What a Nice(France) Experience!

The weekend after my Mediterranean adventure with the crew (Sept 25-27), a group of girls and myself decided to go spend the weekend in Nice. Even now, saying that I am in travel distance of Nice or other parts of France amazes me truly.

After a rough week of classes, getting out of Montpellier was such a relief. Planning a weekend trip with a lot of people is hard, but we managed to find a hostel and transport for us all. Europe or at least France, Spain, and Italy (that I know of) has a transportation system called BlaBla Car, which is basically Uber. Due to conflicting schedules and me being the only one with class on Friday, all of us had to travel in separate groups meaning we would all arrive at different times. Of course my crew, Lyd, Grace and I, were traveling together on Friday afternoon.

All of us had our concerns about using Blabla Car because the concept is great but has an equal level of sketch. On Friday afternoon we met up at a local MacDo (McDonald’s) to rendez-vous with our driver Thomas.

SIDE NOTE: MacDo is a completely different experience here. Although I have yet to eat it here, every one that I have seen is as clean and well regarded as a Panera back home. (C’est bizarre!)

 Our trip with Thomas went way better than we could have expected. He didn’t speak any English, but he had this David Beckham vibe about him which obviously made us less nervous about the possible creepiness or the chances of us being kidnapped. To avoid awkwardness, we all whipped out our headphones pretty quickly so that we didn’t have to engage in copious amounts of small talk.

The ride from Montpellier to Nice is about 3 hours by car, but one forgets about the length of the car trip when they are driving through the south of France. The French countryside is filled with green pastures, hills stacked on top of hills, beautiful farms, and cute little country towns. More than once did I have to pinch myself just to marinate that I was actually there and my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. We were pleasantly surprised by Thomas’ music choices, and continued to enjoy our trip with Fetty Wap, Drake, and Migos as the background to our experience.

It wouldn’t be a trip with the three of us without a hilarious story to remember our experience. As we got closer to Nice, Thomas asked us where he should drop us off. We explained that our hostel was near the train station in Nice and we would be fine if he left us there. Now, Thomas was not from Nice so he wasn’t entirely sure where the Gare (train station) was either, so we kept driving and passed a large structure that looked like a train station and got out there. We soon figured out that we had been dropped off, hungry and tired, at the Cote d’Azur airport about 5 miles from our wanted destination. So that was great! Frustrated and Hangry (Anger caused by Hunger), we decided to walk into the airport grab some food and find a taxi to take us to our hostel. After we revived ourselves, we walked to a taxi stand and proceeded  to get into the nicest cab ever. Little did we know, this cab was going to cost us an arm and a leg because apparently it was a “private car taxi” not  a “regular car taxi”. We should’ve guessed that seeing it as a sleek black Mercedes. Oh well!

The beauty of hostels are that you are surrounded by people from all over the world. In our hostel we became fast friends with a group of Australians who were backpacking through Europe. I received the nickname “Stralia” from them because my name is Assi and the Australians are Aussie’s. (Aka: Best moment of my life because if you know me whenever I introduce myself I say, “my name is Assi like the Australians”)  

As the sun began to set and our stomachs were filled with food, we all got dressed to go out for the night. The Australians, Reese, Jay and Max, had all been in Nice the night before and knew where all the good bars were so we hung out with them. 

Walking through Nice at night is just as amazing as it is during the day! 

A Cathedral right next to our Hostel

The whole crew headed out to the rocky Nice beach for a pre-bar adventure. Sitting at the beach, staring at the Mediterranean Sea at night is an experience that I will never forget. All in all the night was one of the best I have had in my life! 

