the ragusa's

the famous robert

odile, carla et mireille

clara et carla

robert rockin my purse

je ne veux pas partir!

i just ate my last dinner with my host family, sad day. their son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter joined us tonight. we had a traditional moroccan meal which consisted of couscous, chick-peas, veggies, chicken and raisins in some sort of really amazing sauce. for the first time here we had wine with dinner! it was a lovely meal. they mentioned something about curry, but considering french people do not like spicy food at all, i believe our definition of curry is slightly different. as wonderful as the meal was, it wasn't very spicy, but as usual i ate everything on my plate....and more. after dinner my roomie and i started getting ready for my last night out on the town (which i am currently waiting for her to get off of skype) and carla (the grand-daughter) came in and did my make-up for me. she is 6 which explains a lot. i had blush all over my face - including my forehead - and my eyes were quite scary looking. i discretely rubbed off all of the excess make-up without her knowing. i no longer look like a scary hooker clown now. while im writing this i am staring at my packed luggage next to my bed. i can't believe my 6 weeks here are up already (minus the whole finals thing tomorrow...psh). as much as i love and miss my family (that is a very sincere comment), i feel like this has become a new home for me. i am already checking deadlines for TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France) for after i graduate in may. i might have also posted an application on "au pair world.com" to further prolong my denial of leaving here tomorrow. oh how i am going to miss this place - coming home in the evening to my host dad in his boxers, the crazy dog who barks not only when i come home but when i leave (?), and the amazing dinners that i am force fed. je reviendrai à aix.

rain, rain go away...

it looks like i brought the weather from ireland to aix. it literally has been in the 80s and sunny every single day since i have been here, except for today. there is a fresh produce market everyday but the big market with all the different vendors is only on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays. i still have a few items on my gift list to buy so i decided to wake up early this morning to go to the market. fail. it was raining when i got up so i checked the internet and it said it should stop by noon. i  kept my fingers crosses as i got ready hoping that it would stop and the market would be open. i get ready (thankfully i didn't straighten my hair) and set out into the pouring rain. naturally i didn't bring an umbrella or a rain jacket with me to france. fail again. i walked the mile to the market with my jacket over my head. of course when i reach la palais de justice i discover that the smart vendors didn't set up their tables due to the pouring rain. being the stubborn person i am i continue to walk around hoping to find anyone selling anything. after an unproductive search i buy my lunch (fresh produce as always...today cherries which are now out of season and crazy expensive). i finally make it to school with soaking wet berks, jeans thats are weighed down by the wet ends and a semi-see through white tee due to the rain - at least my hair was protected by the jacket. at this point all i wanted to do was curl up on a couch, watch a good chick-flick and have a huge cup of coffee. i settled for a baby sized cafè macchiato at the school which was only .50euro and i am asking myself why i haven't utilized this coffee machine before the last week of classes. today wasn't a total fail. after classes my host mom taught me how to make mousse au chocolat which was super easy and i will definitely be making it back in the states!

the luck of the irish.

