Jamie aux Andelys

(re-)Bienvenue aux Etats-Unis !

2011-12-17T20:06:00.002-05:00

I am on a plane on the way back to the US to spend about 2 weeks with my friends and family, and I decided that maybe it’s about time to write a blog post! I can’t remember where I left off, but I think it was just before Thanksgiving. As I’ve still got 2.5 more hours left in my journey that started at 4:30 a.m. when Hannah and Alexis drove me to the airport from their apartment (it’s currently 7:00 p.m. France-time, which means I’ve been in transit for the past 14.5 hours. Eep.), I think I’ve got plenty of time to wrack my brain and remember the important details.

1. Thanksgiving

One of my friends Emily invited me and some other friends to spend Thanksgiving weekend at her house in Doudeville (lovingly referred to as “Dude-ville”). We had such a fantastic feast! Also, as we had a Brit in our midst, we got to share all of our holiday traditions and stories, such as how Thanksgiving is obligatorily an awkward family event. We had chicken with garlic butter, stuffing, gravy, baked macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, chocolate-covered pretzels, peanut butter cookies, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cheesecake. So good!

2. School
My teachers continue to be pretty wonderful. They are consistently open to my ideas and helpful in terms of giving me feedback as to what they would like me to focus on with their classes, and I don’t think I could ask for a better group of co-teachers.

I’ve also been constantly evaluating my skills as a teacher, since I’ve never really had full reign over a classroom before (though my “classes” are really just groups of 3 – 12 students and I’m always next door to the actual English teacher). There have definitely been moments that could have gone better, but there have also been moments where I’ve surprised myself with how I handled the situation on my own. One example comes to mind: during my session, one of my students flat-out refused to participate –she told me that she hated all of the English teaching assistants and that she would not talk at all, no matter what. After trying to no avail to get her to talk about anything, including why she hated English class so much, I decided that it would be better for her this session if she went back to the other English teacher.

I debated whether or not this was the right decision for a while afterward, and I’ve come to the conclusion that though I would not send a student out of my classroom for not participating in a Real English Class, I think that it was necessary for the dynamic of our session together that this student stayed in the very much less oral communication-based Real English Class in the classroom next door. Being able to participate in these pull-out English lessons with me is supposed to be a privilege, and the other students who were in the classroom truly were interested (if not completely confident in their oral English skills) to communicate with me.

I’m hoping to keep finding a balance, and I think it’s already good that I know that I will have lessons that are going to totally bomb, no matter how well I prepare for them. I feel blessed with two important skills that I’ve discovered about myself in a classroom: one, my ability to adjust at the drop of a dime (as evidenced by my worksheet on “Happy New Year” that turned into a cultural discussion about the myths behind “the end of the world” and 2012); and two, my increased willingness to just shut my mouth and not over-explain everything so that my students are forced to fill the silences themselves. I am impressed by them more and more every day – not only just in terms of their English skills but in their ideas of moral/social/political issues and the way that their ideas are already so clearly formed and developed.

3. Home Life

David (the Spaniard) and Daniel (the Martiniquais) are consistently the best guys ever. I always forget sometimes that they’re 10 and 13 years older than me because we joke around like teenagers and are constantly playing jokes on each other or poking fun in all good ways. David still spoils us with his cooking (and I’m doing my best to return the favor by baking lots of delicious goodies for dessert), and Daniel is forever scatterbrained but would do anything for either of us if we needed it. I feel so lucky to have found these guys and am so happy that I get to spend the rest of the school year getting to know them and goof around with them.

4. Love
I am so happy! I have a wonderful girlfriend, lots of loving friends, and little reminders all over that I’ve got so much love in my life right now, and I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone who shows me love. And also, I feel solid and content in all of the best ways, and I haven’t had that in a relationship in so long, and I am so happy.

5. Upcoming Adventures

December:
- Heading to the US RIGHT THIS MINUTE!
- Hanging out with Katie and friends in Paris for New Year’s Eve
January:
- DENISE COMES TO VISIT!
February:
- Berlin with Katie to see Melissa Etheridge and explore Germany for a week!
- …then off to Sevilla for a week to meet up with Daniel, David, and Chloe for an Andalusian road trip
So, that’s about it! I’m wishing everyone a loving and beautiful next couple weeks (oh, and for all of the new year, too). Joyeuses fêtes!

10 [More] Things

2011-11-23T11:59:00.004-05:00

Since I'm not fully motivated to write a long post this time, I've decided to make another list.

10 Things That I've Done Since My Last Post:

1. Baked chocolate chip cookies (and discovered that for chewier cookies, I shouldn't put so much baking soda in)

2. Tried to see a free concert at the Bibliothèque d'Evreux but wound up being too late and also horribly lost.

3. Decided to get pizza and visit the free museum instead, which was wonderful.

4. Sort of planned my first real lesson that wasn't purely conversation-based.

5. Had a date with a French girl.

6. Spent the night with friends in Sotteville, talking life and learning how to play Euchre.

7. Watched Sound and Fury with a friend who had never seen it before.

8. Made little pumpkin pies in muffin tins.

9. Cleaned my room.

10. Started watching South of Nowhere again.

So, some exciting things, and some less-exciting things. But I'm definitely keeping busy!

Also, about 3 weeks til I'm back in the States for a little while, which is pretty exciting!

10 Things

2011-11-14T16:14:00.002-05:00

Stealing an idea from Katie (thanks for the inspiration!)

10 Things I Love About France:

1. Baguettes

2. Travelling by train

3. Listening to people speak French

4. The (very brief) moment in a conversation right before the other person realizes that I have an accent

5. Discussions about cultural differences like censorship, political parties, and levels of formality embedded in language

6. How bright vegetables and fruits seem compared to their duller counterparts in the US

7. Access to free or reduced-price things until I'm 26

8. Walking amongst buildings that are older than my country

9. Drinking cider at lunch (sometimes)

10. Finally understanding the difference between rudeness and just French-ness

La chiromancie

2011-11-03T23:57:00.006-04:00

Can we talk about that word for a second? I've kind of been holding off on writing a post about la chiromancie, mostly because up until just now, I didn't know that there was a word in French for it. La chiromancie is the science of palm-reading, which up until recently, I didn't think was much of a science. Let me tell you, reader: I am a believer. (I also like that romantisme is almost sort of hidden in there)

For our 2-week break for Toussaint, I not only explored Disneyland and hiked up to Chateau Gaillard with the other Les Andelysienne English assistant Chloe and her boyfriend, but I also decided to spend a few days out in Paris with my loves Hannah, Alexis, and Lia. We got to celebrate Halloween by watching Tim Burton movies with the Swedish House at the Cite Universitaire with caramel apples and home-made gourmet Reese's that I made at home. The next day, we headed to Les Peres Populaires, where Hannah works, to have a more intimate Halloween party with friends, where we dressed up, played Set, and had a drinking game with "Je n'ai jamais" ("Never have I ever"), which ended maybe a bit after it should have ended.

1: Ligne de vie (Line of life)
2: Ligne de tête (Line of head)
3: Ligne de coeur (Line of heart)
4: Anneau de Vénus (Venus ring)
5: Ligne de Soleil (Line of sun)
6: Ligne de Mercure (Line of mercury)
7: Ligne de chance (Line of luck)

The day I decided that I would head back to Les Andelys, Alexis drove me on his motorcycle over to Les Peres Populaires to hang out with Hannah while she was working. I enjoyed a delicious sandwich made by Hannah herself and worked on some of my Christmas cross-stitching projects. There was a guy sitting next to me at the bar, finishing off his third cup of coffee when he said he had to go, but I could tell that he definitely wanted to linger around more. As he stood up, he asked Hannah if I was her friend (we had been speaking English to each other, so I don't think he could tell whether or not I spoke French). She said yes, and I confirmed it, and he approached me and said that he had been looking at my hands since I sat down and asked if he could look at them.

I was a understandably a bit taken aback, but when I got the thumbs up from Hannah, I knew that this guy knew what he was doing (or at least did it often enough). He started off by telling me that I've had some health problems and that when I was around 8-10 years old, I had breathing problems, which was true! I got my tonsils and adenoids taken out around 10 years old because I could never breathe through my nose. He said that water is my element (truth), and that swimming would help with my breathing issues, but that water is not where my clarity lies because water has the ability to dilute oneself (he insisted- no baths when I need to clear my mind!). For clarity, I need to go to the Earth. Which is what I've been saying all along in terms of finding myself a relationship, but I digress. He also mentioned that around age 14, I had the realisation that I didn't have to always do what everyone told me to do anymore. I was always an obedient kid, but this is where I started to follow my own path and choose what I wanted to do (this is also when I started high school and decided that I would go against my parents' wishes and take French instead of Spanish, and also when I finally came out to myself and my friends).

This is about where he pointed out that he was getting goosebumps and that he could tell from afar that I had very special and very rare hands. He pointed out my Luck line, which ran all the way from the Moon section all the way nearly up to my fingers to Saturn. He said that this was extremely rare and that he'd never seen it before, and that it's a sign of heightened intuition. It doesn't quite mean that I can read other people and objects easily, but rather that they come to me and speak to me. He said that this is especially true of people who can't always speak for themselves, like toddlers, handicapped people, and immigrants (c'mon, everyone who knows me: how true is this???), and that I can find the innate beauty in objects from one simple glance.

After pointing out his goosebumps again, he moved onto my heart line. He told me that he saw lots of "trahisons", or abandonment, in all of my past relationships. This is about where he started to cry in recounting to me how up until now, I never was able to be complete in a relationship because I lost myself in the other person. I was always giving so much of myself until there was nothing left for the other person to love (this is where I started crying, too). I let people in up until a certain extent but never let them get any further, which is why I turn the focus onto them. He reasoned that my exes were never able to love me because I was doing too much loving them (sound familiar, all of my exes?).

He did say that there was a huge shift in my life about 8 months ago (!!!) and that I am finally on my way to loving myself enough to be a full person for myself and learn to trust others enough to love all of me. He showed me that my heart line was full of lots of love and was just a pure and loving heart in love with lots of people. The amazing thing is that he pinpointed the moment where I was just getting really sick and when my ex and I broke up and I had just had enough with getting turned down for who I was; having my girlfriend and my own body turn against me was my ultimate turning point for beginning to truly get back to me as a person and figure out who it is I am and what I want and need out of life and of the people who surround me. I don't think that I've lost the caring person that I was, but I'm finding myself to be more truthful to myself and to others about what my abilities are in love and in life.

He said that all of my lines are very weak, but they're getting stronger. After turning my hands over, he said that there are equal amounts masculine and feminine in my hands, and that there is a true balance between the two. He added that my hands and body have always been strong and that my head is just trying to catch up to them, to be as strong as the rest of me.

The last thing that he said was that I have come to a point in my life where I have to decide between a boring job and something more creative and artistically pleasing. For the moment, I'm taking that to mean that I just need to find creativity and passion through teaching the kids English and finding ways to make it interesting for all of us, though he also said that I would be really good at writing kids' books. I like to think that being an ASL interpreter would give me that kind of creative artistic satisfaction, though I haven't completely put away the idea of starting my own patisserie in America one day. I feel like I'm already well on my way to feeling complete, and I still can't believe how lucky I am that an old man in a bar was able to tell me all of the things that I already knew but needed to completely acknowledge and understand in order to truly accept myself as I am and get ready for all that life has to offer me.

Disneyland!

2011-10-26T05:01:00.009-04:00

For those of you who don't know (or to whom I haven't admitted), I love Disney parks. There; I said it. Anyone who's gotten a peek at my iTunes collection surely notices my disproportionate amount of Disney theme music that I downloaded when I was a teenager and haven't had the heart to delete it, and I still sometimes use the background music from the parks as background noise.

My mom and brother and me (and my dad's finger) at Disneyland in California in 2008

My dad and me on Tower of Terror!

..and me in my little brown jacket and wide-mouthed terror this time 'round!
(they've made it trickier to get a good glimpse of these photos without buying them!)

So, I decided during my 2-week vacation where I had been craving alone time and thought it best not to spend a lot of money Really Travelling, I would instead go to Disneyland. Travel and tickets included, I only paid 100 euro (and that's including a 32-euro taxi back to Les Andelys, since the buses stop running at 6:30 p.m.!), and I did so much!

I started the day at Space Mountain, which was awesome! Definitely a good way to jump-start my morning. Then, I headed to the Indiana Jones coaster, hoping to grab a Fastpass so I could go back later and not wait in line, but as the wait time was only 5 minutes, I hopped right on!

For those of you who also don't know this about me, I am A Planner. I legit had my route of the parks planned out to the t. It also made me think of when I was in Disneyland Paris last time with the Smith girls.

Definitely also an awesome time, though I was still getting over "le gastro", which was rather unfortunate. I'm sure that they could probably still attest to the fact that I had a Game Plan. Not an unwavering Game Plan, but a plan of attack nonetheless.

We also had lots of downtime and moments of reveling in the French-ness of it all, and I'll never forget when Abby and I were sitting next to each other on the Indiana Jones coaster and could see the stretching fields of crops from one of our ascents up the coaster's hills. There is often a strange juxtaposition of American/English culture and French culture in daily life, but nowhere is this more apparent than in Disneyland, where everything is equally in French and English, even in the middle of Nowhere nearly an hour from Paris.

(me on Space Mountain this time around, behind a kid)

So, even moreso than with my friends, I had a Plan of Attack, and I managed to do absolutely everything I wanted to do and more, except for Rock N Rollercoaster, which was declared closed 5 minutes after I showed up due to "problèmes techniques". I still managed to slow down lots too, and I equally enjoyed my moments of sitting back and watching other people enjoy the magic for awhile. AND I didn't wind up waiting more than a half hour for any ride, except for Crush's Coaster, which was totally worth it!

I thoroughly enjoyed doing it alone, too, and getting to experience a sort of togetherness with everyone at the park with me, through shared smiles as the parade went by or shared laughs at the end of a big ride, or applauding the brass band on Main Street. Although I did enjoy all of those beautiful moments, I knew going in that this would probably be my first and last time doing Disney alone. Mostly, I knew it was probably my only opportunity to experience it on my own, since I'm so close and it's so inexpensive (compared to Disney World in Florida, where I would've paid at least $120 for the ticket alone, versus the 40 euro I paid here).

It definitely has to do with the location, too. I had already been, so I knew my way around, and everything is pretty much specifically designed to make you have a good time (well, aside from waiting in lines, unless you know how to go at the non-peak times, and the classic French attitude. I actually corrected one of the employees when he was sassing a lady for asking a question about an attraction that he thought didn't exist). If I had gone to, say, Rome, the sentiment would've been different. Though I'm sure I would have run into a lot of tourists, I don't know if I would have felt the same shared excitement looking at the Trevi fountain for the first time. Then again, maybe I would.

Anyway, point is, I never thought I would travel on my own, and now, I guess I've come all the way out to Normandy on my own, and then on top of that, I vacationed away from my new Normandy home on my own. So, maybe this is only the first of solitary adventures to come.

But in the meantime, I'm really looking forward to tentative plans of a Spanish road trip with my housemates, Daniel and David in February!

Picture Post!

2011-10-23T16:56:00.011-04:00

Nearly all of the streets look like this. It is so hard for me not to walk down the street and sing Belle's song from Beauty and the Beast.

^ Not an American.

View from my hostel

Driving in the car with Sylvie on the way to Les Andelys to see the school for the first time

View from the hostel

Rue du Gros Horloge

Abbaye de Saint-Ouen

Place du Vieux Marche and the Joan of Arc Church

My cafe!

Classy.

From the walk from the train station at Gaillon-Aubevoye to the bus stop in Courcelles-sur-Seine

At the school outside of the auto body repair building (it's a vocational school, too)

View from the school

Lost in translation!

Teachers striking in Rouen

I took a lot of pictures of my apartment before I left two weeks later. I also put a lot of work into making it feel like home. =P

This is how my water was heated. Crazy.

And the guitar that Sylvie is letting me borrow!

Chloe and I took a random trip out to Evreux! We passed this dog training set-up that's right next to the Mairie of Bouafles (- pronounced "Bwaffles). I crack up every time I pass the sign for the chateau de Bouafles (loosely translated by me as "Bwaffles House")

Another one lost in translation: "Never stop to dream". Pretty sure "Never stop dreaming" would be the more inspiring English phrase for a handbag.

And then we bought delicious truffles.

I found the juxtaposition of the old town and the pop music from the radio that they were literally feeding into the streets pretty hilarious.

Bye! Thanks, Evreux!

Hello from Les Andelys!

2011-10-21T04:12:00.002-04:00

So, after a crazy time moving into my apartment in Rouen and the 4-hour round-trip commute to school every day, I decided to move out to Les Andelys where my school is. Daniel, a new teacher at the school from Martinique (he teaches "carrosserie", or auto body repair, with the vocational school students) was offered an apartment on campus, and as it had three bedrooms, he decided to share the apartment with me and David, the school's Spanish teaching assistant from Spain. I couldn't be having a better time! I am platonically in love with both of them, and they have both expressed that they would do absolutely anything for me. David left last night (we've got a two week vacation, so he's back in Sevilla until we start school up again), but right up until he left, he'd been making us dinner every single night. He said that he used to be a chef in Spain but didn't like cooking for work, but now he loves making meals for the people he cares about. And oh my gosh, it is so wonderful. He made his own pate the other day, and I'm still dreaming about the zucchini and roquefort potage that he made (his grandmother's recipe). It has been an interesting adjustment from basically eating vegetarian to now living with some serious meat-eaters. As we were driving David to the airport last night and passed lots of cows in fields, I would coo over them and David would say, "Non 'awww', 'mmmmmm! yum yum!'" They are goofy guys, and I love them.

I really don't know what I would've done without them- after I informed my landlord that I decided to move out to Les Andelys, he let me know the next day that he had found someone to live in my apartment and that I'd have to vacate ASAP! I had about 45 minutes' warning before I literally packed up all of my things, handed over my keys, and headed out. Luckily for me, David, Daniel, and our friend Rafa were all in Rouen with Daniel's car, so they all helped me move everything into my car, drop off Rafa at his house in Rouen, and headed back to Les Andelys (and only momentarily stalled out a couple of times! I can't believe all of the things I have now, thanks to all of the things that Sylvie's graciously given me). It is a lot of stuff, but I'm happy for all of it, especially all of the kitchen stuff, which both David and I are so enjoying! It's hard getting used to only having a hot plate and a microwave to work with, but we're getting used to it. I'm excited to make Ceilidh's avocado and orange salad and some stir fry with peanut sauce tonight!

It's just me and Daniel for today, though Daniel is heading out tonight, so I'll probably invite Chloe over. She lives "in town", which is about a half hour walk from our high school, and she works at the middle school out there. I'm definitely spoiled with the nicest company, and I just don't know how I got so lucky as to be surrounded by such lovely people.

School is also going very well. I only just started working in the classroom yesterday, and it's taking some getting used to. I think I just need to strike a good balance between friend and teacher, since I'm not officially a teacher and I'm really just there to get them comfortable speaking in English. Just need to hearken back to my days in Anouk's classroom and authentic communicative experiences going!

For the vacation, I'm excited to do lots of laundry, probably head into Rouen tomorrow to pick up my bank card from the bank out there, going to Disneyland on Tuesday, and headed to Paris for a couple days to see my friends out there at some point. Am I really living this? Is this really happening? I am just so happy!

Hello from Rouen!

2011-10-12T04:40:00.002-04:00

I am officially writing to you from my very own studio apartment in Rouen, right across from a very nice private school and near rue Cauchoise, a pedestrian street. It's pretty near to everything, which is very nice for me, especially given my limited supply of energy of late.

I really lucked into my apartment. I was staying at the Auberge de Jeunesse in Rouen (youth hostel) from when I arrived on Wednesday, September 28th until Sunday, October 2nd. I was planning on arriving, rushing like mad to find housing, and settling into said apartment. Magically, it went just about like that. After taking the wrong train from Paris to Courbevoie, taking the train back to Paris again and jumping on an express train to Rouen that was luckily running late (all this while lugging over 100 lbs of luggage with all stairs, mind you!), I made it safe and sound into the Gare de Rouen, where Sylvie and her son were waiting to take me out to dinner and to deliver me to the youth hostel.

