I’m so Francy..
It will (maybe) please you all to know that things here have been going rather smoothly compared to my last post. I found a Laundromat which has saved me from the shameful bouts of underwear exposure on the street. I have walked around daily without tripping or rolling an ankle (praise). And, I have been almost three weeks now without breaking my iPhone screen. All in all, it appears things are on the up and up.
Unfortunately, I have taken such a long time to write another post because what I thought was just a cold was actually strep throat AND a sinus infection. Prior to seeing a doctor, I relied on the pharmacist down the street. I visited twice to tell her my symptoms in hopes that she could treat my illness OTC. I have to say, the French really love to medicate you. I couldn’t believe how many medications they’ll give you if you have a sore throat and a runny nose. I’m not hating, I respect their gung-ho attitude towards eradicating all signs of ailment with the best science has to offer; who cares about your liver (or kidneys), right? I could probably open my own pharmacy at this point. Thankfully, after locating an English-speaking physician, I am on antibiotics and feeling much better. On the plus side, the duration of said antibiotics will not interfere with the shenanigans I hope to encounter on my upcoming Spring Break. Yeah, I know, its February. Someone needs to let SKEMA know that February isn’t really considered “spring”…whatever.
I also had the opportunity to spend a long weekend in Genoa, Italy with my friends. I know what you are thinking..and no, its not Genovia, the made up country in Princess Diaries; but that would have been an awesome weekend too. (We made that mistake once or twice in conversation while on said trip, oops).
Genoa is a really cool spot. The old medieval portion of the city, with its winding streets, was really interesting to experience. If you’re like me, it also allows your imagination to wander into thoughts of medieval times: walking those narrow, dark alleyways with the possibility of sewage flying out of a window at anytime. Needless to say it created a colorful visual both internally and externally.
I don’t want to be obvious and say the best parts were the history and food, so I’ll go with my alternative and unique favorites. Other than filming my friends twerking on the ruins of Christopher Columbus’ house, my favorite part was probably the nightlife. After 11 pm, Genoa is essentially a giant block party. Every store and bodega open within the old town sells keg beer by the cup and patrons casually walk around the streets drinking and chatting with friends as they go. The host of our AirBnB recommended a particular spot where you could purchase miniature water bottles of wine for 1 euro. These, we adequately called “Welch’s Turn-Up Juice” for both the taste and effect of the sweet nectar.
The palaces and churches were beautiful and educational (eye roll emoji) but also added to the overall cultural experience of the trip. For just a short and fairly inexpensive train ride it was great to find ourselves in a different environment all together. And, as I said before (and will say again) nothing tops off the experience quite like having a pack of weirdos for the ride- along. So many laughs were had and that in itself makes for a great time, no matter where you are!
