Started class, and some photos.

So...Montpellier, eh? This place is pretty amazing. The weather has been perfect. Sunny, warm, and breezy. We've had the windows open in class all day, and I keep my window open in my room when I am in it.

Class has been enjoyable (granted it has only been two days so far). My instructor is a British man named Huge, and my classmates are Welsh, Canadian, French-American, and Russian, all of whom are great people. We start teaching in a private high school next week...something I am dreading given past experiences I have had with French high schoolers...

I found a place to live for May and June, thankfully! It is half the price of the rent I paid for this month, and I will have my own kitchen. I can't wait to take photos of this place, it makes my current apartment look pathetic in comparison. This means no more OCD landlady! (Seriously though, this woman could use a psychotherapist.) Okay, here are some photos!

My current room:

The stairway inside my apartment building:

A church near my building...

The church again...

An old bath...

I need to take more photos of these, but every time I see a new one, I smile. I love Exit Through the Gift Shop. I've found three space invaders so far!

My walk home from school...

Walking home from school through the park where I rollerskate...

Place de la Comédie

One of the many cafés next to my place...

I miss my scooter!!!

La préfecture...

If you turn left from this road...

You see this little alley...

And if you go down that alley, you'll find my giant door.

Inside my building! (or at least my building until the end of the month!) For scale, that little white mailbox is at eye level for me, and that door is HEAVY.

Hope you liked them! I'll write more next time...

L'arrivée...

After what was quite possibly the shortest 22 hours of my life, I find myself sitting in a cafe in Montpellier, drinking my 3rd coffee of the morning wondering what the locals think of this tired, stinky (I really need a shower), and slightly twitchy (copious amounts of coffee and fatigue shouldn't always go together) girl sitting in the corner surrounded by stacks of luggage. Probably nothing, but I can't help but wonder.

The three flights over felt short and incredibly easy - probably because I slept through the majority of them. Paris was overcast and dreary, so when we took off for Montpellier, I had no problem falling asleep instead of looking excitedly out the window. I woke up right at the perfect time - as the overcast clouds came abruptly to an end, all that could now be seen were tiny villages dotting the French countryside, grey stone gorges lined with trees, and the occasional snow-capped mountaintop. As we came closer to Montpellier, the snow-capped Pyrenees came into view, followed shortly by the brilliant blue of the Mediterranean. Landing in Montpellier is great, you come from the north, fly out over the sea, then turn sharply around and land right on the edge of the water. If you hadn't spotted the runway in passing, one would most likely think that you were going to land IN the water. I will admit that I definitely thought that for a blip of a moment... I grabbed my bag and got to the city in a matter of minutes, grabbed a French cell phone, and found where I would be living. Pamela is currently at work, which is why I am saturating in my own filth in a cafe right now instead of stashing my luggage and getting cleaned up. She should be home soon, so I'll have to trudge back up the hill in the warm sun with all my luggage here shortly.

I start classes on Monday. After that, I should have a better idea of how this whole job hunt will go. But until then, I have a weekend to adjust to the time change and explore this beautiful city!