where it all ends, i can't fathom my friends

I'm so glad to be out of London and into paradise. Cannes is gorgeous. Filled with palm trees and tiled roofs, the water is blue blue blue and all of you should be envious. I'm only a short, 1 euro bus ride away from the perfume capital of the world, and I'll be spending this Saturday in Monaco. Thursday, a few of us are taking the train into northern Italy, and next Wednesday, we'll be going to St. Paul de Vence.

But it isn't all sun and sights. I have classes everyday starting Tuesday, from 9-12 AM (while people back in the States are deep asleep; unless you're my parents, in which case you have insomnnia and rarely sleep anyway). We get graded, and have to take tests. There's grammar for an hour and fifteen minutes, a short break, then dictation and orals for another hour and fifteen minutes. Our professor is nice, though she doesn't know the difference between ancient history and classical history. She tried to tell me that the classical period was the 18th century. Even in France, the classical period is Ancient Greek and Roman. This is the problem with French teachers trying to correct history buffs on history. Classical music often comes from the 18th century, but talking history, it's strictly Greeks and Romans.

This is all very irrelevant, really. The point is, I have to go to class. And we have a dining hall here that serves us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The problem being: the food is horrible. Our first night here they served chicken nuggets the likes of which elementary schools force on small children because they can't fight back and McDonald's used to served before they started using "all white meat". To choke down alongside them were half-cooked fries. For lunch today, they gave us a plate of slimey turkey and something unidentifiable, tasting vaguely of donut and potato. Needless to say, we skipped dinner and found a nice, cozy outdoor cafe where I had ravioli à la bolognaise and un verre de vin. The rest of the day was spent shopping along the Rue d'Antibes and the multitude of little side streets. I didn't buy anything except a notebook for class (they don't have American notebook paper. It doesn't just have horizontal lines. It's fancy graph paper and they use it to take notes, apparently) and some pencils.

I've been trying to speak completely in French, even when around my American peers. However, they don't, for the most part, seem inclined to work with me and most can't even understand , which is basic, people. Today we took a proficiency test and were separated into groups ranging from Beginner-Beginner to Advanced. I got myself placed pretty much where I wanted: Intermediate. The thing is: I lack confidence in my speaking ability, and a nice review of everything I'm uncertain of is exactly what I need for these two introductory weeks. The challenges can come in Paris. It's just a little frustrating when people in my class are trying to speak French and I can't understand them at all; when the teacher speaks, no problem.

During our long walk around the inner city, I went into a department story where an entire wall was devoted to Francesco Biascia bags (is that how you spell the name? Italian is not my forte). 200-300 euro a piece, but wow, they were tempting. This is the problem with good taste; if I didn't have it, life would be significantly cheaper (they were selling horrid metallic orange bags for about 19 euro). As my grandfather used to say, "I'd rather be poor than ugly." Which is mean but true enough.

Back to Cannes. I'll be glad to leave and head to Paris. Not only will my meal plan be my personal choosing, I'll be rid of this filthy communal bathroom (which is co-ed, by the way, and has no place to put your clothes or your towel to keep them dry. I had to walk to and from the shower in my towel only––thankfully no males were around). I was also forced to buy flip-flops for 9 euro just so my feet can stay clean when I'm in there. Am I being a picky, spoiled American? I don't honestly care. Hygiene is not something I'll sacrifice, even in France. Paris may have small showers too, but at least I'll only have to share it with one other person and I won't have to scrounge around for a clean-ish spot to place down my shampoo.

And hopefully my internet will be more than sparodic in Paris. As is, I have wi-fi, technically, but the signal is so weak that it's continuously cutting off at inopportune times.

I promise to post some pictures when I get around to it (and when I feel like digging out my cords, connecting camera to computer, uploading, editing, and making my internet work long enough to get it online).

Not much more to say, really. I've had few profound thoughts (jetlag kills those quite effectively) and reading the New York Times just makes me depressed anymore. Everyday I learn something more about Sarah Palin that terrifies me beyond belief that anyone could consider her a good candidate (for VP, I know, but this is McCain we're talking about: even he's admitted his VP pick is somewhat more crucial due to his age and health). And everyday, I read how Wall Street is in tatters and another business giant is collapsing, being taken over by the government, filing bankruptcy, or being sold. Sounds like not much has changed since I left. Hopefully, when I return, we'll have elected our first black president, and maybe that will help alleviate this mess a bit. Listened to a girl today tell me how she wasn't voting because she wasn't going to be responsible for putting someone in the position of screwing us over. I responded that we're only as screwed over as we screw ourselves (or allow ourselves to be screwed). Not voting achieves nothing, and both candidates have significantly different approaches to governing, which means it isn't a meaningless choice. There might not be a solution, but there are things that can be done that are better than others. We're all responsible, even if we don't vote, because that's how a democracy works. We the People elect our leaders, our representatives, and if they screw something up, it's because we let them. If they screw it up worse, it's because we're not paying attention and we let them. If you disagree with the course our country takes, it's your responsibilty to research and find a candidate you can support as much as possible, someone whose stances you can agree with, at least partially. If one can't be found, get an education and run for office yourself. Not voting is denying your own power to spite yourself. It doesn't stop the government from messing up, it keeps you from doing anything about it.

Wow, I can rant, can't I? I have no one to rant to in person, it all gets bottled up inside because it's still too early to really piss anyone off.