Wednesday night, I encountered something I have heard lots about but have not yet had the opportunity to experience: A French dinner! Jalynn and I were invited to have dinner at our wonderful landlady's house, along with four of her other tenants, two from our program and two girls from Luxembourg who are also studying in Montpellier for the semester.
Once we had all arrived and been introduced to our landlady, Marie Christine's husband, Pierre, the food began. We all sat around in the living room and drank champagne mixed with some sort of Violette syrup that made it blue and gave it some extra flavor, with our appetizers. First on the list was a plate with plumb tomatoes, amaaaaazingly delicious green olives which I probably could have eaten all of, cashews and pretzels. You would think that would be it before dinner, right? Nope! Next, Marie Christine brought out a plate with soft crackers/bread covered in faux-caviare. Apparently it's only real caviare if it comes from a certain type of fish, so real fish eggs, just not the super-fancy kind. After the caviare came the next cracker-thing covered in a sauce sort of like mayo with smoked salmon or baby shrimps. The third one - yes, they kept coming - was olive tapenade, also delicious. We chatted in French about our travels and school and getting to know Montpellier, as well as getting to know Pierre and Marie Christine a little better. They told us about the year they spend in Quebec and the traveling they did in the states.
When the aperitifs were finished, we moved to the dinner table for salad and potato pie, thinly-sliced potatoes in a thin, bread crust. After that, bread and four kinds of cheese, including camembert, comté and two others, whose names I did not quite catch. I sort of thought that bread and cheese counted as dessert, but then out came a chocolate cake! With a kiwi-banana purée and whipped cream. By the time we were done eating and chatting, it was close to 11pm and I was in full food-coma mode. I was soooo full. Wow. It was amazing.
Such a great experience to have, and wonderful to spend the evening speaking all in French and learning about a cool couple. We found out Marie Christine used to own her own wine store in Montpellier, so she told us all about different wines and how they are classified. We also made two new friends, with the two girls from Luxembourg, who we will hopefully be meeting up with at some point again to speak French and eat yummy food.
Tonight, I am off to another kind of dinner party, with a group of friends from my program in my friend Ryan's apartment. We are all bringing appetizer-ish things to throw together a big meal of munchies. It should be a fun evening with more amazing food, although not quite as fancy as my last dinner party.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Culture Shock
I am definitely feeling more and more settled in everyday that I'm here, which I guess is good, since in less than a week I will have been here a month! I knew time would fly by, but it's still pretty shocking, I feel like I'm just starting to get my act together. It took a lot of time to adjust to cultural differences here, not just the language barrier, but the hundreds of tiny subtleties that are so different from life in the states and I did not know to expect.
1. Transportation: When I got here and walked outside of the train station, there were absolutely no cars in sight. I quickly realized that in the old part of Montpellier, which is the center of the city, cars are only allowed on the streets for a few hours a day, and that is only in order to restock the hundreds of the shops and restaurants scattered throughout the small, stone-paved alleys of the oldest section of the city. All of the roads around this area are led underground when they reach the city center, where there are parking lots beneath the street - pretty genius idea, if you ask me. People here walk EVERYWHERE or take the trams and busses that run throughout the day. They are actually in the process of building a new tram line that will hopefully be open before we leave, and I have seen them working on the new tram tracks and stations. But back to the walking: I thought I walked a lot at college, but this is a whole different level of walking. To get to my university, it takes about 30-35 minutes, walking some and taking the tram as well. Totally not a big deal, to be in transit for that long. It's so nice to get everywhere I need to go without ever stepping into a car. Well, except at night, when it's really frustrating to figure out the logistics of getting home, even though it's a ten minute walk.
2. Bread: Not really a difficult adjustment, but people here buy it everyday. It's just not good after that. Seriously, I don't know why anyone would ever keep bread for more than a day. My roommate and I stop on our way home every day for a baguette, which costs about 80 centimes and usually finish off the whole thing by bed time. Looooove the bread. I tell Jalynn every day. It's starting to get excessive, I think, but it's just so yummy!
3. Personal space: French people do their own thing, and they don't worry about what everyone is doing around them. This means they really have no problem walking into you, because they really don't care enough to move out of your way. They do not think it is rude or even out of the ordinary to stand very close to you on the tram or waiting in line for something, which can be shocking for an American who is used to everyone taking the utmost care not to even brush by other people.
