Strikes and Squid

So many aspects of my life are different now, that it makes me appreciate what I took for granted before.  These changes are evident in even the most basic parts of my everyday life, such as my diet and daily transportation.

Before I came to Montpellier, I would have considered myself a fairly picky eater.  This is no longer the case, as I don't really have a choice anymore.  So far, I have eaten more squid than I would have ever thought possible.  My latest encounter with this new food that I have yet to fully embrace was on Friday.  My host family had company over, and we had an "apéritif dinnatoire."  This type of meal is very popular here and just consisted of lots of small little appetizers and a selection of wine.  I was starving and excited to dig into what looked like little pastries, until I realized upon closer inspection that they were actually small round crackers with a variety of fish based spreads.  My host mom encouraged me to try the pink spread, which turned out to be fish eggs.  Alain later insisted I try the black spread, which was a mixture of olives and fish.  This "tapenade" is a regional specialty and very popular here.  Also on the menu was baby squid, served cold with little toothpicks.  After hearing Michèle and Alain rave about them, I popped one in my mouth, trying not to think about what I was eating.  The taste wasn't bad, but the texture definitely wasn't my favorite.  While these foods aren't exactly what I'm used to eating, maybe that isn't so bad.  The reason I chose to live in a host family was because I wanted to experience the culture as well as improve my French skills.  Since a huge part of the culture is French cuisine, I am learning to eat what a typical family living in the south of France eats.  While the squid and seafood is going to take some getting used to, I am surprised by how much I actually do like.

Just when I was starting to miss some of the foods I eat at home, dinner on Saturday night presented a welcome change of pace.  After a long day trip to Anduze, I returned home, exhausted and starving, to find Alain barbequing ribs!!! I couldn't believe it.  We had ribs and potatoes and carrots cooked in olive oil.  I was so excited to eat food that I actually recognized that I probably ate a little too much...

In addition to my new diet, I also have a whole new mode of transportation-the tram!  Public transportation in Europe, or at least France, puts the limited options in Minnesota to shame.  Between the trains, trams, and buses here, there is no need to even own a car.  To be fair, everything is a lot closer together and more easily accessible on foot here than would be possible in the States.  Between my tram pass and being able to walk just about everywhere, I can get to wherever I need to go!  After I got over the initial shock of having to shell out 230 euros (the price AFTER the student discout) for my tram pass, I have grown to love the convenience.  On average, I only have to wait about 2 minutes at the tram stop and then off I go!  The catch?  Strikes.

While I knew strikes were common in France, I had yet to experience the impact of these "grèves" until I actually got here.  I have only been here for a little more than three weeks, and there has already been two strikes.  Right now, there are probably more strikes than usual because of the retirement age issue, but that's another story.  Last Thursday, I got my first taste of the effects that these strikes have on the functioning of every day life, when I naively assumed that I would still be able to use the trams more or less as I usually did.  I faced my first obstacle when I tried to take the tram from my stop (Place de la Comédie) to my internship at the radio station near school (stop St. Eloi).  I was waiting for about two minutes before a police officer came up to me and explained that the trams were not coming to this stop today.  I guess I should have put two and two together when I saw a bunch of vehicles parked across the tram tracks.  The officer told me I could take the tram if I walked to the next stop (Corum).  I took off and got to the next stop after about a 10 minute walk.  After waiting another 20 or so minutes, I boarded a packed tram to my destination.  There really aren't words to describe how crowded the trams can get, except to say that you can't move an inch inside.  While I was able to make it to my internship on time in the morning, coming back home after my late afternoon class was not so easy.  Heading back from campus, I took one look at the crowded tram stop and decided I had had enough of battling large, angry crowds for the day.  I ended up walking home from school, which turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant and peaceful 45 minute walk.  I am beginning to realize more and more that if you're going to live in a different country, you have to learn to adopt the same mentality as the people there.  In France, this attitude is very "go with the flow" and laid back, essentially the opposite of my type A, list-making, planning self.  Learning to just relax and not freak out about every little problem (like workers going on strike every other day) here is becoming one of my biggest challenges yet.