Puppies & Babies. Seen but not heard.

I’d say, in general, in the United States that people are pretty tolerant of babies. And dogs are allowed to live in the house, the yard, in the park & around the neighborhood on walks. Babies go everywhere, and as long as they’re well behaved it’s okay. Well, here it’s the opposite. Dogs are everywhere. Walking along the streets without leashes, running all around the park while their owners’ sit and chat, pooping everywhere (no one picks up their dog’s poop…ick), under the table at cafés & everywhere else imaginable. I like that the dogs are such a prominent part of this society because they are so well behaved. I’ve been here three weeks, I’ve seen countless dogs, and I heard a dog bark for the first time two days ago! I was surprised because the dogs here don’t make any noise! They mind their own business, walk near their owners and generally just look cute.

Babies, however, are supposed to be seen and not heard here. But babies are babies and they’re not always quiet. The only babies I’ve seen (and that’s about 3) have been asleep in their strollers. The only exception was a baby at a gallery whom the parents dared to bring out in public. The baby wasn’t screaming or anything (Mel & Em – think of the babies on our flight to FL – not nearly as bad as that!); it was just making baby noises. And everyone in the building shot sidelong glances and some others blatantly death-stared at the parents and baby. Needless to say, they didn’t see the whole exhibit. Now I understand babies shouldn’t really be in art exhibits because they’re quiet affairs, but this is just an extreme example of people not liking babies when they’re in public. I very rarely see babies. And the small children I do see outside of the park are like little adults. Emily, you’d like children here. They’re miniaturized adults, clothing – mannerisms – everything…they’re just much shorter. I do see kids being, well kids according to the American sense of the word, at the park. They run around, play games, play with the dogs & are adorable.

Moral of the story: If you’re a dog in Aix it’s more likely that people will be happy to see you at a restaurant than if you’re a baby. And if you’re a baby, you better be quiet – seen and not heard, baby.

In other news:

Us very cool kids of the Marchutz School of Vision started landscapes today! We were driven out into the beautiful, breathtaking countryside of Aix-en-Provence where we started our work. And guess what we could see? Mount Saint Victoire. Yes, the mountain Cezanne painted and Picasso admired (also the mountain I'm hiking this Friday with some friends). I'm painting where the greats have, and it's exhilarating! Today while drawing I turned to my friend, Mary, and asked her if this was really happening. It all still seems so surreal. But I'm trying to appreciate every day here because this experience is going quickly and I'm loving every minute of it.

ML's cooking continues to amaze and satisfy me on a daily basis. Tonight was homemade soup, fresh bread & this new dish! It was ground beef on the bottom layer of the casserole, then onions and cheese and finally mashed potatoes on the top. It was all put in the oven so the potatoes were nice and warm and baked a little. It was perfection. And I ate so much! But that's easy to do here because lunches are light and I spend most of my day walking.

This is the view from where I sit doing my landscapes with Marchutz.

Yea, I still can't believe I'm here either!

Non-Abroad Related, But Just as Life Changing!!

Dennis gave me the neatest set of stationary right before I left. It's called Doodlespark and it's so neat! The images of the cards were created by a mother - daughter team. The drawings were sent back and forth between mother and child and each time the other would add something new to the drawing. They're intriguing & colorful! Today, while looking at this website I got bumped over to the daughter's blog [ who lives in PA in the Philadelphia area...I've got to meet her!] and she's so interesting! But while on her page I was introduced to this new artistic website called Social Designer - Goods for the Greater Good. Their tag line is, "Change doesn't happen by chance, it happens by design." How great is that?! It's everything I love rolled into one. Giving back to the community, bettering the world, and spreading important topics to society through art! Also, the woman from doodlespark is very eco-friendly. Amazing. But the best part it, Social Designer is promoting this new line called "500 Pencils." The idea is you sign up and every month, for 20 months, you receive a new and different set of 25 pencils. You explore the color ranges as they arrive & look forward to the next set. How cool is that?! It's like Christmas...EVERY MONTH!

Prisma colored pencils are my favorite art medium...but these look so much cooler! Think of all the things you can do with that many colors? Woah.

