I love Paris.

I never want to leave. If it wasn't for my family, money, softball and school, I would just stay here. But I guess all things have to end some time. So I have one more day in Paris. Thinking about it is almost making me cry. Tomorrow I plan on getting up early, handing in my last finals (yay!!), and then doing some last minute christmas shopping. I will also visit some places (i.e Sacre Coeur, the Marais, a museum of France, and places in my quarter), take lots of last minute pictures, and attempt to find a small "truc" (familiar word for thing) to bring back with me to the U.S. that will always remind me of Paris. I am going to spend it with the friends that I'll actually miss when I leave, so that'll make my day even better. I also plan on giving my family their gift, which will be some flowers, my favorite book (Jane Eyre...in french of course) and maybe a pastry. Then, I'll finish packing and prepare to leave Paris for good to go the airport at 6am Saturday morning. I am going to miss the city terribly. But, I think that I have profited well from being here, and that I was able to have a completely different experience than anything before. Next time I come here (and there WILL be a next time) Everyone's coming with me. I guess this is my last post before I return to the U.S. I hope you all had fun reading it, and who knows, maybe I'll keep it up during school, but those posts will be far less exciting.

Grandes bises!

A short blurb about Normandy

I tend to be long winded, and since I have several finals to finish I will make this post short:
fyi: We were in the city of Caen.

I went to Normandy yesterday with a friend of mine in the hope of seeing Juno Beach and the Memorial. Well, things unfortunately didn't go as planned.
-We got there around 11am, but didn't know where to go from there due to poor planning on out part.
-We wanted to figure out the bus system to get to the Memorial or the Beaches, BUT alas, it was a Sunday, so the bus system does not run like it does during the week. Bad thing numero 2.
-Got lunch - CHEAP because it's not Paris
-Finally figured out the bus system after asking various people and after seeing the Museum of Normandie which had absolutely nothing about WWII.
-Got on a bus to Deauville at 3:10.
-arrived at a beach at 4:00pm. Sadly, not Juno beach, that bus was leaving too late for us to see it and then come back to catch our train home.
-took pictures, got sand in my shoe, felt the really cold ocean, got some rocks, then proceeded to catch our train back.
-on the way, we saw a little monument to the british soldiers who landed there.
-I'm sorry, dad, that I didn't plan it better so that I could see the beaches. I know you wanted me to do that I feel really bad that I didn't get to do it. You should take me there on a C-130.

That's all for now. I have to finish a final and pack. Holy crap time is going by fast.
A bientot...

ek!

Il reste UNE SEMAINE!




(one more week!)

Christmas time in Paris

Mmm...Happy December. I've had a pretty good past few days here in Paris, despite the rainy and cold weather. Somehow, I've managed to not get too wet when walking outside. My "parapluie" (umbrella) is taking quite a beating, though, and I am beginning to wonder how many umbrellas Paris kills in a year. Anyway, after class Friday, my friend Kathryn and I decided to get together to try and work out a french presentation that we have on Tuesday. I went to her house and met her host "lady" Armelle (i think that's how it's spelled) and we did some work. Then Armelle was very adamant that we be out of the house at 7:30, so we left and went to the Monoprix to pick up some things because we were going to cook dinner at my house. We also bought some really good pastries and cider. We made pasta with sauce and mozzarella cheese and carrots with onions and garlic. It was really good. Then, because we didn't want to be losers and go to bed early on a friday night we headed to the Champs Elysees to check out the christmas decorations. It was all really beautiful. Then we hopped into the FNAC (a book/music/movie/video game store..like a huge barnes and noble) to check it out and ended up splitting the cost of a french CD, because to leave paris without at least one french artist would be a shame. I have actually become addicted to the cd and am happy with our decision. I also took a picture with Johnny Depp. Haha. Kidding. It was a life-size figure of him in Pirates of the Caribbean. I also wanted to get a picture with Shrek, but the security guard looked intimidating. After that, we went home. The next day got started early because we wanted to go to some christmas markets to do some christmas shopping. The first half of it went alright, and I bought some presents and got some ideas for other people's presents. We also bought roasted chestnuts, which neither of us had ever had, and if the vender (a jovial french man) hadn't have been singing, I don't think we would've bought them. They were really good and I recommend that we roast them for christmas this year! I think you all are going to really like the things that I have bought/am going to buy for you for christmas. If you have any idea (within reason..) of what you'd like, let me know! I am going for presents that are hard to find in the US and that are unique. Today, I am studying with my friend at her house because she made latkas and eggnog. That's all for now! Miss you all!

Hot chocolat

This is new, another post right after I just made one! I just thought that I would fill you all in on something I forgot that I did last week, and something that I did today. First, last wednesday I was walking around the 1st district with my friend Kathryn when she pointed out a really famous (therefore expensive) place to buy hot chocolate. We both felt like being tourists, so we headed on over and let me tell you, that place is one swanky joint to buy hot chocolate! if you're at all curious, the cost of a cup of hot chocolate was 6.80 euros. Don't jump to conclusions! I will explain why it was worth that much. First, since we both ordered, they brought up our cups, two glass with a carafe of water, real whipped cream, and then a good sized carafe of hot chocolate. When you think of this pot of hot chocolate (a.k.a paradise) don't picture Swiss Miss or Nestle or anything like that. It was really thick, so thick, that if you stuck your spoon into the hot chocolate it would coat the spoon in a layer of dark chocolaty heaven. I was also able to have at least 2 full glasses of it, so it was really like I paid 3.40 for one glass. So, that was my French hot chocolate extravaganza.

Next, I visited the Musee d'Orsay for free today. It was pretty amazing and I will have to go again. I saw Delacroix, Gauguin, Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Renoir as well as many others that I am sure I am forgetting. I took some pictures and then when it closed I walked around my district for a little while before heading home. Now I am doing homework before dinner. That's all for now, but I will try to update more frequently since my time here is presque fini! (almost finished.) A bientot...

Thanksgiving, trains, Amsterdam and cold weather

Hi! It's been much too long since my last post, especially because it is already the 3rd of December! My time here is going by too fast, but luckily I've had a number of things to do to occupy my time. I guess I should fill you all in on what I've been doing since my last post!

