I had my first photography class today. This led to me running around Aix taking pictures of everything. When I was looking back through all my pictures, I soon realized that nearly every narrow street looks the same. During lunch I found a place that makes a thing that is basically a chocolate muffin, but the inside is filled with melted chocolate. It's heated, too, before being served which makes it even better. After our last class, Roecker and I went on our second adventure looking for a French thrift shop. Unfortunately, we were once again unable to find it. Maybe third time's a charm. I'm looking forward to our trip this weekend to Monaco, Nice, and the French Riviera.

The weather here today was great. Sunny and 65 for the most of the day. I have great professors. The classes are great too. My biggest class has 19 people in it. I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the French culture. Here, you never greet strangers or anyone that you pass on the street. It makes for some very awkward moments when you pass someone on the very narrow streets. That's not to say that the French people are impolite in any way, however. For example, if you go into a store or shop, it's almost a necessity to greet the shop owner with a friendly "Bonjour!". I can't get over the food here. A few of us went to a pizza place and it was incredible. I'm still not completely familiar with the streets here. There are so many narrow, winding streets, and most of them look the same. It's very easy to get lost. However, that's how you can find some of the coolest little shops and stores. There is so much history to be found here. The town is nearly 2000 years old. Everywhere you go, there is history. I can't wait to learn as much as I can about it all. Here is a picture of a French ambulance I took today.

So the wifi in my house is finally fixed. Thank God. I don't have to sit outside my school on the street at 1 in the morning to text and facetime with people back home. In other news, I got a "new" cell phone yesterday. Pretty sure it was made when I was in second grade. It actually has the original Snake on it. So that's a win. I had my first classes today. They are awesome. biggest class had only nine people in it. The food here is incredible. Roecker and I go to a different place every day for lunch so that we can experience it all. I had to buy all new school supplies today because I didn't bring a binder. Turns out, in France they don't have 3 ring binders. They have 4 ring binders. This meant I had to buy all new paper, which by the way, the French write on graphing paper, new dividers, and new notebooks. Other than that, everything is great. The other students here are awesome. Turns out, there is a kid here who's from Nashville and went to USN. There's another kid who goes to College of Charleston too. I am very excited for this semester.

Had a great bonding experience with my host mom last night. Turns out, she loves classic rock. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, even Lyonard Skynard! Her favorite was Layla by Eric Clapton. It was truly a bonding between cultures.

So I finally got access to the internet. The wifi at my host family doesn't work. I'm trying to get that fixed. Other than that, everything is great! The flights here were pretty crazy. I hqd to run qcross JFK to mqke my flight to London, qnd then I hqd to run through Heathrough airport to mqke my flight toMarseilles. I apologize for any spelling errors. The keyboards here are different. The q and a are switched and that especially throws me off. Also, the spell check is in French.The weather here is beautiful. It's sunny and in the 50's during the day. I live with a French lady, Mme Otsmane, and another student from Boston. I have my own room and everything. Mme Otsmane is greqt she makes breakfast and dinner for us. For lunch I go to one of the many little shops around here. The food is incredible. I had a 3 cheese pizza today thqt was arguably the best pizza I've ever had. Even though I speak pretty good French. It's pretty hard to understand a lot. Hopefully, the longer I am here, the easier it will get. Classes start tomorrow. I have pretty good classes. I an very excited. We are taking an excursion this weekend to Nice and Monaco which should be fun. I still need to get some kind of cell phone. It's so weird not being able to just call someone. All and all I am very excited for the semester. Here are a few of the first pictures that I hqve taken. There will be pleanty more to come. They are the view from the plane, the Marseille airport, and a couple pictures of the city I am living in, Aix-en-Provence.

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Well, last day in the US for 4 months. Deciding what should be my last supper in America. Mexican maybe? seems kind of hard to get that over there. BBQ is definitely a good choice as well. Still packing. My room is a mess of clothes and luggage. Got to be at the airport tomorrow at 9 to being my journey. I still need to change my American money for some of that funny Euro. I wonder if McDonalds in France have a Euro menu?

First Post

Finally got a blog up and going! Not fully sure how to use it all. I'm still packing and getting everything ready to go. I am so excited to go, but I hate saying goodbye.