Day 2: 

After a really fun night we woke up exhausted and probably a little hungover! (Sorry Mom!) After eating breakfast at a cafe, I decided to head back to the hostel to catch up on some zzz's. After about a two hour nap, we went to the grocery store to buy some snacks and headed through town toward the beach. Considering it was the end of September, the Mediterranean weather was on our side! The water again was so clear, refreshing, and therapeutic and by far the best beach I have ever been to in my life. I am so much of a water baby that I never wanted to get out but eventually we all laid out for some sun and snacks. 

 a fountain in the square near the beach

 Pano of the rock beaches

 The blue waters of the Mediterranean 

 Another beach Pano

 

While we were all relaxing, I noticed this man, first because of his speedo and then because he was sketching people all day. A few minuets pass by, and he showed me a sketch that he had made of me. About an hour later, I went over and asked him if I could take a picture of the sketch and he showed me two more pictures. His name is Victor, an artist from Nice who spends time in public places sketching people in their relaxed and natural elements. He willing let me pick one of the sketched for me to have and we packed up and left. 

 Victor and his speedo

 Images of Victor's sketches

 More images of Victor's sketches

Later that night we all went out searching for a seafood restaurant because we would be doing ourselves an injustice if we didn't eat seafood in Nice! The food was great and we all went to bed happy!

Overall, Nice was an amazing experience and we were all sad to leave but I can guarantee that I will be back! 

Apology Post

So this is an apology post to those who read my blog. Don’t know who you are but I sincerely apologize for not writing about the current experiences of  my life. I have about 5 posts that I have started over the past 2 weeks but have yet to finish them due to my extreme business and lack of motivation to write. That being said, I will be posting all of them in the next few days recounting the experiences and stories of my life over the past few weeks to get y’all caught up! It’s a lot of reading I know and I’m sorry!

Bize (French Kisses)

Assi

My Weekend in the Mediterranean

The weather in Montpellier has been a mix of everything from thunderstorms to 80 degree days. Luckily, the weather this past weekend was absolutely amazing!

Friday's Beach Day: Last Friday, Grace, Lydia and I decided that we really wanted to hit the beach and spend so quality time near the Mediterranean. The trip for us is fairly easy because the beach is only an hour via train and walking away from the center of town. So, we packed up and got to the Tram only to find out that we would have to wait 37 mins for the next Tram to come. This wouldn't have been so bad if the time on the Tram board didn't stop changing so in reality we probably waiting an hour for the next train. After we finally got on the Tram our directions were to ride it to the last stop and then we could either walk or we could get a shuttle bus to the beach. The three of us were very eager to get to the water when we saw that we were only one stop away from the beach. All of a sudden our Tram driver tells everyone to get off the Tram and wait for the next one to come. Annoyed that we are now two hours later to the beach than we wanted, we got off the Tram and waited another 10 mins for the next one to come. Finally, we made it to the last stop, which was literally a dead end and saw no shuttle in sight. We did end up following a group of people from the UK on the walk to the beach and after what felt like an hour we made it to the Mediterranean!

Lydia and I went into the water and it was amazing! Although, it was cold and salty, I have never felt more at rest with myself. 

Saturday's Beach Day: After Friday afternoons beach day and a beautiful hot weekend ahead of us, the crew decided to wake up early on Saturday morning and take the bus to a different beach. The three of us headed over to a different side of the beach for the afternoon, which was equally as beautiful. Sitting under the sun, surrounded by friends, and looking at the glistening Mediterranean water are all things that I could only have dreamed of. For the first time since I arrived,  I actually realized that I was in France. I just sat down and reflected about how amazing it was that I was here, that I was able to experience being in France and sitting next to the Mediterranean. The day was just like any other beach day, although I got really really tan in a matter of 30 mins and had to jump into the water to cool off.

 (Panoramic view of Carnon) 

 (Classic Beach Selfie) 

Sunday's Beach Day: Another hot day in Montpellier. Our first weekend here the UMN program organized a Picnic for the students and their host families at the beach. Unfortunately, it rained on the day that we were supposed to go so it got rescheduled for the next Sunday. My host mother, Christine, was sick so my host father, Serge and I got into the car and set out for the beach. Again, I landed at a different end of the beach, but still it was just as beautiful. Hanging out with other people in the program was really great. The water was so unbelievably clear again and seeing as I'm such a water baby, I had to swim in the water again. Its an amazing thing to see the fish swimming by, and the sand and shells beneath my feet. 