Classes at the center are going pretty well. Nothing too exciting there; just doing homework, taking some tests and getting ready to start finals. Our center did have a potluck thanksgiving for us on Thanksgiving and I decided to make sweet potatoes. I asked mom for the recipe, bought the stuff and told my host mom what I was going to make and she said that I MUST make some for her family to try. So I made a little bit for them at dinner and I have to say, I must not be that terrible of a cook because they loved them! Especially the mother. She asked for 2 helpings and the leftovers. I think they liked the marshmallow topping the best. I mean, who wouldn't? The next day(t-giving) I cooked a larger batch while my friend cooked green bean casserole. That was also very delicious. Note that this happened during the greve (strike), so we had to find a way to get to the center by 7pm and we did NOT want to walk an hour from my house. We decided to take line 9, which was working a little better than line 8 (my normal line to school). We waited in the station for about 10 minutes when the train arrived completely full of people. Even if we weren't carrying hot pans with food we still wouldn't have been able to fit inside of the train. Sadly, we waited by the very front of the train when the conductor happened to walk out. Miraculously he motioned to us to board the train with him. So....we got to ride with the conductor! It was pretty awesome and is probably one of my more memorable experiences in France, just because I love the metro and to be able to ride with the conductor is like a dream come true. Anyway, we made it unscathed to the center with our dishes and the night commenced. There was a lot of good food, Ferrero Rocher's (chocolate of the gods) wine, and dessert. I had a great time with my friends and professors and (no offense to my family) but it was one of my more fun thanksgivings. Ok...onto the next event.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Ruth who is studying in Amsterdam. I took the train very early (it left at 6:55am, which meant i woke up at 4:30am) to Amsterdam, and on the way the train stopped in Brussels, the Hague, Rotterdam, and a few other cities. I think the train was the first place that I heard Dutch spoken, and I have to say, I really like it. Anyway, when I got there I met her at the train station and we walked to her dorm. There really are a ton of canals in Amsterdam, as well as bikes. it was such a nice contrast to Paris and I definitely want to go back and spend more time there one day. Plus, it's way cheaper than Paris! We got lunch at this restaurant which served Pannokoeken (i think that's how it's spelled), which is like a mixture between a crepe and a pancake, only better. After that we visited an open market called the Albert Cuyp market and saw lots of stands and I also saw some of the Zwarte pietes (I think that's how it's spelled...it means black pete's...I think). Anyway, it was for the Sinterklaas holiday coming up and these people are santa's "helpers," and are really dutch people dressed as black people. They go around handing out candy to the little kids and to most it's seen as perfectly normal, but it was shocking for me to see because it seems a bit racist to have a white santa with black helpers. After that she made me buy Stroppen waffel for only 1 euro, which is a heavenly dutch pastry made of two thin waffely things with a thick syrup in the middle. I wanted to take it back to France with me it was so good. Then we headed to the Van Gogh museum, which was amazing, and after that we hung out in her room for a while before we made dinner. Later that night I got to meet some of her friends and we hung out with them for a while before we headed to an australian bar in town. The next day, since it was raining and really freaking cold, we woke up around 10:30am, sat around, made breakfast, watched an episode of the Office and headed to the Troppen Museum, which has exhibits about Africa, the Caribbean, the Rainforest, South America and parts of Asia. It was huge and unfortunately we couldn't make it through the whole thing, but we saw a good portion of it. Then we went back to her room because it was still cold and rainy. We hung out for a little more until I had to get on my train. it was a short weekend but I enjoyed seeing Amsterdam and spending some time with Ruth and her friends. I definitely want to go back some day. I have to add that when I was on the train ride back, there was a little dutch boy who was very much at home walking around the train car that I was in. He would mumble dutch things and occasionally run into some seats, lay on the ground and smile at me. Sometimes he cried, but I just listened to my ipod when that happened. Then, the woman who was sitting next to me had some bags in the compartment above me. I guess it wasn't very secure because as I was minding my own business the bag has the nerve to fall on my head! I didn't really care, it was just kind of a shock. She seemed really sorry about it, but I assured her that I was indeed alright. I really do love taking trains much more than planes. I wish the US had a better train system.

Other than those two major events, I have been hanging out with my friends, watching some movies in the center, doing homework and exploring Paris. I hope this was a sufficient update!

Eiffel Tower!

I climbed the Eiffel Tower today!! It was really sunny outside, and despite it being about 40 degrees, it was wonderful out!! I honestly need to get this camera thing fixed so that I can show you the pictures that I took. You can see the entire city from up there. I wish it were free because then I would do it at least once a week. I also saw a bunch of funny tourists up there. The Americans made me laugh the most. I wish you were all here with me.

Il y a encore une greve....

There is yet another strike... How are you all? I am doing particularly well, besides the fact that there is a strike that will undoubtedly last until tuesday, if not longer. BUT, I should update you on what I did for the rest of my break besides going to Toulon.
After coming back from Toulon I decided that I wanted to rest in Paris and try to see as many "touristy" things as possible. I began reading the book "The Foutainhead" by Ayn Rand and it is a great book. I woke up every day around 9-10am, took a shower, made breakfast and read. Then, I took long walks all over the city. I saw Jardin de Tuileries, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and I climbed the Arc de Triomphe. I went to the Musee Branly, which is right behind the Eiffel Tower and contains artifacts from North and South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Then I went to the Musee Rodin and saw the sculpture of "The Thinker" or "Le Penseur" in french. I also visited the Centre Pompidou, which is the museum of Modern art here. We spent 2 hours there and only saw one floor. I also got some awesome falafel in the Marais, but I have already raved about that in earlier posts. There were some people staying in Paris for the break along with me, so I also got to hang out with them and check out some cool bars around town. All in all I had a fantastic week which I didn't want to end. Of course as soon as we came back to class there is another greve...
To give you a back story on the strike, Sarkozy came into office preaching drastic reforms for the French economy and society. He's the president of France and will be for the next seven years. He also has a prime minister, Francois Fillon. The prime minister in the past has expressed more power than the president but Sarkozy is different because he seems as though he wants to exercise more power than the prime minister. Anyway, one of his major reforms is that of the "regimes speciaux", which (I am pretty sure) are a different group of fonctionnaires. They are the ones who work the more "pressing" jobs, like running the metro. Right now, they get to retire at 55 years old, instead of later, and they also get some other nice deals after retirement. With Sarkozy's suggested reform, they will retire later and also lose 300 euros a month during retirement, which is a lot if you add it up. Naturally the workers do not want to give it up so they are viciously fighting against the reform, and have threatened to strike until they get their way, because when they strike it can affect the entire french economy if it goes on for long enough.
So..I bet you're wondering how I got to class today? Last time I walked all the way from my house to class, but I ended up walking a weird way which took me about an hour and a half. This time I was a little smarter, plus I had the help of my host "sister's" Razor scooter!! Yep, the mother said that I was allowed to borrow it, so I planned my route and off I went. I left my house around 7:30 this morning even though I didn't have class until 9:30 so that I could give myself extra time in case I got lost. I also wanted to try out the metro just in case, but it wasn't working at all. Some lines were alright, but my line (line 8) is very well unionized and there was one train about every hour, which is so slow!! On normal days they run 1 every 4 minutes during rush hour. I waited in a metro station for 30 minutes to see if I could catch a train, but by then it was already 8:30, so I just continued to scoot to class. It only took me about 40 minutes to an hour, and the weather was not too bad. I saw lots of people roller blading, biking and scooting to class. I also didn't get lost!! Even though I kind of enjoyed riding the scooter to class (no matter how ridiculous I looked) I still want the metro back. I guess this will force me to really explore the 7th arrondissement better because I won't have good access to other parts of town. Anywhoo, that's my short update. Sorry if it is a bit incoherent, I am not in the writing mood right now. talk to you later!