Instead of spending my first days furiously scrounging up all of my energy to find a place to live, I spent it making friends with other assistants and the people in my hostel, going on walking adventures in the city, and compiling lots of lists of places I would love to live, if only I could muster the courage to call people in French. Finally, I spent all day Sunday (the day before I was to be leaving the hostel) calling up the owners of potential apartments, only to discover that I needed a guarantor who is French to guarantee my rent payments.

Sylvie just happened to be calling in the midst of my mad-calling marathon, and when I told her that most people needed a French guarantor before they would even let me see the apartment, she told me that I seemed like a responsible person and that she'd have my back and sign anything that she could in order for me to get a set place. SAVED my life is an understatement.

So, with that knowledge in hand, I was off that night to take a look at two apartments. The first was cheaper and had a lofted bed and looked like exactly what I wanted, but the guy texted me 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet and said that the apartment was taken. And with that, I headed off to my Last Chance Apartment, which was itty bitty but completely furnished and everything was completely re-done two years ago and all of the charges were included (though I'd have to fend for myself for internet). The guy who rented it to me said that there were about 20 other people waiting in line for the apartment but that he said he trusted me and liked how I sounded from my phone call, not to mention that his father was an immigrant from Turkey and he always had a soft spot for immigrants trying to find their way in France, where he and I both know that the paperwork doesn't always make for an easy transition.

Though I'm loving the apartment (apart from the part where I now have a chestnut-sized bump on my head from banging my head on one of my hanging shelves in my tiny studio), I do think I'll be moving to Les Andelys soon, since my commute consists of, at best, begging a fellow teacher to let me ride the hour-long commute with them in their car, or at worst, walking 20 minutes to the train station, taking the 45-minute train to Gaillon, waiting for the bus, taking the half-hour bus to Les Andelys, and walking the half hour to school. It is very tempting right now to take up David and Daniel on their offer of a room in an apartment on campus, not only because I wouldn't have to worry about my commute every morning but it is also less than half what I'm paying right now to live in Rouen. Definitely worth it to be in the boonies with some lovely people.

Now, I'm off to get ready for a coffee date in Rouen and working on getting pictures online! Once I get everything sorted, I'll definitely be doing a picture post. For now though, I've also been trying to get up both old and new videos, so those should tide you over. Lots of love!

Getting lazy, but doing well!

2011-09-28T17:02:00.003-04:00

I figured I owe myself a post, but it's not quite going to be a real post just yet.

But here is part of an e-mail I wrote to a friend. Just know that I made it safely from Paris to Rouen, with SO much thanks to Hannah, Alexis, and Lia, who helped lug all 100 lbs of my luggage down six flights of stairs, onto a bus, and straight to Gare St-Lazare! I had such a nice time in Paris, but I'm excited to get everything set up in Rouen and to get settled into my new school!

- Trains are hard (but cheap and easy to sneak onto)
I took the wrong train from Paris, trying to get to Rouen. I wound up in Courbevoie, where there were no escalators or elevators to get me from the wrong side of the tracks (hehe) to the right side. I wound up hitting my ankle with one of my 50-lb bags and it is still killing me. =/ I finally took a train back to Paris and got on the right train, which was direct to Rouen. No one ever checked my ticket. However, I didn't get a seat because I couldn't lug all of my luggage up the stairs to the second level where the seats lived, and I wound up sitting on one of my bags in the hallway-type thing with two girls with actual seats (who either couldn't or didn't want to climb the stairs to sit in one of the many available seats- they were carrying no luggage).

- No matter where in the world you are, people who have disabilities and the people who love them are always the kindest.
Sylvie, one of my co-teachers, picked me up at the train station today after insisting that I shouldn't be going around by myself and that it would be nicer if I'd let her pick me up. She came with her son, Leonard, who has Down syndrome. She even took us all out to dinner for pasta (when I ordered pesto pasta, she asked several times if I wouldn't be happier with something that had meat in it, and that the expense was no problem), and Leo kept saying "Jamie" and looking at me with googly eyes and giggling until we were all in fits of laughter. It was absolutely priceless, and I will never forget that moment as long as I live.

I'm staying at a hostel now in Rouen for a couple of days, hoping to find housing on my own. I'm rooming with two other French girls, and they seem pretty nice. I'm headed to the school tomorrow with Sylvie to meet everyone, and then I'm hoping to adventure around Rouen a little bit and maybe even contact some people about getting a room somewhere. I have hit or miss internet at the hostel, and it's only available in the common areas, which is kind of a bummer, but that didn't stop me from calling Tara and my family (and consequently getting so frustrated when it kept cutting out or they wanted me to talk louder when I really don't want to disturb the other girl in here. I'll hopefully make it up to them soon with some AWESOME internet connection in my eventual apartment!!! *fingers crossed*).

Things I forgot to mention:

2011-09-27T02:48:00.008-04:00

I passed through Copenhagen on my way to CDG:

I passed our old stomping grounds:

I went to see a free organ concert with Trevor at Notre Dame.

I went to have dinner with my host family where I used to live.

Things that I did in Paris today:

2011-09-24T17:22:00.007-04:00

- Ate a delicious goat cheese and tomato sandwich from the bakery down the street

- Saw Michel Gondry at a cafe

- Shared a round of tea, Mister Yellow, and a cupcake at Miss Cupcakes in Montmartre

- Got lost in Montmartre and proceeded to finally find the longest outdoor flea market that I've ever seen (pictures follow)

On the street, when we were lost.

(Want to buy a hot doog?)

Walked to a park and saw a waterfall

Came home and had delicious ratatouille as the sun went down
(while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000)

Re-bienvenue en France !

2011-09-23T03:16:00.004-04:00

Bonjour from Paris, everyone! I arrived Wednesday afternoon, and after a couple of hours in the airport, hassling the employees to stamp my passport (to no avail), I am officially in Paris.

I forget that the French can be kind in their own way. I think my experience was definitely skewed the first time around because I did have so many American friends with me. There is a specific kindness to American English; for example, hardly anyone says, "Have a nice day", and those that do would more likely say "bonne journée", the meaning of which is more akin to "Good day to you", which definitely doesn't have the same ring to it!

Anyway, the kindness I experienced while lugging my nearly 130 lbs of luggage up and down so many flights of stairs to and from all two of my metro transfers (though maybe more out of pity than anything else) was stunning. I never had to carry all of my luggage up or down the 15 or so flights of stairs that I experienced on my way to chez Alexis and Hannah. People were very kind, though I did take particular note of one guy, who, when he asked me which way I was going up out of the metro station and I didn't reply the one he needed, he gave me this look of disgusted incredulity that I can only express as lovingly familiar. It almost felt like home.

On another note, I can't even imagine having impaired mobility in this city. Those stairs really did me in, and my legs (and arms) are still howling. Though that was probably also from the 6 flights of stairs at Hannah and Alexis' apartment, too. No elevator. Awesome. =D

It is so good to be around Hannah and Alexis! My first night in, Hannah and some friends and I went out for an apéro of a very sweet-tasting beer-type drink down the block, and it was super fun to be alternating between Spanish and French and English again. Afterwards, we got back to the apartment and watched funny youtube videos and made delicious vegetarian carbonara. I fell asleep probably around 10:30 pm and woke up at what I thought was 9:00 am. I had looked at my laptop clock, but realized that it was still on New York time. Boy, was I surprised upon learning that I actually woke up at 3:00 pm! I know that I often sleep more than most, but those nearly 17 hours were exactly what I needed to jump-start my recovery from jet lag. Here's hoping it's gone for good!

Yesterday, we made spinach and goat cheese feuilletés, which were so good, but even better with the Sancerre wine that accompanied it (I thought of you, Chrissy!). Wow. Best white wine EVER. I'm not often fond of whites, but this changed my life forever. Just, wow.

Today, I'm off to my old stomping grounds. Going to see if I can figure out my old cell phone chez Bouygues, headed to Reid Hall to say hi to my junior Smithies abroad, and then making my famous petits gâteaux americains for dinner at my host family's house tonight! I am quite excited to be back.

Answers of sorts?

2011-08-26T12:04:00.003-04:00

I have answers, and although they are not very helpful in terms of making me better, they are quite interesting (and one is supremely happy-making)!

1. I don't have Lyme. Wait, maybe I do.

They tested for Lyme, and it came back negative. But then, for reasons unclear to both me and my doctor, they did a CONFIRMATORY test for Lyme, which came back positive. We are both not sure what this means, but my doc threw some more amoxicillin at me, claiming that it's better to shock whatever is doing this out of my system now, rather than wait and see what happens if we let it go. She says it might have something to do with the fact that I had been on antibiotics when I got my bloodwork done, or that maybe my thyroid disease was interfering? It does seem strange to me to get a false positive, when I would assume that more likely than not, bloodwork results in false negatives (any input on this, dear readers, would be greatly appreciated!).

2. My immune system is slightly compromised

No surprises there. My immunoglobulin level is at 638, which was under the minimum normal level of 700, but not low enough to be concerning. Just means that I get sick more than other people and take longer to recover. No surprises here!

3. NO MORE HPV.

I am so happy! Over three years of dealing with worries and concerns of keeping safe, on my own part and on the part of others, and I can finally rest easy for a little bit. Life is good.

Now, I'm off to Shop Rite to help my mom stock up on provisions for the impending hurricane. Hope everyone is keeping safe and getting prepared!

Hello from Montreal!

2011-07-31T22:19:00.004-04:00

It's definitely a good thing that I haven't written in here in a while, but I'm clearly not completely cured, as here I am again.

I'm going to try to organize my thoughts around some key words (as inspired by a book on science research that Katgor and I found in a bookstore yesterday).

1. Self-Awareness

I think I've always had a bit of trouble recognizing what's going on with myself as it's happening. It's not that I let things happen around me; rather that I immerse myself so fully in whatever is going on that I forget to check in with what my body is doing. This has shown itself in the past with sometimes accidentally not realizing that I'm hungry or that I need to stop walking or that I need some alone time. All of these things would help me recharge, but I can't do them until I realize that I need to do them. After I really crashed for the first time and every time since, I tell people that I don't know when it's going to happen until it's already happening. However, I'm sure if I tuned in to what my body is doing, I would be better at detecting when I'm crashing. Or, even better, if I can acknowledge that whatever I'm doing at the moment will probably cause me to crash, I should have the insight and self-awareness to determine that I need to stop, even if I'm in the middle of doing something really great (more on this later).

2. Control

When I was in the midst of a period of crashy-type feeling, I tried to pinpoint why I do what I do as a person, including why I put myself into so many new situations, like travelling, meeting new people, and trying new things of all sorts (besides for the merit of the new experiences themselves). Control was the one thing that I kept coming back to. I have always had something wrong with my body in terms of sickness, and it seems like every time I thought I was cured of one thing, another thing came along. I think the way that I escape from my own body is by involving other bodies with me to help me get out of myself for a bit, which is not really the best way of dealing with things, even though it's definitely ingrained in my personality to be an explorer of sorts. I do hope that I can manage to strike a balance between having all of these wonderful adventures and keeping a regard posed inward to figure out what my body is doing.

3. Wants and Needs

Once I had had a couple months to deal with the fatigue, Ceilidh told me something that stuck with me. She said that if I wind up crashing after doing something that was extraordinarily, amazingly something fun and something I very much wanted to do, then I need to recognize that it will be worth the days of recovery that follow. This is excellent advice, but I know I've been following it in the wrong way. Ultimately, I've resigned myself to the fact that I might crash anyway, so I may as well do all of the things that I love and throw caution to the wind. Thinking back on the past couple months, I can only think of a handful of times when I turned down an opportunity to go out or hang out with friends as a precaution and not when I was already crashing. In fact, even during those rare times, I probably was in the midst of crashing downtime anyway and just didn't want to acknowledge it. As a rule, I give myself what I Want and not what I Need (or I confuse them, which is just as bad). My real problem is that not only do I strongly dislike not giving myself what I want, I also strongly dislike having to tell someone that I can't do something that's sure to be extremely fun, only to instead spend that time in bed or reading a book or just generally being immobile because I don't want to let myself get down to my bare essential level of energy. This is something I definitely need to work on.

And so, from that, let me work out what I actually need to do:

1. Check in with myself more often (in practice- stop whomever I'm with so I can reel myself in and figure out where I'm at; or stop whatever I'm doing to feel what my body is doing)

2. Stop feeling down every time I need to spend a couple hours or days of down time, since I know that it will ultimately spare me a bigger crash later.

As I'm sure you've probably worked out by now, I wound up crashing pretty bad today. It was definitely a matter of time, and as much as I felt that I was fending off the crash and that maybe it just wouldn't happen this time, if I had really been honest with myself and Katgor, I definitely would not have let us walk those 5 (or 8...) kilometers to and around the Parc du Mont-Royal. And I probably would not have gone out last night to go dancing after spending a rather full first day in Montreal wandering around, seeing the Parade of Twins as part of the Just For Laughs Festival, walking on the Rue Ste-Catherine to the gay district, and watching the International Fireworks Festival display from the roof of a lesbian bar. However, back to Ceilidh's sound and useful advice, I do feel like doing all of these things was worth my inevitable crash, even though I do feel bad for Katgor for having to deal with me after the fact (travelling with people after my initial crashings last March have led me to perhaps write a User's Guide to Jamie. Maybe that'll be my next post!).

It really doesn't take much for me to recover/preserve my energy, so I think it should be reasonable for me to get better at actually doing it and being honest with myself about what I can do, especially since I really do feel like I haven't been crashing as hard as I had been. Whereas I used to have crashes where I couldn't move without crawling, couldn't talk without heavily stammering, and couldn't be awake without sleepy tears falling from my face, my pre-crashing and crashings have been more like walking sleepily and slowly, talking rarely and enjoying silence (which, after the fact, I realize made for some awkward social interactions), and only crying from frustration when I realize that I've gotten to the point where I really should have stopped hours ago.

I know I'd been frustrated at all of the doctors for not having any answers, but now that I've worked out some answers for myself, fingers crossed that I'll actually learn to be good to myself!

How can I miss you if you won't go away?

2011-06-09T21:24:00.003-04:00

Hello! It has been so long since I've updated, and that is such a good thing! Here are all of the things that have happened since I last updated:

- Went to Toronto for a week with Denise, where we enjoyed 7 documentary films as part of a Hot Docs, a documentary film festival. We became champions of public transit, made friends with Canadians, and generally had lots of shenanigans. Oh, and we drove there and back.

- Saw some of my favorite people graduate Smith College! I was able to drive up and sleep on Shanna's floor (thank youuu!), and I couldn't have been prouder to see my loves walk that stage. Also, I got to visit my babies and lovely co-workers from the Baby Farm* where I was a teacher (*not the real name of the school), and it was amazing to see how everyone had grown.

- Made a silly 24-hour trip to Noho and back when I needed to escape.

- Had the best picnic that I have ever had, hands down.

- Partook in a day trip to the beach with Cousin Nicky.

- Survived over a week of my room being a hostel for four of my friends. I absolutely loved getting to see them all, and as much as I worried about playing Tour Guide all week, I managed totally well and rested when I needed to and still love them all immensely.

The best part? I DID NOT HAVE ANY CRASHES.

That's right; I am doing so much better! I can think of two isolated instances since my last post where I really have felt sort of in crashing mode, but whereas my previous crashes peaked around an 8 on a 1 - 10 scale, these were closer to 5's. I like to think that it's due in part to me listening to my body better and knowing when to stop. I have been sleeping 10 hours a night again, which I think will always be what I need to function like a human. However, I do know that I still need to be taking it easy so I don't push myself too much. For as much as I've been doing lately, I'm not working and I don't have any schedule for my days that isn't self-imposed, so I know that there is a possibility that I will have some not-so-good days when I'm in France in the fall. But I'm keeping hopeful that this summer will provide me with all of the opportunities for rest (and fun excursions, too!) that will keep me in a good place for when I uproot and start my new job. Which means that in the meantime, I need to stop looking at all of those tempting craigslist ads and get used to the fact that I can't be making money/contributing to society right now.

I guess that's all for now, and hopefully you won't hear from me again for awhile, since I'll be off having fun little adventures! Love love.

Sorry for the lapse in posting!

2011-03-10T23:24:00.002-05:00

Since I last wrote, I spent a week up in Noho, which was absolutely wonderful. I was staying with a dear friend, but I unfortunately got her all worried when she saw how bad I get when I really crash. However, even though I did crash out pretty badly, it was definitely worth it to be able to see all of my friends. I got to visit my old workplace and see all of my co-workers and babies, I saw an AMAZING performance by deaf comedian C.J. Jones, and I got to sit in on lots of Carlie's classes, which made me all excited about ASL and Deaf Studies. Not to mention that I ran into lots of folks that made me feel warm and fuzzy. All in all, it was a wonderful trip.

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday, which offered no concrete answers, to my continued chagrin. Here's what I wrote a friend about the experience:

"I got to see a rheumatologist yesterday, who once again gave me a shrug and a send-off. She mentioned that my symptoms were inconsistent with CFS, but she is also an arthritis specialist, so maybe she isn't the best person to know. She also said that it was a diagnosis of elimination, and she was also the first person to spontaneously mention CFS without my prompting, which may be helpful. In any case, I get to go see a muscle specialist when I get back from Canada, which may lead to a visit to Columbia University to put big needles in my muscles to see why I get more tired after exertion. So, long story short, back to the drawing board, and I'm still just in a place where I want a doctor to give me helpful advice of what I should be doing to build myself up again. Though I know that the answer is probably to just be resting infinitely, since I'm only feeling comfortable at rest. But since that's not the answer I want, I guess I'll be going to doctors until I get any answers at all, even if they're not the ones I want."

Although the doctor/diagnosis scene is still looking bleak, nearly everything else is going pretty great. I am so thankful for everyone I have in my life, especially those who are learning every day with me how to be patient, kind, and at a pace I can handle. I love you all so much.

In the meantime, I'll be visited by three friends starting tomorrow until I leave for Nova Scotia on Thursday, where I'll stay for about 3 weeks! I love being able to have these little adventures.

No diagnosis.

2011-02-15T19:21:00.002-05:00

Well, I shouldn't say that I'm surprised. As I walked into the doctor's office yesterday morning, I looked at the business card that said "Gastroenterology" on the top and realized that maybe this guy wouldn't have the answers I was looking for. However, since he was the last person I saw about being completely wiped out in June (when it may well have only been an infection of some sort, because my liver levels were through the roof), I figured at least he would send me for some tests to play the Elimination Game - we're looking to cross out any liver disease and anemia with the bloodwork he sent me for today. I have an appointment with a new endocrinologist next Friday, and if I still don't have any answers, I'll likely be going back to a specialist, hopefully in chronic diseases.

Honestly, the more I think about going to the doctor, the more I wish I could just bypass the Elimination Game and get to the part where they diagnose me with chronic fatigue syndrome. I've always been impatient, though. And maybe it will prove important to go through all of these tests to rule things out because hey, I just may wind up having something that is testable, diagnosable, and curable! However, recent webmd-searchin' and book-learnin' have taught me that not only do my symptoms match with those of CFS, but that doctors don't always know how or when to diagnose it.

Hopefully, a diagnosis is just around the corner, but until then, I'm set to head back up to Noho for a little bit and then onto Canada. I'll be taking it easy as best as I can with the people I want to see most, which, even sans diagnosis, will definitely be the best medicine.

Having a good week!

2011-02-13T00:06:00.002-05:00

Seems I don't really write in here unless I'm stuck in bed, and it's a good sign that I haven't written in a while! My week has been great and has included seeing a lot of people that I love, who have helped immensely at keeping my spirits up. I finally have a set doctor's appointment on Monday, where I will hopefully get "official" answers as to what's going on. Seeing as how my last diagnosis was a sinus infection, I know that I have enough evidence to make a good case for CFS, if nothing else shows up in bloodwork.