 (S/O to my TRYBE!) 

 Another Panoramic view of the clear water!

 Another Panoramic view (I guess I like Panoramas) MDR! (Mort de Rire = French version of LOL) 

BREAKING NEWS: I ATE THUMPER!

A few nights ago my host mom calls me into the kitchen for dinner, just like any other night. After a long day at school, it felt good to sit and eat with my host family and listen to them talk. As I walked into the kitchen I saw Quinoa and Chicken already on my plate. I was so excited cause I love quinoa and you really can't go wrong with chicken. We all begin eating and 5 minuets into our meal my host father asked me if I liked the food and if I had ever had "this" before. He points to the Chicken on my plate and without even thinking about it I responded by saying "of course I've had chicken before".

It seemed like a fairly obvious response to that question, but to my surprise my family began to laugh at me. I'm trying to think about what could be so funny the thought strikes me that maybe what I'm eating wasn't Chicken after all. In all my confusion and now curiosity,  I laughed as well and asked "what is it?". My host father, still chuckling,  said in English "It's Rabbit"! For people who know me, imagine my face at that moment. For those of you who don't, just know that I can't really hide the expressions on my face really well. So, my face must have looked surprised or blank or something different than what it was cause they all broke out into laughter.

Now, I had already eaten some of it and couldn't tell the difference between the rabbit and chicken before, so I simply kept eating it. I've never been a picky eater and have definitely become one of those people who will try anything. My food motto: If you don't tell me what it is until after I've eaten it then I really can't complain.  In all honesty, it didn't taste or look any different but all I kept seeing in my head afterward was my cousin Ariana's bunny Chichi and Thumper from Bambi.

All in all, it was definitely yet another experience that I am happy I've had and it will be a moment on this journey I will laugh about for a very long time. (Sorry I have no pictures, not that you would want any!)

French School is Hard

My first week of French Classes could best be described on a scale of Really Confident to Holy Shit Why Am I Here? In order to keep up with my major and my minors I have to take 2 300-level classes in French, and at least one 200-level Psychology course. My first two classes of the week were a grammar and a writing class, both of which were designed for American or foreign programs in Montpellier. They were both relatively easy classes and the coursework was similar to a college French course (exercises and workbooks, etc.). After my first day I was entirely confident that I would do just fine and the semester would not be as challenging as everyone had informed me it would be.

On my second day of classes I had yet another class, Conversation 1, that is taught by one of the people who works with the UMN - Montpellier program. After this class my confidence went sky high and I was really beaming from the notion that I would be okay. Then I got to my integrated class (Dun Dun Dun..But Actually).

Side note, finding buildings on this campus has been a struggle in its own. There are two types of buildings here, Bâtiment (A, B, C,D, E, etc) and Ampi (A, B,C,D). Now I assumed that just like at Wheaton, you see a number next to your class and that is where you go. No, here there are two buildings with the letter D just one is called "building" and the other is called "amphitheater". So needless to say, Lydia and I walked to the wrong building and were late to our first and only integrated class and were forced to sit towards the back.  Also super happy that I wasn't alone for this class or else I would have lost it. S/O to Lydia: Mac 406! 

So our professor for our Clinical Psychology class walks in sits down at a table in front of the entire class and begins to talk. For the first 30 mins we basically understood what was going on, minus a few things here or there. Then everything went downhill.  As we were taking shitty note but notes nonetheless, our professor suddenly says something and every one's hands go flying up, except for ours. Confused about what just happened we laugh it off because its clearly funny that we didn't understand. As the class continues to go on, we are beginning to understand less and less. Students in our class are frantically writing notes and asking questions.  At this point I have given up on taking clean notes and just start writing gibberish (Literal gibberish...I tried to read it again last night and idk wtf was going on). A French student even turned to turned to ask Lydia a question, to which my response was well if you don't know whats going on then I sure as hell don't. After a while I stopped writing notes, started doodling, and talking to Lydia about the horrible stench coming from the Trolls Doll sitting next to her.

