After one 11 hour flight over the US and Atlantic to Frankfurt and one hour and a half flight from Frankfurt (after a six hour layover and much sleeping on airport benches) into the port city of Marseille and ONE 45 minute bus ride, I found myself, haggard, ill and overall miserable in the city of Aix-en-Provence. The drive into the city I felt initially disappointed in the Northern California scenery. Olive trees, and parched, spiny bushes on dry, brown dirt with dry, brown grass was not exactly the romantic France I had pictured.
However, when our bus pulled into the city, and the fountain in the Place de la Rotonde rose up from the parched earth, I felt a renewed sense of relief.
Yes, I was scared to come here, and I can openly admit to many shed tears in the airport and on the plane... saying good-bye to anyone, and in my case, everyone for 9 months is not an easy thing to do, but seeing the city, and feeling welcomed and finally having a bed to collapse in, gave me some idea of peace. I had made it, safe and sound and in good condition save for the jet lag.
This morning, after a solid night of sleep, I had a (not free as previously believed) continental breakfast and a quick walk through most of the city to our 'welcome orientation.' The orientation was just a mere overview of what we have coming towards us in the next few weeks, and the real work starts next Monday.
We also had a tour of the city, walking through the ancient medieval streets which wind and twist and all seem to lead back to where you started! It will take some getting used to, but really, just about everything at this point will take some level of adjustment. The food, the money, the metric/kilo/Celsius tables and of course, the language. Everyone speaks so fast! Twice now when purchasing I was asked, "Vous avez une carte?" and not knowing what they were saying, proceeded to meekly hand my Euros over, which, unbeknownst to myself, answered the question. Right now, walking down the street, the French doesn't even sound like a language, but a muddled garble that no one could possibly understand. However, I have felt brave and spoken en peu, just here and there, and I always say 'merci' and 'bonjour' with as much gusto as I can muster, because I want to make the effort, I'm just not always sure how.
Today I bought groceries in a store that seemed much like a Nordstrom but with an attached grocery section and sure enough, just as we've always heard, my fresh baguette was only .89€! The cheese, cured meats, plums and bottle of merlot all came to about 15€, though it can be tough remembering that the Euro is quite strong against the dollar right now, and it's not all as cheap as it seems.
So for my dinner, I did as the French do, and tore open my baguette, stuffed a section with meat and cheese and popped the cork on my wine, just before sitting down to write this blog. The humid, sweet Mediterranean air is pouring through my window and the news is on, jabbering away as I try to catch bits and pieces.
I could definitely get used to this. :)
Much love to everyone back home and I hope this finds everyone well. I'll upload pictures as soon as I can scrounge my USB cord out from the bottom of my suitcase.
Bisous bisous!
-Jenn
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