I've been keeping a daily journal of how I feel day-to-day, and my goal for tomorrow is to make it so I can see things that happened over the course of a week, since it's been over 5 weeks since I first crashed. That should also definitely give me some credibility when it comes to getting a diagnosis on Monday. Not to mention that my daily range of motions still doesn't feasibly rise above being physically alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic for more than two hours a day, tops.

I will keep you posted!

Labour of love

2011-02-03T22:11:00.004-05:00

This past week has been crazy. I moved out of Massachusetts and back into my parents' house in New Jersey, part of my car's radiator burst because it didn't like us trying to force it out of the ice hut that had built up around it while I wasn't driving, and my girlfriend officially finished her college career, which ended up quite nicely with us spending a couple lovely days in New Jersey when her flights kept getting cancelled.

Although we kept things pretty low key, I still wound up crashing super hard after she left today. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being fully functional and one being a vegetable, I was at about a two for bits of today.

When I get completely crashed out like that, I feel like my brain can't make the connections that it needs to. Everything takes longer; walking, if I can even get myself to that point, is laborious to the point of needing to rely on walls and other people to keep upright. Talking is more of an interesting display, as I can usually only spurt out several words before my brain cuts off my mouth's ability to keep going. The words are still going in my head, but my lips just won't make the sounds. Sometimes, I turn into a broken record and stammer out the last word a couple times, hoping the rest will follow, but to no avail.

Thanks to Wonderful Girlfriend, who is also known to crash pretty hard and has helped me recognize some of my triggers and how to prevent things from getting worse, noticed that this interesting display of brain-mouth fail often follows extreme hunger. However, when I get that conked out, I can't even sense that I'm hungry.

Luckily, now that I'm home, I don't have to worry about starving to death, since my mother always makes sure that the house is fed. I got up from the couch and got to the dinner table (a feat in and of itself), but facially declared that I wasn't hungry and was mostly confused as to how I was even sitting at the table, let alone with a heap of macaroni casserole in front of me. I didn't yet feel hunger, and even let my mouth try to babble about what I had been watching on TV. When that idea crashed and burned, I tried, slowly but surely, to bring a forkful of food to my lips. It finally reached my mouth, still no hunger, not feeling it... BANG OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T EATEN ALL DAY I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW HUNGRY I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I finished dinner with a lot more vigor and even managed to speak coherently about halfway through.

It's super past my bedtime, and this is a propos to nothing, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has shown me kindness, patience, and/or care as I figure out what to do with all of this. It means so much to me to hear how you're all doing and to know that you're thinking of me. I think I'm just going to take a completely stress-free week, which includes not feeling obligated to be social, but know that I'm still around, I'm thinking of you, too, and I'm going to be so happy to have lots of fun, low key things for us to do together when I work up the energy to be able.

One day at a time.

2011-01-26T10:29:00.006-05:00

When I first realized that this was unlike the other times that I've crashed, I started writing down what my days were like. In the beginning, it mostly consisted of, "Tried to do x; instead, wound up crawling back into bed, unable to move for two hours."

I managed to streamline my entries as time went by. Now, each day has a section for Sleep, Crashes, and Things I Did. It's gotten so that my "Crashes" section has started to have things like "NONE AT ALL Check me out!" and my "Things I Did" section has big things like "long-ish walk to campus to see a choir concert". I've also learned that I love to put the things that aren't big accomplishments but make me feel good that I was able to do them, like talking to Miriam in Brazil on the phone or making my bed (or showering!). Mainly, I like to make sure I put more focus on "Things I Did" than how often I crashed or how much sleep I got.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My main worry about all of this was finding someone to fill the lease on my apartment while I move back in with my parents in Jersey. Luckily, within 24 hours of posting my ad on craigslist, I got 17 responses. We met with three candidates, and funnily enough, the one we chose didn't find the ad on craigslist at all, and is one of Shanna's and my mutual friends! He seems like a perfect fit for the house, and I'm so grateful that he's able to fill the room.

Two things to do today:

1. Start packing (slowly, but surely)

2. Go see Ceilidh's thesis presentation! (if you'd like to come, it's in Seelye 207 at 4:30!)

Thank you to everyone who's posted comments and reads these posts. I'm thankful to have people in my life who care about me.

Troubles of the un-diagnosed patient.

2011-01-24T23:25:00.007-05:00

Writing down my thoughts through my Paris experience gave me the opportunity to both reflect upon my time there and to help me take a step back and look at my own experience as an outsider. It let me stop and imagine what someone else would get from reading my experience. Would they make connections? Would I be able to read this years from now and feel that I'd make the same choices?

I'm thinking these thoughts because I am once again going through a period of great change in my life. Unlike many of my peers, after graduation, I jumped right in to a full-time job as a toddler teacher. I was working 9 to 5, salaried, with benefits, alongside co-workers whom I absolutely adored and babies who made me want to come to work every day. My rent was low, my connections in the town were high, and everything was going pretty hunky-dory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Really, I could have seen the signs, if I had slowed down a bit. But I don't think that there was any part of me that was ready or willing to slow down. I knew that I had to sleep 9 to 10 hours a night in order to feel functional the next day, and I knew that often, this meant getting home from work, getting dinner ready, and having a couple hours to zone out before nodding off.

I knew that I probably needed more time off from work to recover from being sick than my co-workers, but the last thing I wanted was for my bosses to think that I was just being lazy. So, I let myself push through during times when I maybe just needed to back off and let myself rest.

However, even after getting to this point of exhaustion, I still don't believe that I could have stopped any earlier than right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I quit my job less than a week ago via e-mail. My perfect job, to which I was technically contractually obligated for at least 7 more months, was the first job where I received benefits. It was also the first job that I have ever had to quit. That was quite hard for me, especially when I didn't want to leave.

When I first started feeling the wear and tear of the fatigue, I would wake up in the morning and ask myself, "Could I lift a 2-year old today?" If I said no, I wouldn't go in to work.

It's been two weeks, and I still couldn't lift a baby to change his diaper.

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This feeling of weakness is what pains me the most. When I can't do anything more than keep my eyes open for long enough to let tears run down, I let them fall. When I open my eyes in the morning but the whole rest of my body won't get up, I stay. I have to fight through everything, not against any outside attacker, but against my own body.

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I started this blog again so that I can have an outlet. It seems like the more I try to explain to people what's going on, the less I'm heard for what I'm feeling. And conversely, the less I explain, the more legitimate I feel in needing help.

I hope that writing will help, and at least it gives me something to do while I'm stuck in bed when sleep won't come.

I skipped frisbee to watch American series dubbed in French with my host family.

2009-05-18T16:43:00.002-04:00

With less than two weeks left in Paris, I find myself in the gut-wrenching predicament of wanting to/NEEDING to do so many things before leaving the country, and yet cannot compel myself to do ANYTHING when under such pressure.

So as per usual, I guess I'll resort to making a whole nice list so I can better evaluate what I have to do and by when.

Attractions:
- Maison de Victor Hugo
- Musée de Rodin
- Musée de l'art moderne
- Monter la Tour Eiffel ?

Homework:
- Study for art final
- Write draft for benevolat paper
- Study for theatre final
- Study for atelier plume final
- Write Parisian memories
- Finish end-of-the-year song
- Find someone to sing it

Things to do:
- Haircut
- NafNaf
- Pack
- Close bank account
- Make recipe book for host mom
- Pay for frisbee maillots

Those are all reasonable things to do. If I bring myself to do half of those things by the end of this week, I'll be in good shape.

I still can't believe that I'll be leaving Europe for awhile. I can definitely picture myself living here for good. Not in Paris, but somewhere in Europe. I've found through my travels around France that I love other parts of France a lot more than I liked Paris. I can't wait to come back and explore.

I'm also pretty bummed about not having a summer job. I hope that something works out. Being a real live grownup with taxes and insurance and a real job hasn't really sunken in yet. I'm glad I have a year left of college to figure it out.

I might try to write a whole nice resume of my feelings and everything before I leave, but for the moment, I have to get to sleep so that I can wake up in the morning. I have a language assessment in the morning to see if I've really learned any French during my year here. On va croiser les doigts !

Leaving on a jet plane!

2009-04-15T07:02:00.002-04:00

I'm leaving for Barcelona in several hours! I'm so excited to get out of Paris for awhile. After being with my family for a week playing Super Tourist, I can't wait to explore some sites that I haven't seen yet.

I'll be in Spain from today until Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning I'm leaving for Nice. Of my three travel buddies, I've never travelled with two of them, so I'm anxious to see how we wind up working together as a travel team.

Anyway, having my family in Paris was a fun experience. I hope that it's given them the bug to explore some more countries. In the meantime, I can't wait to have new travels in the future. Seeing as the 7-hour direct flight to Paris all but wiped them out, I can't see my family hopping on a 24-hour flight to head to New Zealand or Australia with me. Any takers?

I don't want to sound like I'm too good for Paris. Quite the contrary. Since I've been here, I've consistently been shown that Paris's standards far exceed mine, in terms of fashion, culture, and communication skills. I like to think that I've adjusted pretty well, but I find it pointless to try and pretend that I'm a French person and be serious about it. I have enough French friends, but it's not because I said to myself BON JE VAIS ME TROUVER DES AMIS FRANCAIS. Through working at the soup kitchen and playing frisbee, activities that interest me, I've had conversations with other people. And not just French people, but Tunisian, Algerian, Italian, American, Australian, German, Scottish, Irish, Spanish.. the list goes on. We all speak in French, Spanish, and English as necessary, and it's not a problem if we're not ALWAYS speaking French!

I do like the JYA Paris program enough, but the constant pressure to BE French and to MAKE French friends is stifling! If I thought to myself at the beginning of the year that I was just going to talk to French people all the time and try to work my way into their clique, I would've wound up miserable. PASSION is what really brings people together, no matter the language. Language comes next.

Anyway, that's enough. I'm still happy to be here, and I still have so much to see in Paris! I need to see pretty much every museum and cemetary ever. Thank goodness I still have one last First Sunday of the Month to see the museums for free. AND we're going to Parc Asterix! Log flumes and rollercoasters, here I come!

I added this to my "to-do list", so I guess that means it's been awhile since my last update.

2009-03-22T16:06:00.002-04:00

Also, that it's becoming a chore to write in here. Maybe it's because I'm out actually living my Parisian life as I should? A voir.

Today, I played catch with Trevor in the park under the Eiffel Tower. My other friends didn't show, since it was grey and moche (ugly) outside, but the instant that we stepped foot into the park, the sun shone strong. It really felt like spring.

Trev and I were the spectacle of the Champ de Mars. Everyone stopped to look at us. Little kids literally smiled ear to ear with excitement watching us throw our frisbee back and forth.

Afterward, we went to the Cimetiere du Montparnasse, that, although I have classes a mere .5 kilometers away (pure estimation), I had never visited. We saw Poincaré the mathemetician's grave, with someone's math-y note that they left on it. We saw Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre's combined tombstone, with lots of metro tickets on top of it (curious), stones holding them down.

I made a whole list of things I need to see before the end of the year. This is it:
- Cimetiere du Montparnasse
- Pere Lachaise
- Maison de Victor Hugo
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- Les Catacombes
- Musée Picasso
- Musée d'art moderne
- Musée Rodin (ish)
- Musée Zadkine (free, by Reid Hall)
- Musée National du Moyen Age (avec la tapisserie du licorne)
- Place des Vosges
- Sunday organ recital at Notre Dame, 4:30

7

2009-03-14T07:30:00.002-04:00

I've gotten over the fact that I don't have a job. I'm going to apply to some, but I might just really like to stay home this summer. I know that it's the summer before senior year and everything. I don't know. It would actually be good for me to get out of the house, so I could get another job as a waitress to make back some money.

I guess I'm glad that I've got all this crap going on while I'm in Paris. If I were at Smith right now, I'd be driving down to Georgia with the frisbee team. As much AMAZING as spring break in Savannah is, I don't think I'd genuinely be able to appreciate it.

In other news, Abby and I went to see Le Roi Lion, and it was awesome. It was such an engrossing theatrical experience. However, there were even some parts where I remembered that it was Disney and kind of felt guilty for liking it so much. The parts I appreciated most were the puppets. Julie Taymor is my idol. There were huge elephants, real-looking giraffes, masks on every lion while not distracting from the actors' faces, Chinese shadow puppetry.. it was SO cool!

School is easing up. I'm not concerned about grades in the slightest, which is helpful.

Anyway! I'm off to work in the library, have some breakfast, get dressed, and get some Thai food for dinner! Whoooooo!

Didn't get the job.

2009-03-11T17:36:00.001-04:00

I am heartbroken.

Directive?

2009-03-04T16:08:00.004-05:00

My interview went alright. I found out that they usually do group interviews, and I felt awkward having a one-on-one interview with just one of the directors. We still did the awkward group question and answer session, but since there were only two of us, we both felt kind of silly introducing ourselves.

When I get nervous, I just say EVERYTHING that I want to say in one big blast. I wound up saying everything that I wanted to say, I think, but I can't reflect on what went down to be able to critique my performance. Hopefully, my smile, eye contact, and general charm have kept me in the running. The interviewer seems like a sweet girl, but I don't know if it's just out of necessity or if she really thinks I've got a shot at the program.

In any case! I'll know by Tuesday! And then, it's off to apply to the Bronx Zoo or something. I really hope I get into this program though. It just sucks that the other groups in the program who offered me interviews NEVER got back to me once I e-mailed them to set it up.

Other news: I'm still feeling productive, even without having gotten much done. I've got things organized, I'm seeing friends, and I even picked up "Fried Green Tomatoes" from the Smith library to read once I'm done with my required readings for class. I've been going to sleep earlier than usual, which has been wonderful.

Now I'm off to find if I can find more than 10 synonyms for the verb "to say". Bonne soirée à tous!

Sssssso.

2009-03-03T15:14:00.012-05:00

I've learned that I stutter and stammer a little bit. I thought that it was just in French, but apparently it's in English too. If I don't think a lot about what I want to say before speaking, my words come out mixed up, whether it's in English or French. I'm speaking up more now though, which is better than just shutting up. I've kind of resigned myself to being embarassed no matter what I do/say, so it's become easier to just try to get my ideas out!

Greece was INCREDIBLE. I've been dreading writing a re-cap, but I'll try to recall what all was done. Alix and I left for the airport on Thursday evening because our flight was very early Friday morning. I brought my HUGE laptop in order to have a video teleconference via Skype with one of the jobs I wanted. We wound up having to hold the interview at 3:40 a.m. Paris time. Being cracked out and on NO sleep at an airport was NO GOOD. HOWEVER! I found out that they offered me a second interview tomorrow evening, where I'll have to teach a lesson on telling time to non-native English speakers via Skype. I'll let you know how it goes!

After no sleep, we headed on the plane for Athens! We arrived, took a nap, and then headed off. I really can't remember in what order we did everything, but in all, we saw the Ancient Agora, the Acropolis, lots of souvlaki, tzatziki, and free wine (pretty ladies get the free crap wine). We also got to go to a wine festival, which was awesome. There were countries from all over the world, and we got to sample little bits of all of the different ones. One of the wines was so smoky that it reminded me of whisky. I couldn't help but think about how weird it was that here I was at a wine festival when in my own home country, and yet I wouldn't be trusted to have a drop of alcohol for another 4 months.

After four days in Athens, we took a 6-hour ferry over to Santorini. It reminded me so much of an aircraft on the inside that I forgot that we were even on water. The seats were like airplane seats, and watching the world go by from my crouched position, we could've easily been skimming the water from the air. When we finally spotted Santorini, we could tell that it was our island because of the red and black sand all over due to the volcano (which has an eruption once every 50 years or so, and it's due!). There was practically no one on the island except for us two, and so we were treated with the utmost hospitality wherever we went. We had particularly exciting adventures when we went to the black beaches of Perissa, since we were literally the only people on the beach. It was raining and cold, but we braved it to dip our toes in the surprisingly warm water. We also made lots of animal friends, including a very cuddly cat and two dogs. The island animals could've quite easily had many diseases, but I'm still living, and we didn't get bitten, so I'm pretty sure that they were just friendly. Through all of Greece, we saw dogs as if they were any other city rodent. Notably in Athens, they were a big nuisance, barking at motorcycles and going up to bite the tires of moving cars. But the dogs on the island were some of the sweetest animals I ever met.

After braving the rain and cold and realizing the next bus wouldn't be around for another hour and a half, we sought shelter in a nearby restaurant, which I'm sure must be hopping during the summer season. However, we were the only two who came in who weren't locals, and we took every chance to try out our newly-acquired knowledge of the Greek language.

We also went to the red beaches, which weren't as red as we would've expected, and we came across a dredlocked dog who showed us around. Alix named him Hercules, but he looked a heck of a lot like our dog, Maggie.

He led us up on top of a hill to get a view of the other islands, and then we met up with him after grabbing an authentic dinner at a "restaurant", where the whole family was gathered, doing sewing, drinking, watching TV, doing their own cooking, and ironing. They sat us in the corner, where we watched Hercules and his assumed wife with an underbite and their two babies.

Afterward, we waited for the bus with our Japanese friends who were also staying at our hotel, and Hercules sat with us until he got too bored with getting pet to death.

After Santorini, we took the ferry back to Athens, stayed in an AMAZING hostel for 15 euros where we had a room to ourselves (I LOVE the off-season), and took a plane back to Paris in the morning.

Anyway, here are some more pictures!

Acropolis

Athens, theatre, and the new, not yet opened museum of Greek history in the back.

Santorini

Now that vacation is over, I've been surprisingly productive! I'm excited to see more of Paris once my family gets here, and I still can't believe that we only have three more months here. This Thursday, I'm going to an apéro (apéritif, or basically an excuse to have people bring you wine and food for a party) for the girls' frisbee team, Friday I'm going to see my first opera ever, Saturday I'm going to Reims for a champagne tasting, and Sunday we're going to Reid to watch one of my favorite movies, "Kirikou et la sorcière", which I learned about in high school from my bilingual school in New York. My host family and I are on pretty good terms as far as I know, and I've got a bunch of good friends and acquaintances. And the weather is starting to look more like spring every day! As much as I complain sometimes, there's no where else I'd rather be at this moment. Je suis contente, in the Frenchest meaning of the word.

Tonight, I'm going to polish up my lesson plan to show the directors of the program tomorrow night, and maybe finish some homework. Tomorrow, I'm off to hang out with Yael, see an art expo with Abby, rehearse my lesson plan one last time, and show it off to the directors at 9:15 my time! Thursday, I'm probably going to check out if Le Roi Lion still has student rush tickets (how great would it be to see The Lion King in French???) and maybe even just chill out and explore Paris on my own. I've learned that I always like being with someone when going anywhere, but maybe flying solo wouldn't be a bad idea for me to see what it's like.

Je ne le crois même pas. On a moins de trois mois qui nous restent, et je ne me sens toujours pas accoustoumé à la vie parisienne. My goal for the coming week is to see something in every arrondissement, just to get a feel for them. I might even descend at Bonne Nouvelle and see what really goes on at that metro stop!

It has been SO LONG.

2009-02-17T15:40:00.002-05:00

I apologize for abandoning my blogging career for what feels like forever, but while I haven't been blogging, I've been making sweet vids! Here is my latest one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf5fIlOvSHc

School has been pretty darn awesome. I'm glad I made the oft-mocked choice of not taking any classes at the Sorbonne this semester, because Paris higher education IS ON GREVE. In other words, there's a whole lot of shit going down in Guadeloupe, President Sarko is trying new reforms to get (socialist) France to be more like capitalist America, and people are going CRAZY! For Smith peeps in Paris, that means that the girls at Paris 7 (Denis Diderot university) haven't had any second semester classes, and that the rest of the people at Paris 4 (the Sorbonne) are having classes on and off depending on whether the teachers and/or students happen to be striking on that day. I had some crazy videos and pictures that I took from when the protesters were going down Boulevard du Montparnasse right next to Reid Hall (where Smith classes are). I'll post them soonish. Hopefully.

