Are you mange-ing here ce soir?

(I really did ask someone that...unintentionally in Franglais.)

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I finally have a second to post...our first month and a half here has been absolutely packed. We had pretty much non-stop classes and meetings during the week and planned excursions on the weekends. I got here without a problem (such a nice comparison to my arrival in France), and my host family is great. My host mom, Roselyn, is smaller than me and full of energy (she bikes almost everywhere). She has two kids, Mathilde and Guillaume. Mathilde is 22 and still lives at home. She works at a delicious smoothie/wrap/salad place in the centre ville and is very sweet. Guillaume is 25 and is studying to be a nurse. He lived at home while he did an internship nearby, but he just left to go back to school this week. The apartment is the last two floors of a pink building just outside the centre ville, about halfway between the two different places where we're going to have classes. (They don't let us take all our classes at the university because there are strikes almost every semester and people sometimes don't go to class for 6 weeks.)

View of the apartment from the street.

This is my bedroom...it was just repainted, so there's not much on the walls right now, but I think there will be at some point.

Looking through the kitchen, dining room, and out onto the lower balcony.

Dining room.

Jardin de Plantes...the oldest in France. It was created to grow medicinal herbs and be a teaching garden for the university of medicine in the late 16th century.

Arc de Triomphe built by Louis XIV.

La Place de la Comedie, right near where some of my classes are.

An incredible sunset seen from one of the highest points of Montpellier (it's on a hill). This picture doesn't do it justice.

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We went on several excursions with our private language school the first few weekends we were here: St Guilhem le Desert, Arles, Aigues Mortes, and Marseilles. They were great opportunities to explore this region, and our guide was so knowledgeable (and enthusiastic about Occitan culture)! I'm only including a few pictures from each excursion, if any, but you can find lots more in my Facebook album.

This is a broad view of St Guilhem le Desert.

This is an unfortunately blurry picture of my delicious salad that I sometimes make to take with me for lunch. It's usually either rice or pasta with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, peas, carrots, little bits of ham, and (this time!) green beans. Delicious!!

This is a view from a tower in Aigues Mortes (a medieval city) of the ramparts and the water that is pink from all the shrimp. That's why the flamingoes (yes!) are pink.

This is the inside of the basilica in Marseilles, which is also called le Cathedrale de la Major...it's incredibly beautiful: the entire ceiling is a mosaic with real gold leaf.

View of Marseilles and the islands where we went, seen from the basilica. The small one in the middle is the location of Chateau d'If, where the Count of Monte Cristo is set.

Our swimming location - La Calanque - on one of the islands. I borrowed my host sister's snorkel mask and went snorkeling for the first time! It was great. I did, however, experience what it's like to step on a sea urchin...I wouldn't recommend it.

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This is fairly unrelated, but interesting nonetheless. I gave blood shortly after I arrived, which was a great experience. The nurses seemed to get a real kick out of the fact that I'm American and willing and able to give blood here. They couldn't find my vein for a while, so one of the nurses tried to distract me by speaking in English. I love it when French people speak in English with the only goal being to prove that they can, and not to say anything in particular. After giving blood, there were snacks waiting for me, like in the US....however, instead of Lil Debbie snacks and soda, there was apple juice, baguettes, and cheese. I love the food culture here.

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My computer is about to die and I'm going to be kicked out of the language school soon, so I'm going to stop here, but I'll post again soon about my vacation in La Rochelle and Paris and life since starting school!