Our awesome boat hostel! (last photo)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Oops!
My sincerest apologies to those who read my blog regularly, it seems that I've let it die. I'm sure I've had all kinds of fun adventures the past 4 weeks, but I doubt I can share them in detail without writing a novel. So I'll give you a very brief list, just so you know.
-I did spend the rest of fall break with Elise in Egypt, which included going to the Fayuum oasis and the Cairo museum.
-The next weekend was a four day weekend during which I spend two rainy days in Bruxelles
-The following weekend I went to London and saw Les Miserables on the West End, which was a dream come true. The actor playing Inspector Javert was black, which was a bit unusual to me at first, but he was good. I wonder what Hugo would have thought? I also saw the new Harry Potter movie. Very dark, but awesome. We also visited King's Cross Station and the Abbey Road crosswalk.
-The Monday after my wonderful parents visited me for a week. I surprised them at the train station. =D I forced them to walk quickly in order to see as much as possible. We went to the Monet special exhibit and also took a D-Day tour in lower Normandy. We lucked out on the weather, it was a cold but sunny and clear day. The tour included a stop at the Caen Museum, Omaha Beach, Pont d'Hoc, and the American cemetery. Then they unfortunately had to leave. =(
-I just returned a few hours ago from Berlin. It was between about 7-17 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time and snowy. We stayed on a hostel on a boat that is run by one guy, and he was amazing. He cooked us breakfast, drove us to the airport, told us where to go and it was him and his boat (and his dogs) that made the trip amazing.
And after not being on the internet for (almost) 72 hours, I have 93 new emails to sort through. Woohoo!
Since I'm headed home in two weeks I'm about to write my Paris bucket list. There's so much I still need to see!
Hopefully pictures will make it up on Facebook. . .sometime. . .
A bientot!
Sarah
-I did spend the rest of fall break with Elise in Egypt, which included going to the Fayuum oasis and the Cairo museum.
-The next weekend was a four day weekend during which I spend two rainy days in Bruxelles
-The following weekend I went to London and saw Les Miserables on the West End, which was a dream come true. The actor playing Inspector Javert was black, which was a bit unusual to me at first, but he was good. I wonder what Hugo would have thought? I also saw the new Harry Potter movie. Very dark, but awesome. We also visited King's Cross Station and the Abbey Road crosswalk.
-The Monday after my wonderful parents visited me for a week. I surprised them at the train station. =D I forced them to walk quickly in order to see as much as possible. We went to the Monet special exhibit and also took a D-Day tour in lower Normandy. We lucked out on the weather, it was a cold but sunny and clear day. The tour included a stop at the Caen Museum, Omaha Beach, Pont d'Hoc, and the American cemetery. Then they unfortunately had to leave. =(
-I just returned a few hours ago from Berlin. It was between about 7-17 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time and snowy. We stayed on a hostel on a boat that is run by one guy, and he was amazing. He cooked us breakfast, drove us to the airport, told us where to go and it was him and his boat (and his dogs) that made the trip amazing.
And after not being on the internet for (almost) 72 hours, I have 93 new emails to sort through. Woohoo!
Since I'm headed home in two weeks I'm about to write my Paris bucket list. There's so much I still need to see!
Hopefully pictures will make it up on Facebook. . .sometime. . .
A bientot!
Sarah
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Books and my first day at AUC
I finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro last weekend. I was excited to read it because I'd heard it was good, and supposedly it is the "best novel of the decade" says TIME. I don't know about that. . . Maybe I can't take heartbreaking endings, but after I read it I felt pretty hopeless. It reminded me of Atonement, which I didn't read I just saw the movie, and Keira Knightley is conveniently in both movies. His writing style was odd, sometimes he would describe one obscure thing really well, and then another thing he'd say one sentence about, while I wanted him to describe it in detail. I still want to see the movie even though it will just depress me. It's partially about running out of time, which makes me wish I wasn't away from John for so long. I miss him. When I see it I will be sure to take tissues and chocolate, and hopefully John, too.
Now I am reading Notre Dame de Paris, or the horrible English title it has retained since it was published, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I've made a lot of progress already since I read it while Elise was in class today. Hugo describes for the reader the differences between his modern Paris (1831) and the Paris the novel takes place in (1482). Buildings have been changed or torn down, and of course I can compare his descriptions to the city today, as even more things have changed. In case you didn't know, Hugo wrote the novel in part to invoke a concern for the conservation of old buildings, particularly Notre Dame de Paris as it was going to be torn down. Prior to the 19th century, the idea of preserving historical places did not exist. Now I only saw the Disney adaptation once as a small child, but I can still remember the things that Disney got wrong from the book. . . which is basically everything. Bad bad Disney.
So today I woke up early to catch the 7:40 bus to AUC (The American University in Cairo)with Elise. Later I find out that she tricked me into getting up early, she didn't have class until 11:30! So sneaky. But it's really okay Elise! :P The shiny new campus is out in the desert, so the bus ride is approximately an hour or more one way. Elise takes this bus to school four days a week! I didn't want to fall asleep on the bus, but I did. I snuck into the university and went to Elise's classes. The AUC campus is very pretty, but it is only a few years old. I ate koshary for lunch, which was yummy, and for dinner I ate food from the dorms. I woke up in the middle of night sick from something I ate, which was not fun. So the next day I was weak and didn't feel well, but now I'm feeling much better. Now I need to blog about today and yesterday!
A bientot!
Sarah
Now I am reading Notre Dame de Paris, or the horrible English title it has retained since it was published, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I've made a lot of progress already since I read it while Elise was in class today. Hugo describes for the reader the differences between his modern Paris (1831) and the Paris the novel takes place in (1482). Buildings have been changed or torn down, and of course I can compare his descriptions to the city today, as even more things have changed. In case you didn't know, Hugo wrote the novel in part to invoke a concern for the conservation of old buildings, particularly Notre Dame de Paris as it was going to be torn down. Prior to the 19th century, the idea of preserving historical places did not exist. Now I only saw the Disney adaptation once as a small child, but I can still remember the things that Disney got wrong from the book. . . which is basically everything. Bad bad Disney.
So today I woke up early to catch the 7:40 bus to AUC (The American University in Cairo)with Elise. Later I find out that she tricked me into getting up early, she didn't have class until 11:30! So sneaky. But it's really okay Elise! :P The shiny new campus is out in the desert, so the bus ride is approximately an hour or more one way. Elise takes this bus to school four days a week! I didn't want to fall asleep on the bus, but I did. I snuck into the university and went to Elise's classes. The AUC campus is very pretty, but it is only a few years old. I ate koshary for lunch, which was yummy, and for dinner I ate food from the dorms. I woke up in the middle of night sick from something I ate, which was not fun. So the next day I was weak and didn't feel well, but now I'm feeling much better. Now I need to blog about today and yesterday!
A bientot!
Sarah
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Weeks of Chaos
The last few weeks have been insane, and I was on the verge of a catastrophic mental breakdown, but I made it through. I had midterms I didn't feel prepared for, a presentation in French, and I had to pack for my 10 day trip for fall break. The weekend before I didn't get as much work done as I wanted to because I got rather shaken up by Luke's death. Then I find out on Tuesday that my flight to Venice is cancelled because of the strikes, so I spent time figuring out my travels instead of studying. After much stress, I bought a new plane ticket and changed my original travel plans.
Wednesday night was a crepe dinner organized by Accent followed by a night view of Paris from the top of the Montparnasse Tower. I would have enjoyed the evening more if I hadn't had to go home and frantically study, but it was a good view.
I got up at 5 Friday morning, left the house at 6 to get to the airport for my flight. I was flying on Lufthansa so I had a connection in Munich. Then I flew from Munich to Milan, which meant I got to fly over the Alps. I listened to the Sound of Music while watching the mountains out the window. It was magical.
I took a bus from the Milan airport to Milan, then met Stefana at a metro stop. We had pizza for lunch then walked around Milan after I dropped off my bags. I saw Milan's cathedral, which is very large and made of marble compared to France's limestone, so it was in better condition. For dinner we had appertivo, where you buy a drink then have an all you can eat appetizer buffet.
The next morning I left and took a train to Florence (Firenze). I used my pass and didn't have a reservation, so I stole seats when I could but had to get up when the person with that ticket showed up. I checked into my hostel, at which I was in a 5 girl room and the room was huge. It was very nice. I walked around the city that night and had mushroom risotto and wine for dinner. There was a massive market selling mostly all kinds of leather goods. Everything was beautiful, I bought myself a wallet and some gifts for other people. That night the clock changed and I slept for the longest I had in a week.
The next day Caroline was there, so she and I walked around the city all day seeing the sights. We could have seen more if it hadn't been raining all day. We waited in line for an hour to see Michelangelo's David, and then found out you couldn't take pictures. I tried to be sneaky and take one, but the security people caught me and yelled at me, however I still snagged the photo. You can see their suspicious and angry faces. In Florence we also saw the tombs of Michelangelo, and more importantly Galileo, which was awesome because he has had such an impact on history.
Monday morning I took the train from Florence to Rome, then another train from the train station to the airport. I did pass by some aqueducts, but that's all of Rome that I got to see. =( I had a 3 hour flight to Cairo, and it was horrible. Between turbulence and other anxieties I couldn't wait to land. Luckily, Twilight: Eclipse was playing so I watched that as it gave me something to do. Okay, I hadn't seen it yet and was wanting to watch it sometime, so it was the perfect opportunity. We also flew over large lightning storms. Although this caused the turbulence, I was able to see some incredible lightning from above. I finally landed in Cairo and found both Elise and my bag, went back to the island her dorm is on in a taxi and went to sleep.
Today, Elise and I slept in, had bagels for brunch, then went to the grocery store. After an internet break at home, we headed to the Giza pyramids. I went inside the biggest one, which included crouching and climbing up a ways in stuffy air. I had a little trouble breathing but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, I couldn't take my camera inside. We passed the afternoon walking around the pyramids and the Sphinx. We also saw the "solar boat" that was discovered next to the pyramids. Elise was definitely right in warning me that people here try to sell you literally everything. I spent a lot of time trying to sneak pictures of camels, because normally the camel owner will charge you for a picture.
We then ate dinner at classy Pizza Hut, but we could see the sun set behind the pyramids from the restaurant so it was worth it. After some gelato we returned home, I washed all the dust off of myself, and here I am.
A bientot!
Sarah
Wednesday night was a crepe dinner organized by Accent followed by a night view of Paris from the top of the Montparnasse Tower. I would have enjoyed the evening more if I hadn't had to go home and frantically study, but it was a good view.
