It's the holiday season!

Hello and happy holidays!! Today was the last day of classes before Christmas break, so the students have been a little restless this week...but so have I. I'm leaving in 4 days to go to Bordeaux with Brita (fellow French major from FU) where we will spend a relaxing Christmas holiday in a little bed and breakfast with a bottle of vin rouge. I've read that Bordeaux has the best Christmas market in France outside (of course) Strasbourg. So after all that relaxing and vin chaud in wine country we're headed off to Paris for New Years! I'm so excited it's my first big city New Year's celebration; I can't wait to see the lights on the Eiffel Tower. OH---but I have to back up to things I've done leading up to the holidays! I went to Nice a while back with my friend Jon who lives in La Ciotat, where the first movie was ever filmed ("Train arriving at the La Ciotat train station" by the Lumière Brothers. It's a train arriving at the station platform, how original.) Anyway we went to Nice and enjoyed the warm weather, saw the Matisse museum, wandered around the gorgeous flower market, and stayed at the BEST hostel I've ever experienced, the Saint Exupéry Villa. Not only are the towels and breakfast free, but they have a shuttle that takes you in and out of town because it's literally a villa in the hills of Nice.

Then a few weeks later I enjoyed FOUR Thanksgiving dinners! Ali hosted a spectacular dinner with a huge turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and (my mouth is watering) pumpkin pie. All of the italians, french, and other internationals there thought all of us americans were crazy, gorging on this huge meal, but we were in heaven. Then a couple nights later four of us got together at Ali's again for a leftover party. Thanksgiving number three was at my apartment on actual Thanksgiving: my roommates and I did a raclette dinner (melted cheese on potatoes and charcuterie)--so I got a French Thanksgiving in. Then the fourth was the next night in Miramas at Kathleen and Darius' house in the country. We all had a big, traditional meal then (as tradition would have it) we all fell asleep on whatever sofa or bed we could find. Then I ran 3 miles every day for the next week.

It's been fun introducing French people to american Christmas, though...most of them have no idea who Rudolph or Frosty are...OH funny story that happened totally outside of any Christmas conversation in my apartment: we were keeping a kitten for a friend in our apartment for a few days (her name is Giselle and tore up the entire apartment but was precious all the same)--and I was talking about Shannon's cat, Tinkerbell, to Pauline (my roommate from Paris). So Pauline goes, "tinker bell? wha----oh! I know!" then she sings: "tinker bells, tinker bells, tinker all the way!" I was rolling on the kitchen floor laughing. What's also difficult is discussing Christmas with a bunch of Muslim students who don't even celebrate it (not to mention the strict separation of church and state here). So those conversations usually end up about soccer, the Marseille soccer team OM, and/or shopping. Oh, teenagers.

SO now I'm just counting down the days until I leave for Bordeaux and baking mountains of Christmas cookies for my roommates! I included a picture of our cute little tree in the salon...Happy Holidays to everyone back in the States; missing you all so much this Christmas season!!

Love and Blessings

Getting my history on

So because of the strike, not only are the streets littered with garbage, stench, and disease-ridden creatures, but most schools are also closed. No really, the students are on strike too: I went to my middle school for the first time yesterday and the middle school students were setting dumpsters on fire. and the dumpsters are pretty big right now considering they're overflowing. My high school has been shut down for the moment because students blocked the entrance yesterday throwing eggs and firecrackers at anyone who came near. SO: instead of going to work, I have been enriching my knowledge of my new city.

What used to be a Greek port, Massalia (now Marseille) is home to a number of great archaeological finds. which I just found out today at the Natural History Museum and the Marseille History Museum (which is conveniently located in the mall, just under the Galeries Lafayette). And get this: I was walking around the Palais Longchamp park today and just paid the 1 euro to get into the Natural History Museum and out of the cold, not expecting to see anything but stuffed dead animals and fossils of mammoth teeth, when I stumbled upon the Venus of Brassempouy! That probably doesn't mean anything to most of you, but if anyone took prehistoric art history with Marie Watkins, you will know that that little 3 and a half centimeter sculpture is a big deal. She belongs to a museum in Paris, but is put on display other places and I got to see her today!

Now my next great find today was at the Marseille History Museum: the best preserved hull of a 6th century ship in the world. Yeah I thought it was pretty cool. They freeze dried the wood and they only keep it under blacklight in a sealed off room with 3 tinted windows because it's so fragile. Then after I was tired of trying to squint to see the boat, I explored these roman ruins outside in the Jardin des Vestiges (also just outside the mall). Except there were a lot of really shabby, mean-looking cats stalking around so I didn't want to stay long.

OH--one more fun fact: the very first cafe ever in France was opened in Marseille in 1680-something. I guess that makes sense, since Marseille is the oldest city in France.

