Love Actually is in Marseille

This weekend I met up with Slawa in Marseille. It was the start of 'la vacance de Toussaint.' (All Saint's Day school vacation). We stayed with a girl who is also teaching in France and has great apartment in Marseille. Coincidentally she went to high school with Keelin - my friend from Peace Corps. We had a great time and Sunday night we found ourselves in the bar that was used in one of the last scenes of 'Love Actually' (when Jamie goes to propose to the Portuguese housemaid/waitress).

For those that don't know, Love Actually was one of the movies that the Guinea PCVs watched [too?] many times in Conakry. It's such a feel good movie - plus it reminded us of Christmas and brought a lot reminders of home. I'm sure I watched it at least 10 times during my service...

Anyway, we decided that we should have a beer to celebrate the vacation and the fact that we were in this bar that seemed so strangely familiar to us. One beer turned into five and soon we were reenacting the scene from the movie in front of the many patrons (complete with pictures). Good times.

The last day I went hiking in the 'calanques' - some incredible cliffs just west of the city. They are huge limestone formations that make big fjords on the Meditterranean. I'll post pictures on Picasa soon...

Running Man

In my first mass email from France, I wrote that I'm living with an 'eccentric older woman.' I think today solidifies my initial assessment of her. The other day she asked me if I wanted to go running with her after I casually mentioned that I really enjoy running. She told me there were some great trails on the mountain that is right next to Gap. So we agreed that we would head out this morning at 8:30.

I was under the impression that we were going to jog up to these mountain paths and then come back once we were done. I was wrong. As we were walking out the door she headed toward her car. Confused, I said, "on ne va pas commencer d'ici?" (We're not going to start from here?) No, we would be driving to the paths...ok.

We drove for about 15 minutes and because of the many turns I wasn't sure exactly where we were. We parked and she started explaining the path and where it went and (I guess) how to get back down to Gap. I wasn't listening closely since I had started to stretch and assumed we would have plenty of time to chat while we ran - together. She then said something very strange - "Ok, I'll see you tonight. If you don't come back I'll send a search party." Then she left with a big smile.

Apparently she explained that since I ran much faster than she did, I should run by myself and come back down using the path. I thought I could manage after I realized what happened, but after 45 minutes of running, I hadn't passed the path that led back down to Gap. After a few minutes of debating whether to turn around and follow the road back, I saw a house with a lane. I assumed that I could just follow it to a main road, which would lead to town. Unfortunately the morning fog hadn't lifted and the sun was making impossible to tell which direction I should go. I walked for about an hour and eventually found a bus stop. I arrived back home at 11:30.

She later asked how long it took to get back and when I told her, she just seemed to think that I had intended to run for three hours. I've decided that for now, I'll just run by myself and always start from the house.