November 13, 2008
Dear Diary,
Lately things have been a little rough. To be completely honest, I've been pretty homesick. Well, not necessarily longing to be in Summerville or Columbia, just wanting to be somewhere other than here. Nice is still nice. I guess the appeal is slowly decreasing as I'm starting to realize that I'll have to pay close attention to my money here. I haven't spent that much aside from the bus rides to and from work and eating out when my roommates start commenting about how little I get out of the apartment. It's hard to explore the city and have the time of your life when you're constantly saying "No, I can't spend any money today." I'm supposed to start paying loans since I'm out of school at the moment. My grace period is over and I'm due to pay $120 at the end of November. I thought the payments would be less, so when I saw the bill, I basically hyperventilated and started figuring out how much further I could stretch my money. Clare (an assistant from Wisconsin said she is trying to defer her loans, so perhaps I can do the same).
I've never really budgeted my money before. Just pretended like I didn't have any and occasionally bought myself something I wanted. When I was at the College of Charleston I paid a large sum of money at the beginning of each semester, so I didn't have to worry about paying monthly bills and all of that. Here I feel like such a grownup because I have to actually think about all of this stuff. I'm keeping track of my money on Excel, but I think I should start giving myself budgets--for groceries, bus passes, and going out. But I'm not really sure what ranges are considered reasonable. For instance the "going out" budget doesn't need to be that large because I really don't live for that sort of thing. I'm sort of a homebody and don't enjoy wasting money. However, after sitting in the apartment and being cooped up all the time, I look forward to hanging out with other assistants/roomies at a restaurant or bar. Lately when I go out I purposefully leave my debit cards at the apartment and only take 10 euros (max) with me so I'm not forced to spend more money than I want or to stay out super late.
What else? What else? So to temporarily cure my blues, I bought a book for 8 euros called Merde Actually by Stephen Clark. It's pretty hilarious so far. I bought it when walking home from the bus stop and have read over 50 pages in one sitting. So it's keeping me from mindlessly surfing the internet and wallowing in self-pity, which I've been guilty of lately.
When I walk to the bus stop in the mornings, I sometimes have a hankering for a good southern buttered-up biscuit. You know, like the homemade kind or the ones they make at Hardee's. I tried to find a good recipe or something similar in the grocery store, but they don't even have a word for southern biscuits here. Because "biscuit" (pronounced BEE-SQUEE) translates as cookie--which basically includes shortbread and the like. And they have the word "cookie" but that only refers to chocolate chip cookies. So yeah, I had a hard time explaining to my roommates what this biscuit thing is that I've been craving. However, I found something that comes pretty close to filling the void! :D Get excited! If you take a baguette, spread demi-sel ("half-salt") butter in the inside, and heat it up in the microwave...oh, it tastes like heaven and really hits the spot! :) Other than eating buttered baguettes, though, I've mostly been surviving off tea, coffee, milk, pasta, cereal, and veggies.
A couple nights ago I met up with Bev, Lori, Clare, and Becky at a cafe in Old Nice. I really enjoy getting together with the girls because it automatically brightens up my day and makes me look at things in a totally different perspective. I love getting their advice and talking about random things. That day we covered boys, school, colds, remedies for motion sickness, good eats, travel plans, our crappy salary, etc.
I'm the one who brought up the topic of motion sickness because bus rides to and from Vence have become a nightmare. I never ever get sick during car rides. The worst thing I've ever experienced before is getting headaches from reading in the car. But now, just riding on the bus makes me want to throw up. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that it's very stop-and-go and speed up and take corners fast and zip through lanes and all of that. The drivers are crazy. But even when I happen to luck up and have a slow driver, I still get that awful feeling in my throat and stomach. I have yet to actually barf on the bus, but everyday I have to ride it, I'm forced to fight that feeling. And it just sucks to no end. I listen to music, I look out the window, I prop my legs up so I'm not moving around as much. Nothing has helped. And the bus ride is basically an hour long, so I have to sit there suffering silently during each trip to and from Vence. Got any suggestions for me to make the rides more bearable?
Ooh, I also got some great news today. Nothing really groundbreaking or incredibly exciting for you, but it definitely was one of the highlights of my day. Paule (my contact) told me she no longer would be in charge of me. So I'll have to start reporting to some new lady, which really isn't an issue for me. Paule said the administration thought she had too much going on and she already has other stuff to worry about. I don't really know...she kept talking but I wasn't really listening. I was just excited that I didn't have to worry about pleasing her anymore. She's one crazy fool who makes my job that much tougher because of her lack of organization and cohesive thoughts. She gives me these elaborate and confusing lesson plans that she wants me to do, and leaves me there with a puzzled look on my face. When I try to do the lessons with her students, they seem just as confused and uninterested in the task as I am. I've noticed that when I use my own lesson plans, her students are still pretty rough to teach and talk to. I think she might have gotten stuck with the bad batch of students. Or perhaps they're like that because they've had to deal with her as a teacher. I'm not sure which one is right.