TOULON

This weekend was probably one of my most memorable weekends here in France. I ventured by train to the very south of france to the city mention in the title to visit my host family and her parents and cousins. The beginning of the trip, however, didn't begin so splendidly.
Because I was finishing a midterm before I planned to leave, I stayed up the night before until about 1am, when I knew I had to wake up around 5am so that I could have enough time to finish packing, shower, have breakfast and get to the train station in plenty of time to figure out where I needed to go. I woke up 4 hours later, at 5am, groggy but ready to go. I finished packing my things and got ready to go. I wanted to leave my house at 6:30 so that I could get to the station at 7am, because my train was at 7:54am. I have never been to the Gare de Lyon before and it is a huge steel structure of confusing train portals. Being the nervous wreck that I can sometimes be, I practically ran around for 40 minutes trying to figure out where I needed to go because I was convinced that I was in the wrong place and that I'd miss my train. I also asked various people in shoddy, nervous french where I needed to go by showing them my train ticket. I finally boarded the train at 7:54 and everything was alright. The trip was beautiful because I got to see the french countryside. Plus the farther we got out of Paris the more sun there was. You people in Ohio should feel lucky if you think Ohio is a desolate wasteland with no sign of life for miles except cornfields and soybeans. France isn't really much different. Outside of Paris there is just farms and tiny towns scattered across the country. It's beautiful.
I arrived in Toulon a little after 12pm and took a taxi to my host mom's parents' house. I had no idea just how beautiful it was going to be, or how close it actually was going to be to the Mediterranean. We were a two minute drive from the beach, and from my window you could see the sea and distant mountains. I WAS IN AWE. I met her sister and her kids, and was oddly really comfortable around them. I have to note that I am still feeling awkward around my host mom and I don't know why. I was completely comfortable with the rest of her family, but I still feel like I have to prove myself to her or that I have to put on a facade. I don't know if it's me or her anymore that's making me feel this way. I should get over it, but knowing me I'll let it bother me until I die.
It was around 65-70 degrees for the time that I was there and the sun shined the entire time. The sky was magnificently blue and provided a striking contrast to the brown rolling hills beyond the sea. The wind was gentle enough that I could wear a tee shirt and jeans outside so that I could soak up the sun, because I have been deprived of clean air and sun for a while. I actually think Toulon is heaven. The first time that I saw the sea up close was indescribable. to be on the bank of the sea knowing that Spain, Italy, Africa and a slew of other countries lay beyond where I stood made me tingle. I could've spent hours just looking at the sea. The water was clear, but a little cold. I couldn't help but to be caught up in the sounds of the sea.
We walked along the shore of the sea for a long time and I watched the kids run around and discover little things hidden in the sand or rocks. We stopped for a while and the kids found some vines with which they turned into fishing rods, so any time we stopped they had to try to catch some fish. It was amusing to watch. Then I skipped stones into the sea for a while, which I could've gladly done for a lot longer, but the kids wanted to go. At the house I didn't do a whole lot except steal long glances at the sea and watch the kids play around the outside of the house. They found a lizard in the sink and put it in a bowl to play with it, but they soon got bored of it, and i secretly let it back into the "wild" of their bushes. I think the entire weekend I kept saying to myself over and over, "I can't believe I am here, in France, looking at the Mediterranean." I was stupefied for almost the whole weekend. We ate dinner a little later, which was nice because there were 11 of of and they were all chatting about their days and being happy to be together. I enjoyed it a lot. I like to be an unnoticed observer when I can. I was really tired after that day, so I went to bed around 10 and woke up the next day around 7:30am.
The morning was pretty uneventful. I just ate breakfast, read, wrote a bit, and then got my things together. We were all going to take a boat ride to another part of the shore so that we could go to the beach, have lunch and walk around. The boat ride was great because it was only one of the few times that I've ridden in a boat. I think I astound my host family with how little I've traveled (in europe and the U.S., that is, before I came to live with them), and how few times I have seen the ocean or the sea. I also baffle them that I am 20 years old and I haven't mastered an instrument or learned more than one other foreign language. I do feel a bit judged or looked down upon at times, but I don't care.
the beach was wonderful! It was sunny and warm and I took lots of pictures of the sea and of the kids. I even managed to get a picture of myself in front of the sea. After lunch, we took a walk along a really rocky shore, right on the sea. It was a little difficult walking on the huge rocks in my sandals, but I managed. I can't even describe it to you, the picture of the rocks we climbed over and the waves crashing against the ones just below. It was like a mini adventure. Heck it was an adventure for me. I want to do it all over again. My train was leaving at 6pm, so we left a little while after so that I could get to the station. it was a short but really great time in Toulon and I wish that I could live there right now. I think I am convinced that I live with the most perfect family in France. I think they're a little too perfect, though, and I am waiting for some big dark secret to emerge from the depths that might create scandal within their family. Then I look at them again, and realize that maybe there is such a thing as near perfection. That's not to say that I don't think my real family isn't perfect or isn't great, because I think they are and I wouldn't want them any other way. Every day I am more and more curious about how much money my host family makes! It's ridiculous. Here's my tally so far: A huge flat in Paris a block away from the Eiffel Tower, another home on the outskirts of Paris which they go to every once in a while to "get away," a house on the Mediterranean with 3 floors and a pool, a nice car, and lengthy travel experiences. Their kids also go to a private school and take piano lessons. Mind you the kids don't go to the piano teacher's house or office, but the teacher comes to them because they have a grand piano in their living room. I have the pleasure of listening to the dad play the piano when he comes home from work, and the not so much pleasure of listening to the kids barrel through their lessons. It's a good combination.
Now I am back in Paris and am planning on vigorously visiting as many museums and "touristy" places as I can and as I can afford. Most of the museums are free for me since I am a student, so I am thoroughly happy about that because my budget is plummeting. Hmm, have I exhausting everything that I want to say? I think so. I hope that you enjoyed my post!

Hey everyone, I am really sorry that I don't update more often. This week has just been kind of busy with midterms and planning trips and Halloween and trying not to be awkward with my host family. I promise a more exciting and long post will be coming soon because tomorrow morning I leave for Toulon! It's in the very south of France right on the Mediterranean :). So I will definitely have more to write about when I come back. I am really excited to be taking the TGV train there and back, so I will let you know how that works. Right now I am finished up a midterm and decided to take a break from writing to give you a quick update on what I have been up to.

-Aerobics, as usual
-I went to see a play by Moliere for FREE. It was called "La Malade Imaginaire" and it was really good. Lots of strange scenes with singing and dancing and unresolved plots. I love french theater.
- Went to a Halloween get together at my friend Chloe's apartment. There I met some more of her friends, as well as a student from Germany named Johann (yo-han, long "a") and one of her french neighbors.
-On All Saint's Day I headed to Pere Lachaise, which is the famous cemetery where Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison are buried. As well as a slew of other very famous French, American, British, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and really any other nationality you think of, people are buried. There are also not famous people there. The place is beautiful and huge and teaming with tiny graveyard alleys plastered with above ground graves of frenchmen long dead. I need to go again because I didn't even get through 1/3 of it and I spent about 2 hours there. The Holocaust memorial graves were chilling and emotional, so I will take pictures the next time I go so that I can show you all.
-Now I am doing my midterm!

More later, I promise. I am really sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. Thank you, Aunt Nancy, for the short email asking for a post. Talk to you all later! I'll try to send you some of the Mediterranean sun...

i should really update this more often.