Differences: Good, Bad & Otherwise

After being here about two and a half weeks you start getting used to all the small difference that seemed so monumental (or at least significant) at first. I’m very glad I’m adjusting to this way of life, because it makes the semester run smoother & I’m experiencing new ways of living! That’s the whole point of studying abroad! So here are some of the main differences I’ve noticed. Aside: I’ve tried very hard to never say, “That’s weird!” because it’s not weird to the people who live here…and I am, after all, the one who’s a foreigner, I’m the weird one (what with my American sense of fashion and whatnot!).

1. Being an exchange student it awesome. And when there’s a language barrier, smile. The French don’t make eye contact while walking around like Americans do (i.e. saying hi to the kid you don’t know on the GBurg sidewalk, but hey, you’re going to walk past each other so you might as well look up, nod hello & make eye contact. That’s a no fly zone here!). So I’ve embraced the “foreigner smile” that people give you when they realize you pretty much have no clue whether they’re asking if you want your pizza-to-go heated up or what your stance is on this rainy weather. Just smile your brilliant smile (typically Americans have had better dental care than Europeans & that’s one of many ways they know you’re American), say you don’t understand, and run like hell out of the pizza place with 2 less euro than when you started but with a delicious lunch that you’ll heat up in your own kitchen.

2. Wear sunglasses if you’re like me and can’t help but make eye contact with the strangers you pass during your 30 minute walk to and from the town & country. Making eye contact here is like saying, “Hi! I’m interested in you! Let’s talk.” Don’t do it! One day I was doing very well on not making eye contact with strangers when this Frenchman approached me and insisted on having coffee together (mmm…coffee). He was very persistent and wouldn’t back off until I lied and told him I’m married. That’s the one time when you shouldn’t rely on the smile and should lie. Lie, lie, lie! Point to any ring you’re wearing and say (in French of course), “Sorry buddy, but you’re hitting on another guy’s girl. Back off.” Minus the sarcasm + some stumbling French.

3. Everything here is smaller. Texans wouldn’t do well here. The cars are SO tiny! Some places to park along the main roads are parallel parking spots only. Just to give you an idea of just how small these cars are – some of them pull into the parallel spot perpendicular to the way they’re supposed to be parked…and they fit!

4. My house’s kitchen’s refrigerator is the size of my dorm’s fridge. Tiny, appliances. The dishwasher is about the size of a standard one at home, but the microwaves, fridge, laundry machine (yes it’s so small it’s in the kitchen) & the water heater all fit comfortably into a cute little kitchen. Along with a table, chairs & storage space!

5. Always say hello to store owners when you enter their store. I sometimes feel like there’s a contradiction to not saying hello or making eye contact with strangers on the street, but its okay to walk into a strangers store and be wildly friendly! But I guess it’s kind of the opposite in the States. If you don’t say hello it’s considered very rude & you probably won’t get good service. Of course if you’re walking into the MonoPrix (a very large department-esque store which has everything from clothing on the first floor, school supplies on the second & a mini food store in the basement) which is huge then you can’t say “Bonjour!” to every employee. In that case you’re safe just walking in and minding your business.

6. Notebooks here, for classes, don’t just have horizontal lines but verticals as well. At first my friend Joy & I were really confused by this. But there weren’t any “American” style notebooks so we figured correctly that they just make them differently here. And you know what? After using them for 2 weeks I think I prefer these notebooks!

7. Dinner time is much later here. Many of my friends’ households don’t eat until 8 or 9. Luckily that’s when ML goes to sleep so we eat around 6, she must know I’m a Feed-Me-Or-Fight-Me-Freyhof!

8. Fast Food = No go. Eating is an activity and not just something you have to do in order to keep going throughout your day. Food is made to be enjoyed. So buy that paninni, walk to the outdoor café that only serves drinks, order a Cola Light (which comes in a glass bottle & a cup with ICE – delicious cold ice that you can’t get anywhere else!), and break out your food and do some quality people watching. Let’s play, can you spot the tourist? Oh wait…that’s me sometimes!

9. Whenever possible do the dishes. I’ve learned that even though I might not be able to communicate all my gratitude to my host mom, I can at least empty the dishwasher and wash some pans to show my thanks. A clean house is a universal language I’m finding (even though I’m way neater than ML).

