An American in Paris

Reflections on Returning

2009-12-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Oh, Paris, you've been so good to me these past 4 months. I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. I am prepared to throw a fit and cause a scene on the airplane, all the way home. The sunglasses will be worn, at the very least.

I've been running around and doing things right up until the end. I had class this morning, in which I gave my oral presentation that basically counted as my final grade in a class we did NOTHING in all semester. I think it went well, though. Our huge end-of-internship papers were due on Wednesday so I turned that it and feel good about getting a 16-page paper off my chest! I didn't mind writing it because it was just all about my internship--what I did, and a it about the website; not hard at all.

Yesterday Em and I went back to the Musee d'Orsay, because I have not been there since the second week of the semester. I had wanted to see it one last time. It's so weird to think about seeing things for "one last time." I wanted to go back to the gardens, like Luxembourg and the Tuileries, but it is just too cold outside, and.....it's snowing! Not at this moment, but it snowed for the first time of the season yesterday :) It doesn't usually snow here in December so it was a big deal for the French people. So it would be a little too freezing to take a stroll outside. Oh well, guess I'll just have to come back sometime when it's spring time! Michelle left for Denmark for break yesterday so I helped her pack and we said our goodbyes. They were quick and (theoretically) painless. It's better when it just happens so one is running to get off the metro before the doors close; little time to really stop and think, Wow, I will not see you for 9 months. Needless to say, I am going to miss everyone here like CRAZY. I am going to miss every little minute detail of this city and of my semester here. I'm also going to miss Europe in general, and I have such great memories of the trips and traveling I've been able to do.

Yesterday when Em and I were walking around a town just outside Paris, where we decided to explore for lunch, we both got pelted with snowballs that a French boy was throwing as unassuming pedestrians from his second-story window! I wasn't even upset, I could only laugh! I think it's hysterical, except for when he dumped a HUGE amount of snow on the heads of some other people. The little punk. Today I also went to Rue Denoyez in Belleville, which is pretty well-known for its graffiti all up and down the buildings and walls. It was SO COOL. And guys who were tagging were there, dressed in some weird costumes. They were being filmed, maybe for a movie! It was so cool. Did I already mention that? :) The street is so creative and beautiful and artful.

I already have a list of things that I have to do the next time I get back here, whenever that is. You know what? I am at peace. I have done and seen so much this semester. I have learned so much about myself and have gained a lot of independence. I hope I can hold onto it while I'm back home and not feel stunted. I'm sure it will be nice to be home and there are so many things and people I look forward to seeing!

I love Paris. It is my city. And I will be back one day. (expect a post-return entry soon!)

Ireland in Photos

2009-12-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

The stunning Cliffs of Moher!
Sunset in the countryside on the way back from the Cliffs of Moher

The River Liffey that runs through Dublin
lively street!
Michelle and me on the tour bus!
THE PADDY WAGON, in the flesh (?)
Our first view of Ireland from the plane. It really is that green!

Dublin: III

2009-12-16T12:41:00.001-08:00

December 14, 2009, Monday

Michelle and I really booked this trip well, time-wise. We had the full day in Dublin on Saturday and today our flight didn't leave until night, so we had all day, until 5 p.m., in the city. That makes 3 full days in this beautiful country! We woke up early because when you stay in a hostel room with other people, when they get up early in the morning, you're pretty much up early in the morning, too. We had breakfast and were ready for the day by 8:30, which was a little ridiculous because nothing was really open and we had alllll day to do stuff. We made great friends with Stephen, a worker at Paddy's Palace. He told us that if you work for the company for 3 or 6 months, you get free lodging and you can go on tours for free! What a deal! We watched a little Irish morning news and some crappy tv to kill some time.

Finally, we left to see some sights, the first being Trinity College. It was a little colder today, so we bundled up even though it was a pretty short walk. The campus is absolutely gorgeous with huge stone buildings and a great courtyard. I'm sure I looked like a little tourist, taking photos while all the students were walking to and from class. We went there to see the Book of Kells, which is an illuminated manuscript from the 800s, containing the four gospels of the New Testament, written in Latin by Celtic monks. It was a really interesting exhibition, though I'm not sure it was worth 8 euros. I did get a coupon for a free postcard! Haha. After, we took a stroll down Grafton Street, which is the equivalent of; Rue de Rivoli (Paris), Regent Street (London), even Newbury Street (Boston); Basically, all sopping. We peeked in a few stores and bought gloves, but that's it; I behaved! We exited right next to Saint Stephen's Green, a wonderful, beautiful park in the city, and strolled all around it. It reminded me of being in Parc Monceau in Paris...just like home! As it started to get colder, we returned to Paddy's and had some time to warm up and relax before taking the 5 p.m. Bus to the airport. Our driver was the same one who had taken us from the airport to the hostel a couple days earlier, and he was so nice, too! Really, everyone there was so nice. I think we formed some pretty good bonds to be honest.

The flight home was flawless, it just took a long time. By the time I got back to the foyer it was after midnight. I got to sleep a little on the bus ride back to Paris, but I had to stay up a little later to finish working in my final paper due Wednesday.

So, to sum it all up: This weekend was definitely one of the best ones of my life! I'm so happy Michelle and I went together because we had so much fun and were silly, so that aspect was definitely fun. Plus, we got to spend a lot of time in a truly breathtaking country—one that I would love to revisit someday. I'm very fortunate to have been able to do so much traveling this semester. It really does feel like all of Europe is at your fingertips once you're over here, and it is pretty easy to get around. Even better when you can find cheap flights. Now I have to enjoy the last few days left in Paris before I head back home. What a whirlwind!

Bisous mes amis!

Dublin: II

2009-12-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

December 13, 2009, Sunday

I forgot to mention that the reason we decided to voyage Saturday-Monday is that we would not have to miss our Friday class with Thierry, which I have already missed a lot of times. Also, our flights were SO cheap—5 euros for the flight to Dublin and 3 euros for the return trip!! I kid you not. I love RyanAir.

Anyway, we woke up today around 6 (woo hoo, got to sleep late! Haha) and had breakfast in the hostel before meeting in the lobby around 7. The Paddy Wagon had a full bus today and we got good seats near the front. The Cliffs of Moher are on the west coast of Ireland, and you can cross the whole country in about 3-4 hours, which I think is pretty cool. Still;, this means it was a long trip in the bus. Mike, our driver, was hysterical, though I don't know if he meant to be. He told us no less than 50 times how lucky we were because of the weather. It was true, even in Summer you might not get clear skies and sun like we did today. It would have been a shame to go all the way to the Cliffs and not be able to see them because of fog. And Mike made sure to repeat himself...again...and again...We passed by the field where the battle scene in Braveheart was filmed! The sun did not rise for a while, but it was beautiful when it did. It was amazing to speed by the rolling green countryside of Ireland. And speed by we did, because Mike was a maniac driver. Safe, but so fast! I wore my seatbelt. We stopped at King John's Castle on the River Shannon. There were a lot of medieval castles around, the ruins just scattered all over the countryside. It was kind of like how the ancient ruins were scattered in Athens. We were on a very strict schedule, as Mike also kept reminding us; so we did not have a ton of time for photo opportunities, though we got to take some. Luckily, we stayed on schedule all day. We drove through the parts of the country that were devastated by the Potato Famine, which the Irish call the Great Hunger because the rest of the country was well-fed, just not the peasants in the countryside who were so poor they could only live off potatoes. When they were allowed to work for their food, the government in the east made them build stone walls to literally nowhere, all day, for just one penny a day's worth of food for their family. During the time of the famine, Ireland's population decreased by 3 million, from 8 million to 5 million—1 million died and the rest fled. Today, the population is not as high as it used to be. Seeing the walls was very striking and a sad reminder of the atrocities the Irish had to endure.

We stopped for lunch in a very small village named Doolin, at an Irish pub that had SUCH good food for a great price—and lots of it! It was so picturesque and quiet and beautiful, especially at this time of year when there are not a lot of people around. Things are so remote that people in Doolin have to drive over an hour to get to the closest grocery store. I wonder how long it takes to get to school? Doolin is only 5 minutes from the Cliffs of Moher, which is the most-visited sight in the whole country. Of course, my camera stopped working right as we got there, to the most important part of the whole trip! I was furious. Luckily I can rely on Michelle's camera, but it was still a huge bummer. The cliffs are simply stunning, especially when you get up close and see just how high they are—440 meters or something like that. The water was a sparkling blue and it matched the sky and we had warm sun-it was perfect! There were almost no other tourists there too, which made it even more serene. In the summer I think it would be too hot and too crowded. We seem to get very lucky on trips like this. :) It was so nice also to just be silent and listen to the murmur of the waves as they hit the rocks. It's very magnetizing, and I forgot how much I missed things like this while being in Paris. We stayed for an hour and a half and got to climb both sides of the cliffs, even passing a point that is interdit (sometimes I honestly can't remember some words in English). Everyone went beyond that point, you just have to be careful. Great photos!

We made a similar to stop to another castle on the drive home, but Miche and I slept more on this trip. Since it gets dark so early, we were not missing much of the scenery outside the bus. We got back to the hostel a little after 7, a little tired but so happy that we decided to take the day trip. It was getting the best of both worlds, to be able to profit from the city and to see the famed, incredible countryside. We found an Italian place for dinner and both ordered the same dish, which Miche and I noticed we are very good at doing, haha. It was in the Temple Car area, a lively stretch full of bars and pubs with live Irish music, but it was a little pricey for us. We were really tired again so we retired to the hostel, watched more X Factor, since it was the final vote night (oh, please, just listen to me now). Went to bed early again :)

Dublin: I

2009-12-16T12:39:00.001-08:00

This entry is all about my fabulous weekend in Ireland with Michelle! Wow. As I write this, I've been back in Paris for a couple days and I still can't get over how amazing my weekend was and how much I want to go back. I hope the following entries are not too boring for you, because I wanted to record every detail I could remember. Here goes nothing...

December 12, 2009, Saturday

Today started really early—I woke up at 3:45 so I could shower before leaving the foyer. Unfortunately I did not get a lot of sleep mast night because there was a huge party a couple doors down from me in the foyer, and people were being so loud. Luckily I am a morning person and can get by with little sleep. We had to leave so early because RyanAir likes to fly out of very remote airports and it was flying out of Beauvais, over an hour outside of Paris. I got all my stuff together, packed into the now-infamous brown Weekend Trip Bag, and left the foyer around 5 a.m. In order to catch the first metro at 5:30, I got to Nation around 5:20. I really don't like the walk from my foyer to that metro station early in the morning or late at night, even though it's only about 10 minutes. It's probably safe, I just get a weird feeling. I took the metro all the way to the western periphery, to Porte Maillot, and met Michelle there at the bus terminal. We were both so excited we were so talkative and giddy on the bus ride, though I think we tried to sleep a little. Beauvais is a very small airport, almost not even real in my opinion. It took us not long at all to go through security and we had some time to relax before getting on board. It's free seating, just like EasyJet, so we found a nice part on the left side and I got the window—nice! I have a baseless fear of the right side of planes so it was perfect. The flight was only an hour and a half, too! Good thing Michelle was there for me to squeeze the daylights out of her hand during take-off. She's a good sport. :)

Seeing the green fields from the airplane made Ireland really come alive. It's just like it looks in the pictures! Though during the Spring the green is more vibrant and lush, for the middle of December, we were really surprised at how much greenery there was. We booked a hostel named—wait for it—Paddy's Palace! It has such a funny name, how could we not? Actually, it is the only hostel in Europe (or the world, as Stephen, our Paddy's Palace employee friend, would tell us) that has free shuttle service to and from the airport. I can't get over the accents! And I thought it was great in England. Actually, sometimes when the Irish pilots spoke on the plane, it was as if they were speaking another language entirely. Also, did you know the language can be called Irish, too, not Garlic? I thought that was interesting because it sounds a little incorrect, like saying people speak American or Mexican, but it is correct. Everyone was so, so friendly and helpful and just generally very...cheery. What a pleasant change! The Paddy Wagon picked us up at 12; Yes...the Paddy Wagon, a bright green bus with a sheep and leprechaun on it, that says PADDY WAGON TOURS across it. We must have been quite a sight. It was hard to get used to the fact that the Irish drive on the other side of the road, too. I could already tell it was going to be a fantastic weekend! The bus took us right to the hostel, in the center of Dublin. We really picked the hostel well—great location close to the River Liffey that runs through the city. Our driver told us all about the area on the way there. This hostel really should have been considered a palace! It had great couches in the lobby, a huge flat screen tv and a computer with free internet for anyone who wanted to use it! And books and brochures...it really felt like a little hotel. If anyone is ever looking for a hostel in Dublin, I demand you stay at Paddy's Palace. We got checked into our 10-person female dorm room right downstairs, but we only ever had a couple roommates at a time. I got the top bunk. :) It was still rally early at that point so we got settled and then walked around the city to a place where we could get on a hop-on hop-off tour bus.

Dublin is even smaller than Paris, and seems to be very accessible from anywhere. There is a pretty lively population and a lot of people. It was really interesting to see the stark differences between Dublin and Paris. Dublin is not as pretty, architecturally, I would say. The buildings are nondescript brick ones, not too high, with no embellishments at all. I prefer the wrought iron balconies, flower boxes, and window shutters of Parisian apartments much more. People seem more relaxed and not as consumed with image. I think I can say in a sociological, observational way, that Dubliners are not as rigid as Parisians with self-image and clothing and looking good, and Dubliners have a more alternative style, whereas Parisians don't take as many risks and wear a lot of dark colors. We found the bus station and paid our 13 euros to get on. It was a little cold but we had sun and clear weather so Michelle and I sat on the top of the uncovered double-decker bus to get the best view. The tour was an hour and a half long, and it took us by beautiful parks, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church, the Guinness Factory, and all sorts of historical sights. We took so many photos! Phoenix Park in Dublin is the largest enclosed park in all of Europe! It was really beautiful. The whole area around the Guinness Factory smelled like barley, thought I really thought it smelled like horse manure, haha. I think it's the number one tourist attraction the city and the beer is sold literally everywhere.

When we got off the bus around 3:15, we wandered around to some Christmas markets we had passed on the Paddy Wagon. After being to the markets along the Champs Elysées, no other markets seem as impressive, but it was still so nice! I didn't buy anything but some scones and fudge...mmm! It was so festive and it was right on the water, which was nice. That killed some time before we headed back to the hostel for a little because it was so cold out. I will admit it...we may have taken an hour nap in our beds, haha. Hey, we had been up for so long and were really tired. We got some dinner recommendations from people who worked at the hostel and tried to get into a really popular pub called the Cilt (pronounced “kilt”) but it was full until 10 p.m. We still found another Irish pub and Michelle and I both ordered Shepherd's Pie! That was one of my goals for the weekend. She had a Guinness because, well, When in Rome, and I had a coke. Even though I was in Dublin, I could not bring myself to drink the stuff. Dinner was so yummy. I had wanted to check out the temple Bar area after dinner but we were so tired that we just went back to the hostel and watched a little tv in the lobby before going to bed. The show The X-Factor was on and people are pretty nuts about it, so we got in on the fun for a little. It's like American Idol but with better accents.

So, Paddy Wagon Tours is a touring company that also has several hostels all around Ireland, not just in Dublin. They run 1-, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 10-day tours all over the country, too. Miche and I decided to pay a little more to take a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. I think staying in the city all weekend would have been a little suffocating; plus we really wanted to see the countryside. Most people who stay in the hostels go on tours, or they stay in the hostel BECAUSE they went on a tour. We went to bed satisfied with our plan and still so ecstatic to be in Dublin!

Comment dit-on "hodgepodge" en francais?

2009-12-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Part of the medievel wall that circled Paris...this bad boy is from the 1100s!
Empty nutella jars are a good measure for a successful semester.
The ferris wheel at one end of the Champs Elysees for the Christmas markets
Parc Monceau!
I saw this beautiful sunrise from my room window one morning :)
Overlooking Paris from the Centre Pompidou
Galeries Lafayette decorated for the holidays!
La Seine
The beautiful domed ceiling inside l'Hotel des Invalides

La vie continue

2009-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Ok a rapid-fire run-down of some things that have been going on lately:

1. Went to the outdoor Christmas markets along the Champs Elysees last weekend....it was lovely! White booths line the avenue and they sell everything you can imagine--food, tea, jewelry, handmade scrapbooks, ornaments, and all sorts of knick knacks. I walked up and down it twice with Emily and Michelle and bought some gifts for the holiday :) There was also a ton of vin chaud (hot wine) which smelled almost too good to resist. Alas, I did, and went for the chocolate-covered bananas instead. Mmm!

2. I've been working on my 15-page paper allllll the time lately. I go to IFE in the morning for my internship and still wind up staying there all day to work on it. It's due Wednesday and since I'm not going to be around this weekend, it has to get done SOON. I don't think I'll have a problem getting it done, I just might have to commit a late night or two.

3. Monday night I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends from my class, which was so nice! We went to Louise's, which is the place my friend Megan discovered and told me about (I had already been there twice). It was Megan, her boyfriend, Luci, her cousin and brother, Max, and myself. I had the lasagna like I had the first time and it was delicious! I had wanted to go home and work on my paper--this should really come before "2."--but I was persuaded to go out to Stolly's, the bar where my friend Vanessa works. I'd been there before too. I'm glad I went! It was really nice and not as crowded this time as it was last time, probably because it was a Monday night and not a Friday night, haha. It was great to see Vanessa again too, because it will probably be the last time. :-/ I had a White Russian (3rd in a week---what!) and I inspired others to get it too. So, ha! Not just an old man/Big Lebowski drink. :)

well I guess that's all I really have....The past week has not been the MOST adventurous. Did I mention I took my final last weekend? Parts of it were kind of hard, but I get the results today, for better or for worse. We'll see.....! Off to Dublin tomorrow with Michelle and couldn't be more excited!