It's been really sunny here in France, but the temperature is dropping fast. Yesterday it was only in the 50s, and I had to whip out my coat. I guess global warming hasn't crossed the Atlantic yet to Western Europe (although I am sure it has, that's just a false statement because I hear it's so warm in Ohio and in other parts of the US). Before I come to write in this, I always have so many things to add, but as soon as I sit down and begin to write, they all disappear... I can tell you that last saturday our program took us on a day trip to Normandy, but it wasn't too the beaches, which was kind of sad. But, we visited an old Abbey, and then a really old chateau. Facebook picture stalking and thieving ensues. Over fall break I plan to take a train to the beaches in Normandy, and maybe I'll take a day trip to somewhere else...outside of france. Who knows. I've been doing a lot of aerobics lately, and it's just great. Last night there were two classes in a row, and I ended up staying for both.
I've had quite a bit of homework for my classes lately since midterms are next week, but I think they should go smoothly if I use my day off today economically. I don't think I've written enough about the people that I see on the metro. If it wasn't for the metro, my days would be much duller. A lot of times I see business men, carrying their daily newspapers, with their briefcases, ties (I distinctly remember one very stern looking man wearing a red tie with happy prancing dogs on it. that made me happy) and their thoughts about what the day will bring. Then, there are the performers. I've seen saxophone players, accordions, violins, french horns, singers, asian instruments, guitars, mandolins, and that's it for now. I've also seen a clown who made balloon animals, as well as preachers and just darn crazy people. I swear that I've seen famous models in the train because who else would bother to wear high fashion clothes and make-up? Most of the people look like normal people, but there are those few who just look like they came from a Chanel ad. Maybe they actually did. I saw the cutest baby on the metro, who began to play with my colorful scarf as we were riding. HOLY COW she was joyously adorable. It was sad when her and her mom had to leave. I also saw a tiny dog wrapped up in it's owner's purse, with just it's cute little head popping out. That made me smile. The metro also has its share of sketchy people, but i try not to focus on them. Did I tell you all how the kids enjoyed what mom sent them? Well, I gave them the Pez, glow sticks and candy corn, as well as a card she sent, and they seemed to really enjoy it. Mark Antoine (sadly not Mark Twain) really loved the Pez, and the mom had to literally pry them away from him when it was time for bed. I don't think candy before bed was the best timing on my part, but no one was hurt in the process. I told my host mom that I was planning on going to Amsterdam at some point while I was here, so she automatically told me that I needed to watch "La Jeune Fille a la Perle" (or the Girl with the Pearl Earring). It's set in the Netherlands and it is based on the painting by Johannes Vermeer "Girl with the Pearl Earring) as well as the book that was written about it. It was a pretty good movie, but it didn't really have a lot to do with the Netherlands other than that it was set there. They lived right by a canal, though, and that's a pretty integral part of the place, so I got a small glimpse as to what amsterdam might look like, at least in the 15th century. That's all for now, but I am sure that I'll think of more things to write later. A bientot!

La greve! Getting lost! My host dad being incredibly musically gifted as well as generous.

Ok, so as some of you may have read in the newspaper, the entire French train and public transportation system shut down today for a strike against the new government, which has only been in office for about 5 months. This is seriously what the French do best. They protest to get what they want. Every french person knew exactly how to deal with it, because there is (as I've heard) at least one major strike each year. Last night around midnight I heard people from my window shouting out in the street about the strike, and at 6:30am I began to hear the morning rush hour traffic outside with their beeping horns and angry yells. Tons of people take the metro, so there was no doubt that there would be more car traffic than normal, and there was. I had to walk to class, but luckily my grammar teacher canceled our 9:30am class, so I only had one at 2pm. I really wanted to make an effort to get out early and walk around so that I'd have enough time to make it to class. I left my house at 10:45 in the morning and didn't make it to the Center until 1:15-1:30. Mind you I got a tad lost and I stopped to get a sandwich for lunch, but it still took a ridiculously long time to walk to the Center. Additionally, I was able to see a lot of beautiful buildings and walk along the Seine for most of the walk, so that made it enjoyable. Plus the weather couldn't have been more agreeable: sunny, clear skies, and just a little chilly. Coming back, however, me and two of my friends got a little lost because it was getting dark, and the streets are confusing, but we made it home after taking at 30 minute "detour" in the wrong direction. Paris is beautiful all lit up at night, though.

Deuxieme chose. In the past 24 hours I have watched 3 long, and politically and emotionally charged movies. The first was "The Battle of Algiers" which was made in 1966 about Algeria's revolt against french colonization. The french took over Algeria sometime in the mid 1800s, and then right after WWII, the Front Liberation Nationale was secretly created in Algeria to counter french colonization. It was a bloody bloddy war, which began in the early 1950s and didn't end until Algeria's independence in 1962. The movie was banned from being shown anywhere in France until very recently (not even a few years), and even then it was a huge controversy. This is a huge part of french history that a lot of french tend to "forget." I told my host mom that I had watched it and she had never heard of it, and she's a very educated and cultured woman. You all must see it. The second movie I borrowed from my host family, and it was "Ghandi." I cried at the end. It is an awesome (but long, so brace yourselves) film and I highly recommend it to any that's interested. it made me question a lot of my beliefs and approaches that I take in life. Dad, I think you would like this movie a lot. And Ghandi. The third movie was called "Au Revoir les Enfants" (Goodbye, Children), and that was set during German occupation of France during WWII. It was set outside of paris at an all boys Catholic boarding school. It was centered around mainly 2 boys, one secretly jewish who is in hiding there, and another who is not jewish, but finds out that the other one is and ends up befriending him. I don't want to give a lot of it away, though, so I will just say that it is very good and that again, you should all see it.
Finalement. My host dad, (as well as all of their children) plays the piano. As I walked into the house this evening, I hear these beautiful sounds emanating from the salon, and I ask Guyonne (one of their daughters) who is playing the piano. She said it was her dad and I told her that I thought it was really lovely. I asked if she knew the song, and she didn't, so we went and asked him. He was playing songs from the opera "La Forza del Destino" by Giuseppe Verdi. I want to play the piano like him. It was astoundingly wonderful, and he just said "oh no, I am not that good right now because I don't know the music well." Yes you do!!! I really appreciate that they all play the piano and I get to listen to them play. He also offered that I borrow the CD of the opera so that I can put it on my computer, and read the english translation of the play. What a gem. I feel a bit "uncultured" though when they ask if I play the piano, and I say no. But I think I won points by telling him that both of my parents went to music school, and that I took singing lessons for a while at school (at Oberlin through the conservatory). Now Guyonne wants to hear me sing. She seemed pretty adamant about it, so I don't doubt she'll ask me in the future. That's ok, though, because I like to sing. Anywhoo...I need to do some homework. Talk to you all later!

haircut

Since I got my haircut a while ago and I still haven't gotten any pictures to show you guys, I will steal them from facebook and post them here, because I can. So, here is my haircut!

I can't think of an intersting title

I should really update this thing more. What have I been up to?? Well, some people that I met through Ruth when she was here invited me over to make crepes with them last week, so that was fun, except for the fact that it was raining when I was trying to find her place, and that was the only time I forgot to bring my umbrella with me. It was already dark, I was on the outskirts of Paris (I think if I would've walked another block I would've been officially out of Paris) and it was cold and rainy. NOT FUN. But when I got there she offered me some dry socks and I hung up my hoodie. Then we had some nutella crepes and everything was good. This past saturday was the France vs. England semi-finals match. France had high hopes for their team (Les Bleus) since the previous saturday they knocked out New Zealand (the All Blacks) from the tournament, and they were said to have been the best team in the tournament. So, me and a few friends decided that we should go to a bar to watch this semi-historic game. We decided on a bar called the Frog and the Princess, which is in the 5th district. We arrived an hour before the game (8pm) and the entire street was packed. The bar, unfortunately, was also packed. We waited in line in the hopes that they might let us in, but they couldn't because it was so full. Everyone in the street was either dressed in the colors of England or France, waving their flags and singing the Marseillaise or God Save the Queen ( I think that is the song) , so that was cool to witness. Some of us wanted to just find a place to watch the game, though, so 3 of us left the group of 5 and found another place where we could watch it. We found a bar called the Old Navy and stood and watched the game. Sadly France lost 14-9, so there were no riots in the streets, or loud singing or parading. Just a somber walk home for the French. During the game, though, everyone was rowdy and optimistic and full of french nationalism. I loved watching the people in the bar as much as the game.
Earlier that day me and two other people decided to visit a museum in the Marais called Musee Carnivale. It was free AND full of awesome things. It had medieval french artifacts, a lot of Louis XV's possessions, and an entire floor dedicated to the French Revolution. All in all it was freaking awesome. I am definitely going to go back. After that we walked around and eventually found a good falafel place to have lunch. Then we walked around some more and checked out the BHV, which is an ENORMOUS (I had to put it all in caps, because it is just that huge) department store. I need to go back because I am in dire need of shoes. The Parisien streets are eating my current ones up. On sunday I checked out an open market and saw some really cool stuff, but I didn't buy anything. I think I'll go back now that I know what to expect to find there. After that I did my homework, which is boring. I think I'll write another update later because I have to go to aerobics right now!