(My notes from Day 1 aka gibberish and doodles) 

At this point, Lydia and I are low key so frustrated that everything is not hilarious. To make matters worse, this guy behind us sneezed during a moment silence and NO ONE laughed. Of course then we lost it and tried not to burst out laughing which just made the whole situation even more funny. Long story short we walked out of class hysterically laughing to cover up our very apparent struggle to understand in that class.

To make the week even worse on our third day, we had a discussion session the next day in which we signed up for a group oral project in where we need to discuss and explain Freud's Theories to a class of 30 students in French. So there's that to look forward to....

Everyone says that it takes at least 2-3 weeks of not understanding anything in class before to begin to understand. Cheers to Week 2 of classes!

Welcome to Montpellier (The Full Weeks Version)

PSA To All Who Read This: My first post is really long because it is a weeks worth of my trip being explained. If you're not feeling the length check-in later for a shorter story (Although there are some pretty funny ones in here)! 

I had a list of Pros and Cons about writing a blog that documents my entire experience abroad. This list is as follows:

Pros:
1) A productive and healthy outlet to better understand my journey and all that happens over the next few months (both good and bad)
2) A place to put my pictures because I have already accumulated way too many
and finally,
3)  Instead of having to explain my experiences over and over again, I can simply say"I have a blog please read it"!

 Cons:
1) Actually having to write my feelings and experiences out
2) The blog requires a lot of upkeep
3) Trying to be funny on my blog and no one thinking that its funny (for example: My sister studied abroad in Spain and her blog had me laughing out loud...if people don't do that with mine I have failed) --> this is actually more of a fear*
and lastly,
4) Not knowing who or if anyone is going to read my blog

Now, I made this list about a week ago (Shmoney reference...if you don't get it sorry its a pop culture thing) and a week ago the cons outweighed to pros without a doubt. Having been in France for exactly a week now I have realized that the only way to remain sane and not have my head blow up is to write out what is going on around me to simply debrief.


So now that I have started this blog, I have a week that I need to catch everyone and myself up on.

This first week has easily been the most overwhelming week of my life. My departure from all my friends and family didn't hit me until the day I left. However, I am pretty convinced that this was for the better because I got all of the crying done in one day and then I was able to accept my new experience of living in France for the Semester with a clear-ish head and swollen eyes. Luckily, I am not in this journey alone. Thankfully, my roommate from Freshman year Lydia is here with me and pretty quickly we added a third person to our crew, Grace who is a Junior from Bates College. Over the course of this week we have tackled everything from language barriers to homesickness together and have become fast friends.

L-R: Me, Lydia, and Grace in Front of Les 3 Grâces fountain

Weekly Recap

Day 1 (09/07/15): To start off my arrival to Montpellier with a bang, we get off the plane to collect our bags and head up to meet our program director. Just by looking at everyone it is clear that all of us are equal parts nervous and excited to finally be here. So as we are anxiously waiting for our bags to be loaded onto the belt, what happens to me and only me? After 35-40 mins, my suitcase fails to make its self around and is "lost". So for those who know me heres a fun little game. Imagine me, tired, overwhelmed, puffy eyes and emotional finding out that my bag is lost. What did you imagine? If you guessed that I lost my shit, you guessed correctly and for those of you who thought I handled it calmly and maturely, sorry to disappoint you. I stormed my tired ass over to baggage services and demanded to know where my bag was and was told that its was "lost". For someone who has heard these words before from a Royal Air Maroc representative, I immediately freaked out in the fear that I was without clothing for the next 3.5 months. Little did I know the word "lost" was the French way of saying, "your bag is on the next plane over to Montpellier from Paris and will be delivered to your hotel in three hours". Knowing that my bag was safe and not lost forever, we left the airport and made our way to our hotel.  We all sort of settled in, showered and got ready to do a little bit of exploring around the city. Lydia, Grace, two other girls from our program and myself, found a really cute place to sit have a couple drinks and just talk. It was nice to just walk around and see a little of what Montpellier looked like before we really indulged in the orientation stuff.