ireland - check. another super long and tiring weekend. the adventure began when i flew out to london thursday night and arrived around midnight only to wait in line for about 90 minutes to get through passport security. naturally all of the non-european union countries have to go to separate line - so basically all americans. of course, it is the longest and slowest line to get through. when all of the europeans were done and security decided to come attend to the "others", everyone burst out into cheers. finally around 1:30 i was welcomed into london. too bad my flight left for ireland 5 hours later. after a lovely night sleeping on the airport floor (don't worry i had 2 friends with me and i promise there were like 100 other people doing the same thing), paige arrived and we left bright and early for ireland! we didn't really have much of a plan - just a bunch of "we could do this or maybe this" ideas. the only thing that was on my "must do" list was to eat at an irsh pub and listen to live irish music (while maybe drinking an irish coffee or baileys - the virgin kind obvi). first things first - an irish breakfast. now in france eggs are NEVER eaten for breakfast - only dinner. it's funny how different the culture is just across the pond. my first irish meal consisted of eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, toast, and a giant cup of coffee (much bigger than france but much much weaker). at breakfast we mapped out our POA. it's a shame that the streets change names every few blocks because we got lost a lot. but getting lost is all a part of the adventure. we finally decided to take a tour of the dublin castle. we learned a  lot of fun facts about ireland's history. 1) irish (or gaelic) is ireland's national language and 2) the queen of england made her first visit to ireland in 2011 - it had been 100 years since a royal figure had sat in the royal chair of the castle. next on our list was the guiness factory. however, we both made an executive decision that one tour was enough for us and neither of us cared to drink the free pint at the end of the tour. we ended up walking around and exploring all of the souvenir shops (which are full of sheep beer and more sheep). finally it was time for lunch (i literally think that all we did was eat all weekend) and fish and chips were in order. we found a cute irish resturant and got our fill of another traditional meal. after lunch we did more exploring and getting lost. being ireland, it was bound to rain sometime during the day. we it finally started to pour we found ourselves in the famous irish pub, fitzgeralds bar. it was the perfect break to rest, grab a coffee and re-energize for the rest of the day. we keep with the same routine and walked around and shopped some more and then finally settled on an italian resturant for dinner. good thing we were both exhausted and tired of eating because it was time to take the train from dublin to delgany to stay with our new irish friends, the evans. the evans are the most precious couple i have ever met. paige's piano teacher at wheaton stayed with them on her last trip to ireland with the college church singing group. they live in the countryside in a beautiful house with an amazing view of the hillside. they were so welcoming and we were both so grateful to have a warm and cozy home to stay in. we passed out in our king size bed and slept for a solid 12 hours. when we finally got up the next morning/afternoon we ate another traditional irish meal - yogurt with fresh fruit and musili (which is my new favorite thing). we chatted with the couple for a long time before we finally settled on a plan for the day. they took us to powerscourt castle which was so beautiful. after the short tour we sat in the gardens for tea, coffee, scones and cookies. next they decided they wanted to take us to the waterfall. on our way their we saw signs for a raspberry farm and mrs. evans decided she had to stop. this so-called farm turned out to be someones house filled with boxes of freshly picked raspberries. while we were talking to the old lady and her grandson, the grandson looked at me and paige and said "well ya can't just stand there. here eat some raspberries!" (all in an irish accent) he gave us a free punnet of raspberries and welcomed us to ireland. i guess chivalry isn't dead there! after that we went to the powerscourt waterfall which was surrounded by ireland's 40 shades of green. next, the evan's dropped us off at johnnie fox's pub which is claimed to be ireland's highest club. we shared a bowl of seafood soup which was accompanied by their brown bread. i went with another irish traditional dish - lamb, potatoes and veggies. i ate every bite. for dessert we shared apple pie a la mode. after dinner we went to the bar area and got coffee and finally listened to a live irish band! after they played my favorite son (whiskey in the jar) my visit to ireland was complete. even though it wasn't "ps i love you 2" and i didn't get lost in sheep country and resuced by an irish man with a heart-breaking accent, it was an amazing trip and a beautiful country!

the evan's

irish breakfast

fish and chips

sugar loaf mountain

the powerscourt castle

johnnie fox's pub

our free punnet of raspberries

Wine in Provence

Last night I went to a wine and cheese tasting...so french I know! I feel so cultured now. We drank five different wines: two rosés, two whites and one red. I took extensive notes and ranked each one. Being that I prefer red wine the Joseph Drouhin La Foret from Bourgogne was my favorite. Coming in a close second was the dessert white wine Domaine de l'Alliance from Sauternes. Surprisingly, I enjoyed one of the rosés which is what Provence is known for. We learned all about the wine making process and the different rules for making wine. For example, in France you will never find Cabernet Savignon or Merlot on a menu, rather, you would find the region that it is made in (Merlot grapes are produced in several regions including Bordeaux. So if you wanted this kind of wine you would look for a Bordeaux on the menu.) We were given a handy-dandy map that shows which regions all of the wines are made. American wines ain't going nothin on French wines. Along with each wine was paired the most perfect cheese to compliment the taste. Naturally I liked all of them because I am now a huge cheese lover. I enjoyed the two different types of goat cheese which is perfect for my dream of owning goats one day. I especially loved the Epoisse cheese which is a oozy cheese very similar to Brie (my all-time favorite). Going in to the wine tasting I was told that a lot of times you don't swallow the wine but you spit it out so you do not ruin your pallet. False. The last of the 5 S's is "Savor" and I definitely savored all 5+ glasses of the wine. But don't be too quick to judge (MOTHER TERESA) because the pastor's wife of the church that I have been attending here was the host (see normal Christians do drink)! "Wine in Provence" is her company that she started several years ago. When I first met her I thought she looked oddly familiar and when I get to her house there were pictures of her and her husband everywhere. I told her that I have been going to her husband's church and she was so happy to finally meet me (even if it is almost the end of my stay). I love how things like that just fall in your lap!

