Update...

So this is something I wrote the 13th of Sept. Hopefully it gives some insight to what I've been doing the past few months. I hope to update this with a super long entry. Maybe... Anyway, here's the entry!

Yes, I know, I’ve been away for a while. But to be honest, I haven’t had a free moment to sit down and write since I got to France. Every minute is filled with something, or someone, whether it’s paperwork or meeting new friends.

So right now I’m sitting in my new room on my bed with honey by my side and a huge 1,5 liter bottle of water. My allergies are attacking me horribly here! So bad that right now, I have absolutely no voice. It didn’t help that last night I met some really cool new people and forced talking in a loud bar. But I think it’s worth it to make new friends. (And don’t worry Mom J I’m fine. It’s definitely allergies because my ears and sinuses are stuffy and I don’t have a fever.)

I’m going to skip around a lot in my telling of what I’ve been up to, so bare with me.

Yesterday morning I woke up and I felt like I was going to cough my tonsils up. But of course, I didn’t. I have no class on Fridays (thank god!) so I put on some clothes and my glasses and walked to the pharmacy near the entrance to my campus. I forgot there was another about 100 ft from my dorm but oh well! Most pharmacies have a blinking green cross that is a beacon for sick or just people who think they are sick. Making a beeline through all the people accosting me with pamphlets on various groups and health care things, I made my way into a very odd looking store. I promise to go take a picture of a pharmacy at some point but at the time, that wasn’t exactly on my mind.

The pharmacy is absolutely pristine white and mostly open space. There are only a few things up around the wall and maybe one or two displays in the middle. All the boxes are white with very little writing on them and there are people nicely dressed behind a counter. No white jackets in France apparently! There was a man and a woman at the counter, both helping another customer but the man said “Bonjour,” as is customary when someone enters a store, and I attempted the customary reply. Almost nothing came out. Just a squeaky “Bon….” So immediately he looked at me and said “Vous a besoin de quelque chose” You need something. YES! So I attempted to explain my problem with hand gestures and meek sounds.

Thank god I’ve become pretty good at mouthing French! He picked up six things from behind the counter and told me about each of them. Lozenges and sprays, pills and creams. AH. So I asked which was best and ended up with a 3Euro spray can of something like Chloroseptic. For three euros it is gigantic. In the US I would estimate it to be around $10-15.

And thus with my little paper baggie of spray in hand I fought my way back through all the pamphlet people again, some of whom wished me good health because I could only manage a weak reply during the first pass.

Right outside my building I spotted another American student and asked her plans for the day. We both needed to go register for classes so we decided to go together because it’s much easier to wade through the chaotic world for French registration together (I’ll explain in a bit). So as she looked at my course book for Lettres Modernes I hopped in the shower and then we tried out my new French medicine.

It’s a menacing looking bottle when you have no idea what it is. I read all the directions in French and English and then attached the spray head. And nervously, I sprayed it into the back of my throat. First, it tastes disgusting. And it is super strong. Almost immediately my throat went numb, which was absolutely amazing and disorienting. And like magic, I could talk with ease.

But that completes the story of my pharmacy trip for now. I have a feeling I will return today to see if they have any over the counter allergy drugs. I’m not really sure how OTC works here.

So to explain how French registration works…. Well really I guess I should just start from the beginning.

Paris was awesome. I saw so much history in only a week. But I have to say my favorite things were the first full day in Paris, where we ate lunch in Champs de Mars at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Every time I would look up was a pretty LARGE reminder that I was now in France. I am REALLY here. After studying pictures of the damn thing for so long, it was an awing experience in real life.

My other favorite thing was the catacombs. We climbed down a TON of spiral stairs (which are really common in Paris, so if you hate them, you’re going to hate them even more) to a cavern underneath the city, even underneath the metro. We walked about a half mile in a dark alley, the ceiling just high enough for me to walk without bending over. Of course there were bat speakers everywhere that drove me crazy (I can hear the high pitched squeal) but after walking for a long time we came to the entrance to the catacombs. It is a really creepy looking entrance with the warning about it being the entrance to the dead above the doorway.

And when you enter, there are millions of bones surrounding you. Stacked in designs and pushed against the walls, there are millions upon millions of bones dating as far back as the 1500s, possibly even later. Even Robespierre is amongst them. But most of them are just average Parisians which is the coolest part. To think about how those people lived and how they died, it’s a pretty humbling experience. And others have thought the same thing, as little poems and quotes on plaques are placed among the stacks of bones.

The creepiest part of that was the ground had this white talcum stuff on it. Extremely slippery and it comes out with you when you leave the catacombs. I’m pretty sure that it is calcium deposits from the bones. It won’t come off my shoes so the dead Parisians are here with me in Montpellier.

