Before Barcelona

I think this is the longest I've gone without updating--and I'm sorry for that, but this week was definitely the busiest school week I've had so far. I had a big presentation in my literature class on Tuesday, so I spent all of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday morning working on that. Then after that was over, I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning studying for my midterm in my Languages of the World class.

My presentation went pretty well, as far as I can tell. I know I made at least one mistake with gender agreements when I was speaking, which was really dumb because I had written in down the right way. But the professor kept referring to what I had said after I was done, and she kept using my examples as really good examples, so I'm hoping that means I got the equivalent of an American A. My midterm was so-so. I don't really have any idea on how well I did because it was a short essay test, and I don't really know exactly what my professor was expecting, so I'll just have to wait and see how I did.

Last weekend, I was playing soccer with my friends at our soccer court. We all take turns playing goalie because nobody likes being stuck in one place for very long, but it's also nice to take a break sometimes. Whenever I'm in goal, the other team usually scores a minimum of two goals. And usually the only reason it's not more than that is because someone switches positions with me before I can do any more damage. My turn didn't exactly end like that the last time, though.

See, I like soccer because I have terrible--and I mean terrible--hand-eye coordination. When I'm in goal, I'm supposed to use my hands to stop the ball, which I have already explained is definitely not my forte. So usually I try to do something involving my feet stopping the ball. I have more success with this than with my hands--usually. So when the ball came to my feet, I thought I had the save in the bag. No sweat. So I didn't exactly watch where I was putting my foot on the ball. Instead of stopping the ball, I stepped on the ball and swiftly wiped out in a weird side-ways, clunking, everyone-thought-I-broke-my-arm kind of way. It wasn't anything too impressive, just a scraped elbow for which I have to use three band-aids to cover the entire wound. It's a nice little badge of courage.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Barcelona! Despite France being a "secular" country, they still take all of the major Catholic feast days off. So for All-Saints' Day (November 1st), we get a week off of school. I'm going with my friend Bri for the weekend. A few of the other students from our program are also going to be going, so we might meet up with them there. I don't speak any Spanish, so I'm hoping that Spain is like France in that most people are bilingual--with English being the second language. (I know, how terribly touristy of me!) But I suppose if French is the second language I'd be alright, too.

I'm going to be gong to IKEA again this afternoon and then Carrefour to do some shopping. Carrefour is France's equivalent of Wal-Mart--which I hate--but it's cheap, and they have everything you could wish for on the planet, so I suppose I'll take it. It's also my last hope for finding canned pumpkin here, otherwise I'm going to have to go straight for the whole pumpkin, if I can find one.

I'll take a lot of pictures for you this weekend, and I'll get them uploaded on Tuesday sometime once I'm back in Aix, so check back then!

Avignon and some updates

Okay, so. We're here. In Avignon. In France. It's 93 degrees, we have nowhere to go, and I miss home a lot right now.

Really, Avignon isn't all it's cracked up to be. I mean, it has the Palais des Papes (the Pope's Palace) and a bridge. But... that's it. And the Pope's Palace is kind of a bust. It's 15 Euros just to get in, and then once you're in, all you do is stare at bare walls while a headset dictates very specific architectural terms without giving any history of the place. So disappointing! There's nothing inside. Oh! Except there is a weird artist who decided to have some sort of exhibition in the Palais. Seriously, it's weird. On one of the statues, the face had broken off, and I guess this artist decided that it would be a good idea to strap a deer skull on instead. Not a good idea, my friend. Not at all.

So that's what we've done today! We drove from Lyon to Avignon in our Passat without any mishaps along the way, which we were all grateful for. And all along the drive we kept seeing the coolest crops. We saw pear tree farms and a couple different types of sunflower farms, vineyards, apple orchards, peaches, and a whole bunch of stuff. It was really neat! We're in Provence now, so everything is really picturesque as you drive.

As far as my financial aid goes, I'm still waiting on IU to process the check that IPFW sent to them. Once that's done, all of that should be taken care of. And as far as legal concerns go, I'm in the country now, so I have my visa and all of the required papers. I just have to make sure I check in with Immigrations with the rest of my classmates.

I'm going to go down to the pool and swim off some of this heat. It's so hot!

More headaches, but also--EXCITEMENT!

First, let's get the bad news out of the way: my financial aid still has not come through. And it's all one big, boggled mess. It goes like this: my study abroad program is through IU. However, my tuition is through IPFW. I have a scholarship through IU. Since my home school is IPFW, my payments are made through IPFW. However, IU needs to be paid for their program. BUT IU has my scholarship money, so they need to send it to IPFW. Which they have not done. So until IPFW receives the money from IU, IPFW can't pay IU the money. And to top it all off, I'm leaving the country in two days.

But--onto why I'm so excited. First of all, while I am very sad leaving my family--and believe me, there have been a lot of tears--I'm going to France!!! (In case you didn't know.) But to specify a little bit, I'm going to be making a pit stop in Lyon with my parents, and I had no idea there was so much awesome stuff in Lyon until I talked with my French professor. Now I'm super excited about going there, and I almost wish that we were spending three days in Lyon instead of in Paris. But I'm sure I won't get bored in Paris, either. The Lumière brothers were from Lyon (they are the inventors of film), and my favorite French poet is from Lyon--and there is just SO MUCH to see! There's an awesome basilica that I want to see badly. And--ah!--there's just so much I want to see!

Okay! So itinerary for the trip:
Paris, 3 days
Lyon, 2 days
Avignon, 1 day
Aix-en-Provence

Almost there...

A few updates.

