Better late than never

After sitting here for five minutes trying to think of where to start, I realized that I have been putting things off. A lot. Homework, laundry, cleaning, general hygiene, etc. Really, name anything conventionally productive or monotonous and chances are I have not done it. So, this is what I have been doing instead:

Tuesday we had our comedie musicale class at UPV. All five of us were in front of the classroom door at 8:45 for our 9:15 class, because we are responsible and punctual Americans. Used to French people being at least 10 minutes late to everything, we did not fret when the clock struck 9:12 and we were the only people in front of the classroom. However, at 9:20 it became evident that there was an error in communication somewhere down the line. After we all looked through our notes, we discovered that there was probably a 90% chance that class was actually in the city center at the opera house. This turned out to be the case, and as we entered the opera house 45 minutes late, we immediately knew that henceforth we would be the butt of every single joke. My dream of getting coffee with our silver fox of a professor was effectively crushed, but at least we still got to tour the opera house.

From the balcony

From the orchestra

That night we went to see the Tchaikovsky opera, Eugene Oenigune (questionable spelling at best) and it was.. definitely an opera (lots of very long, dramatic arias about love, short choral bits, death, overbearing mothers, jealous friends, friends becoming enemies, etc.) The music was great, but I discovered operas just aren't really my thing. I think I at least enjoyed it more than Carly, who quite literally went to sleep on the floor of our box seat.

The rest of the week was a blur of cafes, bars, loitering on walls/in parks and general hanging out. One new thing that I discovered this week is that I'm apparently playing in a concert that Jean F coordinates every year. After Jean F heard Carson play guitar, apparently he was recruited too. Now we have practice twice a week and were not really sure what this concert is/who it's for/what the hell we're doing, but it's been nice to sing and play with other people. Due to my inherent laziness, it's pretty necessary that I be forced into things like this.

On Saturday Mika went back to Japan. I'm going to miss her a surprising amount, as she is the epitome of an adorable ray of sunshine, but at the same time I'm looking forward to no longer feeling obligated to keep up with her at dinner. She didn't see it as a competition of who could eat the most and thusly be the most loved exchange child... but that's exactly what it was.

Also on Saturday, we went on a day trip to Nimes. We visited the arena (basically the the Colosseum's younger, under-appreciated step-sister) and la tour Magne (a big tower with an awesome view). We also hung out at an unbelievably picturesque park for several hours and had lunch at a pizza/Indian place (a concept that in theory baffles me but in practice is possibly the greatest discovery in modern gastronomy). It was an incredible day and we will certainly be returning in the near future.

Selfie on top of the arena

View from the top of the arena

La Tour Magne

Selfie from on top of la Tour Magne

Super old cathedral

Scenic view of more old things

I have made it my official mission and goal to take a selfie on top of every big site/monument that I encounter. I apologize for all of the beauty that will be blocked by my stupid/uncomfortable facial expressions in the future.

Hopefully, I'll be more prompt with my next post so that I can better remember what I've done and describe everything in more thorough detail.