Faire l'aerobique

My sister would be so proud of me. Tonight, I went to an aerobics class. It was so fun!! I am totally going to go again. The teacher is just full of energy and the people who were there were diverse and really nice. There was an frenchman named Aldo who took over the class for about 10 minutes and made us do crazy things to the music. it costs 9 euros a class though, but she did say that there was a way of getting out of paying every once in a while if we are a struggling (financially) student. All we need to do is get there early and sign people in, take their money and give them their change! So I think I will get there early next week. This post is mainly for you, Chris, so, maybe when I get back we can turbo-aero kickbox together.

A bientot

my toilet is the bane of my existence

Last night I had a little ordeal with my toilet that spilled over into the morning. The toilet adjacent to my room takes a really long time to flush. I have to hold down a button and wait for it to actually flush. Last night before going to bed I pushed the button as usual, but the toilet wouldn't flush. The water would just run. I tried pushing it again, but still nothing. Just the lovely sound of the water running to somewhere other than the toilet. I said, "well, it'll shut off soon by itself," so I left it and went to my room. This was around 1:15am. I can hear the toilet from my room and 10 minutes later it is still running. I go back to check it out, but I can't find the problem.* I'm just really hoping that it'll shut off. I go back to my room and try to fall asleep but all that I can think of is this stupid toilet running without knowing when it will shut off. I wonder if I'll have water for a shower the next morning, but I reassure myself that I will because the toilet is bound to shut off, right?? It's now 2:30am and the toilet has still not stopped running. it's not overflowing, but the water is just running. By this time I am worried sick that I broke my host family's toilet and they'll never forgive me or that I am somehow running up their water bill. I calm down, still a bit frustrated and manage to get to sleep. I had to put my earplugs in because the running water was making my blood pressure rise. I think I woke up half dazed around 5:30 and the toilet had stopped. I don't know if it did it on it's own or if the mom or the dad woke up and noticed it was running. I was really relieved that it had finally stopped.
The next morning I get up to take a shower and....you guessed it no water!! What had I done?! It was now 10am and I had a class at 11am, and I hadn't showered. I talked to their cleaning lady and she told me just to wait. I waited and it finally came on 15 minutes later. I didn't have enough time to take a shower so I ran my hair under my faucet just to get it wet so I could do something with it. I really hope I didn't break their toilet.

just for the heck of it

I thought I'd post again just because I want to and because I am a little bored. I already did all of my homework because it was pretty easy and I've been out all day. Also because I just read my aunt nancy's blog and it inspired me to write more than things just about my time in paris. Sure being in Paris can be fun, but it can also be a bit lonely. I miss everyone at home and I wish that I could fly every person out here to be with me. One thing that I am learning by being across the atlantic is that I really have a wonderful family. If I lose everything else in my life and have nowhere to go, I'll at least have my family. Also, I'm learning that I'm not very good at making friends or fitting in with a lot of people, especially here and with some of the people in my group. They're not terrible people, but some of them (actually, most of them) just aren't the type of people that I can totally be myself around. Maybe things will change. I have a great group of friends from home and from Oberlin who I appreciate even more for being my friend. I'm also glad that I have friends that are more interested in school and relevant issues than having "tipsy tuesdays" and the latest pair of straight legged jeans from some brand name that I've probably never heard of. Was I raised in a bubble? Or was I raised to not be afraid to be myself and to do what I want and wear what I want, no matter what? This entry is becoming a little elitest, so I am going to stop before I say something mean. I don't know, I guess I'm just learning a little bit more about myself and about sticking to what I want to do and believe in. I don't have to be cool or pretty for others to like me.