The Frog and Rosbif

2009-12-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

This post doesn't have a lot of really important updates or information; it's just a sneak-peek into my weekend, which was very nice! I figure a few "normal" (meaning, what day spending a semester abroad in Paris is "normal"?!) day-in-the-life entries are good to have, too. Also, please ignore my horrendous spelling and typing issues! I didn't realize it was so bad...

Friday I had class from 9-12 in the morning. I haven’t been in this class in forever, for various reasons (oooh does that sound mysterious? It’s really not; more of a combination of Theirry being sick and weekend trips!). But luckily we had a "field trip" day around Paris, so it was better than sitting in a classroom for 3 straight hours. Though it was cold, we had blue skies and sun so I enjoyed being outside! We walked around Belleville, which is an area not too far from where I live, in the 19th/20th arrondissements. Parts of the area are a little more run-down, and it's very working-class, but it's also the most originally "French" area in the whole city. Plus, the park at Belleville is the highest point, land-wise, in the whole city! (Walking up the steps of Sacre Coeur is technically higher, but as for landmass, Belleville wins). The view of Paris was so gorgeous, but what was the most striking was that it made the city look so close! The Eiffel Tower looked like it was two feet away when it is really on the other side of the city. We had the park to ourselves with no other tourists, which was a plus. Thierry even took us out to get tea and hot chocolate, which was really nice on a cold, autumn morning.

After class I went out to Chinese food with Max, Michelle, and John, which was nice though I am a sesfood-phobe and the presence of shrimp in my wonton soup rendered it inedible to me. Then we parted ways and I got to see some things that I’d had on my list, like Parc Monceau. Some of my friends in the foyer had gone and they said they loved it and it was beautiful. I took the metro there and decided to see for myself. It’s too small to be even compared to the iconic gardens like Luxembourg or to the Tuileries, but it was gorgeous! I was there as the sun was starting to set too, which made it even more beautiful and calming. I sat on a bench by the water and wrote in my journal. I went home after to study a little before my study date with Megan, because we had a final the next day for our Sorbonne class. I also did some more back at the foyer with Emily and John since their advanced-level class notes are very helpful. It didn't feel like a Friday night at all, more like a Tuesday, because of all the studying we were doing.

Saturday I got to sleep a little later, until 8:30! I did some studying with John and Emily when I got back to the foyer, before we headed off to the final around 12:30 (the final was at 2). Of course we were there early but it was good to have some last-minute studying time. It was also nice to be reunited with my class friends...I'm actually going to miss a lot of them! Julia, Monica and I all went in together and we sat in the front row of the cold auditorium. The final was HARD. Some parts weren't too bad, maybe a little tricky, but the listening comprehension was so hard, and everyone agreed afterwards. So we're all in the same boat. I think I did ok, but I know I just had no idea for some questions. It took about 2 hours, though we were given 3. I checked my answers over a bunch of times, but then just wanted to get out of there! It’s really weird to know that I am now officially done with the Sorbonne. It’s kind of sad, actually. Though I wasn’t wild about my class, it was still a great experience, and I met some great people. We all congregated after the test and talked about it. Some people are leaving in a couple days since their program is over, so when they left it was kind of like, "ok, bye, I’ll probably never see you again." :( I hate change and I hate when good things come to an end.

Monica, Julia and I had plans to meet up with Courtney and Leanne at Patrick’s, an Irish pub, for dinner. Yes, another Greece reunion! I really love this group of the 5 of us :) As we were walking by Saint Michel there was a man playing guitar and singing songs on the street and he attracted huge group of people. He was really good! I love street performers; I find them so endearing. Even if someone can’t sing very well, I think it’s so sweet that they want to share their music with others. I feel the same way about the performers in the subway…if they’re really good, then I might give them some money. Once, Emily and I started singing with a woman on the metro who sang, “Killing me Softly” almost as well as Lauryn Hill herself! Anyway, the man was singing some Beatles songs and Sting and Stand By Me! The whole crowd was singing and clapping along and it was just so nice. I loved looking around the crowd and seeing all of the people joining in together, whether they knew the music or not. People from all different backgrounds could come together and express themselves and have fun and it was really something to see music b ringing everyone together. It was one of those “Wow, I’m going to miss this place” moments. :)

Dinner was really nice! There was a football (erm, soccer) game on the big TV in the pub and a lot of people came in to watch it. I think the business was really good for Patrick’s, which has been hitting hard times. It was so nice to have everyone together again, even if only for a little. We parted ways after dinner and I went back to the foyer where Emily, Natalia, and Kat were all in Em's room. We hung out for a little, then decided to go out and try to find dessert. We went to a cafe near our foyer but it wasn't very good because they ran out of the dessert I wanted and the guy was kind of mean. I don’t think we’ll be going back there any time soon. O[Oh, well...Kat and Natalia left after that, and Em and I were in my room. We had run into our friend Philippe earlier and he wanted to go out, so we met up with him and his friend (I don't remember his name, but he lives in the foyer, too) and we went to a pretty popular bar called the Frog and Princess. there were sooo many people in there and it was so hot. I was pretty tired before we went out so I hadn’t wanted to stay out late or go far from the foyer, but we did both those things! haha. I had a coke! One drink a night is good enough for me, and I had a White Russian at dinner. Ok, keep all jokes to yourself, please! Haha. We left a little after 1 to come back home. I’m glad I went out for a little…it was a good way to end the academic semester!

My Life in Ruins: Greece in Photos

2009-11-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

The girls with Jimmy, our favorite waiter! "Yogurt is yogurt and life is life"
Some beautiful ruins that were near us
THE PARTHENON
Me, posing with the Parthenon, what a celebrity it is
Ancient stadium
The incredible view of Athens from the top of the Acropolis
oh hey!
Before we walked to the top of the ruins
Our first night at dinner!
This is what I saw as soon as we got off the metro...palm trees!
Tango dancing in the airplane aisle. No big deal.

Athens: Part II

2009-11-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

(Sorry for the small font size in the previous post!) Aaaaaaand we're back!

Saturday

Saturday I woke up a little later than I wanted to but still made it to breakfast before it closed at 9:30. Breakfast included bread and some fruit. I could already tell it was going to be a hot day. We got all our things together and set out a little after 10 to....go to the Acropolis! How cool; I was so excited, especially because it's such a short walk. It was so hot, too, about 70 degrees. I was loving every minute of it, and I had even brought my sunglasses from Paris. Good thing! We did a lot of climbing, and each view of the city was more breathtaking than the one before. We kept climbing higher and higher. I had no idea how spread out the city was—it expands for several miles and you can see endless mountains and even the sea in one direction! We all would have loved to go to the beach if we had had more time. The ruins themselves were incredible. It's hard ti imagine that things can endure so long, and that we were in the very place that so many historical things happened. It's the beginning of civilization! Ah, so wonderful. And to see the Parthenon was amazing. These are the sorts of things you see pictures of in history textbooks and can't imagine actually visiting. There was sufficient construction, which was a bummer, but I was still so ecstatic to just be there. I don't think it really sunk in until after I got back to Paris.

We took a lot of photos and enjoyed the sun and the scenery and eventually had to come back down. There is simply too much to see all at once because the ruins are scattered all over the city. Get this: my art history student card from the Sorbonne got me into the Acropolis for free! Who knew that it could work internationally?! :) It all really felt like a dream and the whole time, none of us could believe were in Greece.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a lot of souvenir shopping. I got lots of things that I needed for people at home—surprisingly, no souvenirs from Paris yet, oops!--and some things for myself like rings and a air of sandals. I couldn't leave Athens without a pair of Grecian sandals. It was productive. We walked around the same streets so many times that the restaurant workers and shop owners began to recognize us! We were like local friendly faces that everyone recognized, haha. It was kind of funny, but I loved it. The shop keepers are a very persistent bunch and you are almost harassed into going into people's stores, sometimes. That I didn't like as much. We headed back to the hostel to relax for a little since we had done a lot of walking during the morning and afternoon. We had also gone to a field where athletes were practicing shot put and the discus—the real roots of the Greek Olympics! Haha. It was cool to see not only the touristy sights but also some small local things like that.

This time we had the intention of going to the first restaurant but we got intercepted by Jimmy, who told us he wouldn't be able to sleep that night if we didn't eat at his place. We didn't want to eat at the same restaurant two nights in a row, so we said we had to shop first. It was hard to say no to Jimmy because he is so funny and crazy and we loved him, so we promised to come back for dessert. We ate at the place where we had intended to the night before, and it was good, but the experience at Estia, “our” place, was a little better. I ate a lot of veal that was so yummy, but my chicken kabob at lunch was not as good as those that I have had in Paris, surprisingly. We went back to Estia for dessert and it was divine. :) The night was more or less the same, with us walking around and peeking into shops before heading back to the hostel. We had tried to see some more ruins that were closed off behind a gate. I wish we could have gotten closer to them, but they were still beautiful, especially the way the light from the sunset was hitting them. Le sigh....

Sunday

And on Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, and checked out of the hostel by 10 am. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to fit everything into my back! It was quite a feat for all of us. We had some time to explore more of Athens before we had to leave for the airport so we wandered and I found us a beautiful park. There were orange trees everywhere! Also, there are a lot of dogs in Athens, laying everywhere, in the middle of the sidewalk. Though they have collars, I don't think they all have owners. All they do is sleep. Anyway, there were gorgeous trees in the park and we took photos and enjoyed nature for a bit before heading back to the metro.

The next time I come to Greece, I'm definitely going to go to the islands. There is still so much more to see in Athens, too, and I want to see it all. We had an almost-incident on the metro when we thought we were on a direct ride to the airport when it stopped at a station. The lights went out and we didn't realize that all the other passengers had gotten off. Once we did, we scrambled to get our things together and get off the train. Julia, Courtney, and I made it but the alarm beeped and the doors shut before Monica and Leanne could get off! It started to pull away and all 5 of us were speechless and motionless until a guy banged on the door to stop the metro so they could get off. Hahaha, it was hysterical! That WOULD happen to us, right? On every trip, there's always something. :) We luckily made it to the airport very early and you can believe we went right through security and got to our gate. No taking any risks this time, though Leanne's water bottle made it through security when it definitely shouldn't have...this flight was better—aka, normal—without problems. The flight is about 3 hours but we occupied ourselves and talked the whole time; it was nice. And I have to admit; seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up from a distance as you fly into Orly—the night view really makes Paris seem like the City of Lights—is pretty cool.

I have just returned from one of the best weekends of my life. The trip was so much fun and I made new friends and became closer with others, and I couldn't be happier about it. My only regret is that we didn't do this sooner! All 5 of us traveled so well together and everyone is so sweet and fun. And to have been in Athens is just indescribable: everything about it is beautiful. I didn't want to return to Paris, especially to the freezing cold! There are some things I realized I preferred about Athens to Paris, and some things I prefer about Paris to Athens. I know that if I really want to return to Greece later in life, then I will. The photos don't do it justice. And seeing the huge Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame with its ornaments and lights was so beautiful (how many times can I use that word here?) that it made me happy to be back in my city. All in all, I had a wonderful, amazing trip! :)

(In fact, Leanne, Courtney and I all got kabobs for dinner in the Latin Quarter upon arriving back in Paris, haha! How fitting, to bring the weekend full-circle)

Athens, Part I

2009-11-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend: ATHENS 2009! I took a trip to Greece for the weekend with two girls from my class, Julia and Monica, and two of Julia's friends from another program, Leanne and Courtney. I didn't know the other two girls before but I was confident that we would all get along and have the best time, and we did! In fact, words can't even describe how amazing it was so I will attempt to start from the beginning:

Friday

Friday began early for me, around 6 a.m. I got up early so I could shower and pack—again, just my brown bag—for a weekend away. Monica told me that she learned to always pack very lightly and not fill her bag up because she always leaves room for the things she buys on the way home. I attempted to save some room in my bag. We all planned to meet at the metro at 8:30 to catch the bus to the airport, but we arrived at slightly different times so Julia, Leanne, and Courtney went ahead on one bus and Monica and I took the next one. The airport, Orly, is only about a half hour away from Paris so the ride was quick and easy and the airport itself is much more enjoyable than Charles de Gaulle and easier to navigate. We all met up and since we had time, we got a little breakfast at a café. We were flying EasyJet, too, and we had all checked in online and already had our boarding passes. Let me tell you, that was the last time any of us will relax when we think we have a lot of time before we board. We went through security and Monica realized she didn't have her boarding pass. We think the man whom we allowed to go ahead of us in line accidentally took the container that already had her boarding pass sheet in it, so it was nowhere to be found. We started to freak out a little because our gate was all the way at the end and we were starting to board soon. While Monica went down to the desk to reprint it, we all talked to the woman at the gate. She and the others there were very rude and didn't care about our problem and really wouldn't help us. One in particular was really mean. Eventually I told the other girls to get on the plane while I waited, and time was passing. The woman kept yelling at me, “If your friend isn't here in 10 minutes/5 minutes/30 seconds/5 seconds, the plane is leaving!” Ugh, what stress! I was the only one waiting by the gate so I reluctantly got on the plane and gave the other girls the “I don't know” look when they saw me. Each subsequent person who got on the plane (the liar, the plane was NOT ready to leave!) was not Monica and I was having a heart attack. I'd been talking with her back and forth and they wouldn't let her go ahead in security. Finally, she got on the plane! She had run all the way from security, in her socks, carrying her boots, after telling the guy forcefully that she needed to get on the plane NOW. I've never been so happy to see someone! She and I sat on the right side of the plane with another woman in the window seat, with the other girls on the other side.

But the fun did not end there, no way: Apparently there was a Spanish tango/salsa/sole sort of dance team on the flight so while we were delayed 30 minutes to have a wheel changed, they put their music on their speakers and danced in the aisles! It was pretty entertaining and very different; except that the flight attendants were getting in on it and taking pictures with their iphones...I don't know, it was all kind of bizarre. The whole time I was thinking, Is this a real flight? Is this happening? Is this professional?! I was a little nervous to get in the air in case the pilot was playing tetris at the command. Oof! So finally we et in the air and this becomes the worst flight of my life. Not because it was turbulent or scary—I was fine in that sense—but there were a bunch of Greek men in the row in front of us, which happened to be the exit row. They were loud the whole flight and many would just stand in the aisle during the whole flight! The (French) flight attendants would apologize for having to pass them in the aisle, as if they were disturbing them, instead of telling them that they had to, oh, I don't know, SIT. When is it ever ok to stand in the aisle during the flight? And there were couples sitting in each other's laps making out everywhere. But the worst part was that the guys in front of us were smoking weed (!!!) I kid you not. It's a hard smell to miss, especially when it's right in front of you, and I could see them through the seats. All the guys knew we were talking about them, but I didn't care, and I gave them dirty looks. The flight attendants knew it too, because one came over to them and said, while smiling, “You don't want the other passengers to see that.” WHAT IS GOING ON? I was like, this is not real. It can't be. The only possible explanation we all arrived at: they had knives. We didn't want to get involved because we had no idea who these guys were or what they could do, but it is outrageous for that activity to be permitted—to smoke anything—on a plane. Needless to say, we were all so happy to land in Athens. Anyway, onto better things...

We took the metro from the airport to our stop, Syntagma. It was a kind of long ride, but the metro is so much cleaner than in Paris, and the view outside was gorgeous. I couldn't get over the beautiful scenes of mountains! The landscape is so picturesque. I'm proud of us for figuring out how to get into the city. When we gout out of the metro station, the first thing I saw was a palm tree. It was warm and mild and it really felt like being on a tropical vacation! It was already 5 pm so we just found the hostel and checked in. Julia, Leanne, and Courtney were in a private room together but Monica and I had gotten a 3-bed dorm, which we found out translates to 2 bunk beds and one bes, equaling 5 people. Two girls had already arrived in our room but were not there when we dropped our things off. It was my first hostel experience and I have to say, it wasn't too bad! Maybe a little cold at night. We reconvened and walked to the downtown center to find a place for dinner. April; the girl who checked us in at the hostel, gave us the name f a restaurant to go to to eat. Athens is incredible because there are ruins literally all over—the city is covered in them, laying or standing wherever they originally were. So in the middle of streets, there were ruins. Our hostel also had the prime location of being 1 or 2 blocks from the Acropolis! Does it get better than that? We found the lively streets with shops and restaurants and got intercepted by two lively hosts at one place. They had us hooked—was it that they were friendly? Exciting? Spoke English? (Everyone spoke English there) Offered to buy our wine? Whatever the case, we sat down. And so a 3 ½ hour dinner commenced. It was so nice to relax and talk and have fun with the girls. We all get along really well! Jimmy, our waiter, was hilarious! We kept asking him about the Greek meals, like souvlaki and mousaka and when we asked about the yogurt and honey dessert, he said, “Yogurt is yogurt and life is life!” It quickly became the phrase of the weekend. Dessert was delicious and we left, full, around 10:30. We walked around the streets a little bit but were so tired we came back to the hostel. We could see the Acropolis from where we lived, but the real trip to the ruins was to happen the next day. After talking a bit in the girls' room, Monica and I headed over to our dorm. It's actually behind a small courtyard and garden area. I felt badly knocking and having one of the girls let us in, but the key has to stay at the front desk when people are in the hostel, so it wasn't our fault. I climbed into bed and tried to ignore the snoring from another girl.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and I was so happy to be in Greece!

M and G come to town!

2009-11-26T03:21:00.000-08:00

Last week was a pretty busy week because Mumsy and Grumsy came to visit! I will attempt to fit a lot of information into this post in a short amount of time because I am at my internship and should really be doing other work.