10. Coffee & homemade tea breaks during your Art Criticism Seminar may feel strange because you’re socializing during class time, but it’s very much appreciated. When your class can be 4-5 hours long, these breaks are appreciated. And I think we should bring this tradition back to the Burg.

11. When all else fails at dinner conversation, look outside the window and point out a bird. ML will tell you again how she feeds the little birds because they’re cute and have a hard life because the bigger birds are mean and sometimes attack them.

12. Bathroom differences: Besides the toilet flushing in various different ways (pushing a button, stepping on a pedal, and pulling a lever…) the showering situation is also very different. We have a bathtub with no shower curtain but a showering extension hose. You do a sort of sit/squat action to rinse your hair, but it works!

13. Everything is smaller: the cars, the food portions (even though you end up eating more because there are multiple courses to your meal!), cars, buildings etc.

14. People here eat healthily but smoke like there’s no tomorrow. A contradiction I haven’t yet figured out.

15. When wondering what to wear, wear black. It’s very “in” here. Wearing your bright blue shirt with pink cardigan might be an attention drawer…note to self.

16. Drink water. Much more than at home because you’re going to be walking A LOT.

17. 90% of the time dogs walk around the park without leashes & are SO well behaved. Then dogs on leashes in the city are also very polite. They’re seen and very rarely heard. There’s this one old man who walks around with his three pug-type dogs, and they’re adorable and very well-behaved and have a sort of waddling walk which I love.

18. If you hear a car it’s because it’s driving down the very narrow street and you should move to the sidewalk or get smooshed. Just because you’re a pedestrian doesn’t mean it’s safe to walk everywhere. This is not NH; cars don’t always yield to you!

19. If it rains, it pours.

20. If you hear the word “gripe” or “h1n1” just go wash your hands. Someone probably thinks you’re a carrier because you’re a college student and it’s best just to make everyone happy & not get sick. Also, ML has hand soap and antibacterial gel in the bathroom. We’re not getting sick here!

There are many more little day-to-day things that are different, like no one picking up dog poo, but if I keep writing I’ll never be ready in time to meet friends in town to explore the Cultural Heritage Weekend!

Nice is nice. Who're we kidding, it's awesome!

This weekend we had our first excursions wit IAU. Saturday we went to Nice and Sunday to Cassis. They’re both along the Mediterranean Sea and are absolutely breathtaking. Both days we had perfect weather and I’m just a bit tanner today than I was Saturday morning!

Saturday we met very early at the Tourism Office and loaded onto the buses. After a 2 hour ride we arrived! Along the way on the Auto Route we passed many vineyards and farms. There was so much to do in Nice that our day was full from beginning to end! We started the day off climbing up the side of a cliff to get to a viewing balcony. The view of Nice was breathtaking and the water was SO blue! There were a lot of snorkelers in the water and I totally creeped on them and took their pictures from up above. The water is crystal clear & feels completely refreshing!

We grabbed some lunch in the food market that was set up & ate it while sitting on the rocky shores. We went for a quick dip and then walked through Old Nice. We went through a Palace, to the Museum of Contemporary Art & stopped to buy some postcards. I also bought a nice piece from a local artist for 10 euro. I love supported the local artists here! Of course I get the foreigner smile when I ask them about their art. The “You’re not from France but I’ll humor you because you have great eyes and smile” look that means they’re being nice to me even though there’s a high possibility I don’t understand what they’re saying.

Then Cassis on Sunday was wonderful! It’s only a 45 minute bus ride away and it was nice to get to sleep in! The town is very small and so our day was much more relaxing than Nice where we squished a whole lot into a little bit of time. We started the afternoon with mussels, white wine (because it’s known around the world as some of the best), delicious brushetta (which is more like pizza) and some more seafood. The view from the patio was gorgeous. We watched the boats come and go in the harbor the whole time.

Next we took a boat ride to see Les Calanques, these islands along the coast of Cassis. They’re these large slabs of rock where people sunbath, swim & leisure around. It was the best 13 euro I’ve spent yet. The views were great. And get this, “Le monde est petit!” aka “It’s a small world.” I met a couple who live in Naples, Florida – in the same neighborhood as my family, The Moorings! And the wife grew up in Philadelphia and lived down the street from my elementary school. How crazy is that?! The other tourists on the boat were very entertained by us American students, but in a good way. They smiled, we smiled, and all of us enjoyed the view.