I've been having trouble feeling a solidarity with my protesting peers. Although I think that Sarkozy is making a hella dick move by trying to capitalize France's system of higher education by putting all of the good teachers in certain schools and not continuing the democratic system of a similar education for all by thereby making students pay more to go to "better" schools, I really don't know how I'd feel marching with these students and teachers who are more or less directly related by the outcome of these reforms. Also, since I'm not feeling the repercussions of the striking and the protesting in any real way, I don't feel very strongly for participating. I'm going to try to educate myself on the whole situation further to see what's going on. For living in a city with so many pertinent issues that affect so many, I feel rather dumb on not knowing what's going on with the current French events.

In any case, although my classes are all within the confines of American universities' take on French education, they are all wonderful so far. I'm taking a theatre class, where I've already seen Hamlet IN GERMAN, IN FRANCE, DUBBED IN FRENCH. It was INCREDIBLE. The players were all wonderful, and the modern adaptation did not glaringly take away from the story in any way.

I have a creative writing class, which is a good outlet for working around the structure of the French language in a more playful way. Liking it a lot, although we have so many vocabulary words to learn.

The volunteer experience class is ever interesting, though it always makes me feel bad for not volunteering at the soup kitchen more often than I do.

My art and architecture class with the Middlebury consortium is GREAT. We go on tons of field trips around Paris to discuss the intricacies of the city's art and architecture. Although the teacher is sort of presumptuous about our knowledge of the French language and tends to undermine us by showing off her grasp of the English language, I love being able to discover/rediscover places in Paris in a new way.

In other news, frisbee is going great. I love the team, and although I still feel kind of uncomfortable speaking up in the group setting, I like that I'm being included as one of the gang now. It sort of happened without my realizing it, and I'm glad that it came without forcing it. I feel like some students, particularly the American ones, think that because they know how to do the double-cheek kiss, they should automatically be integrated into the circle of friends, and it just doesn't work that way. All the same, I'm glad that I have people outside of school.

Like Abby said in her last post, I really want to see the things that I've missed from Paris. I'm going to start by reading up on exactly what's been going on with Sarko's reforms and what's happening in Guadeloupe, with the continued promise that I'm going to read up on French news once a day.

Other things I need to do:
- picnic along the Seine
- go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
- see Sacré-Coeur
- memorize exactly which arrondissements are where
- take the Montmartre train
- actually stop at Bonne Nouvelle on the 8/9 and see what's there

I'll add more and cross things out as I do them. A la prochaine!

Once again...

2009-01-21T12:39:00.005-05:00

It's been awhile again since I've posted. Sorry, faithful readers! This week has been finals week, though I really only had one final on Monday, and my last assignment is an essay that I thought was due this Friday, but it's really due next Friday! Whoo! I've already finished my art history final (a 4-hour dissertation. Eep.) and my history final (2-hour dissertation). I just have to do some interviews for my essay, since it's in my class about volunteering in France.

Aside from that, I've been slacking a lot on sending things in the mail, but it'll come! I've also been trying to benefit from the sales, since all of Paris goes on sale during the month of January. It hasn't been easy, since my tastes are sort of particular and my body is also sort of particular, as is my bank account. I haven't made any purchases yet, but I hope to go shopping tomorrow after a friend's birthday lunch.

I thought that since I didn't have much to do this week, I would be so productive. I was so wrong! I've been sleeping more and doing neat things that I wouldn't have done otherwise.

INCLUDING!!! I was interviewed for a radio show this morning!!! My friend Hannah was interviewed by a woman last night after watching Obama's inauguration on TV inside "Breakfast in America", and the interviewer invited her to the radio station this morning. I decided to accompany her there, and they wound up interviewing me, too!
http://studioecoledefrance.com/podcast.php?select=mercredi
(Click on the plus sign next to 10h00-10h30 to listen to our interview! It starts sort of in the middle, so you can drag it there to get more of a gist of our conversation)

SO EXCITING! And then, I've been seeing movies, going to outdoor frisbee practice, meeting new people, celebrating the depart of the old president and welcoming the new, going window shopping, seeing friends, volunteering for the first time at the distribution of meals with my soup kitchen, and other things that have been time well spent.

On that note, I'm going to make a list of things that I have to do soonish!

Tomorrow:
- 10:00 - Buy gift for friend with birthday
- Lunch
- Mail things!

Friday:
- Do interview at LaChorba
- Make soup
- Partytiiime

Other things:
- Buy boots and things
- Read Hamlet for theatre course
- Figure out song and dance routine options for next frisbee tournament
- See Sacré-Coeur

OKAY. I'm going to start reading Hamlet! Whoo!

Londupdate!

2009-01-13T15:48:00.002-05:00

Here are things that happened in London!

Friday:
- Tried to leave my house literally 2 minutes after sending in my essay that was due
- Got to the train station and realized that I left my passport at home
- Begged the train guy to let me go get it and leave on a later train, which worked
- Got to London, where Yael met me at Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter reference!!) in King's Cross station
- Ate dinner with Rosie and Yael in the LSE dorms
- Gave Yael a whole bag of caramel Carambars, which lasted all the way until the end of the weekend
- Made hot cocoa with LSE friends, Mike and Ruchi
- SLEPT until forever in Thanh's empty room

Saturday:
- Breakfast of a chicken burger at Borough Market, and Rosie's first time trying venison meat
- Bought a paint marker for which to give to Julia Nunes to sign my ukulele (quote from the concert - "I have a marker, and I have fists, so I'll either sign your stuff, or we can duke it out.")

I have literally walked away from this post and not updated in and 20 minutes. Bad sign. I think I might just say goodnight with the last remnants I have of the trip:
- Westminster Abbey service at 3:00 p.m., beautiful church from 1100. That's right; that's a year.
- Dinner
- JULIA NUNES CONCERT!!!
- I got there 15 minutes early, and I met this guy Dennis, who was from Southern California originally. He moved to London after only intending on spending 6 weeks in Europe, and he met his wife there. He has 3 kids, one of which came to the concert with him. They're all musical, like he is; he used to be a music wrangler kind of guy, worked his way up to producing or something, is a badass guitar player, and now runs one of/THE biggest film studios in Europe. We bonded and made our way to the front of the stage, where we watched Liam Clayton, 6 Days, and then JULIA NUNES!
- She was adorable. As per us. Also, her older sister was her roadie and did the sound check and everything. Also also, I talked to her before the show started, since Dennis re-introduced himself, since he sent an e-mail saying that he used to be in the record bizzz and he'd love to talk. SO COOL.
- She had lots of banter, which included saying that she didn't like playing "Happy Medium" all that much since it was kind of depressing. When I said "LAME!", she said, "I know, right?!" And then added that she re-discovered a part of her that liked playing it, and it was a really good performance.
- Everyone was SO responsive, and we were all singing along to most of the songs.

After the performance, I went up to her nearly at the end of the line. I told her that she was kind of the one constant from my transition from sophomore year, to summer, to Paris, and that I was very grateful to her for that. We hugged at least twice. I gave her a glass Orangina bottle and Kinder chocolates. She signed my ukulele, but she signed it on the back because I am lame and handed it to her that way. The guy playing music put on Say Anything, and we had a mini-dance party. Then, I made way for the other peeps to go through and say hi to her.

As I figured out my route home, I got everything organized. I went to say one last goodbye to her and one last hug, and I was all happy inside the whole way back to the dorm.

- Got back to the dorm and had more hot cocoa and Carambars

Sunday:
- Walking around FOREVER
- Meeting Sid at Speaker's Corner, which should really be called Shouting Alley. Did you know that you're only allowed to be on Speaker's Corner if you're 6 inches off the ground? Literally, you HAVE to be on a soapbox.
- Saw a Free Hugs guy
- Got McFlurries with Smarties
- Went to the dorm, then Rosie and I went to get fish and chips and Dr. Pepper at FISHCOTEQUE

Monday:
- Went out to eat for lunch at EAT
- Saw the London Transport Museum by myself, which was AWESOME
- Left for Paris

OKAY I'm going to go to sleep. Soon. Also, I'm going to update my list of things to do.

SUCH a good weekend.

2009-01-12T20:00:00.005-05:00

I have a lot to say about London, but as it's 2 in the morning, I should probably go to sleep.

For now, have some videos from when I saw Julia Nunes live in concert!
http://www.youtube.com/jamiegirl7188

I promise a real update this week, but for now, here's what's on my agenda for this finals/hell week:

Tuesday:
- Put money on phone
~~- Write interview questions for my volunteer org~~
- Write a song about art history and add it to youtube (for studying purposes, bien sur)
~~- Tune ukulele and bring it to school so I can practice~~
- Return bag to Amherst girl who needed a place to store it
- Write Chris a letter
- 8:00: Try to go to frisbee practice?

Wednesday:
- Go to LaChorba and ask interview questions/work
- STUDY for art history
~~- Write about Ary Scheffer to give to art history soutien pooplady~~

Thursday:
- 8:30: ART HISTORY FINAL
- Meet with MBF for special studies paper
- Return library books

CAN DO. Going to sleep! Bonne nuit!

New video!

2009-01-08T04:46:00.003-05:00

This is it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkPov8kobJo

It's an adventure around Paris, with some profanity. Also, I sent it to Julia Nunes, since I'm going to see her in concert in London this weekend! I'll also get to see Rosalie, Yael, and Thanh. So excited! Going to bring my uke. So many jam sessions to be had.

And with that, I'm off to class! Can't wait till this semester's overrrrr.

What I'm doing instead of homework:

2009-01-04T20:02:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly1XwrIc0dc

Watch itttt.

=D

BONNE ANNEE!

2009-01-03T15:50:00.006-05:00

So it's been a crazy time. I got back from America this morning at around 8:30 a.m., Paris time (2:30 a.m. EST), and there were soucis getting from the airport to my apartment. Apparently, there was a bomb scare (I tried looking online for a news story about it, but I came up with nothing and you get this instead). Someone left his or her suitcase in a restaurant in the Charles de Gaulle airport, and they had to call in the bomb squad to take care of it. After a lot of hubbub and panicking, I finally got to a bus to take me back to Paris (luckily it was free with my Navigo pass, since they wouldn't let anyone get to the RER station to catch a metro).

I finally got home, took a MUCHNEEDED shower, and slept for awhile, since I couldn't sleep on the exciting plane night plane ride back to Paris.

It doesn't need to be said that I had an excellent time in America. Highlights:
- Gifts: UKULELE/Guitar Hero/Wall-E/everything about DeniseBee
- Maggie
- Christmas with the crazies, I mean, my family
- Mom and Chuchie's rapport and ability to make each other laugh very hard (but don't ask me how hard)
- My dad fixing everything that I've ever broken
- Seeing my brother turn into a complex, interesting, caring person
- Bolt in 3D (I don't care how shitty a movie is; I will love it in 3D, AND we're hilarious and I love you guys)
- Benjamin Button with Gia
- medium iced caramel lattes from Dunkin Donuts
- strawberry surf rider from Jamba Juice
- a less-stressful Christmas period than previous years, thanks to minimal minimalizing of the outrageous work my family puts into the holiday season
- Christmas cookies
- Going to Cubby's for half of a pulled pork sandwich and birch beer on Christmas Eve
- Ben and Jerry's Fossil Fuel pint
- New Year's with Denise

New Year's Resolution: Stop being a whore.

I tried to find definitions that would be appropriate to my idea of what this means to me, but I can't find them. So just know that I'm going to hunker down, get my shit done, and do the right thing.

And, with that, a to-do list!

This week:
- Finish study sheet for France + Europe test on Monday
- Study
- ACE TEST!!!! DONE.
~~- Talk to Maddie about benevolat project~~
- Do research for project
- Read Sylvia Beach's book for methodology essay
- Write methodology essay
- Write conclusion for dossier
~~- Fill out frisbee polls~~ they don't exist anymore, but that's okay because I couldn't go to any of those tournaments, anyway!
~~- Go to LaChorba to volunteer making soup~~ Literally cannot, so I'm not going to try. Will do work instead! Yayyyy
- Talk to Rosalie about coming to London this Friday afternoon!

Next week:
- Study like CRAZY for Art History
- Figure out what I'm going to do about missing history class on Monday since I'll still be in London X_X
- Write/e-mail all the people I've been meaning to update

And with that, going off to pretend to work! But more likely to SLEEP.

I want to be in AmeRIca!

2008-12-23T07:18:00.003-05:00

Here goes. The week of CRAZY finally recapped!

Last week, I had literally planned out, hour by hour, what I had to do from Monday to Friday. I had a ton of psychoacoustics to finish up (but that means I've got, by my calculations, at least 100 euro coming my way when I get back!) and lots of studying to do for my art history exam Thursday evening. Fortunately, I wound up not studying too much for art history and deciding that I didn't care all that much about the outcome of this "partiel blanc" (the only translation I've found is "mock exam", but it's mainly to prepare us for the unholy wrath that is our actual "partiel", or final), which worked to my advantage, considering the topic that we were given was "Explain how literature had an affect on French romantic art". I had taken the time to learn the pieces of art that we learned in class, and even read one of the assigned books to learn how the art fit into the context of French history in general. However, it didn't leave much time for pleasure reading of Victor Hugo and Baudelaire on the off-chance that the paper topic wasn't either about heroism or the revolutionary period, the two subjects that we had expected.

So, as I decided that no matter how much I tried to study, the outcome would be the same no matter what, I decided to do Christmas shopping and make Christmas cookies for my friends, instead. It was the best choice I could've made. I hit a big rough patch this month, and I really needed some chill-out time (as planned as it was) to not think about anything.

Thursday night, after getting back from the test at 9 and eating dinner, I started packing for Rachel's and my morning flight to Shannon, Ireland. It was crazy. Our flight left around 1:30 Paris time, which put us into Shannon around 3:00. We asked the lovely woman at the bus desk how to get to our hostel in Tarbert, and she asked us why in the world we would be going to Tarbert. After a bus to Limerick, a bus to Foynes, and a car to Tarbert, it was already 7:30. We were playing telephone tag with the woman all day to let her know when we'd be there, but it turns out that she wasn't around the hostel when we got there. Something about her children's Christmas concert. We hung out at the all but abandoned Anchor, where we shot pool with the high schooler Aiden and waited for Margaret at the Ferry House Hostel to let us know when she'd be around to let us in.

Luckily, we got up-graded to a 5-bedroom "suite". Collectively, Rachel and I were one of 3 people staying in the hostel.

Everything about Tarbert was SO FUNNY. The next morning, we walked around the River Shannon, getting wonderful views of the Irish countryside. Hardly any cars passed on the winding roads. As we walked back to town, we encountered a little dog, who walked with us into town, showing us the way. He would turn back every couple of moments to make sure we were still following him. SO FUNNY.

We stopped off at Enright's restaurant, a little place with "good grub" (said Brendon of the Anchor). They had about 10 tables and one menu with about 7 options, all delicious. We payed 12 euro each for bread, delicious thick chicken soup, potatoes, steak and vegetables, apple pie, and coffee. It was adorable.

We wound up just watching TV for the rest of the day, since we just felt like lazing around. We were in the living room of the hostel, where we met Sue, the only other person staying at the Ferry House. We talked about everything from Obama to abortion, and her angry passion for discussing politics was almost off-putting. While we were watching Top Gear, we saw a car that sells for 800,000 pounds, and Sue said, "You could feed a small country in Africa with that money! What is WRONG with this world???"

We also talked about her decision to come to Ireland. She came in early November from Alberta, Canada to bike around all of Ireland. She was almost at 1,000 kilometers already, and she said that it was the only way to see the country. She looked to be at the very least 40 years old, but she must've been in tip-top shape. We wound up watching at least 3 hours of TV with her, including so many strange British game shows, Will and Grace, and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

That night, we got dinner at a Chinese restaurant across the road, and it was so good. We headed over to the Anchor, and there were so many people! It was hard to imagine that this was the same bar we were in just the night before. Everyone was very friendly.

Waking up for our 8:00 a.m. taxi to the airport proved to be a struggle, especially considering that Rachel set her alarm for 20:00 instead of 8:00. We lucked out since we had told Sue what room we were staying in, and she happened to be downstairs when the driver was looking for us. He came to our room and knocked on our door to let us know that he was there. So funnnyyyy.

We quickly threw everything together and set off for Paris. Ryanair = also very funny. They play commercials on and off throughout the 1.5 hour flight. It's like the Fung Wah of the sky, but polite and Irish and cute.

We packed everything up and headed for my house. It's a long story, but apparently not only had my host family not left yet for Brugges, but they were having a little dinner party with all of their family who live in the apartment. So we got our stuff together, got some sleep, and hit the road (/the 6) to get to the airport.

LONGEST FLIGHTS EVER. I was literally out of my house at 9 in the morning, and made it into Newark after a connection in Chicago at 5:00 a.m. Paris time (10:00 EST).

And on that note, I'm off to see if I can get more than 5 hours of sleep today. GOOD NIGHT!

You're nothin' but a womanizer

2008-12-09T18:37:00.006-05:00

So DUBLIN!!! Was amazing!!! It was so great to get out of Paris, if only for a couple of days.

The first day we got there, we were EXHAUSTED. It was full of crazy, since Sarah missed the bus to the airport and had to take a 130 euro taxi to the airport. Stress-tastic. But, we finally got there on time for our flight with Ryanair. It was a really good flight, and short! Only 1.5 hours from Beauvais to Dublin. We dragged our luggage around until we found a really cute pub and ordered up some potato-y goodness.

I must say, I don't remember too much of the order of things, since we were all so exhausted. We took a long nap on Friday and woke up with just enough time to get dinner, and we did the same thing on Saturday. In all, we saw Malahide Castle, the Guinness Factory, and lots of sweet, charming Irish people.

Oh, also, we saw lots of flea markets and had lots of chocolate. It also happened to be GORGEOUS the whole time we were there, which was very lucky.

Alright, now that I'm done with my obligatory post, I should get back to doing that homework thing. I have a big art history exam next Thursday (aka the day before break), a history exam the day I get back from break, lots of little assignments to do in the meantime, and more Christmas gifts to buy! There's no plates like chrome for the Hollandaise.

'appy Sanksgeeveeng!

2008-11-26T15:47:00.002-05:00

AHhhhh I'm so excited for Thanksgiving!! We're having a big ol' Smithie party, and it's sure to be kick-ass. I made my mom and aunt's famous chocolate toffee crunch bars yesterday. I showed my host mom how to make them, who was amazed at all the steps I took to get to those delicious cookies that magically showed up in her house the last time I made them. She hardly believed that I made them myself! Now that I showed her how to do it, I think she's at least minimally excited (I've found that French people don't get excited, on general principle) about having learned a new recipe. I just have to translate my mom's recipe into French now!

Also, I made macaroni and cheese with Abby today. Definitely a bit different from my grandma's original recipe, especially without the rigatoni, "whole milk", and HUUUUGE effin' bowl. We made it in two casserole dishes, and I'm sure it turned out beautifully! Especially with our "raped Emmenthal cheese"("râpé" = shredded. Isn't that terrible?) on top. Mmmm.

Wednesdays are the worst. I feel so unproductive, even after about 10 straight hours of classes. I really just want to hit the library, do my art history readings, and go Christmas shopping.

I'm kind of upset that I'm missing the Thanksgiving parade tomorrow, since I'll already be at our Thanksgiving party. Maybe they'll do the honors of showing it?

Or maybe I'll be really lame and search nbc.com like a BEAST when I get home tomorrow night to see if they posted full video of it. Didn't you ever watch Miracle on 34th Street??? The Thanksgiving parade is the official start of the Christmas season. I'm so excited. It smelled like snow today.

Okay. I'm going to try to be productive. This is my horoscope for the week:
"Two of the best money-saving steps you can take, says TV's mock pundit Stephen Colbert, are to stop filling your hot tub with champagne and stop lining your gerbil's cage with hundred-dollar bills. I highly recommend that you brainstorm about initiating similar conservative and preservative actions, Cancerian. It's time for you to get really serious about shedding wasteful habits, cutting out needless excesses, and culling trivial activities that impinge on the time and energy you have available for the really important things. This shouldn't be a cause for demoralization, by the way. On the contrary, the more creative you are about setting limits, the more long-term blessings you'll set in motion."

I think it's a pretty good one. (If you want to check out yours: http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/allsigns.html"

Bonne nuit! Bon Thanksgiving!