They arrived on Tuesday morning, the 16th, and went straight to their apartment in the Marais. I had an interview with an author in the morning so I could not see them right away. I headed over to their place after (the interview went really well, too, which was great!) It was so nice to see them both after 3 months! Wow, what a long time. The apartment itself is quite nice, too, with lots of space. It was my first time ever in a Parisian apartment, and it didn't seem to be as small as they supposedly are. I had to get to class so we had a quick lunch in a nearby café before I jetted off. During their trip, I fortunately had a lot of time to spend with them because I didn't have class Friday morning, nor my internship on Thursday.

It was a week filled with fine dining, which was delicious. I can never allow myself to eat out so much on a normal basis! We went to one fancy restaurant whose pickings were a little too slim for me: out of 5 choices for entrées, there was seafood, seafood, seafood, rabbit, and deer. For a girl who does not like seafood, it was a little unnerving. Michelle had joined us, which was so nice, and she helped me through it, though I will not tell you which one I chose. We went out to lunch during the days before i had to get to my afternoon class. And i got to spend most nights sleeping over in the apartment, which made it really feel like a real vacation. It was a little nicer than my foyer, haha.

We did a little shopping (HA how many of you believe we just did a "little"?) and it was nice to walk along Boulevard St. Germain, and we even visited Galleries LaFayette. I got a new umbrella, as my last one died in the Oxford Wind Storm of 2009 last weekend. This one is cute and promises to never flip inside out. The weather was so nice and unseasonably mild the whole week, which made it pleasant to be outside. We went ot the Eiffel Tower at night, which really never gets old. It was glittering and flashing multicolors, which was pretty cool. One day we went to the Louvre, and I saw some French paintings I've wanted to see for a while. I got to cross a lot of thigns off my To See list, like the Centre Pompidou, though I did not enjoy it at all. We saw a lot of modern and contemporary art, which I have probably mentioned before that I do not like. Did you know it's the second-most visited attraction in the city, after the Eiffel Tower?

Emily came with us to dinner one night, too, to Café Louise where I had been a few weekends ago with friends from my class. I loved it! And Iliana came with us to another restaurant another night. I hadn't seen her since the first week in Paris, so it was so nice to catch up and see how her semester has been going. We also dined at Le Grand Colbert, a place popular with Parisians that was also made more famous by the movie "Something's Gotta Give." There is even a poster of the movie in the window, haha.

We went to Victor Hugo's house, which I had wanted to see, too. And I turned M and G into bus experts! Haha. They were able to go around the city and do their own thing while I was in class, too, which was nice. I took their guide book which is a gift and a curse because now there are so many more things I have to see in Paris before I leave! Ah, never enough time. All in all, it was a really nice visit and I'm glad I got to see them both, and I'm glad we got to spend so much time together. Now it's time to get back to work and focus on finals...well, after this weekend in Greece :)

Bisous!

London and Oxford: Part II

2009-11-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sophia and me :)
Goucher crew!
Once I got this photo, I could finally shut up about it :)
The London Eye. It takes 30 minutes to make one rotation.
Big Ben!
Pretty London!

Ok, and we're back for Saturday:

Today was Explore Oxford Day, meaning Ben got to play the role of tour guide. Sophia, one of Ben's friends, came along and it was so nice! She is coincidentally the first cousin of a guy I went to high school with! I love small-world connections like that :) And she's so sweet and fun and we get along really well...I love new friends. SHe benefited from the tour, too, haha. We went to the Botanic Garden and though the glass houses were starting to close due to the winds, we saw a lot and it was very pretty. We walked around the city and I bought an Oxford University sweatshirt. I didn't bring one with me to Paris, so it's functional. I bought some postcards too because I'm going to make a scrapbook over break of my semester. We went to locally-famous Ben's Cookies, mmmm. It was inside a covered market that had everything you could imagine! And some Christmas decorations were up which just made me so excited for the holiday season, and yes, to be home for it. We met up with Matt after drinking tea and warming up in Ben's room. Tonight for dinner we went out to Italian. The restaurant is owned by a renowned British chef of Emiril status in the UK but the food was really well-priced. I think Paris is more expensive, but then again, I'm sure London is very expensive too. It was really nice to have dinner out, just the 4 of us.

After, we went to a place called the House Bar. It's a very classy establishment and drinks were half off so I had a white russian and remembered how much I like them! We sat in a cozy corner by the window and played dominos games. The lighting was nice and the music was too, and there was a pool table. It was still early so there weren't a lot of people there. After leaving, we went back to Teddy Hall (where Ben lives) and sort of snuck into the rest of the talent show, "Teddy Hall's Got Talent." The winners from each school go on to compete against one another for the title of "Oxford's Got Talent," haha. I'm glad we went because everyone was there and we saw a lot of friends and the acts themselves were really great! The winner was hysterical, and I'm glad we got to see it. :) It ended around 11:30 and a lot of people were really tired so we had a quiet night in and watched Scrubs with Sophia before going to bed. It was supposed to be another early night but we didn't go to bed until 2. I guess this is because we ran into a lot of people on the walk home. But I can't complain about anything!

And SUnday, poor Ben woke up at 8 so he could help me get to the train station. And of course, the day was warmer with blue skies and no sign at all of rain! That would happen the day I leave, haha. I got myself to St. Pancras and on the Eurostar back to Paris, again sleeping a bit on the way back.

So all in all, I had an AWESOME weekend! I'm so thankful to Ben and Matt for making me feel welcome and entertaining me during my trip. It was great to see them and I loved being in London and Oxford. I finished the weekend off with a very French dinner out with Emily and Natalia, so it was great :) More soon, my friends!

London and Oxford: Part I

2009-11-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

As you can tell by the caps in the title, I was just a little excited for my UK weekend :)

But before I go on to that, I must mention briefly my Thursday: I went into my internship like I always do at 9, and after telling Thomas about my lovely day off, I mentioned that I wanted to revisit Grand Palais between my internship and class to see the Renoir exposition. He told me that the expositions can get really crowded and that to make sure I saw it, I should leave earlier. So he let me leave at 11:30 instead of 12! Isn't that so nice? What a great guy. I worked hard for the time I was at IFE and then I left right at 11:30. It's a good thing I left early because I still had to wait in line for a full hour outside at the Palais. There was a man there playing clarinet, as sort of a serenade for the people in line, and it was so nice. It was worth the wait and even though I couldn't get in for free, I was so excited to see the paintings. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but sometimes art from more recently is much more striking to me. When I see an Ancient Egypt exhibit, I already know the artifacts are going to be older than what I can imagine. "This pot is from 475492857485742087044754 b.c.? neat." But art from the early 20th century touches me more because the time period is more tangible and I can imagine what life was like during that time. I saw paintings that I just did not want to walk away from, such as "Jeunes filles au piano." I'm so glad I went :)

After, I strolled around Place Vendome, which is where all the fancy jewelers are. I just liked to window shop and imagine what I would own in another life, haha. It was lovely! Class was ok, and I had a class with Isabelle since we missed last night's. It was ok, and after I just packed for my trip and ate with friends in the foyer. Ok, on to bigger and better things.....

FRIDAY

Friday morning I woke p early and got all ready for my trip, managing to pack all my things into my brown bag again. The Eurostar train leaves from Gare du Nord so I took the metro there and of course arrives ridiculously early. You know how I am. I exchanged some euros into pounds which was downright painful (and don't think it was any better on the way back; it's all around bad). When I went through customs I encountered a small problem on the questionnaire that asks for your address in the UK. I never thought to ask Ben what his address in Oxford was, I'd just thought everything would work itself out, no problems. That's my fault, and the guy in customs was basically like, "Have you ever travelled before?" They need to know where I am, and just for myself, I need to know where I am. Oops! I still got to go through, though. I got a window seat on the train and loved watching the green rolling hills speed by until I fell asleep while in the chunnel. Alors, it was not as exciting as I was expecting. When the train got out of the chunnel, the sky was dark and gray and it was raining. Nothing says "Welcome to England" like that weather! Even more, that was the weather for my entire weekend. It's normally not as bad as it was, but there were damaging, gale-force winds, too.

Anyway, I was so excited to be in another country. The people were so much nicer and more helpful there, and I had to ask a million different people to help me get to where I needed to be. What a change from Paris! Everyone sounds so polite and proper with their accents, it's too much. And OH to speak English and not feel badly about it! I took a small detour on the tube--which I do not prefer to the Paris metro--to a stop that claimed to be the exit for Buckingham Palace. I walked around in the rain and saw no such palace. What I did find was a big red tour guide bus. Being the sucker that I am, I put down 25 pounds for a 2 1/2 hour bus tour of the city. But really, it makes sense because I was only in London for a few hours and this way I got to see as much of the city as possible in a small amount of time. I would love to go back and do a more in-depth visit, but this was great to see all the sights, even though from a distance. I saw Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and lots of things. My guide's name was Nobby--does it get cuter than that? I also learned a lot about the history of London, which was pretty fascinating. I had bought two macaroons from Paris as small gifts for Ben and Matt, as something from Paris. One was vanilla and one was chocolate and both were giant. I thought it was a nice gesture...until I ate them both on the bus tour. Is that like me, or what? :( Sorry, guys, I got a little hungry. I have concluded that London is beautiful in its own way, though I prefer Paris.

I got myself to Paddington station to take the train to Oxford, all with the help of a guy about my age because I was very confused about the trains. He happened to attend Oxford and was going back for the weekend so he helped me get to where I needed to be to meet Ben. I saw a lot of red telephone booths along the way and vowed to have my photo taken with one before the weekend was up! I was so happy to meet Ben, especially after we had both been standing in the rain and wind, not knowing the other was already where we were supposed to meet, haha. We walked back to his dorm (which, to me, is a luxury palace. Carpeting, there is carpeting!). He has a lot of friends and it was easy to get in touch with them to get together for the night. I love that you can walk anywhere on campus or in the town and run into someone you know. Oxford is a really cool, fun town (city?) with a lot of college students and lively pubs. And of course, it's breathtakingly beautiful.

We called Matt and met up with him for dinner at a pub. It was so great to see him, too! We went to a place called The Eagle and Child, which was frequented by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. No Shepard's pie for me, as it was not on the menu, but I had another yummy chicken pie instead. Everyone drinks there, too, so I had a glass of red wine and of course could only finish 1/4 of the glass. We went to the University bar after, and were joined by some of Matt's friends. Matt and Ben go to different colleges within the university and so don't live too near to one another. A lot of people showed up at the bar and I met a lot of really great people! It was just so easy to talk and it was comfortable, and everyone was so nice. Really lovely. :) We stayed there for a couple hours until the bar closed and then went back to Ben's room, and a big group of us just hung out and talked for a while. I don't know where the time went, but I didn't go to bed until 3! It was the most comfortable floor I've ever slept on, haha.

Ok, this is a lot of information all at once so I'm going to make another post for the rest of the weekend. Cheers!

Jour Férier

2009-11-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Bonjour à tous! Today was another glorious day. Really, it should be illegal to have so many perfect days like this. Well, not really because that would be tragic, but it's just a way to say that I'm having the most wonderful time, better than I could have imagined. :) Happy Armistice Day! All the buses had little French flags on them, and it was so cute! Just to see these big, lumbering vehicles driving around with French flags attached to them was so adorable for some reason. I love the patriotism! There was a huge parade down the Champs Elysées of course to celebrate the anniversary of the end of WWI, but we missed it, unfortunately. Since today is a national holiday, no internship or school! I was more than happy to take advantage of a day off and see more of the city. Em and I hit the road at 9:45 a.m. I saw SO many people around the city wearing berets, so I felt like one of the group with my black one :)

First we took the bus all the way to the other side of the city and the river to go to L'Hotel des Invalides. It was built to be a hospital for wounded soldiers. Today it still serves the same purpose today, although it also houses several exhibits and a museum. What better day to visit it than today? And we got into it for free because of our Sorbonne student cards! I really have to shoot IFE and IOU one of these days. First we saw Napoleon's tomb in the crypt in the part of the building under the huge gold dome. The ceiling was absolutely incredible with ethereal pastel-colored scenes and gold trimming. It was so huge and impressive. Napoleon's tomb is really big and it was so cool to see. We also went into the WWI/WWII exhibit. It was so big and it took so much time to move through it that we couldn't see it all. We got through all of WWI but I'd have to come back to see the rest. It was really moving and I just realized how much war and military history fascinates me. For as much as I hate war, it's so interesting. We left after a couple hours and found a nice bench to sit on outside. We lucked out again with blue skies and sunshine and I didn't even feel the cold. There was a man playing the flute nearby so we were delightfully serenaded during our semi-picnic lunch (peanut butter sandwich, anyone?). It was lovely.

We next walked along the Seine in a green, grassy park to get to Pont de l'Alma. The leaves are still changing and it's very beautiful--not a lot of reds though, mostly yellows. We crossed the river and walked down Avenue Montagne, which is where all the major fashion designer have their stores. Surprisingly, not on the Champs Elysées. I've decided that I don't care very much for the Champs Elysées because it's a little too in-your-face. I prefer quieter roads. We saw Gucci and Prada and Dior and countless others...I just wanted to see them and get my window-shopping full, haha. We walked from there over to Le Grand Palais because there was a Renoir exhibit I'd wanted to see, but the line was too long and it looked to be too expensive so we just left. Maybe I'll get back there again before I leave.

From there (I know, a lot of walking, but it's good!) we went to the area around La Madeleine. I'd wanted to explore some of the area around there too, so we did and found a small alley with red fake christmas trees and ornaments and it made me so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to be home for it because I really love the holiday spirit. First comes Thanksgiving, which will be interesting since it's not celebrated in France. Anyway, we took the metro up to the 18th and got out at Abesses. It's a really cool metro station because it has pretty wall art along the stairs. I do have a list of specific metro stops (on certain lines) I want to see. Does that make me a huge nerd? Maybe. We went to the Montmartre cemetery. I've been to Père Lachaise a few times but I'd wanted to see others, too. This one is a lot smaller and easier to get a handle on than Père Lachaise. Edgar Degas and Foucault are buried in Montmartre, but we didn't get to see their tombs. We did see those of Emile Zola and Alexandre Dumas, the latter after walking around in circles for a while, haha. It was very nice.

OH also on our walk before, we saw the American embassy! It's right in Place de la Concorde. We've gotten so used to not wanting people to know we're American so we can git in and not be judged and try to be as French as possible, that it was one of the first times it made us proud to see our flag and be proud. Why not feel that way? Je ne sais pas.

I knew of a really great place to eat in the 18th that is famous for their salads so we went there for dinner. Em was craving a salad, and the French really know how to make salads, so we ate there. I also had my first bowl of onion soup since I've been here! I can cross that off my list, too. Yes, I have a Things to Eat list. Next up: Mexican food. :) We came home and I've been doing "work" ever since. I got a lot done at my internship this week so I feel good about it, and I think I will get a lot done tomorrow. I've been working straight from 9-2 so I can get a lot of work done, even though my hours are only 9-12. Tomorrow I might actually leave at 12 and try to get some things done before class.

And then...London/Oxford for the weekend! AHH so excited! I'm seeing Ben and Matt, and it's going to be fantastic. Expect a blog post after that. Bonne soirée mes amis!

Bisous!

Photos don't do justice

2009-11-08T13:56:00.001-08:00

Taking the bus...I love bus 76, and am very happy to be on it, as you can see. Also, that IS the coziest scarf ever.
A painting within a painting. And this is normal, daily life. WOW.
One side of Place des Vosges
This is so terribly French, I had to.
A beautiful Autumn view of the Seine!
I have a thing for stained glass in churches
Me in l'Orangerie with one of Monet's panels

Fall tombe

2009-11-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, on to Saturday. Not as many things to be said, but still a great day and night. I started it out by getting a haircut! If anyone knows me, you know I am a nut about my hair. I don't let anyone but Ralph do it, and I am OCD about how it looks. So I couldn't just walk into any hairdresser here, even though it's Paris and I'm pretty sure they know hair and style. I did some research, gathered recommendations, AND did some "drive-by" snooping to check out locations and ambiance. I am that crazy. I settled on one near Bastille and went there this morning! I'm reeeeally happy with my haircut, though it is more or less the same thing I had before, but shorter. I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to communicate everything I wanted in French, and the woman who did my hair said I speak it well. Though I don't speak French all the time, I've seen marked improvements. It was a little more expensive than I was expecting, but it's ok.

The weather was rainy and cold, which makes it hard to get motivated to go outside and do things. My friend Jake and I were going to go back to L'Orangerie but decided to check out a mass of white tents by Bastille that we saw from the metro. It turned out to be a huge antique show/festival thing. Most of it was outside, with tents full of art and furniture/home decor and daily life things and really just EVERYTHING. It was really cool, especially because we sort of snuck in and didn't have to pay! We walked around for a while but I got pretty cold so we returned to the foyer and made dinner with John. This involved pasta and a rotisserie chicken--mmm. Jake and I went to the theater piece that was tonight, in the Marais. It didn't start until 10, which was late. We sat in the very front row of the weirdest, most bizarre play I've ever seen, called "Un Grain de Fantasie." I can't even really describe it, but it was just so strange. I was also so tired that I wanted to fall asleep but of course I couldn't. I'm really glad it was only an hour long. I'm glad I went and since it was free, I still got my money's worth! It was fun.

And today, Sunday...Today's big activity was a trip to the Rodin museum with John and Jake. I'd wanted to go for a while so I was happy that we went. It was also the perfect day because it didn't rain and we had a blue sky. I bundled up in the warmest scarf known to mankind and was very content. We saw The Thinker, of course, but strangely did not each take a "Thinker" photo of our own...hmm. Next time. I couldn't stay too long because I had to get back to the foyer so Emily and I could go to tonight's play, a comedy near Republique called "Petits Mensonges Entre Amis" (Little Lies Between Friends). It was really funny and we both loved it! Very different than last night, haha. I couldn't understand everything that was said, but we got the general idea and it was hysterical. It's nice to do something different for a Sunday night, and again, it was free...can't argue with that!

