1. Don't worry, I got my suitcase yesterday, and
2. This is the view from my window:
No big deal.
Just a little example of what Aix is like, which is adorable. My first day, uncontent to succumb to jetlag I wandered around Aix. It's not quite a city, but far more than a town: in the center, there are winding streets, with lots of narrow side alleys, which spread out into more modern buildings on a grid layout. My apartment is at the top floor of an apartment on rue Cardinale near the center of the city, which is conveniently the VIF center and where all my classes are held: what was obviously once un tres grand appartement but is now taken up by VIF on the first, larger floors, with two apartments--mine and a random French neighbor's--on the very top, which don't span the entire floor. It's an old apartment with what looks like most--if not all--of the original furnishings intact, and very small and cozy.
Some establishing shots:
rue Cardinale:
Foyer of building:
My room (my bed is the one by the window):
my kitchen (pain au chocolat, milk, and A Year in Provence in the foreground):
In our apartment, there are 5 of us: me and my roommate Charlotte (from Barnard), Courtney and Hillary (Vanderbilt) in another room, and a French student, Eliza. Last night we had a bunch of other people from the program over at our apartment for some wine and music, which was a nice way of getting to know everyone--our kitchen (the only common room we have) is teeny, so having everyone crowded around a plastic folding table and shouting over each other gets the job done pretty well.
Aix, itself, is almost too cute to bear: a little bourgeois and yuppie, it's filled with expensive boutiques, bakeries, cafes, and bistros stuffed into every nook and cranny. I've also already discovered that it's also a college town: there's no end to the bars for college kids with some spending money, and last night when we went to a cute little Irish pub (hi dad) that Eliza showed us we ended up bonding with all the other students, foreign and national. It was a really fun, laid back atmosphere, and it was pretty funny with all us American students trying to speak French to the French students, who were trying to speak English, and no one could understand each other but everyone was having fun. Afterwards, I got to go to a real discotheque, with the misleading moniker "Scat Jazz Club." I'm sorry France, but some French guy singing Radiohead's "Creep" in a thick accent is not jazz. Just to let you know.
There are also some really cool stores, and with all the soldes (sales) going on it's going to be difficult not to spend all my money here. I prefer to wander by myself (and Aix is perfect for casual wanderings): for instance, today I saw almost every other person holding baguettes or some sort of fresh bread, so I just had to go find myself some: I bought a delicious "baguette Charlemagne" for 1 euro, which apparently is expensive...so now I need to devote myself to finding the best, cheapest bread in France. It'll be tough, but I think I can do it.
Anyway, as I said, today we don't have anything to do for VIF: these past few days we've met up with the tutors--French grad students--who have kind of been acting like camp counselors, herding us around Aix. It's a little annoying: as I said, I like doing my own thing, and even when I was in summer camp I hated being led around in a group; and when you're in a big group of Americans in a French town, being led around in one huge mass, getting in the way of cars and pedestrians and doing things all together, it's easy to get a little self-conscious. I can't wait until all this introduction stuff (which is totally legitimate and much needed, I know) is over so I can spend my days wandering and traveling. And from what it looks like, I totally have the least stuff of anyone here, so it should be easy to pack up and go on day trips or whatever--although, like everyone else, I haven't been able to completely resist the soldes: I got a purse and a shirt--but to be totally honest I legitimately needed a purse (I didn't have one, since I knew I wanted to buy one here), and the shirt was on sale, and with a design by a local artist! Worth it! No H&M for me! And now I am done with shopping, at least in Aix--it's far too expensive, and most boutiques, to be honest, are basically like the chi-chi ones you can find all around New York. I'd rather spend my $$$ on FOOD: a shirt is a shirt is a shirt, but in France everything tastes like...rainbows. The food is glorious: of course I won't be going out to eat all the time, but when I go to a place I need to eat the food, and there's no shortage of bistros, cafes, and little sandwich places. I've found out I love the French version of cafe: "cafe," or coffee, isn't the American large cup of coffee with milk/sugar that you walk around with; here "un cafe," as I learned unexpectedly when I ordered one thinking I would leisurely walk around with a coffee in hand, is just a small, plain espresso. At first I was scared, because espresso, to me, just seems so bitter--it is a bit, but with the sugar served on the side it is a quick and delicious little pick-me-up when you want to pop in from the cold and warm yourself. I can just imagine myself sitting in a cafe, sipping un cafe, doing my homework and watching the world go by--and at 1.40 euro, it's less expensive than a Starbucks latte.
Well! That's about it: today has been a lovely, lazy day. It's the first day I've been here that the sun is shining, and although the traveler part of me thinks I should be outside some more soaking up as much as I can, my body is perfectly content to sit in the kitchen reading, eating my bread and drinking tea with the sun shining through the window. À bientot!
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