Sick is the worst.

2008-11-19T13:53:00.005-05:00

It finally happened. I'd been bragging for so long that I was the only person on the program who hadn't gotten sick yet, and it finally happened approx. 48 hours ago. J'ai mal au ventre, j'ai mal à la tête, j'ai la nez embouteillée, et j'ai envie de dormir toute la journée.

I skipped my first two classes today. I really would not have survived 2 hours of my Art History class tonight. I've been in a daze all day, and I've found that my levels of punchyness and cracked-out-ness ameliorate with my sickness.

That's all I got for now. As per us(ual), here's another list for things I have to do:
- change facebook event for Disneyland
- e-mail MBF about Restos
- e-mail Emery about frisbee
- e-mail Stéphane about the tourney
- make study sheets for history
- read history articles
- write up bio for Jacques Prévert

SLEEP. I could probably sleep through the night if I tried right now. But instead, I might just clean my room and knock off at least half of the things on that list. Whoo, productivity!

Working hard, or hardly working?

2008-11-16T13:31:00.003-05:00

BOTH. Let's re-cap.

I locked myself in my room at 2:00 this afternoon. I made a small list, which was precisely this:
- review notes
- review readings
(1 hour)
- write exposé
(1 hour)

It is now 7:30. I read over my notes and readings exactly one time, but I vaguely remember what I read. I have 30 seconds of an exposé written. I wrapped a package to be sent out tomorrow. I got on convincing people to come with me to Disneyland Paris this Saturday. I checked my mail about once a minute. I did readings for a class on Wednesday.

5.5 hours. I only left my room once. It wasn't even all that much that I'm futzing around on the internet. I get so frustrated when I have to stare at something for more than 15 minutes. Even taking tests, I get so fidgety.

Unless I absolutely feel like I have to do something in a timely fashion (a.k.a. review for a test that happens in the next hour, or write a presentation that I have to present in the next couple hours), I just put it off until the very last minute. Which, at that time, I proceed to freak out and get the same amount of work done (read: very minimal) in a shorter amount of time (as in, instead of doing next to nothing in 5.5 hours, if I had tried to do things tomorrow before class, I would to maybe a little something in the course of an hour).

However, as this seems to be the case, at least for the moment, I'm learning to deal with it. I force myself to read over the same words I've been reading, and I realize that some of them are beginning to stick. My history test isn't for another week, and I've already learned 2/3 of the material that will be on the test! I've been making myself read over my notes every night since Monday. I've never done this.

Also, I'm sorry that I can't make an lj-cut or something to hide all that business up there. I've just been feeling frustrated.

Not to say that I haven't been chilling in the meantime. I saw 4 movies during the Festival européen des 4 écrans, which was.. depressing, as expected. But still fun! Good times with good people. We even bought candy at a Monoprix before seeing the last film. It was called Une femme à abattre, and it was about a woman looking for her husband in Russia. Afterward, I met up with this girl Sonia, who I found out was a visiting student from Russia (we're in the same Art History class at the Sorbonne). She said that they invented some of the details for cinematic effect, but she was shaken by the accurate portrayal of the images of Soviet Russia.

She had a cigarette to take off the edge, and I split ways with some of the Smithies to meet up with Sarah and Rachel at the Frog and the British Library. We got all-American fare (chicken wings, quesadillas, nachos, fries) AND deep-fried camembert with plum sauce. Holy crap, it was SO GOOD. I tried a beer cocktail, since they brew their own beer there and I sprung for the occasion. It was quite tasty!

Anyway, it is dinner time. With all luck, I will be more productive afterward. A plus!

A whole week with no update! Wowza!

2008-11-11T06:59:00.002-05:00

Mmm. I just made myself a nice bowl (yes, bowl) of hot chocolate. I had a long week with my friend in from the States, so I feel like I've lost a week from doing nothing. It kind of sucks that last week was my week off, but I don't feel any more relaxed than if I had had school that whole week, since I was running around showing her Paris. However, I did get to do things that I hadn't done yet, like climb the Arc de Triomphe and ride on a Bateau-Mouche along the Seine.

Anyway, I'm kind of excited to be crazy-productive. I've been the worst student ever lately, and if I don't want to fail out of this program, I need to get my act together.

I'm totally ready. Also, I have to start planning more than one day at a time so I can finally see some of Europe. I can't wait to get my education under control so I can start really having fun.

Though I did have some goodtimes this past week. I got to see Vampire Weekend, which was AWESOME. I still want to see "W" sometime, since it looks to be an interesting film. I'm really excited for the European film festival this weekend, too! I'm going to check out what's on the schedule. I've wanted to see "Home" since I saw the ad for it before "Coluche: L'histoire d'un mec". It's about a family that lives on an abandoned highway, until someone decides to pave the road over and make it new. It looks like it could be dumb, but I think it's a cute premise. Also, I'm really excited to go to the MK2 cinéma by the Bibliothèque Nationale. It's such a neat theater! I know that it's huge, but I think it's neat that as huge as it is, it's never full. Plus, they have those cuddle chairs. Such a good cinema.

Agenda for today:
2:00: Research Sylvia Beach for Methodology paper
3:00: Write letter to history teacher
3:30: Study history
6:00: Read about Obama in French newspapers for History presentation

I'm going to start reading my history notes every night. I've never been good at studying before I feel like I need to. I think that this goes hand in hand with my belief that it only takes me a half hour to get anywhere; I feel like I can cheat the system if only I think it hard enough. I've been proven wrong enough times to change my ways. This includes leaving the apartment before 8:30 to get to frisbee practice on time.

Alright. Game time.

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA

2008-11-05T07:51:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I just celebrated my first election in which I could participate IN FRANCE. It was so extraordinary. I'm watching Obama's victory speech again, and I'm nearly ready to cry.

I can't believe we're finally changing in the right direction. I kept thinking to myself that no matter what happened, our country would drastically change and set a precedent that would continue on for decades. I'm so glad that we elected the right man. I have a restored faith in the American people. 338 electoral votes.

To celebrate, a group of Smithies got together to go to the official Democrats in Paris Obama Victory Party, which was supposed to have Barack O-bagels and continuing coverage of the election. However, after waiting on line for an hour, the organizers tried to get all couple hundred of us to line up in alphabetical order by last name. People started pushing and crowding, we heard glass bottles breaking, and people were uproarious about not being able to get in.

In making the best decision we could have made, the mamas of our group got us together to take the night bus at 1:00 to get to a better area to watch the election. We met up with two girls on the BU program, and we all ventured to Chatelet, walking to St. Michel to find The Frog and the Princess. Before we got there, we found a Canadian pub, broadcasting the election on TV's around the bar. We decided to stop in there, which was awesome. I even ran into a girl from Amherst on the frisbee team! Around 3:30, we finally got a table for all of us. Every so often, the club would start playing loud music to get us all awake. Being 6 hours ahead of all of the action was a hard thing. We were enthusiastic until the end though, with all of us screaming and yelling when our own states were called. There were a bunch of French people there, though we were by far an American majority.

The reports from CNN that showed that there was no possible way that McCain could win, and I regained confidence in the American public. I can't believe that we're all united (well, most of us), behind a man that has ideas that will benefit all.

When they flashed his name across the screen, the room ignited with uproarious sound. Just so much sound, and so much joy. We all ran around kissing and hugging and screaming. We went outside to leave, and it was raining. We let it fall. It felt like the dawning of a new era, and I couldn't help but think that it was an incredible omen for the washing away and renewal of spirit.

In between all of the celebration, we ran around outside the pub. Some screaming, in English and French, about the incredible event that had just come to pass. One man came up to me and said that it was incroyable. In French, he said to me that less than a century ago, Obama himself wouldn't have been able to vote, and now here he is, President of the United States.

However, he then ruined the moment by asking for my number and saying we should go out to dinner sometime. I was too emotionally content and ecstatic at the same time to do anything but laugh. Luckily, we saw from outside that McCain was about to make his speech, so we all huddled back into the pub. Listening to his speech and listening to the people who supported McCain so strongly that they couldn't even stop themselves from booing at the mention of Obama's name, I wanted to cry. I heard the underlyingly racist comments that McCain made about the nature of the election, and I was appalled at the way in which he brought up Obama's grandmother's recent death. I sincerely pray that even the McCain supporters can get behind Obama and his ideals for uniting our country. He has a big job ahead of him.

The pub owners kicked us out of the pub at 5:30 a.m., so we all ran around frantically, trying to find somewhere that was open for us to watch Obama's victory speech. We asked one cafe owner on the Boulevard St. Michel if they had a TV. When we mentioned Obama's name, he said that he was sure Obama was going to win. We didn't waste any moment to tell him that Obama had already won.

Not finding any luck, we all rushed into the nearby metro station to get home. All through the metro, we informed everyone we could about Obama's victory. Even on the street on our short walk from the metro stop to my apartment, we crossed the street in front of a truck driver, who rolled down his window and shouted "OBAMA!!!!!!!!!"

We got home to my room and watched the rest of Obama's speech online. He is such a powerful speaker. His way of moving a crowd is impressive, to say the least, and I can't wait to see how he'll rally the American people to work together for the common good.

I fell asleep around 6:30 a.m. and woke up at 11:00 to get ready for class. I saw Elise, who had already heard the news and seemed just as excited as I was. I rushed off to class, where I was greeted by none of my other classmates, who were assumedly all still asleep.

I can't wait to go back to my homeland now.

J'écris en français

2008-11-03T15:59:00.003-05:00

J'écoute de la musique d'une amie. Cela me plait beaucoup. S'il vous plait de me pardonner pour la manque d'accents. Cette traduction sera sans doute incompréhensible.

Ce week-end était vachement génial. La fête était EXTRAORDINAIRE mais EXTRA EXTRAORDINAIRE!!!! J'ai fait beaucoup de plats délicieux, et tous mes amis (on était 7 en tout, parce que notre amie de Genève a du partir avant la fin de l'apératif avec Hannah) ont adoré la cuisine que j'ai faite. J'ai utilisé les serviettes de Halloween que ma mère m'a envoyé (merci Maman !), et j'avais aussi du confetti. Mes cookies étaient fabuleux, même avec mes changements de recette.

Samedi soir, on est sorti encore. On s'est déguisé encore, mais presque personne ne s'est déguisé pour la fête de Halloween pour le tournoi international de frisbee. C'était amusant quand même de m'être déguisée en cowboy, parce que j'ai mis mon chapeau de cowboy sur les gens que je trouvais beau. Quel jeu. J'ai rencontré plusieurs gens de l'équipe que je connaissais pas, et je rigolais avec ceux que je connaissais. Surtout Emma, la canadienne, qui me disais sans cesse, "Mardi, je ne m'en souviendrai pas du tout. I'm drunk!" Trop marrant.

Mais dimanche matin, j'ai du me lever tot pour aller chercher mon amie à l'aéroport. Elle est là maintenant pendant une semaine. Je ne sais pas quoi faire avec elle. C'est vrai que c'est sympa qu'elle soit là, mais seulement pour que je voie Paris de nouveau d'un oeil d'étrangère. Nous sommes montées l'Arc de Triomphe. La vue sur Paris était merveilleuse. J'ai même vu mon quartier ! J'ai pu voir les travaux qu'ils faisaient sur la bibliothèque près de mon appartement, avec leur drapeau vert, les lettres "GTM" inscrit là-dessus en blanc. Je pense à toi, mon père, quand je le vois.

Puis, on est allé à La Durée. J'ai acheté une Elysée, qui était un petit gâteau fait tout du chocolat. C'était trop bon. On a mangé chez Quick (the Quality Hamburger Restaurant), et on a écouté la musique que faisaient des gens africains.

En gros, ces jours sont longues, et je ne pense plus à mes devoirs, ce qui est affreux. Je dois me concentrer un peu, parce que le plus que je m'amuse, le plus que j'aurai à faire plus tard. Je pense que jeudi, je ne ferai que mes devoirs. Je vais laisser mon amie à l'hotel, et elle fera ce qu'elle veut. Je ne veux plus m'occuper d'elle, je vous jure. C'est dur d'être gentille.

D'accord, je ne vais plus me plaindre. Je vais peut-être me mettre à dormir, et demain, on SAURA LE PROCHAIN PRESIDENT DES ETATS-UNIS!!!! AIEEEEEEE même ma soeur d'accueil, qui a 10 ans, a peur pour l'avenir des Etats-Unis, si "celui que je nomme pas" gagne. Ce qui était sympa: mon amie lui a donné son bouton avec le visage d'Obama là-dessus.

BONNE NUIT, MONDE!

Oh aussi j'ai parlé beaucoup avec mon père d'accueil sur le sujet de la laicité en France, ce qui est la liberté en France par rapport aux Etats-Unis, et la culture des minorités dans les deux pays. C'était trop bon. Je dois me laisser ivrer plus avec lui. Il a des idées intéressantes, et je n'ai plus peur de me débattre contre les Français dans les débats (encore moins quand je suis bourrée).

Fête de HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

2008-10-30T04:58:00.003-04:00

WHOOOO alright here's the news: my host dad just left, which means I officially have the house to myself until Sunday night!!!!!! HUZZAHH!!!!!!

As any normal 20-year old in a foreign land with an apartment to herself, I have decided to throw a party. There's 10 of us in all, all Smithies (including one from Geneva that I haven't seen since last year, who decided to visit Paris! Yay!), and I've got the menu all set. You ready for it?

Apératif:
- white wine
- apple juice
- guacamole (I'M MAKING IT) and chips
- tomato and mozzarella

Diner:
- The Christines are making some sort of Halloween punch
- salade with tomates, concombres, and mozzarella
- rice
- ratatouille
- lemon chicken (I just woke up from a dream in which I made this. It tasted delicious.)

Dessert:
- Mom's recipe for chocolate toffee crunch bars (I'm substituting re-baked Madeleine cookies for Nilla wafers, since there's no way that they exist here. Though I just got A BRILLIANT IDEA to use Oreos. So good or no good?)
- Pears and hot chocolate sauce
- Apple clafoutis (like a pie, but BETTER. More custard-y)

HOW GOOD? SO GOOD.

I need to find a cowboy hat, though. I'm also going to start making some decorations to hang, but not many, since I don't want to take over the house. I thought maybe balloons? That might make it just Halloweeny enough without having to put things on the walls, but I don't know how I'd pop them afterward. I guess I could just do it during the day, but I'm sure they have noise ordinances in Paris.

ANYWAY. It's going to be awesome. We're doing it tomorrow. My plan is to make the desserts today, and maybe the guacamole. Also, I have to call Restos du Coeur back for real today. It's good that I'm in Just Do It mode, or I might not have even called them back today. It's been awhile. I really do not speaking French on the phone.

Alright, I'm on it! Can do it! WHOO!

OH and the international frisbee championship, hosted by PARIS of all places, is THIS WEEKEND. Therefore, another Halloween party on Saturday! Ahhh best weekend EVERRR.

It's been awhile

2008-10-27T18:13:00.002-04:00

I had a crazy weekend. We went to Normandie for the weekend, and it was pretty hectic.

Some highlights:
- Seeing the American Cemetary
- Playing with François, our assistant director's 9 year old son
- The 360 screen encircling movie about D Day (like the Canada movie in Disney World!)
- Drinking so much cider
- Walking up to the beaches
- Wearing my white coat
- Playing on the bus and re-enacting movies
- SO MANY AMERICANS
- Halloween decorations at the cider/crêpe restaurant we went to
- Finding my future home in a cozy shack by the sea
- Talking to Abby
- Learning that Best Westerns in France are the classiest thing ever. No joke.
- Eating dinner at the hotel (duck, mashed potatoes, soup, and chocolate mousse)
- After a little too much cider, hearing Alix say aloud, "Comment dit-on 'worst case scenario', Peebs?"
- Dinner when I got home to my host family, to curry chicken, rice, cheese, and pineapple from Nigeria!

In other news, I had a test today, and I may not have failed. I forget that my ADD kicks in during tests in general, but even worse when I haven't slept long enough.

Speaking of which, I think I'm about to get on that now. I'll post pictures soon, seeing as I took approximately 500.

Oh, also we changed our clocks! 3 days ago at this time, it would've been 12:20 a.m. *is tired*

QUICK UPDATE

2008-10-22T16:25:00.003-04:00

Right so today was the day of my presentation. I wound up pulling my first real all-nighter EVER. I wound up preparing a pretty damn good 20 minute presentation for my Art History class. My teacher actually seemed pretty nice about it! He did seem anxious when he accidentally volunteered me to go this week, so all he said after I was done was that I should've focused more on the painting and could've delved further to find out that it was about the 100 year war. And he corrected my grammar. But with all luck, I didn't fail! Yay!

Also, I have the best friends EVER. I walked with Alix out of the class, and I was still super-loopy from not having slept. She said something about cookies, and I said that I really just wanted to sleep. Then, she said something about how Rachel and she had made them last night! They had stayed up till 1 trying to figure out how to make cookies in Rachel's apartment, since her host family was gone. They concocted a mixture of peanut M&M's, walnuts, peanuts, flour, brown sugar, and vanilla sugar. It was crazy. They actually reminded me of my grandma's cookies, since they were flat and chewy.

Before cookies, Alix and I went out for sushi, which was really nice and just what I needed.

AND THEN Rachel comes out with this box of eclairs and a napoleon! AHhhh it was too good.

Anyway, the moral is I'm going to sleep RIGHT NOW and not waking up until 10:15 a.m. Good night, world!!!

Oh, and I have ice cream. Can't get much better, considering the downfall of misery that was Monday and Tuesday! Wahoo, karma!

Dear world,

2008-10-19T20:27:00.004-04:00

Things that are new in my life:

As of Friday:
- I got to see Sarah, a student from Smith who lived with my host family two years ago. She came over for dinner.
- We had a raclette!
- I tried to work on my research on this guy. No one knows who he is. Proving to be a difficult guy to track down. (Just trying to prove a point. The French know who he is, at least.)

As of Saturday:
- I learned how to make a chocolate cake with Elise and my host mom! We made it together, and Elise reminded me of me when I was little. And now. My mom still needs to get those last few stirs in, just to make sure everything's mixed. Hehe.
- I went to another dinner party! I love France.
- I met new people from Sciences Po.
- I came back home and left a note that said "Fur Elise" with a left over piece of cake.
- I did more research.

As of today:
- Went to the Louvre. Want to go back again all the time just to study. It was wonderful.
- Did more researching. Finally got a general "plan" together. Will finish tomorrow.

PLAN FOR MONDAY:
9:20: Leave for Spanish class
10:00 - 3:30: Class
4:00: Talk to Peebs
4:15: Lunch with Alix
5:00: Hit up La Bibliothèque Michelet to find that book
8:20: Leave for frisbee practice
10:45: Finish writing up presentation

PLAN FOR TUESDAY:
12:00: Go to Bibliotheque François Mitterand, if needed (if not, analyze painting. I'm pretty sure I have enough resources)
3:00: Practice like I've never practiced a presentation before
10:00: Do homework for Methodology
12:00: Practice one last time. Go to sleep

Do you know what they call a "Big Mac" in France?

2008-10-16T18:15:00.003-04:00

A Royal Cheese. That's right! Not even "Royal with Cheese". Dirty lies, Tarantino.

So I finally got my McFlurry ("Mack-fleur-rie", which I had guessed right!)
I am a little more content.

Things about my presentation on Wednesday I am freaking out about, so that I can get them out of my system and put them in the Box of Uncontrollables:
- I've never taken an Art History class before
- I don't know any of the vocabulary in English, let alone in French
- The painting I have to talk about on Wednesday is not in Paris, so I can't even see it
- I've never seen how an oral presentation works in French
- I have to present on the first day of presentations
- I really only have this weekend and Tuesday to work on it

Things that won't be so bad:
- That means I have about a collective 40 hours to work with
- I can see another work of Révoil's at the Louvre and talk about it
- I saw the look of terror on my teacher's face when he volunteered me to go first since there were no other options, and he heard my accent and realized I wasn't French
- I'll get it over with so I don't have to worry about it later

Famous list of things I need to do and when to do them:

Friday:
11:00: Leave to meet up with Rachel for Trevor's sound test
2:00: Spanish class forever and ever
5:00: Go to Bibli Nationale if it's still open. Otherwise, do more internet research

Saturday:
- Outline presentation
- Go to Louvre
4:00: Make chocolate tarte for party
5:30: Leave for party
- Finish outlining presentation

Sunday:
- Don't dare go out, except to research

CAN DO IT. NEED TO GET THINGS TOGETHER.