I got up at 5 Friday morning, left the house at 6 to get to the airport for my flight. I was flying on Lufthansa so I had a connection in Munich. Then I flew from Munich to Milan, which meant I got to fly over the Alps. I listened to the Sound of Music while watching the mountains out the window. It was magical.
I took a bus from the Milan airport to Milan, then met Stefana at a metro stop. We had pizza for lunch then walked around Milan after I dropped off my bags. I saw Milan's cathedral, which is very large and made of marble compared to France's limestone, so it was in better condition. For dinner we had appertivo, where you buy a drink then have an all you can eat appetizer buffet.
The next morning I left and took a train to Florence (Firenze). I used my pass and didn't have a reservation, so I stole seats when I could but had to get up when the person with that ticket showed up. I checked into my hostel, at which I was in a 5 girl room and the room was huge. It was very nice. I walked around the city that night and had mushroom risotto and wine for dinner. There was a massive market selling mostly all kinds of leather goods. Everything was beautiful, I bought myself a wallet and some gifts for other people. That night the clock changed and I slept for the longest I had in a week.
The next day Caroline was there, so she and I walked around the city all day seeing the sights. We could have seen more if it hadn't been raining all day. We waited in line for an hour to see Michelangelo's David, and then found out you couldn't take pictures. I tried to be sneaky and take one, but the security people caught me and yelled at me, however I still snagged the photo. You can see their suspicious and angry faces. In Florence we also saw the tombs of Michelangelo, and more importantly Galileo, which was awesome because he has had such an impact on history.
Monday morning I took the train from Florence to Rome, then another train from the train station to the airport. I did pass by some aqueducts, but that's all of Rome that I got to see. =( I had a 3 hour flight to Cairo, and it was horrible. Between turbulence and other anxieties I couldn't wait to land. Luckily, Twilight: Eclipse was playing so I watched that as it gave me something to do. Okay, I hadn't seen it yet and was wanting to watch it sometime, so it was the perfect opportunity. We also flew over large lightning storms. Although this caused the turbulence, I was able to see some incredible lightning from above. I finally landed in Cairo and found both Elise and my bag, went back to the island her dorm is on in a taxi and went to sleep.
Today, Elise and I slept in, had bagels for brunch, then went to the grocery store. After an internet break at home, we headed to the Giza pyramids. I went inside the biggest one, which included crouching and climbing up a ways in stuffy air. I had a little trouble breathing but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, I couldn't take my camera inside. We passed the afternoon walking around the pyramids and the Sphinx. We also saw the "solar boat" that was discovered next to the pyramids. Elise was definitely right in warning me that people here try to sell you literally everything. I spent a lot of time trying to sneak pictures of camels, because normally the camel owner will charge you for a picture.
We then ate dinner at classy Pizza Hut, but we could see the sun set behind the pyramids from the restaurant so it was worth it. After some gelato we returned home, I washed all the dust off of myself, and here I am.
A bientot!
Sarah
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Pour Elise
Today hasn't been a good day, but I won't talk about that right now.
Last night I went and saw The Social Network. I was expecting it to just be a fun movie, but it was surprisingly well made and went by very quickly as it held my attention the whole time. And I ingested a large popcorn and large coke during the movie, which I don't usually do, but as this was the THIRD movie I've seen (theater or at home) in 10 weeks, then I felt like I deserved a touch of Americana. Salt with high fructose corn syrup, mmmm. I need to start watching more movies! It was interesting to see how the French laughed at different parts than us. Of course, they only got subtitles. In the movie they were making fun of how small Monaco is and that certainly tickled the French crowd.
One of the actors in the movie who I really liked was Andrew Garfield, who I've seen The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and one Doctor Who episode, in which Elise thought he was annoying. :P Okay his hair is a bit ginormous.
A while ago I had a book recommended to me called Never Let Me Go which I later learned was going to be a movie with Keira Knightley. I finally bought the book and started reading it. I was curious about the movie again, so I looked it up right after seeing The Social Network, and I rediscovered that Andrew Garfield is playing the lead male character in the film adaptation. Now I'm even more excited to finish the book and eventually see the movie.
Also, my parents and little brother successfully left for New York yesterday. I'm jealous, but my mom said she'd tell the US "Hello" for me. Haha. I finally gave my family a few of the presents I brought with me, right before they go to America and buy more of the same thing. I gave them Stillwater honey, Stillwater blackberry jam, organic store brand maple syrup, and JIF peanut butter. They seemed happy with my very sugary gifts.
So here's the critical part of this post, for Elise's eyes only! Well anyone can watch it really but it might be boring for you. Unless you're named Elise.
UPDATE: I have just learned that uploading videos is a painful process. And by the time it finishes it will be long past your birthday.
ANOTHER UPDATE Well I tried Elise, but I'll have to upload it tomorrow. Stupid French internet. I bite my thumb at you.
Last night I went and saw The Social Network. I was expecting it to just be a fun movie, but it was surprisingly well made and went by very quickly as it held my attention the whole time. And I ingested a large popcorn and large coke during the movie, which I don't usually do, but as this was the THIRD movie I've seen (theater or at home) in 10 weeks, then I felt like I deserved a touch of Americana. Salt with high fructose corn syrup, mmmm. I need to start watching more movies! It was interesting to see how the French laughed at different parts than us. Of course, they only got subtitles. In the movie they were making fun of how small Monaco is and that certainly tickled the French crowd.
One of the actors in the movie who I really liked was Andrew Garfield, who I've seen The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and one Doctor Who episode, in which Elise thought he was annoying. :P Okay his hair is a bit ginormous.
A while ago I had a book recommended to me called Never Let Me Go which I later learned was going to be a movie with Keira Knightley. I finally bought the book and started reading it. I was curious about the movie again, so I looked it up right after seeing The Social Network, and I rediscovered that Andrew Garfield is playing the lead male character in the film adaptation. Now I'm even more excited to finish the book and eventually see the movie.
Also, my parents and little brother successfully left for New York yesterday. I'm jealous, but my mom said she'd tell the US "Hello" for me. Haha. I finally gave my family a few of the presents I brought with me, right before they go to America and buy more of the same thing. I gave them Stillwater honey, Stillwater blackberry jam, organic store brand maple syrup, and JIF peanut butter. They seemed happy with my very sugary gifts.
So here's the critical part of this post, for Elise's eyes only! Well anyone can watch it really but it might be boring for you. Unless you're named Elise.
UPDATE: I have just learned that uploading videos is a painful process. And by the time it finishes it will be long past your birthday.
ANOTHER UPDATE Well I tried Elise, but I'll have to upload it tomorrow. Stupid French internet. I bite my thumb at you.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Rambling Thoughts
Paris is getting colder, and I really like it. This lovely afternoon it's a clear and sunny 50 degrees. The cool weather is refreshing, it makes the city feel prettier. I think the cold air keeps the bad smells at bay or something. (In the past two weeks I have seen two toilets on the sidewalk in different places, which is funny and ironic. I guess the garbage men pick up toilets at the curbside?) Although, the changing weather just makes the Californians complain even more. I can accept them complaining about the cold, even if it's really not that cold, but they still don't understand rain, and I want to yell at them but I hold my tongue. "When I left home it was pouring and now it's not, I don't understand." That's a direct quote. Some key things UC kids here don't understand: Rain comes from clouds. Rain starts and stops. Clouds come and go. It can rain for any amount of time. Just because it's raining/not raining where you are doesn't mean that when you go somewhere else it will be raining/not raining. I wish I could control the weather just so I could throw a tornado at them when they say stupid things. This is incredibly frustrating for me.
(More weather commentary, I know it's thrilling) I realized a few days ago that for the past two years I haven't had a real autumn and that when it's been cold I've been home for Christmas and been with John. The approaching cold and darkness really make me need a cuddle with some hot chocolate and a movie. I'm an avid movie watcher, and I've only watched two movies in the past 9 weeks! And it's hard to get out of bed when it's so dark, luckily daylight savings time is almost here. I just haven't been motivated to do anything recently, not even sleep. Maybe my trip to warm Cairo will wake me up a bit.
Now that I'm in Paris I really want to reread Les Miserables and read The Hunchback of Notre Dame because I know they'll be much more meaningful after living here. I'll actually be familiar with the streets Hugo describes and the politics of the time. The problem is that they're long, and I already have a stack of books with me that I need to read! I just bought a new book on Amazon.fr this week! The first time I read Les Mis it took me two months. It was only 1500 pages. I suppose I *could* read an abridged version, but that feels like cheating.
Next week is midterms and I have a French presentation, so I have a lot of work to do this weekend. Two of my tests are essay tests, and essay tests are rather intimidating to this science major. Eek! At least I have the questions to prepare in advance, but still, me no likey essays on tests. Saturday is my pass time for picking winter classes at Santa Barbara. My planned classes are genetics, plant biology, French 6, and a GE literature class. Funny how right now the classes I think I'll enjoy the least are the classes for my major, yet here I am complaining about essay tests. Silly me.
My host family is leaving for New York tomorrow for fall break, assuming their flight isn't canceled because of the strikes and lack of jet fuel. I hope they make it. I leave for fall break next Thursday, so I won't be seeing them for over two weeks, which is sad. I won't be all alone, my parents' friend and her family, along with a German exchange student, are arriving on Monday, so they'll be living in the house too. Last night at dinner my host mom was having a beer, which is unusual, so I knew she was upset about something, which turned out to be their flight tomorrow. Hopefully by next week when I have a flight the strikes will have calmed down. Later during dinner my mom said that my French was improving, which gave me a huge ego boost, but maybe that was just her beer talking.
I mailed in my absentee ballot today. I actually received a campaign letter in Paris from Cory Williams, which surprised me. I guess he really wants my vote since he spent a whole 98 cents to send it to me! I was surprised when I looked at my ballot and read "Sharia Law is Islamic law. It is based on two principal sources, the Koran and the teaching of Mohammed." I was just shocked to see those words in the state questions! Knowing Oklahoma, I was immediately suspicious. The proposition states that Sharia Law nor international law can be considered in court. On the one hand this is *perhaps* logical, yes, the laws of our country are not Shira Law, and you must follow the laws of the country you are in, but this is not what the proposition is about. It's just blatant Islamophobia that America is sick with. Also, a proposition that lets people choose to not participate in a national health care system. Oh Oklahoma, will you ever learn? If any of you want to review the state questions, they're here. (Link is failing to work)
http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/sq_gen10.pdf
Also, I am now going to London the weekend Harry Potter comes out, which I'm sure will include sheer madness and anarchy in the streets and robed children. I'm getting very anxious for the movie! I'm excited to see my bad boys Lucius, Draco, and Severus. >:) But no Sirius. :*( You've probably already seen this, but it's fun to watch again! And it's the most entertaining part of this entry.
