Sur le Pont d’Avignon, the strikes go on

Last Saturday I went to Avignon with my grandparents, which is an hour’s bus ride from Aix. What the town is famous for, of course, is the Pont St Bénézet, the bridge immortalized by the song, “Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse, l’on y danse”. We walked out on the bridge, although it’s only partly there because floods in th 17th century washed part of it down the Rhône. Apparently, historians believe people actually danced sous (under) the bridge on an island, not sur (on) it as the song says.

Avignon is surrounded by ramparts that are surprisingly intact. They’re not huge and, I read, aren’t very well-built ramparts; they were more meant to intimidate than truly keep intruders out. At the center of town is the Palais des Papes, an impressive, imposing building left over from when the papacy was in Avignon and not Rome. Overall, Avignon is a charming little town and I’m really glad we went.

On Monday, the unions at La Fac decided to continue their strike until Friday, when they’ll reconvene and see if they’ve changed their mind. I did think it was fruitless to continue striking when the government was obviously ignoring the enseignants-chercheurs, but then I saw on the news last night that the education ministers are meeting today to discuss the issue. Another interesting tidbit from last night’s news: numerous government officials, including President Sarkozy, received death threats in the mail the other day. The envelopes contained 9-mm bullets and letters threatening to kill the officials and their families. Given how many ministers received letters and that they contained bullets, the police are taking it quite seriously.

This morning our program had brought in a graduate student to give us advice on studying for history classes so that, if and when they recommence, we’ll be ready. The session was useful and it’ll be hugely helpful, but it was also a little terrifying. The grad student told us we could expect tests to consist of a single question for which we had four hours to write a response; he said he typically takes an hour and a half on the draft alone. Ugh.

For lunch I had a crêpe at Crêpes à GoGo which had melted goat’s cheese and ham. It was absolutely delicious. Yet even with all the cheeses, crêpes, and Italian food I’ve been eating lately, I have still lost six pounds since arriving in Aix. Without a doubt, it’s due to walking. For example, to get my hair cut I walked 1.2 miles each way, according to Google Maps. And that’s not including going to classes, the program office, and so on.

This afternoon I took a big plunge and had my hair cut in France. I went to a place called Sarl Hair Discount Coiffure, which had been suggested by another exchange student. In hindsight, I should have called and made a reservation, because they made me wait for about half an hour, but it was worth the wait. I struggle to explain how I’d like my hair cut even in English, so I took pictures from last time I had my hair cut in the U.S. With those and my explanation (I learned all sorts of new haircut-specific vocabulary!) I ended up with exactly the haircut I’d hoped for. And for just €13, I was happy.

As with France en Perspective, my Friday Expression Ecrite class is canceled because that school’s winter break is this week. Sometimes I struggle to see the “study” part of study abroad…