Living, virtual insanity

I’m not sure you can call it settling down, but things have definitely become more understandable here. I can’t believe how quickly a month has passed. At this rate it feels like my program is nearly finished. I think I’ve pretty much figured out how to get by here, with the exception of the public transportation system, which is quite possibly the most unreliable thing I have ever had to count on. When they are not engaged in the national pastime of striking, the French enjoy a life characterized by pure leisure. Which is all good and wonderful until god forbid we actually have to get something to do, somewhere to be, et cetera.

Last week we went intense mountain hiking in the Esterel Mountains. “Hill walking” as our adviser called it. Those definitely were NOT hills. This shit was higghhh.

Crosby came to visit me, bless his heart, after something around a 35+ hour journey. His buses were late. Surprise, surprise. My transportation luck did not fair any better. I left hiking early to go to the mountain train station and catch the 12:30 train back to Antibes. After two and a half long and unsuccessful hours of waiting for trains and buses, the situation was basically hopeless. I was going to be stuck in the mountains forrrreverrr. Thankfully, an elderly Italian couple who saw me hysterical by the side of the road took pity on me and came to the rescue. They tried to pawn me off to many of the spectators standing by asking them, “Can you take this girl with you?” But eventually they just packed me into their tiny little European car and helped me get back to Antibes and Crosby.

After a quiet night of dinner and drinks, we headed off to bed and headed out to Cannes the next morning. It is quite possibly my favorite place that I’ve seen thus far. It’s littered with tiny bustling alleyways full of boutiques and cafes and art galleries. I showed him what I knew, which wasn’t much, but it was an all around good time. The next night we enjoyed a little absinthe with the boys (sorry Mama) and I fell asleep almost immediately, as anticipated. Saturday morning a few of us ventured to Grasse, which houses the biggest perfumeries in the world. We visited Fragonard, which I LOVED obviously, being the perfume fiend that I am. I won’t bore you with the details but I think you should know that every perfume that is sold is the creation of one of fifty people in the world called “Noses.” It’s their job title. have to go to school and you’re like a genius if you can create these fragrances and whatnot but there are only fifty people in the world who do this. How sick would that be? Do you know who I am? I am a Nose- in fact, I am the Nose to be.

Saturday night then was my first real European clubbing experience and it was crazy and amazing. I didn’t hear anything but techno, house and trance. Strobe lights were going, drinks were a flowing. We got back to the apartment at 5:12 AM. I was so proud of myself. More to come later. Love love.

And oh my god, I can't believe it. I've never been this far away from homeee!

Bah, I’m such a bad blogger!! But rainy days present a perfect opportunity for an update. Things have been basically insane here for the past ten days. France is amazing and I’m having a ball. I had a somewhat (extremely) rocky start but now I feel really good about everything. I really don’t know what, or even if I was thinking before I got here, but as soon as I unpacked my bags and everything went in its place, I started to panic and cry et cetera. It was as thought it hadn’t really hit me until then that I was in a major change. The jetlag, culture shock, and the whole not knowing anybody in the whole effing country situation didn’t help. After a good seventy-two hour fit of hysteria and simultaneous scheming of plans to get me back home, I realized I needed to stop being a baby and get with it. Opportunities like this are few and far between and being nervous is hardly an excusable reason to throw that away.

The people are all so interesting and beautiful and crazy and different and wonderful in their own way. Eveyone dresses their best here. All the time. Everywhere. School, work, market, its all done in your finest. For those of you who know me well, you are very well aware that this presents itself as a particualary interesting challenge to me, as I basically live in my bathrobe or Cal sweats, with the exception of exam days when I always dress for success. But here, you gots to look good son.

I've met some people and made some friends that are have really become very important to me. It’s funny how in situations like this your whole life changes so quickly- your circle of friends is immediately altered. The people you are used to seeing when you wake up, the ones with whom you share your meals and drinks, your classmates, your teachers, everything. I’ve been lucky to meet people that have really made that a good experience. Special thanks to the boys next door that have basically adopted me and helped me already have so much fun in such a short amount of time.

Antibes, the town where I live is stunning. Its filled with cobblestone streets, old French men playing the accordion, outdoor provincial markets selling fish and flowers and everything in between. It’s so…French. It looks completely staged to me because it’s all so very perfect. The view is basically ridiculous and I’ll put some photos up to show you but it really doesn’t do it any justice at all so I recommend you come see it one day for yourself. The Côte D’Azur in all its glory.


School will be quite an interesting experience, too. My Monday morning class began with professor Hans van Lienn. He came in and stated, in probably the cutest Dutch accent I’ve ever heard, “Hello! I am Hans. I am sixty-one years old. Yes, I like to smoke pot.” It made me miss Berkeley. He then proceeded to take roll and then started to draw some random shit on the board. A few others and I didn’t hear our name called though, so we said, “Hey Hans! You didn’t say our name. Are we on your list?” And he just looks at us and says, “Don’t worry! I only called half the roll sheet.” No questions asked. It is going to be an interesting semester. I’ll keep you posted.

Bises babies.

If the sea was beer instead of salty water, she would live and die in Galway Bay.

I'm already behind on my blog! I arrived in Galway on the 30th of December after what seemed like days but actually totaled about 20ish hours of travel. The flight from LA to Paris was pretty excellent I got to practice a lot of French with the people sitting around me. But more importantly, I discovered my LOVE for earplugs. I never really took them seriously until now, which I really regret. About an hour before landing, I noticed everyone becoming very very irritable and antsy, understandably so, as they were all French and were being subjected to 10 hours sans les cigarettes. The stopover in Paris is hardly mentioning, except the fact that I decided to keep the earplugs in for the remainder of the day, just to sort of test them out. No complaints here!

Finally I arrived in Ireland where Pat, Esther, and Little Lauren collected me from the airport and we drove back to Galway. Since then, I have really lost track of the days. They have all been very enjoyable, full of food, drink, & leisure.

New Year's Eve was quiet and perfect. We enjoyed a feast, great conversation, Christmas pudding, and wine. (and Coronas, and Guinness, and Bailey's, and of course champagne with some neighbors while standing out in the middle of the street in socks as the rain came down). Our bellies were full and our mouths were stained purple. It was an all around success.

Today I relaxed (surprise) and we went to dinner and drinks at The Huntsman. Cool looking place. Food was to die for. If you go, try the seafood chowder. Scrumptious.

I ought to try to get some sleep. I thought I was over my jet lag, which is not true at all. It's currently 3:36 AM. Yesterday I woke at 2:45 PM. It is shameful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'M GOING TO LEARN HOW TO PUT PICTURES SOON. SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO ANKIT. MISS YOU DUDE.