Countdown to Italy!

It feels as if classes have just started up again and, already, our first break is days away! When it comes to their vacation time, the French don't mess around.  Now that one of my best friends is also studying abroad in nearby Aix-en-Provence, I finally have a travel companion to take some trips with that have been a long time coming.  For this break, we decided to go to Italy and what a trip it will be...

We are planning on flying out of Marseille (where there are lots of lowcost airlines) into Rome.  After trying to cram in all that ancient history and art into three days, we are (hopefully) going to take the train to Naples.  I say hopefully because neither of us speak a word of Italian, and the trains are apparently less reliable than in other parts of Europe...fingers crossed.  Anyway, we'll be staying three nights in Naples so that we can fit in a day trip to Pompeii.  The more people I tell this to, the more I am starting to worry, because apparently there are some safety concerns in that particular area of Italy??  Hopefully we won't have too many run-ins with the Italian mafia, but you never know I guess.  From Naples, we are going to head all the way up to Florence for a couple days before finishing our whirlwind tour in Venice.  We originally wanted to spend two nights in Venice, but once we realized just how expensive even the most modest hostels are there, we changed our plan to just one night.  We then found out that due to the Venice Carnival, prices to stay even just one night in the city were out of our budget.  Our tentative plan is currently to take an overnight(ish) train from Florence that would arrive in Venice at around 5:30 am on the day we will be flying out of Italy...at least there won't be many people walking around?? Scratch that, there will probably be a significant number of people on their way home from the previous night.  So that is the plan, but it is by no means set in stone, so it will be interesting to see what happens...

Preparing for this trip has been exciting, frustrating, and amusing.  Exciting, because it will be my first time seeing some historic cities in Italy that I didn't have the chance to see the last time I was there with my family in Florence (6 years ago, I might add).  Frustrating, because, well, planning trips always is, when you factor in all the little problems you come across (finding a reasonably priced place to stay in Venice during the Carnival, for example).  Most of all though, I had so much fun just talking to different people here, hearing their opinions on what to do, where to go, etc.  I had mentioned my vacation plans in passing to some people I work with at the radio station, and this morning was presented with a handful of maps and guidebooks as well as an in-depth, two hour explanation by an Italian native of what I should be sure to see in Rome alone.  Later today at home, Michèle shared her advice with me over her lunch break.  In giving her opinion on something, which I can be sure she will do, she does not hesitate to tell me how she really feels, good or bad.  I've grown accustomed to it now, but this blunt, straightforward approach really did catch me and my Midwestern upbringing off guard at first! So I sat there nodding as Michèle proceeded to tell me what I should absolutely see and what I could skip, based on a pretty thorough, 15 day trip she took to Rome last year.  As is the case with almost anything I need, she generously offered to lend me her guidebook of the city.  I told her I picked up a few from the program office but when I showed him to her, she dismissed them with a wave of her hand.  There are times when I miss a little "Minnesota nice," but for the most part I appreciate the honesty, because it's helpful. 

This trip to Italy will be the first one out of the country (besides my trip to Barcelona where I stayed with friends of the family) with absolutely zero knowledge of the language.  There are times, even here, where figuring out stuff can be next to impossible...should be interesting in Italian! 

I better run but I promise to post more after the trip! Ciao!

New Year, New Experiences

Two weeks into the semester and I already notice a huge difference compared to the last time around.  Whereas last September, I stumbled around blindly, barely able to find my classes, let alone what the professor in my lit class was saying half the time, this time I found my classes with ease and was pleasantly surprised to realize I was able to follow most of the lectures I sat in on.  Last semester, I felt like a freshman or a transfer student who had yet to learn the ropes.  What a difference a few months can make!  While I don’t know if it is ever possible to truly master all of the ins and outs of the French educational system, I have definitely made some strides.  I look forward to the challenges my new class schedule will surely bring, as I went from one to three integrated classes.  For those of you that don’t know, “integrated classes” are ones that are not organized especially for Americans or foreign students studying French.  Signing up for an “integrated class” is basically agreeing to be thrown in with the natives, in courses like 16^th century French literature or even an intro level sociology class, and held to the exact same academic standards.  Intimidating, to say the least.  We’ll see how this goes…

As I was planning out the trips I will be taking this semester, it suddenly hit me that I have less than four months left here in France.  Talk about time flying.  Less than four months to see everything I have yet to see, to check everything off my list??  Already this year I have…skied in the southern alps with a great group of new French friends, started teaching English lessons in an effort to earn a little extra cash, learned all about wine in Bordeaux with my best friend, hiked with my host family in the mountains, and planned trips to Italy and Greece.  Whew! Wonder what I’ll be able to add to that list by the end of May?! 

Christine and Alain exploring...

Michèle and I halfway through our "easy" hike :)

Alain demonstrates hiking à la française...when we stopped for lunch, he proceeded to pull out a bottle of red wine, two glasses, and a loaf of bread from his tiny backpack.  And a little table cloth.  I almost died laughing--the French need their wine and bread, even while hiking apparently!

 Between my homestay, my classes, my internship at a local radio station, and hanging out with friends, I think it’s safe to say I’ve achieved my goal of becoming totally immersed in the language and culture.  I just hope it pays off and I am able to reach a certain level of fluency by the end of my stay.  Recently, I’ve noticed I’m starting to think and dream in French, so I’m hoping that’s a good sign…