Today after I got off work Anne-Marie (the lady who originally offered me a place to stay in Tourettes-Sur-Loup) invited me to a local patisserie to try something sweet. She bought me a slice of tarte tropezienne, a yummy cake that is a specialty of nearby St.Tropez. You can see a picture here: http://www.idesign.fr/website/capella/source/mesphotos/Tropezienne.jpg. It's really good. One of the best foods I've tried and way better than that nasty ile-flottant (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/459993006_212c3aa1e6.jpg?v=0"). I tried before. Anne-Marie is such a sweetheart. I love her to death because she's so friendly and caring. And she's the only prof who really talks to me about non-work-related stuff. She's always asking about how things are going in the apartment and inviting me places and offering up tidbits about the local history. I mentioned that Sabrina's coming in December, and Anne-Marie actually offered to show her around the Friday after she arrives. I'm working 9am-3pm at the school that day, but Anne-Marie has the day off. I thought that was really sweet to offer to keep Sabrina company and be a tour guide of sorts.
Anne-Marie seems to mother me a lot, which I can't really complain about. It's nice to feel like someone cares about you. Especially when you're homesick and a million miles away from what you're used to. I found out today that she'd really wanted kids but never had any because she didn't marry until her late 30's and never got pregnant. And then her husband didn't want to adopt. It's so sad sounding, don't you think? I don't know what I'd do if I was in that situation. I guess I'll just have to marry before I'm 30 or get some eggs frozen or something. But dang. Poor Anne-Marie....
Oh, almost forgot...the other day I visited the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence. It was designed by Henri Matisse, a famous French painter (and the person that my high school was named after). You can read some info about it here if you want: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_du_Rosaire_de_Vence. Sorry I'm giving you so many links. But yeah, I wasn't totally impressed with it. I mean, it's supposed to be really famous and Matisse considered it his best work (it was the only building he designed). But I expected something bigger and more colorful. I'm used to crazy huge churches here. The chapel was pretty tiny though. I took some pictures nearby, though, and enjoyed walking around the city. It was my first little adventure there. :)
Well, it's time for me to continue reading and maybe interact with the roomies. I think there is a mini-party going on in the common area. I should probably go investigate it. Hope you enjoyed this post and I'll write again as soon as I get the urge to update. Keep your fingers crossed that it's soon!
-Ashley
Lately things have been a little rough. To be completely honest, I've been pretty homesick. Well, not necessarily longing to be in Summerville or Columbia, just wanting to be somewhere other than here. Nice is still nice. I guess the appeal is slowly decreasing as I'm starting to realize that I'll have to pay close attention to my money here. I haven't spent that much aside from the bus rides to and from work and eating out when my roommates start commenting about how little I get out of the apartment. It's hard to explore the city and have the time of your life when you're constantly saying "No, I can't spend any money today." I'm supposed to start paying loans since I'm out of school at the moment. My grace period is over and I'm due to pay $120 at the end of November. I thought the payments would be less, so when I saw the bill, I basically hyperventilated and started figuring out how much further I could stretch my money. Clare (an assistant from Wisconsin said she is trying to defer her loans, so perhaps I can do the same).
I've never really budgeted my money before. Just pretended like I didn't have any and occasionally bought myself something I wanted. When I was at the College of Charleston I paid a large sum of money at the beginning of each semester, so I didn't have to worry about paying monthly bills and all of that. Here I feel like such a grownup because I have to actually think about all of this stuff. I'm keeping track of my money on Excel, but I think I should start giving myself budgets--for groceries, bus passes, and going out. But I'm not really sure what ranges are considered reasonable. For instance the "going out" budget doesn't need to be that large because I really don't live for that sort of thing. I'm sort of a homebody and don't enjoy wasting money. However, after sitting in the apartment and being cooped up all the time, I look forward to hanging out with other assistants/roomies at a restaurant or bar. Lately when I go out I purposefully leave my debit cards at the apartment and only take 10 euros (max) with me so I'm not forced to spend more money than I want or to stay out super late.
What else? What else? So to temporarily cure my blues, I bought a book for 8 euros called Merde Actually by Stephen Clark. It's pretty hilarious so far. I bought it when walking home from the bus stop and have read over 50 pages in one sitting. So it's keeping me from mindlessly surfing the internet and wallowing in self-pity, which I've been guilty of lately.
When I walk to the bus stop in the mornings, I sometimes have a hankering for a good southern buttered-up biscuit. You know, like the homemade kind or the ones they make at Hardee's. I tried to find a good recipe or something similar in the grocery store, but they don't even have a word for southern biscuits here. Because "biscuit" (pronounced BEE-SQUEE) translates as cookie--which basically includes shortbread and the like. And they have the word "cookie" but that only refers to chocolate chip cookies. So yeah, I had a hard time explaining to my roommates what this biscuit thing is that I've been craving. However, I found something that comes pretty close to filling the void! :D Get excited! If you take a baguette, spread demi-sel ("half-salt") butter in the inside, and heat it up in the microwave...oh, it tastes like heaven and really hits the spot! :) Other than eating buttered baguettes, though, I've mostly been surviving off tea, coffee, milk, pasta, cereal, and veggies.