Day 2 (09/08/15): Running on barley any sleep, The University of Minnesota group (this includes me) got breakfast and set out to take a guided tour of the main downtown area, Place de Le Comédie. This is the center of town that most streets eventually lead to, where you can find various street performers, Les Trois Grâces, Les Opéras de Montpellier, a park, lots of little shops and a McDonalds.

L-R: Les 3 Grâces, Center of Place de La Comédie, Les Opéras de Montpellier, and Statues in the Park

After a long tour of the city, we arrived at the UMN in Montpellier office for an even longer orientation and lunch. I struggled to absorb all of the information thrown my way and also struggled to stay awake and yet, the biggest struggle of the day and a struggle I am still dealing with is a cell phone. I bought a French sim card not knowing that I had to unlock my phone from AT&T and now still have no phone and an unused French Sim Card. (#OfficiallyFedUp). This proceeded to piss me off and cast a grey cloud over my head but it got better when I returned to the hotel and met my host mother, Christine Agneil.

Host Family: My host family (famille d'accuiel) consists of a mother, father, son, two dogs and two cats. Christine, my host mother, seems to be really chill. Upon first meeting her she was really chatty and excited to get to know me. She's a very petite woman, who's style reminds me that of my mother and that made me feel very comforted immediately. Christine works from home as a massage therapist and the house always smells of incense or of oils that she has used from seeing clients throughout the day. My host father's name is Serge and he is absolutely hilarious. He can be found either relaxing on the couch in front of the TV smoking his E-Cig, playing candy crush, and laughing. Serge is a driver of a tuk tuk and its literally the coolest thing that I have ever seen. (Tuk Tuk: a three wheeled motorized vehicle used as a taxi most often seen in Thailand) My host brother's name is Claudis. He is 18 years old and is really cool. He and I have bonded over various rap artists and songs and our love for the TV show Lost. Last but not least we have the family pets, I have no clue what the cats names are because A) they are outdoor cats and do their own thing and B) I hate cats. The two dogs are easily the cutest things ever. Both have the cutest faces and personalities. Arloo (Probably spelled that wrong) is a small dog that has a lot of energy and loves to go on walks and wait at the door for anyone to come home and pet him. Shibu is shy as all hell, is terrified of both my host father and brother, hides under the couch and has fallen madly in love with me. So far, I really think I have been properly placed with people who have a similar vibe to me and are just really chill cool people. They are also amazing cooks, so I have 0 complaints. Pictures of my family are to come soon because we have yet to take any pictures due to my busy schedule. #StayTuned

Day 3 (09/09/15): Having barely slept again, I made my way to the UMN office which is literally a 2 minuet walk from my house. We all met and took the tram over to  Université Paul Valéry, where I am to be studying for the semester. After a tour of the small campus we met with the directors of the International Office of the University of Montpellier, where they told us that its extremely hard to get above a B and that a lot of people do fail. So now that we all felt really shitty and confused and again overwhelmed, one of our Program Directors told us that we would all be fine in the end and that no one would let us fail. As we left the UPV even more unsure of ourselves then we came, the UMN Group split up and went on a more historical walking tour of the entire City of Montpellier. This tour included, the Arc de Triomphe, A bunch of Cathedrals (Names I have already forgotten), a building with an amazing painting on it, an abandoned Maison Priveé, and an amazing walk through the different rues.

An unfinished cathedral in the middle of the city.

This is an amazing painting that covers the entire side of this building. Only 2 of those windows are real can you guess which ones? 

One of the many amazing small rues of Montpellier. 

Montpellier is filled with amazing graffiti and street art. 

The Arc de Triomphe: Monpellier Version

An overview of half of the city from a small park.