Also in Paris I got to see Sebastian and meet his sister for the first time, which was amazing of course. Sebastian was an exchange student at Hendrix my freshman year and he came to visit Boston so I played tour guide for him. So he returned the favor in Paris. His sister is currently looking for an apartment in Paris so she was also free to come out with us for dinner and to walk around the city. They took us to all the places we didn’t get to see during the day. Which look even better at night, to be truly honest. Paris really is the City of Light. And by that I mean all the lights they have during the night!

My camera didn’t exactly work because I couldn’t charge my battery so Lukas has all the pictures (my traveling mate from Germany). As soon as I get them from him, I’ll post them up here.

So the morning we were leaving Paris I was obviously nervous. I ate my breakfast but very shortly it decided to leave me again. We packed up quickly and left the hotel and got to the train station. We were a bit late for my train, at least I thought, but apparently they don’t even announce which track the train is on in Europe until ten minutes before it leaves. I said goodbye to Lukas, who would be flying back to Germany, and boarded my train. Of course, I sat in the wrong seat the first time. So after moving my luggage and sitting down, the train ride began. It was nice to see the country flashing by me, to see the white cows and the vineyards. The little towns with stone churches in the distant rain finally made me say to myself “Yes, you will be here for a year.”

But upon my arrival from rainy cold Paris to tropically suppressing Montpellier, I stripped off my layers and got on the tram.

First off, the trams are adorable. There is two lines, my line being the blue one, the other line is orange and covered in flowers. Inside the tram it’s all pretty much the honors system. You get in and put your ticket in the ticket eater (composteur in French) and then just get off where you want. There are many people who have passes and many others who just get on the tram and have nothing. There are inspectors who go around randomly and check for violations and write tickets, but I’ve yet to see one though I have heard they target black women, who actually very often don’t have tickets.

Anyway, I got off at my stop, St. Eloi, with a ton of other students, who all promptly got on a bus. I didn’t want to risk going past my building, so I decided to foot it. It’s not very long and now I walk it everyday but with my luggage, it seemed like forever. I made it to campus and into the Administrative building, up the three flights of stairs (to the second floor by the way) and found my coordinator. He told me to come in and sit down and then we went over some really basic things. He sent me to my new residence and that was it. Come back tomorrow! Which seems to be the answer for everything.

So I climbed up a hill to my new residence. It’s a Cite Universitaire. Basically, it’s a gated set of buildings where students can live for next to nothing. An average French student pays about 80 Euros a month for my room, with government aid, and about 120 Euro a month for a renovated room, which includes a fridge, private bath, kitchen, and internet. Our rooms in Batiment E, the Chambre Simple, are equipped with a sink, bed, desk, and closet. No internet. To use the internet we must go to the lodge/lobby to use the free wifi there. Kinda a pain in the ass but oh well.
So my first night here, I unpacked all my things and journeyed to find something to eat. At this point my stomach was disagreeing with me but I found a grocery store and bought things to make a sandwich and some breakfast. Of course, once back in my room, I couldn’t eat a damn thing. I was so nervous and upset. And also alone. And it sucked. I was homesick for the second time since arriving to France, the first time being my first night in France, and I tried to call my friends to no avail.

I took some sleeping pills and went to sleep, waking the next morning to get to M. Amara’s office to go through paperwork. I hoped to meet other Americans but nope. I didn’t. So I went to the city center to look around and then came back to my area for dinner. Mistake number one. There is very little in the area in live in. But there is a nice little restaurant down the street that had a cheap and quick dinner. After dinner I tried to use my computer but couldn’t and eventually decided to come back to my room and sleep. The American students had a meeting the next day to talk about classes so I would meet some people then.

I got to the meeting after going downtown to buy some various things I needed and there were so many Americans there. Not just ISEP students, but a few other exchange programs. So all of the ISEP students went in to a classroom and they welcomed us and we all met each other. Then all the other Americans came in to talk about scheduling. From that point on, the ISEP students are pretty much on their own. We only get information if we ask questions. Just like Erasmus and French students. The other Americans have coordinators here who are also American or who only work with their one program.

So when all the other program students attacked the papers while we sat there not knowing what was going on, I met Kirsten Kinne. She and I had talked on the pone before coming here and I have no idea what it was but we are now attached at the hip. Maybe it’s because we speak to each other in French while all the Americans speak in English constantly (even if you speak to them in French they respond in English). I’m not sure. But now we do everything together. And it’s awesome to have her for support here.