A bientot!
Sarah
(More weather commentary, I know it's thrilling) I realized a few days ago that for the past two years I haven't had a real autumn and that when it's been cold I've been home for Christmas and been with John. The approaching cold and darkness really make me need a cuddle with some hot chocolate and a movie. I'm an avid movie watcher, and I've only watched two movies in the past 9 weeks! And it's hard to get out of bed when it's so dark, luckily daylight savings time is almost here. I just haven't been motivated to do anything recently, not even sleep. Maybe my trip to warm Cairo will wake me up a bit.
Now that I'm in Paris I really want to reread Les Miserables and read The Hunchback of Notre Dame because I know they'll be much more meaningful after living here. I'll actually be familiar with the streets Hugo describes and the politics of the time. The problem is that they're long, and I already have a stack of books with me that I need to read! I just bought a new book on Amazon.fr this week! The first time I read Les Mis it took me two months. It was only 1500 pages. I suppose I *could* read an abridged version, but that feels like cheating.
Next week is midterms and I have a French presentation, so I have a lot of work to do this weekend. Two of my tests are essay tests, and essay tests are rather intimidating to this science major. Eek! At least I have the questions to prepare in advance, but still, me no likey essays on tests. Saturday is my pass time for picking winter classes at Santa Barbara. My planned classes are genetics, plant biology, French 6, and a GE literature class. Funny how right now the classes I think I'll enjoy the least are the classes for my major, yet here I am complaining about essay tests. Silly me.
My host family is leaving for New York tomorrow for fall break, assuming their flight isn't canceled because of the strikes and lack of jet fuel. I hope they make it. I leave for fall break next Thursday, so I won't be seeing them for over two weeks, which is sad. I won't be all alone, my parents' friend and her family, along with a German exchange student, are arriving on Monday, so they'll be living in the house too. Last night at dinner my host mom was having a beer, which is unusual, so I knew she was upset about something, which turned out to be their flight tomorrow. Hopefully by next week when I have a flight the strikes will have calmed down. Later during dinner my mom said that my French was improving, which gave me a huge ego boost, but maybe that was just her beer talking.
I mailed in my absentee ballot today. I actually received a campaign letter in Paris from Cory Williams, which surprised me. I guess he really wants my vote since he spent a whole 98 cents to send it to me! I was surprised when I looked at my ballot and read "Sharia Law is Islamic law. It is based on two principal sources, the Koran and the teaching of Mohammed." I was just shocked to see those words in the state questions! Knowing Oklahoma, I was immediately suspicious. The proposition states that Sharia Law nor international law can be considered in court. On the one hand this is *perhaps* logical, yes, the laws of our country are not Shira Law, and you must follow the laws of the country you are in, but this is not what the proposition is about. It's just blatant Islamophobia that America is sick with. Also, a proposition that lets people choose to not participate in a national health care system. Oh Oklahoma, will you ever learn? If any of you want to review the state questions, they're here. (Link is failing to work)
http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/sq_gen10.pdf
Also, I am now going to London the weekend Harry Potter comes out, which I'm sure will include sheer madness and anarchy in the streets and robed children. I'm getting very anxious for the movie! I'm excited to see my bad boys Lucius, Draco, and Severus. >:) But no Sirius. :*( You've probably already seen this, but it's fun to watch again! And it's the most entertaining part of this entry.
A bientot!
Sarah
Sunday, October 17, 2010
La Ville de Lille
(While I'm writing this my little host brother started singing The Imperial March from Star Wars. Haha!)
So my planned trip to Marseilles this weekend was ruined by the strike, although my friend Lauren was still able to make it on a different train, but that's a long sad story I won't tell again.
Instead, I took the train to Lille on Saturday, which meant I finally got to activate the Eurail pass I bought and ride France's high speed train. The strike was still going on, so I checked online before I left to see if my trains had been canceled or not. About 1/3 of the trains from Paris to the provinces were canceled, but luckily neither of mine were. I arrived at the station an hour before my train left, but I needed to get my Eurorail pass activated at the ticket window. I waited in one line for about 15 minutes, only to find out that I needed to go to a more specific ticket window. I waited in that line for 30 minutes, and was getting a bit anxious as it was about time for my train to leave. I assume the lines were so long because of the strike, only a few people were working and trains were being canceled so travelers were trying to exchange tickets. I finally received the activation stamp on my pass, which took all of 30 seconds, and managed to quickly get on the correct train and the correct car, which was at the other end of the platform. I'm glad I got there so early or I would have missed my train. But then I never even had my pass or ticket checked by the conductor!
It was a high speed train, with an average speed of 124 mph, obviously slower in town and faster in the country, which was cool. It was exactly a one hour trip from Paris to Lille. At the Lille train station there was a very long line to buy metro tickets, and when I looked outside of the train station I saw the steeple of a cathedral, so I decided to just leave the station and walk towards the steeple. This was a great decision, and in the end I didn't ride the metro all day, I just walked everywhere. I really wanted a map of the city, and lo and behold as I wandered around the streets I accidentally stumbled upon the tourism office where I snagged a free map.
I passed the day in Lille just walking around on the streets, eating, drinking, and window shopping. I did visit the Lille art museum, and I would have visited the natural history museum had it been open. Over the course of the day I had a beer, a hot chocolate, a glass of red wine, then a glass of blush wine. I think all I did was pass the time at restaurants. For lunch I ate at a chain brewery called Les 3 Brasseurs and had a dish called flammekueche in Alsatian. Alsace is a region in north east France that borders Germany and has formerly been a part of Germany. It happens to be where my host father's from, and I certainly have trouble understanding his French because of his Alsatian accent. But the flammekueche is a well known Alsatian dish, and it resembles pizza in theory and appearance, but it tastes a bit different. It was basically a giant piece of very thin dough that tasted more like a cracker than bread.. The one I ordered had grilled onions, mushrooms, ham, and cheese (just in spots, not spread evenly like pizza) with oil underneath. It was very yummy.
Brief comment on French food. Most traditional French food is very rich tasting, has lots of fat, may contain weird animal parts, and it's difficult to eat a lot of it. Eating traditional French food makes me feel like I'm in the Middle Ages. I don't know if that makes any sense but if you ate here I think you'd understand. Hot chocolate here is a very bitter cocoa bar dissolved in hot water. I will admit I have to add a little sugar, but even then it's still super bitter and wildly delicious.
I was surprised by the amount of high end shopping in Lille, and by the afternoon the streets were packed with people. It was rather chilly and I was bored so I browsed the stores but I'm broke so I left each store empty handed. I found a courtyard where people were selling old books, comics, and records. I bought a coin of Napoleon III for 1 Euro, which was a nice find even if the coin isn't the best quality. The Lille cathedral was somewhat interesting because it was built in the 19th and 20th century and the facade was finished in 1999. This is the rose window of the cathedral, I think you can tell that it's not 600 years old.
I was finished exploring Lille earlier than I thought I would be, but my train to Paris didn't leave until 10pm, so I read a book in a bar at the train station. But the bar kicked me out at 8:45! Kind of ridiculous, but my train was the last train of the night, and again, it was a strike day. When the train arrives I check my ticket and it says I'm in car 3, second class, but car 3 is just first class, so my place doesn't exist. I see an older couple on the platform looking lost, so I ask them and they have the same problem as me. The woman told me I spoke French well, which was a nice compliment, but I don't think I really said much to her. I mumbled about my ticket and then I told her I was American. I guess that's more than other Americans can say. lol. I decided to just sit in an empty seat in 2nd class, which wasn't a problem as the train was nowhere near full. When the conductor man came by I told him my place didn't exist and he was like "Whoa that's weird!" But obviously it wasn't a problem.
Today I have to write a paper for French about The Stranger by Albert Camus, pretending that I am the main character. Most of the book isn't too terrible to read, but Cliffnotes summary has been extremely helpful to me so I know exactly what happened. If you don't understand one word you can miss the meaning of the whole paragraph or even the chapter. I read through one paragraph twice and didn't realize that he had murdered someone. D'oh! I have a love-hate relationship with Cliffnotes because it allows students to not read the book and just read the summary, which has always upset me, but I love to read. Reading books is good for you. Scientists say so. But now that I'm reading books in French I'm glad the summaries are there for me so I can confirm my interpretation.
By the way, I've had this song stuck in my head for a while. If you don't like it I don't think you have a heart. From the musical adaptation of Notre Dame de Paris aka The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Please listen to it!
"O notre dame, oh laisse-moi rien qu'une fois, pousser la porte du jardin d'Esmeralda."
A bientot!
Sarah
So my planned trip to Marseilles this weekend was ruined by the strike, although my friend Lauren was still able to make it on a different train, but that's a long sad story I won't tell again.
Instead, I took the train to Lille on Saturday, which meant I finally got to activate the Eurail pass I bought and ride France's high speed train. The strike was still going on, so I checked online before I left to see if my trains had been canceled or not. About 1/3 of the trains from Paris to the provinces were canceled, but luckily neither of mine were. I arrived at the station an hour before my train left, but I needed to get my Eurorail pass activated at the ticket window. I waited in one line for about 15 minutes, only to find out that I needed to go to a more specific ticket window. I waited in that line for 30 minutes, and was getting a bit anxious as it was about time for my train to leave. I assume the lines were so long because of the strike, only a few people were working and trains were being canceled so travelers were trying to exchange tickets. I finally received the activation stamp on my pass, which took all of 30 seconds, and managed to quickly get on the correct train and the correct car, which was at the other end of the platform. I'm glad I got there so early or I would have missed my train. But then I never even had my pass or ticket checked by the conductor!
It was a high speed train, with an average speed of 124 mph, obviously slower in town and faster in the country, which was cool. It was exactly a one hour trip from Paris to Lille. At the Lille train station there was a very long line to buy metro tickets, and when I looked outside of the train station I saw the steeple of a cathedral, so I decided to just leave the station and walk towards the steeple. This was a great decision, and in the end I didn't ride the metro all day, I just walked everywhere. I really wanted a map of the city, and lo and behold as I wandered around the streets I accidentally stumbled upon the tourism office where I snagged a free map.
