It's a gloomy day in Aix so I have nothing to do but lay in my bed, listen to my beautiful roommate sing and play guitar and of course blog. First I just want to tell the story of my experience in "Les Alpes" last weekend. A friend of ours named Pierre who we met the previous week invited me and my roommates to go to his friends house in the Alps. We drive about 2 hours to a town that looks like one of those that you pass on your way up to Big Bear or something. It's on an apple tree farm with a river crossing through the backyard. The scenery was a little different because its that awkward time of year between being beautiful green and beautiful snowy. So it was just kind of brown. We arrive at the house and meet Pierre's two friends. One of them spoke no english but refused to speak french with us. We didn't learn much about him. The other one was around 45 years old and an electrician. I was beginning to think that this was the start of a horror film. We watched as they cooked us a meal. The time was around 5 o'clock. After a good meal that we thought was dinner we sat around a table, playing guitar and singing, filling the house with tobacco smoke. I could barely breathe. My head was starting to loose oxygen, telling me that it wants to go to sleep. But then around midnight they make us another meal. Not just snacks or something like we would do in America, but a full-on meal. shish-kabobs, mashed potatoes, salad.... at 1 o'clock in the morning. It was bizarre. At this point I'm f-ing tired but no, its time for tea. Our friend Pierre had spent some time in Mali and had learned how to make this tea which is a whole long process with two teapots and bunch of pouring back and forth. So after some tea I finally say "Je dois dormir" and we make our way to the bedroom. There were two bunk beds for the three of us so Mariana gets onto the top of one of them. Brie takes the bottom and I take the top of the other bunk bed. But as soon as I climb up there and lay down Brie says to me " Why is your butt in my face?" And then the bed just falls. I slept on the couch. We woke up to the rain outside, have breakfast and take a walk in the mud down to the river. Then we take a drive up to the top of a mountain so we can see the incredible view. and oh boy, it was incredible. It started to snow a little at the top so we sang christmas carols. We took a bunch of pictures and went back to the cabin. It was a weekend in nature, something that I have been missing so much living in a city. I've never lived somewhere before that I walk everywhere and actually feels somewhat urban. When I go out at night in Aix I usually see someone that I know and nothing is further than a 20 minute walk. It's a small city but it's a city. There are round-abouts, one-way streets and scooters. Just as you would expect a European city to be. And now that I've made some good french friends I love it here. I always threatened that I would just end up staying in France but now I can actually see it happen. Everyone has to live somewhere and as long as you are happy it doesn't really matter where. I miss the states, I do. But there are so many things that I hate about the U.S. too. Here are a few examples (things people probably don't even realize): 1. When a new person arrives to a party, no one greets them. No one introduces themselves and it becomes to the responsibility of the stranger to make the effort to talk to people or just be awkward 2. Everything is in excess. We consume and consume and consume. There is always food left on the plate and we waste so much. We drink to a point of sickness almost every time and concern ourselves with things like the nicest car, the newest cell phone and the biggest house. 3. News in America is not real news. Instead of politicians and governments, we talk about celebrities and entertainment. I'm addicted to Perezhilton.com and cant help but love it. ..... I'm every one of the things that I just mentioned. But being in a place where courtesy is most important, moderation is a way of life, and politics are a passion, I see that there is another way to be. When you haven't seen another culture, everything in your life seems perfect. But then you leave it only to realize that things can be better. Sorry to be so negative about my homeland but I do enough France-bashing all the time that I had to look at it from the other side. That's the problem with being a Libra. I was always see both sides of everything. That's why I cant make decisions and get bored with boyfriends in about a minute. As they say in French, "Je suis folle."