PS this photo is actually a fake pirate ship in the Vieux Port that has a restaurant inside it

Celebrity Encounter

Marseille is feeling more like home now...yesterday I went to IKEA and got a few things to cozy up my apartment (namely, a bedspread because the blanket my proprietor gave me is really janky). I finally got a schedule from my high school to start work this coming week...and SCORE I might only be working 3 days a week! So up until now I've just been on vacation, really. Then after less than a week of working I go on vacation for the Toussaint holiday (it's like fall break in France) until November 4. It's true, the French really don't work ever. But I NEED to share this awesome story with everyone: last Friday night I was out at a club called Trolleybus (I giggle every time I say it in a french accent...) with some French friends and saw these 8 foot tall guys speaking in veerrrrry american english. Then one starts trying to talk to me and I tell him I'm from the States. Turns out these guys are the HARLEM GLOBE TROTTERS. That's right. They were doing a show on Saturday night in Marseille and I was lucky enough to party with them on Friday! I felt like a celebrity rockstar for a few hours hanging out with them....until it was too far past my bedtime to care anymore how cool they were. So there's my first celebrity encounter in the south of France...let's hope the next one is James Marsden. Or Patrick Stewart. Or pretty much any gozillionaire with a boat (NOT Forrest Gump...)

For now I'm looking forward to starting at my schools--they're giving us a welcome lunch on Monday, then I actually start on Wednesday--then Grandma's coming a week after that! Be on the lookout for some postcards...if I don't have your address then you won't get one. If you want one, send me your address!

OH and here's a photo of my roommates at the beach: (from left) Esther, [me], Maria, Ana, and Julia (except she's not our roommate)

Moved In

So I finally made it into my apartment...this week has been full of paperwork, logistical stuff, immigration offices...and it's only Monday! I had some trouble on Friday evening when my credit card was eaten by an ATM-----never use a Caisse Espargne ATM!!-----but thank you Wachovia for sending my replacement so quickly! I just got it in the mail this morning.

BUT my apartment is really charming (minus the screaming baby that lives below us, but I can live with that; I have to be up early for work anyway). My roommates are two Spanish girls, one from Seville and one from Barcelona, and Esther from Boston. It's kind of frustrating living in a city like Marseille because it isn't safe to go out on my own at night, but we're doing a pretty good job of going out together, or other assistants walking each other home after it's dark. It's strange...I don't think I've ever felt so blonde. Most Marseillais are north african immigrants, so I kind of stick out around here. That's why walking around alone at night is so dangerous for me in particular.

I don't have internet right now, so I have to go to McDonalds every time I want to check my email...I don't think I've been to McDonalds so often in my life (not counting 2am drive thru runs). But I really am that gross american that goes to macdo's all the time! Hopefully, we should be getting the wireless in our apt hooked up by Wednesday.......hopefully. There's so much paperwork and forms flying around right now that it's hard to keep things straight.

Man, I miss everybody so much...the other night I went up to Notre Dame (it's up on a big hill in Marseille) and watched the sunset. it was so gorgeous I wanted everyone to watch it with everyone I missed! In any case, I'm usually on Skype at macdo's in the evenings (well, my evening time) so chat me up!

Les Calanques

If you guys have never heard of the calanques in the south of France, then you are missing out! I made friends the other night with a guy that works at our hostel who told me that if I wanted to go to a real beach in Marseille, then I had to see these. So we (Michele has come to visit me for a few days, and the two English folks I met) took a bus toward the beach, then hiked down a mountain to this fantastic spot and swam in the mer. This photo is of the calanque we went to, la calanque de sugiton. And you think that the colors in these touristy photos are doctored somehow, but they're totally real. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Tonight Miche and I are going to a french play at a local theatre (apparently the theatre in Marseille is pretty popular); it's a comedie about a common marseillais divorce. I hope I can understand most of it! But I'm getting my bearings in this city more and more every day. I can't get over the fact that I get to stay here!

friends!

I cannot get over where I am...it is positively beautiful here! I met some great people in my hostel from England, Ireland, Sweden, and the US. Today we took a boat out to an island off the coast where we found a small isolated beach and swam in the ocean...I cannot even begin to describe the color of the water. It was completely clear, and bright; almost electric blue. I've seen photos of water like that but never imagined I would be living in a city where I could so easily go swimming in it whenever I liked.

Last night we went to an Irish pub called O'Malley's right off the Vieux Port where we met all kinds of friends...one in particular was an old Belorussian man wearing a fur hat who danced like a crackpot in the street about half the night. Our real mission was to find 6 friends with names beginning with the letters F, R, A, N, C, and E. We only got A and C but still had fun! Then I met a few marseillais who found out where I'll be working and wished me a lot of luck; apparently it's a pretty rough school. So cross your fingers for me!

We're on our way out to dinner in about 20 minutes; I'm just waiting on the rest to shower after our day at the beach. I still can't get over how UNREAL that water was today; and the weather was truly perfect. So come visit me if you want a great beach day!

I made it!

Between 5 cities, 3 planes, a taxi and 4 hours of sleep I MADE IT! I can't check into my hostel yet, so I'm killing time in the common room until 3pm. I feel like I should be exploring the city or something, but I'm so travel-weary that's probably not the best idea...I might walk down to the Vieux Port in a little bit (that's the Old Port in Marseille; it's the port you see in most photos <--- of Marseille with all the sailboats crowding it). I had only seen it in photos before, then my taxi turned a corner and there it was!

It's strange traveling by myself; showing up in another country knowing nobody. At least I'm in a hostel for this first week so I can meet people. Unfortunately, if I don't get rid of this jetlag soon then I'm not going to be much fun. BUT there's no super-exciting stories to tell yet; I just got here...so more to come!