Also, have other homework. Should do that sometime.

So cranky.

2008-10-14T17:51:00.002-04:00

I woke up today, earlier than I would've liked. I was sort of planning to sleep until around 1 p.m., since I've been lacking on the sleep lately and have been more than a little exhausted. Also, I'm afraid of getting sick (knock on wood) since I haven't gotten sick yet, and I'm taking little precautions where I can.

I had my first real live French phone call. I wound up crying afterward. It's also been that time where I get mopey and anything can set me off, so it's not really that surprising. I called Restos du Coeur because they had left a message for me saying that they wanted to schedule an informational meeting. I called them up, and the woman said the next one would be Monday at 2:00 p.m. She asked me if that was already, and I said not really and asked when the next one would be. She said she'd just put me down for that one, and I was too flustered to say anything back. My lack of firmness and purpose in my voice plus the fact that I back down when confronted with anything that doesn't flow...

Anyway, I think I'm going to call back tomorrow in between my million classes. It's pretty non-stop from 9:30 to 20:30 tomorrow. I've got classes and some time between them, but not enough to really stop home. I may do it anyway, since I really haven't seen my host family in awhile.

After my phone call fiasco, I met up with this girl who graduated from Smith this past year. She was abroad in Paris two years ago, and she lived with my host family! We got together for coffee to discuss Paris life and our host family. She told me a bunch of fun embarassing stories, including the one about how I got the bed that I have now. She told me about how it was December and she was really stressed out. She threw herself onto the bed, and the wooden frame on the bottom cracked. So now I have a newish bed!

She seemed like a really cool person, and I'm glad we got together. She had tons of fun stories, including re-settling into Paris life. After hearing about all the paperwork she had to do, I feel a little more grateful for the steps Smith has taken to make things easier for us (though I'm still pissed at Peebster for choosing not to help me with my Spanish class situation).

After that, I rushed home, got my stuff together, and headed out for frisbee. I hadn't eaten much all day. Before I went to practice, I figured out how I could get to McDonald's. I am CRAVING comfort food, and all I wanted was a McFlurry. The whole practice, I pushed myself, knowing that the end of practice would mean a tasty, creamy, icy treat.

I was on the metro, dreaming of my ice cream, looking out the window. I looked down to the sidewalk below and, written in chalk below someone special's window, there were the words "JE T'AIME!". It made me smile out loud. Yes, yes it did.

I got off the metro and was walking to McDo, when I saw those little plastic yellow yield signs that people buy for their cars. It said "Bébé à bord!" and it made me laugh that "Baby on board" really translates.

However, after the 15 minute walk to McDo at quarter to midnight, I asked for my "MacFleurrie", and the woman replied, in English, "I am sorry, no ice!" ("glace" in French means both "ice" and "ice cream")

I could've cried right then, saying my, "C'est pas grave". It really was grave!

Anyway, it kept me going through frisbee practice, and I guess that's all that matters. Now, time for shower, cheese and bread, homework, and SLEEP before I have the longest day of my life.

Good night!

Chère la Sorbonne,

2008-10-12T18:53:00.001-04:00

I do not like doing homework. You give me too much. I have class from 10:00 until 3:30. No stops. Plus, I have to run from one class to another (RUN) to make it to class on time. This is not a good thing.

Also, I just got back from a party that YOU hosted for your international students. WTF, Sorbonne? I have two of your classes tomorrow AND I have to find the time to register for another one that I don't have on my schedule yet.

PLUS I have to find time to sleep and have so much fun in the city of lights! This is too hard! Something's gotta give. And I think it's you.

We had an okay first week. I think I'm done, though. No more classes for me. I'm ready to throw in the towel and just live as a street performer. Just me and my guitare.

I hope you understand. It's not you; it's me.

Love,
Jamie

Minou!

2008-10-10T20:46:00.003-04:00

I'm watching Monsters and Co. in French on a Friday night.

I passed on salsa night in favor of staying in and watching Disney movies with Alix. It was a good choice, since my body was BEAT. I still hate having classes on Friday, but I'm sure I'll get by. Also, I've planned on not taking any Spanish classes next semester and just chilling out. I can take my last Spanish class my senior year at Smith.

I'm not sure what's on the menu for this weekend. I think tomorrow is going to be Thanksgiving (a store with American specialties!), maybe some makeover time for me (we'll see.. I think the main thing that I've got planned is to dye my hair, since my personal shopping assistant doesn't seem up for the shopping portion tomorrow), and my Spanish homework.

Sunday involves a Sorbonne party and Elise's Ratatouille "Anyone Can Cook" cookbook for hamburgers. Monday is Catherine's party for her birthday.

I'm glad that things have been a bit more laid-back. I'm not always ready for Paris: Guerilla Style. I was just thinking about how I really haven't had a day for myself in awhile. I liked just having one day where I stayed home all day and wrote postcards. I need that sometimes.

It's 3 a.m. in Paris, so I should probably hit the hay. Bonne nuit!

I'm posting my schedule, as much for your information as for mine

2008-10-09T12:39:00.003-04:00

It's been friggin insane around here lately. My classes are all up and running, which makes me realize just how many things I wanted to take. I didn't realize that they would all clash with each other, and it seems that Smith isn't as willing to help with things as I had originally thought. I've been basically on my own as the only other person in the program taking a living Romance language, and I've been shit out of luck so far in trying to sort out my Spanish classes.

In any case, my fat lip has stopped swelling, the weather was gorgeous today, and I got to go to my teacher's apartment today by the enormous Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library, the huge François Mitterrand one). We discussed my interest in "Restos du Coeur", and she talked me through the process of applying. Also, she has a cute dog named "Eclipse". She took to me right away and even layed on me for most of the time. I'm glad I wound up going to my teacher's apartment instead of meeting at Reid Hall. I really liked getting to play with her dog, and I even found some really good pizza around the corner. The guy behind the counter playfully made fun of my accent, and when he was filling my bag with the pizza and apple juice I had ordered, he reached behind the counter and pulled out a pink straw for me. It was kind of adorable.

I also just love looking at the Bibliothèque Nationale. It's stunning! On the way back home, I took the RER, which is kind of like Metro North. It's the commuter rail, and the trains have two levels. I love sitting upstairs. I wound up taking the RER, since I knew I wouldn't have to transfer. I had never taken it alone before, and it was quite relaxing. I ate my pizza and people-watched. I got excited when we went above ground, and we even saw a Statue of Liberty that I didn't know about just along the Seine! It took probably 15-20 minutes longer than it would have if I had just taken the metro with the transfers, but it felt good to sit and look around for awhile.

Without further ado, my schedule!

Monday:
10:00 - 11:30: Spanish (Theme class) at Clignancourt
11:30 - 12:30: Spanish (Modern Version) at Clignancourt
13:00 - 15:30: La France et l'Europe (at Middlebury Center, which takes exactly a half hour to get to. Also, I got lost trying to get there the first time, so I've already missed 1.5 classes. It's going to be a pain in the ass to get from Clignancourt to Madeleine in exactly a half hour. I also have to remember to buy lunch beforehand!)
21:00 - 22:15: Indoor Frisbee Practice! (takes about an hour to get there and back though)

Tuesday:
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. YES YOU HEARD RIGHT. I'm about to fill out my application for Restos du Coeur, and hopefully I'll be volunteering on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since I don't have anything else. Except...
20:30 - 23:00: Outdoor Frisbee Practice! Less fun! Especially in the rain! (an hour there and back)

Wednesday:
9:30 - 11:30: Methodology at Reid Hall
12:00 - 13:00: Art History TD
14:00 - 16:00: Art History extra help course (every other week)
18:30 - 20:30: Art History lecture

Thursday:
Nothing! For real! No frisbee practice or anything! We might make it our salsa night, once people start getting their business together.

Friday:
14:00 - 15:00: Spanish lecture at Clignancourt
15:00 - 16:30: Spanish (Classic Version) at Clignancourt

So not too bad. It just sucks that my Mondays and Wednesdays are death. It meant that this week went by pretty quickly, which is nice. I hope that it keeps up, and I don't start stressing too much. Right now, I've just cleaned my room, I'm about to settle down to get all of my homework done that I have so far, and I have water with sirop de citron. Mmm.

Also, it's 7:00, which means dinner in an hour with all luck. I just heard my host mom come home, I think, so that's all you get for now! Bisous!

Frisbupdate:

2008-10-06T17:22:00.002-04:00

So there's this girl Giovane, right? And she looks exactly like what Ruth would look like, if she were 100% Italian. She even started stalling me in Italian today! (uno... due... tre. I thought of you, Chris, if you read this!)

BUT THEN. We were both going for the disc, and now I have a fat lip where she smacked me in the face. I'm going to fetch something cold and take some Tylenol to help the swelling. Maybe.

Barghhh I don't want to look like Melanie Griffith!!!!!

Also, I had Spanish today, and I had 5 hours of class IN A ROW and I don't know if I'll survive Mondays. I'll tell you later, though.

ahem

2008-10-04T20:15:00.002-04:00

Dear Paris,

Nuit Blanche was a bust and a half. We tried the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre, and a train station where there was supposed to be a Bollywood show. We waited until midnight. No fun.

Instead we wound up splitting off (after seeing boys from Reid at the train station!), going to Montparnasse for 1 a.m. pizza and waffles, sitting and talking for a half hour, and going home.

Not the night I expected, nor the night I wanted. It was okay nonetheless, and I'm as always thankful for the friends that I have here. It's hard to think of what it would've been like if I didn't have anyone with whom to laugh at the situation.

It was a nice night anyway, with the weird gay boys in that metro, and the Penn guys that we met, and the street food, and the waiting in Reid Hall for like 3 hours, and tomatoes and prosciutto for dinner in the jardin du Luxembourg.

Maybe next time, we'll read the website more closely. Thanks for harvesting a little bit of amusing times, anyway.

Love,
Jamie

P.S. ABBY MCINTYRE, WHERE WERE YOU? And did you have more fun than me? You should tell me about it.

Chocolate truffles from Monoprix might be just as good as those from a chocolatier.

2008-10-04T13:14:00.002-04:00

Even though they're not covered in cocoa. So good.

I'm in Reid Hall with Alix and her friend from Oberlin. We're getting ready for les Nuits Blanche. Basically, every neat museum/exhibition is open ALL NIGHT LONG. We're starting at Musée d'Orsay, and then making our way around Paris. The metro closes at 2, but one line is staying open all night. It is sure to be goodtimes.

I had my first Spanish class on Friday. First off, Friday classes are no fun. Second, I've just discovered that I'm taking 19 credits, plus the volunteering class, plus actually volunteering with Restos du Coeur ("restaurants for the heart"). Plus, I was hoping to become a waitress. We'll see.

In any case, Spanish class was kind of neat. I didn't like that it was conducted in French, and it seems like it's more of a linguistics class than anything. I sat next to a girl, who I talked to for a little bit. However, I didn't catch her name or where she was from, because she had a heavy accent. She may have been from Spain? She's on the Erasmus program, which I don't know about.

Anyway, about to get ready for Nuit Blanche! Have a good evening, world!

Owwww heels are always a bad idea!

2008-10-02T18:56:00.003-04:00

I hope that I'm wearing them in, though. Maybe they'll get better?

I'm kind of doubting it. I even stealthily wore socks under my stockings, since I knew I was going to be dying. It hurt anyway.

Today, my Phonetics class was cancelled. I found this out when I woke up, turned on my computer, checked my e-mail, and promptly pondered whether or not I should go back to sleep. I did not, but I spent about 5 hours doing the following:
- shower
- www.mixwit.com/jmeliado (I'm kind of in love with making mixed tapes now)
- breakfast of Corn Flakes
- writing out lots of letters and postcards!

I got an e-mail from our associate director saying that I had to give her more identification photos for my carte de séjour, so I finally got my butt in gear and left for Reid Hall. I gave in my photos and a receipt from the Louvre (so I could be reimbursed for the ticket to get in), printed out the forms that I need to register for the frisbee team, and finished up my letters so I could send them off.

For some reason, my legs felt like they were seizing today. I tried to walk it out, but it was really annoying. I hope that my endurance for the crazy running we do at frisbee practice starts improving so I'm not dying after every practice.

Anyway, I walked around for a really long while, hoping it would help my legs. I got back home, and our maid was doing the ironing. She is really sweet. Later, we had a dinner of penne (with parmesan, onions, and cream), bread and cheese (Camembert, Conté, and Chèvre), and grapes and apples for dessert. So good!

Afterward, I got a random Skype message from Alix, asking if I wanted to go to Bar Dix. I thought that there would be more of us coming, but it turned out that it was just the two of us, and we both wound up showing up at the same time, twenty minutes after we said we'd meet up. After an evening of hilarity, including never finding Bar Dix, getting not-so-hopelessly lost, pretending we were deaf, getting hit on anyway, meeting up with Rachel, me calling the wrong Rachel 6 times, getting up to Gare de Nord to meet up with Alix's friend, checking him into his hostel, giving up on finding street waffles...

Anyway, here I am, with sore feet, wide eyes, and complete unwillingness to wake up in 8 hours to get to class for 9:30. Boo. We'll see. I also might take a quick nap and wake up to see the Vice Presidential Debate. Whoo!

Also, you need to watch this:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1832128

Guess what?

2008-10-01T15:43:00.002-04:00

I bought a guitar! It is this one:

http://www.music123.com/Yamaha-JR1-Mini-Folk-Guitar-510692-i1146546.Music123

I love it muchly. I brought it to the Louvre today, which was a little bit of bad planning on my part. I had to check it with the coat guys, who were majorly hitting on us while we went to get our stuff afterward.

As neat as it was going to the Louvre for an art history lesson, it was kind of lame. Our professor was pretty condescending in a faux-sweet way. I'm glad I only have to see her once every two weeks.

Everything's going really well so far. The only thing that's bugging me is that I keep over-planning my days. I think that this has had a major impact on my sleeping schedules. Each night for the past 3 nights, I've dreamt about what I was going to do the next day, completely. Monday night, though, I remember dreaming that I went home for a day but I was trying to run around, get to frisbee practice on time, find the things in my room that I wanted to bring back to France, see everyone at Smith, and hang with the family. Somehow, my mom wound up at frisbee practice. It was really weird.

I think it might also have something to do with the fact that I've been using my computer in my bed. I think I should reserve my bed for only sleeptimes.

But it's hard! My desk is right by the window, and it gets so cold!

I'm going to try to go to sleep soon so I'm well rested for tomorrow. A bientot, tout le monde!

Good night!

2008-09-29T15:46:00.002-04:00

I had dinner with my host family, and it was lovely. Afterward, I wound up talking to my host dad about the differences between holidays in our countries. We both thought it was ridiculous that they tried to make Halloween happen here.

Then, Elise and I watched Wallace and Gromit! We watched the trousers episode and the one with Shaun the sheep. It was adorable.

When we finished, she said, "Ben, bon, je te souhaite une bonne nuit parce que je dois aller à l'école demain." Trop adorable. She's like a little person.

I'm going to finish watching the presidential debate, finish typing out my schedule, and I could quite easily go to sleep RIGHT NOW. I just might.

Bonne nuit!

What a weekend.

2008-09-29T09:12:00.003-04:00

I saw around 5 castles. I had a night of a fondue dinner, which was spent mostly playing games with our associate director's 9 and a half year old son, François.

I am still tired from running around. Also, I had more metro problems today. There was an accident between Charles de Gaulle-Etoile and Denfert-Rochereau (I had just missed the train and had waited 10 minutes to hear the announcement that there had been an accident. I'm glad that I hadn't gotten on that train). It took me an hour and a half to walk to the closest metro station not on the line 6 and get to Reid Hall to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. It was really cute and nice. Alix put it all together, and I could tell she was a little stressed out but really happy for having planned everything out.

We had apples and honey for a sweet new year. Then, I ran to the metro to get all the way up to Porte de Clignancourt to register for my Spanish class. They asked me if I was an Erasmus student, and I still don't know if I will be treated like those other international students. In any case, I signed up like a regular old Sorbonne student, which apparently means that I've got one big general class and FOUR other sessions per week. Just for my Spanish class! I'm not sure if that's right, so I'm going to send an e-mail to P. Bloom. Hopefully he'll know what to do. Also, he likes me, so he'll call the Sorbonne for me to sort things out.

I wound up missing my first class of France and Europe, but I know a girl in the class. Hopefully, it won't be a problem that I missed class to sign up for my Spanish class. I e-mailed the teacher last night. I never know what French teachers want to hear. Well, except for nothing, which is why it's always weird to send apologetic e-mails for missing class.

In any case, my first real live class is tomorrow, and that's just Phonetics. It's basically a continuation of our orientation session of learning how to pronounce words properly. I find it amusing to think of the people that didn't wind up taking the course. You can always use practice! I know I don't think that I'm above wanting to sound like a French person. I'm definitely not even close.

Today:
- Nap
- E-mail P.B.
- Get pictures taken in the metro for my carte de séjour
- Buy a guitar

Seriously dude, just have a freakin' gaufre and shut up.

2008-09-26T20:13:00.001-04:00

I should hang out with Rachel more.

I COMPLETELY forgot to pack for our field trip tomorrow. We're staying overnight at Chateau de la Loire in a hotel, and we're exploring castles and eating fondue and hanging out and riding biclettes and it's going to be adorable.

But mainly I need sleep and I hope you're all doing well. I hope I don't forget to pack anything!

Doing laundry is always a good plan.

2008-09-24T13:21:00.005-04:00

It seems that the dryer likes me today!

Also, I FINALLY bought pants here! I was in dire need of new pants. I bought them at the Monoprix, which vaguely ressembles a Target. Some are just supermarkets, some are supermarkets + clothing stores, some are really small essentials markets. In any case, I went to the one on Avenue des Champs-Elysees, which is basically 42nd Street but a lot more French. There's a movie theatre every couple buildings, car dealerships, gorgeous patisseries, and of course, McDonald's (or "Mack-doe", as they call it here). There's also a place called "Quick" which says, in English, "Fast hamburger restaurant".

I am never at a loss for amusing signs in English here. Yesterday, I saw a sign that said, "Alcool and stranger wine". I'm pretty sure they meant to translate it as "Alcohol and foreign wine".

I went to frisbee practice again this week. It's only Mondays and Tuesdays for now, while the hard-core players practice on Thursdays. Wednesdays are for super-beginners. I love how the French say "Ultimate". They call the sport "l'Ultimate", which is pronounced "lool-tee-MAYT". I made new friends: Emma (the Canadienne), Kevin (the Francais), Brilleu (which may or may not be how to spell his name), Giovane (easily Spanish or Italian), Kristin (the Amherst player), Jeff (the kid from GWU who's too competitive for my taste) Emery (the American who was quite taken with me at indoor practice), and Inga.

When I tell my Smithie friends about the people I'm meeting at ultimate, they get jealous because they haven't found any real groups that they feel a part of. That's what I love about ultimate frisbee: it's pretty much the same feeling everywhere. Spirit of the game is super important, everyone is ALWAYS late, but everyone works really hard for the team.

In other news, my blisters having blisters has gotten worse, and now my blisters' blisters have blisters. I could hardly walk today. We went to the Musée Carnavalet, which was all about the history of France and its people. It was really interesting, but I found it a little dry. It felt like a history lesson that I'd already had, but the building was stunning, as usual.

Afterward, Alix, Hannah, Rachel, and I went to a cute Israeli restaurant. They got bagels, and I got a mini veggie pizza with hot chocolate. SO GOOD. Alix and Hannah decided that we'd have to celebrate Rosh Hoshannah, so we went next door to check out the wine selection. No Manuschevitz, but there WAS Kedem! Woot!

We decided to walk home. Also a poor plan for my poor feet.