I passed the day in Lille just walking around on the streets, eating, drinking, and window shopping. I did visit the Lille art museum, and I would have visited the natural history museum had it been open. Over the course of the day I had a beer, a hot chocolate, a glass of red wine, then a glass of blush wine. I think all I did was pass the time at restaurants. For lunch I ate at a chain brewery called Les 3 Brasseurs and had a dish called flammekueche in Alsatian. Alsace is a region in north east France that borders Germany and has formerly been a part of Germany. It happens to be where my host father's from, and I certainly have trouble understanding his French because of his Alsatian accent. But the flammekueche is a well known Alsatian dish, and it resembles pizza in theory and appearance, but it tastes a bit different. It was basically a giant piece of very thin dough that tasted more like a cracker than bread.. The one I ordered had grilled onions, mushrooms, ham, and cheese (just in spots, not spread evenly like pizza) with oil underneath. It was very yummy.
Brief comment on French food. Most traditional French food is very rich tasting, has lots of fat, may contain weird animal parts, and it's difficult to eat a lot of it. Eating traditional French food makes me feel like I'm in the Middle Ages. I don't know if that makes any sense but if you ate here I think you'd understand. Hot chocolate here is a very bitter cocoa bar dissolved in hot water. I will admit I have to add a little sugar, but even then it's still super bitter and wildly delicious.
I was surprised by the amount of high end shopping in Lille, and by the afternoon the streets were packed with people. It was rather chilly and I was bored so I browsed the stores but I'm broke so I left each store empty handed. I found a courtyard where people were selling old books, comics, and records. I bought a coin of Napoleon III for 1 Euro, which was a nice find even if the coin isn't the best quality. The Lille cathedral was somewhat interesting because it was built in the 19th and 20th century and the facade was finished in 1999. This is the rose window of the cathedral, I think you can tell that it's not 600 years old.
I was finished exploring Lille earlier than I thought I would be, but my train to Paris didn't leave until 10pm, so I read a book in a bar at the train station. But the bar kicked me out at 8:45! Kind of ridiculous, but my train was the last train of the night, and again, it was a strike day. When the train arrives I check my ticket and it says I'm in car 3, second class, but car 3 is just first class, so my place doesn't exist. I see an older couple on the platform looking lost, so I ask them and they have the same problem as me. The woman told me I spoke French well, which was a nice compliment, but I don't think I really said much to her. I mumbled about my ticket and then I told her I was American. I guess that's more than other Americans can say. lol. I decided to just sit in an empty seat in 2nd class, which wasn't a problem as the train was nowhere near full. When the conductor man came by I told him my place didn't exist and he was like "Whoa that's weird!" But obviously it wasn't a problem.
Today I have to write a paper for French about The Stranger by Albert Camus, pretending that I am the main character. Most of the book isn't too terrible to read, but Cliffnotes summary has been extremely helpful to me so I know exactly what happened. If you don't understand one word you can miss the meaning of the whole paragraph or even the chapter. I read through one paragraph twice and didn't realize that he had murdered someone. D'oh! I have a love-hate relationship with Cliffnotes because it allows students to not read the book and just read the summary, which has always upset me, but I love to read. Reading books is good for you. Scientists say so. But now that I'm reading books in French I'm glad the summaries are there for me so I can confirm my interpretation.
By the way, I've had this song stuck in my head for a while. If you don't like it I don't think you have a heart. From the musical adaptation of Notre Dame de Paris aka The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Please listen to it!
"O notre dame, oh laisse-moi rien qu'une fois, pousser la porte du jardin d'Esmeralda."
A bientot!
Sarah
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Barcelona Recap
A late summary of my trip to Barcelona. First of all, Paris was grey and drizzly when we left, and Barcelona was warm and sunny. The general personality and appearance of the Spaniards versus the French reflects this weather. I don’t want to paint a bad picture of the French or reinforce stereotypes, but the French are cold and skinny, while Spaniards are very warm and women have curves that they show off. Keep in mind that I live in Paris, and Parisians are different than the French in the provinces. I am (thankfully) very different from a New Yorker. I’m going to Marseille tomorrow, so it should be interesting to see what vibe the Mediterranean French give off.
The first morning in Barcelona we went on a free* walking tour that was all about the architect Antoni Gaudi. I didn’t know much about him prior to visiting, but I quickly became a big fan, then purchased a nice book about him. We saw three houses that he designed then went to his famous church, Sagrada Familia. Because the church is so big and crazy, it is still far from finished, it is estimated that it will be finished in 40-50 more years, even if construction started in 1882. Presently, 8 towers of 18 have been built, and the 8 that are finished are the shortest towers. If they can successfully finish it without it collapsing under its own enormity then it will be a magnificent sight to behold. It’s crazy to me that such an intense church project is being undertaken today, since grand churches aren’t built anymore, at least not in an old looking style. Although I don’t think Gaudi’s style can be compared to anything. I know in the Middle Ages it took hundreds of years to finish Gothic cathedrals, but that was the Middle Ages! Hand carved sculptures should be carved faster nowadays, right?! Would it honor Gaudi more to leave it as he left it, nowhere near complete, or try to finish it according the few plans of his that remain, even if the end result isn’t what he intended. It is certainly a thought provoking structure. I’m bummed I didn’t have time to see in the side, but maybe I can go back when I’m 80 years old and the whole thing is finished. (My pictures don't do it justice).
After the tour, we went to Parc Guell, an estate designed by Gaudi that is now a park. It was a very pretty place with a nice overlook of the city. I also managed to buy two pairs of Gaudi-esque earrings for 5 euros altogether from a lady peddling her goods. That night we ate paella, which was delicious. I had seafood paella, and I think it contained shrimp, squid, octopus, mussels, and crawfish. I ate way too much.
The second morning we went on another free* walking tour, but this one was a tour of the Old City, or Gothic quarter. We saw some Roman ruins hidden in modern buildings and learned some Barcelona history. We saw the palace where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived, so also where Columbus went to have a chat with them. Speaking of which, there is a large monument with Columbus on a tower pointing to the New World/India/whatever the hell is that way.
After that tour, some of us went back to Casa Mila, a Gaudi house, and explored the inside. The best part of it is the roof, on which the chimneys look like soldiers. But more importantly, they inspired George Lucas’ look for Darth Vader and the storm troopers. They are also present on the passion façade of the Sagrada Familia, I assume they’re supposed to represent Roman soldiers? I don’t know for certain, but I think Gaudi wanted to imply that Darth Vader and the Empire killed Jesus. Just guessing.
That night Hannah’s Barcelonan friend and all her friends took us to one of the locals’ favorite restaurants. There were fifteen of us, half American, half Spanish, and the food was incredible. They ordered appetizers for us, and I had delicious cured ham, then this dish which is French fries with a spicy sauce and a little scrambled egg mixed in. It sounds strange but it was tasty. And of course we had pitchers of sangria to go around. Mmmm, that stuff is deliciously dangerous. Next we went to a Carnival themed bar to experience what Spanish shots are like. I only had one, and it consisted of a partially carved out orange with some kind of liquor in it, sitting on top of a shot. You drink the top off with a straw, then squeeze the orange into the rest of the shot, then drink that. Obviously, it was very different from a shot in America, and much tastier. But I was exhausted and stressed about the upcoming week, so luckily I took a taxi home at 2, everyone else stayed out until 5:30. Yikes.
The last day we ate on the beach and enjoyed the weather and some topless women. I ate nachos and a quesadilla, which were much appreciated. Spain seems to have a better understanding of Mexican food than France does. Then I walked, rode the metro, rode a big train, walked some more, flew in a plane, rode a bus for two hours, rode the metro and finally found myself home in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
The first morning in Barcelona we went on a free* walking tour that was all about the architect Antoni Gaudi. I didn’t know much about him prior to visiting, but I quickly became a big fan, then purchased a nice book about him. We saw three houses that he designed then went to his famous church, Sagrada Familia. Because the church is so big and crazy, it is still far from finished, it is estimated that it will be finished in 40-50 more years, even if construction started in 1882. Presently, 8 towers of 18 have been built, and the 8 that are finished are the shortest towers. If they can successfully finish it without it collapsing under its own enormity then it will be a magnificent sight to behold. It’s crazy to me that such an intense church project is being undertaken today, since grand churches aren’t built anymore, at least not in an old looking style. Although I don’t think Gaudi’s style can be compared to anything. I know in the Middle Ages it took hundreds of years to finish Gothic cathedrals, but that was the Middle Ages! Hand carved sculptures should be carved faster nowadays, right?! Would it honor Gaudi more to leave it as he left it, nowhere near complete, or try to finish it according the few plans of his that remain, even if the end result isn’t what he intended. It is certainly a thought provoking structure. I’m bummed I didn’t have time to see in the side, but maybe I can go back when I’m 80 years old and the whole thing is finished. (My pictures don't do it justice).
After the tour, we went to Parc Guell, an estate designed by Gaudi that is now a park. It was a very pretty place with a nice overlook of the city. I also managed to buy two pairs of Gaudi-esque earrings for 5 euros altogether from a lady peddling her goods. That night we ate paella, which was delicious. I had seafood paella, and I think it contained shrimp, squid, octopus, mussels, and crawfish. I ate way too much.
The second morning we went on another free* walking tour, but this one was a tour of the Old City, or Gothic quarter. We saw some Roman ruins hidden in modern buildings and learned some Barcelona history. We saw the palace where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived, so also where Columbus went to have a chat with them. Speaking of which, there is a large monument with Columbus on a tower pointing to the New World/India/whatever the hell is that way.
After that tour, some of us went back to Casa Mila, a Gaudi house, and explored the inside. The best part of it is the roof, on which the chimneys look like soldiers. But more importantly, they inspired George Lucas’ look for Darth Vader and the storm troopers. They are also present on the passion façade of the Sagrada Familia, I assume they’re supposed to represent Roman soldiers? I don’t know for certain, but I think Gaudi wanted to imply that Darth Vader and the Empire killed Jesus. Just guessing.
That night Hannah’s Barcelonan friend and all her friends took us to one of the locals’ favorite restaurants. There were fifteen of us, half American, half Spanish, and the food was incredible. They ordered appetizers for us, and I had delicious cured ham, then this dish which is French fries with a spicy sauce and a little scrambled egg mixed in. It sounds strange but it was tasty. And of course we had pitchers of sangria to go around. Mmmm, that stuff is deliciously dangerous. Next we went to a Carnival themed bar to experience what Spanish shots are like. I only had one, and it consisted of a partially carved out orange with some kind of liquor in it, sitting on top of a shot. You drink the top off with a straw, then squeeze the orange into the rest of the shot, then drink that. Obviously, it was very different from a shot in America, and much tastier. But I was exhausted and stressed about the upcoming week, so luckily I took a taxi home at 2, everyone else stayed out until 5:30. Yikes.
