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!