one heck of a long (but awesome) weekend

My weekend commenced right after my last (and only) class on friday, which let out at 4pm. I walked outside of my building and who was walking down the street?? None other than Ruth Allanbrook. She's studying abroad right now (which most of you know) in Amsterdam and decided to spend a weekend in Paris. I think me, some of my friends and some of ruth's friends did a spectacular job at entertaining her. She seemed to have a wonderful time, as did I. Hmm...what did we do...Well on friday we walked around a bit around the 2nd arrondissement (where my classes are) and then I showed her where I lived. After that we went to the Bastille and there was some hip-hop/techno part for the earth going on. We sat on the steps of the Librarie d l'Opera and people watched and caught up. Talking made us hungry, so we got dinner at a semi cheap indian restaurant. After that we met up with some people near the Moulin Rouge so that we could go into the Museum of Erotica. It was, well, very interesting and informative. It wasn't raunchy. It was a legitimate museum with a lot of historical works of art. They also had a huge section on prostitution in France and how it played into the culture. It cost us 5 euros, but we all thought it was worth it. Then after that ruth and I went to the Eiffel Tower because it lights up at night (and sparkles every hour on the 10!) and just looks really cool. We talked more and did some more people watching, and then we went our separate ways to go to bed.
I have to mention that throughout all of this I was sick and bogged down with a stupid sinus infection (so I probably looked and talked like I was cracked out half of the time) and Ruth was really tired from her 6am (or was is 8am....it was early) flight that morning. So for us to do so much that day really took a lot of energy.
Ok. Saturday. What did we do saturday?? Oh yeah, we met up at the metro stop nearest to my house and decided to go to the Catacombs. Ruth's friend that she hasn't seen since high school is also in Paris for the semester, so she contacted her and we met with her before the catacombs. Holy moly the catacombs are awesome. Plus they were only 3,50 euros, so they were also pretty cheap. These things are way underground and the only way to get there was to take a long, narrow and spiraling staircase. I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it. It was a relief to finally make it to the bottom. We walked for a while, following all of the others through caverns and tunnels until we finally made it to the ossuaries. There are signs everywhere before even descending into the catacombs that people will nervous disorders, respiratory disorders and small children may be disturbed when entering the ossuaries. They should've also warned people with claustrophobia may also be disturbed down there. Anyway, past the warnings it was amazing and very creepy. The ossuaries, in case anyone doesn't know are where they keep the bones of dug up graves. They weren't just thrown down there, though. They were neatly placed in large dug-out holes, usually in different formations. One was a heart, there were crosses made of leg bones, arm bones and skulls and there were a number of other designs. There were also a lot of monuments to different people who may have been buried down there. Pictures would be a key element to this entry, but ruth has them and will post them, so I'll just steal them from her so that you all can see just how awesome this was. If anyone is ever in Paris or London or Rome, I would suggest that you check out the catacombs. I may revisit them on halloween..... Ok, after that we hung out at ruth's friend Amanda'a house, with her friend Chloe. It was really nice to meet other people that weren't from my program. It also turned out that we are all vegetarians so we're going to try to orchestrate vegetarian dinner parties every once in a while. For that night we were planning on going to a bar so that we could watch a baseball game (Yankees and Red Sox). They searched online earlier for places that might be airing something other than Rugby (right now is the Rugby World Cup) and supposedly this bar in the 16th arrondissement was going to air the game. We get there and guess what....only rugby. We were all a little disappointed, but it is the world cup, so I'm sure more people in Paris want to watch rugby and not baseball. So we just sat outside at another bar and talked for a while before departing.
Sunday we slept in!!! We had done a lot in the past two days, plus I wasn't feeling too well so sleep was needed. Around 1-ish we decided that we should check out the Louvre. I got a card from my program (laminated with my picture and all official looking) saying that I was an Art History student staying in paris for a year. Yeah, that's not at all true, but they just did that so that we could get in to the museums for free. The Louvre is obviously a museum so I was able to get in for free after a long ordeal with a woman at a computer who was just trying to give me my pass. We probably waited for about 20 minutes before we were able to go in. But we made it. The Louvre is amazing. It's huge and beautiful with just about every artist that's ever lived. They had ancient egyptian art, greek art, italian and french painters and sculpters and not to mention the Mona Lisa (or La Jaconde in French..). She really does seem to be looking at you from ANY angle. Ruth and I looked at her from many different angles and she followed us any which way we went. It was one of the most celebrated works of art in the museum. We spent quite a while in there and still didn't get to see everything. I know I'll be going back several times so that I can have a look at everything now that I have a free pass. After that we just walked around that area of town because she had to get on the metro soon to get to her flight. We got some cheap Paninis at a street vendor, and then got a crepe with Nutella (the best thing since peanut butter). We also took a look inside Notre Dame since it is right across the street from the Louvre. it's really beautiful inside. They were having a mass though, so we didn't look around for long. Now I'm here and ruth is getting ready to get on her flight back to Amsterdam. That's all. Pictures soon (from Ruth).