The last day we ate on the beach and enjoyed the weather and some topless women. I ate nachos and a quesadilla, which were much appreciated. Spain seems to have a better understanding of Mexican food than France does. Then I walked, rode the metro, rode a big train, walked some more, flew in a plane, rode a bus for two hours, rode the metro and finally found myself home in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Saucisse ou Saucisson? That is the question
Hey ya’ll, forgive my long absence, I was out of town with limited internet for four days, and then when I returned to Paris I had two papers to write, one in English, one in French, 240 pages to read, a test, and other various homework all due in the four days after that. Now my internet keeps randomly stopping. I think my family accidentally turned the router off, because our network keeps disappearing. So those are all my excuses.
A few things I’ve done in Paris since I last wrote.
I finally went inside the Pantheon with my history class. If you get confused like my dad, this is the Paris Pantheon, only built in the 18th century, and not built by the Romans, but displaying Romanesque architecture.
Originally started by Louis XV as a church to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, it is now a secular temple and mausoleum to the great men of France. The revolutionists burned St. Genevieve’s body because that’s the kind of thing they were into. In modern times, the president suggests a person be moved there and parliament votes on it. So far all of Sarkozy’s suggestions have not been approved for one reason or another. The crypt contains some of the most famous French people ever, but it is very plain. There is very little decoration so that everyone buried there is viewed as equally important. It’s supposed to be a very solemn and sad place, but I would describe it more as honorable and cool. Cool is a high quality adjective, I know.
I also went to the Arc de Triomphe with my class. It was commissioned by Napoleon, but he died before most of it, including all the sculptures, was finished, so it’s impossible to say that it actually looks how he wanted it to. It touches on Napoleon and his armies being awesome, as they are shown carrying treasures back from Egypt and trampling enemies, but it is mostly an acknowledgement that war is inevitable. War and peace is an endless cycle in which war predominates.
Overall, the sculptures on the side facing Paris are positive and negative on the other side. Then we climbed to the top, which wasn’t too hard, only 300 steps, but it was a spiral staircase, which really made me not feel well. The view from the top was quite nice, even though it was a gloomy day. (PHOTO: Louvre in distance at the end of the Champs-Elysees)
On Thursday I went to a fondue dinner organized by Accent. We had cheese fondue, meat fondue, and chocolate fondue. Meat fondue is just cooking meat in hot oil, similar to shabu shabu. It wasn’t bad, but shabu shabu is certainly tastier. The cheese fondue was yummy, and I wouldn’t have eaten as much of it had I known that there was chocolate fondue on the way. I ate far too much. Je grossis.
It was 75 degrees in Paris this weekend, and I wore shorts for the first time. Of course it was warm enough to wear them when I arrived in August, but I failed to own any at that point. I took advantage of the oddly warm weather and went to Le Jardin du Luxembourg and then Le Jardin des Plantes. Yes, it is named the garden of plants, but it is a scientific garden, so it identifies everything growing there. There’s a section of plants that are odorous and a vineyard and shrubberies of all kinds. There is also a cute little zoo hidden in the trees, so I spent my afternoon gazing at animals, like usual. The highlights were a row of different owl species and a beautiful snow leopard. The orangutans were quite amusing too, although their eyes always appear so sad and intelligent it makes me feel bad that they’re cooped up. =/ That night we had Thai food again, where orangutan was probably on the menu, and I ate some more noodles in coconut milk. Mmm.
At the zoo I discovered that I am indeed, as I thought, a Parselmouth. This snake was curled up with its face against the glass, and I whispered "Hello snakey." and it starting climbing straight up the glass. It was awesome. I promise I am not the heir of Slytherin.
The next day I took a leisurely stroll around Ile de la Cite and Ile de St. Louis, the two islands in the Seine in central Paris. Ile de la Cite was where the first known inhabitants of “Paris”, the Parisii tribe, built their settlement as it provided protection from enemies, around 52 BC. Since then, it has undergone layers and layers of building, but since about the 5th century (I think) it has had a governmental building on the west end and a Christian structure on the other, which today is Notre Dame de Paris. I wandered onto Ile de St. Louis, then wandered into the church and found this placard below a carved scene of St. Louis. Yeah America!
I finally asked my family the culinary question that had been bugging for weeks. What is the difference between a saucisse and a saucisson? In general, they both mean sausage, but I asked for the wrong one at a restaurant and the waiter corrected me. It turns out, a saucisson is generally already cooked/cured/preserved by magic, and is served cold or room temperature. So the sausages that are hanging on the cabinet in our kitchen at room temperature are saucissons. On the other hand, a saucisse is generally served hot, and I assume that it is considered raw prior to cooking. So the sausages here that resemble hot dogs without a bun are considered to be saucisses. So far, I have not eaten a saucisse that I actually liked (granted I am very picky about hot dogs, I don't like all beef), but I have had saucisson at my house and on sandwiches from boulangeries and they have all been delicious. I hope this has given you some valuable insight on French sausage vocabulary.
I will write about my trip to Barcelona tomorrow. I promise. Maybe. But now I must catch up on GLEE!
I have actual pictures of the last six weeks on Facebook now if you want to check them out.
Love you all!
Sarah
A few things I’ve done in Paris since I last wrote.
I finally went inside the Pantheon with my history class. If you get confused like my dad, this is the Paris Pantheon, only built in the 18th century, and not built by the Romans, but displaying Romanesque architecture.
Originally started by Louis XV as a church to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, it is now a secular temple and mausoleum to the great men of France. The revolutionists burned St. Genevieve’s body because that’s the kind of thing they were into. In modern times, the president suggests a person be moved there and parliament votes on it. So far all of Sarkozy’s suggestions have not been approved for one reason or another. The crypt contains some of the most famous French people ever, but it is very plain. There is very little decoration so that everyone buried there is viewed as equally important. It’s supposed to be a very solemn and sad place, but I would describe it more as honorable and cool. Cool is a high quality adjective, I know.
I also went to the Arc de Triomphe with my class. It was commissioned by Napoleon, but he died before most of it, including all the sculptures, was finished, so it’s impossible to say that it actually looks how he wanted it to. It touches on Napoleon and his armies being awesome, as they are shown carrying treasures back from Egypt and trampling enemies, but it is mostly an acknowledgement that war is inevitable. War and peace is an endless cycle in which war predominates.
Overall, the sculptures on the side facing Paris are positive and negative on the other side. Then we climbed to the top, which wasn’t too hard, only 300 steps, but it was a spiral staircase, which really made me not feel well. The view from the top was quite nice, even though it was a gloomy day. (PHOTO: Louvre in distance at the end of the Champs-Elysees)
On Thursday I went to a fondue dinner organized by Accent. We had cheese fondue, meat fondue, and chocolate fondue. Meat fondue is just cooking meat in hot oil, similar to shabu shabu. It wasn’t bad, but shabu shabu is certainly tastier. The cheese fondue was yummy, and I wouldn’t have eaten as much of it had I known that there was chocolate fondue on the way. I ate far too much. Je grossis.
It was 75 degrees in Paris this weekend, and I wore shorts for the first time. Of course it was warm enough to wear them when I arrived in August, but I failed to own any at that point. I took advantage of the oddly warm weather and went to Le Jardin du Luxembourg and then Le Jardin des Plantes. Yes, it is named the garden of plants, but it is a scientific garden, so it identifies everything growing there. There’s a section of plants that are odorous and a vineyard and shrubberies of all kinds. There is also a cute little zoo hidden in the trees, so I spent my afternoon gazing at animals, like usual. The highlights were a row of different owl species and a beautiful snow leopard. The orangutans were quite amusing too, although their eyes always appear so sad and intelligent it makes me feel bad that they’re cooped up. =/ That night we had Thai food again, where orangutan was probably on the menu, and I ate some more noodles in coconut milk. Mmm.
At the zoo I discovered that I am indeed, as I thought, a Parselmouth. This snake was curled up with its face against the glass, and I whispered "Hello snakey." and it starting climbing straight up the glass. It was awesome. I promise I am not the heir of Slytherin.
The next day I took a leisurely stroll around Ile de la Cite and Ile de St. Louis, the two islands in the Seine in central Paris. Ile de la Cite was where the first known inhabitants of “Paris”, the Parisii tribe, built their settlement as it provided protection from enemies, around 52 BC. Since then, it has undergone layers and layers of building, but since about the 5th century (I think) it has had a governmental building on the west end and a Christian structure on the other, which today is Notre Dame de Paris. I wandered onto Ile de St. Louis, then wandered into the church and found this placard below a carved scene of St. Louis. Yeah America!
I finally asked my family the culinary question that had been bugging for weeks. What is the difference between a saucisse and a saucisson? In general, they both mean sausage, but I asked for the wrong one at a restaurant and the waiter corrected me. It turns out, a saucisson is generally already cooked/cured/preserved by magic, and is served cold or room temperature. So the sausages that are hanging on the cabinet in our kitchen at room temperature are saucissons. On the other hand, a saucisse is generally served hot, and I assume that it is considered raw prior to cooking. So the sausages here that resemble hot dogs without a bun are considered to be saucisses. So far, I have not eaten a saucisse that I actually liked (granted I am very picky about hot dogs, I don't like all beef), but I have had saucisson at my house and on sandwiches from boulangeries and they have all been delicious. I hope this has given you some valuable insight on French sausage vocabulary.
I will write about my trip to Barcelona tomorrow. I promise. Maybe. But now I must catch up on GLEE!
I have actual pictures of the last six weeks on Facebook now if you want to check them out.
Love you all!
Sarah
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Grass is Greener Where There is No Concrete
BRIEF RANT: My search for boots in Paris has been on for 3 weeks and I am just now blogging about it. I have had a shockingly difficult time finding a the perfect pair of boots. I waited to buy nice boots here, but I think it would have been easier to find ones that work in the US! I have been in at least 30 different shoe stores, assessing all the qualities I want my boots to posses: cute toe shape, zip up, brown, certain heel height, traction, not too plain, and within my price range are the main qualities. I realized I would probably have to adapt a little to the current style. I finally found a pair that met all of these ideals, and then when I tried them on my calf was too fat. I proceeded to go to other stores and my calves wouldn't fit in anything! I started to look for shorter boots, but all they seem to make right now are knee high or ankle, not many mid-calf. After suffering from very real shopping stress, I finally found a pair that I could ZIP ALL THE WAY UP my calf at Minelli. I decided it was a miracle so I bought them. The heel is higher than I wanted, so I hope they don't hurt my feet too much, but they're very cute. And I exceeded my maximum price, but I was getting so frustrated in my search I was about to go back to Marc Jacobs and try on some of his that I liked. Also, there were some 600€ boots I looked at that had no traction whatsoever on the bottom. I'm not paying that much just to fall down!
