Little Adventures

Being an assistant is amazing. All of the lesson planning you have to do and just being with the students is all good, but so is taking little adventures :). Avignon where I live, is close to many little towns, so some weekends Rachel and I, would take little trips and visit those beautiful towns and they aren't expensive to get there either way, so why not? We went to Isle sur la Sorge and Fontaine de Vaucluse and those places were so beautiful, especially Fontaine de Vaucluse. It was nice to see other towns and see how everything is set up. Although, though when we arrived in Isle sur la Sorge, most (if not all) of the shops were closed, because it was lunch time. Yes, the french are very particular when it comes to their lunch. Stores close for lunch; around 12/12:30 until 1/1:30-2 or something like that, but yes! they are serious, lol. However, even though we couldn't go into some stores, we still walked around the town, but the ones we got to go in, were basically selling nice Provençal stuff and I like how colorful they were :). In Fontaine de Vaucluse, although it was approaching winter, the leaves on the trees looked like it was Autumn, it was so beautiful. I wonder what there would look like in the summer...? Hmmm. Well at least I got to see it now :), and words can't express its beauty, so here are a few pics, they should do the talking for me :). 

Isle sur la Sorgue

Fontaine de Vaucluse

Rachel and I :)

I made it... PARIS!!!

Anyone that knows me, knows that all I've ever wanted was to come to France and also see the Eiffel Tower, now I'm here!!! I mean who gets to say this? I am here in France, fulfilling my dream! I thought it was going to be later in my life rather than now, but who cares, I am here! Haha. To make it even better I'm here with my friends; the bajan crew, lol. #246!!! Lol. If anyone were to ask me what I wanted for Christmas, I'll tell them nothing because I already have it: spending Christmas in France with my friends (and also family because I have my cousin here too ), but I feel so blessed to be here. Words honestly can't express how I feel inside. It's AMAZING!!!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Finally we got together, after waiting like two months, we were finally together! I remember some of the assistants here talking about how they can't wait to go home for Christmas and be with their families and friends and I remember feeling a little sad and homesick, but then I remembered that at least I would be spending it with friends and man was it a great Christmas!! Everyone was so happy to see each other. I remember when myself, Cherisse and Michelle were going to meet Kameisha, she wanted to scream the first time she saw us, but couldn't because she was in a pizza place, but when we left, there was no holding her back, lolol, screams of excitement! The other two (Stephen and Vanessa) came as well, but I think it was a day later. Nonetheless we were reunited again and we were ready to take on Paris!!!

Let's go shoppinggggg.....

By shopping I mean grocery shopping, lol. It was like 3 days or so before Christmas and we needed to prepare our Christmas lunch, so off we went to the supermarket. We spent a while in the supermarket, because after all it was 6 of us deciding on what we should get and voicing our opinions, etc...even though we had a list. I remember telling myself that this is going to be a while, lol. On top of that, the supermarket was huge! However, it was a fun time. The best part though of the whole supermarket trip was when we left. We had so much groceries that we were wondering how we were going to walk back home with all of them. It was suggested to get a taxi, but then that'll me that some of us would still have to walk back, because there was no way six of us were fitting in a taxi with those grocery bags. Then we thought about the bus, but I think, if memory serves me correctly, that we either couldn't find the busstop or we would have to wait a while, either way that option was ruled out as well. However, the best idea ever was suggested...why not take the trolley home with the grocery bags in it? You had to pay like €0.50 to use it anyways, so why not 'use' it? Lol. Well...that was what we did! How convenient! Lol. The walk back home was fun to be honest, lol. We took turns pushing and/or pulling the trolley. Up to today I can't believe we actually took that trolley home, lol, but it was something we had to do, to get home our groceries!

Merry Christmas from France!

So the big exciting day was here :)! Of course like back home, there was preparation to do (talking about the food), so that was done the night before. On the menu we had rice and peas, maccaroni pie, sweet potato pie, maccaroni salad, coleslaw, toss salad, baked chicken, baked pork, ham, potato salad, wine, baguette (just to make it a little french, lol), the only thing that was missing was turkey, but from that list I think we weren't really missing out on turkey. We had a Bajan Christmas in France! In addition, we had dessert, because you can't forget that part, lol, so we had ice cream, sorbet and fruit cocktail. I don't have to say how our Christmas Day was set up. After all that food though I obviously couldn't move, lol and of course sleep stepped in and so, that's what I did: sleep! 'Twas a great Christmas, if I say so myself. 😊

