One Month plus some

It has now, officially been over a month since I left home, flew across the Atlantic Ocean, stopped off in Paris and arrived in Montpellier. The internet in my apartment was down this week, so I couldn't post on any of those actual anniversaries, but here we are. It's been over a month. Wow. I haven't posted in awhile because, now that it's been a month, I have finally settled into my daily routine. All of my classes are consistent, I've figured out how to get to and from places (although still taking new routes home to my house to continue to explore the neighborhood) and what to eat. Also, French is, slowly but surely, getting easier to speak and understand. Still nowhere near fluent, and it's still tough, since for some reason French people feel the need to mutter under their breath when talking to you, but I am definitely making progress and getting more confident about it. 


I'm actually pretty busy these days, between homework, (still haven't quite accepted that fact, and have not been dedicating enough time to studying) applying for summer internships, (huuuuuge pain and much more work than I remember) planning vacations, continuing to get to know this city better, and just hanging out and having fun.


We are currently in the midst of the first cold spell since I've been here. Contrary to popular belief, it does snow in the south of France. I think I got a little too overconfident from the month of 55-60 degrees almost everyday. I actually had to go out and buy a new coat because I definitely did not bring one warm enough for weather in the 30s, and also in anticipation for my upcoming trip to London and Paris, where it will definitely be colder than here. I heard choruses of "Il fait froid" all over the place today, because no one is used to it being cold, so when it is, it's a big deal. Yesterday there were pretty consistent flurries all day, although nothing actually stuck to the ground. We're all hoping for beach weather soon, although that is probably wishful thinking...


Speaking of the beach, I went a few weeks ago and never got a chance to post about it. My first time seeing/touching the Mediterranean! We rented bikes (2 Euros a day) and biked, about an hour and a quarter along Le Lez (the z IS pronounced in the south, for all of you Parisian-trained French speakers out there) the river that runs through Montpellier. There is a really nice bike path that runs along the river all the way to the tiny seaside town of Palavas, which is where the beach is. We had a nice snack of bread and cheese and stuck our toes in the water before heading back, since it was getting late in the afternoon and it wasn't very warm out. Here are some pics of the Mediterranean!

The last one is my favorite, because it shows the flamingos! I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but before we got to the beach, there was a swampy, salt water marshy place that was FULL of hundreds of flamingoes. All of the dots you can see in the background are more of them. I've never seen one in the wild, so it was quite an exciting discovery when we figured out what they were. 


So I think that's about it, as far as updates go. In a little over a week I leave for my two week vacation to Rome, Milan, London and Paris, so there will be lots of exciting photos and stories in the upcoming weeks. 


Happy February!