If you're not interested in my boots, I apologize, but they have been consuming most of my thoughts and time, outside of school of course. Now that my search is over what shall I do with all my free time?
Friday night, I went to the Asian area of Paris and ate Thai food with my friends. I had amazing shrimp pad thai and then for dessert I ordered a dish that was green worm/green bean looking noodles floating in coconut milk. It really looked like worms. I have no idea what it was called, but it was incredibly delicious. Keep in mind, I was ordering Thai food (which I know nothing about) in French, so it's even more difficult than normal. But luckily my whole meal was spot on. Even the green worm noodles.
Today was probably my favorite day in France thus far, despite the fact that I was mildly freezing because the temperature decided to drop almost 30 degrees from a few days ago and I was not prepared. Luckily, I managed to grab a warm scarf before I left the house at 7:20 this morning.
But anyways, today we took a bus to Rouen and then Giverny, both located in Haute-Normandie (upper Normandy), with Rouen being the capital. In Rouen we walked around the oldest part of town and saw some nice examples of 14th century half timbered houses.
We went into the Rouen cathedral briefly to look around. Rouen was heavily bombed by the allies in preparation for D-Day, so the cathedral was damaged and the entire city on the left bank of the river was destroyed. A few walls are all that remain of the government building where Joan d'Arc was tried for heresy. (Destroyed prior to WWII) Then we walked to the city square where she was burned alive in 1431. There's no stake there obviously, just a bed of sunflowers as well as other memorial engravings and whatnot.
Then we left Rouen while pondering death by fire and headed to Giverny. The reason today was so wonderful for me was because we left the big smelly city behind us and drove to beautiful green and lush hills and cornfields where there were birds and cows instead of homeless people and air pollution. Not only was it beautiful and refreshing, but it made me feel much more comfortable and at home. If you don't look too carefully the countryside looks like the central US, with rolling hills of trees and fields, but if you look carefully the trees are different species with a different shape and the houses are at least two hundred years old. It was indeed a sight for sore eyes.
Then we arrived in Giverny, the little town where Claude Monet spent the last half of his life. The whole area was green and flowers were blooming everywhere, but Monet's Japanese water garden, and even his traditional garden, were breathtaking. It would have been nice if it had been sunny more often (and warmer!) but the water garden was probably the most relaxing place I've ever been. I wish I could have kicked out all the other tourists and just sat there for hours. It also helps that I love Monet's works and I felt as though I had just stepped into the world of his paintings. Well, I suppose I actually did.
If you're not interested in my boots, I apologize, but they have been consuming most of my thoughts and time, outside of school of course. Now that my search is over what shall I do with all my free time?
Friday night, I went to the Asian area of Paris and ate Thai food with my friends. I had amazing shrimp pad thai and then for dessert I ordered a dish that was green worm/green bean looking noodles floating in coconut milk. It really looked like worms. I have no idea what it was called, but it was incredibly delicious. Keep in mind, I was ordering Thai food (which I know nothing about) in French, so it's even more difficult than normal. But luckily my whole meal was spot on. Even the green worm noodles.
Today was probably my favorite day in France thus far, despite the fact that I was mildly freezing because the temperature decided to drop almost 30 degrees from a few days ago and I was not prepared. Luckily, I managed to grab a warm scarf before I left the house at 7:20 this morning.
But anyways, today we took a bus to Rouen and then Giverny, both located in Haute-Normandie (upper Normandy), with Rouen being the capital. In Rouen we walked around the oldest part of town and saw some nice examples of 14th century half timbered houses.
We went into the Rouen cathedral briefly to look around. Rouen was heavily bombed by the allies in preparation for D-Day, so the cathedral was damaged and the entire city on the left bank of the river was destroyed. A few walls are all that remain of the government building where Joan d'Arc was tried for heresy. (Destroyed prior to WWII) Then we walked to the city square where she was burned alive in 1431. There's no stake there obviously, just a bed of sunflowers as well as other memorial engravings and whatnot.
Then we left Rouen while pondering death by fire and headed to Giverny. The reason today was so wonderful for me was because we left the big smelly city behind us and drove to beautiful green and lush hills and cornfields where there were birds and cows instead of homeless people and air pollution. Not only was it beautiful and refreshing, but it made me feel much more comfortable and at home. If you don't look too carefully the countryside looks like the central US, with rolling hills of trees and fields, but if you look carefully the trees are different species with a different shape and the houses are at least two hundred years old. It was indeed a sight for sore eyes.
Then we arrived in Giverny, the little town where Claude Monet spent the last half of his life. The whole area was green and flowers were blooming everywhere, but Monet's Japanese water garden, and even his traditional garden, were breathtaking. It would have been nice if it had been sunny more often (and warmer!) but the water garden was probably the most relaxing place I've ever been. I wish I could have kicked out all the other tourists and just sat there for hours. It also helps that I love Monet's works and I felt as though I had just stepped into the world of his paintings. Well, I suppose I actually did.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Phantasmagoria feat. Jude Law
I just finished reading Père Goriot by Balzac for my French literature class. It has a sad ending, but I enjoy his writing style and hope to read some of his other stories, especially since his characters span different novels. Within the book I discovered the word of the day: phantasmagoria. Definitions: An exhibition of optical effects and illusions, a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined, a scene that constantly changes, a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection, or assemblage. So I learned a new word and now you have too, unless you already knew it.
My host mom finally popped the big question to me: "Do you like Obama?" So I told her yes, and then we briefly talked about the NY mosque and September 11th. I think the French are surprised that so many Americans are upset about the mosque because they view America as a place where one has the freedom to build a church, mosque, whatever anywhere. We both agreed that the victims would not want continued hate and intolerance.
But happier thoughts, I have an illegal job already! I'm tutoring my little brother Prosper in English for an hour a week, at the rate of 15€ an hour. =D He's 11 and is taking his first English course at school. It makes me wish we gave other languages higher priority in the US. Of course, as I have had two different Frenchmen tell me, the French language is dying.
Now I'm two weeks into my normal semester. I love both my classes en anglais, French literature and histories of Paris. They're super interesting. Tuesday we went to the Louvre just to read the outside of it, since it was built by many different kings, queens and emperors. They leave their initials all over the part that they built.
Friday I returned to Versailles to see the inside of the chateau. It was quite lovely, although I have to say, everything in Paris has so much grandeur and gilded ceilings that it does start to be less impressive. They had an exhibition of this modern Japanese sculptor/painter Murakami in the palace, which could not have been any more opposing to the 17th century decor, but it was so out of place that I found it intriguing. I liked all of his sculptures. I also didn't realize that the painting "The Coronation of Napoleon" was so big, approx 10m by 6m!
Friday night I was lucky enough to go the Peace One Day concert, which was amazing. (For more info: http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome ) Going into the concert I had only heard of one of the artists, Youssou N'Dour, and he was incredible. He sings in English, French, Arabic, and Wolof, his native language in Senegal. The other artists were all popular with the French crowd, though not all French, such as Charlie Winston (video below). Vanessa Paradis sang as well. She's Johnny Depp's domestic partner and baby momma, but also a famous French actress and singer. She sang "Hallelujah" in English, and it was breathtaking. But most importantly, the concert was co hosted by Jude Law and Sharon Stone. This is the best picture I got of him. *sigh*
Saturday and Sunday were Les journées du patrimoine (Days of Patrimony), during which all these buildings that are normally closed are open and free to the public just this one time each year. Most are governmental buildings, and most government buildings are gorgeous palaces, but also museums show special collections not on display normally. And it's all free! So I went to the French Senate (Luxembourg Palace), Hotel de Ville (city hall), Maison de Victor Hugo, la Sorbonne (University of Paris main building, and the National Archives. I wanted to visit President Sarkozy's house (Palace Elysee) but I saw the line and decided against it. I found out that my classmate waited in line for over EIGHT hours before she got in. Yeah, it was a once in lifetime opportunity, but I'm glad I chose not to get in line. Saturday night we went out to some bars to celebrate Hannah's birthday, including a bar where you get 10 flavored shots for 18€, and apparently chocolate flavoring with vodka is delicious, who knew?! (If you're my parents, please ignore.) Then we went to a bar with dancing that my friend's cute French boy friend took us to. I was surprised that the dancing at this French bar was much classier than dancing at parties in the US. It's normal to make out in public here, so I thought the dancing would be more provactive. But anyways, a very fun weekend.
PHOTO: Front of Senate chamber
This week I felt overloaded with homework, and today I actually didn't get one of my worksheets turned in, which is one of the few times EVER EVER in my life that I haven't turned something in on time. =*( We did have a test in that class though, if that's any excuse. It looks like the workload is going to continue all semester, but at least it's only a four day school week.
Today there is/was another strike, so I went to the Place de la Bastille to check it out. All the unions had large balloons with their letters of them, and people were wearing shirts signifying their particular union too. Then there was music and vendors selling food and drinks. It looked like a party. I'm thinking it's just an excuse to miss work and party in the streets. Silly French.
More to say, but I'll stop for today.
~Sarah
My host mom finally popped the big question to me: "Do you like Obama?" So I told her yes, and then we briefly talked about the NY mosque and September 11th. I think the French are surprised that so many Americans are upset about the mosque because they view America as a place where one has the freedom to build a church, mosque, whatever anywhere. We both agreed that the victims would not want continued hate and intolerance.
But happier thoughts, I have an illegal job already! I'm tutoring my little brother Prosper in English for an hour a week, at the rate of 15€ an hour. =D He's 11 and is taking his first English course at school. It makes me wish we gave other languages higher priority in the US. Of course, as I have had two different Frenchmen tell me, the French language is dying.
Now I'm two weeks into my normal semester. I love both my classes en anglais, French literature and histories of Paris. They're super interesting. Tuesday we went to the Louvre just to read the outside of it, since it was built by many different kings, queens and emperors. They leave their initials all over the part that they built.
Friday I returned to Versailles to see the inside of the chateau. It was quite lovely, although I have to say, everything in Paris has so much grandeur and gilded ceilings that it does start to be less impressive. They had an exhibition of this modern Japanese sculptor/painter Murakami in the palace, which could not have been any more opposing to the 17th century decor, but it was so out of place that I found it intriguing. I liked all of his sculptures. I also didn't realize that the painting "The Coronation of Napoleon" was so big, approx 10m by 6m!