Then we hit the beach and swam in the Mediterranean sea for the second time this weekend!

It was a great time and I’m making even more new friends. This is my first full week of classes & I’m loving them!

Doors. Doors. Doors.

Aix is wonderful. I love my classes, my profs & my host mammie...the only thing I absolutely am having a very difficult time with is this front door. Today I opened it twice without a problem...but those are the only two times I've ever gotten it open. Oui, c'est vrai. Je suis une idiote (Yes, it's true. I'm an idiot). Tonight I went out with some friends to see the city at night. And I was fairly confident the whole time that I wouldn't have too much of a problem getting into the house. But lo and behold I arrive home and can't get the door open. The lights in the hallway on are on a timer and they went off on me four times! I don't know what it is about this lock, but it has me stumped.

There's no handle for this door. You unlock the top bolt, and then the bottom blot, and then the door (supposedly, but only if you have the magic touch) swings gracefully open.  So I tried and tried (I felt like the Little Engine That Could, "I think I can, I think I can.") but it wouldn't budge. It's a good thing ML is a sound sleeper! So I walked outside to clear my head and to think about how to get into the house (at this time I also ruled out any residing urges to become a secret agent because I'm clearly not stealthy in the least bit and breaking into bad guys' houses would be near impossible). The first time I did this, because I had to walk outside twice because the hallway gets really warm and I didn't want to get too frustrated, I encountered this older woman who was walking back from the swimming pool (why someone would swim at midnight I don't know but I'm not judging, at least she can get inside her house) and I felt awkward asking her for help so she went on her merry way unbothered by the crazy American girl standing outside and breathing deeply.

So I tried and tried some more. And all to no avail. So I walk outside a second time. And there. On the second floor is Michel, my guardian angel. Michel was the one who got my wireless internet working in 5 minutes after I'd unsuccessfully labored away at it for over an hour. Well apparently he's just a good with keys as he is keyboards because he saved me! I walked outside, and he's out on his 2nd floor balcony (looking very angelic, but maybe that's my gratitude coming through) and he waves at me, cigarette in hand, and says "Bonjour Kate!" So I answer with, "Bonjour, Michel! Je ne sais pas quoi, mais la porte n'ouvre pas pour moi!" I think there was only one grammatical error in my request to be saved, and he came downstairs and let me into the house on his first try! Earlier today he'd walked by ML and me in the hallway with me struggling to open the door and ML patiently showing me again and again. Gettysburg, why haven't you taught me life skills like picking locks? So not only did he get my internet working, witness me struggling with the door while my 72 year old host mom made me look like I'm challenged by life in the simplest of ways, but now he's also let me into the house in the middle of the night.

It's highly possible that Michel is the greatest man in France. Actually, I'm cetain he is.

Host Mom = Host Grandma = Best Cook In France. Yes!

The last two days have been a whirlwind of activity!



Saturday morning my host mom, Lucienne Aubrey, picked me up at my hotel. She took one look at me and took a step back. Uh oh. So I’m thinking, “Oh, crap. I’ve offended her already and I haven’t even opened my American mouth yet!” But then she smiled her 72 year old smile and exclaimed (in French) “You have the biggest and bluest eyes that I’ve ever seen!” At least, it was something along those lines. So we got off to a good start 


My two suitcases barely fit into her adorable, tres petite, car – it’s blue and can go very fast…I found this out on our drive home and when we ran errands. She might be older, but she still has a lead foot! When we arrived at her home we were greeted with stairs. There’s a big set of stairs leading from where we parked and where her apartment is, but I lugged those bags up here and made it in one piece! We live in a comfortable little apartment. It’s just the two of us, but it’s quaint and I love Lucienne. I’ve taken to calling her Mama Lucienne. I think she really likes that. We don’t always understand each other, but we do a lot of smiling, rewording, and if it’s not too important we switch subjects. When we eat dinner together we don’t talk the whole time. But she has a beautiful view from where we sit to eat, so we munch, chat some and look out the window at the birds and the trees. There’s a really nice breeze that comes through here, so it’s nice and cool despite there not being ac. A HUGE step up from the hotel!