A couple nights ago I met up with Bev, Lori, Clare, and Becky at a cafe in Old Nice. I really enjoy getting together with the girls because it automatically brightens up my day and makes me look at things in a totally different perspective. I love getting their advice and talking about random things. That day we covered boys, school, colds, remedies for motion sickness, good eats, travel plans, our crappy salary, etc.
I'm the one who brought up the topic of motion sickness because bus rides to and from Vence have become a nightmare. I never ever get sick during car rides. The worst thing I've ever experienced before is getting headaches from reading in the car. But now, just riding on the bus makes me want to throw up. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that it's very stop-and-go and speed up and take corners fast and zip through lanes and all of that. The drivers are crazy. But even when I happen to luck up and have a slow driver, I still get that awful feeling in my throat and stomach. I have yet to actually barf on the bus, but everyday I have to ride it, I'm forced to fight that feeling. And it just sucks to no end. I listen to music, I look out the window, I prop my legs up so I'm not moving around as much. Nothing has helped. And the bus ride is basically an hour long, so I have to sit there suffering silently during each trip to and from Vence. Got any suggestions for me to make the rides more bearable?
Ooh, I also got some great news today. Nothing really groundbreaking or incredibly exciting for you, but it definitely was one of the highlights of my day. Paule (my contact) told me she no longer would be in charge of me. So I'll have to start reporting to some new lady, which really isn't an issue for me. Paule said the administration thought she had too much going on and she already has other stuff to worry about. I don't really know...she kept talking but I wasn't really listening. I was just excited that I didn't have to worry about pleasing her anymore. She's one crazy fool who makes my job that much tougher because of her lack of organization and cohesive thoughts. She gives me these elaborate and confusing lesson plans that she wants me to do, and leaves me there with a puzzled look on my face. When I try to do the lessons with her students, they seem just as confused and uninterested in the task as I am. I've noticed that when I use my own lesson plans, her students are still pretty rough to teach and talk to. I think she might have gotten stuck with the bad batch of students. Or perhaps they're like that because they've had to deal with her as a teacher. I'm not sure which one is right.
Today after I got off work Anne-Marie (the lady who originally offered me a place to stay in Tourettes-Sur-Loup) invited me to a local patisserie to try something sweet. She bought me a slice of tarte tropezienne, a yummy cake that is a specialty of nearby St.Tropez. You can see a picture here: http://www.idesign.fr/website/capella/source/mesphotos/Tropezienne.jpg. It's really good. One of the best foods I've tried and way better than that nasty ile-flottant (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/459993006_212c3aa1e6.jpg?v=0"). I tried before. Anne-Marie is such a sweetheart. I love her to death because she's so friendly and caring. And she's the only prof who really talks to me about non-work-related stuff. She's always asking about how things are going in the apartment and inviting me places and offering up tidbits about the local history. I mentioned that Sabrina's coming in December, and Anne-Marie actually offered to show her around the Friday after she arrives. I'm working 9am-3pm at the school that day, but Anne-Marie has the day off. I thought that was really sweet to offer to keep Sabrina company and be a tour guide of sorts.
Anne-Marie seems to mother me a lot, which I can't really complain about. It's nice to feel like someone cares about you. Especially when you're homesick and a million miles away from what you're used to. I found out today that she'd really wanted kids but never had any because she didn't marry until her late 30's and never got pregnant. And then her husband didn't want to adopt. It's so sad sounding, don't you think? I don't know what I'd do if I was in that situation. I guess I'll just have to marry before I'm 30 or get some eggs frozen or something. But dang. Poor Anne-Marie....
Oh, almost forgot...the other day I visited the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence. It was designed by Henri Matisse, a famous French painter (and the person that my high school was named after). You can read some info about it here if you want: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelle_du_Rosaire_de_Vence. Sorry I'm giving you so many links. But yeah, I wasn't totally impressed with it. I mean, it's supposed to be really famous and Matisse considered it his best work (it was the only building he designed). But I expected something bigger and more colorful. I'm used to crazy huge churches here. The chapel was pretty tiny though. I took some pictures nearby, though, and enjoyed walking around the city. It was my first little adventure there. :)
Well, it's time for me to continue reading and maybe interact with the roomies. I think there is a mini-party going on in the common area. I should probably go investigate it. Hope you enjoyed this post and I'll write again as soon as I get the urge to update. Keep your fingers crossed that it's soon!
-Ashley
posted by ashley at
6:55 PM
1 Comments:
When I went home this weekend I had my dad get me a whole bunch of stuff (popcorn, peanut butter, mac and cheese) and I also requested bisquick so that I can make pancakes and biscuits!! You should get someone to put a box in if they are sending you a care package.
I've been feeling down lately too. Not really homesick, but I don't really like where I am living and not having constant internet is a real bother. I'm supposed to start paying my loans too, at $250 a month, which I simply can't afford to do! I'm trying to see what I can get done, because I have a payment due on December 1. :( Its not very nice not having money. Have you applied for the CAF yet? I think that I might start getting payments in December. They have sent me my member ID number already.
Chin up! Things will be better after we get paid this month, since we wont have as many "start up" costs and we know how everything works.
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