4. Mealtimes: Somehow I eased into this without too much of a problem I think it started with just being really busy and not getting around to dinner until 8 or 9 at night, and it stuck. It's still a weird concept to me to eat that late, but it just sort of happens every night. Now we fit right in with our friends in home stays whose families do not serve dinner until much later than we do back home. Restaurants here do not even start serving until 7pm at the earliest! We went out to dinner at 10pm last night and stayed at the restaurant until 11:45. At home we probably would have been kicked out long before that.
5. University: This could really be a post in itself, but I'll simplify. No one really lives on campus, so there is barely any campus life associated with my French college. Students here come to campus to go to class, and then they leave. The only time anyone hangs around is when they are in between classes. There are no buildings resembling a student center or activities building, and although there is a library, I do not think it is nearly as well-used as college libraries in the States. Also, everyone talks during class, which is really frustrating, when I'm trying as hard as I can just to understand what the professor is saying. French high school is very stressful and intense, as French kids have to decide on their future profession around age 16, so when they get to college, have chosen a subject and have their whole course schedule laid out for them, they do not take it as seriously as most American students I know.
6. Cigarettes: They're everywhere. Even the high school kids smoke. I cannot really understand why no one is doing anything to stop it, and why the Europeans do not fully grasp the dangers of smoking. They seem so much more forward than us in so many other ways. Second hand smoke is just really unpleasant, but has become a part of my daily life here. Gross.
7. Appliances: Who knew they would be so complicated? We have a microwave, washing machine, dish washer and oven which are definitely not the same as what you'd see in an American kitchen. The microwave, I've figured out how to cook things, but only by trial and error and pressing random buttons. The dish washer, Jalynn, my wonderful roommate, figured out by asking Jeeves and finding a youtube video that instructed her on how to run a European dish washer. The oven I mostly figured out by thoroughly reading the manual, but then of course the temperature is in celsius, so we always have to figure out what the conversion is. It has many more settings than just "bake" and "broil" which are the two that I am used to, so I am never entirely sure which of a few choices will be the most useful for baking. And last but not least: the washing machine. It had been two and a half weeks, so we decided it was about time to tackle it, since I was down to about two pairs of socks. Unfortunately, all of the words are in Spanish, and some of the buttons don't even have words, just really nondescript pictures. So we looked for the manual. Also in Spanish. And Portuguese. Super helpful. Even google translate wasn't going to cut it. We tried running it on we thought was a normal 60 minute, cold water wash. Turns out the number 60 meant 60 degrees, and it ran for two hours and didn't stop. So all of our clothes were dripping because we couldn't figure out how to spin them dry, and my cashmere sweater was reduced to something felted that my seven-year-old self could have worn. Oops! We emailed our landlady, so she came to help us. Turns out you turn the nob to "frio" (cold) and press start. Pretty simple. We felt sort of silly, although I still say it seems incredibly complicated and I blame the Spanish. Also, we bought fabric softener instead of soap... And apparently you're supposed to put vinegar into the wash. Weird, but we did it and our wash smells great and it keeps the washer from getting stinky and mildewy! Also, no one in France has driers. We currently have wet things draped across every inch of our apartment.
Needless to say, our landlady is wonderful. She is the host Mom we never had. In fact, she invited us to dinner with two other girls from our program who are also her tenants. She's great. And we're really excited to get a real, French, home-cooked meal.
So I'm sure there are many more cultural differences that I'm forgetting right now, or that I haven't even encountered yet, but these are the most pressing in my mind right now.
1. Transportation: When I got here and walked outside of the train station, there were absolutely no cars in sight. I quickly realized that in the old part of Montpellier, which is the center of the city, cars are only allowed on the streets for a few hours a day, and that is only in order to restock the hundreds of the shops and restaurants scattered throughout the small, stone-paved alleys of the oldest section of the city. All of the roads around this area are led underground when they reach the city center, where there are parking lots beneath the street - pretty genius idea, if you ask me. People here walk EVERYWHERE or take the trams and busses that run throughout the day. They are actually in the process of building a new tram line that will hopefully be open before we leave, and I have seen them working on the new tram tracks and stations. But back to the walking: I thought I walked a lot at college, but this is a whole different level of walking. To get to my university, it takes about 30-35 minutes, walking some and taking the tram as well. Totally not a big deal, to be in transit for that long. It's so nice to get everywhere I need to go without ever stepping into a car. Well, except at night, when it's really frustrating to figure out the logistics of getting home, even though it's a ten minute walk.