LES SOLDES!

since there are only sales in france two times a year, they are kinda a big deal when they finally come. the big sales started this past wednesday in aix and i think literally every person decided to go shopping at the same times i did. after two days of wandering in the out of stores and trying on countless tops, dresses, and shorts, i came up empty handed. today i decided to go shopping for magnolia and my future niece and nephew (!), but i failed there too. however, today wasn't a total fail. i happened to wander into this great book store and found shelves upon shelves of cooking books. i was in heaven. i think i literally spent 30 minutes trying to decide which one looked the best and what kind of cook book i wanted. after looking through several i decided that Larousse was the brand that i wanted so i somewhat narrowed my choices down. the hardest part was choosing between a full-meal cook book or a dessert book, which most of you know i am a sucker for. i decided that it is time to expand my horizons and i do intend on making french meals one day. after much debate i bought Petit plats pour etudiants which seemed like a good place to start considering i am a student (etudiant = student for all of you non-frenchies). it has great looking pictures (which is a non-committal on my list of must have's for cook books), great looking recipes, and desserts too! i am officially on my way to becoming the next julia child. this is definitely a good place to start in order to open my own french bakery one day!

48hours in Barcelona.

I spent less than 48 hours in Barcelona and probably accomplished more than you would in a week. So our bus left at 10pm friday night and we arrived into Barcelona at 5:15pm, when people were still out partying from the night before. when we got to our hostel we weren't able to check in until 10 so I decided to take a power nap in the stock room. I found a nice couch covered with towels and passed out. After we were able to check-in, we set out to explore. Since night-life doesn't end until the wee hours of the morning, the streets were empty when we were ready to seize the day. at first, i was a little concerned with this city because it was lifeless. around lunchtime all of the cafes and shops started opening and people began emerging from their houses. we went to the port and did some shopping at a mall and the local market. then we had lunch at the cafe along la rambla, the main street in the city. thankfully i was famished so i was able to finish my entire plate of paella which was amazing. after lunch we set out to do the typical tourist things. first, we went to sagrada familia which is the most beautiful cathedral i've seen thus far. we decided to pay the 13euro to go inside and tour the top...it was definitely worth it! next we trekked over to see the 1992 olympic site. there is a huge fountain near the site that has an awesome light show after sunset so naturally we had to stay. around 10pm we decided to head back to the hostel to get changed and go out for dinner. yes, in america this is extremely late. keep in mind europe does not have 5pm dinner for the blue-hairs! i have learned to enjoy the late dinners over here. after dinner we walked down la rambla where you get asked to come to a different club every 15 feet. we ended up going to razzmatazz and listening to this really great indie rock band. obviously we had to adapt to the spanish style of night life and we finally went to bed around 6am (i am still recovering). so the next day we went to the beach and laid around for a few hours. afterwards we went to the picasso museum and got to see most of his paintings from his life. dinner the second night was not as glorious as the first. we were all really hungry and settles for a mid-grade cafe that turned out to be the cafe of the neighboring hostel...fail. we made it back to the bus station for our midnight bus back to aix which turned out to be about an hour late. but we made it safely back to aix at 8am this morning!