Food: the food here is awesome! First off, it’s very healthy (Nicole – you would love it!). Everything is freshly picked, bought or grown. I think my body is in shock because I haven’t had processed food in 2 days. How great is that? Momma Lucienne (ML from now on) feeds me very well. She’s a great cook! She’s a golf instructor for senior citizens, and has a lot of friends, but she also has some free time and she loves to use that time cooking for me (also, I might’ve accidently told her I love to golf when I was really trying to tell her that my dad loves to golf…and we have a golfing date next weekend! Uh oh! When I explained that I’m bad she said it’s okay because she’s old, love her)! Even if I didn’t speak any French we’d still have a great relationship - I love anyone who feeds me like this! We’ve had Le Poulet au Citron avec du Riz (Lemon chicken with rice), Pizza de Lucienne (her own homemade pizza !), and for breakfast this morning she bought be a chocolate croissant, a baguette with jam (2 different kinds!), yogurt with granola mixed in, an apple, orange juice & coffee! Sure the coffee will tar your insides as it goes down because it’s so strong, but that’s ok! I’ve learned it’s 2/3rds milk to every 1/3rd coffee if you want a mug of coffee like in America. I’m so thankful to have a host like ML, what if my host made awful food?! Thank goodness for ML. She eats as much as me! We’re kindred spirits.


Today was our first day at the IAU campus with the students there. It was a meet and greet kind of event. And guess who I met there? A kid walked in wearing a High Tide jersey from this year and I instantly was like, “Hey, you! What’s your name? Let’s toss!” I’m so excited to have made a friend here who can throw a disc with me. And we’re both in the art program so we’ll have 3 classes together. And I met up with Meghan Quirk. It was the best feeling seeing a friendly face I recognize! We live on the same street, so I’m meeting her and her housemate (Lizzie, I’m pretty sure that’s her name) to walk to campus together tomorrow. Orientation starts at 9am. I REALLY need to buy an alarm clock. But I have a watch I can set until I get an one and burner cell phone. Waking up at 7:30am is going to be difficult though. My body isn’t on American time, but it’s not on French time yet either. I’m on mid-Atlantic ocean time I think!

I was dissappointed with how small the IAU campus is, two buildings, but I'll see more of it tomorrow and form a better opinion then.
 My room here is very cute. It’s a very good size, I think GBurg students would fight over this single. ML saw my crayons and princess coloring book (love you Tina!) today and that gave her a good laugh. I told her I’d color her a picture, I’m not sure she knew how to react to a 20 year old coloring…but I’m an art student, we get away with a lot of things…blame it on the art stereotype! I also showed her my small photo album of friends and family from home and school and she loved that up until she got to the Frisbee pictures, then she was just confused. How do you explain to a 72 year old French woman of Swiss decent the concept of playing Ultimate Frisbee? Especially when you don’t know many French words that describes sports! I showed her my jersey, and she recognized Lincoln, but asking why he was laying down holding a plate. Well, at least she liked our pictures  Even if she doesn’t understand why we chase around a Frisbee…but really – I don’t even understand it sometimes.


I mailed some more letters today, and the mail boxes here are bright yellow, and much smaller than ours at home. Also, I bought a bunch of stamps (les timbres) the other day, and I’m fairly certain the woman at the post office took advantage of me…that or the cost of mailing letters is astronomical. But now I have 7 more really pretty color-sticker stamps with pictures of France on them. But after that I’m investing in the .87 euro stamps – try to fool me again!


When I explained to ML today that not all the students here have internet she was very surprised! I’m soooo thankful that I have a host with the internet. I think the adjustment to being over here would be much more difficult without being able to talk with the people I’m close with on an easy and daily basis. I’m very excited to embrace life here completely, but I don’t want to be in complete isolation from the US. Hooray internet, and aim & skype once it’s happy with me (Mom – ask dad to help with that please? I love you!).


This morning, after my HUGE breakfast, ML and I went for a walk in the park that’s right next to our apartment complex. And it’s so beautiful! I have a safe place to run now, and my art studio is just a short walk through the park too. How great is that? ML pointed out the ducks to me and said that next time we’ll bring any old baguettes with us for them to eat. I’m not going to lie; I’m pretty excited about that!


Orientation tomorrow – I’m so excited to get back into the studio this week!

Aix-presso (pronounced, espresso – catchy eh?)

