Hi, nice to meet you! Now kiss me.

Hey, welcome back! Sorry for the long pause, I was busy making and spending money. More specifically, I worked on a grant proposal so that I can continue getting paid at the lab, and booked trips for both fall break and winter break. Which means that now I really have to stick to that 2 Euro lunch menu, but: 1) I'm leaving for Geneva and then Amsterdam in 10 days, and 2), but certainly not last, Alina is coming here for a week in the winter, and we're traveling to Paris together for New Year's!!! The degree of awesomness of all the aforementioned can hardly be underestimated ;).

Meanwhile, it's classes and work and many many new friends over here. I'm beginning to spend more and more time with people outside the Maryland group, both foreign and French. On Saturday, two German exchange students and I went to Menton, a small town on the coast about a mile away from the Italian border. If you thought the views of Nice that I had put up earlier were beautiful, go to Picasa again and take a look at this. The old part of the city sits on a very steep hill, and all of its tiny streets are actually staircases. I was just wondering how in the world the people who live in these houses lug heavy things, ex. furniture, up all these stairs, when the answer came roaring out out one of the alleyways. Picture a VERY large shopping cart with caterpillars instead of wheels and a motor that moves it according to the direction in which the person walking behind is pushing. That thing climbs the stairs as if they weren't even there, a very practical solution, I suppose. I don't think I would necessarily want to live in Menton, as there's nothing to do, really (except maybe bake bread or study at the tiny College of Maritime Law), but it's absolutely stunning. Look at the pictures. Look at the pictures. No, I'm not trying to hypnotize you, where'd you get THAT idea from? Look at the pictures.

Another trip that you have to see the pictures from was a short hike between two mountain villages (album titled "Walk to Contes"). The only thing I can really say about that one, apart from "go on Picasa right now", is that we picked grapes and figs on the way. Growing on the side of the road. Just like that. This story works best when told in a casual tone, something along the lines of "Oh yeah, we're walking, picking some grapes and figs, talking about such and such things..."
It's also cool that the bus driver knows almost everybody on the bus by the name, since there're not too many people living in this village and he's one of the few drivers assigned to the route. He would exchange jokes and very personal stories with the passengers, all while driving up a road that was definitely not intended for buses half that size. The switchbacks are so sharp that, on some turns, the driver can't make the turn directly and has to switch into reverse, roll back a little, turn a little more in forward gear, go back again - like a car turning around in a very narrow street. Every time an approaching car jumps out from a turn just in front of the bus, our merry driver slams on... the horn. Not the brake. Mind you, the blasting horn of these buses could turn some medium-sized ships green with envy. If I were driving on a winding mountain road in my little Smart or Mini and suddenly saw this behemoth approaching and bellowing for me to yield, a heart attack would have been inevitable. But the drivers here seem not to mind - they quickly pull over, let us through and just wave amicably!

Oh, yes, the title of this post! Time for a little culture lesson. In and around Nice, whenever you meet somebody you know, you have to kiss them once on each cheek. The same goes for people you're being presented to. The common acquaintance tells you the other person's name and tells them yours, and then you kiss. This bears practically the same level of intimacy as our "Hi". Not doing it would be approximately equal to not greeting someone you know, and can be regarded as offensive. The process gets progressively longer and more entertaining with more people. If, for example, a group of 10 students meets a group of 5 students, that means a total of 100 kisses (remember, one on each cheek!) Normally, the larger group stands in a semicircle, and the smaller groups goes around in a line kissing everybody - a method polished to perfection for the sake of time economy. The only cases when an exception is granted or tolerated is between two guys (the local guys still do it, but they understand that foreigners may be uncomfortable with it and do not insist), between people of very different age, or if someone is very sick. Once again, this is not a French thing - this is a Nice thing. If you're a guy yourself and tried to kiss a guy you just met in Paris, for example, he would have no questions about your orientation. You can still kiss girls in Paris, but from what I gather it's not required and mostly reserved for closer friends.

Another cultural thing - many bars, clubs, and pubs employ exclusively anglo-saxons who can barely, if at all, speak French. At first I thought that it was just a few super-touristy establishments, but then last Friday I went out with a French crowd, and they took me to one of their favorite places - I ended up translating all the dialogue between them and the bartender, as the only way they could communicate without a mediator is with wild hand gestures and menu-pointing. Very ironic. There're even some clubs that don't let you in unless you're a native English speaker in an effort to "preserve the atmosphere"... Now how is that reasonable? Discuss.

I know I'm boring you with French facts, but here's one last one: because public schools are strictly secular (it is forbidden to wear any signs of faith, including head scarves, crosses, stars of David, and whatever else you can think of), many Muslims enroll their children in Catholic schools because they end up being more tolerant than public ones. There is a Catholic school in Marseilles, for example, where over 70% of all students are Muslim. They are allowed to wear head scarves and pray openly during recess or lunch hours, something they would never be able to do in a state-owned facility. Once again, discuss.

Well, I suppose that's plenty for now. Write me some comments! Thanks!