This morning I arrived on the grounds of the université and made entry into my studio. Here are some pics for y'all to see. ( I really gotta stop with the accent... It's day one and I'm scared they're gonna think I'm making fun of them, which is so not true!)
Whilst I unpack I realized that I am the worst packer of life. I literally don't have to do laundry for the entire month because I brought that much clothes. Hey Sim, why did you pack that gold bandeau from American Apparel that you wore once to an all-greek toga, huh? Did you really think you would need it here in France? That's just silly. Also, maybe next time don't bring 4 pairs of wedges... FOUR... You break your ankle every chance you get, WHY do you need 4 pairs of wedges...? But despite those minor setbacks, all other necessities were packed so I'm not hating on myself too hard.
* Sidenote all the above was written yesterday with all intentions of being posted last night but then all craziness ensued. Now it's 6:58 am Tuesday morn and I'm writing the rest before orientation so ya'll don't get gyped from a post.*
After unpacking a few of us roamed a few blocks near the université and found a supermarket and a pharmacy. Ready for the best news ever? At the supermarket beer, liquor, and wine are sold. Ready for the better news ever? Wine costs ONE AND A HALF EUROS. I kid you not. The big bottle of water more expensive than the bottle of Riesling I bought. This may either be the greatest thing or the most dangerous thing of life....decision to come in about a week...
We then went on a scheduled tour of the area at 5pm followed by some casual pre-party party. (The real thing is Wed night at a ranch!) Than, the craziness ensued...
We all brought our aforementioned wine, even those new people who I haven't met yet, and convened in the back courtyard in the middle of our dorm buildings. Magically there was some random ass plastic cowhide just chillin when we gathered, so we lovingly dubbed the place "On the Cowhide". Yes, this is a very original name and took a lot of hard thinking to come up with...
We spent the next few hours chatting and getting to know everyone over our 1.5 Euro wine. I got to know the Drexel girls a lot better and got to learn about some of the life in New Orleans. Some girl even found a wild hedgehog and picked him up. Needless to say, everyone found this ridiculously entertaining and gathered around the poor scared animal. A few of us have dubbed this girl Sonic, for obvious reasons. Also, to all you DPhiE's reading this: I met a sweet girl who has Cystic Fibrosis and told her about our philanthropy and how we try to help people suffering with her illness. She really appreciated it, so I'm passing on the love. It's crazy when you meet someone who is affected by something so strong that you dedicate your time and service to help. It's very rewarding.
After a few hours and a bottle down each, everyone became too rowdy for the courtyard and antsy to go out. We joined our peer leaders and walked a good 20 minutes (past beautiful architecture and plazas) to a local bar where things got REAL. We all grabbed some beer and played shoulders (best game everrr) and continued our getting to know each other convos. By the time we were done Sonic was mackin it with some French dude on the pool table and we were drinking our beers outside by the music show that was going on. I'm so mad that I forgot my camera, but lots of other people took pics so they'll be all up on facebook I'm sure. I did get this picture of a few of us by an American flag on my phone! Happy Fourth of July!
Then at about 1:30ish I believe we all decided to walk back, beers in hand, since orientation started early the next morn. In France they don't care if you leave with your beer and don't chase you half a block calling you an idiot several times if you're carrying a glass of water out... ahem, CAVS... The walk home was filled with drunken stories and friendly banter as well as me HURTING MY SHOULDER AGAIN. Not ok. First night and I'm already injuring myself. I don't know if I really messed it up or not, but I went to playfully hit someone and it locked in place and now it's hurting for realll. Good times. Love my life.
So that was yesterday in a nutshell! I feel like I've been here a week already and that I've known these people for way longer than a day... it's all so weird! Anyway, today is orientation and class happens, followed by a trip into center city Montpellier, as well as probs another gathering On the Hide. I'm probs gonna end up drinking a bottle of wine a night... which I can't decide if it's completely aweome or the dumbest idea yet... What do you think?
Things to Note:
1.) Some parts of Montpellier remind me of Guayaquil, Ecuador where I'm from so it totally throws me off.
2.) We only get internet from the main courtyard, so that's realll annoying and may delay my blog posts just a tad because I can't update from my room.
3.) I just retyped this entire post that I had constructed in MS Word because this stupid site wouldn't let me copy past it. Dedication.
Catch y'all later!!
<3 Sim
bottle of wine every day = win :)
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