We walked along the yellow line 1. We were on the right, at stop Saint-Paul, and I had to walk all the way to the end, and then further along the blue line past Charles de Gaulle to Victor Hugo. It took about an hour, but it was a nice walk. I'm just worried about walking tomorrow, since my feet really are killing me. I may take a bath tonight. Mm, that sounds nice.

Tomorrow, we have our last official meeting of our orientation program. Mme Toumi (or just "Toumi" among us, pronounced "Too-mee") has us going on another jeu de piste (scavenger hunt) and will meet up with us afterward at the bar called "Deux Moulins", where Amelie went to in the movie Amelie! She also inferred to the fact that she may be sitting there drinking a bit while she waits for us to arrive.

On Saturday, we leave at 7:30 a.m. from Reid Hall to go to Chateau de la Loire. It'll take about 2 hours to get there. We're staying overnight, and we have lots of fun activities. Our first night there, we're having a fondue night for dinner.

Alright, I'm going to check on my laundry, take a bath, plan our course for tomorrow's scavenger hunt, and go to sleep! Good night, world!

News brief!

2008-09-22T17:20:00.003-04:00

- I went to find a ukulele or a guitar today. I had no luck in finding one within my price range, but my host dad is going to recommend a place for me tomorrow when he passes by music stores looking for something for Elise's cello.

- There really is no ABCDEFG in the music here! I asked the music store guy how a ukulele was tuned, and he said it in doremifasollatido speak. They don't assign letters to notes; only do-re-mi's!

- I COMPLETELY forgot about frisbee practice today until my host mom was serving dinner and told me to eat up because I'd be playing sport tonight. Oh lordy.

- Indoor was AWESOME. There were 8 of us, half-American, half-French. The old dude leading it, Emery, was super-cool and very taken with me. At the end of practice, he told me that I was a lot of fun to play with and he enjoyed having me. I met a kid named Jeff who goes to GWU and came to France to see his French lover, a kid named Brilleu? who is a lawyer, and I saw my Irish boy again WHO TOLD ME THAT THERE IS A UKULELE NIGHT AT A PUB SOMEWHERE!!! I think I am in love.

- My BLISTERS have blisters.

- I am so glad I found frisbee here.

REMINDER tomorrow the RER B may be closed because of strikes, so I have to find a new way to go to practice! It's the 3-hour practice which is sure to kick my ass, and my host mom bought me a sandwich in preparation for it. So cute!

Paris is so alive!

2008-09-21T17:50:00.002-04:00

And yet I am here, doing nothing. It feels kind of nice to be home and just chilling, but I really would've preferred going to the Marais tonight. I was all ready to go, when I checked with my friend to see what time we'd meet up, and she said that she didn't feel like going anymore.

It would've been SO much better if I could've gotten out of the house. After 2 hours of half-hearted deliberation, I knew I wouldn't go out alone. Bad idea to go out alone, obviously, but I feel like it would've been a much better night if I had.

For now, I'm watching Wall-E and contemplating a gouter (snack). Which is also nice. However, I'm still all spiffed up and nowhere to go. I'm going to sleep in my shirt and skirt out of spite.

Today was nice otherwise. I woke up at around noon and texted Alix, since we were supposed to go to a "puce" (literally translates to "flea" and means "flea market"). She called me, all excited, and told me that I should feel left out because she was having so much fun.

I wound up going out with Hannah, Rachel H., and Maddie R. We started at a puce in the 13eme arrondissement, around Chinatown. They bought some jewelry, and I kept my eyes peeled for a really old guitar. No such luck.

Then, we walked to the Place d'Italie metro stop to head over to Angelina. It is a gorgeous patisserie with the world's best hot chocolate. I wound up getting a chocolate eclair type thing and a hot chocolate. Mmmm.

We walked around the Tuileries for awhile and enjoyed the nice weather. We whistled at attractive people from the park and tried to make plans for later.

Unfortunately, everyone was kind of beat. I'm always ready to party, but it seems like people have been more and more worn out lately.

Hopefully I can get something together for tomorrow. Maybe we can all get together to go to Bar Dix again (we never made it into Chez Georges last night).

Alright, I'm going to fix myself up a gouter and hit the hay! Bah hah ha.

Good night, world!

Aw! I just heard my host parents kiss outside my door.

2008-09-20T13:57:00.003-04:00

Right so last night's adventures were sort of a bust again. I kind of don't like that we always wind up getting lost and not knowing where to go. And/or people don't like our options for bars because they're not Paris chic enough. Whatever, you guys.

Tonight, we're going to Chez George. Really. It's going to be hilarious.

Last night, we went to an Indian restaurant. It was at Place Brady, which was this super-tiny block FILLED with Indian restaurants. Outside of each one, there was a guy waiting outside, waiting to run his spiel on innocent tourists. Each one was "the best deal" with everything that you could possibly want, and if you didn't like something, you would get it for free. We stopped at the second restaurant and had a whole lot of food for a reasonable amount of euros. There were seven of us altogether, and we talked about anything and everything. It was really nice.

But then, we wound up getting super-lost while trying to find the Marais, and so we all kind of revealed our life stories as we were walking around. Which was nice, but not what I was looking for. Still nice, though.

However that means that I'm still looking forward to mad partying tonight. I am quite excited.

Dinner now with the parents and dad's sister (Elise is at her friend's house for the weekend). And then GETTING MY PARTY ON! WHOO!

Bonne soirée, mes amis!

C'est la fête!!!!

2008-09-19T12:11:00.002-04:00

What what!!!!

So after the craziest night ever of very little sleep, I got to school to bang out my last French History and last Oral Communication classes. I was really worried that I was going to have to peace out early to go to the Sorbonne for a placement test for Spanish. Luckily, I talked to our director and he was all, Oh don't worry about it, we're American universities, we just walk in like we own the place and you can take absolutely any course you want.

After classes, a few of us went to get sushi. Which was SO NICE.

Also, Alix commented that I have a Mona Lisa-esque beauty. In my sleepy stupor, I was quite taken with her comment.

We got back to take our history test, which was actually harder than I thought it would be, in that I actually had to think to respond to the questions. I put on my MP3 player while I was doing the test, because I kept zoning out. "Don't Stop Believing" pushed me through the last leg of the test, which was helpful.

And now tonight, we're going to get Indian food in the 10eme arrondissement, and then prendre un verre ensemble. I am QUITE excited! I haven't really fêtéd since I've been here.

Also also, French and English are really mixing in my brain and speaking is flat out HARD. I feel bad for my family, but I still get self-conscious when I get the "Huh?" face from the second I start talking. Being sleepy and punchy is helping because I cancel out their confusion with my enthusiasm. It worked today!

Right so shower, write down directions, figure out outfit, PARTY TIMEEEEEE OH I love the weekend!

I promised I'd do my homework right after I updated, but then I started procrastinating updating the blog!

2008-09-18T15:05:00.004-04:00

Right so it's been crazy. I've been catching up on sleep any spare moment I could grab, since I was exhausted after frisbee practice on Tuesday. I'm still stretching whenever I get up from sitting down, and I still forget that my legs can't do full ranges of motion on things like stairs.

Today was quite nice. Aside from thinking it was Friday all morning, classes were alright. I had my last France Contemporaine with hot lady teacher and Phonetics (though I'm going to continue taking it next semester). Afterward, since I didn't want to see the informational session on internships, Abby, Hannah, Rachel, and I went shopping! First, we went to Bagels and Brownies (I shit you not) to get... well, I did get a bagel and a brownie! I got the "San Francisco", I think, which was swiss cheese, tomatoes, avocadoes, and lettuce. Mmmm.

We stopped at this chic boutique, and then moseyed our way over to the 3 for 10 euro scarf place that Rachel knew. Abby and I looked at scarves, but we only wanted one each. A French woman came over to the rack and asked if we spoke French. We said yes, and she told us that if we bought 3, if would be cheaper. I told her that we knew, but that we only wanted one scarf each. Abby and I both assumed that she just meant that we should find someone to get a third scarf, but she picked out a brown one that she liked. She checked it out for a couple seconds to make sure that was the one she wanted, and then she decidedly gestured for us to hand over our scarves.

She went up to the register and bought the three scarves. Abby and I hung back, since we wanted to be discreet. The woman finished her purchase and took us to the corner of the store. She gave us the scarves, and we gave her the money. Unfortunately, I didn't have the change for 3.50, so I gave her 4.00. She asked if I had the change, and I said no, but that it wasn't important. She replied, shocked, that it was important! We had made a good deal! So she scrounged in her change purse for the 50 centimes and handed them over. It was so sweet of her.

Then we went to H&M. Again. I swear, H&M has at least of my allotted lunch money for two months right now. I bought 2 cute shirts and stockings that I desperately needed.

Things that I still need to buy:
- lotion
- heels
- boots
- pants
- tissues
- ukulele

Afterward, I came home to rest for a bit. I sent out some mail that I'd been meaning to send when I walked the wrong way down the street and found a post office. It was so nice out this afternoon! I came into the apartment, and the woman who does the ironing was there. I said hi, and we talked for a little bit. She told me that she'd been working for the family for 13 years and had done all the cleaning before. Now, she just does the ironing once a week. She is super-duper sweet and very smiley. However, I do not know her name. I do know that her daughter's name is Myriam, though.

Then, I left to meet Hannah at Reid Hall to go out with her boy. We waited for awhile, and the boy was nowhere to be found. For consolation, we walked to get a waffle in our new super kawaii outfits. We ordered our waffles at a little stand, 2 waffles with Nutella. The man behind the stand responded in English to our accented French and asked where we were from. When I said the United States, he said, "Oh? Boston? Chicago?" I told him New York, and he said that he loved New York. Multiple times. He said that the girls there are very pretty. I said that I agreed. He pretty much just kept repeating that he loved New York, and while he was putting the Nutella on my waffle, he kept putting more on and asking me if I wanted more. I guess there's only so much that a Waffle Man can do to impress a girl.

After being super paranoid about eating our warm drippy chocolatey hazelnutty waffles on the street, we walked back to Reid Hall to see if the boy grew a pair. He did not. Since I had time before I had to get back for dinner, we walked to a nearby church, just for kicks. It was really pretty.

Side note: It is hard to believe that that was the first church I've been inside since I've been here. They're on like every corner, and I haven't even been inside the famous ones! I haven't even been in a museum, either. This must be remedied asap. It should happen this weekend, since it's the journées de patrimoine, which basically means that everything that's never open is open this weekend, for one time each year. Crazy long lines, but I hope we find good things to do.

I just had dinner with Elise and my host mom, since host dad was at work late. We had soup and salad, and then for cheese, we had Saint Marcelin, chèvre, conté, and Camembert, which my host mom didn't seem to fond of, since it's kind of dull. I agree.

We spent most of the dinner singing High School Musical songs that Elise knew (apparently, they only dub the dialogue in musicals, and the songs stay in English, but with French subtitles). We also played those hand clapping games, and she taught me a lot of funny songs that she knew. She is a hoot.

And now, I should probably get on the homework situation. I have to read about 20 pages of a Sarkozy address, and I have to study for my big ol' history test tomorrow. Afterward, dinner = Indian food in the 10ème arrondissement! Woot!

Holy Jesus.

2008-09-16T18:00:00.003-04:00

I JUST got back from frisbee practice.

That's right. It is MIDNIGHT.

IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD OMG I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS YEAR!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.

THE BEGINNING. Okay. So I got back from the park with Hannah and Aarin at around 6:00. I got dressed, talked to my mom, got ready, and left an hour later. Before I left, I filled two water bottles, packed an apple, ate two little Mirabelles, and let my host mom coax me into bringing a sandwich that I'm pretty sure she bought for her real daughter. I got to practice EXACTLY at 8:30, when it started. I threw around with Hubert, the guy that I met yesterday. We ran SO GODDAMN MUCH. We ran around the track for the first 20 minutes, stretched, and then did running drills for the next half hour. Then, throwing practice with pairs of newbies/oldbies. I threw with a certain Mr. Benoit, who was surfer dude-esque and helped me with my throws. Then, we split off into groups based on skill level. I went into the newbie pile, since I didn't know where I fit. I met Marie, who lives by Gare du Nord like everyone else, Geraldine, Kellie, Lindsey, and KRISTIN???? Who played with Amherst??? What are the fucking odds of that??? And she said there are even more Amherst folk on the team, too!

That's what else. There WERE about 50 of us. We OWNED the stadium. I have never seen so many people on one team. It was definitely a lot more competitive than Lunadisc, but I assumed that from the start.

After throwing around, we broke into teams to scrimmage. At this point, I felt like I had bowling balls in my calves, which, if I jumped for the disc, held me flat down on the ground. Blisters were inevitably forming in my new cleats, my face was as red as a beet, and I was struggling to understand how to say certain terms in French.

Tomas helped me out a lot. I think he's some sort of captain, because he had a way of making his presence apparent. When I told him that I was studying here for the year, he said, "Oh, sweet!" Which is adorable, coming from a French person.

Anyway, we finished when the stadium lights turned off, which was at about 11:00. Oh! And I made a completed pass! Which led to a score! I called "poached" at the Australian guy when my girl wasn't marking me (do you know how hot an Australian accent is in French? I'm pretty sure it's a universally hot accent).

I left with this kid Vin (Vain? All I know is it's that horrible EUGHN sound that them French people make) and a couple others to walk to the RER station. When I switched trains, I ravenously took out my sandwich and chugged down both bottles of water. I can't believe that I hadn't eaten since noon! That's friggin CRAZY.

And now, I have dinner waiting on the stove, a bath that's calling my name as loud as the dickens, and I'm so afraid to get up for fear that my legs will just SEIZE. I nearly cried in pain while going down the stairs to the metro. I heard the horrible ring of the train about to leave, and I jumped on just before the doors closed. I must have looked such a mess, but it felt SO good to sit down. The two blocks from my metro station were pure torture. I'm glad I didn't decide to take the metro stop further from the apartment.

OH! I figured out what was wrong with my computer charger!!! It was the converter!! I never NEEDED the converter! I just needed the adapter, but I didn't know that my plug fit in it! YAHOOOOOOO ENDLESS COMPUTER PARTY TIME!!!!

So I'll be up for at least the next hour for shower, dinner, and homework, in that order. Bonne nuit, mes amis!

P.S. A monsieur G.T. Meliado has yet to make his presence on this blog. He should get on it ASAP.

J'ai toujours besoin d'une sieste.

2008-09-16T07:55:00.003-04:00

Bonjour, tout le monde! I am at Reid hall, waiting for our excursion to the Senate.

Whoaz! A girl named Sarah just came into the computer room. She just said that she was a student that studied here two years ago, and now she's working as an English teacher here! AND she had the same family that I have now! Exciting!

So my weekend was WICKED awesome. Friday, I just chilled.. I think. The days are all kind of mushing together. That was the night we saw A bout de souffle. Then Saturday, I chilled most of the day, until nighttime when Rebecca, Hannah, Abby, and I went out to dinner. I had a thin crepe filled with cheese, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It was like a pizza. Friggin awesome.

Afterward, we went to see the Eiffel Tower. Hannah NEEDED a street waffle, and I wound up getting a chocolate ice cream cone. We sat by the Seine to wait for the Eiffel Tower to do the sparkle shiny show. It was astonishing, as usual. While it was sparkling, we walked under it to see what it looked like from underneath. I felt like I could get an epileptic seizure from looking at the light patterns zoom by all around us.

Then, we stayed to watch four breakdancers do their thing. They were pretty awesome.

Sunday, we tried to visit Versailles. It took two hours to get there, whereas it would've taken a half hour, if we had taken the right trains. Paris transportation is still a mystery to me. Then, when we tried to get into the castle, we saw that there was a long line just to get in. We wound up just picnicking outside of the castle and people-watching, which was also very nice.

We didn't get to go into the gardens by the castle either, since we had to pay to get in (though we later found out that there are free entrances all around). Instead, we walked to a nearby park. It was GORGEOUS. We had a photo shoot and took a sieste on the grass.

I had my first ultimate experience, which was crazy. It took about an hour to get to the practice space, and when I got there, there were only two other guys there. They said that their coach wasn't there yet, so they weren't sure what to do. Luckily, I was the only one who brought a disc, so we threw around for awhile and ran some drills. I even taught them a go-to drill that they didn't know! Tonight, I think Aarin is going to come with me to practice. This is the real deal. Hubert said that there'd be about 50 of us tonight. I'm kind of nervous, since practice starts at 8:30, and I eat at 8. I feel bad about leaving my family hanging, but hopefully they'll understand.

I'm going to retire for a couple minutes in these wonderful chairs and take a quick nap before heading out for a tour of the Senate. J'espère que tout va bien, mes amis!

OH and I got mail today and that makes me really happy, so it should keep happening, okay?

I am lazy, so you get a picture post!

2008-09-13T08:36:00.009-04:00

I've got pictures of the mosque and Sorbonne from Thursday, and pictures from yesterday. I tagged along with Zoe and Rebecca to this museum/garden/menagerie. They were just zipping through things, and I think they got impatient when I took about 100 pictures of the gorgeous gardens.

Last night, Abby, Hannah, Rachel, and I went to see "A bout de souffle" at the Entrepot theatre. It was really neat and a super French experience. It was very satisfying.

Less satisfying was our running around afterward trying to find a cafe. We didn't know what time the metro closed on Fridays, so we parted ways soon after.

Also, the Pope is in town, so traffic and transportation has been crazy. I considered going to see him speak, but I wasn't really interested. Especially with all of the foules (crowds) and crazyness.

Without further ado, pictures!!

These are from the mosquée:

The library

The Sorbonne courtyard. They're doing renovations until 2010, but it's still an astounding building.

And here are the pictures from the garden:

Giant geode from Brazil!

Okay, I am going to take a nap and then see what exciting things I can do today. This morning, my host mom took me to market (like a farmer's market) to buy fruits and vegetables. There was even an indoors market for cheese, cream, and meat. The butchery was crazy. I've never seen so much meat in my life. There was a little patisserie with little cookies and cakes decorated with sparkles of gold. It was really neat.

AND we bought avocados. She cut them up and added lemon juice and tomatoes to eat with lunch. Mmmm.

Also, there's a seperate store for frozen goods. It's all frozen! It's really neat.

A plus, mes amis!

Damn! I closed my window at just the right time!

2008-09-11T13:08:00.004-04:00

I left my room to get my clothes from the dryer, talked to Elise for a little bit, and came back to my room. I looked out the window, and it was dark. I figured it was just because it was nighttime, but the second I closed my window and drapes, I heard rain falling! Which is good, because it's been hella hot here. Hopefully, that'll cool it off some.

I woke up this morning with just enough time to get to school on time. Classes were good. Then, Hannah, Rachel, Abby, and I tried this place called "Wokbar". It was super classy, in the fast food kind of way. They had Thai food, Italian food, and Vegetarian food. I got penne with pesto. Delicieux!

We ate in the jardin du Luxembourg, and then hauled ass out of there to make it on time to a mosque in the 5ème arrondissement, where we met up with the rest of our Smithies. We had a tour guide explain that it was made in the 1920's with over 400 artists and architects. There were fountains in the garden and beautiful mosaics made by hand. I'll put up pictures tonight.

We stopped at a tea place nearby. We had minty honey tea, and it was scrumptiously delicious. I got some baklava, which was really really good too. I wound up getting pretty sticky, though. Ew.

Afterward, we walked to the Sorbonne. It is super-old and really pretty. I'm excited to start classes there. After that, we walked near the bridge over to Ile de la Cité, and we were going to stop at a restaurant. Abby and I peaced out because we were beat and were not hungry. I came home, said hi to our housekeeper, and slept until just a little while ago.

Now, I'm watching Duck Soup and waiting for dinner. My host mom has parent-teacher conferences again for her students, so she won't be home until really late. But she made a quiche lorraine last night, so we'll heat that up and eat it tonight with some salad and hopefully some Couronnier cheese. It's my favorite so far!

I think I'm going to bang out my homework before dinner. For real this time. A plus tard!

Buvons un coup, ma serpette est perdue...

