A whole new world! (don't you dare close your eyes)

Hey everybody! This entry is going to be a bit lengthy, just FYI.
SO... Devon and I are settled in the apt (still no internet though), and all is well. I guess I'll start off by telling you about France as far as I know:

1. OMG the food is SO GOOD! The baguettes are out of this world, as are all their breakfast pastries ( I had this raspberry tart a few days ago that was just to die for). Plus, I absolutely LOVE their dairy and fruit here. It's so fresh, and so amazing. It's like an entirely new food group. The milk, cheese, and ice cream is fabulous and the fruit is so amazing, that it's no wonder they eat it for dessert here! You really do go to the market every few days here, if not every day. The bread is made daily, and the fruit only lasts a few days (due to the lack of preservatives) so you have to keep going back for more. It's kind of nice because you get to know your shopkeepers and bakers and all the food is wonderful, but at the same time it's annoying to have to go so frequently. It's a new type of dining routine, but there's no denying the superb quality of the food. (plus, the other day Devon, some other friends, and I went out to eat, and we ordered mussels. We literally got 70 for 8 euros, and they were the best things EVER). The most annoying thing so far when it comes to dining here, other than paying for water, is the small cups. They're literally a cup. Which is what the rest of the world uses, but since we're used to our 2.5 cup glasses, it's been an annoying adjustment. But it's cool, we have a sense of humor, and we're just going to search for bigger glasses for the apt. Grocery shopping is always interesting (as we can't tell what half of it is), and cooking can be even more so if it's a product we've never heard of before. Thank goodness for pictures on the boxes! :)

2. The people have been surprisingly nice here. After coming to Paris in the summer and hearing all the hype about antiamerican sentiment, I'm pleasantly surprised by French hospitality. When Devon and I arrived at the airport, a CERAM student named Claire picked us up and drove us to Antibes, spoke with our landlord, helped us find bus stops and stores, and left all her info to contact whenever she could be of help. Also, CERAM (now SKEMA), has a group called INTERCULTURE here with the sole purpose of helping international students integrate into French society and feel at home. They've thrown a bunch of parties and they're all incredibly friendly. UF hardly helps us, let alone international students. Also, when we had to set up a french bank account, the tellers stayed after close to help us! The guy at the front didn't speak english at all, and my french is both minimal and terrible, but after a decent effort on my part he found two tellers who spoke english and they were absolutely wonderful! It seems to me that if the effort is made to speak french, they're inclined to be a lot nicer. It's also standard practice to say hello to strangers you interact with through out the day. I really like this a lot. Get on the bus? Say hello to the bus driver! Same when you enter a store, cross by someone on the street, etc. When you leave you say goodbye and thank you. It's so cute and happy.

3. A few french cliches I've heard are totally valid, take smoking for example. Our entire school smells of smoke. Everyone here smokes, for real. We drove by a high school and these 14 year old kids are lighting it up. We also have 25 minute breaks between class, which most chose to use as a smoke break. And my favorite example, when we were given a school tour, the kid who lead it had a cigarette in his hand the ENTIRE time. It wasn't even lit, he just used to point things out nonchalantly. Another cliche is the french paradox. Totally true, but with this one, I feel like it's not really a paradox. You know how everyone says, "oh the French are so skinny but all they do is eat that amazing fatty food all day! How is this so?" Seriously, I've even read articles on yahoo about this. Yes, they eat fattening pastries and bread all the time (as obvious by everyone carrying baguettes around on the street), but they walk everywhere. Or at least a heck of a lot more than we do. Also, they smoke ALL the time. They also eat fruit for dessert and all their portions (except for our crazy amount of moussels) are smaller compared to ours. I mean, we got icecream at the grocery store (the big one that has frozen stuff), and the icecream bars I got are half the size of the ones back in the states. Furthermore, I think my favorite part of the school day is eating lunch. All classes are stopped between 11:45 and 2 so the school can eat (just like French society does), and the food is pretty good. It's only 2.80 Euro a meal, which consists of an entree, a side, and a dessert (a steal, I assure you), and it's a high quality and cheap way to be exposed to real french cuisine. I also think it's absolutely adorable how they have the glass pitchers/vases of water (I forgot the actual term for them. Starts with an e I think?) for each table. You fill them up with water at the front and then bring them to your table, and use it to refill your glass. Also, they were black here almost every day. As if the weather wasn't dreary enough! I'm tempted to find a yellow raincoat or something :)