Now I have another week to look forward to. It'll probably speed by like they all have been, and I hope I can see a lot of things again. Wednesday is a national holiday in remembrance of WWII so everything will be closed, but that also means no internship or class! I'll have another update soon because next weekend is my trip to London/Oxford!

Bisous mes amies!

Paris is Magical (THIS IS A LONG ONE)

2009-11-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

There is something about this city that just makes me feel so at peace and wonderful. There have just been moments where I feel so comfortable in my environment here and like I can do anything. I'm incredibly happy and feel, quite frankly, unstoppable. I'm happy to say it happens a lot, especially lately. Let's start from the beginning...

On Friday morning I got a call at 8:20 a.m. from the professor of my 9 a.m. morning class, saying class was cancelled. I was elated! As I cross things off my "List of Things to Do and See," it has a curious habit of getting longer. Needless to say, I had a lot of things I wanted to see, so today was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of more time. I was already ready for the day so I still left the foyer at 9. First I walked over to Place des Vosges, which is about a 25-minute walk from the foyer. I had blue, clear skies and thought it was a little crisp, it wasn't too cold. I decided that my day would improve even more if I just smiled at strangers. There's no reason to make eye contact with someone on the street and not give a little smile or head nod. People just need acknowledgment. Everyone in this city wears dark colors and looks miserable a lot of the time anyway, so I did it. I think it mostly caught people off guard, but I was happy to do it, walking along in my bright pink peacoat. Place des Vosges is a square/park surrounded on all 4 sides by beautiful buildings with arches--lots of brick and beauty. It was still early enough that the way the sun hit the side of the buildings was gorgeous. There are some cafes and a lot of art galleries there. Almost everything was closed since it was still so early, but I walked around anyway, then read my book on a bench in the middle for a little. There is a fountain and the leaves are finally at that point where they're changing into beautiful yellows and golds. It was, in one word, [absolutely] lovely.

Ok, time out for some shopping BUT I NEEDED THAT BLACK TRENCH COAT, I PROMISE. I even put it on then and wore it for the rest of the day! After dropping things off in my room I took the metro to the 18th arrondissement to revisit the Marmottan museum. Michelle and I tried to go a couple months ago but we didn't feel like paying to get in (normally we get in for free to museums). I still wanted to go back and see more of Monet's paintings, and I really enjoy going to museums by myself. I like to take my time and move at my own pace. I think museum-going is really a personal experience. I'd been there 4 years earlier but it's always new and exciting. It's not that Monet's paintings are any less impressive there, but the effect is different than at l'Orangerie. There, you are just surrounded by his panels and it's very profound. I was caught with that aforementioned of personal elation as I was walking along the sidewalk under a canopy of trees, almost alone. It was just so serene--the feeling is rather indescribable. I used to think that I wanted to live in Paris, but I'm starting to think that I don't want to, not because I don't love it, but because I love it too much. I want to make sure that it is always special to me and never becomes old or stale (not that I think it ever could, but you know). I never want to get so used to being here that I take anything for granted.

I also stopped at La Madeleine on my way back from the west of Paris. Napoleon had it built as a church but it looks nothing like a traditional cathedral; in fact, it looks like the Pantheon. I'd been curious so I went inside. SUrprisingly, it's my least favorite of all the churches I've seen so far. It's so dark and though there are lamps and chandeliers, there is almost no natural light. It feels very somber an closed in. Also, there were gift shops inside, and those just do not belong in a church, no matter how much of a tourist attraction it is. (Don't get me started on the monkey business inside Notre Dame.) I'm still glad I saw it, because I like to see different styles and architecture.

Finally, I stopped by a kiosque jeune in the 4th to get free theater tickets! If you're under 25, you can go to one of these kiosks--there are only 3 in Paris--and you can get up to two free tickets for shows (either theater, comedy shows, or concerts) for up to the next three consecutive nights. John goes often so I decided to check it out. I got to read the press reviews of all the shows beforehand in order to decide what I wanted to see. I settled on two comedy theater pieces and got two tickets for Saturday night and two for the other on Sunday night. They're not just random, obscure shows, but also well-known pieces. What a cool service, right? France actually treats its youth crowd pretty well, especially if you're European. Lots of chances for free/reduced tickets to things.

Class was ok and I learned two interesting things: French never have 13 people sit at a table to eat. It is just bad, bad luck. There is usually at least one superstitious person in a group of 13 anyway. I thought it was solely because of superstition, but it is because 13 was the number of attendees at The Last Supper...alors, bad news bears. A host(ess) will often invite another couple or person just to keep things even and keep the number from being 13. Crazy, right? Also, you can take seconds or thirds of anything at a meal except the cheese. When the cheese plate comes around, you better take a large helping because it's the only one you're going to get.

After class I hung out with Meg, a friend in my class. I've never hung out with friends outside of class yet, and it was really nice! We went to a cafe first and got hot chocolate because it was way too early to eat dinner. Then she took me to a thrift store in the 18th and it was my first real thrifting experience. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to dig around. She took me to Louise's, a small restaurant she and her friends discovered a while ago and frequent often. It's authentic French food but not expensive! I had amazing lasagna that was very well priced. Halfway through the meal, 3 other girls from our class showed up, with another girl from their program. They also really love Louise's, and are all practically regulars. I think I might become one, too. Quel coincidence! We all talked and it was really nice :) We decided after dinner to go to the bar that another girl in our class works at, in the Marais. It was really fun! It's a small bar and either English/American, but I really liked it. I got a small glass of red wine, which was more than enough for me, haha. There were a lot of people in a small space but we snagged a table, and the music was pretty funny. I had a great time, and it was fun to hang out with some new faces for a change.

Summary: Great day, great night. I'm seeing a lot and doing fun things and it's just lovely.

Profit, profit, profit

2009-10-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

I'm going to squeeze in a last October post because yesterday was just a magical day. Well, as it started off, I was in a pretty sour mood. My Friday morning class is not doing it for me--well, the class itself is fine for the most part, but it's my professor I can't stand. Leaving class--a little late, too--just didn't put me in a good mood. Normally I try to laugh it off, but it's getting really old now. But then again, I have to put everything in perspective because I'm in Paris and things can't be that bad, right? Right. Nevertheless, my mood improved immensely during the 3 hours between that class and my Sorbonne class int he afteroon.

I bouht a sandwich and hopped the subway, getting off at Concord, which is the furthest stop on the other end of the Tuilerie Gardens, right by l'Obelisque. L'Orangerie, a small museum, is housed on that end of the gardens and they have a permanent Monet exhibition. There is also the Marmottan Museum in the 16th, which is all Monet, and I think I may go there this weekend. But L'orangerie was SPECTACULAR. I got in free, too, because of my student ID from the Sorbonne. There are two huge, round rooms in which you are completely surrounded by panels of Monet's water-lilies. Completely surrounded. I gasped when I walked into the first room because it really is incredible--calm, serene, and striking, all at the same time. Really unbelievable. His panels cover almost the entire wall and you can see the texture of his brush strokes and the lush colors he painted with. It's the next best thing to being in Giverney itself. Maybe even better. I sat on a bench and wrote some poetry, and it was the first time I've been able to just sit down and do that here. It's hard to find time in the day to write, but this is the perfect place. Some places inspire me, like that cafe I mentioned in earlier blog posts, but if I visited there again, I can't guarantee I would feel the same way because of music, other people in the room, temperature outside, etc. But here, I know I would always be inspired. I'm absolutely coming back so I can sit in Monet's presence and write more poetry.

After, I explored a gigantic church next to the Louvre. I'd seen it before and wanted to go in. It's one of my favorites now, and reminds me of both Notre Dame and the other one next to the Pantheon (though smaller than Notre Dame). My favorite part is the stained glass windows, yet every aspect of the architecture and decor is awe-inspiring. I felt nervous about being a spectator in a place where people pray and have private moments, but it was touching. I was also there as the bells were ringing for 2 'o' clock. But it wasn't just a simple "ding ding," it was a beautiful song and melody that literally stopped me in my tracks as I had been walking away from the church. I could say a bunch of cheesy, cliche things about it, and they would all be completely true. It was divine.

I had time to explore another church near me too, after walking through the Tuileries. I think I found a style I prefer--grand ,vaulted ceilings and lots of light, as opposed to that one I visited which was very dark and somber. The feelings and attitudes are completely different. This church, by my class, had stained glass windows not depicting biblical scenes but splashes of bright colors. It was like a modern take on stained glass; a fun detail.

The rest of my day was great too, and included going out for tea with Michelle, Emily, and Michelle's friend Cathy. I hope we can all do it again soon:) Em and I went to our favorite soup bar for dinner and I put my e-mail address on a mailing list so I can get the weekly schedule of soups! Because I will honestly marry the cream of mushroom soup if it would have me. Friday nights are generally relaxing and laid back because we're just coming off the end of a busy week and I'm usually still very tired. Also, we went out Thursday night to a DISCOTHEQUE which was a lot of fun but I didn't get a lot of sleep before my 9 am class yesterday morning. I'm going to profit from every moment that remains here and try to do as much as possible. Time is fleeting but I know I can make the most of this incredible place.

...Also, Happy Halloween! :)

So many visitors, oh my!

2009-10-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind of activity here lately because I had some visitors :) Quinn was the first, followed soon by Chloe and Liz. Chlo, who is studying in Bilbau, Spain for the semester (in the Basque region) came to Paris for the weekend with some friends from her program. Luckily, we were able to spend all Saturday together! In the morning I did some thigns around the foyer and went to the open-air market that is held every Saturday and Wednesday morning right by my foyer. Em got a bunch of veggies and fruits because she wants to start cooking food more often. After we got back, we headed over to the 10th near Chloe's hotel and we had time to peek into a huge church near Gare du Nord. I don't remember the name but it was big and kind of dark and somber. I'm not an art history major, but the architecture and art inside appeared almost medievel. There were fez windows and the entire ceiling was painted--lots of dark wood and ornate gold detailing. It was really cool to be in a church that is completely different from the styles I've seen so far, though the style was not my favorite. I ,uch prefer lots of light and light colors and simple, classical architecture. My new "thing" is wanting to explore churches and cathedrals and there are so many here, there's no excuse not to. There is an incredible one near the Louvre that I think will be my next destination.

I met Chloe at her hotel after! It was so great to see her; seeing Goucher people in a place that is not only NOT Goucher but so different from Goucher is kind of funny. But it was great to be with someone you know from home, especially since she is not on a Goucher program. I took her to the Luxembourg Gardens though it was a cold and semi-rainy day so not too good to sit and really enjoy it. However, there was a significant lack of tourists! We got pasta in a box for lunch and she loved it :) Due to the weather, we naturally thought it best to go shopping. Chloe had been at Le Musée d'Orsay all morning so she didn't want to go to another museum and i didn't really blame her. Luckily, we were able to find her exactly what she needed to buy. And now she can say she went shopping in Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower lit up at night and it was more special than usual because it was all munticolored. It's the 140th anniversary of the tower this year I think so they've been doing a lot of cool thigns for it. Seeing it glitter is also gorgeous. You can't come to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower in some way! We finished off the night with dinner in a café and crepes from Bastille, the best in the city. It was a short but sweet visit. :)

Liz arrived Monday morning! I picked her up from the train station after my internship. It's Wednesday now and she leaves tomorrow morning, but it has been wonderful to have her here, too. I play the part of the norodic/frantic hostess that asks every 10 seconds if she is having a good time, and she says, "RELAX, SAM. STOP" haha. She is very self-sufficient and has impressed me by galavanting around the city alone (armed with my wonderful plan de paris), taking the subway by herself...I'm a proud mama. I have to go to my internship and classes every day, but she swears she does't mind and is still able to see the city. I brought her to a mandatory conference on racism and discrimination Monday night which could not have been the most riviting thing (for either of us, to be honest. The woman spoke too fast!). But last night we went to a great couscous place that I'd been to before a couple weeks ago and Liz LOVED the food! I was so happy :) I could eat there once a week, every week. We met Natalia and Emily at a poetry slam after and it was really cool, though we didn't stay too long because it started at 10:30. It didn't matter that I couldn't understand everything that was said; it's more about the performance aspect. It really makes me miss the poetry open mics and slams at Goucher, and I can't wait to get back to them.

Internship has been GREAT. New article online!: http://www.parutions.com/index.php?pid=1&rid=1&srid=121&ida=11572 (Sorry, Will Self, I did not give you a very good review)

More to come, too. I had my evaluation and it went really well, so I am proud of that :)

I officially planned my trips to London/Oxford and Greece...! Maybe one more, too...

Bisous, mes chéries!

Photos!

2009-10-24T02:58:00.000-07:00

Quinn and me in front of the Eiffel Tower!
Another Eiffel Tower photo
Beautiful light through stained glass windows in a church
My new friend at the art installation in the Tuileries
Fall has arrived! Luxembourg Garden
Yes, the Eiffel Tower really looks like this. For the first 5 minutes of every hour from 8-midnight, it sparkles.
Proof that I go to the Sorbonne!
Pretty girls dressed up for the ballet

So much to catch up on!

2009-10-24T01:49:00.000-07:00

AHH I have not written in so long! I’m sorry, things have been really busy here lately, in the best way, so it’s been a little hard to find the time to sit down and write a good entry. Where do I even start?

Class:

Classes are going pretty well. I don’t really like two of them, and the third one, which I love, is not so much of a real class. I’m learning things in my grammar class that I’ve already studied in middle and high school, so in that sense, I’m not learning anything new. Sure, it’s really good to review and practice because, let’s face it, French is HARD. But I find that my spoken French is improving mostly from what I hear other people say throughout the day, and from what I observe. I think I’m becoming more confident in my speaking, which is good. I think that as long as my French improves, even a little, then this trip will have been worth it. I don’t need it to be the BEST TIME OF MY WHOLE LIFE and it doesn’t need to be life-changing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a fantastic time here and I love it, but I’m just realizing the reasons I’m here and what I want to get out of this experience. If I can explore and see more of the world and learn more about how other cultures live and work, then that’s successful. I also do learn a lot about France in general and I think that’s more important than what I can learn from a textbook.

I’m lucky though because our program doesn’t have all that much work compared to others. It feels time-consuming at times but I remember that I have a unique experience to be able to have an internship in Paris and join the workforce in that way. It’s pretty cool.

Internship:

Speaking of internship…things are going great! I’ve been productive lately and even though I had a minor mishap a week ago, things have worked out. I learned the importance of taking notes during an interview because there is always the chance that the voice recorder will not do its job. In fact, the recorder did not work, and in fact, I had NOT taken notes. Ah, what a mess! Crisis averted and I have learned my lesson. It all balanced out by a great success—I have two articles that I’ve written which are currently on the website www.parutions.com! I’m really proud to be able to see the results of my work in the internship; it’s very satisfying. I am officially a published literary reviewer! Haha. I’ll have more interviews coming up in the next week, which is also pretty exciting. I still love the internship and it’s still busy busy busy all the time.

In other world news:

I booked train tickets to London! I’ll be there in a few weekends to hopefully see Ben and Matt in Oxford! I didn’t think I would have a lot of time to explore and travel, which was kind of upsetting, but Mumsy just told me that I have to go to at least 2 other countries while I’m here, so I am taking her advice! I want to plan other trips too, so I welcome all suggestions! Time is going by way too fast so I need to book fast.

A couple of weeks ago Michelle, Natalia, Emily, Melanie and I attempted to go see the ballet Giselle at the Opera. We got all dresses up and it was fun to look nice and have a night out on the town! We thought that if we got there early enough, we could get last-minute tickets. Even though we were there at the time the website said, the line was already so long and we would only be guaranteed seats "sans visibilite" and we didn't want to pay 25 euros to NOT see the ballet. It was unfortunate, so we left (all dressed up and nowhere to go!) and instead went out do dinner and dessert :)

Two Sundays ago Michelle and I went for a walk in Bois de Boulogne, which is a huuuuge forest just to the West of Paris. It is gigantic, and we walked around for a long time, in fact. Though it's Fall, in some places the leaves haven't changed yet so it was a green wonderland for us. We found hidden paths and a Shakespeare Garden and just talked and it was lovely. It was chilly so we finished it off with a trip to Starbucks for a hot drink. I know, Starbucks...sometimes you just need a white mocha you know will be good. Great day!

Quinn’s visit:

Quinn spent 5 days in Paris and it was absolutely wonderful! I’m so glad we were able to see each other, and I was little miss tour-guide and took him all over the city. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower on his last day here. I’d been up it 4 eyars ago but it’s still amazing to see the entire city, and then some, from the top. It makes Paris look really small! The Arc de Triomphe looked tiny, and Montmartre, where we had been the night before, looked smaller (though when we saw the viw of Paris from Sacre Coeur, THAT looked amazing). We went out do dinner and lunch every day, which was a nice treat since I don’t get to usually eat out. I took him to Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame, where we think we saw a funeral outside. It was the first time I’d seen any religious activity outside the cathedral. We also went to the Tuilerie Gardens, where there was actually a pretty neat art installation for La Festivale d’Automne. Silver sculptures of funny/creepy faces that looked like giant eggs surrounded the main fountain, so we went around and took photos. It was cool! We also went to the Luxembourg Garden, though pasta in a box was closed! It was a Sunday, but I still expected it to be open. Oh, well…We saw a lot of sights, and even saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to see other things, so I think I will go back, maybe this weekend. You really need a solid 3 hours there to be able to walk around and appreciate all of the incredible art there, not just the most famous pieces like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. We were pretty lucky with the weather too and though it was pretty chilly some days, it didn’t really rain. All in all, it was a wonderful trip and really great to see Quinn. :)

Now it’s back to the grind, but I have a lot of exciting things coming up, and more people to see. I can already tell the time is going to speed by. Until next time, my friends, bisous!

