I have two weeks worth of stories and goodies to share with everyone. So sorry this is going to be a long entry, but here goes.
So the week prior to my mother's arrival for our big trip around France I didn't have a whole lot to do to prepare for her stay in Aix. I just went to the grocery and bought a ton of foods for her to try and wines to taste. I was supposed to have my medical visit for my long stay visa, but the medical facility's lights were not working so they canceled the appointment and rescheduled for the end of the month. That sounds trusting. I also didn't have my volunteer at the grade school tutoring kids in their english homework because they were on vacation that work. I also didn't have my family dinner Wednesday night because I had canceled due to the fact that my medical appointment was that day and created a conflict. This is France for you.
I have to go to Marseille, which is about 30 minute bus ride from Aix, to get a medical exam done for my long stay visa as a student living in France for five months. I love how inefficient France can be at times. So I have been living and breathing in this country for at least 2 months will be closer to 3 by the time I actually go to this medical exam. They are checking to make sure I am in a healthy condition and am not bringing any communicable diseases into the country from the US. Um... France if I here ill 1. I wouldn't be here and 2. I'd have already spread these diseases by just breathing your air. If I have TB you're not going to cure it now or stop it's spread to your people, who by the way smoke all the time so no lose there, right? France can be so silly sometimes.
My roommate, Cathy, left for her trip to Italy this week and left me all by myself for 3 whole days, so I resorted to watching American movies on this website that has them all uploaded and ready to watch. I watched 7 movies in 3 days, you can tell how much I missed her.
So in my last blog entry I mentioned that my methodology professor smoked out the window at the back of the classroom while we were reading a passage that we would later use to write an essay. This week, not in my class but in the other section of methodology taught on Fridays, he asked the class if it was all right with them if he smoked in the front of the classroom while teaching his lesson. No one spoke up to say no, so he lit up and puffed away. That's France for ya... I guess...
So my mother was due to arrive Friday at 4:40 but due to some technical problems with the plane in Amsterdam she was a little late. Let's just say I could give tours of the Marseille airport I walked around it in boredom for so long. When she finally did arrive she was rather chipper and had slept a little and was fed on the flight so we were ready to take the bus back to Aix. She unpacked and we sat down to catch up and share stories about her travels and what I'd been up to lately. For dinner I made us a cheese tray with breads, pasta with creamy pesto sauce and saute vegetables. We drank a bottle of rose wine made in the Provence region and had local Provencal desserts: calissons and macaroons. We got to bed pretty early that night since we had plans to get up early the next day to go to the food and clothing markets in Aix.
We really enjoyed the markets Saturday morning. It's nice because they are maybe a 5 minute walk from my apartment so it was easy to drop our purchases off at my apartment after the markets. I had bought some food items for that nights dinner and some fruits for our trip to Paris. My mom had bought a couple souvenirs, but for the most part we just took in the sights and sounds.
We ate lunch at my favorite crepe stand in Aix: Crepes A Go Go. Great name, right? We shared a cheese, ham, and spinach crepe and then a chocolate and banana crepe. We ate our lunch at the Rotond, or the biggest fountain in Aix. It was getting overcast and cold so we knew we had to keep up with the shopping. We went in a couple cool stores in Aix like Eurodif, which is like a TJ Maxx and Ocadeco, which is an antique store. For dinner that night I made coucous with saute vegetables, more bread and cheese, dirty green beans a la Natalie Spooden, and we had pasteris for dessert that we had bought at Gout de Pain, my favorite patisserie in Aix. That night we decided my mother should experience the night life of Aix, since people from the region flock to Aix for the bars and clubs. Pretty hoppin place if I do say so myself. We started out at Le Menoir and she tried a Leffe Ruby and a Desperados, both are beers you can purchase in the US if you look extra hard for them and I highly recommend them!! Next we just peeked in O Shannons, but the drinks were 9 euro for one drink, which is like $13. Next I showed her Le Cesar, which is an underground bar in a cave. We decided to go to the Irish bar in town, where they speak english, and ordered Monacos. It's a type of beer mixed with amaretto. Very good! My mother got to witness her first draft. A draft is a tall cylinder of beer that will serve roughly 6 beers and brought to your table for self service. I'm not sure if such a thing exists in the US, but they should. We decided to go back to my apartment before too many people got drunk and all the creepy Frenchmen came out to hit on us. My apartment is maybe 10 steps from another bar called Brigand and 7 days a week they are open and always have a few customers but especially so weekends, and these drunken people like to make lots of noise and break glasses in the streets keeping everyone up. Needless to say we slept in Sunday morning.
Sunday we took a tour of Aix when all the shops are closed and not a lot of people are out in the streets. We walked through, what I call the secret garden of Aix, but it's just a couple blocks from my apartment and one of the few areas of Aix that has grass. We then walked down to the university to take a quick tour of the inside and show my mother what a lovely campus IU has selected for me to attend. Not... it kind of looks like a prison. We tried to go inside but the security guards (whom I've never seen before) told us that the facility was closed. Then why are the front doors open? So we just strolled around the outside and we could peak in windows of some classrooms. We then walked through the Parc Jordain and watched old men playing boule. It's a well known game in France where there are two players who have I believe 4 large balls. One small ball is thrown out into the "court" and each player takes turns to try to through their ball closest to the small ball and the closest ball wins. Only in France would such a mindless game exist, but it was entertaining to watch them men argue more than play. We then bought a steak hache avec frite from a sandwich stand and took it home to rest up for our travels to Paris the next morning. A steak hache avec frite is basically a hamburger patty on a baguette with french fries and ketchup.
I will detail our trip around France in 3 blog entries. There are just so many stories to tell and pictures to share I think I might run out of space in one entry. Please stay tuned for the next two entries to be coming soon.
