Je m'installe, peu à peu!

Well, southern France has blessed me with some good ol' soleil this week, and I continue to get more and more used to my life here. Je m'installe, peu à peu! (I'm getting settled, little by little!)

A few updates from the ol' list:

Apartment looking: I've decided I may stay on campus. I'm not sure, but if I can figure out something with the WiFi situation (like, if I can actually get it), it would be possible to stay on campus. And I would save so.much.money. We'll see. But I've decided not to stress about the apartment thing just yet and do all the other things I need to do first. I'll come back to that decision plus tard.

Recharge my phone: Done! And I think I figured out the best card to get for myself while I'm here. Figuring things out, y'all!

Oh! And I found a laundromat. I have clean clothes, people. 

Speaking of which... to continue the "Narbonne: Tout est possible" stories...

1) While I was in the laundromat yesterday by myself, just sitting on the bench listening to some Mumford & Sons on my iPod, a well-dressed man between 25-35 years old came in the laundromat, sat himself down by me, put his head in his hands, yelled something at the laundry machines (I didn't hear, my ears were full of Mumford & Sons' Babel), looked at me, and put his head back in his hands. (?!?!) I began to think, "Ummm, is something bad about to happen?" as well as "Katy, just look at the laundry machines. Nbd. Watch the clothes." And just as suddenly as he arrived, he departed. Au revoir, monsieur. This is proof that I attract crazy people, regardless of where I am. 

2) I am now a magician. Just yesterday as I was walking with my friends, I sneezed and a pigeon appeared from nowhere and flew off into the sky. As if I sneezed him out. Also, today I dropped a bottle of water, which rolled a couple of seconds and then righted itself to standing position. This leads me to conclude that either a) we really are in another dimension, or b) I have a knack for magic, and I must find that cat on campus whom we assume to be Professor McGonagall to talk to her about late admission to Hogwarts.

Anyway, things are good. I'm less stressed. I'm having fun. I'm very used to speaking French every day without cease. I LOVE it. I don't find myself thinking "Man I wish I could speak some English!" or anything of the sort. I bump myself in the shower, and I react out loud in French. I joke with my friends in French, I tell my stories in French, I talk to banks and phone companies and people on the street in French. I love it and I'm so thankful. I haven't dreamt in French yet, that I know of. (I haven't remembered any dreams.) But it'll come.

Even when things are inconvenient or different, I am so thankful to be here. I am blessed, lucky, chanceuse, whatever you want to say. I'm here. This is real. I left everything and I live in France. And I love it. :)

Thanks for reading this disorganized, somewhat stream-of-consciousness post. Once again, here's you some photos!

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I love this pretty house and the lamp post. There are so many of these 

lamp posts that have a similar design, and I love them. 

Banque de France, 1902

(This is actually the building where we finally got our bus cards!)

I'm not sure what this was before, but now it's a Monoprix (store).

(It says Aux Dames de France, or "To the ladies of France.")

the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville (again)

Here you can see the Via Domitia (actual Roman Road)

exposed in the square in the center. Pretty legit.

one of the little ruelles (tiny streets) in centre-ville

above the stores, there are residences like this one

not sure what this pillar/fountain is all about, but

this was our view as we had hot chocolate and coffee yesterday

close up of the coat of arms found on the pillar

(This is found everywhere, I imagine it's the coat of arms of 

Narbonne, or maybe the region. Will investigate and get back to you.)

Beignet Nutella? Don't mind if I do!

Okay, there's a story behind this one. I told Violeta I wanted

a picture of her tarte aux fraises for le blog. She suggested we get a

little artistic and that she'd hold the tarte so I could get a picture of the

street/arch too. So I did. And then laughter ensued (as it does about 57

times a day) because this picture looks like she's sacrificing her tarte to 

the statue of the she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus.*

her tarte, normal picture-style

the flying buttresses of the Cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur

*Narbonne was an important port city during the period of the Roman Empire; it is said to be the first Roman city outside of Rome. There's a lot of history here from that time period, and as I learn more, I'll share it! (I LOVE it.) Anyway, so that's why you'll see a bit of a Roman theme throughout some of the pictures.