la fete

So last night was the night that our “social assistants” (the 3 french students that work for our program) took us out on the town to experience Montpellier’s night life. It was definitely interesting. The group of girls I’ve been hanging out with decided that they wanted to pre-game it at a café with some wine first. So we went to the Café Riche to split a bottle of Merlot. One of my goals while I’m here is to become a wine connoisseur of sorts, because after all this is France. Little did I realize, I hate wine. The first kind I tried the other night was called Rosé and it was horrible. The other girls said it was bad, so I figured I might like another type. No, not true. We had some red Merlot stuff at that café and it was so bad. All the girls said it was really good and I just didn’t like it at all. I could barely finish one glass. Lucky for me the girls had no problem finishing the bottle without my help… I better learn to like it though because it’s cheaper to drink wine with dinner than coke (a pepsi the other day cost me what would be about $5, ridiculous). Then we met up with the group and went to some bizarre techno club/bar just outside of the city center. They played this weird techno music and random American songs, like lady Marmalade and hit the road jack. Everyone was loading up on drinks, like Americans usually do, and they started getting pretty riled up. Needless to say, we stuck out. If we didn’t look like Americans, we certainly sounded like them. People were awed that I wouldn’t want to drink, and they kept offering me mine because I think they thought the real reason I didn’t want to drink wasn’t because I wasn’t interested but because I couldn’t afford to (its 4 euros and up for a drink!). I assured them I could have fun without the alcohol, and to there surprise I did. That is until I was accosted by some creepy French dude. I know that American girls have a reputation abroad for being “easy” and I have blonde hair which makes me easy to pinpoint as being a foreigner, but seriously, this guy was not cool. He came up and started trying to “dance” with me and gave me the sleazy look says “I’m so cool you should be so lucky as to sleep with me.” I turned to him and said “non, non, s’il vous plait” and so he tried the small talk approach. I can handle talking, so I answered his questions about school and why I was in Montpellier. Then he kept giving me the hand signal to “dance” with him. I told him I have a “petit ami” (boyfriend) so I wasn’t interested. Then he told me he too had a “copaine” (girlfriend) here but she wasn’t there tonight so it was okay. I was like, wow this guy really is a sleaze ball. I told him no again and turned to talk to one of the guys in our group so he’d leave me alone. Other girls had similar experiences like that last night. Some worse, but I think because they were drunk and not as assertive. It’s true that the French men are more aggressive and very sleazy, at least in the night scene. That’s one think I’m not real pumped to deal with. But it’s actually not as bad as I was warned it might be. During the day I never deal much flack; it’s pretty much just at night and directed to the whole group (of girls I hang out with).
We went to another club that night called Rockstore. I like this place better because it was much less crowed and less smokey. The DJ was funny b/c he’d mix random Queen songs with Jay-Z. And it was hilarious to watch Youseff bust a move on the dance floor (one of our French students). Ali and I headed out early after my more inebriated friends promised they’d let other people walk them home (I highly doubt they would have found home otherwise). I’m glad Ali’s like me in that she’s not one to go out and get drunk or stay out all night. We both like going out, but only to a point. She’s really glad too that I’m here because otherwise she’d feel pressured into just doing what everyone else does. But if I don’t think it’s dorky to not drink and not stay out till 4, then it’s not dorky for her either because we’re in it together. I never realized how unusual it is to not care about that kind of stuff like a lot of people do because I have so many friends at home that don’t care either. I never realized how many other people only do stupid stuff like get totally wasted and make fools of themselves because they feel like they have to. More people need confidence boosters, I’ve decided. Be yourself, don’t care about being cool. Then you just will be cool. It’s that easy. I know that sounds really cheesy, but whatever it’s true.