Post-Program Reflection

The Abbey Road Aix-en-Provence program has been an amazing experience. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. There are so many great memories that I will keep forever and many friends that I hope to stay in touch with for a long time. My only regret is that the trip wasn't longer. I know that four weeks is quite a long time to be away but it went by so quickly. And so much happened in those four weeks that I will never forget.

This trip was my first time going to France, and now I glad to be able to associate France with such great memories. All of the excursions that we went on were so much fun and were definately highlights. It was great to get to see other parts of France and still have fun doing it. The excursions were not the only highlights though. Aix itself was amazing for its history and its beauty. Aix's charm made it so much fun to walk stroll through with friends, looking in store windows and passing bakeries and restaurants. I know that I will miss every aspect of this trip because I had so much fun.

It wasn't all about the fun and games though. I did also improve my french skills significantly. My listening skills are a lot better. Before coming to France, my listening comprehension was not very good simply because I don't hear many people in Seattle speaking French at such fast pace and with the french accent very often. It took some time to get used to hearing French people speak but after awhile I started to pick it up and could really understand people when they talked to me by the end. Speaking also improved as I learned more phrases from class that I could use to communicate to waiters and in employees at stores. Also, by forcing myself to speak french to the french people, it made me practice more often which also improved my skill.

Overall, this trip was a huge success for me. I only hope that one day I will be able to do something similar and at least have half as much of a good time as I did on this trip.

Leaving Aix

I spent the last day in Aix-en-Provence packing and cleaning with my roommate. It was not very exciting but it was work that had to be done. For most of the day it felt like any other. It did not feel like I would be leaving in less than 24 hours. But finally when the apartment was almost completely clean and all our clothes had been packed, realization hit. I realized that the trip was finally at an end. I would be returning home in a short time and I would be leaving all the friends that I had made.

When it was time to say goodbye to all my friends I found that I could not bear to part with them. I had become very close with many of the other students, especially my roommate Momo. We vowed to stay in touch with each other after we got home and so far that vow has held up. However at the airport, saying goodbye to everyone proved to be very difficult and I along with a number of others ended up in tears as we hugged our last hug. It was quite an emotional scene and I was very sad that I would no longer be able to walk the streets of Aix with them.

Cassis

On the 28th, we went to a beach town called Cassis. This was by far my favorite beach. I think that if I ever visit France again, I am going to have to visit Cassis again. We arrived at Cassis in the morning and headed down to the port to catch a boat that would take us on a tour of the nearby calanques. We were about 20 minutes early so we all had some time to browse the shops. I bought some keychains and some of my friends bought ice cream and sunglasses.
When the 20 minutes were up we all boarded the boat. I sat in the back where I was outside and had a good view of the scenery. We then toured some of the calanques (rocky inlets). The calanques that we visited were so beautiful. There were many people who were cliff diving from the cliffs along the calanques. Others were snorkeling, sunbathing, or just hanging out on their boats. Our tour guide explained that there was a path in the cliffs along the calanques that led from Cassis all the way to Marseille and it was the only way to get to some of the calanques by land. Here are some photos of I took on the tour:

This is one of the largest calanques.

We went into the largest calanque and we saw a group of people preforming a traditional provencal ceremony.

Here is another calanque that had a nice beach at the end of it. I would love to visit this one, but the tour guide said it takes 2 hours to get there by land because you can only walk there.

Here are some old ruins I saw on the tour.

Here is a photo of some really tall cliffs that we saw towards the end of the tour.



After the boat tour, we returned to Cassis and had a picnic in a nearby park. We all got to build our own sandwiches with baguettes and various meats and cheeses and veggies. It was a nice lunch. After lunch we were given free time until dinner, which was about 5 hours. My friends and I decided to head straight to the beach rather than shopping in town. The beach was pretty crowded but we managed to find a good spot to put down our towls. The water was amazing. It was a nice bright blue color and it was not too cold. I swam out to a bouy a few times with my friend and it felt so good just swimming around. Then I had time to dry off and sunbathe. I really enjoyed being able to spend most of the day at the beach. Here are some pictures I took of the beach:

Here are my friends Felipe and Momo at the beach.

Momo posing in front of the beach.

For dinner we went to a restaurant in Cassis and had amazing quiche. The quiches were so delicious that we took some back to Aix with us. Momo and I had them for breakfast the next morning:) Those quiches were definiately among the best food that I had on the trip.



Momo posing as we walk through Cassis to dinner.

Once we had left the restaurant, we had about an hour to shop at the local night market in Cassis. I bought some presents for friends and family such as soap and bracelets. Finally, we returned by bus to Aix.

This was one of my favorite excursions and it was really good as a last excursion.

I will continue posting!

À Bientôt!

Taco Night and the Olympics

On the 27th, my roommate and I got to direct dinner. We had suggested a taco night and so the Abbey Road staff let us be the directors of taco night. Momo and I wrote all of the ingredients we needed on a list and the staff bought all of it for us. Then we had groups go and cook the meat in their rooms while others helped cut tomatoes and lettuce and set up the ingredients into bowls. Momo and I tried to direct all of the other students on what they should do and how they should help. It was kind of hard getting them to listen sometime. In the end, everything managed to work out well and the tacos and burritos were really good. It was fun having a taco night and it showed me that it is also difficult being one of the staff members and trying to get everyone to listen.

After dinner, we had some free time. Momo and I and some other friends went to the night market on the Cours Mirabeau and browsed the variety of goods being sold. There was everything from jewlery to musical instruments to utensils with stones for handles. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture to post on the blog.

Finally, we returned to the residence cafeteria where a projector and computer had been set up. Momo, many other abbey road students and several staff members and I all grabbed seats and watched the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics live. It was cool to think that the olympics were taking place not too far from where we were. I thought that the opening ceremony was pretty cool but it didn't understand everything that was going on. Maybe you had to be British to understand. Anyways, when the french athletes came walked out, we cheered, and when the United States athletes walked out we cheered louder. We didn't get to watch the torch get lit because by the time the United States walked out, it was already almost 12. So we all went to bed. Overall, it was a fun night. I just wish I had gotten some pictures.

I will continue to post.

À Bientôt!

Carry le Rouet and Talent Show

On Thursday the 26th, we went to a beach called Carry-le-Rouet. The beach was so beautiful! Instead of an all rock beach, it had a lot of sand which was really wonderful and the water was warmer than it was when we had gone to La Ciotat. I also got to go stand-up paddle boarding with two of my friends from the program. The stand-up paddle boards were hard to keep my balance on but totally worth it! After paddle boarding I got some ice cream with a group of my friends and headed back to the beach to sunbathe the rest of the afternoon. It was a really relaxing day and I had a lot of fun at the beach.
I didn't take many pictures because I spent a lot of time in the water and on the stand-up paddle board, but here is a picture of the beach:

After the beach, we headed back to Aix to celebrate the birthday of one of my friends, Elsa. We had dinner in the cafeteria and the Abbey Road staff bought a delicious chocolate cake for her. The cake was sooo good!

Once dinner and desert was finished, we had about 45 minutes to prepare something for a talent show that we were going to be in. The group that I was in did a dance from a Youtube video called the Yes Dance. I couldn't seem to upload the video onto this blog but here is the link to the video on youtube:
Our talent show preformance
I will continue posting as much as possible!

À Bientôt!