Palm Trees, Tramways, Pastries... oh my!

Bonjour!!!

Ok, so it’s my first full week in France and I am adjusting slowly but surely! I found a nice internet café where I get free internet…this makes me VERY happy!!!

Friday was productive. After begging with every possible person for a rez with internet (I was proud of Gab!!!) we gave in and unpacked our things… my room is not as bad as Julien’s room… it at least has paint on the wall. I moved the furniture around so it doesn’t look as cramped. I must mention, however, that our rez is not very safe! There are gypsies that live in the parking lot and a guy got attacked by their dogs. The doors to our dorm are also constantly open so basically anyone can walk in. I have already heard of a girl from Thailand who got her laptop stolen. Anyways, we also paid for a tramway pass so now we have unlimited transportation (which I have noticed is vital in Montpellier!!!) I even had lunch at a real French café and had a coffee (they are small and really strong!) and a yummy tart! Afterwards, we went to the Géant, which is similar to a large wall mart… it has EVERYTHING…the wine is soo cheap too… we got a bottle of wine for 2Euros… loves it! Brie and chocolate croissants were also on our list… healthy eh! We were very upset to find out that the bus does not run after 8 so we had to walk super long to our rez… note to self…do not do groceries after 8…
Saturday we were planning on going to the beach…except the bus that brought us there was not running… maybe it’s because it’s January and most normal people do not go to the beach during winter... at any rate, we decided to go to Ikea instead… this was very exciting because I was able to buy a blanket for my bed and a new pillow. Now, along with the pictures of my friends all over my wall, my room is becoming a little more comfortable!!! Afterwards we walked around La Place de la Comédie, which is the central part of Montpellier. It is beautiful there… lots of little streets with boutiques and lots of brasseries and cafés. We stopped at an outdoor restaurant and had a glass of wine! We then went home and drank wine and ate cheese and French baguette! Yummy! (I won’t be able to eat like this for very long if I expect to have a figure when I get home!!!)
Apparently on Sunday’s NOTHING is open… and I mean nothing… it’s actually very depressing… people disappear and everything is closed (except few restaurants.) So I walked around the town…found out how to get to my school (I walked by it 3x before I finally found it!) I then went back to La Place de la Comédie where I found the internet café! I also met two people for Ireland! I think people who speak English are magnetically drawn to each other!
Yesterday was my first day of “school.” None of the classes that I had chosen when first applying were offered this semester… we weren’t even sure if the classes that we wanted to take were even available to us since the academic system is different here. The woman in charge of the international students was too busy to talk to us because she was trying to figure out where to house other students who had just arrived. Plus the registrar’s office was closed until Tuesday and student services had no idea what to do with us. So we walked around the school and then left… what a productive day! I’ve realised that peoples attitudes here are very lade back and nobody is stressed to do anything. Even the teachers are laid back…however I don’t plan on underestimating anything!!! Afterwards we wanted to do our groceries however there was a strike and some of the buses were not running (just my luck that the one bus I needed to take was not in service!). Instead I ended up walking around town again….

Anywho, missing you guys uncontrollably…

-Ash
xoxo