I FOUND NEMO!

This entry goes out to Devan... because I love her more than all the fishies in the sea PLUS the Monoco Aquarium.






















Yes, second part of Monaco consisted of visiting an aquarium, which was strangely more relaxing and awesome than I thought it would be.






















I got to see some totally awesome fish swimming around. Goldfish depress me because they can only swim in circles in a little bowl, but these fish get to interact with each other and have a pretty good life, as far as fish go.




















So, daddy, I think we should stick this awesome one in the tank.






















FISHY... WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING? I'm a pirannah! (Disney references, bien sur)

MY BUBBLESSSSSSS... yes it's the Bubbles fish from Finding Nemo!!!
































This dude was just really cool looking.

JACQUES!





























Oh my goodness... and the NEMOS!!! There were so many of them, it made me very happy.

























Carmen and I just stood and quoted Finding Nemo for quite some time. Some foreign guy walked up to the tank, pointed and said "Nay-mo!" (Knee-mo, you fool)





















Then I decided that I had to watch Nemo when I got back to the dorm, which is exactly what I have done.

On our way back we stopped at a town called Eze known for it's perfume making. The woman gave half the tour in French and I understood more than I thought I would.



























It also started to POUR which made me unhappy because we had to run down the street back to the dorm. I hope this rain gets out of Cannes' system because I hope to enjoy this last week on the beach.
























DORY!!!




































This fish was actually pretty funny; while all the other fish kept swimming around he was watching Carmen and I while making faces. Is it possible for a fish to flirt?



























Devaloo, I tried to get a picture of the seahorses for you but they were being camera shy -- so I took this instead!!














I don't know this man. But he spent a while checking out the fish in this stellar tank.


















Jellyfish and octopus.. GROSS!!! I think those are the only two problems I have with the ocean, other than pollution (which I can blame on society) and decaying bodies in the water (which I can blame on CSI for putting that idea in my head.... THANKS).















There was a genocide of mussels.














Don't be surprised.

Monaco

AIFS was kind enough to pay for a trip to Monaco for us. We left on a bus this morning and got to see the really touristy area.












The really touristy area is where the palace and church are. We were there for the changing of the guard, which I decided to sit on the side and eat my lunch during. I got to hear it at least. Carmen came and sat with me because it was impossible to see anything; while we were sitting there this old guy by us let out the loudest fart ever. It took so much not to burst out laughing.













So I wasn't overly impressed with Monaco. It was a lovely place, but I am glad we were only there for a few hours.












Apparently Monaco is the richest country in Europe? Probably because of the casino.. Monte Carlo. Which we were not able to see, because they do not allow buses to merely pass by anymore. You have to go in and gamble your money away.









Oh, this is me deciding whether to eat an apple or apple sauce from a packet. I really wanted to finger paint with the apple sauce, look at the cool thing it comes in!!!











This is Grace Kelly's tomb.



















I don't even have to relate my life to Disney for this entry. It just made itself blatently known.













I love the buildings along the Cote d'Azur. Everything is old yet still so colorful. Paris is going to be such a sharp contrast, being as everything is monotone (which I don't have a problem with, it's gorgeous)










This is a flower. It was pretty. J'ai prendu un photo.












Oh, cute.

l'Italie

Yesterday after class I got on a train from the Gare de Cannes with some girls from my group in AIFS to go to dinner for Italy. You know, just border hopping. NBD. No big deal.
































<--Me "compostez"-ing my billet. You put your ticket in the thingy and it gets a stamp showing you validated your ticket. It makes a really cool sound, and I get to say "compostez". Simple things, people. I also love the little music that the speakers make when the gare makes an annoucement. Four simple notes.



































So yes, this is Italy. Carmen was with us, and her family is one of those hardcore Italian families who brought her up speaking Italian, so even though the only thing I could do was say "CIAO!" we had her to translate for us. Thank goodness.


























We went to the town of Sanremo which was really beautiful.



































La centre ville. Actually, that's French, so I don't know what they call it over there. We also can't figure out what those metal things are hoovering overhead: I hypothesized electric wires, but I really wanted to hang from them.

























What a wonderful dinner. I got to look at this Dolce and Gabanna god as I ate my REAL ITALIAN PASTA!! Delicious. (Both the guy and the dinner)


























Oh hey, Italian license plate.





































There are mountains here. I can't get over that... such a spoiled South Shore girl.


































Yummers, chocolate gelato.




































We had a few hours before our train back to France so we wandered down by the docks for a little bit.

Being able to say I went to Italy just for dinner and be back within a matter of hours was so incredibly cool. Someday I would like to go back and spend more time in Italy, but I do not know about this trip. I would like to stay within France and foucs on learning about the French culture and language. Tonight I ended up at a table of 5 French guys my age who spoke in rapid fire French and were amazed when I responded to questions they asked. Honestly, I was impressed with myself too. Anywho, Italy was amazing. C'est tout pour aujourd'hui! BISOUS !!!

Cannes

Bonjour!! Sorry for the lack of update from sunny Cannes. Monday we took a placement exam to figure out what level we would be put in for classes while in Cannes. I placed low-intermediate, which is fine with me because between class and Intermediate French for Dummies (I am a dummy) I hope hope hope I will be prepared for the Sorbonne. I feel comfortable in the class. My professor speaks rapid French for the entire 3 hours of class from 9 to 12 and I am able to follow what she says. How crazy is that? Two years ago I was just beginning to learn French.

