Getting Started...

So last week was my first week being a student in Toulouse. I pretty quickly fell into a routine. I run every morning that I'm in town, then I go to class. I have to walk to the bus stop, take the bus into town, then walk from there to the school (about 45 min total). In general, class is pretty laid back, though 6 hours a day of French can get a little tedious. I also get headaches fairly frequently from thinking in another language. We go to little boulangeries and sandwicheries (adding -erie to the end of anything makes it a shop for that thing) for lunch, which there are certainly no shortage of in France. Then the problem arises that dinner isn't until about 8:30, leaving about 8 hours between lunch and dinner. But have no fear, patisseries are also in abundance (and tarts are a little piece of heaven). Still, with the small portions served here in France, I tend to spend a lot of time being hungry. Then after class, I'm hoping to make it part of my routine to have some internet time to talk to people and post on my très awesome blog. But that has been difficult with the primitive internet that my school possesses. Then I go home eventually to have dinner with my family and practice my French with them. Then I go to bed and do it all again the next day.

Most of my adventures will happen over the weekends. This past weekend we went to Nice. We went in a fairly large group of about 9 people, so as you can imagine not much got done (as groups are not good at making decisions), and a lot of beach going occurred (at all times of the day and night, mind you). The highlight of the weekend really was the trip to Monte Carlo in Monaco. We went there on a train, and as we rounded a corner and Monte Carlo came into view, we all scrambled for the window. It was so beautiful. I think all the money in the world rests in Monte Carlo. There were so many huge yachts and boats. There were some of the fanciest cars I have ever seen. I can only imagine the living expenses in a place like that. Aside from that, the beaches were beautiful, and the water was perfectly crystal clear. And mountains rose up behind the sea, and the town was built into the mountains. After we got there, we bought gelato and walked around eating it while drooling over the city. Then we went to the beach, which was beautiful of course. Unfortunately, we had to go back to Nice. That night we went searching for a discothèque, but couldn't find one. So we all went dancing at some club/bar instead. The next day, we did the beach thing again and went shopping. I got myself a couple of cute dresses that I can brag about having gotten in France. The next morning we returned to Toulouse. But the 7 hour train ride made it take up a fair portion of the day, and of course left us all tired. So what did I do upon returning to my house? That's right. I went running. *Le sigh*