“At the end of life, what really matters is not what we
bought but what we built; not what we got but what we shared; not our
competence but our character; and not our success, but our significance. Life a
life that matters. Live a life of love.”
Since last weekend will be my last weekend in Montpellier
for three weeks, I made sure to do it up right!!
Friday night I met Cami in the city center for a night out
on the town! We were originally supposed to go to les Estivales (the wine
festival), but due to the Tour de France being in town, it was cancelled that
Friday. Unfortunately, I had also forgotten about the Tour de France being in
town, so I didn’t see that either…whoops! Anyway, Cami said that instead of
going to les Estivales, we would just go to a local bar where a lot of people
hang out on Fridays. So I met her, her boyfriend, Thomas, and her boyfriend’s
friend at la fontaine des Trois Grâces
(Three Graces Fountain—funny little stories about that: for some reason when I
first read the little plaque, I read it as la fontaine des Trois glaces;
“glace” in French means “ice cream” so now every time I talk about the fountain,
I picture it filled with ice cream…..I think that would be a much neater
landmark!).
The bar where we went was in a really neat little cobblestone area
surrounded by old buildings in the typical southern France architecture and the
sun was setting slowly around us….it was beautiful! There were 20 or 25 little
round tables outside on the cobblestone patio and they were all full, so we
settled in on a couch inside until one of the tables opened up. Cami and I both
had a Mojito Royale to start; it was super delicious and very, very sweet! More
and more of Cami and Thomas’ friends showed up as the night went on and we
ended up growing to a group of 10 or 12. Everyone was so wonderful and the
majority of them could speak English, so that was helpful! I attempted to speak
French from time to time, but as the night progressed, people slipped into
English when they were talking to me. One of Cami’s friend, Leila, could speak
excellent English because she had just returned from an internship where she
was working with a German lady who couldn’t speak French, so they only spoke
English. I had such a good time with them. Thomas was hilarious; he has some
Spanish blood in him that tends to make him much more outgoing, energetic, and
a bit crazy—but I loved it!
For the first time, I felt a little bit like I was hanging out with
friends from home and it was unbelievably relaxing! For some unknown reason, it
surprises me when people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries
have the same humor and sarcasm as me and my friends, but I appreciate nothing
more than meeting people with similar senses of humor—if you’ve met me or my
family, you would know that sarcasm is our go to form of communication. I
remember once when I was much younger I got very upset because my uncles kept
“making fun” of my mom’s Jell-O creation at Christmas. When I asked my mom why
they kept doing this and why it didn’t upset her, she said “Your uncles (and
aunts, cousins, etc) use sarcasm and humor to show they care. If they didn’t
poke fun at me, I wouldn’t think they loved me.” At the time it didn’t make
complete sense to me, but I was obviously a quick learner, because I now know
no other way to show that I care about the people I love!!!
Anyway, I really enjoyed being able to communicate in the way that I know
best with a bunch of people I just met and it made me feel instantly closer to
them! Originally I had planned to stay with Cami and Thomas at their apartment
because they live in the city center and then I wouldn’t have to worry about
getting a tram home—since they stop running at 2 a.m. However, somewhere in the
course of the night, Cami, Leila and I decided we wanted to go shopping on
Saturday because all the sales are going on right now in France so basically
everything in every store is on sale—like up to or more than 50% off!!! Then
Leila and I realized we were heading home on the same tram, so we managed to
get the second to last tram (at about 1:45). We met some lovely drunk lads on
the tram celebrating their friend’s last night as a single man—Bachelor party!
One of the guys had just married an American woman, so he spoke really good
English and enjoyed filling me and Leila in on the events of the night.
Unfortunately Leila was getting off at a stop after me, so I was left to
walk home through the dark, empty streets all alone again. Immediately, the
horror film scripts began writing themselves in my head again. I called my mom
(like 5 times), but…..no answer….THANKS MOM!!! ;) I made it home fine though
and eventually fell asleep.
Morning came way too soon, and the effects of the alcohol consumed the
prior night hadn’t totally worn off yet. Leila, Cami, and I had agreed the
night before that we would meet in the city center around 10:30 so we could get
out Odysseum (the big shopping center—with an IKEA) at a decent hour to beat
the mad rush that accompanies the sales season. I was in the process of
convincing myself that I would feel better if I just got up and made some
coffee when Leila texted me to let me know that she was not planning on getting
up anytime soon due to the same issues I was facing ;). Neither of us had heard
anything from Cami, so I decided on some more sleep.
We ended up meeting up in the city center around 11:30 and decided to
just stay there to shop because there is a decent amount of little shops and a
moderately large shopping center in the city center. And shop we did!!! For hours!!
Not only did I make some nice purchases for myself, but I was also able to
check off a significant amount of people from my rather lengthy list of “people
to buy for!” Finally around 6 or so, we were all shopped out, tired, hungry,
and HOT!!! It has been getting a bit warmer here every day and the heat is
really starting to take its toll from about 5-7p.m.
Saturday night I went with Peter and Claire to an outdoor jazz concert
which was SPECTACULAR! I’m pretty sure I was the only person there below the
age of 40 (besides the performers), but I enjoyed every second. There were six
guys playing various instruments—Banjo, trumpet, clarinet, violin, bass,
guitar, washboard—and a female vocalist who had amazing spunk and energy and an
awesome voice! I find it a bit comical when French musicians perform songs in
English because they clearly don’t know/understand all of the words, so quite a
few of them end up being more just sounds than anything else. Either way, her
voice was good enough that I got chills even when she was singing random sounds
as opposed to actual words. The band’s name was Emily Cole and the Hippocampus
Jass Gang (yes Jass is spelled correctly!) In all, it was a very enjoyable
evening.
