Time is Relative

It’s the 18th of October…the 18th of October!!! How did that happen? September felt like it would never, ever end – and then it did and before I knew it October was already over halfway done. I’m not complaining though, I love being abroad (and it’s an AMAZING experience), but I am very much looking forward to returning home in December. But this is why time is relative: I feel like I waited forever for Dennis’ visit and then BAM(!) it’s already over. Craziness I tell you. Despite already having said goodbye to Dennis sooner than I could’ve ever expected I am looking forward to finishing midterms this week, going to Giverny for 4 days with Marchutz to paint in Monet’s gardens, and then meeting up with Mom (hooray!) in Paris for fall break. That’s all going to be amazing and is going to take me all the way to November – can you believe that?!

Okay, all my incredulities about time aside, I had a terrific time with Dennis here in Aix! Besides being very good at keeping my hand warm in his while walking around – which is very handy when it’s so cold outside (aren’t I punny?) – he’s also great at being my painting assistant in the countryside because, I’m telling you, I did done some of my best work when he was here! We spent his first night walking around the city and enjoying the night atmosphere while sitting outside under the heat lamps eating fresh mussels and loving being together again. I think the couple sitting next to us thought we were crazy because we talk a million miles a minute when trying to catch up on weeks apart. When I had my lecture courses Dennis worked on his own homework up in our tiny library where 1. He was attracting attention because he’s male and there are very few guys in our program (sorry ladies, he’s mine!) and 2. He might’ve been napping on Plato because of the time difference. For being 6 hours ahead of his normal time he did very well at keeping up with us time-adjusted folks. We did some shopping in town, walked around a lot (I pointed out all my favorite buildings, puppies in the park, art stores etc), took the bus with Marchutz into the country for painting, ate dinner with Mamie at night (who loved Dennis especially because he made her homemade potholders which she proceeded to hang right up on the wall), and just generally enjoyed being back together again. I can’t believe it’s already over and that we’ve said goodbye again, but it’s the last goodbye for a long time because once break starts it’ll be hard to keep us apart :) hooray! Thanks for visiting Dennis, and thank you to both our families - who bought tickets, drove to airports and made this happen, yay!


So after Dennis’ visit I’m back to real life in Aix, which meant a presentation in Art Crit which went really well followed by a field trip to Arles (yes, again). This time Le Mistral (the wind here has a name it’s so bad!) was out in full force. I spent most of the day eating my hair because it kept hitting me in the face. It was a fun, long day though. And after Arles we had another potluck dinner with Marchutz at my friend Mary’s apartment which is always a good time – gotta love family! Anyways, this time in Arles I explored some new things! We visited the Roman Arena which was spectacular. It was built in the 1st and 2nd centuries and could hold from 20,000-30,000 people. Woah! We also spent time in the Roman Theatre which is the oldest monument in the town. The Tragic Vision class which also came on the field trip performed a short part of an act by Sophocles. The Republic Square holds a giant obelisk, Saint-Trophime church and then town hall clock tower. We also explored a museum with lots of relics and ended the day with touring the archaeological site of Glanum. It was fun walking through the ruins of a civilization past and envisioning their way of life and its stark contrast to ours.
Four more days until departing for Giverny, Paris and seeing my Momma! I can’t wait to see another friendly face from home (Sorry Nicole that I’m stealing Mom for Halloween, I promise to spend Halloween with everyone next year!). Time to review some more for midterms, although in all honesty I don’t think they’re going to be terribly difficult compared to Gettysburg exams.