Yay for starting a blog!

I decided to start a blog so I could have something to do when I'm not busy, and mostly because there have already been some really interesting things I've encountered in my few days of travel throughout southeastern France and Monaco that I want to remember in the future. And now everyone can read about what I'm doing at the same time and I don't have to update everyone individually! :)

I will say that I already feel like I have changed as a person, and I've only been here since Sunday. It's been a humbling experience. I definitely feel more sympathetic toward people who immigrate to the United States and don't know English. It is really hard to learn another language. I've learned a "lot" of French since I arrived though...especially from going to the grocery store and having my mini dictionary out so I know what I'm buying. :)

I've learned to use the bus in Monaco...the first time I got on the bus to go to school, I got off at the wrong stop and was completely lost. Luckily, I had a general idea of how to read the map, and I found the right bus. The first two days were super stressful trying to figure out where I was going. And of course the people I attempted to ask barely spoke English. Whoever said that English is widely spoken and understood in Monaco and France was wrong. Or maybe I've just talked to the wrong people.

My first day at the grocery store was very interesting. It's called Carrefour, and it's right down the street from the school, in a mall type thing. It's kind of like a Walmart, with all of the electronics upstairs, and all of the food downstairs. Here, they make you pay for grocery bags, so it's good to have those reusable ones. And no matter what time of day I've gone there, it is a zoo, especially at the cash registers. But here are some things I've learned about the French, just from my experiences at the grocery store:

1. By far the weirdest thing I've seen so far...their milk isn't refrigerated. I have no idea how that works and why it doesn't go bad. Is it not from cows? Does it have special preservatives? I don't know, but I was extremely afraid to buy milk. The milk I did buy was in a cooler spot than the rest, which was just sitting on shelves like warm soda or something. Strange.
2. They take their cheese seriously. I'm not kidding. There is a deli section just for cheese. I have never seen anything like it. They're also pretty big on fish...but I guess maybe that has something to do with being right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
3. The wine section is huge! I think they have more selections of wine than a lot of liquor stores back in the States do. That makes sense though, since I believe that in France, the drinking age for wine and beer is 16. United States: get with the times.
4. I guess peanut butter and jelly sandwiches aren't popular here...I had to legit search for peanut butter. I found some, but it was expensive, and doesn't taste as good. Sad day :(

I'm sure I've discovered other things too, but I can't remember them right now.

I have not experienced a real French cafe yet, but hopefully that will change after this weekend. I'm on a journey to find the highly reviewed croque-monsieur (aka grilled ham and cheese). I love grilled ham and cheese back home...I can only imagine how it's going to taste with real French cheese and amazing French bread! :D

Lastly, I've found out how truly expensive Monaco is. Every day on my way to the bus stop, I pass a Tesla car dealership, and tonight I found a Maserati dealership. Like seriously? These people are so rich, it is ridiculous. I'm afraid to walk into a clothing store and look at how much something costs. Hopefully the clothes I brought will suffice for when I want to go out. And I discovered the other day that everytime I want to do one load of laundry, it's going to cost me 6 (yes, that's SIX) Euros. WTF?!?! Guess I won't be doing laundry more than once a week...

Anyway, it's been tough getting used to the cultural differences and not being able to communicate with a majority of the people here, but I feel like I'm starting to look less like an obvious American. Actually, at the grocery store the other day, an older woman was asking me something about the shoes I was wearing in French, and I said, "Je ne parle pas Francais." (I don't speak French). So, then she said "Italiano?" I was mistaken for an Italian! That's probably a result of the tan I still have from Miami :)

Being at the school has also really kept me sane, since all of my classes are in English. I've met some extremely nice people. Not everyone has the stereotypical French attitude :)

Okay, I've talked enough for now...as long as the rain isn't too terrible tomorrow, I'm going to start exploring Monaco. I hope to at least see the gardens and also pass by the casino (heyyyyy super very extremely intensely rich people). Maybe I'll get to a museum sometime in the next week too. I plan to update this at least every few days, so be on the lookout for a new post soon! For now, au revoir! :)