GAP is not french.

i have been here for 2 full weeks and i suddenly realized that besides food and my ticket to barcelona, i haven't bought anything for myself yet! i've been strolling the city walking into every clothing shop for the past few days, but today i finally made my first purchase. the huge sales start this weekend but i just couldn't wait. ironically, my first purchase was at GAP. yes i know, GAP is not native to france. in my defense, they seemed to have different items than we do in the states. that could also be due to the fact that i haven't been into a GAP in over a month now. anyways, i bought a navy and white striped sail-style tee that was on sale for 7euros. that definitely seemed like a steal to me...then i remembered that i have to convert that to dollars. i made up for shopping at GAP by buying these amazingly cute salmon colored shorts at Etam, which is definitely a french store. they go perfect with my new tee....just in time for barcelona!

miscommunications.

for the most part i understand everything that my host family says and when i don't understand one or two words they will normally explain them to me until i find the english meaning or i just nod my head and go along. the other day me and my roommate were talking and we realized there are several things that we understand differently. for example, the other night our host mother was telling us that her son was going to paris for the weekend to see black eyed peas in concert. my roommate thought that she had said her son saw black eyed peas in the airport on his way back to aix. we confirmed her story last night - 1 point for brooke. one of the best misunderstandings was sunday while we were eating lunch. our host mom asked us what time church was at and we told her 5pm. she told us that she was going to town to go to this big market at 3 and she could take us with her and then to church. so naturally we agreed to be ready at 3. well both clara and i thought that she meant the market in the downtown area of aix where the church is - false. once we are in the car and she turns on the highway, we both stare at each other thinking "where in the world is this woman taking us?!" we end up driving about 15 minutes away to this outlet type mall in who-knows-where. i'd never turn down the opportunity to shop, so it was okay with me. once we got to church clara and i started laughing about how neither of us knew where we were going or what we had agreed to do - definitely a humorous trip. this one is probably one of my favorite misunderstandings and for the sake of the person i will protect their identity. so last week a few of us were at a restaurant and the waiter comes up and asks if we would like to hear "le plat du jour" (meaning the special of the day). before any of us could answer "oui, bien sur" this nameless friend starts talking about la plage (the beach) and how it was too cloudy to go that day. the waiter just kinda stares for a minute then gives a little laugh and says that he said le plat du jour not la plage aujourd'hui. naturally this person got really embarrassed but his/her french skills still trump mine any day. oh man i still love that story.

Cliff Jumping

So yesterday we had an excursion to a few more french villages (Vinon and Moustiers) and then we went to a lake which was glorious! The water was this beautiful bright green and blue and there was a sweet waterfall called the Gorges du Verdon. People rented paddled boats and boated around the lake. A few of us decided to swim across the lake and go cliff jumping off this mountain into the lake. IT WAS AWESOME! I got to officially check another item off of my bucket list. Don't worry, I didn't get hurt or anything! Today, we went to St. Tropez which is basically a beach town where all of the celebs have their summer homes. Johnny Deep, Georgoe Clooney and Bridget Bardot apparently have houses there. No celeb sightings unfortunately. Then we hiked part of a trail that goes from Italy to northern France and found a beach area to lay out and swim in the Mediterranean, no big deal. 

La Fête de la Musique

on the first day of summer, there is a huge music festival all over france. it was crazy! it starts around 7pm and didn't end officially until 2am. i have never seen anything like it. all kinds of bands and DJs line the streets of the city and play music all night long. there was definitely a large spectrum of people: hippies jammin to reggae to old people listening to orchestra music. it was definitely worth the lack of sleep i got last night. i think i walked around for 5 or 6 hours listening to different bands play. french people love old school american music and really terrible pop music (ie. katy perry, lady gaga - my dad's new favorite). i'm excited for bastille day (france's 4th of july) which is coming up on the 14. its a huge deal here, we have classes off and everything closes down to celebrate. today in my film & lit class, our prof spent about 30 minutes explaining the french version of bocce ball, petanque. i'm not really sure what it had to do with anything we are learning, but he decided to invite us all over to play it one day. i really enjoy his class, everyday he references old american films that none of us have seen which defeats his reason for mentioning it. if i don't remember anything else from the class, i'll at least have a long list of movies to watch!