Out and about Paris

Well all the Christmas rush was gone now, so it was time to explore this beautiful city. We went on Champs Élysées, where there's the Arc de Triomphe, as well as many stores, such as H&M, Louis Vuitton, Forever 21 etc...all the good stuff! I remember being so excited to be there, it was truly unbelievable. The #246 crew was in the big city, doing big things :). I also remember screaming and tears running down my cheeks, lol, because while on Champs Élysées, Michelle spotted the top of the Eiffel Tower, so when I turned around to see for myself, I totally freaked out and got so excited that all I could do was scream and believe it or not I did cry. Lol, I mean I was saying that when I see the Eiffel Tower that I'm going to cry...not knowing I actually would cry, lol, I was saying that jokingly...or so I thought! Lol and that was just the top, imagine when I saw the whole thing! Tears of joy I would say. After all it was at that moment that I had successfully fulfilled a dream, so why not shed some happy tears? Moving on...we also went to the Jardin de Versailles, such a nice place! Then there was 'Ravioli' (Rivoli) street, lol with other stores, that we also visited. There's was the lock bridge and also the Louvre Museum. Yes! We saw the famous Mona Lisa painting and I can't tell you how shocked I was. Lol. You ever heard about 'big things coming in small packages'? Well that sums up what the Mona Lisa is! I was expecting to come to a huge painting, after walking around the museum for a while, trying to find this painting, but when we finally found it, I remember saying 'seriously'? Lol. I was in complete shock! Lol. Nonetheless I was very grateful to be there, because I don't care how big or small it was, I got to see it with my own eyes and be at that museum! 😀

Let's get this party started...

Christmas has gone, but now it was time for the New Year. The crew decided to go on Champs Élysées and watch a photo projection on the Arc de Triomphe and as a surprise, there were fireworks. It was nice. It started off a bit boring, but as there were projections on the Arc de Triomphe it got better, then when it was the New Year, all across the Arc de Triomphe was 'Happy New Year' in different languages, so that was pretty cool. After that was done, the night was still young, so we went to Burger King and had our first meal for the year there, lol, then afterwards we went to Bastille street in search of a club. We found it, but was waiting outside for like 15 mins or so, when we finally got in they were charging €40 per person, so, as soon as we got in, we went right back out. Lol. The search continued...where it wasn't full, was asking for IDs, which only about two of us had, so that was a no. We went into this Spanish club, but we felt like we didn't belong, lol, so we left. We were about to give up the search and go home, but then there was this pub called 'Why Not Paris', so we were like 'why not'? Lol. Good decision!! The music was nice, it was FREE and we had a wonderful time. They even played 'Diamonds' by RiRi, so the 246 crew was repping lol. It was interesting and fun to see how the french welcome the New Year. 'Twas a good one! We left there about 5:30am, went home, had some wine, potato chips and mango, lolol. Yes we had an after party after the party. By the time we were finished, it was about 7:00am, so it was time to sleep.

Us! (Stephen took the pic)

On Champs Élysées 

Look at that beauty! Eiffel Tower!!!

Us and the trolley 😀

Arc de Triomphe 

Merry Christmas from us!!

Look at the food!!!

Jardin de Versailles 

Happy New Year!!!

New Year selfwe lol

The pub!

Man in the mirror!

This post might be short, but I think this guy deserves a post. It's entitled 'Man in the mirror', because it is exactly what he was! As you know I have my own studio, however, my front door is very famous because while I'm inside I can see you on the outside, but you can't see me on the inside, because for the public, it's a mirror. Every morning, there was this particular guy who would come to my 'mirror' and look, check, fix, what have you at himself, lol. In my mind, I'm like 'doesn't he have a mirror at home?' because every morning without fail, he was at my 'mirror', lol. I also had promised that when he came back that I would open my door and tell him that he looks good, lol. Somehow I think he heard me because after a while I wasn't seeing him anymore :( or maybe it was after he realized that someone actually lived there....hmmm, I don't know, but it was fun to watch him (and others) as well, come up to my 'mirror', lol. Only if they knew someone was watching..... Well there you have it...Man in the mirror!

Culture shock...or more like Cold shock!

