I see your Neruda, and I raise you a Poe

Hellllooooo everybody. Did I seem to disappear for a bit? I was kind of staying in because of my ankle, and I did not think that was very interesting to hear about.
Anyway, the FAIRE ATTENTION has been effective, both at reminding be to be aware and attentive to my surroundings and for striking up conversations with French people, who want to know why the heck I have that written on my arm. They all still keep thinking I am Spanish, all though I have also gotten English and Brazilian as alternate guesses at this point.
I got lost in Aix a couple days ago. Not the best thing on a sprain, but fun nonetheless. The ankle is still angry with me for getting lost, but I feel optimistic. Also, I think it was worth it. Aix is a perfect city to get lost in, filled with narrow, winding alleyways that end in secret fountains or little bookshops or boulangeries. Even when you are lost, it is a small, safe, sun-filled (have I mentioned how beautiful the light is here?) city, so there is never a feeling of danger, only of exploration. I discovered where all the comic-book shops are, and there was a book store called, "Le Bateau Livre," which made me smile. It doesn't even feel dangerous at night, really, but I always get a guy to walk me home anyway.
Not that there have been many instances where I needed to be walked home, thanks to my stupid ankle.
My host parents went to Amsterdam this weekend, and Alexis stayed with a friend, so not only was I unable to go out, I was all alone. I may have gone a little bit stir-crazy. Well, maybe a lot stir-crazy. I am an active person! I get cabin fever. Anyway, I couldn't get a hold of other students either for a long time, as most of them didn't have phones yet. Finally, on saturday, one of my Marchutz friends, Matt, texted me to say he'd gotten a phone, so I bribed him with the copious amounts of food Jade made for me to get him to come over. We watched youtube videos. It was great fun. In spite of his fast metabolism, not even Matt was able to finish the ratatouille and bouef bourguignon that Jade made me. On top of that, they left me multiple ready-made dinners and were appalled when they returned to find that I had not even finished the two dishes Jade made.
"It was a lot of food!" I protested.
"FOUR DAYS!" they replied. They also keep reminding me of good snacking times. They're great. All their food is really healthy, though, so I am not worried about gaining weight. Well, I was never worried about gaining weight, but mom was and I don't think she needs to worry about the food I'm getting at home. If I get fat, it will be because of going to patisseries and boulangeries on my own. On that account, I can make no promises.
Have I mentioned that bread is on a whole other level in this country? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Haha, this blog is going to end up being all about food. Oh well.

A way of saying hello that I have learned in France: Cou-cou! Really! I love it. It's like we are all little clocks. Cou-cou!

CLASSES. I have them. My French class is extremely slow. We are an advanced class, and yet we are going over conjugating the present tense and are not scheduled to review the subjunctive until December. Hmm. I am going to try to switch into another class.

Archaeology, on the other hand, is freaking awesome. The professor, one Guillaume Durand, is highly animated, French, and hilarious. Sound effects, all the time! I don't know why, but he likes quacking when he collects his thoughts. Also, very questionable hand-drawn maps of Europe. I wish I could record his class to show it to people. It is awesome, entertaining, and educational. You know, the way school is supposed to be.

DEAR EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS: YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASSIGN LOTS OF HOMEWORK IN ORDER TO EDUCATE PROPERLY. SEE: MY ARCHAEOLOGY CLASS. LOVE, CARLA.
I mean, we do have homework, but it's reasonable. For the first time in years, my homework load is reasonable!


By far, the most work intensive stuff I have is from Marchutz, which is fine by me. I enjoy working hard at art, and it's nice to get out of the hyper-academic Sarah Lawrence mind-set and get credit for painting naked ladies and mountains. And learn from it! Crazy!
We have been doing lots of figure drawing. Here is my favorite drawing I have made so far, of our ludicrously stunning model, Pauline. Also, a random doodle I made today as a demonstration of an ink-brush pen to another student.

A couple nights ago, I had a bit of a poetry off with Jacob. He had never heard Neruda in Spanish before and he is currently compiling a book of Neruda poems with illustrations, so he had me say some aloud for him while he read the French translations. He liked it so much, he immediately had me do it with Walt Whitman also, but though he loves Whitman (which surprised me, as I think of Whitman as hyper-American), he didn't think the sounds had music in the original language. He then went on to say that he didn't think English poetry had the same music as poetry in Spanish or French. Obviously, I protested. I started using Shakespeare as my defense, but he brushed that aside as theater, and thus irrelevant to the discussion. "I just mean poems. Poems in english don't have the same lyric quality out loud as with other languages, like Spanish or French," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him and recited the first three stanzas of "The Raven."
He conceded that that rather aptly made my point. :)
Then he had me try to translate some of my own poetry into French for him, which made me appreciate how hard it is to translate poetry.

There was a special half-off drinking night for international students that I went to, but I left after not too long. Bars aren't that amazing to begin with, but put that many people in them and they lose all their charm. You can't get a drink, and you can't hear anyone speak! I went elsewhere with a couple friends, and there was a live band with an accordion (my favorite instrument, tied with the glass harmonica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_harmonica) so I was happy. On the way home, my friends Matt, Francesco, and I stopped and sat in front of this "http://fr.academic.ru/pictures/frwiki/65/Aix-en-Provence_Cathedrale_Saint-Sauveur_1_20061227.jpg cathedral and chatted for a while. There were these funny lights cleverly placed in the ground so that I hadn't noticed them before that night, so everything was very picturesque and interesting looking. Unlike in the photograph, there were no hobos. Anyway, we sat there a while and Matt looked very cool smoking his cigarette in front of all the statues in the doorway and Francesco bounced around on his toes and I sat down under the statue in between the two doors to rest my ankle. It was by far the best part of my evening. Then they walked me home, because they are gentlemen. Also, the two of them are both gay, and black belts in karate, so I may very well have been the safest girl in Aix that night.

To end, more pictures. They are: Jade in the Castle, me being French in my room, me on the couch with Jacob and Alexis, and the amazing sunset we got to watch during dinner yesterday. On an unrelated note, I think some cats just got into a fight outside my window. The noises just ended abruptly, which I find a little ominous.




A bientôt!