joyeuse fête des pères

yesterday we celebrated la fête des pères with our host dad. after church, clara and i were craving some good french pastries since neither of us had eaten any in our first week here. everything is closed on sundays so we were lucky to find this quaint boulangerie calls Lavarane near le cours mirabeau. we bought ourselves some yummy french tarts and cookies and we bought our host dad a petit gateau au chocolat. we gave it to him after dinner and he shared it with us! thankfully, i got to talk to my daddy on father's day and wish him a father's day. i  can't believe i have only been here a week, it feels much longer than that! i am enjoying every minute of it and i don't want it to end! i paid today to reserve a spot to go on a trip to st. tropez this saturday. apparently, it the beach for the rich people which explains why i had never heard of it before. it looks beautiful and much nicer than marseille. my friends and i are planning a trip to either venice or barcelona or belguim, such a tough decision i know. my priorities still lie with paige in england and ireland, i just have to officially buy a ticket to get there. anyways it's almost 8pm which means dinner will hopefully be soon! not eating from lunch at 1pm until 8pm makes up for all of the cheese i eat! 

marseille la merde.

marseille, what an adventure. the hours from about 10am until 1pm couldn't have gone more wrong. first, the plan was to meet at the bus stop in aix. it would have been flawless except for 3 of the 5 people didn't know where it was. once we all got there 4 of us bought a pass for 6 trips. so we all get in line for the bus and we swipe the card 4 times. well, the driver doesn't let me on because i am eating an apple. an apple, a biodegradable food for goodness sakes! so i have to get off the bus and throw it away. by the time i get back to the bus he closes the door in front of me and leaves!!! the whole time i was yelling "J'ai déjà payé!" ("I already paid") but he left anyways. thankfully, i explained it to the next driver who graciously let me on. meanwhile, the fifth person had failed to put money on her bus card, so she got on a third bus. so i am the only one from the group on my bus which isn't a bug deal, except for the fact that there are 2 different stops once you get to marseille. naturally, i chose the wrong one. so i am in this park near a giant arc and the other 4 people are at the bus station in marseille. so we plan to meet in the vieux port. so i follow the signs that point to that direction. well i see this huge statue and think that has to be the place, false. so once i make it to this staute i find more signs for the vieux port pointing in the direction i just came from. meanwhile, my friends had the same problem and they are now at the giant arc that i had just left. so finally we all meet up at this huge arc and make our way to the vieux port. it turned out to be a sunny and perfect day! we took the petit train to the notre dame da la gard. which was beautiful. we saw all of the boats, smelled all of the fish and even got to see some sort of a protest. today it clara's (my roommate) birthday, so our host mom decided to have fondue for dinner, followed by the usual cheese and bread, and then ice cream (our first "french" dessert here!) it was definitely a success and memorable day!

*note: my host dad calls marseille, marseille la merde because he is not fond of it at all.

olives au chocolat

(which are not chocolate covered olives as we thought. they are chocolate covered nuts in the shape of olives.)

clara et moi

la belle plage.

le centre ville de marseille

notre dame da la gard

le luberon

we took our first excursion today to la luberon which is a mountain region in provence. we visited three villages: lourmarin, roussillon, and gordes. our tour guide told us that the french government has strict rules for french villages. 1) they must have less than 2,000 inhabitants 2) they must have some sort of monument (statue, chateau, etc.) 3) they must be well-maintained for tourist attraction...there are a few more but unfortunately i failed to write them all down. lourmarin was my favorite by far. they have a huge farmers market that we walked around and i bought some souvenirs and ate a fougasse  with goat cheese and tomatoes, delic! the french desserts havent been a problem for me yet...its the cheese that gets me! i figured with all the walking that i do and eating like the french, im bound to start looking like one. a few other girls and myself are going to marseille tomorrow to lay out on the beach, shop, and hopefully visit chateau d'if. i kinda forgot that i'm here as a student, not a tourist! i failed to  mention earlier that my host dad has another oddity...he makes me blow dry my hair after every shower. im still not quite sure why...something about my hair being wet, either way, i know my mom is happy that someone is making me try to look good. if it wasn't for him, my blow dryer would still be packed away in my suitcase. they weren't here tonight when i took a shower so i got away with it this time!