I was expecting the cold, but gosh, not like this! Some days I feel like Oloff the little snowman in Frozen, lol. This was definitely a 'cold' shock! Even though I live in the south, which is suppose to be the 'cooler' part of France, I felt like I was at the North Pole , lol. Ok, well maybe not that extreme, but maybe in a freezer and what makes it worse is the wind. Some days I ask myself why I'm here, like I'm a Caribbean girl, lol! I don't live this cold life, haha. Honestly speaking, my body wasn't ready for this cold life, but it's my life now, so I have to get use to wearing jackets, leg warmers, scarves, gloves, hats and boots. Sometimes I actually like the whole concept of wearing these things and just feel the wind blow...or blow me away, lol, but it's really interesting. I keep asking myself how do people do this, but then I tell myself, the same way I live in the Caribbean where it's usually hot, it's the same for these people..only colder. Never in my life was I expecting to be feeling and seeing 11, 10, 9, or even 5 degrees CELCIUS... WHAT?!? Get me out of here! People think I'm joking when I say it's cold, but my body wasn't ready for this shock. All I kept saying to myself was that this is ridiculous. Some days are better than some and some days I actually think 'hey, I'm getting used to this', then I change my mind, because shortly after, it's colder :(. I don't know if I'll ever get use to this 'cold life', but for now I have to live with it. It's all a part of the experience so I will try to embrace it, stressing on the word 'try'.

A whole new world.... Bienvenido a Barcelona!!

Where to start about Barcelona? First of all it's B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!! When I went to Marseille I was in awe, but Barcelona?, I was lost for words!! All I kept saying when I came back to Avignon, was that I want to go back to Barcelona :). I, along with Rachel and another assistant, Jessica, went there during the Toussaint Holiday. Yes, as assistants, we get the same breaks/holidays as the students. We spent a week in Barcelona and on our way back we stopped in Carcassonne and Nimes. That week in Barcelona, was you guessed it... AMAZING!! We went to Las Ramblas, visited the Gaudi buildings, went to Park Guell, the Arc de Triomphe, the Montjuic Castle and Stadium as well, and of course the beach!! Lol. We went to different places in Barcelona, but I can't remember all, but just to explore that beautiful place :), and I also have pictures to prove it, so you can check my photos on facebook. We also tried the famous 'Sangria' drink and it was nice. I also had 'tapas' and tried some 'paella'. Those things associated with Barcelona, but no, unfortunately I didn't go dancing...lol. Of course though, I did a lot of walking! I thought I had left all that walking behind me in Marseille, but nope, I still did a lot of walking in Barcelona to do. I was sad to leave Barcelona, for obvious reasons. Words can't express how amazing that place was. I mean I'm only here writing of my experiences and I don't think that I'm still doing a good job, lol. What I'm trying to say is that being there, in the moment was ten times better, than me here sharing it with you, but thank goodness I have pictures, so that you can see what I mean. Carcasonne was nice too, only spent like a day there, so we didn't do much, besides visit the castle and walked around and looked at the little shops, so there was pretty cool as well. It's nice to explore those little cities, whether big or small, they all have something unique to them. Nimes, was also a nice city to discover. We visited the arena. Think Gladiator, lol, but this is where the bull fighting occurred as well as other fights, such as prisoners being fed to animals, etc. This was seen as a sport. Some sport! Well as promised, here are a few pictures...

Arc de Triomphe

Montjuic Stadium

Montjuic Castle

Beachhhhh!!!

Gaudi building

Paella

Us!!!

At Park Guell

Carcassonne castle

In Nimes at the arena

Let the teaching begin!....Barba- who??

Finally it was time for me to begin teaching! I mean, I wasn't complaining for the little 'holiday' I had, but I was glad to get this party started, lol. I finally had my timetable, to know when I had to go to school and at what times. I should say though I have two timetables... 'Semaines impaires and Semaines paires' are what they are called, basically I have to see my students every two weeks. It was a little confusing at first, but I got the hang of it. I just have to remember which week it is, lol. The first few weeks were a breeze, I mainly introduced myself to my classes, so they were 'get-to-know-me' sessions. I also did a presentation on beautiful Barbados, which they loved and some of the teachers were also giving tests based on my presentation, so it was a way of them getting the students to listen and ask questions, etc. the thing is though, not many people here (well in my classes and also a few people I've encountered), have heard of Barbados, but...they know Rihanna (of course!) lol. They ask me where I'm from, I say Barbados and they are like Barba-who?? Lol. I say it's in the Caribbean, if they still don't know, I ask if they know Rihanna and their response is always 'ahhhhh oui' (ahhhh yes) lol. Although, I still think they don't know where it is, but... Sometimes I have to call Martinique, St. Lucia and the other countries close to Barbados, for them to know where I'm from, but it's interesting to see how little people know about us, but thanks to my presentation, they left with a good set of information :). I teach at two schools, so at my other school, I got almost the same response as to where or what is Barbados, lol. Besides that however, I love my students and I have fun with them at every class. Some are a bit shy to speak, but that's normal, because I was there once. Other than that, they are nice and every time they see me in the corridors, they ask me if I'm coming back or if I will see them that week...melted my heart :). I actually had two students who told me they love me and they like my classes and can't wait to see me again :). I really felt happy to hear that they were having fun with me and once again I was glad to be here teaching.

