Classes this week went very well. Monday night we had to watch "Silences de la Palais" for our Maghreb class. The movie was about a young girl, named Aliah, who was an illegitimate child born and raised in the king of Tunisia's palace. It was a good movie, but it was 2 hours long, and it went very very very slowly... but nonetheless it was intriguing. We had a discussion over it during class on Thursday, and I have to write a response for next Thursday! Joy. Wednesday was also a good day. For my Provence class we took a field trip (in the cold rain) to the Saint Sauveur Cathedral. Very pretty. Also quite cold on the inside. There is a part of the cathedral that dates back to the 6th century, but it is surrounded by Roman columns from about the 1st century. I thought that was so neat, and it has been beautifully preserved and restored. M. Kiefer liked to talk a lot about the cathedral's history. Maybe a bit too much, so I zoned out for most of it. I loved looking at la crèche the most (a special provençal version of the nativity scene). Overall, beautiful cathedral, inside and out, but unfortunately I was exhausted at the end, and my toes were so numb.
Thursday morning I had my first meeting with the lady I will be working with for my 'stage' at the Anthropology Department of the University of Provence. Apparently I will be working with animal bones (os d'animaux). I am so excited! Perfect internship. I'm not too sure what I will be doing yet, but it should be fun. Thursday night we had the cooking course with Madame Daniel. We learned to make onion soup, dorade (sea bream), and gallettes de roi (pastry with almond filling and usually only made during Christmas-time). Everything was absolutely delicious. Monsieur Daniel also came home, and brought with him tons of Rosé wine and Champagne. It was a very lovely night, indeed.
Last night we had another cooking extravaganza. Eszter and I made veal (well, she made the veal.. I helped eat it), haricots-verts with onions and garlic (my Thanksgiving special), Greek salad, an apple tart (mmm) and kir royales. The boys are gone for the weekend in Lyon, so it was Eszter, me, Emily, Ada, Renaud, and some interesting friend of Renaud's. Dinner was delicious. It also took 3 hours to make. It would not have been so awful had our stove been working. We have 3 induction burners (don't ask me what that is I have yet to understand), but only ONE was working. It was awful, because all of our dishes (except for the salad) needed to be cooked on the stove-top. But, three hours later, we were happily eating. :)
Aside from all of that, this week was also very depressing for me. Early in the week, my Dad took Tiffany (my beloved Golden Retriever of 13 years) to the vet, because her lymph nodes were enlarged and she stopped eating (except when she was hand-fed pieces of chicken--that dog sure loved her chicken). The vet told my Dad that Tiffy had lymphoma, and would only live for about one or two more months. Very depressing. She was given some steroids for the pain, but Tiffy was unable to walk anymore, and was in a lot of pain, so we had to put her down. Poor Dad, he was so upset. Tiffy was such a fantastic dog. She was very atypical for a Golden Retriever in some aspects. For example, she never retrieved when asked, and she absolutely HATED water (Jewish dog lol). She was so great. I was so upset for one day, but then the next day, I just had to remember all of the great times, and that she had the best life she could have had. :( I will miss her dearly. Unfortunately, I knew she wouldn't live for much longer. Dad had told me that she would not be back when I returned from France, and I knew that to be true, because she got so sick very quickly. Poor Tiff. When I was little, Dad and I wrote a song about her (lol) that went something like.. "Have you seen my dog, Tiffy-dog, Tiffy-dog, have you seen my dog, darling Tiffy? She runs all around, chasing rabbits all around, she's a young dog and should not leave her mother." Very strange, but if you know me and my Dad, it's not unexpected. Don't worry, I will post a lovely montage of my darling Tiffy later.
**This just in, hot off the press: Apparently we are getting a new puppy! And my parents said we would never get another dog... She is 6-weeks old right now (see pic below), and we will pick her up in 2 weeks. I wish my parents would have waited for me to come home first, but oh well. Here is a picture of the puppy! I think we're going to name her 'Bella.' Other suggestions are welcome. I like Stella (AOPii pride much?). She is one of 2 puppies of the litter, and we might also be taking the 2nd one home, too. We shall see....
<--puppy!
On a happier note, today Eszter and I travelled to Marseille! We woke up early and took the Navette to Marseille. It was a really pleasant trip--only took about 30 minutes, and not too expensive, either! We got dropped off at the Arc de Triomphe of Marseille, and walked all the way down to Rue Canebrière and then down to the pier. We went through the fish market, which reeked of fish. Most of the fish were still alive! So sad. There was also one stand that had a living, moving squid! Gross. I don't think I can ever look at fish again in the same way. After the market we went to Château d'If, which is on the island of If (pronounced, [eef]), which is written about in the Dumas book, the Count of Monte Cristo. Will definitely have to read that now when I get home for the summer. The island was first made famous when a rhino stayed there for a couple of weeks. It was also a prison for a while. I found it amusing that some prisoners could buy a nice cell, which had a fireplace, access to other people, and books. Not such a bad deal. One person, general Mirabeau, was sent there by his Dad, who did not like Mirabeau's anti-monarchy beliefs (Mirabeau was pro-Napoleon). After If, we walked all around Marseille. First, of course, we had lunch. 16 euros for 3 courses! Pas mal! I even had a bowl of bouillabaise. Very fishy, but quite delicious. Not sure if I will eat it again, but hey, when in Rome. Eszter and I walked to the Abbé Saint Victoire, an old church. Pretty non-descript on the outside, but the inside is very nice, with stained glass windows and all. There was a pretty crèche (i liked it much more than the one in Aix), and interestingly enough, there were displays that contained icons and bones of deceased saints. Strange. I'll add a photo of one that had someone's skull. In the bottom of the church there was also a crypt that contained sarcophagi and other random remains. Creepy church. Who would have known? Afterwards we travelled uphill to the Palais du Pharo (Pharoah's Palace). I forget the history of it, but it was quite beautiful and had a fantastic view of the Vieux Port of Marseille. After that hike we attempted to find the Musée de Mode (Fashion museum) but it was closed. We were depressed, but then we went shopping, and felt better. We were so exhausted and just sat down on some sofas inside the central shopping center for about 30 minutes. Returned to Aix around 7-ish via Navette. Might go out later, but will probably just end up going to bed. Have a lot of homework to do tomorrow, and also need to plan out some more weekend trips.
Skull at Abbé Saint Victoire
J'adore Marseille.
À bientôt!
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