so blessed.

i have only been here a total of 3 days, but i already feel so blessed. i have to constantly keep reminding myself that although im in a crazy secular country where only a small percentage claim to be practicing Christians God is still with me. he has already shown up in small and big ways. today i had a rendez-vous with a girl who is an intern at the church that was started by people from my home church in charlotte! we sat and had coffee at a cafe and then she showed me where the church is and i met some of the people who go there. it's so great to have that connection here and feel a sense of home and belonging in a country miles from my own. she told me about the french teaching program she did this past year in aix. im thinking that could be a possibility for after graduation next year (sorry mom!) my classes started today and i love them already. i have two french profs and they are awesome. i was relieved that i understood every word they said...i think i finally found that french-english switch in my brain. although i was shopping today at mango (caroline's recommendation) and i was trying on these high-wasted pleated khakis that are really popular over here and these sales woman starts telling me how she has more upstairs and i completely froze and had no clue what she was saying. i quickly regained my confidence and starting talking except i am not really sure if i was answering her questions. anyways the pants looked terrible because of those kiser-hips i inherited (they will pay off one day when i have kids) and i was telling her how my legs were too big for the pants and she laughed at me, then i quickly walked out of the store. my goal is to find a pair that look good and fit in with the rest of the youngins here!

WOOHOO

free wine and cheese, yes please.

it's only day two and i already know my basic bearings. so far i can get from my house to the school and from the school to the major market and shopping areas. just call me a native...minus the whole being an-american thing. although, twice today i did get asked a question by a random french person...one was for directions. i suppose that means i somewhat fit in, or i was the only person nearby...? a few local french students came to our orientation to tell us about the good places to shop and eat. one of them was a bartender at WoHoo's (the bar down the street from the school). he invited all the students to a free wine and cheese gathering, bad idea. the entire bar was packed with american students obnoxiously singing along to all of the terrible american pop songs. yes, i know what you're thinking...and you're right. i was also one of those obnoxious americans, but atleast i know that i was invading the locals space. every night at dinner my host dad tries to shove more and more food down my throat. although i have already eaten whats on my plate he insists i still need more food and offers me bread, cheese, and fruit....all of which i cannot turn down. when i came home tonight for dinner he was chillin watching 7th heaven in his boxers yet again. he and his wife took a trip to the states recently and he has decided to call me brooklyn (which sounds like brooklie in a french accent) because of his obsession with america. their 6 year-old granddaughter was here today and she came and talked with me for awhile. i love how natural it is to switch from english to french. i decided to be a tourist today and take some pictures of my town...enjoy!

le cour mirabeau

le centre ville

la vue de ma maison

the longest day ever.

after an eight hour plane ride and a three hour train ride, i'm finally in aix! losing six hours of day-time really messes you up. i was super nervous to be thrown into a new culture and living with a family that doesn't speak english, but after my pep-talk and pump-up music, i walked off the train like a pro - speaking french and greeting people with the traditional french bisous. my american room mate is really awesome and it's nice having someone else to play off of during conversation. i live with an older couple and their daughter. they have hosted other students for years so they have this whole thing down pat. the dad is so endearing and i think he appreciates my naivety of the french culture. the french are really open people, for instance when we got back from our first student function, the dad was chillin in his boxers and undershirt watching tv. he stayed like that all through dinner and the rest of the night, no shame there. so our host mom dropped us off at the school and told us that it is only a 10 minute walk back. being the adventurous people we are, we told her that we could figure it out and walk back....false. a 10 minute walk turned into a hour wandering the streets until we finally reverted to the ultimate tourist stereotype - consulting our map. i can definitely get used to the never-ending meals. first was the pasta, then the salad, then the cheese and then yogurt. no wise thus far. this needs to change if i want to become a french wine connoisseur. my host mom is a great cook and i told her that i love cooking and want her to teach me the french techniques. i'm one step closer to opening my french bakery!