories for another time because they are to funny to put into words.
Later on in the night, the entire group of AIFS students was treated to dinner at 'Le Caveau 30' (I think). That restaurant was and mostly likely will be the nicest dinner I will have throughout my stay here. It was really nice because the program paid for what seemed like a 100 meal for all 50 of the students that are here on the program. First up, they served us a very unique salad (lettuce, olives, tomato's, mozzarella, and that really thin meat that I can't seem to spell out right now) paired with a nice red house wine and a loaf of bread. After that came out the grilled sea bass atop sauteed cucumbers and carrots covered in a nice buttery sauce. And finally was the homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Overall, I'd say it was a successful night!
For those of you curious about the friends situation, I don't want to go to far into it because there are so many people that I get along with a spend time with here; but, I would like to list a few people. So first there's Ali, whom I got to know in London. She's from Texas A&M and had already visited London (as had I) so while a lot of the group spent the day seeing the usual sights of London, we spent the day exploring what we had missed before. Then there's her roommates Hailie and Kylie. Both are really nice and fun to be around so we spend quite a bit of time together. As for the guys, there's my roommate Nick from Seattle and then another guy we hang out with, Alex. Oh, and how could I forget Natalie? She's from Dallas and goes to school at Chapman in California (hope I got that right) and is usually present in everything we do. That isn't even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to who I spend time with but those people are the one's I see everyday.
Friday was a free day and we didn't have anything planned so Alex, Kevin, and I went running for about an hour and here's what we found.
We started up what we though was a rural area and ended up finding hiking trails; quite a feat I'd say.
Saturday - Monaco and Eze
For anyone who has never been to Monaco, or Eze for that matter, I would highly recommend them to anyone. Everyone who comes back from them is absolutely right; they are absolutely amazing. We left for Monaco Saturday morning around 9 o'clock and arrived somewhere around 10:15 so it wasn't a bad drive at all. Here is a picture I took from a stop we took midway:
Can you believe I took this with my phone? No? No one else did either
When we finally got to Monaco, the first thing we did was walked through the tropical (for lack of a better word) garden of the city which was filled with all sorts of plants and cool statues. Afterwards we got to see the changing of the guards outside the Prince's estate.
After eating lunch, we hopped back on the bus and headed for the casino's at Monte Carlo. I decided since I was running a little low on money that I was going to keep it out of the slot machines and safely in my wallet; however, not everyone else felt the same. It was then that Kylie went on to win 30 euros at the slots.
After our short stay in Monte Carlo, we were once again on the bus headed for a new place. This brings me to Eze (google it, it's amazing).
I can't tell you a whole lot about this city but as you can see from the pictures, it was absolutely stunning. the whole town sat on top of a mountain and is at least 400 years older than the United States. It was very quite and absolutely one of the most visually appealing placed I have ever been. I would recommend it to anyone, any day of the week.
Sorry for being so short in the last couple of paragraphs but I've actually been racing against the battery of my computer to finish this before it dies on me. PLEASE let me know if you want to here more about anything I didn't fully describe and I'll try and post another story or two before the weeks up. Cheers!
Hayden
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