it's been too long

I haven't written in here in a long time, so I think I am due for another entry. I left off last thursday, but that was just about the Indians, who I am so happy for!! I guess I could let you in on what I did this weekend...
On friday afternoon the Center took us on a weekend trip to Dijon. We took a bus to get out there, but it took us over an hour to exit Paris, so our bus ride ended up being about 6 hours. After that fun journey we finally made it into the town of Dijon. We ate dinner around 9:30 because we arrived so late, but the food was amazing. There were jugs of wine on our tables and it seemed as though each time it ran out, the waiter brought back more wine. They really like their wine here. Anyway, for the main course steak with a grilled and stuffed tomato and potatoes au gratin were served. Since I have to be the oddball and be a vegetarian, they served is an amazing pizza with tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. I think it was the best pizza I have ever eaten (sorry, Elmton...). Then for dessert (yes, dessert!!) we had creme brulee!! I think I gained ten pounds just by looking at it let alone eating it, but it was worth it. The next day we took a walking tour of Dijon and saw the Notre Dame of Dijon and the open markets and took a look at the architecture on some of the old homes. I wouldn't mind living there. Then we had lunch and some free time. I spent it walking around the town with some of my friends and then going back to our hotel to take a nap. Later we ate dinner at another restaurant (mind you that we didn't have to pay for any of the food all weekend...) where escargots were served (sadly I didn't eat any) for the appetizer, and then duck with potatoes. I had pasta and was underwhelmed with it, but hey it was free. Then for dessert we had a heavenly chocolate and hazelnut layer cake. I actually died and then came back to life when I ate it. Or maybe I just blacked out from all of the calories that I had consumed. I actually don't know, but I'll go with the first option. On sunday we took an hour ride to a town called Beaune (pronounced "bone") so that we could take a look at the Hospice of Beaune and have a wine tasting at a local vineyard. It was a more rural town but I really liked it and wouldn't mind coming back someday. Anyone want to come with me?? The wine tasting was interesting and we learned about the different levels of wine and which one is the most expensive. my favorite was the Pinot Noir for the red wine and the Bourgogne Aligote for the white wine. I bought some Dijon mustard and Creme de Cassis for my (real) family, so I have to get that sent along soon. The Creme de Cassis is a highly concentrated blueberry liquor that's used to make Kir, and french drink. You can either use white wine or champagne, and then you add a few drops of the creme de cassis and it gives the drink a sweeter taste. it's really good.
Up until now I have been pretty busy with schoolwork and stuff. I have to make a trip to the American Embassy so that I can request an absentee ballot. If I am sending one in from overseas then Ohio will accept it 20 days after election day. I don't plan on sending it in that late, but if it comes down to that, at least I can still vote. I am in a class called Muslim Presence in Europe and right now is the month of Ramadan. Our teacher thought that it would be a good idea to take us to a restaurant so that we could celebrate the breaking of the fast. She brought along one of her friends who is a practicing muslim and we talked about all kinds of things. it was a great dinner and I am really glad that our teacher put it together. Plus, once again, it was free. That's about all right now. I don't have classes today so I am going to run some errands, do homework, maybe some laundry and then watch a movie for one of my classes. Hopefully the weather clears up because it's raining right now. Talk to you all later!

woo!

GO INDIANS!!!


They'd better beat the Yankees!

ahort entry

I have to finish my homework, but I just wanted to post a few things. First, my host family couldn't be any better. Even though I've been here for almost a month, I am still feeling hesitant around them and little uncomfortable. To top that off, I've been homesick because I don't have any close friends here, or a regular group of friends to hang out with. That being said, last week when the parents left for New York, they had first asked me to walk their two youngest kids down the street to their school at 8:30 the next morning. I said, OK, but then they discussed it and said that I didn't need to. The next morning, thinking that I didn't need to take them, I took a shower at my normal time, but around 8:20 I get a knock at my door (mind you I am in my towel..) from Pauline saying that we have to leave in 5 minutes. Fuddling around I say OK, hurry to get dressed and walk them down the street. I had forgotten about this until tonight at dinner when the mother said that she had a present for me for taking the kids when I didn't have to. It was a tea strainer with 4 types of really good tea!! What a great gift! She didn't have to do that for me, but it was a really nice gesture. After dinner I explained to the mother that I was homesick, and that when I am sad I tend to stay to myself but I would like to interact with the family more. She said that' absolutely acceptable and at any time I can just come into the kitchen or living room to do work or to sit with the kids or just to sit while the mom is busy running around with them. That made me feel a little more comfortable to be in their house. I should stop feeling like a tenant or a burden and start feeling like a part of their family (even though I am not...). I also found out that making international calls from their phone is free, and she said that I can call my family at almost any time that I want (except weird hours of the night, of course) so that made me extremely happy!! Anyway, I need to finish some work before bed. good night.

aerobics, bikes, grandparents and palestinian food!

This is going to be a rather short post because I don't have a lot of time to type, but I think that I should update you all on what I have been up to this entire weekend. Friday night some people that I met through Ruth and I had a vegetarian dinner party at their apartment. We had salad, rice, and curry chick peas, potatoes and cauliflower. It was really good. Then we attempted to meet up with some of their friends at a bar near St. Michel, which is in a really nice part of town that comes alive at night with all of the shops, restaurants and bars. Plus the weather was fairly nice, meaning that it was not raining. I found this drink called the Monaco, or the Framboise, and it is amazing. So if I ever feel like splurging while I am out, I will get that. The plans for meeting the others failed, so we just went home. But it was nice to hang out with them. Saturday I was supposed to play softball with the team that I played with last weekend but because of all of the rain the game was canceled. I got the message around 8:50am, and there is a 9:15am aerobics class on saturday mornings at the American Church in Paris. I went to the class and it was wonderful. It was great to start my day that way. I didn't do much after that, except take a shower and do my homework because it was cold and rainy outside. This reminds me. This past wednesday (when it was also cold and rainy) I was walking around looking for a library when I happened upon a taxi workers strike. It was pretty cool to see all of the streets blocked off with the taxi drivers in the middle making it known thei discontent with their contract. Something similar is going to happen with the Metro workers on or around october 18th, which is bad for me because that's the only way I get around! That's how I get to class!! They've done it before and apparently when it happened it really crippled businesses around here. No one could get to work, and the trucking companies that went on strike couldn't deliver their goods to the businesses. Public transportation around here is not something to be treated lightly. They really have an impact on the entire city. OK, away from that anecdote. Saturday night was anticlimactic. I ate dinner with a friend and then walked around the Bastille and the Marais. Two very "hip" places of town. The Marais actually means swampy lands, which is what the city of Paris is built over.
Today we went on a "Paris a Velo" bike tour of the 1st-4th districts and while on it we learned about all of the history of the districts and kings and buildings. It was great. The weather was perfect, too. Then we ate lunch in a little Palestinian restaurant, and guess what?? The food was all vegetarian!! I was so happy. Falafel, hummus, pita, couscous. I was happy. After that we went on a walking tour of the area near the Bastille and again around different parts of the Marais. Very cool. Now I am back here attempting to do homework. I was also very occupied for a long time trying to figure out how my sister and my mom and dad could call me. It was a long and frustrating experience but we finally got it to work and I was able to talk to them on the phone!! Even if it was for just a little bit I was thrilled and more at ease once I got to talk to them. I have been a bit homesick because of friend situations here and kind of "finding myself" but I have a lot of things to occupy my time with, so it's no big deal. I am so glad I got to talk to them, though!! Ok, well I apologize for the short entry and for the lack of interesting wording or sentence structure. My next post will indeed be better. If you have any suggestions or requests about what you want me to write about feel free to tell me! talk to you all later.

