Arrival in Aix!

I have arrived in Aix safely!! My flight to Munich was not that bad... I flew Lufthansa so everything was awesome, I just wasn't able to sleep much at all unfortunately (nerves I am assuming, since I was very tired!). We arrived safely in Munich and had about a three hour layover which was spent trying to convince ourselves that we were in fact in Europe and would soon be in France! We found other IAU (Institute for American Universities, my university in Aix) students in the airport and we all chatted until our flight. On the connector plane to Marseille, I had the window seat which was perfect for this flight. In my sleepy state, I somehow managed to convince myself that we were headed into a storm, as I saw darkness ahead. I was preparing myself for this storm when I realized that the "storm clouds" looked jagged and not like the fluffy clouds I am used to at all. That is when I realized that I was too tired and that I needed to take a nap... and that I was flying over the Alps!!!!!! They were gorgeous and I of course took out my camera and started taking pictures. After a few it was clear that the man sitting next to me was judging me, so I decided that I would nap after the Alps left the skyline.

I woke up to a man's head almost in my lap... I was at the front of economy class and the business class which is not any better on the small plane... except the seats recline a lot more, hence the head in my lap. We landed in Marseille and I got a quick glimpse of the Mediterranean! We were greeted by an IAU staff member and took a bus to Aix-en-Provence! There we were dropped off and our host families were supposed to pick us up... but my host mom's father picked me up (my host grandfather? haha) and he dropped me off at my new home for the next four months! J'habite a 34 rue Victor Leydet which is right near the Cours Mirabeau (a comparison- the Cours Mirabeau is like the Champs Elyses of Paris...)
My host mother is great and she has a daughter who is odler than me (I am not sure how old she is, but it is between 22-25 I think). My host mom's father picked me up and I spent my first day in Aix unpacking... all day. Not because I had lots to unpack, but becuase the granmother was at the apartment with me and could not understand a thing I said. Frustrating needless to say, but I kept trying and she kept looking at me like I was an alien. So I gave up and spent the day being frustrated and wanting to explore but I decided to unpack and take a much needed nap until my housemate, Leslie, arrived finally! This is when my host mom's daughter came home and began preparing my first French dinner. So good. Somehow pasta in France is better (haha)!
So my first full day in Aix consisted of a tour by my host mother and then a meet and greet at the IAU with my fellow students. A few girls and I decided to walk around the city by ourselves and found it easy to naviagate the streets and started to really get to see the city! We walked for an hour or so and split up, heading towards our homes. I ended up walking around more with a fellow HWS student and was exploring untila round dinner time! We just got to know our host mother more since she was not at dinner last night. She is definitly a funny woman and is very heplful with helping us and correcting us! But now I am off to bed to try to catch up on more sleep and prepare for tomorrow, which consists of activities all day at the IAU! Bon nuit!