Yesterday, two representatives from the Sorbonne came down to talk to us about the program in Paris. I will be taking "cours pratique" which is a language class (hopefullyyy at the intermediate level!) I will also be taking "Histoire de Paris" (formally the architecture class) "Societe Francaise" and "Civilisation Francaise."

Today we signed up for housing. Elke, the woman in charge of the housing for AIFS students will be matching us up to our host families. When we get to Paris next Friday we get into a taxi and are taken to where we will be living for the next several months. I wasn't going to sign up for a single, but I consented to live in one when Elke asked me if I would want to live close to campus (umm... YES!!!!!) There is no guarantee of anything but that would be spectacular if I did. I'll find out in 9 days!

Alright, how about some pictures of my local surroundings?

This is the view right outside my window. Yes, that is a palm tree. To the right of my window is the Mediterranean Sea. Palm trees, sunshine and sand. I could get used to this.

There are a lot of tiny, winding streets. Tres "Beauty and the Beast". There are many cafe's set up along the street, as well as fish vendors as you get closer to the water.

This is a very cool old wall. . . Yeah.








































12th century tower.





































So, remember from Angers I took a picture of a condom dispenser? Well, there are several scattered on the streets of Cannes. The girls I went into town with had the same reaction I did, and all I heard for the rest of the day was "I took a picture of the condom dispenser!" It totally doesn't phase me anymore; I don't even have a reaction when seeing people walk down the beach naked. C'est la vie.













Oh God... MONOPRIX. I got a little school supply happy (finally!!) (oh... and Ben... you'd be proud.... I didn't get paper clips!!! (: ) and a towel. I also got my cookies... oh man I can't even tell you how good they are. My good Monoprix mood was snuffed by the mediocre reaction from the people I was with. "Well, they don't have flip flops." Grr, don't bash my Monoprix.













Anyone who knows me well, knows that I do not do "groups" well. I can compose myself and interact, but when put in the same group of people for an extended period of time, I tend to lose it. It happened in Angers, and I can sense it happening now. I try to hang out with different people, but people have already formed their own little clicks. My roommate tends to be with me at all times, and today was the first time that I was able to have some breathing room: I went to the beach.




It's exactly what I needed. Sand all over. Ocean spraying all over me. The sun warming me.













I went with a girl named Carmen, and she went on a walk down the beach so I was able to have my alone time. When she got back she read aloud from my copy of Le Petit Prince so I could help her with pronounciation. She's taken French for about six years and I am the one helping her. HAH.








So that is that. Yesterday I got pretty darn homesick, but I'm dealing with it. I feel better today. But everyone, I do miss you and it's difficult for me to deal with how long it will be until I am home again. I will write soon! I have pictures of my residence et chambre to share.















GROS BISOUS !!

Londres

I am currently in Cannes, but I wanted to share my adventures in London! It. Was. Awesome. I found a way to beat jeg lag: drink, then go to sleep with the rest of the city. A group of about 15 of us found a cool pub a few blocks away from our hotel. There was a downstairs lounge with a "secret garden" area where we hung out until they kicked us out. Then four of us went to get food because we were rather hungry, so I had a wonderful midnight sandwich at a Moraccan place.





















Saturday we had a bus tour of London. It was three hours long, but the tour guide was very informative so the time flew by. Since I had seen many of the sights senior year, it was fun to be able to know I've already done certain things and learn new things about them.

















Umm....... prettiness by the palace.





























Big Ben!































Wanda and Karen: Does this not look familiar? Like... a certain structure we could see every time we looked out our windows?? :-)

Brace yourselves, people. The Disney references of Study Abroad 2008 are about to begin. Actually, I'll make this into a game: WHAT DISNEY MOVIE AM I?
- sitting on the stairs of St. Paul's Cathedral
- takes place in London
- HINT: feed the birds...
Leave a comment with an answer!


































Do you know the muffin man?
WHO LIVES ON DRURY LANE WHICH ACTUALLY EXISTS??? Oh my goodness.





























Despite the bloody painted hints telling you which way to look, I almost managed to be struck by a vehicle. Luckily I have reflexes like a cat. And they were driving slow.




























The Tube! After the tour we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Five of us went to the British Museum (which I am sad to say, did not have the Reading Room open. It was upsetting, actually. I was so excited to see all the books!) Despite my dissapointing encounter at the museum... we made up for it by buying all-day Underground tickets and running around. First we went to Abbey Road.














We signed the wall outside the recording studio with a highlighter. I wrote "Let it be", as you can see.


















There was a tonnn of traffic, but we still ran around the street. We took a group picture like the Beatles walking across, but someone else has that so I'll post it when they put it online. Until then, you get this wonderful shot of me being a doof.









Disney Reference #2: I HAVE A BIG HEAD... AND LITTLE ARMS

(From the National Museum of History... there was a really fun dinosaur section. Yay for fossils!)















Hahahahaha it's called a dik-dik.



















Oooooooooohh sweet niblets... a lime green Lamborghini. We were all pressed up against the glass admiring it.












And to close................. a little French child at the museum observing the dik-dik. "Maman, maman, regardez!"











Which made me so eager to get to France. And now I am. I have class in the morning and have to take a placement exam, so I am off for now.

Bisous!!