2. Bread: Not really a difficult adjustment, but people here buy it everyday. It's just not good after that. Seriously, I don't know why anyone would ever keep bread for more than a day. My roommate and I stop on our way home every day for a baguette, which costs about 80 centimes and usually finish off the whole thing by bed time. Looooove the bread. I tell Jalynn every day. It's starting to get excessive, I think, but it's just so yummy!
3. Personal space: French people do their own thing, and they don't worry about what everyone is doing around them. This means they really have no problem walking into you, because they really don't care enough to move out of your way. They do not think it is rude or even out of the ordinary to stand very close to you on the tram or waiting in line for something, which can be shocking for an American who is used to everyone taking the utmost care not to even brush by other people.
4. Mealtimes: Somehow I eased into this without too much of a problem I think it started with just being really busy and not getting around to dinner until 8 or 9 at night, and it stuck. It's still a weird concept to me to eat that late, but it just sort of happens every night. Now we fit right in with our friends in home stays whose families do not serve dinner until much later than we do back home. Restaurants here do not even start serving until 7pm at the earliest! We went out to dinner at 10pm last night and stayed at the restaurant until 11:45. At home we probably would have been kicked out long before that.
5. University: This could really be a post in itself, but I'll simplify. No one really lives on campus, so there is barely any campus life associated with my French college. Students here come to campus to go to class, and then they leave. The only time anyone hangs around is when they are in between classes. There are no buildings resembling a student center or activities building, and although there is a library, I do not think it is nearly as well-used as college libraries in the States. Also, everyone talks during class, which is really frustrating, when I'm trying as hard as I can just to understand what the professor is saying. French high school is very stressful and intense, as French kids have to decide on their future profession around age 16, so when they get to college, have chosen a subject and have their whole course schedule laid out for them, they do not take it as seriously as most American students I know.
6. Cigarettes: They're everywhere. Even the high school kids smoke. I cannot really understand why no one is doing anything to stop it, and why the Europeans do not fully grasp the dangers of smoking. They seem so much more forward than us in so many other ways. Second hand smoke is just really unpleasant, but has become a part of my daily life here. Gross.
7. Appliances: Who knew they would be so complicated? We have a microwave, washing machine, dish washer and oven which are definitely not the same as what you'd see in an American kitchen. The microwave, I've figured out how to cook things, but only by trial and error and pressing random buttons. The dish washer, Jalynn, my wonderful roommate, figured out by asking Jeeves and finding a youtube video that instructed her on how to run a European dish washer. The oven I mostly figured out by thoroughly reading the manual, but then of course the temperature is in celsius, so we always have to figure out what the conversion is. It has many more settings than just "bake" and "broil" which are the two that I am used to, so I am never entirely sure which of a few choices will be the most useful for baking. And last but not least: the washing machine. It had been two and a half weeks, so we decided it was about time to tackle it, since I was down to about two pairs of socks. Unfortunately, all of the words are in Spanish, and some of the buttons don't even have words, just really nondescript pictures. So we looked for the manual. Also in Spanish. And Portuguese. Super helpful. Even google translate wasn't going to cut it. We tried running it on we thought was a normal 60 minute, cold water wash. Turns out the number 60 meant 60 degrees, and it ran for two hours and didn't stop. So all of our clothes were dripping because we couldn't figure out how to spin them dry, and my cashmere sweater was reduced to something felted that my seven-year-old self could have worn. Oops! We emailed our landlady, so she came to help us. Turns out you turn the nob to "frio" (cold) and press start. Pretty simple. We felt sort of silly, although I still say it seems incredibly complicated and I blame the Spanish. Also, we bought fabric softener instead of soap... And apparently you're supposed to put vinegar into the wash. Weird, but we did it and our wash smells great and it keeps the washer from getting stinky and mildewy! Also, no one in France has driers. We currently have wet things draped across every inch of our apartment.
Needless to say, our landlady is wonderful. She is the host Mom we never had. In fact, she invited us to dinner with two other girls from our program who are also her tenants. She's great. And we're really excited to get a real, French, home-cooked meal.
So I'm sure there are many more cultural differences that I'm forgetting right now, or that I haven't even encountered yet, but these are the most pressing in my mind right now.
À bientôt!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Classes, Les Soldes and Arles
I survived my first week of French classes! I am taking grammar and phonetics with other American students and a conversation class where we just chat in French for two hours about different topics (also with American students). I tried out a class called civilization of the south (of France) but it was two and a half hours of lecturing about the prehistory of France. The topic seems interesting enough for two or three classes, I just don't think I could handle it for the whole semester and I am so accustomed to taking 50 minute classes at home, that 2.5 hours is pretty unimaginable. I think some people will really enjoy it, but it's not for me.