Friday night I was lucky enough to go the Peace One Day concert, which was amazing. (For more info: http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome ) Going into the concert I had only heard of one of the artists, Youssou N'Dour, and he was incredible. He sings in English, French, Arabic, and Wolof, his native language in Senegal. The other artists were all popular with the French crowd, though not all French, such as Charlie Winston (video below). Vanessa Paradis sang as well. She's Johnny Depp's domestic partner and baby momma, but also a famous French actress and singer. She sang "Hallelujah" in English, and it was breathtaking. But most importantly, the concert was co hosted by Jude Law and Sharon Stone. This is the best picture I got of him. *sigh*
Saturday and Sunday were Les journées du patrimoine (Days of Patrimony), during which all these buildings that are normally closed are open and free to the public just this one time each year. Most are governmental buildings, and most government buildings are gorgeous palaces, but also museums show special collections not on display normally. And it's all free! So I went to the French Senate (Luxembourg Palace), Hotel de Ville (city hall), Maison de Victor Hugo, la Sorbonne (University of Paris main building, and the National Archives. I wanted to visit President Sarkozy's house (Palace Elysee) but I saw the line and decided against it. I found out that my classmate waited in line for over EIGHT hours before she got in. Yeah, it was a once in lifetime opportunity, but I'm glad I chose not to get in line. Saturday night we went out to some bars to celebrate Hannah's birthday, including a bar where you get 10 flavored shots for 18€, and apparently chocolate flavoring with vodka is delicious, who knew?! (If you're my parents, please ignore.) Then we went to a bar with dancing that my friend's cute French boy friend took us to. I was surprised that the dancing at this French bar was much classier than dancing at parties in the US. It's normal to make out in public here, so I thought the dancing would be more provactive. But anyways, a very fun weekend.
PHOTO: Front of Senate chamber
This week I felt overloaded with homework, and today I actually didn't get one of my worksheets turned in, which is one of the few times EVER EVER in my life that I haven't turned something in on time. =*( We did have a test in that class though, if that's any excuse. It looks like the workload is going to continue all semester, but at least it's only a four day school week.
Today there is/was another strike, so I went to the Place de la Bastille to check it out. All the unions had large balloons with their letters of them, and people were wearing shirts signifying their particular union too. Then there was music and vendors selling food and drinks. It looked like a party. I'm thinking it's just an excuse to miss work and party in the streets. Silly French.
More to say, but I'll stop for today.
~Sarah
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
City Life
It's certainly interesting living in a huge city, but I think I'm already over it. It's rather true when people say Paris is dirty. I know big cities are usually dirty, but it seems worse than other ones I've been in, although my experience is fairly limited. The city also has a broad spectrum of smells. Walking down the street you get a whiff of baking bread, garbage, fresh fruit, dog poop, grilled onions, flowers, homeless man, fresh fish, and then all of that with an overlay of cigarette smoke. The French love dogs but most don't pick up after them so there can be a surprising amount of doggy poo on the sidewalk, and of course there are cigarette butts covering everything. Luckily they wash the sidewalks at night.
Maybe I'll just write once a week, that seems to be my trend so far.
Last Tuesday was the first grève or strike since my arrival, and there's sure to be more. I think one's already set for September 23rd. Since I live by the Place de la Bastille, all the strikes occur or go through here. My dad told me to "Grab my socialist flag and join them!" lol. Of course I ended up being inside all day and missing the entire thing! Oh well, there will be another. Speaking of which, last weekend there was a Communist Party party that was a massive three day concert, but I didn't get to go to any of it.
Friday I took the final for the practicum, which means I get 4.5 units of credit for two weeks of work. Afterwards my friends and I finally went shopping on the Champs-Élysées although we didn't buy much except giant pastries. We were trying to find the tunnel to reach l'Arc de Triomphe but then we looked over at it and realized that all the tourists that had been there were gone, so we thought it must have closed, even though it was still early in the evening. Then all of a sudden there's a military marching band coming down the street and the police have stopped all the cars in the roundabout, an impressive task. So the band marched the the Arc followed by many military members of various branches. We stood and watched for awhile, wondering what was going on, so we asked a policeman and we learned that it was a WWI memorial. Then they played the Star Spangled Banner and La Marseillaise, but by that time traffic had recommenced so it was hard to hear the band and I didn't have my camera on me. But still a fun accidental experience.
Saturday I took a bus to Chartres, a trip organized by ACCENT. We spent one hour in the cathedral with Malcolm Miller, who is the Chartres Cathedral expert. He gave Nixon a tour of it back in the day. With only an hour we focused on reading two stained glass windows and one alcove on the exterior. There are so many meanings behind one stained glass window I don't know how someone could think all of them up and then make it! This photo is above the alter, the top portion has already been renovated, so it's all clean and painted, the bottom is how the rest of (and most) old cathedrals look. It's difficult to remember that they originally weren't just gray stone. It will be so pretty when it's all painted again!
We walked around the cathedral more after the tour and saw the reason for the cathedral's existence, the piece of the Virgin Mary's tunic. It is actually from the first century, so at least the date matches, but it wasn't brought to the cathedral until 876 as a gift from Charles the Bald, so where was it all that time? Sounds like a sketch deal. But regardless, with people making pilgrimages it's been Chartres' money maker for over 1000 years. So of course I took a picture of 2000 year old "potentially worn by the 'virgin' mother of Christ" cloth with a flash because I'm smart like that.
Afterwards we walked around the old town of Chartres which was very cute. It was so nice to be out of Paris in a more rural area and the weather was gorgeous. With the cathedral and town I kept thinking of the Canterbury Tales, but I know that's in England, but still the same time frame and involving pilgrimages. It was a very refreshing day.
Sunday I went to L'Hôtel Nationale des Invalides, which was built by Louis XIV as a veterans hospital and veterans home. Today it still serves as both, but also contains extensive military museums. I saw enough suits of armor, swords, and guns to last me for a while. I also saw a Swastika cookie cutter, which was amusing. Then I went upstairs and passed photos of piles of dead bodies and a man cut in half which removed any humor.
Then I paid my respects to Napoleon Bonaparte, thanking him for Oklahoma and all the other red states. By the way, he could really could use a much bigger casket. *sarcasm* Compensate much?
And a Japanese propaganda poster. . .
But all in all, I enjoyed a lovely lazy day in Paris and checked another monument off my list!
More later, my laptop is dying!
A bientot!
Sarah
Maybe I'll just write once a week, that seems to be my trend so far.
Last Tuesday was the first grève or strike since my arrival, and there's sure to be more. I think one's already set for September 23rd. Since I live by the Place de la Bastille, all the strikes occur or go through here. My dad told me to "Grab my socialist flag and join them!" lol. Of course I ended up being inside all day and missing the entire thing! Oh well, there will be another. Speaking of which, last weekend there was a Communist Party party that was a massive three day concert, but I didn't get to go to any of it.
Friday I took the final for the practicum, which means I get 4.5 units of credit for two weeks of work. Afterwards my friends and I finally went shopping on the Champs-Élysées although we didn't buy much except giant pastries. We were trying to find the tunnel to reach l'Arc de Triomphe but then we looked over at it and realized that all the tourists that had been there were gone, so we thought it must have closed, even though it was still early in the evening. Then all of a sudden there's a military marching band coming down the street and the police have stopped all the cars in the roundabout, an impressive task. So the band marched the the Arc followed by many military members of various branches. We stood and watched for awhile, wondering what was going on, so we asked a policeman and we learned that it was a WWI memorial. Then they played the Star Spangled Banner and La Marseillaise, but by that time traffic had recommenced so it was hard to hear the band and I didn't have my camera on me. But still a fun accidental experience.
Saturday I took a bus to Chartres, a trip organized by ACCENT. We spent one hour in the cathedral with Malcolm Miller, who is the Chartres Cathedral expert. He gave Nixon a tour of it back in the day. With only an hour we focused on reading two stained glass windows and one alcove on the exterior. There are so many meanings behind one stained glass window I don't know how someone could think all of them up and then make it! This photo is above the alter, the top portion has already been renovated, so it's all clean and painted, the bottom is how the rest of (and most) old cathedrals look. It's difficult to remember that they originally weren't just gray stone. It will be so pretty when it's all painted again!
We walked around the cathedral more after the tour and saw the reason for the cathedral's existence, the piece of the Virgin Mary's tunic. It is actually from the first century, so at least the date matches, but it wasn't brought to the cathedral until 876 as a gift from Charles the Bald, so where was it all that time? Sounds like a sketch deal. But regardless, with people making pilgrimages it's been Chartres' money maker for over 1000 years. So of course I took a picture of 2000 year old "potentially worn by the 'virgin' mother of Christ" cloth with a flash because I'm smart like that.
Afterwards we walked around the old town of Chartres which was very cute. It was so nice to be out of Paris in a more rural area and the weather was gorgeous. With the cathedral and town I kept thinking of the Canterbury Tales, but I know that's in England, but still the same time frame and involving pilgrimages. It was a very refreshing day.
Sunday I went to L'Hôtel Nationale des Invalides, which was built by Louis XIV as a veterans hospital and veterans home. Today it still serves as both, but also contains extensive military museums. I saw enough suits of armor, swords, and guns to last me for a while. I also saw a Swastika cookie cutter, which was amusing. Then I went upstairs and passed photos of piles of dead bodies and a man cut in half which removed any humor.
Then I paid my respects to Napoleon Bonaparte, thanking him for Oklahoma and all the other red states. By the way, he could really could use a much bigger casket. *sarcasm* Compensate much?
And a Japanese propaganda poster. . .
But all in all, I enjoyed a lovely lazy day in Paris and checked another monument off my list!
More later, my laptop is dying!
A bientot!
Sarah
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
L'Opéra Garnier
On Monday my class went to the Opera Garnier, aka Le Palais Garnier, aka Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris, aka Academie Nationale de Musique. . . . .but whatever you call it it's the opera The Phantom of the Opera takes place in. Unfortunately there was some remodeling going on, so the side and back facade were completely covered and we could hear power saws during our tour. But nevertheless, the elaborate staircase and gold laden foyer were quite impressive. Our tour guide was very well versed on the history of the building, and he was very easy to listen to, but maybe that's because he looked like a French Neil Patrick Harris. I didn't realize that the opera was actually built on top of a "lake" and that a counterweight for the grand chandelier had fallen and killed someone, thus the origin of both concepts in the book. Because there was a rehearsal going on we couldn't even go into the auditorium, but hopefully I can go back for a performance.
