Romance in France
Well, my first French romance has come and gone. I went on a date with a guy named Fidel (yes, as in Fidel Castro). He's a tall, dark, and handsome guy, who is the bouncer at the club we foreign students most often attend. Anyway, he kept asking me out, and I wasn't all that into it, but I finally gave in. We went out last Wednesday. It wasn't anything special, just a casual, get-to-know-you first date. Despite my inhibitions about going out with the guy, I actually had a pretty good time. He turned out to be smart, interesting, and somewhat funny. He seemed to be rather taken with me, which was both amusing and sweet. We spoke French the whole time, and that made me happy because it was my main inspiration for going out with him in the first place. He taught me some slang, we laughed, and had an all around good time. At the end of the date he tells me he's going to make me his "baby," (in English, apparently he was very proud that he knew that phrase). I laughed and told him he should probably start looking elsewhere. I did, however, agree to see him again on Sunday night. Unfortunately, that date didn't work out so well. It's a long story, but let's just say, he won't be very happy if he sees me again. I told him I didn't want to see him again...and kinda hung up on him... but seriously guys, he deserved it.
Other than that, I've been starting to form my rituals of life in Aix. That is to say, getting used to the city, how things work, when certain places close, when is the best time to get groceries, where is the best place to get a purple mullet, you know, things like that. Aix is so quaint, so provencial, so wonderful. When I finally get a digital camera of my own, and when I finally start drawing again, I am going to have some really awesome pictures to show. For example, the city looks completely different when it is a hot, humid day, than when it does right after a storm. All the colors change, it's really quite beautiful. We've experienced three awesome thunderstorms since we arrived in Aix, and two of them have been in the past week. I've always loved storms, but here, they are magnetic. I can sit at my kitchen window and watch for hours. It feels almost as if the storms come only to the city of Aix. The rain pours like sheets of water and the raindrops are as big as gumballs. When the lightning crashes the whole sky turns this wonderful shade of maroon. The storm last night continued on until this morning. It's such a common thing to the regular inhabitants of Aix, but to me, it's something I'll treasure always.
April and I were talking the other day about our month so far in Aix. We've been doing just fine, but we think we are in our frustrating stage. She has only had one semester of French, and she was placed fairly high in her PLP class. Therefore, class is hard for her, everyday errands are sometimes difficult, and life in general, is just not easy when you can't speak the language. The language barrier isn't nearly as bad for me, but there are times when I get frustrated with not being able to articulate and thus being misunderstood completely sometimes. So, last night, when we were doing homework in the living room, she throws down her book, and says, "You know? If everyone here spoke English, or a language I could actually understand, I'll bet you the people here are just as lame as they are back home. I mean, really. Everybody thinks it's all wonderful and romantic just because it's France. But they say stupid stuff all the time, I just don't know because I can't understand them." Good ol' April. hee hee
Other than that, I've been starting to form my rituals of life in Aix. That is to say, getting used to the city, how things work, when certain places close, when is the best time to get groceries, where is the best place to get a purple mullet, you know, things like that. Aix is so quaint, so provencial, so wonderful. When I finally get a digital camera of my own, and when I finally start drawing again, I am going to have some really awesome pictures to show. For example, the city looks completely different when it is a hot, humid day, than when it does right after a storm. All the colors change, it's really quite beautiful. We've experienced three awesome thunderstorms since we arrived in Aix, and two of them have been in the past week. I've always loved storms, but here, they are magnetic. I can sit at my kitchen window and watch for hours. It feels almost as if the storms come only to the city of Aix. The rain pours like sheets of water and the raindrops are as big as gumballs. When the lightning crashes the whole sky turns this wonderful shade of maroon. The storm last night continued on until this morning. It's such a common thing to the regular inhabitants of Aix, but to me, it's something I'll treasure always.
April and I were talking the other day about our month so far in Aix. We've been doing just fine, but we think we are in our frustrating stage. She has only had one semester of French, and she was placed fairly high in her PLP class. Therefore, class is hard for her, everyday errands are sometimes difficult, and life in general, is just not easy when you can't speak the language. The language barrier isn't nearly as bad for me, but there are times when I get frustrated with not being able to articulate and thus being misunderstood completely sometimes. So, last night, when we were doing homework in the living room, she throws down her book, and says, "You know? If everyone here spoke English, or a language I could actually understand, I'll bet you the people here are just as lame as they are back home. I mean, really. Everybody thinks it's all wonderful and romantic just because it's France. But they say stupid stuff all the time, I just don't know because I can't understand them." Good ol' April. hee hee
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