grands bises!

Bush fianlly realizes that global warming is a problem

Bush Outlines Climate Change Vision

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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: September 28, 2007

Filed at 12:15 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush called on the world's worst polluters Friday to come together to set a goal for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the climate to heat up. He didn't exempt his own country from the list.

''By setting this goal, we acknowledge there is a problem, and by setting this goal, we commit ourselves to doing something about it,'' Bush said in a speech that capped two days of talks at a White House-sponsored climate change conference. ''We share a common responsibility: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while keeping our economies growing.''

He said each nation should establish for itself what methods it will use to rein in the pollution problem without stunting economic growth.

The gathering drew together U.S. representatives with those of 15 other nations, including big producers from the developing world like China and India as well as the European Union and United Nations. Bush's emphasis is on using green technologies and other voluntary efforts to tackle global warming. The president said the reduction goal should be finalized by next summer, along with ways to measure progress toward it.

He also proposed the creation of an international fund to finance research into clean-energy technology, announcing that U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would coordinate the effort and would be in touch with other governments soon about moving forward.

''Each nation must decide for itself the right mix of tools and technology to achieve results that are measurable and environmentally effective,'' Bush said.

In his speech, Bush acknowledged that climate change is real and that human activity is a factor.

But he refuses to sign onto mandatory emission-reduction obligations, preferring to encourage the development of new technologies and other voluntary measures, and won't participate in any talks toward a global agreement that do not include energy guzzlers from the developing world.

As a result, many have suggested that the U.S.-brokered process is aimed at undermining broader talks sponsored by the United Nations, set to begin in Indonesia in December, to draw up a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. That U.N. treaty was rejected by the administration because, Bush said, it unfairly harmed the economies of rich nations like the United States while excluding poorer countries like China and India from obligations.

The U.N. negotiations emphasize mandatory controls.

Europeans and environmentalists were disappointed.

''One of the striking features of this meeting is how isolated this administration has become. There is absolutely no suppport that I can see in the international comunity that we can drive this effort on the basis of voluntary efforts,'' John Ashton, a special representative on climate change for the British foreign secretary, said in an interview. ''I don't think that this meeting by itself moves the ball very much at all. The much more significant meeting this week was at the U.N., where there was a sense of urgency.''

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel gave the equivalent of two cheers -- not three -- for Bush.

''This here was a great step for the Americans and a small step for mankind,'' he said. ''In substance, we are still far apart.''

The ball is now Congress' court, said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, who was one of the few outsiders to address the panel of government ministers at the meeting.

''Congress needs to lead. The president is not giving us the leadership we need. Ultimately what we need are mandatory caps,'' Krupp said. ''No air pollution problem in the world has ever been solved without having legal limits.''

At the same time, the fact that the United States was taking a role in the process, and a leading one, was heartening to some.

Until recently, said Emil Salim, an economist and member of the Indonesian president's council of advisers, Bush offered ''no dialogue on the Kyoto Protocol whatsoever. This time, the members of the Kyoto Protocol are invited to discuss. So from that point of view, there is some improvement,'' he said in an interview. ''But on the other hand, I think it has more to do with the domestic politics, because you have election.''

Yvo de Boer, the top U.N. climate official, told the 16 nations participating in the White House-led meeting that ''this relatively small group of countries holds a key to tackling a big part of the problem'' but that their response can succeed only by ''going well beyond present efforts,'' especially among rich, industrialized nations.

Bush said the United States is serious about global warming and is committed to making progress itself to slow its growth rate in carbon dioxide and other industrial warming gases as well as to seeing a global deal cut.

''By working together we will set wise and effective policies,'' he said. ''I want to get the job done. We've identified a problem. Let's go solve it together.''

Bush's administration has seemed more sensitive of late to perceptions in other parts of the world that the U.S. government either does not take the phenomenon of global warming seriously -- or seriously enough.

Bush's two-day conference, ending Friday, followed a U.N. meeting Monday at which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tried to build support among 80 world leaders for reaching agreement at the planned December talks. Other participants in Bush's talks included representatives from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Russia, South Africa and South Korea.

my host family=really great

So...I haven't written about my host family yet, which is odd because I've been with them for almost 3 weeks. I guess I just needed some time to settle in. Each day I become more comfortable with them and in their home. I still like I am treading on broken glass when I walk around (especially at night when I have to go to the bathroom) the house because it is so creaky. I am also getting used to their habits and I think they are becoming used to me. It is much easier to talk to them, and I feel that my french is improving. OK. Enough about me. I should tell you about them.

There are 6 of them all together. 3 girls and 1 boy. The girls are Guyonne, who is 13, Agathe, who is 12, and Pauline who is 9. The little boy is Marcotoiane (i really have no idea how to spell his name. each time they say it I automatically hear Mark Twain. Maybe they named him Mark Twain, but only pronounce it the french way.) who is 5. He's cute. I think I'll be able to spend more time with him once my french gets better and once I am really comfortable with the family. The mother is Wivinne (that name is not of french origin. Even she doesn't know where exactly it came from. I like it, though) and the father is Andre. She works in an ecole (like an elementary school, only it goes through age 12) and he is a dentist. His office is luckily on the bottom floor of their apartment building so he doesn't have to commute to work. The family is always so busy! I like that, though. I don't feel confined with them. The girls all take piano lessons and two take singing lessons. They are mature for their age, but still girls. One day at dinner they were all discussing their recent crushes, and Agathe asked me if I was in love with anyone. Right now, no. Marco is just a little spit fire. Always saying something or recounting an event during the day. He's warming up to me, and I to him. I eat with my family every wednesday and I am becoming more accustomed to how they eat. They normally eat around 8pm, and they formally set the table and help their mom get the food ready. When it's all done, we sit down, offer each other food and once everyone has something we eat. Everyone talks to each other and the mom really makes an effort to make sure I am engaged in the conversation. Sometime's it's hard to keep up with what everyone is saying when they're all taking at once, but I'll get better. After the meal there's usually some type of dessert. Today it was this chocolate cake and macarons! I have never had a macaron before, but they are great. It sounds really formal, but they are a normal family and I like that.
At dinner tonight they asked me what I thought of Bush and whether or not I like him. I replied with I don't like him and I think he should change some of the things he is doing and his priorities. I think they asked me this because the mom and dad are going to NYC tomorrow for the father's dad. He's getting some award for being a doctor. So they had the U.S. on their mind. They told me that france does not like Bush and they wanted to see what a typical American thought of Bush.
My family is, what the french would call, the "grand bourgeois." They have a housekeeper (which I am still not used to, but she's really nice), an au pair for the kids and they have piano lessons. I also believe that they go to a private school. Private school's here are much cheaper than the U.S., though, because they are subsidized by the state. Yes, even the parochial schools. They also have another house somewhere. I think. A few weekends they've gone and stayed somewhere else, but it could've been with family. Anyway, that's about all I have on them for now. If other things come up or you have questions, feel free to ask!

what a wonderful day!