4. The weather isn't the bad here really (except for yesterday), especially from what I hear is going on down south in the states! It is in the 30's here almost all the time, but the cold here doesn't feel as bad as in FL. I also layer a lot, and wear a hat and a scarf every day. What gets me here is how cloudy it is. Since there are no leaves and no sun, it can be quite dreary, but I suppose it's no different from the northern states. Also, it's sunny about every 3rd day, and when it is, it's gorgeous and warmer. Like today! WOOOO! It's probably just the Floridian in me, but it makes all the difference. Yesterday was painfully cold, like I was physically in pain, but it seems like all of Eastern Europe got hit pretty badly.

5. Everything closes on Sunday. This epically sucks. We have no idea what we're supposed to do with ourselves.

So about SKEMA, CERAM, or whatever you want to call it. What a HUGE change from UF, omg. First off, it's in the mountains. Literally. We take a 45 minute bus ride into the mountainside to get here lol It's gorgeous and scenic, and SO SMALL. They say they have 6000 students, but I'm pretty sure they're skewing those stats some how because it seems like maybe 2000. I want to say more like 1000. Also, there are only 3 buildings here! Seriously! It's the size of a spread out elementary school! And you think the buildings would be full of classrooms. Nope. There's like....8 in each building. Maybe a dozen. It's insane. Classes are 3 hours long and we can only miss 2 days or they flat out fail you. however, there's a 25 minute break in between classes the classes are simple and easy. The 3 hour classes are really hard to sit through, especially when at least one wall of each class room entirely consists of windows, providing a stunning mountainside view. There's a cap of 30 students per class, and since most students are being taught in their second language, they really aren't that difficult. In fact, there's never homework, and we have open book quizes (which we can share books on), and I've only been to two classes so far, but the teacher said the tests are created from the textbook bank. Apparently we're also a party school, which I absolutely love. You should see the emails we get from INTERCULTURE. The first student event was meeting in a pub. Then it was a house party where it said, "by 12 you'll be so drunk you won't even remember coming to the party! wooo!" and then there was a get together at a club where the first line of the email is "let's get drunk! PARTY BABY!!!!" Omg it's so funny. Can you imagine the legal repercussions is UF sent out emails like that? Unfortunately, Devon and I have only made it to a few get togethers because of the bus schedule, but the onse we've made were pretty fun. We've become pretty good friends with these two girls from Holland and two other students from American University. There's also a school-wide ski trip next weekend. Glad to know the French have their priorities in order!

I think that's pretty much all I have that's worth sharing. Devon and I are DESPERATE for internet in the apt and for better, more frequent transportation. School's been well (all two classes anyways) and we've eaten like kings! It's really expensive to live here, which has been increasingly frustrating, but there's nothing we can do about it. Well there you have it! A summary of our first 5 days or so in France! I'll be sure to keep you all posted and share any good stories that I can think of. I expect some sharing from you in return! I miss hearing from you and about all your lives (especially with no internet) and as this is one of my only sources of communicating I expect some details of what's going on with my favorite people ever! I miss you all so much and look forward to hearing from you soon! I'm going to lunch now, but when I get back I'll post some pictures.
Love you all immensely!


Here's a video of Devon and I's apartment:



And here's a few pictures from the past couple days:




Me being sad at our sad bus stop.

Best meal in France so far! The mussels were pretty much the best thing ever (cooked and seasoned SO well) and there were so many of them!















Old town Antibes. On our way to the Picasso museum (where there were no Picassos lol). Us and Marit and Nicole outside oldtown!

Devon on a sidestreet of Antibes
Us at a really happy bar after our get together