I'm sitting in my bed trying to figure out what to blog about. It's a Saturday night, and I'm staying in due to rain, tendonitis, and the fact that the French eat very late. Well, there we go, three things to blog about.

Rain: This is the first time it's been anything but sunny and beautiful (though a little chillly) in Aix-en-Provence. It actually has been down-pouring all day minus about an hour break this afternoon. Luckily, with no foresight, but great luck, my friends and I planned to go to L'Atelier Cezanne during that hour. This is the studio that Paul Cezanne built for himself during the last years of his life. It stands in the Northern Hills of Aix and has a stunning view of the St. Victoire Mountain, which he painted many times. The studio is about a five minute walk from where I live! The grounds are gorgeous and well kept with many little paths and gardens. The studio itself is a room 50 m squared, within a houselike structure that Cezanne commissioned to his liking. The wall facing the North in the studio is almost entirely a large window. We couldn't take pictures within the studio, but here is one the website provides:

And here are some of the grounds:

I was lucky enough to hike an easy trail on Mount St. Victoire with my CEA program the other day and see first hand the scenes that Cezanne often painted.

Tendinitis: I got to pay a visit to a French doctor on Friday morning due to a persistently swollen and achy foot. The top of my foot was sore to the touch and hurt badly to flex and walk down hills. Dr. Armand, thankfully, spoke English quite well and we quickly solved my foot mystery, but not after use of sound effects demonstrating what it sounds like when my tendon moves. I have tendinitis in my right foot. I was prescribed some anti-inflammatory pills and cream and told not to walk on it to much, which is easier said than done when you live in the hills above town. I was pleasantly surprised by the cost of my prescriptions, which weighed in at about 20 Euro combined - thank you universal health care.

Lastly, Dinner in my homestay:
We eat dinner every night at some point between 7:30 and 8:30. Family dinners here are really no different than in the United States. I was expecting a long drawn out processes, but we eat fairly quickly once the food is served. Thanks to my cook of a homestay father, all of the meals are delicious. We always have a simple salad with lettuce, oil, vinegar, and shallots. Then a meat and vegetable/or starch. We finish with yogurt, which is not like the United States, but I very much like. It's quick, simple, and well prepared. However, dining out in France is an entirely different story. I have yet to have a drawn out dinner here, one because I'm fed at home, and two because I'm frightened. I think I am fairly knowledgeable of table manners in the United States, but here it is an entirely different story. Even as I have lunches out, I'm afraid I'm offending every French person in sight somehow. There are plates you can only order at some points in the day, pairing of food that I'm unaware of, simple etiquettes I'm not versed in, and so much more. I'm hoping to have mastered this by the time I return to the US so I might wow everyone with my pretentious table manners.

I've really been enjoying my time here thus far, and see no signs of that stopping. Classes are starting up, and figuring those out will be for another post another day. My friends and I have begun to plan our journeys around Europe during weekends and breaks. Our first trip is up to Paris next weekend! Again, my itineraries and such will be for another day.
Adieu!