2008-09-10T15:41:00.003-04:00

My adventure for today consisted of walking with Abby and Hannah to Ile de la Cité, asking a pretty lady where Sainte Chappelle was, and having caramel cream and tiramisu flavored gelato.

Also, we saw a fountain.

Yup, that's my dinosaur shirt. ALTHOUGH, (much to my mother's joy, I'm sure) I can't find my DON'T BITE YOUR FRIENDS vest. THAT'S RIGHT KATHRYN! I had a vest from Yo Gabba Gabba that said "Don't bite your friends". I am quite sad. Especially since I lost my hat, too. I'm going to check with Reid Hall to see it it's hiding there.

I'm kind of in love with the fact that all I have for homework is to write a tongue-twister and memorize a song. Can this never end?

Comme ils sont discrets, les Français!

2008-09-09T15:21:00.003-04:00

I came home from school at around quarter to 4. I was home for about 10 minutes when two people came in to repair something. I think that's why Catherine, my host mother, asked me when I'd be home.

Our clock is now sounding the hour of 10:00. It is 9:23. I love this clock.

After checking my e-mails and taking a short nap, I returned to school for a meeting with my advisor concerning my classes for the first semester. At Reid Hall (classes with just Smith students and then some with other students studying abroad), I've got Literary Methodology, French Phonetics, and the European Union. At the Sorbonne, it's Spanish and French Romanticism Art History.

I came back after that and got some homework done. When Elise and Dominique came back, I asked them what the flowers (des roses, des tourne-sols) in the kitchen were from. Dominique told me straight that it was Catherine's birthday. He saw the "Ka-WHAT?" look on my face, and he said something like, "C'est comme ça, ouais". The impression I got was that the French don't really celebrate all-out and prefer to be more discreet. I still felt like crap that I hadn't remembered during one of our first dinners when Elise mentioned her birthday.

I hadn't seen her all day, so I felt better, having not said anything to her. I made her a cute little card. When she came home, I got a knock on my door from Elise, saying that we were going to give her mom gifts. I was glad that I had made her a card. Elise hid around the corner with me and said, "Mama, today is a special day, isn't it? Then you should enjoy it!" Elise had made her a beautiful card and gave her a huge book on Spain that she said the bookseller recommended. From her dad, roses and a brooch of a fancy red cat.

We just finished dinner, which wasn't much, since Catherine got back late from teaching. If we had eaten earlier, I would've gone with a group of girls going to see a Fellini film. I'm not upset to not go, though. I think I could pretty easily go to sleep now. Actually, I think I'll do my laundry, finish my reading, have a little piece of CREME BRULEE FILLED CHOCOLATE!!!! and then go to sleep. Also, I'm watching the original Parent Trap. I love youtube.

Things about my family that I don't want to forget, lest they never reveal them again:
- Dominique and Catherine are about the same age as my parents
- Dominique has 5 brothers and one sister
- Catherine has 1 brother and 1 sister
- Elise has 17 cousins, all but one of whom are older than her

I might also write some postcards. If you want one, let me know! But chances are yours are already on their way.

Bonne soirée à tous!

I hope that real classes never start so I can keep having fun at nighttime.

2008-09-08T19:01:00.003-04:00

I saw the Eiffel Tower do its sparkly shiny show on my way home on the metro! Also, I was lazy and took the transfer to a closer stop so I didn't have to walk as far.

Hannah and I saw a thriller movie about this chick with "multiple personality disorder", but of course they were just dead people channelling through her. It was fun since we were the only ones in the theatre, so we kept poking fun at it. Also, it was in English, since it was an Irish movie, which was easy and relaxing for us.

Development: I am learning how to eat like a French person with my knife in my right hand and my fork in my left. J'arrive.

I really had something to update about, but now I can't remember what it was! It is most definitely sleeptime.

Oh! That's what it was! I much prefer going to sleep late at night on a school night if it means that I've done fun things. Also, this whole month of 9:00 to 5:00 courses only equals 2 credits. Definitely not important enough to risk not seeing enough of Paris. I can't wait to see what adventures I run across tomorrow!

Update!

2008-09-08T13:41:00.002-04:00

It is freezing in my room!

Today:
Had history class in the morning, then oral communication class. Lunch was excellent! I had a "tarte", which was really a quiche, made of goat cheese and spinach. We also found a gelato place with THE best chocolate-type gelato I've ever had. It was called something like "inimitabile", which I'm guessing means "inimitable" in Italian.

Observations:
- It's hard to speak Italian with a French accent.
- French is taking a toll on my English spelling. I had to spell "italien" thrice before I settled on "Italian".
- I much prefer hanging out after class and walking around with Abby and Hannah to coming home and taking a nap. Even though I just took a nap now. It was after funtimes!
- I'm trying really hard to accept the fact that people are going to know that I'm American. Or at least that I speak English. Usually, I'm trying really hard! I think our phonetics class will help with my pronunciation. *fingers crossed*
- I don't smell anything for dinner. I hope it is soon.

Dinner last night consisted of a really good salad with tomatoes and olives in it (I ate one! Though it only proved my previous stance: olives are yucky), hard-boiled eggs, cold tuna, and more cheese! This time, more Brie, the thing that looks like Swiss but isn't, and something named after a Saint. I learned how to cut cheese (ha ha) yesterday, since I made a faux pas when first trying to cut it. There's an actual method to cutting delicious hunks of cheese!

My goals for tonight:
- Read up on French and American politics (it's ALL the French talk about!)
- Re-read all of my notes from school about French things to say.
- Go to movies with Abby and Hannah

Dinner time soon, but Skype with mom first! Bisous!

La procrastination.

2008-09-07T13:23:00.012-04:00

I have done abolutely everything that was assigned to me, except for this little bitty 2-3 page paper. I can do it! I know exactly what I want to write. I'm just... boycotting the French language for awhile. It feels good to just NOT think in French. It hurts my brain.

I promised a picture post! Here it is!

Sunrise in London! That's the plane's wing, from my seat.

There was a little map on my airport TV! It told us our altitude and distance from our arrival destination. This is why I didn't sleep for the last 2 hours of the flight.

That's the first dog I saw upon my arrival in Paris, from the bus. C'est Maggie! I miss her so.

We're literally a five minute walk from the Arc de Triomphe.

This is Reid Hall. This is where I have my Smithie classes. They have a garden. It is pretty. And OLD.

Baguette for lunch! We eat outside in the Smith garden area when it's nice out.

Yes, that would be the Eiffel Tower. From my seat on the metro.

I forgot to tell you! I saw the Eiffel Tower do its Sparkle Show (I'm sure it's not called that) last night on my way home from restaurant times! The whole tower lights up with sparkly lights for a couple minutes on the hour. And then, I saw it completely dark. It was weird that it shut off that early. This is sort of what it looks like!

Not the same without the sparkly part, though.

FUN FACT: I answered a question in my history class on Friday. It was in reference to The Dark Knight. By which I mean, "The French Revolution". We were talking about why the French would call revolutions "le Grand Soir", or "the big night". People were confused, because they thought that night=darkness, and why wouldn't it be "the big morning" or something?

I didn't know how to say "the night is darkest just before the dawn", but you know I tried. I can't believe that no one else got that reference in the class.

It's almost dinner time! I'm going to bang out an essay in the next 15 minutes.

Dinner time now! Essay later!

Holy merde.

2008-09-06T19:35:00.002-04:00

Remember that time that I had metro troubles this afternoon?

DOES NOT COMPARE with metro troubles this evening.

I was already running late for meeting up with Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah, and Abby when I ran to the metro station. I made it to the metro station, but I JUST missed the train. I waited another 5 minutes for the next one and felt like crap because I was already late. I got onto the metro and waited for my stop. We were only 3 stops into the trip, when the lights went off completely.

We halted to a complete stop. The lights came back on.

After a couple minutes of waiting without moving, the conductor came on the speakers. What I caught in my shock was that someone had been in front of the train and they were under the impression that he was paralyzed. I called Hannah and told her what I had heard, including that they were waiting for the "papers" to arrive (apparently, he had said "pompiers" and not "papiers". I always thought that "pompiers" were firefighters, but I guess they deal with those things, too).

I was stuck on the metro for 45 minutes. 45 minutes of silence on my part, because I didn't really want to talk to anyone. I was pretty shaken, especially compared to everyone else, who were laughing and talking since the initial announcement. There was hardly any remorse. I wanted to reach out to someone who felt equally shaken, but it seemed that everyone was just like "yeah, whatever, this happens all the time". Which I guess it does happen with some frequency here.

On the plus side, we started moving again finally, and I got to meet up with my friends in the 6eme arrondissement at Chai de l'Abbaye. Rachel and Rebecca were already ready to hit the road after having had their beverages. I ordered a hot chocolate with Bailey's (c'mon, I totes deserved it). I sat and talked with Hannah and Abby. Mostly about the "diabeetus" guy. It was hilarious. It was really nice to speak in English with them after struggling in French all day.

We headed out in our separate directions. We're becoming professional French kissers (oh lalalala!). We do the "biz" (the double cheek kiss) when we leave now. We almost look French! It is neat.

I got on the metro until Montparnasse. I got off and had to get all the way to the other end of the station to get my train. They have those moving walkways like at the airport. I had to wade through 6 guys sitting on the moving armrest. One had a guitar, and all the rest were just singing "Svweeeeet Hooooooome Ahhhlaaawwwbaaahhhmuhhhhh!" It was hilarious. I laughed out loud. Mostly alcohol-induced, I imagine. But hilarious nonetheless. I probably would've done the same laugh even if I didn't have an ounce of Bailey's in my system.

Okay. I am washed. Pajamas, then BED. Bonne nuit!

Le festin est sur mon chemin.

2008-09-06T14:09:00.003-04:00

Attention! New banner! I made it! It is not very good. I wish I knew more HTML.

The first picture is from my host sister. She made it for me. It says "Bienvenue", which means "Welcome".

This weekend has been awesome. Yesterday, for Abby's birthday, Hannah and I went over to her host mother's apartment to have dinner with her and fêter (celebrate). It was wonderful. We drank champagne and talked about everything, and it was absolutely adorable. Afterward, we walked to the cinéma next to Hannah's apartment and saw "Metropolis". It was very interesting. Also, trippy. I can't even explain it. I don't have the willpower. But it was fun to watch and very neat to experience my first film in France being silent and from Germany.

I will post pictures. My next post will be all pictures, I think.

Today, Abby, Hannah, Rachel, Rebecca, and I walked from Reid Hall to Ile St Louis and all around. It was gorgeous. I just had some problems getting to Reid because the metro stopped before my stop. There was some problem at the Montparnasse stop, so I had to take an hour trip through 3 lines. It was crazy. I was quite impressed at my finesse and ability to not get lost!

We strolled around looking for this really good ice cream place called "Bertillon", but they had an ENORMOUS line. We went to the one next to it. I had nougat ice cream. SO GOOD.

And now I'm off to find a club in this town! Good night, world!

Bonne soirée!

2008-09-05T19:33:00.003-04:00

And what a bonne soirée it was! I had a long day, involving tiramisu, listening to our director talk at us for the longest time, FINALLY getting new clothes, and having one of the best nights in Paris so far.

However, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to finish my "Ice tea" (they really just say "Ice tea" here!), watch some Ratatouille since I've been craving it since I've been here, and go to SLEEP. For a long time.

I'll let you know how many things I recognize from Ratatouille and everything we did to fêter le jour d'anniversaire d'Abby!

FUN FACT: While I was on the metro coming home, I talked to these two ladies from Chicago. They were adorable. They told me to be careful. Then they got off to buy sweatshirts.

Bonne journée!

2008-09-05T02:08:00.001-04:00

Updating really quickly before I leave to go to class. I have some little errands to run before I get to school, so I should probably leave soonish...

In other completely un-related news, it's Abby's birthday! I am quite excited. Hannah and I are going to dine chez elle (at her house) tonight with her host mother.

Thought of the day:
My host parents want me to complain about something. Every day, they ask me if everything's going alright, and I tell them yes, everything is going wonderfully. I think that they don't believe me. This morning, my host dad asked me if I slept well, and before I even started to say that I did, he said something like "Oh yes, of course you did!" And then he told me, if something isn't going right, I need to tell them.

But everything's going amazingly!!! I don't have anything to complain about. Should I make up something to complain about? Should I keep on telling them that everything's going well? What would you do?

Things have changed for me! But that's okay. I feel the same. I'm on my way...

2008-09-04T13:25:00.001-04:00

I've been watching this video like it's my job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XBE49k3zzM

Her cover videos and my pile of peanut butter that I brought with me have been satisfying my needs for American/English-speaking things. Though there's a lot of English around here.

I feel sad when people try to speak to us in English! I try in French, and I don't even use any English words, but they always know that I'm American! It discourages me a little bit, but I haven't broken my pact yet. Every French person I've talked to, I've spoken French to, or waited until the French explanation of what I meant to say popped into my head. I have been letting myself be more lenient around the other Smithies though. I've found that there are three types of Smith JYA Paris students.

They are the following:
1. Pretends to know what's going on in class and muddles through French conversation only with the Smith administration, until it's time to leave the classroom and it's English all the way.
2. Generally directly translates from English to French without adhering to French conversation rules. These are the folk who don't know what I'm saying when I try to speak like a French person, and I instead need to refrain from any colloquial language and speak more slowly.
3. Speaks and tries to think in French all the time, and only breaks from French to complain to others about our director.

^ That last one is me (among others, who are the ones I'm closest to in the program). I just don't get a good vibe from him.

My host mom isn't here tonight, so my host dad, sister, and I are left to fend for ourselves dinner-wise. We usually eat in a half hour, so I'm going to go outside after I finish posting this to see if I can help with dinner.

Right now, I hear classical music outside my door. Before, I heard dad and sister next door playing something on the computer. I kept hearing "Strike!" I'll have to ask her later what she was playing.

About my family:
Host dad:
Is adorable. I feel that he's awkward like me, which makes our interactions easier to understand. However, I always feel like we're never really done with our conversations when one of us leaves awkwardly. I learned from him "Beuh.. ben, voila." I expect to perfect this phrase before I leave.

Host mom:
She's about half my height and reminds me of every cute mom I've ever known. She always makes sure that I tell her when I need something, and she wants me to feel like a part of the family. She makes THE best food ever.

Host sister:
She's 10 years old and really bitty. I always hear her through the house, which I like. She is super-witty and makes me laugh out loud quite often. I usually ask her about the words I don't know. Yesterday, when I asked her what "moquette" meant, she grabbed my hand and we ran to her room. She showed me the carpet on the floor, since that was the easiest way for her to explain it. Now, she's playing one of her father's dozen recorders.

That's what else I love! There's always music in the house. They all sing wonderfully, and they know their "do my sol"s by heart. My host sister plays the cello and the recorder. Yesterday, she and her dad played a beautiful duet. It was THE cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

It should be about time for dinner, so until next time!

FUN FACT OF THE DAY: The metro in Paris doesn't have all of the doors automatically open at stops like in New York. If you want the doors to open, you have to push down on a little lever on the door!

Mais qu'il fait froid dehors !

2008-09-03T13:37:00.000-04:00

I'm about to sit down to a lovely dinner of veal sausage, broccoli, mashed potato, and des fromages. I finally got a cell phone today, but I'm still not so sure how to use it. I know that incoming texts and calls don't cost me a cent, but I'm not sure about how it works the other way around. I don't want to start texting Americans, only to find out that I totally ruined their cell phone plan.

dinner time!

Bienvenue!

2008-09-02T13:06:00.000-04:00

Hello, soon-to-be faithful readers! I am writing from Paris, France. It is officially my 5th day in the City of Lights, and I already have tons of stories to tell you! I was hoping that I would be able to make more video responses, but as it is, I still feel a little uncomfortable talking to myself right inside of a room where my host family is talking amongst themselves. For now, I give you THE BLOG.

Since it's been awhile and I have a lot of things that I want to remember, this entry may be quite long. However, I'm going to try to update once a day from now on.

Chronological order time!

Thursday:
I spent the whole night on the plane! I left around 6:30. I saw the sun set over New York, and arrived during the sunrise over London. It was extraordinary. So extraordinary that I didn't get more than a wink of sleep.

Heathrow is a GINORMOUS airport. It took all of 45 minutes to take a bus to my gate and then walk/run the rest of the way, just in time for the boarding call to Paris. It was only a 40 minute flight, and there I was! Smack dab in the middle of Paris!

I took a bus to the hotel, which literally took longer than the flight. I sat next to a lady who was not too happy with my picture-taking and squeeing at things like street signs.

There were already 10 Smithies in the lobby, only two of which I actually knew their names. We hung out, grabbed a croque monsieur for lunch (like a grilled cheese but with a hot dog baked inside. Authentic French cuisine, I assure you), and I took a nap for a really long time. We went out for dinner later, and I had beef bourgignon served in a little cast iron pot. It was the most delicious beef stew I've ever tasted.

Saturday (since Friday happened when I landed in London):
We had a breakfast at the hotel where we were all staying, and then we had an informational meeting at Reid Hall, where our Smith classes are held. It was a lot of paperwork and boring, and we were all excited to leave to get to meet our parents!

I was a little nervous, since I brought a lot of bags with me, but my host parents seemed really nice. I have a host sister! She's 10 years old. I knew that we'd get along when she took my hand during our first meeting and kept talking to me.

We left in a car with the three of them and Abby, since her host mom wasn't here yet. On our way to the apartment, my host sister pointed out the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the American Embassy, le Grand Palais, and the Boulevard des Invalides. It was AWESOME.

We had dinner that night, prosciutto, ham, salad with tomatoes and mozzarella, and bread. We have bread literally at every meal. Bread with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, coffee with breakfast and lunch, and wine with lunch and dinner. C'est magnifique!

I think I've about given up on my day-to-day goings on for now. I smell good things outside my door, so I think it's about time for dinner! I set the table and help do the dishes. Also, it's my turn to do my laundry tonight.

A bientot! Talk to you later!

Jamie aux Andelys

(re-)Bienvenue aux Etats-Unis !

10 [More] Things

10 Things

La chiromancie

Disneyland!

Picture Post!

Hello from Les Andelys!

Hello from Rouen!

Getting lazy, but doing well!

Things I forgot to mention:

Things that I did in Paris today:

Re-bienvenue en France !

Answers of sorts?

Hello from Montreal!

How can I miss you if you won't go away?

Sorry for the lapse in posting!

No diagnosis.

Having a good week!

Labour of love

One day at a time.

Troubles of the un-diagnosed patient.

I skipped frisbee to watch American series dubbed in French with my host family.

Leaving on a jet plane!

I added this to my "to-do list", so I guess that means it's been awhile since my last update.

7

Didn't get the job.

Directive?

Sssssso.

It has been SO LONG.

Once again...

Londupdate!

SUCH a good weekend.

New video!

What I'm doing instead of homework:

BONNE ANNEE!

I want to be in AmeRIca!

You're nothin' but a womanizer

'appy Sanksgeeveeng!

Sick is the worst.

Working hard, or hardly working?

A whole week with no update! Wowza!

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA

J'écris en français

Fête de HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

It's been awhile

QUICK UPDATE

Dear world,

Do you know what they call a "Big Mac" in France?

So cranky.

Chère la Sorbonne,

Minou!

I'm posting my schedule, as much for your information as for mine

Frisbupdate:

*ahem*

Chocolate truffles from Monoprix might be just as good as those from a chocolatier.

Owwww heels are always a bad idea!

Guess what?

Good night!

What a weekend.

Seriously dude, just have a freakin' gaufre and shut up.

Doing laundry is always a good plan.

News brief!

Paris is so alive!

Aw! I just heard my host parents kiss outside my door.

C'est la fête!!!!

I promised I'd do my homework right after I updated, but then I started procrastinating updating the blog!

Holy Jesus.

J'ai toujours besoin d'une sieste.

I am lazy, so you get a picture post!

Damn! I closed my window at just the right time!

Buvons un coup, ma serpette est perdue...

Comme ils sont discrets, les Français!

I hope that real classes never start so I can keep having fun at nighttime.

Update!

La procrastination.

Holy merde.

Le festin est sur mon chemin.

Bonne soirée!

Bonne journée!

ahem