These last two images are of the abandoned Maison Priveé (A Private Hotel for Rich people). The first image is when you first walk in through the door and into the courtyard and the second is looking up at the huge staircase. 

Day 4 (09/10/15): Not sleeping has really made me a grumpy person at this point. I started off my day with a seminar about Culture Shock in France and some of the ways that we can better deal with it. Although this is a really important thing to know and understand, my eyelids wanted to close more and I slept through a good portion of the presentation, but woke myself up by snoring and jumping awake. Grace and Lydia seemed to think it was pretty hilarious but I was too tired to laugh about it. Fun Fact: I am addicted to French Café! (Un Café Creme has been part of my order everyday and counting) Later on, we met with one of the people in the office and registered for classes. Half of my classes are courses that were made for American students in Montpellier and the other half are integrated courses that are offered by the University to students with enough French to take classes alongside French Students. My schedule is as follows: Grammar and Methodology, Practice Writing, Conversation 1, Clinical and Social Psychology (my two integrated courses), and maybe Cinema.

 After I woke up from my nap.

Day 5 (9/11/15): Technically this was a day off for those of us who had already registered for courses but seeing as I don't have a phone, Wi-Fi is key. Grace, Lydia, two girls from our program Sammy and Victoria and I had planned on going to the beach but were told via Accuweather that we would be met by rain if we did go. Of course its sunny AF and we could have gone and been fine but we stayed in the city had lunch instead and continued to explore other rues. Side Note: Being abroad on 9/11 was really an interesting experience because it is such an important day in the US and in the midst of everything going on I spent the whole day not realizing what day it actually was. That being said, I made sure to take a moment of silence for those who perished on that day 14 years ago. #GoneButNeverForgotten.

Day 6 (9/12/15): Our program organizes 5 trips for us over the course of the semester, 3 Free excursions and 2 that cost 100 euro each but considering what they include its worth it. Yesterday, was our first free excursion to Aignes-Mortes and Le Grau-de-Roi. Aignes-Mortes is about a 30-45 minuet drive from Montpellier. It is a mid-evil city in the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of Southern France. The entire city is surrounded by these huge Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings fortress walls that can be walked all around. It was a really windy day and was supposed to be extremely rainy but the day turned out to be really great. Our tour was brief and we were left to walk to walls and to explore the city a bit. The Three Musketeers (Lydia, Grace, and I) had a photo shoot and decided to walk throughout the town. Upon our walking through the town we stumbled on a salon that had Fish Pedicures for 11 euros and it seemed criminal not to try it just once. #WhenInFrance right? I'll never do it again but at least I can say I've done it. The best part about the experience was this cute little baby boy who I was waving at and blowing kisses to, crying when I started to leave and wanted to be held by me. <3 Aka I found a baby and it was the greatest and cutest thing ever! After we left our entire group was taken on a cruise on the Mediterranean. It was hella windy but we honestly had so much fun with it and not to mention the name of the boat was Le Providence!

One of the Towers of Aignes-Mortes.

The inside of the Tower. 

A failed Panorama of The top of the Tower.

A view of the canal outside the walls of Aignes-Mortes. 

The outside of the walls. 

Walking on the walls. 

The gate to the city.

My feet being attacked by Fish. 

Our Yacht <3 #LeProvidence.

Some people from the program and the Mediterranean. 

Day 7 (9/13/15): Due to my lack of sleep, this was the only day where I had absolutely nothing to do. Without even trying to I slept until 4pm to the sound of my host mother asking me if I was okay and if I was sick. Although I feel really bad for sleeping the day away I felt a lot better having caught up on sleep and my body finally catching up with my head. Its only been a week since I have been here and it feels like forever but it also makes me excited for what is to come!

To those who stuck through the entire blog post thank you for reading Assi's First Week in France extravaganza and I promise you the posts will never be this long again! For those of you who didn't...Well this doesn't apply to you!


<3 Bizzous