What I learn from famous writers

2009-10-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

I’m really excited that I get to interview authors for my internship. I learn a lot from them and even though my personal aspiration to be a writer is, well, no longer existent, it’s so interesting to hear their points of view. I almost feel like I’m in the presence of a celebrity! Tonight I interviewed Will Self, a British author. I asked him if he concerns himelf with what the critics say about his work or what his readers expect from his writing and he just said that he writes for himself. When he sits down to write, he only worries about satisfying an audience of one—he writes the book that he wants to read. And everyone else…well, they’ll like it or they’ll love it, but Self said that if he worried about pleasing others with his writing, it would be not only a waste of time, but impossible to write. Maybe it doesn’t seem that striking, but I loved his honesty.

I interviewed Jay McInerney a couple weeks ago and he also said something interesting. When I mentioned that his writing was often uncomfortable for the reader, he said that writing’s goal, more than anything else, is to make the reader uncomfortable. If it doesn’t, then it isn’t doing its job. Wow! I don’t know, it just sounded so profound and honest to me. It really makes you think—both of the writers’ advice. And on both accounts, I've been able to ask interesting questions that have made Self and McInerney pause and think. I told McInerney his narration had the feeling that his characters were in a confessional. It's very intimate, which McInerney hadn't considered. And I asked Self if the recurrence of Prentice's psoriasis was an intentional physical reminder of the stains of imperialism (want to know more? Read "The Butt"). He had also never thought about it...! I know these guys must have a lot of interviews all the time and the questions often overlap, and I'm sure a lot of mine did, but it was kind of cool to catch them with a different, interesting question. I think each time I do an interview I'll get more and more relaxed and at-ease with it. I really like it!

Sunday, LOVELY Sunday

2009-10-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Lucky you: two posts in one day! :) I couldn't resist.

I just got back from spending a wonderful 3 hours sitting in a cafe. I've wanted, for a long time, to be able to just walk into a cafe with a book, order a drink (hot chocolate, don't get any ideas!) and stay for 2, maybe 3 hours. Dream: fulfilled.

Em and I had a lot of work to do today and we were feeling a little stir-crazy from being in the foyer all day yesterday, so we wanted to get out. It's also really hard to focus on work when everyone is hanging out in the common room. Libraries have free wifi but are all closed on Sundays (like everything else in this city). There is only ONE library in the whole city--La Bibliotheque Nationale--that is open on Sundays, and most are also closed on Mondays. But still not desiring a REAL work space, we opted for a cafe instead. This required a little research to see which cafes in Paris offer the best free wifi. There were several contenders, but we had to eliminate those that were too expensive and those that were too close to our foyer. We need a change of scenery, you know? We found one in the 14th that looked promising so we packed up our bags and took a mostly-familiar metro route there. It's located in the south of Paris, almost at the periphery. I have to say, I quite enjoy the southern periphery of Paris, because of today and because of an event I attended Thursday night at Cité Univérsitaire. I can't really describe it, but it just feels...different. A little more spread out, if that makes sense.

The cafe was DIVINE. We weren't planning on getting food but we were really hungry so we each had salads. Again, salads are not part of my normal diet because they're too expensive and I can't get a good one unless I go to a cafe. GASP it was one of the best salads of my life! I do not exaggerate. The French really know how to put a salad together (hot dogs, not so much). We had dessert after too, also not part of the plan but so worth it. :) It was pretty empty, just a few other people there, also working in computers or writing in notebooks. It was cozy and well-lit but not too bright, and it just had an overall feeling of warmth. If I didn't have so much work to do, I definitely would have loved to write some poetry. The free wifi was also a plus! It got a little more crowded as the hours went on, but we were still the only ones who had eaten a meal--everyone else just drank. Zi-Peng stopped by to work with us too, which was nice!

It was a cloudy, not-too-cold-but-still-Fall-afternoon outside and it was so nice to watch life go by outside from inside the cozy cafe. The music was at times classical and relaxing, and at other times, downright funny-- Joan Osbourne's "What if God was one of us?" Taylor Swift's "Teardrops on my Guitar," and MIKA's "Happy Ending": YES, KATIEBIRD, this is for you; they played it!

We stayed for 3 hours and I got some work done that I needed, which was nice. But really more than that, I just loved being in the cafe for a long time. Next time I will just get a hot chocolate and sit for hours, maybe reading. I will definitely go back to this cafe, even though it's a leeeeettle out of the way from where I live. I just got such a good feeling from it and Emily and I want to be regulars there, maybe every Sunday.! Ah, so wonderful. I wish I could have frozen those 3 hours to make them last a little longer.

I'm really happy to know I found such a place. I'll also make another trip to Cité Univérsitaire, because I really liked that area. It was the closest thing to a college campus I've found, and it was so nice to almost feel like I was at goucher. There were lots of people running and walking around with backpacks and for some reason, that just made me really happy.

Why was I there, you may ask? Well, for my internship, I get invited to press events for recently published books/films. The first part of the evening was a showing of a documentary on the Berlin Wall, especially its fall. It was incredibly moving and striking. I've never seen images of it before, and it really transforms what I've learned in a textbook into a reality. The second part was an art exposition for a photography book on the actual art and graffiti on the wall. I have to write an article for the book, which is why I went. Each building at CitéUnivérsitare is "dedicated" to a different country, like Argentina, for example, and I was in that of Germany. It was just such a great night, last Thursday, and I wanted to share a little with you. :)

Ok, I'm off to get some more things done. Ciao!

Loire Valley photos!

2009-10-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Le Clos Luce, where Leonardo de Vinci lived the last three years of his life ^
Chenenceau, my favorite chateau! ^
A view of a nearby church from Blois ^

Cheverny ^

Here are some photos from last weekend in the Loire River Valley!

Nuit Blanche

2009-10-04T02:58:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Here’s a weekend-check in about Nuit Blanche.

Yesterday during the day I was pretty lazy and not too exciting, so I just stayed in he foyer all day and did some work. Of course, not nearly as much work as I should’ve, but it’s kind if hard to concentrate in the common room because it’s such a social center and it’s really loud. But since the internet isn’t working in my room, it’s the only place I can go to get wifi. Emily and I went out in the afternoon to do some shopping, which turned out to be a failure (or maybe a success, as I saved some money). No need to bore you with my shopping escapades, though!
For dinner, a group of us went out to Thai food. It was really delicious! And not too far from the foyer, so we just walked. It was really nice to go out with friends and have a nice, long dinner. Emphasis on the long; we left around 7:45 and didn’t get back until 10:30! But eating is really important in France, especially in Paris, and the average meal will take at least 2 hours. Someone told me that an article published 6 months ago said that France was the only country that literally spent more time eating than sleeping. I believe it! It’s something I’ll have to get used to, but I really like that they value the time to sit down, have a long conversation, and eat slowly to really enjoy the food. Everyone in the U.S. is just GO GO GO all the time, we never stop and enjoy each other’s company or a good meal—not even at the same time.

Nuit Blanche: A night, once a year, of art/film/media installations all over the Paris, in 3 main areas: Chatelet/Le Marais, Buttes Chaumont, and Quartier Latin. It’s from 7 pm Saturday night to 7 am Sunday morning! I really wanted to see some of the art that was around Paris. A lot of my friends wanted to go to a nightclub but 1) it’s not really my scene, and 2) why go to a nightclub when you can go any night, and Nuit Blanch is only once a year? After dinner we hung out in one guy’s room for a little and there was some music and dancing, and it was fun to talk with some friends and just hang out. But Emily and I really wanted to see some Nuit Blanch festivities and still cach the last metro home, around 1:30/2. Only two metro lines were running all night, but neither had stops very close to our foyer. We left around 11:30 and went to the Luxembourg Garden first (can’t stay away!). Em, John, and Michelle get to walk through the Garden every day between classes and they saw a curious silver disco ball on Friday afternoon, so we decided to go check it out.

Installation: SO AWESOME. Sure enough, there was a giant glittering, silver disco ball, hanging right in the middle of the Garden from a huge crane. It looked like there was an hour-long wait to get inside, but it also looked like there was no one in the garden, so I’m not sure what that was about. But the line snaked around the outside of the garden and we didn’t want to wait. So we just walked around the outside the garden. The disco ball projected lights onto the clouds that looked like stars, and as it spun, the “stars” danced across the clouds, buildings, and tress. It was absolutely beautiful, how it was all illuminated! I have no idea how the lights could reach the clouds, but it was an incredible feat. I guess you have to really hope for a cloudy ngiht for this to work. We walked around the whole garden and just stared up at the sky. There was also a beautiful photography exhibition along the iron fence around the garden, so we took our time and looked at those, too. It was hard to move around with so many people, but I think it was awesome. We found one really great spot to see the disco ball and it was breathtaking. I don’t really know why people would want to wait on such a long line to get into the garden when the best view is actually a it further away from the installation. I’m really glad we saw it :)

We wanted to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night but the RER stopped running by 1 and we couldn’t find a close bus station where the bus was going where we wanted to go. SO we had to walk kind of far to find another close metro station and just hope it wasn’t closed yet. The place was PACKED. The nice thing about Nuit Blanche is that almost everyone in Paris is out in the streets, having a good time and happy to enjoy the art. But the bad thing is, at least for me, that the streets and sidewalks were crowded and it was hard to move. Emily and I had to hold on to each other so we wouldn’t get separated. I just really don’t like being in big crowds to that extent, and everyone was drunk and loud and it always makes me nervous. We took the first metro line we could find, not knowing where it took us, but we eventually changed lines and luckily caught the last line 6 metro of the night! It was the line we needed and we both slept the whole way home.

I was so exhausted that I just crashed as soon as we got home, around 2:30. I really wanted to see Michelle, Kat, and Natalia tonight, too, but it was really hard to figure out how to meet up since we were all in different parts of Paris and then my phone ran out of minutes. Still, it was a really great night!

The best weekend!

2009-09-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend was one of the best yet! I realized that one of my best decisions I’ve made in Paris was to get out of Paris. Michelle, Emily, and I had signed up to take a weekend trip to the Loire River Valley with a group called Club International des Jeunes a Paris, which is essentially just a club for people—French or foreign—in Paris, and they plan events and excursions all the time. It was a really great price for transportation, chateaux entry, and a hotel for Saturday night so we snatched the opportunity up! And hence I had the most incredible, beautiful weekend.

We had to leave Opera at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday so I woke up at 5. I’m pretty proud of my packing ability to stuff everything into just my backpack—including a towel. Maybe it doesn’t seem like such a feat, especially for such a short trip, but if you know me and my packing abilities, it was pretty impressive. Emily and I took the metro to Opera and there were actually a lot more people riding it at 6 in the morning than I would have expected. All the streets were eerily deserted, which was kind of cool. Michelle met us on the steps of the Opera and when all 50 or so of the group were there, we got on the bus. We left Paris by way of the Champs Elysees, and it is probably the only time I will get to drive down it in a car. The Arc de Triomphe was gorgeous and pleasantly deserted. I sat next to Michelle and Emily was in front of us and a really nice German girl sat down next to her. Her name is Melanie and she speaks French very well and she is so incredibly sweet! The four of us stuck together for the rest of the weekend, and it was really great to make a new friend :)

I really didn’t want to sleep on the bus for fear of missing the beautiful countryside, but I was just SO tired, so I had to nap for a little. I still got to see the rolling hills and valleys and mountains and it was like I was in a different world! We went to a rest stop about halfway through the ride and I bought a pain au chocolat and a hazelnut espresso. I hate coffee and the espresso tasted horrible to me, but I needed something to keep me awake. I was wide-awake for the rest of the trip, let me tell you. We got to Cheverney, the first chateau, around 10/10:30. My first chateau! How exciting! It was huge and white and very symmetrical and had acres and forests and rolling green lawns. We had a guided tour of the chateau, in which a family is actually living! Well, in one part. I can’t imagine living in a huge estate like that. Besides the beautiful grounds and lawns of the chateaux, what really blows my mind is that kings and queens once lived in these places that I’m visiting. I was in the bedrooms of ancient rulers—how amazing! And in Cheverney, all the furniture was original, centuries and centuries old. We had time to explore the grounds ourselves after the guided tour so the four of us walked to this lake and through a garden and to this area where there were a ton of hound dogs. I’ve never seen so many dogs in one place, howling like that. They’re the kind of dogs that were used for hunting way back in the day. We got really lucky with the weathe this weekend because it was sunny, clear blue skies and warm, all weekend! The perfect weekend for a trip to the chateaux.

We boarded the bus for our next stop, Blois, which isn’t too far from Cheverney. There are actually so many more chateaux in the Loire valley than I imagined. I would love to see them all, but I think it would be impossible. Blois is in a really cute little town (or city?) and it was so quaint! I loved that it was a city with shops and cafes but it wasn’t nearly as built-up as Paris. Much smaller and quieter and more intimate, but not old-fashioned. Paris really is a one of a kind on France, I think, and I don’t think there are any other cities really just like it. We had time to get lunch and walk around before our tour, to Michelle, Emily, and I treated ourselves to lunch at a café. It’s only the second time I’d been to a café all month. It’s just too expensive to eat out in Paris. But I had a delicious salad and it was really nice to sit and take our time eating and talk. The guided tour of the chateau was very nice, too. Blois is unique because each of its four walls/sections is from a different century and has a distinctly different style. For example, one is from Louis XII and another from Francois I. One thing that was a little different was that there were no records of how the chateau was decorated, so historians and people who reconstruct the house had nothing to really go by, so they had creative liberty to make it look like how they wanted. This makes the present décor unauthentic and kind of tacky. The tile floors were reminiscent of 1970s floor work.

Our hotel for the night was in Blois, down the street from the chateau so we went there next and got settled. Since Michelle, Emily, and I booked he trip together, we got put in the same room. It was small (re: cozy) with one big bed and a smaller bunked bed on top. Always an adventure. :) We didn’t stay in the room long because we met Melanie in the lobby for dinner. It was really nice to just walk around the city and explore, and we wound up finding a really great Italian place, kind of hidden from the main street. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was wonderful. We ate outside in a little square where there were colored lights intertwined in the tree branches…beautiful. We were really tired so after dinner we just went back to the hotel and went to bed early. All in all, it was a great day! Everything is more beautiful than I imagined and I never realized how much I needed nature. I love Paris and the city, but I think I can say that I much prefer life in the countryside.

Sunday: We woke up at 7:30 to have breakfast at 8 downstairs. It was actually a pretty plentiful breakfast, and I had a lot of bread and nutella. I’m so glad it’s a staple here! At home, I would never eat chocolate with breakfast—ok not NEVER—but here, it’s just another part of any complete meal. We got on the bus for…dun dun dun…Chenenceau! The mother of all chateaux. It’s one of the jewels if the Loire River Valley, and I was excited beyond words to see it. All the pictures are incredible, but it’s really more amazing in person. We didn’t have a guided tour of Chenenceau, so we got a lot of time to explore on our own. It took a while to move through the house, but I was really interested in seeing every room, like Catherine de Medeci’s bedroom! The chateau is on the river Cher (not Loire) and the reflection off the water is really something special. We took a ton of pictures! :) We also walked through a labyrinth and saw the vegetable garden and farm. There aren’t any animals on the farm anymore. But the apples in the vegetable garden were fresh and ripe and delicious! Don’t worry, we only took ones that were already on the ground.

You really need to spend a whole day at Chenenceu, more so than at any other chateau. I hope I can get back there someday to really explore the gardens. Oof, I am in love with it!

Our final stop, very close to Chenenceau, was Amboise. This one was not included in the price we paid for the weekend, which I didn’t know. But Le Clos Luce, where Leonardo lived for three years (the last three years of his life, in fact) in Amboise so we chose to go see that instead of the proper chateau. It was a little expensive and I was a little miffed at first because the house itself was not very impressive, and there was nothing really authentic about it. I mean, it was still awesome to be in the rooms where he lived, but I guess I was just expecting something else. It was much better when we explored the property ourselves outside. I think all of us just really enjoy nature and need to be around it. It was beautiful.

The trip back to Paris took over 3 hours, especially due to traffic driving into the city. I was feeling a little “le sigh” coming back to Paris because I missed the countryside. Wow, that makes me sound like a brat: “Oh, such a tough life, I have to return to Paris.” It’s not like that AT ALL. I just mean to say, I loved being in nature and I miss it. I think I’m going to try to get out of Paris more this semester. You really don’t have to go far outside of the city to see hills and greenery. I’m going to make an effort to take advantage of not only the city, but the suburbs, too.

All in all: incredible weekend! I’m so glad the three of us had the opportunity to explore the Loire River Valley and take in its beauty and history. :)

Until next time!

INTERNSHIP 101

2009-09-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Ok so this is going to be a kind of long post because I want to give you all the lowdown on my internship and what's been going on lately. Just try to stay with me!