Marseille

All of the language assistants had to be formally welcomed, so we had to go to Marseille (well those who didn't live in Marseille). The ones who didn't live in Marseille (like me), stayed in a hotel for two nights and also got free lunch and dinner provided by the university (all paid by the Rectorat in Marseille). First let me just say that the hotel we stayed in was AMAZING!!! And to top it off we also got free breakfast for the days we stayed there (2 days). In addition, getting to Marseille was exciting for me because I had to take the train. Yes! It was the first time I took a train. Lol. It wasn't bad, it just felt like a bus ride to be honest, but just one that moved really quickly, lol. I thought for my first time on the train that I would have to go by myself, but luckily for me, one of my upstairs neighbors which is also an assistant came with me and also another assistant (Rachel). It wasn't their first time on a train, so it was just me being the excited one, lol. Marseille was beautiful. It was big (of course), but it was amazing. We had the official welcome at the university, but before we found where we were supposed to be, there we were, the assistants, just in the courtyard standing in the cold. No one came to show us where we were to go, we were just there! Lol. I can laugh now, but that morning I couldn't believe we were there standing up. However, a group of the assistants decided to walk and find where we were to go. As suspected, the other assistants followed. We found where we were supposed to be, did what we had to do and we were very much welcomed. As mentioned before, we got free lunch at the university's cafeteria. Now I don't know, but in my mind, a university's cafeteria is ON campus, but for some reason this university's cafeteria was maybe half an hour away... WHAT!?!? Who does that? Lol, no joke, we were walking for maybe half an hour to get to this cafeteria, smh, lol. I think though it was a trend (walking so far for food) because the first evening I came to Marseille, it was a Sunday, that night some of us (assistants) decided to go for dinner and the amount of walking we did...my gosh! Man I walked the whole of Barbados...TWICE!!! Lol. Ridiculous! We finally stopped at this pizzeria and enjoyed pizza. Let me tell you, I never thought I could eat a whole pizza, until I came here. Lol. I mentioned about walking for food, but walking in general...!! Those people living in Marseille don't need a gym! They don't! Lol. Of course being in Marseille, we had to explore it a little, so we wanted to go to the famous Notre Dame Cathedrale and so we walked, climbed, hiked...we did it lol. I must say though, finally reaching there and getting to the top was worth it because inside the Cathedrale was amazing and the view of the city at the top was equally amazing. The Tuesday we were there, which was also the last day of being in Marseille, we had training. During this training session we talked about different activities that can be done with the students during class and  mainly a few things to expect in class etc, so that was fun (well my training session, because we got split up according to the beginnings of our last names). Training then was over and it was time to go back home. I thought though that staying in a nice hotel was like a pre-birthday gift. Yes! My birthday was going to be the next day (Wednesday) and I spent a lovely 2 days in Marseille, :). What made my birthday though, was that I didn't have to work! :p. All in all, those days spent in Marseille were amazing. I got to see a bigger city, and some of the things that make up that city, like the Old Port (which is really beautiful) and as mentioned before the Notre Dame Cathedrale and who can forget the walking?? Lol. By the time I get back home, I may just walk any and everywhere, lol. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few pics from when I went to Marseille...

Me on the train :)

Rachel

Michael 

Beautiful Marseille 

Inside Notre Dame Cathedrale

The view from the top!

Old Port with Rachel :)

Me on my birthday :)

Independent Woman

I was living with another one of my teachers (like 2 days now to think of it), and she was willing to host me for the time I am here, but she's not home regularly, so the best thing to do, was to find a place to live! She did help me find the place I'm living in now, so I wasn't at all upset and I like it. I can proudly say I have a studio and I'm an independent woman 😊. Upstairs from where I live, I was going to live there...until I saw downstairs (where I am now) and I fell in love with it, so it was available and therefore I got it! At least it's still a good thing because there are three boys upstairs, not that I have a problem living with boys, but it makes it easier me being down here and I still go up there from time to time, because they are my friends now. I call them my 'upstairs neighbors' and they are cute! 😛. Living alone though has its ups and downs....more ups though, lol. I'm thinking of moving out when I get back to Barbados! Lol or maybe I'm getting a little carried away here....who knows? Lol, but I like it! I do miss home from time to time and my siblings and having to share, but I guess that's normal, but when I look around my studio, I feel proud of myself for coming this far. I feel like what my title of this post says: an 'independent woman'. 😊.