Marseille

Ok, back from break, and so much to write about, but first a little bit about the week before...

Last Tuesday Mme Hamouda took our class to Marseille (about a twenty-five minute bus ride away) to visit the Maghreb immigrant quarter. Marseille is kind of a grungy city as far as I can tell from my time there (and according to basically everyone I've ever talked to about it...), and there isn't much to see, but this part of it at least was interesting.
Our first stop was this stand Mme Hamouda must love because she made a beeline for it. I had one of these pancake-like things with vegetables. It was gigantic and weighed a ton. There were also meat pastries and potato cakes.
We went in a few shops that were full of spices and dried fruits, as well as incense to inspire just about everything--love, tranquillity, etc--which Mme Hamouda thought was hilarious. Every time she saw a new one, she'd call it out to us across the tiny store.
Honey straight from the comb! Apparently, we were allowed to taste everything right out of the bins, but I somehow missed that memo.
Fortunately, Mme Hamouda always bought something for us to try.
Here's a dried kumquat. I think that was the first time I've ever seen one. Definitely the first time I've ever eaten one. very citrus-y.
Totally out of place WWF towel hanging in the souk (marketplace)...
More spices...everything we've been reading always talks about the colors and the smells of the Maghreb countries as a huge part of the "myth of the Orient," so I think Mme Hamouda really wanted us to see that. Plus, she was able to do a lot of shopping over the course of the trip.
Then we walked around outside the marketplace for a while...Mme Hamouda showed us the former prostitutes' quarter, where her daughter lived briefly when the area opened up to immigrants, although she eventually moved because she felt too unsafe there at night. Since then, it's apparently progressed even more (here's a shot of one of several art galleries along the street--there I am in the reflection), although I think I'd still be uncomfortable living alone there.
So many posters plastered everywhere. I took a bunch of pictures since we have to turn in some sort of creative response about the visit. I'm considering doing a collage, but those often end up being frustrating for me because I'm too organized, so we'll see. If it turns out well, I'll post a picture of it.
Moving on to the Islamic book store, which had really pretty leather-bound books. There were also a lot of children's books and paperbacks with titles like "A Woman's Duties" and "Mixed Marriage," etc.
This unassuming tea shop is supposedly the most well-known in southern France for its Tunisian pastries
So, of course, we went, and Mme Hamouda bought an assortment for us to try. There were a few baklava-like ones and some that were similar to powdered doughnuts and others that were unlike anything else I've ever had.
Plus really delicious mint tea. I think this was my fourth, and not at all last, cup of the day since I was still sick then.

I had really wanted to visit Morocco or Tunisia while in France this semester, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, so it was cool we at least got to do this, even though it's of course not the same. It was neat to see a distinctly different neighborhood within a city because you really can tell a difference as soon as you turn off one street and onto another.

On Wednesday, we went back to Marseille to get a medical exam that's a new requirement (they changed the law in June or July) for 3 month student visas. We were going as a group after class, but I had stupidly left my passport and papers at home because I thought we were leaving later. Long story, but basically, I had less than 30 minutes to run from the center back to Bellegarde (a fifteen minute walk each way) back to the bus stop, which is another ten or fifteen minutes from the center, in the pouring rain, wearing rainboots, of course, and I am not a runner, but I somehow managed to get there with time to spare. It was crazy enough that's it's still worth noting in my blog over a week later. When I showed up at the bus stop looking like a drowned rat, Mme Scott couldn't believe it and asked if that was my exercise for the month.

So then, we went to OFII (I don't remember exactly what this stands for), and considering how my doctor's visits usually go, this one was pretty uneventful, probably because there was no bloodwork. We got chest X-rays (they gave them to us to take home too, so I guess I've got that as a souvenir if it'll fit in my suitcase), and the gowns we had to wear were completely transparent. I asked Renaud if that was typical, and he said he'd never seen one like that before. Mme Scott told us to keep them so we can throw a party and wear them. She is so crazy.

Also, I didn't need the copy of my birth certificate translated into French that I had Dad overnight to me. The doctor just took my word for it that I'm up-to-date on all of my vaccines, and when he was supposed to be listening to my heartbeat, he just kept giving me advice about being an actress. The French are all about encouraging people to pursue their artistic dreams, at least, the French people I keep encountering. It's great.

Thursday was spent finishing my Contemporary France paper about marriage between French people and foreigners. Apparently, one in five marriages involves a foreigner! whoa. I guess Mom's concern that I'd fall in love with a Frenchman and never want to come home was justified, although this hasn't happened yet, if anyone was wondering.

I'll post about Vienna soon--currently working on internship paper which is due Tuesday, but it was a really good trip, and I've got some great pictures.