On Monday all 7 of us started our internships, and each f us has a different one according to our interests. In some cases, they're directly related to our majors, and in other cases, they just have to do with something we're interested in. It's convenient that Thomas, the guy at IFE who coordinates the internship part of the program, also works for a website named Parutions.com which reviews books and DVD. Most of the books are French, but not all. Well, if they're not originally French, they're translated. Since I interned at a literary agency this past summer, I though this offer would suit me really well. I work in the IFE building since the website does not have a proper building or headquarters, and Thomas is there so he can help me if I ever need anything. And luckily, it's only a 20 minute walk from my foyer! I work at 10, which is not too early or late, and I have a nice walk to work. What are my main responsibilities, you ask? Well! I read books, write reviews/articles for the website, and then, in most cases, interview the author. It's a pretty sweet deal, I think. For example, Thomas gave me a collection of short stories written by Jay McInerney, an American author. His most noted work is Bright Lights, Big City, which I actually never read. I only have the French translated version of the new book, of course, so I had to read it twice to make sure I really understood it. It interested me for the most part, though some of the subject material is coarse/shocking/uncomfortable. I definitely want to read it in English, though! The vocabulary, at times, was difficult and I had to frequently consult my little dictionary. I like working in IFE because it's quiet and I can really focus on my work. On the other hand, I don't have the opportunity to constantly be surrounded by people speaking French so I can listen and also speak to improve my French. At least I'm reading a lot of it!

My interview with McInerney is Friday (day after tomorrow) and I'm really glad my first interview is in English. I've begun to put together a bunch of questions, and I think I'm on the right track. I also wrote a rough draft of the article for the website and Thomas is impressed with it so far, and with my level of French/writing. That just put me on cloud 9! I'm still pretty nervous about the interview because McInerney is such a well-known writer! It'll take place in a cafe. I wonder what the codes are, can I order food? A drink? I'll ask Thomas tomorrow what the protocol is. I think the majority of the rest of the interviews will be in French since I will be reading books that were originally printed in French. It's a lot of work, not just during the regular hours of the internship during the day (Monday-Thursday from 10-12ish now, later after my phonetics class ends in a couple weeks), but also at night and when I'm on my own. I'll be constantly reading. But the good thing I get to choose the genres and exact titles that interest me. If they haven't already been reviewed, I can read and review them and then Thomas gets in touch with his editors to see if the author is available for an interview. I'll let you know how it goes! I like that I have an important role in my internship and get to do very hands-on things. If my articles make it onto the website, I'll give you guys the link! Be armed with your own dictionaries to understand it :) One last thing: I also get invitations to book/DVD release parties for the press with the author. I'm going to one Monday night and I get to bring a friend. I'm quite excited about it!

More about today in general:

Thomas was in Strausborg, in northern France today, so since he wasn't in the office, I didn't have to come in either. I decided to do the work I would normally do at IFE in my room. I like being able to get stuff done in a very convenient place. I did my usual 2 hours of work, but inevitably I end up doing at least one more hour total during the day or night. I worked 9-11 instead of 10-12 so I could leave early to get pasta for lunch before class---mmm! And I met a very nice girl in another class who is very into writing and poetry and she and I are going to go to a cafe next weekend that has regular open mic poetry nights on Saturdays! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! I was in heaven when she told me! This is exactly what I've been looking for. It's mostly in English, and the poets are of all levels of talent, so I think I might read there eventually. Oof, I am just elated about it :)

And tonight we had our Wednesday night class with Isabelle. Boy, do I love that class. We mostly shared our internship experiences thus far with her and the class as a whole, and we had some time to talk about some phonetics-related things. She is just so nice and fun to be around, it's like being taught by a friend, not a professor. It's a great way to top off a Wednesday. After, the girls got dinner together and it was nice :) Since we're all so busy lately and a bit burnt out, it's so nice to be able to have some time together to catch up. What a great group.

I am obsessed with the new Company of Thieves album, and listen to it an unhealthy amount. Do yourself a favor and buy it. My classes were not bad today and I approached today with a positive attitude, and it really makes a difference. It's easy to let little things get in the way, like yesterday I had a bad class and was feeling pretty bummed about it. But I have to put everything in perspective, and I really noticed that my day will turn out well or not depending entirely on how I approach it. If I believe it'll be a great day, like I did today, then it will be. It's kind of liberating. I have a great weekend coming up with a trip to the Loire River Valley with Emily and Michelle (and a big group) to see the chateaux which I am dying to see. Interview Friday. And tomorrow I'm going to hear an author talk about his recently published book.

In review: Internship is busy but great. Classes are going well. Quinn is coming in 3 weeks (!!) I'm feeling really great. :)

Gros bisous!

This Is Paris (In Jeopardy! announcer voice)

2009-09-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

La Sacre Coeur at night

The greenhouses and flowers
La Fontaine de Medici at the Luxembourg Gardens

Bonjour mes amis! It's Saturday night right now and I wanted to write to wrap up the last couple days, which were pretty great, especially today. It's about midnight and I came back from being out with friends, but I'm just so exhausted so I wanted to make it an early night. But let me rewind a little:

Friday:

We had our first Paris-France-Paris class, which will be every Friday from 9 am-noon. It's the earliest I've had to wake up in a while, so it was pretty hard. I think I'm going to really enjoy the class because it has to do with the city of Paris itself--how it interacts with the suburbs and with the country as a whole, as well as its history and culture and even a bit about Parisians. We also will get to go on a few excursions throughout the semester! 3 hours is a long time to sit in class but I hope I will really like it. The only thing that bothered me was that Thierry, our professor and a seemingly nice guy--also a historian so he really knows his stuff-knew class ended at 12 and that we had to get our next class after, but he still kept us until 12:20. I was a little annoyed because we were worried we wouldn't have time to get lunch before taking the metro, which in and of itself takes a half hour. I just hope class doesn't go past 12 in the future.

My other classes were great--I had a test in my phonetics class but it was really easy and took about 30 seconds total. I have a good feeling about it, but all we had to do was repeat the phrases my prof said, and we'd had all class period to practice. And in my next class, we had a substitute. He was a man who also normally teaches at the Sorbonne, and he was so animated and SO SWEET and I could tell he really enjoyed teaching us. I wish he were our regular professor because I'm starting to realize I'm not too fond of my real one. She's nice enough, I guess. I just don't feel the love. If you get an answer wrong she just says "no" and moves on. It's a little bit harsh, but I don't know if that means I've been babied in the US? Nah, I think it just comes down to being nice. Anyway, I came back to the foyer after class, had dinner a la cantine with my friends, and got a lot of homework done. I was planning on staying in all night to get work done but luckily, I got a lot of reading done and prepared my presentation for class on Monday. So Emily and I walked to this little cafe in the 20th, not too far from our foyer, where there was a jazz group playing music. Unfortunately we just caught the tail end of it, but the music was incredible. One man played the clarinet and it sounded just like a saxophone, it was beautiful. It was a little crowded down in the small room but everyone was moving to the music and enjoying it. I would love to find more events like this on the weekends! And the rest of the Goucher group was there too :) I love being able to hang out with them outside of class, because we all do get along so well. After, Emily, Natalia, Kat, and some new friends Laurent and Zi Peng all went out to a cafe! I was really craving hot chocolate. We went to one close to our foyer, not too far from La Bastille. Dessert is only served until midnight but we were still able to get some, though it was about 12:30. The eating schedules are so different here. Most people sit down to eat dinner at AT LEAST 10 pm. Even around 1 am, tons of people were in cafes, drinking (mostly), but also eating dinner. I would have to be on my second or third dinner by that hour! But all the same, I was thankful the cafe was open late so I could get some hot chocolate and a dessert. All in all, it was a great night :)

Saturday:

Today was the first day of the Journee de Patrimoine, which is today and tomorrow. It is one weekend once a year where many events/monuments/expositions in Paris are free to the public. It's sort of for a celebration of history and culture--and just pride in France! There was too much to see and it wa a little overwhelming, so we just picked a couple things to see today. I met Michelle and Kat at the Luxembourg Garden because the greenhouses, many with orchids, were free and open to the public. It's the only time of the year when they are open. I LOVE being surrounded by flowers and plants, as in a botanical garden. Everything was so rich in color and beautiful, so I took lots of photos. Michelle and I posed with the flowers as if they were celebrities, haha. The three of us had what I called a "terribly Parisian picnic" of pasta in a box (yes! again!) in the garden before heading off to Bercy to meet John, Natalia, Emily, and Zi Peng. There was a techno parade happening which we could hear approaching, but weren't able to see.

The next thing we attended was a guided tour of Bercy village, which is an area in the 12th, not too far from our foyer. I suppose one could walk, as John did, but I prefer to take the metro. It was very hard to hear the woman speaking because she was softspoken and we were in an area with a lot of noise, so after a while some of us chose to leave the tour. We had been in a beautiful park, so we walked around and took a bunch of photos by some pretty fountains and other things. It was nice also just to lay out on the grass and enjoy the beautiful day. We really did get lucky with the weather. :) There were lots of people out with their children and so many dogs. I saw two doxies! Neither of which really looked like doxies...and a corgi, too :) Tonight's activities included a trip to Montmartre (re: Sacre Coeur) with Em, Michelle, Kat, and a new guy in the foyer named Matt. He seems to be impressed with our knowledge of the city, which makes me feel kind of cool! I am learning my way around and the general area/direction of things. I better be a metro pro by the end of this. I can already name the 11 stops between Nation and Denfert-Roucherou, in order. That probably doesn't mean anything to 99% of you reading this, haha. Though there were a lot of people, it was great to sit on the grass and just take in the sights. We got a bottle of wine to share and I got a nutella crepe which I managed to spill on my new boots AND pants. Oh, well. It really is the best way to see the city, and the view is unbeatable. The Eiffel Tower was lit up and it is just magical. You can see how small of a city Paris really is, looking at it from the Sacre Coeur.

All in all, last night and today/tonight were full of things that I really felt like I wanted my semester to be like: exploring the city, cultural outings, intimate musical gatherings, relaxing in a park or at a grand, symbolic French monument. It's sort of whimsical and fantastic and I feel quite sophisticated. There are just certain times when I think, This Is Paris.

La Politesse

2009-09-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's true, I've always thought the French were extremely polite. I think I referenced this in an earlier post. I love how you always have to say "hello" and "goodbye" and "thank you" to people, no matter who they are. In stores, restaurants, the foyer, whether it's people you know or complete strangers, it's just expected to say these things in salutations. I learned a little more about customs of politeness and "rules" like that today:

For one, it is impolite to put your hands under the table at a restaurant. In America, I think it's most polite to fold your hands in your lap while pausing from eating or after a meal. Do you think so, too? In France, it's not polite to do this; in fact, it's more acceptable to place your hands on the table--but no elbows! I wonder how exactly you place them--palms up or down? I don't think it matters, so long as they're visible. This is the case because it's expected that one affirms that he/she is not hiding anything. Tout est visible.

Also, it is absolutely unacceptable to talk about bathrooms in restaurants, as well as other people's homes. If you need to go to the bathroom, you either A) Walk around like a lost person, until the host can infer that you need the bathroom and thus direct you, B) Say you need to wash your hands, or C) Not go at all during the meal. Because then people KNOW what you're doing, and you're doing it while they're in the middle of eating--gross! Even if a meal lasts 2-3 hours, as many French meals can, it's most polite to just hold it. And if someone asks where your friend is, and he is in the bathroom, you're not supposed to say that. You say you don't know. There are certain subjects that are just off-topic for the French, and this is one of them. In an informal setting, it's a little more acceptable, but still best to not be talked about at all.

If someone sneezes, it's more polite to NOT say "bless you." Or, in this case, "a tes/vos souhaits." By saying this, you acknowledge that someone made noise and did something kind of unclean (though not their fault), and you just underline all these facts. It's better to say nothing at all and not make a big deal out of it. Especially when people sneeze 5, 6, 7 times in a row, it can also get annoying to say. They know you sneezed, and they moved on. Bon!

ANother interesting thing that doesn't really concern politeness and manners is the role of the foreigner in France. Let's face it-- one can say in general that the French, especially Parisians, have a bad rap with Americans. Many thing that they're rude and brash and unwilling to accept others. French is the be all, end all. It's not COMPLETELY untrue. There are some aspects of truth, and it was kind of cool to hear my French professor talk to us about it. The French are VERY proud of their heritage and their language. If you make an effort to speak the language, they really appreciate it. In general, they think, if you speak French, you're a good person. I know, it sounds like of crazy, right, these judgments? At the same time, they love speaking the (more often than not, very few) English words they know. My professor said that the French will often try to talk to us in English but we "have to persevere in French and be stronger than them!" Haha, it was pretty funny. As a side note, I love my new professor, and we have her for a phonetics/internship class every Wednesday night. I think I'm going to learn a lot.

I like how in my classes I don't just learn grammar and textbook information, but also important nuances of French life and culture. The REAL important things. Like, the French rarely drink milk. This surprised me, what with all the popularity of cheese and the cows in the countryside. Almost no one drinks milk here. Are my bones going to suffer in the coming months? Maybe. Though I think the dairy in my gelato will suffice until December.... :)

Weekend in Review:

2009-09-13T06:32:00.001-07:00

Bonjour tout le monde! It's been a little while since I last wrote, so, to appease my adoring fans (re: Mumsy), here's an update:

I survived my first week of classes! And it really isn't all that bad. I'm meeting new people every day and everyone seems really nice. My phonetics class is blowing my mind, and I love it. It's only one hour a day, every day until October 6th. Just 17 more classes to go, I think. The other class is ok too, and I have to prepare an oral presentation for next week. But enough with boring class/homework stuff.

I had a very relaxing, low-key weekend, and it was just what I wanted. Friday I bought some books for school with Emily, John, and Michelle. I needed a French-French dictionary to add to my growing collection of books and notebooks for classes. John, Em, and I had dinner in the foyer and it wasn't too bad--nowhere near as good as the previous night's spaghetti Bolognese. Note to self: remember to eat dinner at the foyer on Thursday nights. I wanted to get out and do something fun. Last Friday night a bunch of us went to a bar/dance club and it was really fun, but I wasn't in the mood to do that Friday night. I just wanted some fresh air. So Emily, John, two new friends from the foyer, and I took a walk to the Bastille and wandered down an animated side street. I thought it was so lively and hip/cool...turns out, we were told not to go there because it's where all the touristy bars are. Oh well, it was fun to see the street bustling on a Friday night! We didn't go into any, instead opting for a restaurant called Paradis des Fruits. There are a lot of smoothies and things with fruit, so naturally, I had the unhealthiest, most dessert-like thing on the menu. It was called an "Ivoire Ivoire" and had: vanilla ice cream, coconut ice cream, coconuts, hot fudge, bananas, nuts, and whipped cream. UNBELIEVABLE. I had some help from my friends in finishing it. And after, I wanted a nutella crepe so I literally had to dig out 3 euros all in coins, most in 20 centime pieces. It was my most desperate moment yet--but man, was that a good crepe. :) We walked around and came back to the foyer but I was so tired so I just went right to bed.

Saturday:

Big shopping day! Michelle and I tore apart Les Halles, as well as Rue de Rivoli and Boulevard Faubourg- Saint Antoine. My jeans that used to fit me are mysteriously too big now so I had to buy some more pairs...along with some other things, too. Michelle and I just hung out for the rest of the evening and had a picnic in my room of pizza, bread and wine. There's a chain of grocery stores here that ONLY sell frozen food. It's called Picard and it's magical! Haha. We got our pizza there. And we bought a bottle of Cote-du-Rhone rose wine. It was a splurge at 5 euros. A lot of the wine in the grocery stores is 2-3 euros. I thought I was going to get carded when we bought it! Michelle skyped with Sam from Goucher and I talked to him too, and John came into my room and talked too. Oh, the wonders of internet! It was fun to have a little picnic on my floor, with not-quite-undercooked pizza and wine in cheap plastic "flutes." A classy evening, to say the least. Before I went to bed I got to skype with Ilana, Sam H., Amy, Sari, Quinn, Brett and Keith. It was so great! I felt like I was right there in the apartment with them. It made me miss school more, but I've come to terms with the fact that I can simultaneously miss Goucher and enjoy myself in Paris. Now if I can just bring all my friends HERE...

And today: Michelle took my phone home by accident so I've been phoneless, which is curiously freeing. I went to the Luxembourg Gardens to read my book. It's a collection of short stories by Jay McInerney (Bright Lights, Big City). It's all in French and I ahve to read it for my internship. I wanted to stay in the garden logner but it was a bit cold for me and it looked like it might rain, so I left. I wanted to get a lot of reading done today since I think I have to finish the book by the end of the month and I think taking time to look up words in the dictionary will make it go slower, but I also didn't want the weekend to end without my having done anything cultural. So I took an impromptu trip to the Eiffel Tower! I've wanted to go ever since i've been here. I took the metro to a stop I've never been to in an arrondissement I've never been in, and walked. Luckily, I had my camera so I asked some nice people to take my photo with it. It's incredible in person. I don't have the money to go up it, and I didn't want to go by myself, anyway, but it was really cool to see it so up close. I'll have to go back another time. :) The whole time, I was thinking, THIS IS PARIS. The Eiffel Tower kind of clinches it for me. Im off to do mroe reading now, but will check in again soon. A plus!

Bisous

I got a sesame seed in my eye. Don't ask.

2009-09-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Some things I've noticed:

1. I find it funny how even very dressed-up people ride around town on their motorcycles. Have I mentioned this before? It gets me every time--men in business suits and women in their high heels. I think there is a law that says people have to wear helmets when on motorcycles, because I've seen everyone wearing them. Bicycles are another story, and I think the helmet is optional.

2. I love that everyone here is polite and says "hello" to one another. When you enter stores and cafes and anywhere, really, you're pretty much obliged to say hello to the person working/hosting there. But even just the other students in the foyer, too. Depending on the time of say you say either "bonjour" or "bonne soiree." And when leaving places, always say thank you and goodbye. I know it's common sense and manners but it sounds so nice here and I love how polite it is! Whatever the stereotypes are about the French, I've had nothing but wonderful interactions with them. As long as you put in an effort to speak French, they understand and are willing to help. The French students here love to speak English! It's great.