Remember how I said I had all of the legal stuff taken care of? Oh, how little I knew. Well, I remembered that I needed to renew my drivers license before I leave because I'm turning 21 while I'm going to be in France. So, I went with my mom and brother to the BMV to renew it, and got that taken care of. They said they would mail it to me within in 10 business days, which would mean the last possible day for it to get to me is the day before I leave. Now how's that for timing?

And, as many of you know, I have been planning on staying in the dorms while abroad. But the program coordinators had different ideas. Apparently, dorms are no longer an option for us lowly students "because of safety and security issues". That makes me feel safe! And prepared! (I'm finding all this out 3 weeks before the program starts.)

So, for about 24 hours I was in a panic because I had no idea what I would do for accommodations. Apartments can be insanely expensive in France, so needless to say, I was freaking out a little bit.

But I've realized that maybe having an apartment is a blessing in disguise. I'm actually going to live in France, and not just study there. I'm doing this for the all-around French experience, and if that means having to find somewhere to live, so be it. I might even make some awesome friends in the process. Who knows? But worrying about it isn't really going to help me, and this experience is what I'll make of it.

So I'm going to make this the best year I've ever spent in France.

Visa: Complete

Well, after a little misadventure concerning the whereabouts of my undelivered visa, I finally have it! So now I have all of the legal issues taken care of, which is a really big relief.

Now, I just need to make sure that the office of Financial Aid has been doing its job, which actually, has been somewhat of an issue. But other than that, I've really only got the typical travel stuff to worry about: packing, money, waiting, etc.

Visa update

So, a week after having gone to Chicago to get my visa processed (the processing time for visas is 3 weeks), I received a notice in our mailbox that because no one was home, the mail carrier could not deliver an Express mail parcel addressed to me. At 8am.

First, what mail carrier delivers mail at 8am? Answer: Ours. Apparently.

Second, people were home. I was gone running at the Y at that point, though, but it seems that our deliverer did not want to give my visa Deliverance. Well, maybe just deliverance. But perhaps no one was awake? I do not know.

Third, I'm not sure now if he will try to deliver it again, or if I have to go downtown to pick it up from the main post office branch. I wish I knew! I'll keep you updated.

Fourth, did you catch that? One week--and the processing time is three weeks. I really hope nothing went wrong!

EDIT: For those of you that don't know what the difference between a passport and a visa is, I'll explain. A passport is a document you get from your country of origin (for me, the US) that allows you entrance back into the country after you have left it. In some instances, it also allows you access to friendly countries (i.e. Canada and Mexico before the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004--which really didn't take effect until 2009 anyway).

A visa, on the other hand, allows entrance to the country you will be visiting. For short visits--less than 90 days for France--one does not need a visa. For anything longer than that, it's probably a good idea to get a visa because most countries these days aren't too happy to have squatters on their territory.

There are a few different types of visas for France. The type of visa I will be getting is a long-stay visa; I will be there for somewhere around 10 months, although I think it will actually be closer to 11. For any normal, non-millionaire, this is a long period of time. Naturally, it makes sense that my visa is the long-stay kind.

Any questions?

Visa time!

Well, I've heard back from all of my scholarships now, and today I'm heading up to La Porte, Indiana, to visit my aunt there. My mom and I are staying with her tonight before we head up to Chicago tomorrow. I've got my visa appointment at the French consulate at 11:20am. Hopefully everything goes smoothly!

I can't believe how quickly everything has been happening lately. I have a month and a half before I leave for France! One of my friends just went to London this past weekend, and helping her get ready has really been putting things into perspective for me. Packing for 10 months is going to be killer. Seriously. No idea how I'm going to handle that.

More Scholarships and Travel Plans

Well, no one ever said this would be easy. I received an email today informing me that I need to schedule my plane trip to France soon, and they attached a form that I need to fill out that will tell them whether or not I'll be there by the required date. One problem: they still haven't told us when they need us there. So I don't know if I'll be able to be there by the required date. Thinking I had missed something, I called the Overseas Study office and asked if they could tell me the exact dates, and all I got was someone's voicemail when they transferred me to someone who would actually know. Great. Now all I can do is wait.

I'm no good at waiting.

I'm currently filling out my last scholarship application. It feels liberating, but at the same time, I know I have a lot of work to do still. So until I can get this done completely (6000 characters--including spaces--to go!), I'm still swamped with work. Ugh! It will all be worth it in six months, though.

More Prep

Good news! I am healthy. Or at least I have no known life-threatening conditions. Bonus: I am up to date on all of my vaccinations, including Hepatitis B! Who knew? I definitely don't remember getting those, which I suppose is a good thing. Ehh, shots. Yuck.

In other news, these scholarship essays are the worst. I have spent hours trying to summarize my life into two pages or fewer. (I know, that definitely sounds weird, but it's right, I promise. "Less" is technically incorrect.) But I plan on slaying the terrible beast tonight after 8:30 once my sister is home. She is a genius when it comes to these sorts of things, and I can use all the help I can get.

For those of you who have no idea where Aix is, here's a map.

Getting Started

I know this is a little early to start writing about studying abroad, especially considering I was only accepted a few weeks ago, but I thought I could get a start on writing about all the preparation I get to do. I'm very excited, you know. :)

Yesterday, I sent in my formal acceptance of their acceptance of me. It's great! Everybody loves each other. At least, everybody accepts each other. It probably helps that I sent in a $500 check along with my response form. I'll let you know how our relationship develops. I don't bribe just anyone...

Now that all of that is taken care of, I get to go see a doctor next week over Spring Break to get a physical done. I know, you don't have to tell me how jealous you are. I'm sure you would all rather give up your warm, sunny Florida beach vacations to go see a doctor, but not everyone can have it all.

I already have my passport, so I don't need to worry about that. All that's really left to do is to apply for more scholarships! I love writing essays.