I really have to post about today. It's truly been a spectacular day.
The beginning of the day didn't start out too differently, or all that great for that matter. I woke up a bit earlier today so that I could make it to the Center to print out a paper that I had due for my grammar class today. I got there around 9am, printed my paper, did some reading and then went to class at 9:30. Class was class, and our teacher was her normal self; eccentric, jovial and a little absent minded. Yet, she's a joy to have as a teacher. After that class we're supposed to have our conversation class at 11am, but that teacher was sick so it was cancelled. I proceeded to go to the Franprix (a grocery store) and to a Leader Price to do some grocery shopping because I was in dire need of groceries. Cheap groceries, too. Blah blah blah I did that, came home, unloaded my groceries, made some lunch and started to do some reading for my next class, which wasn't until 5pm. That's a long way away. I've been fiddling in my mind with the idea of getting my haircut here and whether or not it is entirely possible to do without really messing up my hair. For about a week I've been scouring the internet for pictures of potential haircuts because every time that I decide to get my haircut I tell myself, "Michelle, you're going to get something different this time!" And low and behold I chicken out and I get the same version of the haircut that I've had for much too long. But today, I was feeling adventurous and I needed a bit of a change since I don't change my style of clothes all that often (For those of you that really know me, a sweatshirt and jeans is my staple outfit. Don't worry! I've upgraded a half of a point. It's now a fitted sweatshirt. I won big time). Anyway, about two hours before my class I decided, "What the heck. I am in Paris, so I should just go for it." I walked around my neighborhood because I've been told that there are some fairly priced good and good salons. I finally stumbled across "Mod's Hair" on rue St. Dominique, which is a block from my home. it was 31 euros for first time customers, and compared to the other prices that was really good. I went in knowing what I wanted but had no idea how to express it in french. I kindly asked if the hairdresser (who was this unbelievably amiable older french man) if he spoke english. He said that he did a little, and he really meant a little. Somehow we managed to communicate pretty fluidly so that he and I could be on the same terms. He pulled out some books and flipped through the pages and ended up on the ones that I wanted. He must be a mind reader. After various hand gestures around my head and some interjected french and english words, he began to cut. My heart was pounding!! "What if it isn't what I want? What if it's a waste of money? What if it's the same as I've always gotten?" These questions circled my mind as he snipped away. As he progressed, though, I found myself really liking what he was doing. It complemented my features and was different from what I've done in the past. So, voila! I have a new haircut with bangs and sharp, choppy edges. It's great and I love it. When I went back to the Center for my last class just about everyone I passed commented on my hair and how they liked it! They also said it complemented my eyes really well. Needless to say, I am very pleased and indebted to the nameless french man who cut my hair today.

Deuxieme chose fromidable. Grace An, a former french teacher of mine and the other oberlin students that are in the same program as me, is here in Paris for a month. She emailed all of us asking if we'd like to have dinner with her when she arrived. Naturally we all said yes. Seriously, who would pass up a free meal in Paris?? Anyway, we met at this hip wireless cafe a few blocks from the Center. It was so nice to talk to her about being in Paris and about her times here and about our homestays and Oberlin and about the other students in the program and just about random things. She's a wonderful teacher who seems to be in touch with what she wants and what her students want and need. She's also just really approachable. Anyway, the food was amazing. I had a vegetarian dish with a piece of melon, eggplant, salad, tomatoes and mozzarella, bread with cheese mushrooms and red peppers. THEN, we had dessert. I got the Tiramisu. HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL it was the most heavenly thing I've ingested in a long time. And after, we had coffee. I had a really enjoyable time. The best part was walking to the Metro with her and just talking about the book that she is writing and about Oberlin and such. She also commented on my smile, saying that it was really pretty, and that whenever she needed to see a smile in class she knew that I would always have one. That probably sounds weird, but it was really nice to hear from her. I needed that boost of confidence because lately I've been feeling a bit lonely. In my experiences just today (and other days, too) I've learned that language barriers can empower someone to commit to an act, or it can totally isolate someone, even though they're surrounded by throngs of people. Can you catch my drift? When I wanted to get my haircut today, I had to buck up and just go for it. I put my trust in the hairdresser and it came out fine, whereas back home I let my apprehensions get the best of me and end up talking my way (inadvertently) out of what I essentially wanted. Without being able to communicate fluently I wasn't able to do that, but I got exactly what I wanted!! As for the loneliness, when I'm not able to fully express myself I can feel disconnected to the people around me and on a lower level then them, thus unable to be understood. Anyway, this is a really long post, but I just really wanted to post it. I apologize for bragging about my hair...i don't mean to sound vain but I really like it! I wish I could take a picture to show you all!

Bises!

just a tidbit

I told you in my most recent post that if I thought of something else to write I would post it. You know how the french (well, europeans in general) are generally thinner than us in the US, well, I'm pretty sure I was one of the biggest (not height-wise....they and the rest of europe's got me beat) girls there. That made me a bit self conscious. Also because I don't speak that well and I don't understand a lot of slang especially at the rate at which they talk, it's hard for me to pick up on what a lot of people are saying. I was pitching back and forth with one of the 17 year olds Lea and one of her friends came up to talk to her. They were talking and then the guy said something to me and I didn't quite catch what he was saying. Then she told him that I was american, and both he and the older guy that he was with kind of stared/glared at me. Needless to say I was uncomfortable and a little angry. I don't know if they actually had harsh feelings towards me because I am an american ( I hope not), but that wasn't quite the reaction I was looking for. Whatever. Je m'en fous (I don't care). Also, juste un petit truc a ajouter. I found some solace today when I looked at the Italian team. Most of their players were short (like me, yay!!) and they were also built like me. You know, big hips, legs that aren't the size of twigs, big noses. I was comforted to know that there is an entire country where it's not absolutely a shock when I am 5 feet tall with big hips. Maybe one day I'll live there. I definitely want to visit it while I'm here. The next language that I want to tackle is italian, then spanish. Hopefully I can do them both at the same time since they are so similar. Then it's german and maybe an asian language, preferable korean. Is that too much? I don't know..I guess I'll just have to live all over the world in order for me to learn these languages best. :) Anyway, I need to finish my homework.

J'ai fais au softball ce weekend!

`I played softball this weekend! OH MY GOODNESS did it feel wonderful (absolutely wonderful) to play softball. It was a tournament that was organized by some group, and I played with a team called BCF Paris (Baseball Club de France, Paris). Let me first tell you how it all began...