my favorite place

Les Halles is a part of paris near the Latin Quartier that reminds me of Oberlin. There are a lot of hippies (or as the french call them, Bobos) and a lot of hippie stores. I think one of the street vendor's names was Hippie Chic. Anyway, thought I'd let you know. If anyone comes to visit, we should go because food and clothes and other items are very cheap. Yay for no classes on wednesdays and for spending money!

What I've been doing...

Yo. So I've been here for more than two weeks and you've probably been wondering what I've been up to. I've sent most people emails about my travels across the city, but I'll just name a few things that I have done so far:
-seen the Eiffel Tower
-drank really good wine/and also very cheap wine
-took a boat ride on the Sienne river (spelling?) and saw Notre Dame, the place where Marie Antoinette was guillotined and some awesome architecture
-took a stroll through the Red Light District and saw Moulin Rouge
-Had coffee in a cafe on the sidewalk
-walked an enormous enormous amount around paris in general
-moved in with my really nice (but super rich...I live about a block away from the Eiffel Tower)
-had several awkward moments with my host family because, well, they're french and I'm american.
-started classes
-am hating that the Euro is worth more than the dollar. I'm losing money!! (by the way...any of you can contribute to the Help Michelle Spend Money in Paris fund. See Dora Zanni for more details :) )
-have ridden the Metro a LOT
-have smelled some FUNKY smells on the metro
-have run into (literally collided) a french woman while rushing to the connecting train in the Metro station.
-have gone to an open air market and bought some awesome awesome tomatoes. (questionably better than ours at home in the garden. questionable.)
-have made some friends

That's about all. If I think of anything else I'll let you all know. Again, I'm really sorry I can't post any pictures. That is really the most fun part about reading someone's blog.

finally in paris, finally making a blog

Sadly, however, I can't upload all of my photos because there's seems to be something wrong with the USB cord or the camera. It takes pictures just fine, but for some reason the computer won't acknowledge that the camera's hooked up. So, I have a lot to update on since I arrived on the 28th of August. Seems like a long time, doesn't it? It seems like I've been in Paris for only a day. It's gone by pretty fast but I'm trying to soak up the Parisian air as much as I can. I really love it here, more than I thought I would. It's not just the way things look or the food or the Eiffel Tower. It's the way people carry themselves. It's the smells of all of the deli's and shops on the street. It's how I can start walking down one street and glide down the curved and narrow streets to come upon something totally new and different from anything that I had seen previously. There's a lot of history here that I have to learn, and I think once I learn it I'll have a greater appreciation for France, especially Paris. I also like how it is different from the US. I really needed a change and to go someplace different because I've been living in the same state for the past 20 years. Not that Northeastern Ohio is a terrible place, but there's a lot more for me to see out there. Who knows, maybe I'll live here. Sure I'll come back to the US to finish school, but I'm really falling in love with this place and I want to discover more of Europe. Today in my conversation class we got on the topic of politics and how France is in someways different from the US. Here, people seem to value each other more. It's not just about making as much money as possible (and I know that there are plenty of places in the US that have that same mentality). It's also about enjoying what you do for a living. There's also no capital punishment here, and the streets are much safer than any big US city. Plus french is a beautiful (but very nasally...) language and I want to listen to it all of the time and be able to fluently communicate. I really needed to get that off of my chest. I am in a contemplative and sedated mood so I apologize if my first post isn't that exciting.