My two integrated classes with French students are a literature class and a class called the pragmatics of language. My lit class, consisting of a CM (big lecture) and a TD (discussion section), both of which have really interesting topics, I really like. For the TD we are reading Homer and Dante and Ovid and talking about the descent into hell. I have already studied some of these works before, so it will be really cool to learn about them from the French side of things. My other integrated class I'm still struggling with whether or not I want to take it. It's about linguistics and communication which I think is really interesting but maybe something I want to learn about in English before I try it in French. I don't want it to be totally over my head. I have about another week to add/drop classes, so I will be trying out a class on wine and culture in France before deciding whether to take that or the language class. We shall see.
All in all, it was a pretty exhausting and overwhelming week. Even though for the first three days I only had one class per day, it was really tiring to go back to classes and have them all in French. It takes so much more concentration just to listen to what they're saying, let alone get it all down on paper. In some of my classes the French students would just chat to each other, and the professor would ignore them and maybe talk a little louder. I tried to sit near the front in all my classes, but French people do not feel the need to talk very loudly, so that made it all the harder to understand. Hopefully my comprehension will get better and better. I haven't been speaking as much French as I would have liked, since a lot of the people in my program aren't totally comfortable with the language yet and it's hard to force it, since speaking English comes so easily and talking to French people is intimidating. Having classes definitely helps though, so hopefully I'll make some French friends who will be patient with me and help me practice on them. I'm also hoping to be able to start swimming with the club at my school, so that will be some more French exposure as well.
Wednesday was the first day of "les soldes" which is a pretty big deal sales event across all of France, where stores clear out their entire stock from the previous season in January and July, by putting things on sale up to 50% and 70% off. It's crazy. And it lasts for a month. I have managed to limit myself to only a few items so far, but it has only been 5 days, soooo we'll see what happens.
Yesterday, Saturday, was our first free excursion run by my program. We took a bus to the small ancient Roman town of Arles, about an hour away from Montpellier. We started in the museum, checking out tons of artifacts and architecture from when Arles was a part of the Roman Empire. It was really cool, but a little long and all in French, so it required a lot of attention that I didn't quite have after waking up at 7:45 am on a Saturday morning. Then we went into the city for lunch and a guided tour of the city. It was a great place, but freezing cold! And when I say freezing, it was probably about 50 degrees, which is pretty cold compared to the unusually balmy 60 that it has been since we got here. I was definitely not dressed for the weather, so that made it a little bit rough. It was great to see the city though. It is where van Gogh lived, so we saw some of the places he painted.
We also saw a huge amphitheatre (oops! French spelling) and the theater where people fought bulls and gladiators fought each other. There were people there learning to swordfight, which was pretty funny. It was a fun trip, but cold and a very long day, so we were pretty chilled and tired once we got home.
My two integrated classes with French students are a literature class and a class called the pragmatics of language. My lit class, consisting of a CM (big lecture) and a TD (discussion section), both of which have really interesting topics, I really like. For the TD we are reading Homer and Dante and Ovid and talking about the descent into hell. I have already studied some of these works before, so it will be really cool to learn about them from the French side of things. My other integrated class I'm still struggling with whether or not I want to take it. It's about linguistics and communication which I think is really interesting but maybe something I want to learn about in English before I try it in French. I don't want it to be totally over my head. I have about another week to add/drop classes, so I will be trying out a class on wine and culture in France before deciding whether to take that or the language class. We shall see.
All in all, it was a pretty exhausting and overwhelming week. Even though for the first three days I only had one class per day, it was really tiring to go back to classes and have them all in French. It takes so much more concentration just to listen to what they're saying, let alone get it all down on paper. In some of my classes the French students would just chat to each other, and the professor would ignore them and maybe talk a little louder. I tried to sit near the front in all my classes, but French people do not feel the need to talk very loudly, so that made it all the harder to understand. Hopefully my comprehension will get better and better. I haven't been speaking as much French as I would have liked, since a lot of the people in my program aren't totally comfortable with the language yet and it's hard to force it, since speaking English comes so easily and talking to French people is intimidating. Having classes definitely helps though, so hopefully I'll make some French friends who will be patient with me and help me practice on them. I'm also hoping to be able to start swimming with the club at my school, so that will be some more French exposure as well.