One of the first days after I moved in with my host family, they asked me what I liked to do and one of my first responses (naturally) was to say I like to play softball. Softball here, unlike in the US, is not popular or even well known, so my host mother was a little confused when I said that. She didn't know what it was. Neither did the father. So I explained that it was like baseball, only for girls (les femmes). My "mother" offered to help me find a place to practice and play, so she called this sports service for paris and she found 2 places where I could play. 2, in all of Paris. Note that there are almost 2 million people just in the actual city of paris, and there are only 2 places to play. Anyway, I called one of the places (BCF) and got in touch with the coach. The coach then forwarded my call to a player named Halima, who then called me. She seemed excited that I wanted to play and we got things set up for this weekend for me to play. We had a meeting place at a metro stop and then we carpooled about 40 minutes outside of Paris to a park with a softball field and a baseball field. OK, you know how the french do that kissing thing on the cheek to people they are familiar with or meet? Yeah, I know about that too but my knowledge of the seemed to fail me when I actually needed it. When I finally met Halima and the other players carpooling together She said "Hi, I'm Halima" and leaned in for the "bisous" (as it is called in french) and like a trained dog I stuck out my hand. Silly silly silly me. She laughed, I laughed, and we were awkward. She said it was ok because I was new and may not be accustomed to that form of greeting. When we made it to the fields, I went on the "bisous" the other players on the team.
I was very happy to be out there, but in the back of my mind I knew that I hadn't thrown a softball or played in a game for almost 2 months, and that's a really long time for me. I'm really sore right now, but that's besides the point. I surprised myself, though and was able to throw and to pitch. I pitched a game and we won. We actually won all of our games. it was tournament so saturday we played 3 and today we played 2. We ended up winning the entire thing and we got a trophy, as well as cake and wine at the end. It was satisfying.

The team. The team is comprised of people of all ages. The youngest being 17 years old and the oldest being..I don't know maybe mid 30s? early 40s? They all looked young to me and they played great and with a great attitude. Each time a player came in from batting, whether or not they got a hit or got out, they went down the line of players on the bench and gave them high-fives. Lots of support from the other members and never was a bad word uttered from any of them. Great team spirit and they were all out there just to have fun. No pressure at all. A very humbling experience indeed. Almost all of the older players on the team knew english but I told them that I prefer to have them speak in french because I'll learn faster that way. Only when I really needed to know something did they give in and tell it to me in english. But I understood mostly everything that was said to me and I feel that I've already picked up a lot (in terms of slang and just speaking faster and comprehending more) even in just two days.

The games. We played 5 games, but 3 out of those 5 we played a team from Italy. It was really cool to listen to them speak and cheer in italian. It makes me want to learn italian. I learned how to cheer in french, too. "Allez!!" (pronounced Al-lay) means: Come on! Let's go! Go! and "Bien fait!" means well done, or good job, "Bien essaye" (pronounced: be-ye ess-ai-yai) means good try, (literally well tried) and "bien lance!" (pronounced be-ye lawn-say) means good pitch! nice throw! well thrown! So anyway, that's a brief overview of french cheers. There's more, of course, but I don't know a lot and I don't feel like typing it all. I played third for all of the games except one, and that is when I pitched. I also batted 2nd in the lineup all weekend, which was odd for me but I got hits. I should let you know that since softball isn't as big of a sport as it is in the US, the playing level is also not the same. It was horrible or anything, but the pitching mainly was below what I am used to. I had a lot of fun, though, and that's all I wanted to do. I will continue to play with them as long as I can.

After the games on saturday we went to a teammate's house and cooked dinner. There was chicken and merguez (thinner sausages..I don't know how they taste, though, because I don't eat meat) and this potato-egg kish thing that one of the players who grew up in Mexico made. That was really good. Then there was salad and dessert and then....Wii!! I have never played the Wii before, but man is it fun! I boxed and played tennis against another person on the team. It was nice to play and not worry about trying to speak in french or understand what they were saying. I have to say that I completely sucked (je suis nul, in french) at boxing but I rocked at tennis. I highly recommend playing the Wii at least once, if not more times, in your life. It's much more interactive and fun than other video games. After that very long day (i got up at 7am, and didn't get home until 12:35am) i came back home, went to bed and then proceeded to wake up again at 7am so that I could play again. Ouch. my legs and my arms are so sore. Ok, that's all I can think of to write right now, but I am sure that I will think of something later about softball this weekend. Hope you enjoyed the post as much as I did playing softball!

FOOD!

I've been prodded by some folks who will remain nameless to post about the kinds of food that I've been eating. I usually cook for myself, and that's never exciting because it's just cereal, chick peas, lentils, bread, (nutella) some veggies and some fruits. Eggs, too. Can't forget those eggs. I have had some amazing crepes in the time that I've been here so far. You can put anything in a crepe. I had one with egg and cheese, and the next one was one with apple compote! Either way, they're delicious. I had Chinese food with a friend a while ago, but that was just greasy and not good, so I won't do that again. The family eats pretty normal things, like chicken and fish and rice, vegetables and so on. it's just the way that they eat which is different. Meals take a long time to eat and there's an etiquette that I haven't quite nailed yet. it's really hard for me to find vegetarian food, but there are some Indian restaurants that I want to check out and yesterday I stumbled into the Jewish quarter of the city, so there was a lot of falafel, so I think I will try that out too. OHH, panini's are great here. They're cheap and they're filling so if I am in a rush or something, I can get a panini and that will be all that I need. Panini's are just a baguette cut open with stuff inside (i usually get the tomato and mozzarella) and then grilled. It's so good. Oh yeah, the bread here is exceptionally better than anywhere. There' so much of it too. The coffee that I've had has also been exceptional, for a cheap price too. There are Starbucks here, but I absolutely refuse to buy coffee from them because it's more expensive here due to the exchange rate, so why would I buy something here when I can get it for cheaper at home?? Also, there are much better and much cheaper places with a better atmosphere than Starbucks. Don't get me wrong, I do buy their coffee when I'm home, but for now I am taking a break. Is it lunch time, yet?? All this talk about food is making me hungry. Anywhoo, I am going to go do some homework before class. I only have one class on fridays and it's from 2:30-4pm. Have a great day!

j'ai mal a la tete

So while being slightly homesick I scoured some facebook pictures and came across This one of the kids. It's now only of Joey because I cropped it to emphasize the look on his face. It really is priceless and makes me laugh every time I see it. Just so you all know, this was from my mom's 50th birthday party. She doesn't look 50 at all, I think. She's active and lively and on top of her stuff. Ok. I'm going to go to bed, but here is the picture.

more pictures, just for fun

These are just some more pictures. There is one from the catacombs, the view from my window, a picture of roller bladers en masse, some more pictures from the Louvre and the Princess Diana Memorial. Enjoy!

pictures! (from ruth)

I don't know how to work around these photos. I'm basically just taking up space to make it look a little better. Enjoy! If you want to know where all of these pictures came from, you should refer to my post from awhile ago about my weekend with ruth. It's pretty informative and will let you in on where these pictures came from.





Since my camera doesn't want to cooperate with me, I have procured some pictures of paris from my wonderful friend and catcher, Ruth Leah Pine Allanbrook. So, here they are. Enjoyment (hopefully) ensues. The picture with the rabbit is from the Metro, and it says, "Don't put your hands on the doors! You could be pinched very hard."

The one next to it is from a window inside of the Louvre. The picture at the very top, the one of the skull, is obviously from the catacombs. I hope he/she doesn't come back to haunt me.... The one with the gold dome is of a cool looking building. I probably should know what it is, but I don't. Then there's a Metro entrance. I love the metro.