We went to a little party the International House of Montpellier hosted for all the foreign students in Montpellier. So we met a lot of other people and then went out for dinner with another American from UPV and a Finnish guy also at UPV. Matt, the American, is a ceramics major, while the Finnish guy, Alexandre, I have no idea what he does. We ate a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant and then afterwards joined the Erasmus group at L’Oxymore, a student oriented bar. I met so many people who were all so nice but to be honest, I have the hardest time trying to remember people’s names when they are in a different language.

Come Monday, I figured out a bit of what classes I was taking but not the times. In France, all the course descriptions are online, posted only about a week or two before school starts. Then all the times are posted in a display window (les panneaux) in the department’s building on campus. As the campus is gated on weekends, I had no idea what classes were what times. But apparently it’s the same deal for the French, who look at the sheets with the same amount of confusion as us foreign students.

In general, everyone is extremely helpful. I have yet to have anyone in Montpellier be utterly rude to me. Occasionally someone will crack a joke about the US but everyone really seems to be so polite and honest here. Sometimes I notice in the South of the US people are polite and helpful but sometimes they have a hint of being fake at the same time. People in the North are just blatantly honest and often rude because of that. But here in Montpellier, if you even look like you need help and ask with a smile, everyone is very polite and helps you, or directs you to someone who can.

For example, I just met my across-the-hall mate yesterday and she heard my voice. Immediately she gave me some home made honey to soothe my throat and some hot lemon water. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I invited her to dinner last night, which I ended up being late for, but then she came out with us!

The same goes for all the professors here too. They are really understanding. Some more than others, but all of my professors are really nice and helpful. One even writes the words I make a strange face to on the board and if I still don’t look like I understand, she gives a quick synonym explanation. I think this semester will be hard but I can tell already my French is improving. I’ve only been here a week!

So between classes and paperwork, I’ve been meeting a lot of wonderful people, French and non-French. There are some Berbers who always hang out in the lobby on the Internet who have been really helpful to me, taught me some ins and outs of the French paperwork system, and even helped me pick out my cell phone plan (which I will buy today). They’ve let me use their computers to talk to my family and check my email when mine has had trouble. One of them is even giving me his old fridge he was going to throw away. They know what it’s like to be away from home and have nothing so they are all so nice and helpful. At this point I know about six words in Berber. Azul means hello.

In class the French students are very nice and let me copy off their notes during the class. They all find it very interesting that I come from Boston, study in Arkansas, and decided to come here. But I guess it is pretty interesting!

Because I know this is very long (sorry I’ve just got so much to say) I’m going to close it out with what I did yesterday.

After finding out that I had actually already registered for class as it’s only writing your name on the roll call, I went to lunch and found another American student named Cory waiting in line for a meal ticket. We ate lunch and then found Kirsten and we all went downtown to buy her art supplies and look for a cellphone plan. Remind me to explain how cell phones work in France at some point.

Anyway, we came back with all the information and I ran into a Berber guy whose name I have no idea to spell, we’ll call him M since it starts with an M (I think?). He sat down with me a told me which plan was best and also showed me a website that you can use to make free international calls with your cell phone. Made me pretty happy! So I then went back to downtown to try to buy mine but I forgot my passport and so I couldn’t get one. I was frustrated so I went to Mc Donald's and bought some fries.

A little taste of home and walking along the old streets and I was good as new. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and it was another American girl, Anne, who I have a grammar class with. She had just met some French people and invited me to have a drink at Fitzpatricks, an Irish bar near where she lived in downtown. So I of course said yes and had a really nice conversation with Pierre, Emeline and Anne. But that made me late for the dinner that my hall mate was so hesitant about coming to. Anne joined me and we walked as fast as we could from the tram to the caf but didn’t make it. So we went to the dorm, ran into Kirsten who was also late, and then picked up my hall mate, whose name I can’t spell. We were talking in the hallway and another French girl, whose name is a lot like Margarine, came over and asked what we were doing tonight.

At the same time another foreign student from Wales who I know joined us as he also lives in our hallway and said the Erasmus students were all meeting at the fountain in the center at ten. So we all decided to go. The three of us who hadn’t eaten picked up some sandwiches and then made our way to a Barbarous, a bar pretty close to L’Oxymore. It was jam packed with people. So much you couldn’t move, literally. So we left to go to Barbarous, leaving almost half our party. Kirsten and I dived back into the mass to find our friends, getting picked up but various different guys on the way. French guys are pretty insistent sometimes. One told Kirsten “You are now my girlfriend” in really broken English and we had to ward him off. But that’s why you never go out alone!

So we made our way home and went to bed and now here I am. I’m really happy to be here so far, except for a few minor things here and there I’m really happy. Paperwork is one of them. Also having my passport to do ANYTHING. That’s a pain because I don’t like to carry it on me. But I miss all of you and hope that wherever you are you’re having fun and learning a lot and doing well!