Sunday morning, I went with Claire and Peter to a flea market type thing that
was set up on the Promenade du Peyrou which is right behind the Arc de
Triomphe. There were some really neat things there, but they were a bit pricey
and I also had no cash left due to my escapades the day before—the best
strategy for me to avoid buying more stuff!! So I just roamed around and
looked.
When we got back to the house around 11, we set to work on cooking a very
demanding spread for dinner—a gigantic Cornish Pasty Pie and an even more
gigantic Lemon Meringue Pie!!!! Peter and Claire were very excited to teach me
all they knew about both dishes. I felt like a little 8 year old in the kitchen
with their grandparents—“okay stir this in here,” “pour this sugar there,” “do
you want to lick the spoon?”…--haha, but it was wonderful and I had SUCH a good
time! We had the jazz band’s album playing in the background and huge mess of
utensils, bowls, vegetables, and random other things scattered all over the
counter. After over 3 ½ hours of non-stop cooking, we were all ready for a nap,
which we all took. I fell asleep on the sofa in the living room while Peter and
Claire watched a movie and when I woke up about an hour later, the both of them
were passed out! What a GREAT way to spend a Sunday!!! Seriously, I had so much
fun…and now I can add two spectacular dishes to my list of recipes J!
Monday and Tuesday were pretty productive days at work…I only have about
150 pictures in my second round left to mark before I finally done….with the
marking part, that is….then we have to analyze the data points and enter all
the health data for the cohort….blah. But, Monday afternoon I got a good break
from that to go with Fred and Marion to a meeting with three other people who
are also working on the same cohort of individuals, but less with asymmetry and
more with sleep. However, Fred wants to bridge the gap between the two studies,
so that has the potential to be really interesting. The meeting was conducted
pretty much completely in French with Fred filling me in on some of it in
English from time to time. Surprisingly, I understood way more than I expected
to—I think knowing a bit of context before it got started really helped me
understand more. So now, when I return from Vienna, I’ll have probably 2 or 3
more days of marking and then we will get started on assessing some of the
data. Everyone at the meeting was very excited about that and they all seemed
impressed at my progress which made me feel good!!!
Today I spent pretty much the whole afternoon working with Cami—she’s
awesome! It’s amazing to me how easy it is to become close friends with some
people! We are already making plans for when I get back from Vienna—les Estivales
is first on the list!!! I may just be lucky, but I have found that once you get
to know someone in France and you become friends, you are friends for life. The
majority of French people are so dependable—at least the majority of people I’ve
met in France the two times I’ve been here have been. As I said, maybe I’m just
lucky, but either way, it is something I appreciate SO much and unfortunately,
I have found it much more difficult to find in America which is a bit of a
bummer.
As an example of the “friends for life” claim, I am going to Paris to
FINALLY meet up with Josephine—whom I lived with for the second half of my trip
two years ago when I was working outside of Paris. I could not be more excited
about this!! Not only do I get to Josephine and her parents whom I literally
regard as family, but I get to spend a week in Vienna with Josephine and two of
her other friends! Woohoo!! Talk about a good friend! I met Josephine two years
ago when I was in France. Eventually I ended up moving in with her and her
family because they could not stand the thought of me living alone in the single
biology lab bedroom and showering down the road in the greenhouse—yes that
happened and yes I was more than happy to move in with them. After moving in
with the Staron’s, my trip took a total 180 for the better. I adore everything
about that family and I am certain that if it was not for their kindness, my
stay in Paris would not have been anywhere near as magical as it was. I saw
Josephine one other time when she was visiting a family in Northern Kentucky
near Cincinnati—I drove up from Louisville for a day and we went shopping. When
I told her I was coming back to France, she invited me to join her and her
friends in Vienna—ummm, yesss!!!!
So, tomorrow I leave for Paris! I will stay with the Staron’s tomorrow
night. Then Thursday, Josephine, her friends, and I will head off to Vienna for
a week of wonderful festivities. When we get back the following Thursday, Josephine
will leave for another trip, but I will get to spend the rest of the weekend in
Paris with her parents….yay!!! I’ve missed Paris! Although, I must say, I might
like Montpellier better than Paris—mostly due to its proximity to the beach—, I
still reallllllly miss Paris. I fell so in love with the city when I was there
last time. And this time, I won’t have to spend two weeks trying to figure out
the crazy metro system. In fact, I still remember the name (and color) of the
two lines/stops that I can take to get to the Staron’s house just like it was
yesterday that I was heading “home” to their house. Crazy how much time can
pass and yet some things still feel so familiar and comfortable.
It’s a bit of a given that I probably won’t be writing for a good two
weeks while I am gone. I won’t even have my computer with me in Vienna, and I
doubt I’ll want to spend time writing while I’m in Paris. I’d do some writing
on the train ride (4 hrs each way) but my computer has to be plugged in to work
because my battery is shot. Oh yeah, and somehow my Nook completely reset the
other night, so now I have NOTHING to read…..AND, I can’t download new books
onto it while I am abroad, so there is pretty much nothing I can do that I know
of….so that’s a bit irritating. BUT I now have friends to spend my spare time
with, so the only time that I would really need it would be the train ride.
Looks like I’ll just have to resort to my old-fashioned, hand-written diary ;)!
That won’t be horrible! I’m so excited to tell you all about my trip when I return!!
A bientôt !!
“You have brains in your head. You have feet
in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on
your own and you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”Dr.
Seuss
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