3. All over the city there are stations with lines of bikes where anyone can swipe their card and "sign out" a bike for X amount of time to ride wherever they want. When they're done, they can return it to any station. And they really are everywhere. Isn't that a great idea? It's called Velibs (bike = "velo") and it works a lot better here than it did at Goucher! Grr. What an awesome service. It cuts down on fuel from cars and motorcycles and even opens up the metro a bit. I'm not sure how much it costs, but i think it's free for the first half hour. We can use our Navigo metro passes to pay for it, so I think I would like to try one day! I haven't ridden a bike in a long time and I don't know the bike routes/lanes/directions/rules of the road well enough yet, but I hope to try at least once.

4. I had to read an article and do a short presentation on it for my IFE class the other day, so I chose one about the possible rise in price of cigarettes. It sparked a general conversation on smoking in Paris because it seems like everyone here smokes. I asked if there were any strong anti-smoking campaigns here like there are in the US (you know those Truth ads against tobacco companies?). Mathieu (professor) said that you will not find any ads FOR smoking in France. It's illegal. The same goes for alcohol. And come to think of it, I've never once seen a poster or ad for a beer company or drink, and certainly not for cigarettes. It's quite interesting.

Also, as a small side note, I think lots of people, both French and "etranger" think that the French healthcare system is the best in the world. I think it's definitely one of the best, but it's not perfect. While it is certainly admirable, Mathieu asked if we, as Americans, who often make comments about wanting a similar system, would be willing to pay so much for it. Of course there is a price to pay and it is not free healthcare. I think he said that 50% of taxes go to healthcare. So out of a check of $5,000, $2,500 goes to healthcare. It's a lot of money. And I don't think most Americans would be willing to pay that much for healthcare. I guess the bottom line is, if I need to get sick or injured, better to do it here where I know I will be well taken care of! (knock on wood.)

En Plus

2009-09-07T12:27:00.001-07:00

The benefits of being the first one inside the Musee D'Orsay
The best hot chocolate in the whole city! Mmm (I would take a photo like this)
Trying out a more sophisticated Parisian look
Buttes Chaumonts, a beautiful park
Look--I'm "tan!"

1. Decided not to run after dinner because the "food" in the foyer was FOUL tonight. Running would have been a mistake...

2...So instead decided to walk to La Bastille to get yummy gelato!

It makes sense, right? Well, in my head, it does.

(also, some photos...)

First Day of Classes!

2009-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of classes! I was definitely ready for the m to start so I could get into a routine. I like gallivanting around Paris and being able to do whatever I want, but I need a little structure. Especially when it seems as though everyone else is already busy with school. Not yet knowing what level classes we were in, we had to go to one of the Sorbonne buildings to find out. John, Emily, and I all walked there together. We left around 9:15 and the walk took about an hour but the weather was absolutely gorgeous so I loved it. We walked through the Jardin des Plantes (Botanical Garden) and it was so serene and calm. The whole process of waiting in long lines to find out our classes and then buy the necessary books took a while and was not very efficient. The Goucher group filtered in, in various groups but we all waited for each other. Based on the entrance exams we took last week, I was placed in the intermediate level. There are two levels above me and three below. I’m really happy with my placement! I don’t think it will be too hard for me and I expect to learn a lot. And hopefully I will do well since I have a pretty solid background. We’ll see! Max is the only other one in my class, so it’s nice to have a familiar face.

We girls walked around Rue Mouffetard (what a silly name!) after we left the Sorbonne because we had the rest of the morning free until our classes actually began later in the afternoon. The street is so cute and funky and has lots of stores and cheap places to eat. I hope I can come back often. We found this place that sells pasta…in Chinese-food takeout-like boxes! We’ve been hunting such a place down for over a week and I was elated to find one. Yes, my meat ravioli in Bolognese sauce was DELICIOUS. Em, Natalia and I took the metro back to La Nation to go grocery shopping for our fridge. I’m so excited about it, and we bought things like yogurt, celery, bread, and salami. I hope I can save money by making/bringing lunch during the day. We only had a little bit of time back at the foyer before we had to go to classes. Luckily ,all 7 of us have class from 3-5, but in different places. Kat, Natalia, Max, and I are in one building while Michelle, Emily, and John are elsewhere (but not too far from us). Best part: I get to walk RIGHT PAST the Notre Dame on my way to class! It’s unreal. I love it.

My class went well today! I think I’m going to really enjoy it. 90% of the class is American. I was looking forward to meeting a lot of international students who are also learning French—I feel like we’re in the same boat. It’s great to be surrounded by other people who are not French but also practicing their French. We did a lot of simple things today like grammar, but I’m glad we’re reviewing. I befriended a British girl so I hope I get to meet a lot of people from the class. As far as I can tell, everyone seems nice. It’s only the first day so not many people talked, but I have high hopes. I love my professor—she’s fun and sweet and very easy to understand. J Always a plus! I have some more books to buy—a French/French dictionary, a book of verbs and their conjugations—but I will wait a day or two. I’m looking forward to this class!

After, I came back to the foyer and did some work. I hope I have enough time during the days and nights to get things done. I have some homework, not a lot, but I also need time to write in my journal, do blog updates, and check e-mails, etc. I ave a feeling it might not all get done until much later at night. And I have to somehow fit running into the mix! Tonight Em and I are going to run after dinner because there isn’t time before. We might go somewhere that’s closer than going all the way back to the Luxembourg Gardens. Ok dinner in ten minutes. Must be off!

Also, yesterday was a splendid day filled with a trip to the Musee d’Orsay (it was free!), gelato, and a fantastic, long conversation with Michelle in a park we found in the 16^th. I also did laundry, hung out at a birthday party for one of the girls in my foyer and made more new friends, and skyped with Quinn. In other words: wonderful. A bientot, mes amis!

Bisous!

Would you rather have a toilet or friends?

2009-09-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

...I choose friends. Emily and I were talking today and came to the conclusion that even though our foyer has some great amenities--it's bright, clean, new, and we have our own bathrooms--it's not very hospitable. No one who works here has told us ANYTHING. Not how to use our key to get into the foyer (Obviously we figured it out on our own by now). Not that breakfast is, in fact, available on the weekends. Not that our sheets are cleaned for us every couple of weeks. And not that we had to get our tickets for our dinners. We went to the office today and we weren't even on the list! No one seems to know we're living here. I wonder that if we hadn't ever asked, and just waited for the tickets in our mailboxes, we never would have been able to eat dinner here. Other people in the Goucher program are meeting lots of people in their foyers and are in homey, relaxed, amicable environments and sometimes Charonne just feels cold and shut off. I know part of it is that I have to do my part to go out and meet other students, but it seems like it's easier elsewhere. I choose friends over a toilet.

In other world news:

Today was pretty good! We had another class this morning, by a different man named Mathieu. He seems very nice but speaks like a true French person: lots of "uhhhs" in the middle of sentences and phrases and it's hard to differentiate one word from the next because they all meld together. I have to work so hard to listen and understand. He speaks aggressively, too. It's not as fluid and lovely-sounding as some other people I've heard, but it's interesting to get another view. He spoke to us about French government and the history of the Republic and the party system, which turned into a conversation about immigration and discrimination laws. I love this material! History and government were always my things in high school, so I was really interested. I learned that laws in Paris are absolutely universal throughout the country. For example, you can't have the death penalty in Brittany and not in Montpellier. Or have it in Paris but not in Normandy. It's the same law EVERYWHERE. I think that's just wonderful! Mathieu is teaching more classes of ours and we'll have to each give a presentation at some point.

After, Gilbert took us to an Indian place for lunch. It was 100% vegetarian. lately I've really been craving meat, and when I eat Indian food, I generally only eat meat dishes. I think meat is an important component of my diet and I really have hardly eaten it here. I've been craving it a lot! As much as I want to save money on food, I'm afraid I'm not getting enough of the right foods in my diet, and I think it's worth it to spend a little more to get a good meal that's more than just a sandwich for lunch or an apple for breakfast. I didn't enjoy my lunch very much--two samosas, which tasted fine, but weren't satisfying--but oh, well. I had already planned my next dessert expedition. After lunch we walked around a new area for us, along the Canal. It was pretty but boy, was it windy today! I dressed up a little in an outfit I might not normally wear, but I felt pretty good about it, minus all the wind. Does that even make sense?

Emily and I paid for and obtained our fridge today! I'm so excited to be able to buy food and store it. It's in her room since she'll be here for the whole year, and I think we're going to go food shopping tomorrow. :) It was funny taking it back to her room because she lives on the 5th floor and the girl we bought it from lives on the 6th floor. We were all ready to take the elevator down a floor but the elevators on odd numbered floors only go to odd numbered floors, and the same for even. So we had to take the narrow, winding dungeon-like spiral staircase, and it was quite the adventure.

And then....we went out to dinner! Because of my insane craving for meat and the disappointment that was lunch, we went out to an Indian restaurant. It was AMAZING! Expensive, yes, but sooo worth the money. I had chicken and lamb and even quail! And Nan, and we were automatically given some (delicious) rose wine. The restaurant was in the 14th, which we're not familiar with. But the area seemed animated and vibrant, so I'd like to go back. We sat for over two hours and ate delicious food and talked about all sorts of things, and I absolutely loved it. :) I recommend "Restaurant Vallee du Kashmir" to anyone looking for great Indian food. Now I'm stuffed and more than ready to go to bed. Tomorrow is probably a little more of the same. Hopefully the wind and cold weather will hold off!

Things I've noticed...

2009-09-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

1. I don't dream here. Well, there was that one time last week I dreamt that I was playing with paper flowers in the kitchen with Emily and Michelle and I threw mine. It landed on the stove, burst into flames, and a huge fire ensured. What is my problem with fires? I guess whatever it is, it decided to follow me all the way here!

2. There are a lot of homeless people here. At first glance I didn't think it was worse than in New York City. But the more I think about, I think it might be worse here, if not just as bad. One problem is, I haven't seen a single homeless shelter. Do they have them here? If there's no place for them to go and seek food and a place to stay, then they just end up on the streets. It's really sad. Differences I've noticed are that here, they often employ props/other things into their...well, can I call it an act? I hesitate to call it that. Homelessness is a huge can of worms and I don't really want to go into it now, but I feel sympathy for them while at the same time, feeling bad for sympathizing when I don't even know if it's real. The money these people ask for often goes to buying booze and drugs anyway, so I don't want to enable. Once I was cornered for money and I gave a woman some coins. Bad, Sam! I can't do it anymore. If I give something to one person, then I have to give to all...and I don't even know where my money is really going, anyway. Anyway, here dogs often accompany the homeless. I even saw a small child today. But here, I feel that they are more eager to approach you. In my experience in the States, the homeless usually just keep to themselves on the streets and are a presence. But here, they are not shy about approaching you and begging for money and following you. They're so persistent, and I really hate it. Especially the gypsies that I've encountered around the 4th arrondissement. They beg and cry and it's terrible. It makes me both sad and upset.

3. Equally as persistent are the street vendors. At the huge flea market that we went to the other day, there were a ton under the bridge trying to shove products in people's faces. Some were even physically taking people by the arm and trying to walk with them while selling something. I think that's too much. Whatever the case, I've been told by many people that if someone asks me if I speak English, I'm supposed to say "no" and keep walking. Or just not respond at all. That's how they get you--it's not always hard to pick us out and tell that we're Americans. Or at the very least, not French.

Anyway, these are just some things I've noticed. I'm curious to hear what you guys think about it all.

Back to School--Sort Of

2009-08-31T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sacre Coeur

My favorite Crepe place...like a carnival!

One view of my tiny but cozy room
A view from Fontaineblue, a town (and forest) outside of Paris

Awesome street art in Saint Ouen, outside Paris
Emily et moi at the Louvre (!!!)

The girls at the Louvre

La Notre Dame, beautifully lit at night

Showcasing my first crepe of the trip...certainly not the last!

It's been a few days. I want to write a post every day but I don't have the time, unfortunately. Every minute of the day and night is worthy of being noted, I think. My weekend was a whirlwind, with some highlights:

Visiting Montmartre and Sacre Coeur

Giant flea market in the 18th

Climbing a mountain in Fountainebleu

Enjoying an evening in my favorite garden, alone, writing in my journal (spectacular)

Dinner with high school (and middle/elementary school) friend Iliana and her mom

Today we had two classes at IFE. Classes don't officially start until the 7th of September (which it technically already is, in paris--rabbit, rabbit!) at the Sorbonne and the 14th for IFE. But as part of orientation, we have to attend some courses to get us better acclimated with France and our environment. I'm adopting the country for the next four months so it's important to know a lot about my new home. It's kind of like extended French classes from Goucher...but A LOT better. The first was all about culture and politics in France and the relationship between the two--both today and over the past numerous centuries. It was like an extension of FR 245 so I was familiar with some of the information, which was nice. I learned a lot of really interesting things, such as when French became the official language of the country. (1992, correct me if I'm wrong). Also, contemporary art is becoming a lot more expensive than older art from the Renaissance, for example. A painting by Raphael is not as valuable as a contemporary instillation, which surprises me. I generally do not have a fine appreciation for contemporary art--just don't GET it--so this really interests me. The class went from 9-12:30 so MAN was I tired in the beginning and very hungry by the end. Luckily, we had an hour and a half until the next course and so all picnicked in a nearby park for lunch. :)

The second class was on methodology--or, basically, what is expected of French students in school. How they get things done. We were taught everything about the dissertations we're going to have to be giving--AHHHH!--right down to how many spaces between paragraphs and how many tabs on the tab bar. It's all very specific. French students are used to only getting credit for responding to both/all sides of a question. It's not enough to take one position; you have to consider and address all arguments. It's a strict format but I'm glad I had this chance to prepare before classes begin. The class was taught by Thomas, who I will be doing my internship with.

He told me more about my internship and I think I'm going to really like it! I get to essentially work wherever I want and read books/author bios and correspond with authors, both French and American. I'll conduct interviews and often have to conference with them and go out for "cocktails" as he said. Water for me, please! Can you imagine me drinking wine with an author? I'd have a sip and have to take a taxi home. I'm very excited but still naturally nervous.

My afternoon was spent by buying a monthly pass for the metro, a stop at the bank, and a little shopping trip. MUMSY DON'T GET MAD AND PLEASE DON'T CHECK MY BANK ACCOUNT. A little retail therapy never hurt anyone, right? That's what Kat, Michelle, and I all think, so we did a little damage and it was wonderful. We girls hung out in my room tonight and had so much fun laughing and talking and John joined us for a little, too. It was a great way to end the night :) We're all so fortunate that we get along well. And I'm starting to make some friends in the foyer!

Ok, this is it for tonight. Tomorrow: a trip to the catacombs. How exotic! (Notice the photos, for the first time!)

Being a Busy Bee

2009-08-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Today was another really busy day! We constantly go go go and it's pretty tiring, even though I'm enjoying seeing the city. We woke up early today and met at 9:30. In the morning we got to explore the 11th arrondissement, which is the neighborhood in which I live. It was great to learn more about the history of the 11th, since all I'd really known up until now was where to find some stores (there's a Gap!) and the best crepes around! Gilbert told us that the 11th is the most densely populated urban area in all of Europe! Wow! It's very industrial compared to the other arrondissements, both now and in the past. We walked a lot and saw the major roads. But the smaller passages between the main avenues and boulevards are just as nice, and are not to be missed. I will try to explore my home turf a little more.

We lunched in a cute park and had greek (turkish?) kebobs....MMMM! I shared with Michelle since it was too big. I had chicken and veggies with that yummy white yogurt sauce. And french fries! I was really craving fries, and I had a lot with lunch. It was nice to eat something different than a sandwich, or what you would find at a typical French cafe. I want to also try Moroccan food, and some other different types. I know I'm still going to want the occasional hamburger and pizza :)

We had a guided walking tour of the 18th, which is in the northern part of Paris. We were all the way on the outskirts, so that at one point we wandered a little out of Paris into a city named Saint Ouen. Our guide explained how this area is more run down and not as luxurious as the parts of Paris that we're used to. It still had a very homey, lived-in feel to it. The people were so friendly too! A group of older men were playing a ball game like bacci ball and invited us to join them! Kat and Max went, and fared pretty well. Apparently the sport is pretty serious here. I liked the tour but it was almost 3 hours long and everyone was sooo tired. After lunch, all we want to do is take a nap. We were on our feet nonstop for about 7 hours, and that takes a lot out of you. As soon as it was over, Em and I came back to the foyer and did laundry for the first time here (it was great except the "drier" didn't REALLY dry our clothes all that much) and went for our run. We ran at night, around the outside of the Luxembourg Garden since it was already closed. I prefer running at 10 at night now because the air is cool and fresh and there are fewer people around.

Let me tell you, as nice and clean as the metro here is, it scares me a lot. It feels like we're on a Disneyworld ride, like ET. Or a video game. It goes really fast and there are a lot of turns, jolts, and sounds, and I see my life flash before my eves every time I'm on it. But it's necessary to get around soo...

That's all for tonight. Bonne nuit!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

2009-08-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bonjour tout le monde!

Today was the first day of orientation! It's going to last 10 days, and I learned today that not only is it for us to become more acquainted with the City and the sights, but also for us to better prepare for our classes and internship. Eek the internship! I'm a little nervous for that, but I have until September 21st to freak out about it. Yesterday we, by chance, got together with Natalia and Kat! Ah, the final missing puzzle pieces :) So we all met up together this morning before walking over to where IFE, the program, is housed. Luckily it's walking distance from our foyer. We'll be there for two classes this semester, one being a 3-hour class on just Paris every Friday morning. The walks are much more pleasant in the mornings when the streets are quiet, I think.

