By lacymyrman
Although I left the United States Thursday night (9/3), tonight is only my second night in France and I’ve been here for just over 24 hours now! Already I feel like I’ve learned so much yet I also know that I have much to learn.
Thanks to Turkish Airlines, I had a 22-hour layover in Istanbul, Turkey prior to arriving in my new home city – Marseille, France. Needless to say, fatigue and anxiety built up over the days leading up to my arrival. I knew that Marseille was a diverse city with North African, Arab and Spanish immigrants, among others and that the demographic landscape is drastically different from that of other French states. I was unsure what the city would actually look like once I arrived or what the people would look like. I was pleasantly surprised.
Even at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport, as I was waiting for my flight to Marseille, there were significantly more black people and people of African descent than I had seen out in Istanbul or even at the airport in Washington, DC. I knew that I was only a few hours away from the melting pot that is Marseille – the port city awarded the title, Cultural Capitol of Europe in 2013.
My flight arrived an hour later than expected (even though it departed on time!) and I felt so bad because my host family was picking me up from the airport. I was also worried about my inability to speak French very well anymore and wondered what my host family’s imagined view of me was.
Well, my host mom Michelle and her daughter Camilla picked me up from the airport and almost immediately I knew that the AUCP had selected the perfect family for me given the description of myself that I provided to them. Camilla wore jean overall shorts with the top part hanging down, colorful high top forces, a fitted black v-neck t-shirt and big gold hoops. She was definitely urban. Once we got in the car, Camilla’s music started playing and it was Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Gyptian, and a number of French rappers. I was too hype to hear rap, hip-hop and r&b music because it is such an important part of my life and I was upset that I didn’t have time to load up music on an iPod before I left!
As we drove, I saw the landscape was nothing like the other parts of France that I had ever visited (Normandy or Paris). There are hills and mountains, the sea, semi-tropical beaches and islands in the distance, a large port (Vieux Porte), tightly packed homes and they all are built on a hill. My home is at the top of the hill directly next to Notre Dame de la Garde! It’s a small little home but has lots of little patios and nooks to spend time outside and a perfect view of the city. My room is like a little loft and it’s quite homey.
My host mom is nice and has hosted many students in the past – she has a whole book with pictures of them! We’ve shared meals together and just talked to get to know one another in addition to going to the city today to the large shopping mall and a few other sites. At the mall, there was such diversity and everyone was dressed urban – Adidas, bucket hats, Nikes, and the like. I can easily relate to people on a cultural level and I love that.
However, my program requires that I speak only French while I’m here so that has been quite the challenge. I studied French for seven years and was fluent at one point but it has since been about two years since I have regularly spoken French and so that has been one of my biggest sources of anxiety in entering this program.
Fortunately, with each day I am learning more and tomorrow I’ll have a chance to work on it even more because in 9 hours I will be at school for the first day of orientation and “French Practique.” In fact, tomorrow I have my first exam! The TEF - Test d’Évaluation de Français. Wish me luck, or should I say “Souhaitez-moi bonne chance!” À tout à l’heure mes amis!