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.

Merde, Smoke & Van Gogh

Dennis arrives today! And his flight is arriving later than planned, so in an effort to pass the time until I leave for the bus more effectively, I’ll update all of you on my observations, my life in France & field trips!


Observations:

The French might not be fat, but they’re going to die of lung cancer. Okay – huge generalization, I know, but it’s what I experience every day. I’ve seen two (only two) obese people since I’ve gotten here. And that includes trips to neighboring French towns – and I’ve been to a lot of places so far! In America you see overweight people at least once a day if you adventure out to the malls or supermarkets. And I think the secret to their skinniness here is that they walk everywhere. I’m serious. I play sports, Ultimate kicks my butt into really good shape, and even still my legs are sore after walking around here. I have leg muscles in my thighs that I didn’t even know existed! Not to mention I live in the center of a valley and I walk uphill to Marchutz and uphill to the main campus in town at least once every day. Lots of walking = new leg muscles = losing weight? That’s right (and don’t worry mom!) but I’ve gone down two belt sizes since getting here because of getting toned up. I’m not even trying! I run twice a week just to clear my head and because the park here is beautiful, but without working out a lot I’m still losing weight. I think it’s because they use sugar here instead of corn syrup in everything (so you’re not drinking carbs), I’m not eating processed foods and all the walking. To top it all off the French smoke – a lot. I’m thinking maybe because they’re smoking they’re occupied and eat less? I don’t know. All I know if they’re in good shape from walking so much but that their lungs probably look like the inside of a truck which lays tar. I am looking forward to the States where you don’t walk through a cloud of smoke when entering buildings. But after being here over a month I’m getting used to the smell and can even identify different kinds of tobacco being smoked (gross, but true!).

Poop. It’s still everywhere - on the sidewalks, on the curb, in the road, on the lawn, at your feet, under your shoes and stinking up your nose. While walking around Arles yesterday on a field trip periodically you’d hear one of us Marchutz kids yell out, “Watch the merde!” Which roughly translates to, “Watch the shit.” You can’t avoid it, the best you can do is be aware of where it is and try not to step in it (and make good friends who rescue you right when you’re about the walk into it!). Living here is an assault on the nose. You’re either smelling smoke, shit or really yummy food. Only one of those is appetizing to me!

Life Updates:

Classes are still going really well. My studio art courses, which are 3-4 hour long studio sessions Monday-Thursday and a 4 hour Seminar on Fridays, are AMAZING. Our professors are very intelligent, extremely giving with their time, and completely devoted to their students. They’re willing to spend out of classroom time with us getting coffee and talking about our pieces and what we can do to better ourselves. We’re always being given new reading materials to enrich our knowledge of the art world. But the best part is they lead by example. Everything we’re doing they’ve done before. They participate in the seminars (and serve coffee and homemade tea too, yum!), they come out the country with us when we paint from the motif (or direct observation from nature) and they’re there with us at L’Office de Tourisme at 7:30 am to take a chartered bus to our field trip destinations. When one of us was sick John (one of the profs) ran next door to where he lives next to the studio and asked his wife what medicine my friend should take to feel better. They had some on hand so they brought it right over to him. My professors in the states have never administered medicine to me…it’s hard enough getting the health center to test for mono when you’re clearly withering away in front of them! It’s great the amount of caring they show for us. They really are the Poppa Ducks, and we follow those two around the cities just trying to soak up as much knowledge as we can from them in this short semester we have. Sometimes we fancy ourselves the baby dicks because a lot of the time we’re following our professors around single file…like little baby ducks. These professors are less professors and more colleagues, which makes for an exciting and stimulating work environment. I can’t wait to get painting again on Monday!

ML is still as wonderful as ever. She’s the sweetest, most kind and generous woman. And she’s still cooking great food! I’ve had homemade quiche, apple pie (well she didn’t call it that, but that’s what it tasted like! But not as good as my mom’s apple pie, that’s for sure!), casseroles, pastas and everything else under the sun. And after every meal we have cheese and bread. So I’ve learned to not eat to my capacity during the main meal because they’re still more to come! Sometimes after dinner I’m so full that I just lie on my bed for a couple minutes. But 10 minutes later I’m hungry again because all of this walking has my metabolism revved up! Also, thanks mom and dad for the care package with the coffee! We alternate now between her coffee and mine in the mornings. It’s very nice to wake up in the am (and because she wakes up earlier than me most days) with the coffee smelling delicious and knowing that it’s going to taste yummy too. They say smell is your greatest sense in terms of remembering things, and when I sit and drink my coffee here – if I close my eyes and smell the steam I feel like I’m at home, sitting in dad’s spot on the coach, about to watch some morning news before school. It’s great.

Field Trips:

Yesterday we explored the small town of Arles and then the institution at St. Remy. Both towns are about an hour and an hour and a half north of Aix. We went to at least six different motifs (or exact locations) from which Van Gogh (YES THE VAN GOGH!!) painted and drew his landscapes. Mom, I saw the place that he looked at when he painted the two pieces we have in our house – Momma House you have the same one hung in your bedroom too! How cool is that? One of the paintings has a little sampling of a tree portrayed in it, and we got to go to that same location and saw that little sapling grown up into a towering, tall tree! It was so neat. Standing where he stood and seeing what he saw, well now I know what all of the Impressionist artists are talking about when they refer to the light here. Because le Mistral (the wind here) is so impressive it blows all of the clouds out of the sky and lets in the most beautiful and pure sunlight I’ve ever seen. But you know that when you see clouds here that you should probably find shelter because when it rains – it pours. Two nights ago we had a thunderstorm which was so loud and so intense that it pulled me out of a very deep sleep. The thunder shook the building and the lightning felt like the paparazzi was taking over my bedroom.

Photos from the Vaucluse Field Trip with Marchutz

My second field trip of the semester, but my first with Marchutz. We explored the Vaucluse - hiked through the woods, learned about architecture, visited a monastery, has a picnic lunch & so much more! I think, after this trip, we officially became the Marchutz family.

"I feel like I've gained six sisters and three brothers." -Katherine
I totally agree.

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!