Wednesday was the first day of "les soldes" which is a pretty big deal sales event across all of France, where stores clear out their entire stock from the previous season in January and July, by putting things on sale up to 50% and 70% off. It's crazy. And it lasts for a month. I have managed to limit myself to only a few items so far, but it has only been 5 days, soooo we'll see what happens.
Yesterday, Saturday, was our first free excursion run by my program. We took a bus to the small ancient Roman town of Arles, about an hour away from Montpellier. We started in the museum, checking out tons of artifacts and architecture from when Arles was a part of the Roman Empire. It was really cool, but a little long and all in French, so it required a lot of attention that I didn't quite have after waking up at 7:45 am on a Saturday morning. Then we went into the city for lunch and a guided tour of the city. It was a great place, but freezing cold! And when I say freezing, it was probably about 50 degrees, which is pretty cold compared to the unusually balmy 60 that it has been since we got here. I was definitely not dressed for the weather, so that made it a little bit rough. It was great to see the city though. It is where van Gogh lived, so we saw some of the places he painted.
Beautiful sunset at the end of the day!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
First weekend
Our first weekend in Montpellier has come to a close. It started on Thursday night, with a night out led by our social assistants (two students at our university who work with the program to show us student life in Montpellier). We went to a bar, which started out as just 40 to 50 American students but slowly filled up with French people as the night progressed. We decided not to go to a club after that, but it was a little late to go home alone, so I crashed at a friend's apartment with a few friends. It's kind of a shock to have to worry about being out alone late at night, since I'm used to the tiny, safe, blue-light ridden Brandeis campus where I can walk home at any time of night by myself and not think twice about it. It was frustrating to have to worry about the logistics of having a buddy to walk me home, although I guess it's nicer for me, with my apartment near the center of the city than for my friends who live with host families out in the suburbs.
Friday we took an official tour of the city and saw lots of historic sights in old Montpellier, including the Jewish baths (one of only two remaining in Europe) and their version of the Arc de Triomphe. It was pretty windy and overcast, so not as nice as the weather has typically been, but still fun to hear a lot about the history of the city.
Friday we took an official tour of the city and saw lots of historic sights in old Montpellier, including the Jewish baths (one of only two remaining in Europe) and their version of the Arc de Triomphe. It was pretty windy and overcast, so not as nice as the weather has typically been, but still fun to hear a lot about the history of the city.
Friday night, my friend Ryan from my program and his fiancee, Nathalie, had a little gathering in their apartment. The plan was to go find a pub afterwards, but we all ended up just staying in and hanging out for the evening, which was really fun and relaxed.
Saturday I took a trip to the big mall outside the city with my awesome roommate, Jalynn and a friend from the program (who also goes to Jalynn's school back home) Dominique. We went into a clothing store, but restrained ourselves from buying anything since the HUGE French sales start in a few days. Apparently twice a year, everywhere in France has sales to clear out their stock from the previous season. We are lucky enough to be here for the January sales (the other ones are in July) so there is definitely some shopping in my future. We also went to Ikea to get some essentials for our apartment, mainly something to hold our laundry and some little knick-knack boxes for Jalynn. Good trip, all-in-all.
I was going to stay in for the night, but Jalynn and Dominique wanted to find an R&B club and they convinced me to go with them. We hung out in Dominique's apartment for awhile with some friends and then went to the club they had in mind, but it was pretty empty since it was only midnight. Yes, only midnight - apparently in France bars close around one and then people head to the clubs and discotheques. We found a bar whose inside is designed like a pirate ship, which was super packed, and it closed pretty soon after that. Then we headed back to the original club, but I was ready to go home, so I jumped on the tram and headed home.
Today, Sunday, I had a long lazy morning and then Jalynn and I went out to do some grocery shopping. Big mistake. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is open on Sundays in France. We were able to find some late lunch at one of the little kebab/sandwich stores (okay, one thing is open) but the rest of our trip was a fail, since the grocery store was closed, so we just took a walk around the newer section of town and came home. Clean out the fridge night! Hopefully we'll have enough things to throw together for dinner, but we are pretty close to being out of food.
Classes start tomorrow, so that'll be a rude shock, but hopefully they won't be too bad, since I only have one class on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Easing myself slowly into this brand-new lifestyle.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Getting Acquainted
I have now been in Montpellier for four days, and I am starting to get used to the idea of living here. Yesterday I moved into my apartment with my roommate Jalynn and we are loving it! It turns out we have internet, as well as a washing machine, microwave and dishwasher in addition to your typical stovetop and oven. We've only cooked omelets so far but are looking forward to doing lots of fun cooking! Lots of cheese around here, so I've been packing down the lactaid pills like candy, hoping to stave off all of those lactose-induced stomach-aches.
