Reason’s I’m spoiled.

1). The weather.
I’ve been here over a month and I can think of three, maybe four days that haven’t been 70 or 80 and sunny without a cloud in the sky. In the winter, the high temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 50’s, with the lows in the upper 30’s. Coming from Milwaukee, WI, that seems pretty unreal. Provence is sunny 300 days out of the year, and apparently the rain/clouds are concentrated in fall and spring…so if it makes you feel better it will start raining on my parade soon.

2). The food
This should come as no surprise. Every day in the center of town, there’s a farmer’s market where I can go and get whatever fresh fruits and vegetables I might need for today or tomorrow. I found a good bakery a few blocks from my apartment where I go and get bread every few days for .70€. But it’s not just the fresh things—even a lot of the packaged stuff at the grocery store is phenomenal. The fruit juice here comes in unseen flavors, like pear or peach, and then it’s essentially just a bunch of pears or peaches blended up and bottled in much higher concentrations than US juice. The French also have some weird knack for serving way too many things in mini yogurt containers, which I’m still figuring out. But I do know what I have developed a taste for chocolate mousse that comes in these little plastic cups and has nutritional content far too similar to yogurt, so I don’t feel bad having one.

3). The wine
Again, this should come as no surprise. France is world famous for their wine for good reasons. Being a cheapass, I haven’t spent much on a bottle yet. For one special dinner I got a 7€ bottle, otherwise I hover around 4€ and under. I haven’t taken a class or gone to a wine tasting yet, but it’s on my list of things to do. Anyhow, a lot of the stuff sold here is grown and produced nearby. Provence is famous for their rosé wines. I’ve tried probably 10 or 12 different kinds and most of them have been good.

4). My school

I love Sciences Po. It’s a 10 minute walk from my apartment (straight through the adorable center of town) and all my classes are centered in their main, yet still small, building located in the center of town right across from an awesome old cathedral. I’ve met some really nice people from all over the world because the school is 30% international students, and a lot of the French students are also very nice. All my classes meet once a week for two hours, and there’s a break halfway through for people to get coffee and/or smoke. I have one class on Monday and Thursday, and two classes back to back Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and that’s it. Twelve credits, the minimum for my program. The list of classes I have to choose from each semester is two pages long, instead of ¼ page.

*This post was initially titled “Five Reasons I’m spoiled” but I couldn’t think of a 5^th one, so I’ll have to come back to this and update it as I realize how much I love life. Stay tuned, and be prepared to get jealous.