We were bombarded with information about the program and our classes and daily life and WOW everything! It was a lot to take in, but I love this kind of welcome/orientation stuff. Even more exciting that I could understand the French that was being spoken :) Gilbert, the son of one of the co-directors of IFE, will be our guide and go-to guy during orientation, and Severine is a woman who works for IFE. They both orientated (?) us, haha. And both are so nice! Gilbert's dad Tim joined too. It's a little more difficult for me to understand him since he is American and speaks French (albeit fluently and well) with an American accent. They took us all out to lunch (mmmm! didn't have to pay for it WAHOO!) and then we tried to buy cell phones and failed because in France you need to have your passport as identification. They want to make sure you don't use the phone for illegal activities and can look it up easily with that ID. Interesting, right? Of course none of us had our passport on us, so we have to come back another day and try again. Luckily, we were still able to buy metro passes.!

We took the bus to the 5th arr. which is where some of the buildings of the Sorbonne are, and other prestigious schools like Sciences Po. We joined up with the other IFE students and were lectured for almost an hour on the school. I wish I could relay some insightful information about the school, but the truth is, I was so tired I was trying not to fall asleep. Most people were the same way. It's hard to try to be attentive when you're being talked at for such a long time. In another language. We were also in the 6th and 7th arrondissements which are pretty rich and have a lot of really expensive stores. Of course I only window-shopped, save for the gelato that I couldn't resist buying. :)

The best part of the day was having the whole Goucher group together. I think we all mesh really well and have fun. We had to sign an honor code this morning that promised we would ONLY speak French. Period. In classes, At IFE, and with each other. I'm glad we did, and so we only spoke to one another in French all day and I think it will really help all of us. Speaking English isn't natural to me anymore! Weird, right? But kind of cool, too. I took TONS of pictures because I am the resident Paparazzo in the group. People may laugh and mock me, but I want to record every delicious, incredible moment of this experience. We happened upon the Louvre ("Ce batiment-la, qu'est ce que c'est?" "Je sais pas....Oh, C'est LE LOUVRE!") Gorgeous. Stunning. Awe-inspiring. And so much larger than life. It was sunset so we sat by the fountains and took pictures before walking to the Tuilerie Gardens, where Emily and I had run the other day.

I still can't believe I'm here. In Paris. I live here. This is my city. I know, for a fact, 100% absolutely that I will live in Paris when I'm older. You know when you feel something so strongly, like you just belong there? I'm in love with it, all of it. This is not to say that I don't miss parts of being home, too. School is about to start and a lot of my friends are either at Goucher already or are on their way. I miss all my friends at home so much. I miss my family of course, and I miss my wonderful boyfriend. I think it's ok to be simultaneously happy in one place and still yearn for another. Today was definitely one of the best days here so far (I know, out of what, 6? Each day is The Best Day). I have high hopes for tomorrow, too! :)

A demain, mes amis.

Favorite Spot in Paris: Found

2009-08-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

(This is really August 24^th)

Today Emily and I ran in Le Jardin des Tuileries. We took the metro (for the first time!) there and back. It took a little getting used to, and we took the wrong direction the first time, but it really is pretty simple. And it’s a lot cleaner and nicer than most subways I’ve seen in the U.S. The garden was absolutely breathtaking, and right now It’s my favorite place in the city. Pictures don’t do it justice. The run was a little easier today, so I really hope it keeps getting better. We strolled the streets and bought sandwiches for lunch before heading back to the foyer by metro. I’d heard that it rains a lot in Paris, and today was our first dose. It was more like on-and –off thunderstorms with some pretty spectacular, electric purple lightning.

We met up with Michelle in the afternoon and took a walk to La Cimitiere Pere Lachaise. It’s a really famous cemetery in Paris, and huge! Jim Morrison is buried there. We didn’t see his grave, but we saw that of Eugene Delacroix and Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde’s was covered with lipstick-stained kiss imprints and people had written on it. I kind of think it was a little tacky and wished that the grave had been left alone. I want to go back and see Chopin and even Edith Piaf. It’s not haunting and creepy like a cemetery might be, but really beautiful and magnificent. It’s really close to the foyer, which is convenient. We bought some more things and got caught in a bad downpour on the walk back. We had a little picnic in Emily’s room with baguettes, salami, cucumbers, and an unidentified cheese spread with herbs and garlic. It was delicious! The stereotype of French people walking around with baguettes under their arms is absolutely true. At any time of day, you will pass someone on the street with a huge loaf of bread.

Emily and I FINALLY have internet in the foyer! It took a long time to finally talk to the right people to get the passwords and login, but now we can use free wireless in the foyer’s common room. Getting access in my own room is another story. I don’t have the energy to explain it all, but it’s expensive and right now, it doesn’t work. Hopefully I can get it up and running soon. We haven’t had cell phones either, but I really am ok with that. It’s been nice to not have to worry about phones, and it allows us to be a little more removed and to take full advantage of our surroundings. Even though I slept really well last night, I’m exhausted and will probably go to bed soon. A demain!

The Paris Walking Tour Workout Plan

2009-08-24T14:12:00.001-07:00

(This is really August 23^rd)

Bonjour, mes amis! Je me trouve déjà a la salle publique dans mon foyer. (I again find myself in the common room of my foyer). I like that I’ve been able to come back to the foyer and have time to relax after a really long day. All I want to do is write in my journal and for my blog. I do so much during the days that each day feels like it’s a week long. I think it’s because we walk so many palces in the city, too, that it feels like time is speeding by. It’s only my third day in Paris but it feels like it’s been weeks. Today was no exception:

Emily and I woke up earlier that yesterday so we could leave early for our run. Inspired by last night’s stroll by the Seine, we decided to return and run along the river this morning. I think the second day of exercising and working out is the hardest on the body. Man, did my body hurt today. Our journey to the river in the morning was a lovely walk. It was early enough that the city was quiet and almost vacant along the route, but since it’s also Sunday, not many people were to be seen on the streets. It was quiet with a cool breeze—in other words, perfect. And forget it—the architecture can’t be matched. It’s the definition of “olds meets new” with beautiful, aged buildings that house internet cafes with neon signs et des autre choses comme ca. The windows of the apartments have white shutters and are often open, with small wrought iron balconies and flower boxes teeming with beautiful flowers. I can always find someone leaning out their window to take in the scenes from the street. Why don’t people do that anymore in the US? Why don’t people just slow down and take some time to drink a moment in? I really do admire that about the French. They don’t rush around like we have a tendency to do in the States.

On our way back from our run, we ran into (ha ha) Max, John, and Michelle! It was pure coincidence that we saw them. John’s staying in our foyer so we’ve seen him a couple times, but it was the first time that Emily and I saw Michelle and Max. How wonderful! Without internet or phone, we weren’t sure when we’d be able to see them. Actually, we still haven’t seen Kat and Natalia, who are in another foyer close by. We made plans to meet up with Michelle later, after we finished our exercise and whatnot. Here’s one thing I learned about France: Everything is closed on Sundays. It’s bad enough that it’s August and literally 80% of people in France leave for vacation, but there was almost nothing open. Most cafes and bakeries were closed, as well as all pharmacies and markets. Can you imagine a CVS being closed on a Sunday? I was really astounded at first—what do you do if you desperately need something from the pharmacy? It’s interesting to see the differences in culture when it comes to that.

Emily, Michelle and I walked around a park but came back to my foyer when it was just too hot outside. We all relaxed and it was so nice to catch up. We’d been really good abut speaking French up until then, but when it was just us girls, we just went ahead and spoke English so we could get up to date on the details of each others’ lives. We walked around a new area of Paris, the Marais district (3^rd and 4^th arrondisments). It was so fun and lively! Even for a Sunday night. There were so many stores, so I think we’re going to come back tomorrow so we can actually do some shopping. J We ate out at a café and befriended a nice old man at the table next to us. He spoke French with us and we came out of our shells a little more with him. He was animated and so nice and helpful with us. I’m pretty sure the waiters were making fun of us for being American until they found out we could speak French and were studying in Paris. I think that was the last time I could eat out. Our foyer will start feeding us in September so until then, we’re on our own. That means that tonight was the last night I had to gorge myself on dessert—again I had ice cream AND a nutella crepe. No more! I think it’s natural to go a little crazy in the beginning, n’est pas? That’s about all for today and tonight. I have to buy a new hairdryer because the voltage is too strong with the converter and when it was plugged in for just two seconds, it started to smell like it was burning. I was afraid it was going to blow up, so I’ll just buy a new one. Time to add it to the shopping list! A demain!

Day Two- Getting Settled

2009-08-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

(This is really from August 22^nd)

Bonsoir! I’ve only been here for two days and I already have a tendency to want to write in French. Sometimes I have to remind myself that if I wrote my blog in French, most people wouldn’t be able to understand it. Maybe down the line I will, when I get better and it comes more naturally. For now, I’m still seeing improvements and I speak French 99% of the time. Sometimes there are just certain things I don’t know in French. I wonder if I’ll learn more in my classes, or from listening to others and making friends with French students. I’m really happy I have ten years of French behind me because I can definitely get by with what I already know. La prochaine etape serait devenir bilangue!

I wish I could say I slept well last night. My room overlooks the main road and people on motorcycles—there are A LOT here—sped down the road as if they were racing each other…long into the night. The noise was so loud and so frequent that it was kind of scary and really hard to sleep. Nevertheless, I slept until 10:45 this morning! Emily and I decided to take a walk to a big park so we could run. Big on this semester’s list of priorities: getting in shape. The walk took an hour and we didn’t even realize until we got back that we didn’t even wind up in Paris! The park was just outside the city limits. It was absolutely gorgeous—blue skies, a huge lake, and even ponies, haha. We ran around the lake, which I think was a little over a mile. I won’t lie—I was hurting. It’s hard to get back into an exercise routine (for me, at least) and so it wasn’t my best run. But we hope to keep doing it, as often as possible, so it should get easier. When we got back to our rooms we did more stretches and pushups (ugh!) and crunches. C’est bon. I took a shower in my matchbox-sized shower and felt really good after. Emily and I both wanted to explore some of the city. The area where we’re staying isn’t a bad area, but it’s not the Paris that I normally think of. In other words, it’s like a regular city. I wanted to see all the enormous monuments and attractions that the city is famous for. That requires getting out of the 11^th arrondisment. We decided to walk to get some more exercise. You walk everywhere in Paris. I wonder if that’s why I’ve never seen a fat French person.

We walked to the Seine and it only took a little over 30 minutes. THIS was the Paris that I was waiting for. It was almost sunset. I took a lot of pictures, of course, since I get a little camera happy. We took the steps down to walkways right alongside the water and sat on the edge, enjoying the shade and breeze. Lots of boats went by full of tourists, and some even waved to us! Most were little kids, but it still felt kind of cool. We walked around Ile Saint Louis, and on Ile de la Cite we saw the Notre Dame. It’s truly incredible. The architecture amazes me, and I can’t imagine ever being able to construct something to grand yet so intricate. I think another day we’ll go inside, but it would’ve taken too long and I was getting hungry.

I treated myself to two desserts tonight—delicious gelato and a nutella crepe. Mmm! If I’m not careful, I’ll eat one a day! I could, they’re so tasty. One thing that interests me about the French and daily routine is that most people don’t eat dinner until much later, around 9 pm. When Emily and I were on our way to the Seine, around 6:30, most cafes were full of people at tables drinking. Always drinking. But on our way back around 10 pm, the cafes were full of people eating dinner. I would be on my second dinner by then! But I really love how there are so many cafes with tables outside that people sit and dine at. I wish we had more of those in the Unites States. A person’s night could revolve around eating at a café, wither with friends or alone, just people watching. And it seems like people have regular places that they frequent, because everyone was always seeing someone else they knew, even just walking by. No matter how many cafes/brassieries/bistros/restaurants there are, there are always people there. It’s such a key part of socialization here, both relaxing and invigorating. I love to people-watch, too. If I could afford to eat every meal at a café and sit outside, I would in a heartbeat. I’m going to try to go to bed early again tonight so we can get an earlier start on our walk tomorrow.

Everyone else from Goucher on the program flew in today. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to contact anyone since we don’t have international cell phones yet and the internet here isn’t working. We could go over to the foyers (one’s ten minutes from us but the other is on the left bank) but it would be a guessing game and I’m not sure if we would be let in. This might mean we won’t be able to see anyone else until Wednesday, when orientation starts. I love having these free days to romp around Paris. It’s really liberating to not have to report back to anyone, and we can do whatever we want and go wherever we want. I haven’t braved the metro yet, but in time, I will. For now I want to walk as much as possible so I can get familiar with the streets. I’ve always had a terrible (re: nonexistent) sense of direction, and it’s not much better here! Bonsoir!

I made it!

2009-08-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

**This post is being written on Friday night, August 21^st. But I haven’t been able to get internet access so I’m writing the post now and will post it later when I can get back on wireless**

Bonjour, tout le monde! I’m currently sitting in one of the main “socializing” rooms in the foyer on a couch with Emily. There are some other students here as well (you have to be between the ages of 18 and 24 to live in the foyer [for no more than two years]). We wanted to take our laptops to a park and enjoy the lovely night but the nearest park is closed and it probably wouldn’t be the safest thing to do at night, anyway.

Emily and I agree that this has been the longest day EVER. I’m so glad I got to travel with her because if I had to go through the long journey myself, I’m pretty sure I would have cracked at some point. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare before the flight, and I only had one minor breakdown. I knew I was going to get sad or upset at one point, so I did, and it was ok. I’m going to miss everyone so much. Sometimes four months seems like a daunting, long time, and other times it really doesn’t feel like anything at all. It’s a good thing Em and I went through security early because we almost had to rebook our flight to Paris since our flight from BWI to New York was running late. Luckily, they changed the warning from all connecting international flights prior to 6 (ours was 5:45) to prior to 5. The plane was the size of my pinkie. No really, it was the tiniest thing I’ve ever flown on—there were 50 seats with only 35 taken, two seats grouped on one side and a single seat on the other. (!) Any carry-ons bigger than a briefcase had to be specially checked since they wouldn’t fit. Needless to say, I was really nervous during the short flight. It was like a toy plane—it didn’t belong in the air!

The flight to Paris was much smoother and I felt a lot safer. We were in the third-to-last row (in the middle group) which I didn’t mind so much because we were closer to the flight attendants. I told one I was a nervous flyer and he made sure to tell the whole crew to keep an eye on me. I know, I’m 20 years old, but airplanes still really, really scare me. Luckily, I was fine throughout. My only complaint was (OH MY GOODNESS PEOPLE ARE SAYING HI TO US RIGHT NOW AND WE’RE INTERACTING WITH FRENCH STUDENTS) that it was boring and really uncomfortable so we got almost no sleep. But it was so exciting to land in Paris! It didn’t finally hit me until we walked into the airport. I thought I would be able to have some time to adjust to the transition from English to French but it was GO, SPEAK FRENCH, right from the very beginning. In all honestly, that’s really good. I need a lot of practice with my French and there’s no better way than to dive in headfirst. I have a lot of goals for myself. I definitely need to be more confident when I speak. I also want to make sure that when people are talking to me, I really listen and can pick up on more key words so I don’t just have a vague idea of what they’re saying. I want to speak fast, too! Like second nature.

It’s pretty surreal to be here. Em and I spent the day filling out paperwork, buying things for our foyer (dorm): there was no trashcan or toilet paper in the bathroom! We’re in single rooms on different floors but each room has its own bathroom, which is really nice and unexpected. We took a walk this afternoon and more recently, one to find a café to eat dinner. We figured that since it’s our first night here, we could go out to eat and treat ourselves a little. But I really have to be careful about my spending for the semester. I want to travel a lot and so if that means that I have to eat small, cheap meals to counteract that, then I will. We’ve basically been up since 7 am yesterday—out of the last 33 hours, we’ve slept 2. I’m SO ready to crash for bed, but it was important to try to stay awake all day to get back on a good sleeping schedule.

I like my room, although it feels kind of bare and lonely at times. Everything is in its place and put away neatly, but the walls are white and screaming for some decorations. I brought a lot of things from home to put up on them, so I can’t wait to decorate J I got sad once again for a little, and I think moments like that are going to come every now and then, at least for the beginning of the trip. The bathroom is so small it feels like I’m in the airplane bathroom. I even get weird motion sickness and feel like I’m rocking and moving when I’m not. We’ll see how the shower goes…..

Well, it’s about time for me to get to bed. I foresee a good night’s sleep tonight. A tout alors!

T Minus 5 Days

2009-08-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

So this is my first blog post...EVER. I guess it's not that different from other postings (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) but still, I'm pretty excited about the chance to share my experiences abroad. In 5 days I'll be leaving (on a jet plane!) for Paris for 4 months. It's a long time and I'm nervous and, sure, downright scared, but also so excited. I'll be in a city I know and love with fantastic people, learning more about French culture and myself every day. Not to mention, fabulous crepes and croissants at every turn!

It was hard enough to pack everything I'll need into two suitcases. And even then, I couldn't fit it all. I can't imagine going away for the entire year, for several reasons. Everyone says this is going to be the most amazing experience and I'm going to have the time of my life. I really hope so. It's going to be hard work in classes and at my internship, but I hope everything just makes my French that much better. If I'm lucky I'll be fluent by the end of it. This, of course, means I'll have to overcome my unreasonable shyness about speaking the language. I hope that when I'm immersed in the culture and forced to speak French that everything I've learned will not escape me and I can build on it all. You know what? It really is exciting.

It'll be weird and different to be away from my family and those I love. I know I'll be wondering about the great things I'll be missing at home or at school, but I look forward to the stories and memories I can bring back in December. Until then, I'm so happy I can take you on my journey with me.

A bientot, mes amis!