Dining Room/Kitchen
Living Room
Bedroom
Desk in the Bedroom
We're a pretty easy walk from the city center, as well as our program office and we are learning to navigate the tram system, Montpellier's public transportation. I absolutely LOVE the tram. It's fantastic. Today I got my monthly pass, so I can jump on and off whenever I want. There are two lines, so it's pretty simple, and they run right along the street! There are barely any cars in Montpellier (at least in the old part, the center of the city) so all you have to look out for are trams and the stray bike and motorcycle. The trams are super new and sleek-looking little trains. They come every couple of minutes and each stop is only a few minutes away. It will make it so easy to get to school every morning at the university across town.
Now that I have an apartment that I've fully moved into, (yay! no more living out of my huge suitcases!) a cell phone, and a tram pass, I am ready to go. Next step: classes in French. Oofa. I really have no idea how those will be, and even though we start in five days, we don't even know what we're taking yet! I guess the French are a little less organized and much less concerned with everything running perfectly smoothly and promptly. Ahh well, hopefully everything will work out! For now, more exploring of this awesome city (guided tour tomorrow and then a party with our French language partners tomorrow night) and working on speaking French as much as possible!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Arrival in Montpellier
Our New Years Eve was a great success! We had a great dinner with a bunch of Louisa's friends in one of their host family's house - they're super artsy and had an awesome apartment - and hung out there for awhile before going to a nearby bar pretty close to midnight and hanging out there for the rest of the night. We took the free metro home. All in all, lots of fun, great meeting new people and trying to speak a little bit of French here and there.
This morning we got up and Louisa brought me to the train station. From there, everything got a little more stressful because I didn't have her help with lugging all of my bags around, but a nice girl on the train helped me find a place to put my biggest suitcase. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen once I got here, but as soon as I stepped out of the train station I realized how awesome this city was. It was about 60 degrees ( I was dying in my winter coat) and there were tons of people outside, wandering around. I could see my hotel from the entrance of the station so I walked about three minutes to get there, super easy, along the street, lined with palm trees.
After getting myself organized, I decided to go take a little stroll and try to find something to eat, since I hadn't eaten since breakfast with Louisa. I found the Place de la Comedie (a couple more minutes' walk on the same road where my hotel is) which is the big square in town that's connected to a little park. Everyone was eating in outdoor cafes (in January!) and out walking around. I also barely saw any cars. Not sure if it's because they're not allowed on the streets where I was, because there's a tram that runs back and for all the time - seems like transportation will be really easy. I didn't go too far, mostly staying in the main square, but it was really cool to check out a little bit of the city on my own before I start with all of my program stuff tomorrow.
So here I am in Montpellier. It seems like a great place to be, and I can't wait to explore it more! Feeling a little bit weird about hanging in the hotel by myself tonight, but it's really nice to just relax and read for awhile, as I'm sure the next few weeks will be very full and exciting.
This morning we got up and Louisa brought me to the train station. From there, everything got a little more stressful because I didn't have her help with lugging all of my bags around, but a nice girl on the train helped me find a place to put my biggest suitcase. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen once I got here, but as soon as I stepped out of the train station I realized how awesome this city was. It was about 60 degrees ( I was dying in my winter coat) and there were tons of people outside, wandering around. I could see my hotel from the entrance of the station so I walked about three minutes to get there, super easy, along the street, lined with palm trees.
After getting myself organized, I decided to go take a little stroll and try to find something to eat, since I hadn't eaten since breakfast with Louisa. I found the Place de la Comedie (a couple more minutes' walk on the same road where my hotel is) which is the big square in town that's connected to a little park. Everyone was eating in outdoor cafes (in January!) and out walking around. I also barely saw any cars. Not sure if it's because they're not allowed on the streets where I was, because there's a tram that runs back and for all the time - seems like transportation will be really easy. I didn't go too far, mostly staying in the main square, but it was really cool to check out a little bit of the city on my own before I start with all of my program stuff tomorrow.
So here I am in Montpellier. It seems like a great place to be, and I can't wait to explore it more! Feeling a little bit weird about hanging in the hotel by myself tonight, but it's really nice to just relax and read for awhile, as I'm sure the next few weeks will be very full and exciting.
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