Day 4 back in Bordeaux

A very good day--

I'll start off by saying that I had a really amazing time in Morocco and Italy over the holidays. I met some cool people in Morocco, got to ride a couple camels, and was acquainted with a very different culture that I came to love. In Italy, I saw some incredible sites, including many ancient Roman ruins and the excavated city of Pompeii--where Mount Vesuvius erupted rather spontaneously and buried a whole town alive within hours. I also visited Florence/Firenze (same town, different names in Italian and English) and got to see A LOT of art, and Venice, where I wandered the misty canals and tried not to get lost. Christmas was nothing special, just another day of travel (although a really good one). We went to mass which was really interesting; it was hard to figure out where the only church in Marrakech is, since Morocco is a muslim country, but the service was beautiful and full of a lot of spirit. New Year's Eve I spent in Rome. It was so crazy! I didn't expect there to be THAT many people, but there were thousands crowding the streets of Rome until well past midnight. There were so many bangs and shouts going off from random fireworks and people that it was hard to know where to direct my attention. Overall the trip was incredible, as I said. But I learned that three weeks is a very long time to be away traveling, constantly busy, and surviving off of what little you brought in your backpack, not too mention it's EXPENSIVE (Italy anyway, Morocco was surprisingly cheap!).

I'm back in Bdx now, all moved into my new apartment (which I love!), unpacking, cleaning, organizing, and preparing for the new semester starting on Monday. Time flies... My semester friends have left, but I'm making new friends already; I've been hanging out with people pretty much nonstop, from shopping to cooking dinner to hanging out in cafés and bars.

Today was pretty great :)
I started off the day going to the St. Michel flea market, which is now about a seven minute walk from my home (used to take over half an hour on the tram), walked around and got a baguette to eat with some paté and clementines. After eating I walked around more looking at all the booths of fabric, clothes, and food and ended up buying a pair of tights from one of the booths.

Afterwards my friends and I went to check out the French sales at H&M, and let me tell you those sales are intense! Instead of having sales for a short period after the holidays, it seems they have them throughout all of January, making the streets of Bordeaux packed with people. The sales are really great too, I ended up getting a shirt, pair of shorts, and a sweater jacket for 25€, saving me 28€ if I had bought them not on sale! Quite awesome :) After looking at a couple other stores and almost buying a pair of boots, my new housemate Autumn and I went to Auchan, the European equivalent of Target and Wal Mart, to buy some things for our place, including a wok and a cutting board.

We dropped our stuff off at our apartment, then headed to the tram to go to a free classical music concert, but after waiting a few minutes we realized there was a strike (gotta love them...) and the tram wasn't running to that stop, meaning we had to walk all the way down Rue St. Catherine (the longest shopping street in EUROPE) to get to our destination. Twenty or so minutes later after tackling the crowds swarming around all the sales we reached the other side and made our way to the concert. It was very beautiful and soothing; therefore, I couldn't help but fall asleep for most of it.  I've become so great at sleeping in the most random places and in the most uncomfortable positions! I blame the traveling.

After stopping for a chai tea at a café, Autumn, Kim, and I went back to our place to cook dinner. Kim ended up doing most of it while Autumn and I cleaned (the apartment wasn't very clean when we moved in, but it's getting a lot better with some work). It was delicious!! Kim wanted potatoes, I suggested steak, we added some zuchini and a salad, bread, chèvre,  and wine to the table and voilà! French meal.

Classes are starting Monday and I still don't know exactly what I'm taking. I love the disorganization and last minute-ness of France -_-

I'll post more on Morocco and Italy soon! Until next time!


A song for you: