For Spring Break, mom and dad came to visit me in France and we went to Cinque Terre in Italy and then drove around Provence.
One of the best parts about having them come to France was that they got to see where I live. There is nothing quite like the Collège, it's just one of those things that you have to see to believe. We really are right next to the Mediterranean, everyone is happy and having a good time, and we really are speaking and learning a lot of French.
Cinque terre is incredibly beautiful. We took a chance on our hotel, which got rave reviews, but was situated far away from the main town, wo we had to take a bus to get to it. Although the views were definitely to die for, I think if I had a choice I would have liked to have been more accessible in terms of my mobility. The thing about Cinque Terre is that it is a series of towns built in the side of the hill on the Mediterranean that are not easily accessible by car, so for the most part they are very quaint and well perserved. There are hikes along all five of the towns that overlook the sea and the views are amazing. While we were there, one of the hikes was closed, so we had to take an alternate route. Sometimes, unexpected roadblocks make for a richer, more fulfilling experience, and this was certainly one of those times. We ended up taking a more difficult hike that proved to be the best one of the day: extraordinary view and almost complete isolation. Very cool.
Another thing that I learned while in Italy as how dependent upon my French I am. I'm very used to being able to understand most everything around me here, and I forgot what it was like to be in a place where everything was completely foreign. I guess it means that I need to start working only next language ;)
More later on Spring Break, my weekend in Provence, and life in general. tout à l'heure.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Thoughts on a voleur
Once again, apologies on not writing in sooner. The most pertinent thing at this point is to give my point of view on the Spring Vacation. As some of you know and many of you don't, my parents and I were robbed on the last day of our drive through Provence. All of our baggage was stolen and the rental car window was broken apart as well. At this point, I have replaced everything that was of importance and believe that I can look on it with some sort of distance.
My first thought is that getting robbed sucks. It is also a very surreal experience. It's one of those moments where you feel like you should be in a movie and the music should start to get very dramatic and the shots get quicker, but in fact, all that really happens is that moment of silence where it dawns on you that yes, in fact you've been taken advantage of. You try to think of the right thing to do, how did this happen and what am I supposed to do now? The biggest problem is that no one quite knows what to do either. You call the police, but they've got more important things to worry about, they're not going to come to you, you have to go to them. So you find out where to go. Then half an hour later, you get there and wait and wait. Don't they understand? Everything I own is GONE. What do I do? So you go and file a report and that's it. You try to remember everything you had in your bag, you drive home and you try your best to get over it and start replacing stuff.
So what did I learn from this? That I'll be ok. That stuff is replacable. That in the end, we're still alive, able to recuperate from a bad experience. Do I look down on the French as a result? Certainly not. After all, there are depserate people everywhere and we all can only do our best in any given moment. Do I regret my naivete in thinking that our stuff would be ok, if only for a few hours? Sure, but I can learn from that.
I guess in the end, I'm also proud of my abilities to cope and my abilities to speak French. If I can get us through that, ordering a sandwich and having a chat en francais won't be so bad either.
My first thought is that getting robbed sucks. It is also a very surreal experience. It's one of those moments where you feel like you should be in a movie and the music should start to get very dramatic and the shots get quicker, but in fact, all that really happens is that moment of silence where it dawns on you that yes, in fact you've been taken advantage of. You try to think of the right thing to do, how did this happen and what am I supposed to do now? The biggest problem is that no one quite knows what to do either. You call the police, but they've got more important things to worry about, they're not going to come to you, you have to go to them. So you find out where to go. Then half an hour later, you get there and wait and wait. Don't they understand? Everything I own is GONE. What do I do? So you go and file a report and that's it. You try to remember everything you had in your bag, you drive home and you try your best to get over it and start replacing stuff.
So what did I learn from this? That I'll be ok. That stuff is replacable. That in the end, we're still alive, able to recuperate from a bad experience. Do I look down on the French as a result? Certainly not. After all, there are depserate people everywhere and we all can only do our best in any given moment. Do I regret my naivete in thinking that our stuff would be ok, if only for a few hours? Sure, but I can learn from that.
I guess in the end, I'm also proud of my abilities to cope and my abilities to speak French. If I can get us through that, ordering a sandwich and having a chat en francais won't be so bad either.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Quick
Sorry for the delay tout le monde, I've just returned from Provence for the weekend with my group. Altough I have a lot of updating to do, I can't do it just yet, becaus I don't have the time as per usual. This weekend we went to Avignon, Arles, St Maries sur le mer, chateauneuf du pape, etc. mus go. will tell you about it soon.
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