Coming to the end of my first week in Aix, the beauty of the city has far exceeded my expectations. I still speak no French and my host mom doesn’t speak English either (at least she claims to). The cuisine of France is interesting. My host mom made the infamous ratatouille but a regional kind using the fresh and in season vegetables of Aix and it was hands down one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Our program traveled to “La Ciotat” which is a city on the coast and got the view of the mountain ranges, blue water, and picturesque cliffs. The only downside for me is the lack of French and not being confident enough to order off the menu at restaurants or understand how much my total is at a register. My favorite thing to do when I don’t understand how much my total is just hand them a large amount of money and assume it covers the cost- which works every time. My host mom, Monique, is a single older woman with children and grandchildren and lives alone. Our dinner conversation consists of us talking at each other and hoping one of us understands what the other is saying. We sit at the dinner table and between us is a tiny French to English dictionary and whenever someone wants to talk they pick it up and start pointing at words for the other person to read. I think it’s comical that I don’t speak French and I hope I learn it very quick in my studies here. I’m still adjusting to Aix, but so far so good. Definitely going to get back to Rollins with some defined leg muscles from all the up and down hill walking.