Yes, espresso and tea. They are similar to coffee, but not really the same. I have, however, had a cup of each…both times thinking I was ordering coffee. But I don’t want to be an ugly American, so I drank both with a smile. The tea was actually very good! Espresso has a little bit more of a kick than I expected and I was suddenly very thankful for the glass of water the waiter had given me - which I’d not understood the need for until the first sip. Also, at both locations “free wifi” was displayed. So thinking it’d make a good place to upload this post and the one before I sat down and ordered “café.” And both times my computer decided to hate me and wouldn’t connect to the internet. One espresso and one tea later I still have no internet, but I’m determined to get my laptop working. I’m hoping tomorrow when I meet my host mom, Mme. Aubrey, that she’ll have internet.

Yamina, one of the program coordinators, called me at Hotel Paul today and confirmed my pick up time tomorrow. She told me all about Mme. Aubrey and apparently she’s a wonderful, lively lady. She’s around 75 and everyone’s favorite host mom (grandmom?). She’s a great cook, so I hear, and also has a pool. The walk to my art school, The Marchutz School of Art, is just a quick promenade through the park. How cute and European is that?

Today, after spending a little while in the internet café (yet another failed attempt at wifi via laptop, so I used the café’s computer with its European keyboard which was a little easier to use after sleeping 13 hours last night) I meandered through the town and fully appreciated how beautiful it is. The cobblestone streets are completely historical. Also today I walked where Cezanne walked! *GASP!* How cool is that?!?!? CEZANNE! I love him. Then while perusing one of the many squares in the city which are lined with shops (candy stores, boutiques, cafés, wine stores, cheese & meat shops, paper stores – awesome! – , perfumeries, etc.) I stumbled upon the quintessence of Aix in human form. This old man was sitting on a travel case, smoking a giant pipe, and people watching. He was doing all this while sitting behind his tabletop which displayed pieces of art. They were gorgeous - small pen & ink and painted pieces - just beckoning to me to admire them. Then I did it. I bought two small pieces depicting a fountain and a hotel in the historic part of Aix. They’re great! I bought my first pieces of art for this trip !!

In other news, the dogs here are very well behaved. They sit under their owner’s tables quietly and mind their own business. And they’re so cute because most of them are really tiny! Then when they walk they smile at you, I swear the dogs smile. That or I understand the dogs here more than the people because they speak the same non-French language as me. But my lack of fluent French skills didn’t stop two different people from asking me for directions today! I either fit in well enough that they think I’m a native or my persona of well-put-together-well-aquainted-with-the-area-snazily-dressed-woman-of-the-world has convinced at least two people, hurray! I felt the same way I did when I visited UVA in high school with mom and someone asked us where an academic building was. Glorious. Simply glorious.

Four girls from my program came by my room earlier and we’re all going to go out together for dinner. I’m so excited to make new friends and to share this experience with others. I’m keeping myself awake until we leave by writing this, a few postcards, and working on a couple sketches. But once we’re at the café – I’m getting coffee! Well, attempting to get coffee anyways. Maybe I’ll end up with another espresso or tea, but I’m in France, well rested & happy, so it’s all going to be okay.

PS – It was great hearing your voice today Mom! I’ll call you tomorrow from my host home 

The 24 Hour Challenge Has Nothing on Me!

How long have I been awake? Good question. I have no idea. I do know, however, that I’ve taken 1 dad-manned car, 2 airplanes, one taxi and a long walk to get where I am. It all started around 9 am Wednesday morning and as I write this for you my computer is telling me it’s Thursday and 7:55 pm. Flying through the night can do crazy things to you! For instance, did you know that trying to speak a foreign language, after traveling for a full day and night is a pretty comical thing to watch (when you’re not the one struggling through it, tehehe). My cab driver from the airport to the hotel was one of the nicest people I met all day (2 days?), and I met a lot of people within the last 36 hours…I’m fairly certain that’s the hour count. Don’t worry, I did nap, but I’m trying to stay awake long enough to go to bed here at a reasonable time in order to switch to French time quickly. Anyways, this cabbie was wonderful. He asked me simple French questions, didn’t laugh when I stumbled over simple grammar and he introduced me to the city via car. As Kathleen and I say, “We speak fluent Franglais.” And yes, my friends, Franglais is certainly what I have been speaking. I’m fairly certain I’ve begun sentences in French today and ended them in English, I blame the lack of sleep – but tomorrow we’ll find out if that’s true ;)



My first flight was 6.5 hours long. Long enough to watch three movies and eat dinner onboard which was very quickly followed by breakfast since we literally flew through the night. It was crazy! We left Jersey and it was light out. Then it set as we flew over the ocean, and right as we landed in Brussels the it was coming up again. Crazy. I know. But after some sleep maybe the concept won’t feel quite so elusive.

The line for customs in Brussels was uncomfortable to say the least. There was a huge amount of people crammed into way too small of a space…and guess who picked the line with the chatty customs agent who nicely (but not without taking up a lot of time) asked everyone about themselves? Oh, that’s this kid. But after being in that kind of cramped, hot space everything else seemed pretty cool (temperature wise at least!).

My hotel room for the next two nights isn’t air conditioned, but that’s to be expected. And provided that the couple one floor up and one room over from me doesn’t repeat their performance of Afternoon Delight, I’ll be all set to fall asleep listening to the silent bustle of Aix with a cool breeze lapping at my window…which coincidently opens directly to the outside world and has let a daddy long legger take up residence in the top corner of my room...but with no RJ/Tina/Dennis to relocate him I think I’ll let him stay there as long as he doesn’t break our treaty about keeping to our sides of the room (I get the floor and he gets the ceiling). Also, the man who owns Hotel Paul is very nice, a sweet older gentlemen who has been very willing to help point me in the right directions in town…well the right direction isn’t exactly what I get from him. I’ve learned from the three sets of directions he’s given me (in English mind you, I’m still comprehending that one fairly well) were all at least one block off from the place he circled on the map. Once today his directions led me down a very quiet side street where I was supposed to be able to find wireless internet access. All I found were three Frenchmen who took it upon themselves to tell me that I have “Zee mohst bezutiful bleu eyez I haz evah sen!” I did find a place to get on the internet to send two emails, which was a feat in and of itself since I was using a French keyboard (wireless internet, I will find you tomorrow!) and I couldn’t figure out how to get the @ sign to show up. And the a’s and m’s are in different places so most of my words including an A turned out like something not even resembling franglais. And periods have to be made using the control key as well…needless to say almost all of my sentences were like this: long dqy todqy, love yot very mucb, tqke cqre,” No periods, just a lot of commas and dashes!

So after getting lost a few times, finding food at an open air market and lunch (or at this point dinner’s midnight’s snack’s breakfast) at a sidewalk café, getting to my program head quarters 5 minutes after it closed, not finding adequate internet, finding out the hotel I’m at doesn’t allow the use of phone cards (*808 you’re my best friend!), and asking a woman if I could hold her hand (I think I was asking for a chocolate croissant, which I did get in the end, but after something getting lost in translation), and taking the greatest shower of my life (showering after the longest day of travel ever is one of the best experiences, even if I can’t bend over in the shower to pick up my shampoo without conking my head) – even after all that…needless to say it was not an ideal first day…I’m still hopeful for tomorrow. I’m exhausted emotionally and physically, but in the end I learned something, that even when you’re in a foreign city, surrounded by complete strangers who speak a different language, there are still people out there who want to help you.

I befriended a man traveling back to Spain today. We waited in the awful customs line together and then again at security (where I was randomly chosen to be frisked) and the whole time we gave each other looks like, “Well, we can’t hurry this process along so we might as well keep smiling and try not to get too down.” He barely spoke English, and I speak practically no Spanish, but we were united in our struggle to get through the airport. We kept each others’ spirits up without much conversation, but some dancing to iPods was definitely included. I feel alone, not knowing anyone yet and still having an entire day ahead of me to explore a city I’m pretty sure I covered every foot of today, but it’s okay because I’m not actually alone. There’s always someone else out there going through the same exact same thing as you, and together you can keep smiling because tomorrow has got to be a better day.

Thanks again everyone from home for you nice good luck texts today (well, yesterday morning now), they meant a lot to me. And thanks for the facebook notes and great emails (Thanks for making me smile via email Dennis!). I promise to keep in touch once I find an internet hookup for my laptop.

Tomorrow is another day, and thank goodness it’ll only be 24 hours long.