Ma première semaine à Avignon

Ugh, I have been failing at updating, so here's a run down of what's been going on in Avignon:

Last week I started classes on Tuesday and I have been having a great time so far. All of my professors are very nice and very good at speaking slowly. My French History professor is a little disorganized in his notes though, it's actually kind of funny. Aside from French History, I am taking Art History, the Philosophy of Aesthetics, French Cinema, and a translation course that is taught by a francophone professor on Tuesdays and an Anglophone professor on Fridays. My Art History professor doesn't speak a word of English, but she's the easiest to understand. My Cinema professor is crazy, but very fun. My Aesthetics professor is gorgeous...I find this endlessly amusing.

Last Wednesday night I went to a free concert with my host sister at a local pub called Red Sky. The band was French, but they wok in England since there aren't many gigs in French bars. They sang lots of music in English (Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Bowie...) and a few French songs as well. It was a good time. Red Sky is where most of the Erasmus kids go for drinks, so it's quite the melting pot, as my host sister called it.

Friday afternoon I went to the Pont St. Bénezet (le Pont d'Avignon from the song) with some friends and then my friend Dan and I walked to meet some other students from our program and a French university student named Magali. We went out for drinks with Magali's friends at a bar on Place Pie (the square where Red Sky is, very close to my apartment) and then we went to an Italian restaurant called O Solé Mio and then Magali & Co. went back to our first bar, some of the kids in our program went home, and Dan and I met up with some other kids from our program at Red Sky. At our table there was a Swede, two Germans, two Frenchmen, a Columbian, a kid from China, and roughly ten Americans, if not more. It was a great night.

Saturday, I got myself lunch and wandered to a tiny square where I ate and then some French kids came and stared at me. They were very young, it was cute. If they had been teenagers, I probably would have punched them. Children: getting away with stalking since forever.

Saturday evening I went out for dinner with a few kids from my program. We got Chinese food. Hint: When in France, don't get Chinese food. It wasn't all that good and I would have probably enjoyed a French or Italian meal much better. Lots of Italian food here, by the way. It's very delicious. Also: I am not yet tired of French food, it's amazing.

After dinner on Saturday, we went to a different restaurant for dessert and coffee and then we met up with Magali & Co. again to go to a jazz club called Delirium. They were having a party for the Russian New Year, so there were mandatory vodka shots and pickles at the door. It was good stuff. The music was, of course, Russian and there was lots of dancing, of which I only partook a little, I was too busy talking to Magali's friends to actually want to dance.

Saturday, I got myself lunch and wandered to a tiny square where I ate and then some French kids came and stared at me. They were very young, it was cute. If they had been teenagers, I probably would have punched them. Children: getting away with stalking since forever.

Saturday evening I went out for dinner with a few kids from my program. We got Chinese food. Hint: When in France, don't get Chinese food. It wasn't all that good and I would have probably enjoyed a French or Italian meal much better. Lots of Italian food here, by the way. It's very delicious. Also: I am not yet tired of French food, it's amazing.

On Sunday I met some folks for lunch and then we hopped from café to café drinking coffee and finding the best pain au chocolat. I'm a fan of it at the boulangerie across the street from McDonald's on Rue de la République.

Yesterday and today were filled with classes and not much to speak of in terms of excitement. My workload seems to be pretty manageable, nothing honors courses at PSU haven't thrown at me, except for the all in French bit. Either way, my French is improving greatly, especially on the weekends when we go out with the French students. This Saturday is my program's day trip to Aix-en-Provence, so get excited for some stories and some pictures either on Sunday or Monday!

Love each and every one of you, unless I don't.
In which case, I miss you, unless I don't.
But those two exceptions really only apply to people I don't know, and if I don't know you, why the hell do you care what I'm doing in Avignon?
Creepers.

à bientôt!
Abbey

P.S. Map of Avignon coming soon!

P.P.S. The snow and ice have mostly been cleared out! I could not be happier about this occurrence.