I finally bought a new hairdryer and straightener because my American hairdryer kind of exploded even with the right converter. I wandered around the Place de la Republique until I found the electronics store Darty. When I plugged in my new French hair dryer it failed to turn on, but after changing outlets it worked, so I think I most likely destroyed the outlet with my American hair dryer. Ooooops.
This morning my host mom laughed at me because I was cutting pieces of my baguette and putting jelly on them one at a time instead of eating it all at once, but it's easier to cut a baguette than to bite it! For lunch I once again passed on French food and ate at a Thai restaurant. The ethnic food is usually cheaper and certainly faster than a French cafe.
I'm quite ready for the practicum to be over and to start my history and literature classes. Today my friends and I tried to plan our weekend and fall break trips but it's very hard to coordinate a group of people with different wants and plans. I am planning to see Elise in Cairo during fall break because that's what I've been planning on doing since day one. But hopefully I can see some of Italy with my friends on the way to and from Cairo.
A bientot!
Sarah
I finally bought a new hairdryer and straightener because my American hairdryer kind of exploded even with the right converter. I wandered around the Place de la Republique until I found the electronics store Darty. When I plugged in my new French hair dryer it failed to turn on, but after changing outlets it worked, so I think I most likely destroyed the outlet with my American hair dryer. Ooooops.
This morning my host mom laughed at me because I was cutting pieces of my baguette and putting jelly on them one at a time instead of eating it all at once, but it's easier to cut a baguette than to bite it! For lunch I once again passed on French food and ate at a Thai restaurant. The ethnic food is usually cheaper and certainly faster than a French cafe.
I'm quite ready for the practicum to be over and to start my history and literature classes. Today my friends and I tried to plan our weekend and fall break trips but it's very hard to coordinate a group of people with different wants and plans. I am planning to see Elise in Cairo during fall break because that's what I've been planning on doing since day one. But hopefully I can see some of Italy with my friends on the way to and from Cairo.
A bientot!
Sarah
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Through the first week of language practicum
I fail hardcore and haven't updated all week. Ah so much to say!
Sunday I moved in with my homestay, but they were on vacation still so I was alone in the house for 8 hours by myself. Wilma, the Filipino housekeeper, let me in. I started getting lonely, but luckily they came home and made me dinner. My host parents are very nice, but Madame Duplan is better at speaking slowly and saying things that she thinks I will understand. Monsieur Duplan is harder to understand, but he speaks a little English. Right now only one of the four kids is living at home, the 11 year old Prosper and he seems sweet. He kissed me when I gave him a bag of Tootsie Rolls. The 14 year old girl, Victoire, is currently going to school in Connecticut, so I obviously haven't met her. I have briefly met the eldest boy, Gaspar, 19 years old, and Celeste, who is 17. I know Gaspar has left for school, but I'm not sure if Celeste will be living here this fall or not. I know Madame has told me before, but I'm not sure what she said. Oops. The other day I ate cereal with no milk because I thought we were out, but it turns out the milk doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's open, so there were actually many cartons in the pantry. D'oh! Also, the door that I thought was a wine cellar is actually an elevator. The house does have four levels, but I definitely wasn't expecting an elevator. I assumed that since my family has a house, which is really rare in Paris, and four kids that they made quite a bit of money, and then the other night at dinner I found out that he is a dermatologist and she's a lawyer!! Both of which could be useful in the future. . . I think I got really lucky in my homestay. It's super close, my house is nice, I don't have to do any kind of chores (yet), Wilma does my laundry, and my family is nice.
So what have I done this week? A lot it seems!
Monday: For my excursion with my class we walked through the "Garden of Plants" (very original) and went to the Grand Mosque of Paris, the third largest mosque in Europe, and took a tour. It was very pretty and interesting as I have never been in a mosque before. We also visited the remains of a Roman amphitheater that has now been turned into a park. Afterwards I visited the Museum of Paleontology and Anatomy and saw a bunch of body parts floating in jars with handwritten labels. It was very old school. Highlights were a cyclops cat, cross section of an elephant's trunk, and a narwhal skeleton.
Tuesday: I had the afternoon off, so I decided to go to the Louvre. I walked from the pyramid, through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde, and then all the back to the museum only to figure out at that point that it's closed on Tuesdays. And by the way, the Louvre is ****ing ginormous. I can't imagine living in it!
Wednesday: Went on an excursion to the Belleville quarter which is a neighborhood with a conglomeration of ethnicities. It used to be the Jewish quarter before they were all shipped to Poland. We visited the Pere Lachaise cemetary, which is very large and famous. I visited Jim Morrison, Frederik Chopin, and Oscar Wilde's graves.
Thursday: Back to The Louvre! Of course I saw the infamous La Joconde (Mona Lisa). All my friends have said she's smaller than they expected, so I guess I was thinking super small because she was bigger than I expected! I'd even dare to say she's just the right size. I visited a few galleries and then left. I know I'll be going back.
Friday: Finally our excursion to Montmartre! We walked down the main street that has rows of sex shops and also the Museum of Erotica, which I will have to check out someday if I can actually find anyone to go with me! Of course the Moulin Rouge cabaret is right there too, which was fun to finally see. Then we hiked up to Sacre Coeur for a nice overview of Paris. I bought a much needed water bottle and a chocolate tart. I don't know how in the world the French drink enough water, but that's a rant I'm too tired to start right now, but really, water is not easy to obtain. Friday night it was my friend Sarah's birthday so her host mom made a ton of food for us. Her Madame is an old widow who has an apartment on the 14th floor with a balcony overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. She has an amazing view! Afterwards we spent a few hours at a piano bar in the Latin Quarter and requested songs by classic French artists such as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.
Today: Even though I didn't get home until after two, I got up early today to go to the Chateau de Versailles with my friends. We decided to walk through the gardens to Marie Antoinette's house first, and that ended up taking hours, so we spent the day there but didn't really even make it into the palace itself before they closed at 6. We will return. But we did see some of the grounds, ate lunch in the garden, and sat and ate ice cream on the water canal while watching young swans and fish beg for food. They were playing classical music in the gardens, and it really helped set the mood. I felt like I had just stepped into the 17th century, it was very surreal. Once upon a time Louis XIV took an afternoon stroll in that very spot.
But unlike Louis, right after we left the chateau we paid 5E to ride a Segway around for 10 minutes and it was completely worth it. I've been wanting to try one for so long! It was easy enough to control after a few minutes, but I would definitely need much more practice before I would feel comfortable using one amongst pedestrians/cars. It was super fun!
Sorry for the essay,I need to try to write each day. I have made so many cultural observations that I can't write them all, but hopefully I can share some in the future. Homework day tomorrow.
Bon soirée, Sarah
Sunday I moved in with my homestay, but they were on vacation still so I was alone in the house for 8 hours by myself. Wilma, the Filipino housekeeper, let me in. I started getting lonely, but luckily they came home and made me dinner. My host parents are very nice, but Madame Duplan is better at speaking slowly and saying things that she thinks I will understand. Monsieur Duplan is harder to understand, but he speaks a little English. Right now only one of the four kids is living at home, the 11 year old Prosper and he seems sweet. He kissed me when I gave him a bag of Tootsie Rolls. The 14 year old girl, Victoire, is currently going to school in Connecticut, so I obviously haven't met her. I have briefly met the eldest boy, Gaspar, 19 years old, and Celeste, who is 17. I know Gaspar has left for school, but I'm not sure if Celeste will be living here this fall or not. I know Madame has told me before, but I'm not sure what she said. Oops. The other day I ate cereal with no milk because I thought we were out, but it turns out the milk doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's open, so there were actually many cartons in the pantry. D'oh! Also, the door that I thought was a wine cellar is actually an elevator. The house does have four levels, but I definitely wasn't expecting an elevator. I assumed that since my family has a house, which is really rare in Paris, and four kids that they made quite a bit of money, and then the other night at dinner I found out that he is a dermatologist and she's a lawyer!! Both of which could be useful in the future. . . I think I got really lucky in my homestay. It's super close, my house is nice, I don't have to do any kind of chores (yet), Wilma does my laundry, and my family is nice.
So what have I done this week? A lot it seems!
Monday: For my excursion with my class we walked through the "Garden of Plants" (very original) and went to the Grand Mosque of Paris, the third largest mosque in Europe, and took a tour. It was very pretty and interesting as I have never been in a mosque before. We also visited the remains of a Roman amphitheater that has now been turned into a park. Afterwards I visited the Museum of Paleontology and Anatomy and saw a bunch of body parts floating in jars with handwritten labels. It was very old school. Highlights were a cyclops cat, cross section of an elephant's trunk, and a narwhal skeleton.
Tuesday: I had the afternoon off, so I decided to go to the Louvre. I walked from the pyramid, through the Jardin des Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde, and then all the back to the museum only to figure out at that point that it's closed on Tuesdays. And by the way, the Louvre is ****ing ginormous. I can't imagine living in it!
Wednesday: Went on an excursion to the Belleville quarter which is a neighborhood with a conglomeration of ethnicities. It used to be the Jewish quarter before they were all shipped to Poland. We visited the Pere Lachaise cemetary, which is very large and famous. I visited Jim Morrison, Frederik Chopin, and Oscar Wilde's graves.
Thursday: Back to The Louvre! Of course I saw the infamous La Joconde (Mona Lisa). All my friends have said she's smaller than they expected, so I guess I was thinking super small because she was bigger than I expected! I'd even dare to say she's just the right size. I visited a few galleries and then left. I know I'll be going back.
Friday: Finally our excursion to Montmartre! We walked down the main street that has rows of sex shops and also the Museum of Erotica, which I will have to check out someday if I can actually find anyone to go with me! Of course the Moulin Rouge cabaret is right there too, which was fun to finally see. Then we hiked up to Sacre Coeur for a nice overview of Paris. I bought a much needed water bottle and a chocolate tart. I don't know how in the world the French drink enough water, but that's a rant I'm too tired to start right now, but really, water is not easy to obtain. Friday night it was my friend Sarah's birthday so her host mom made a ton of food for us. Her Madame is an old widow who has an apartment on the 14th floor with a balcony overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. She has an amazing view! Afterwards we spent a few hours at a piano bar in the Latin Quarter and requested songs by classic French artists such as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.
Today: Even though I didn't get home until after two, I got up early today to go to the Chateau de Versailles with my friends. We decided to walk through the gardens to Marie Antoinette's house first, and that ended up taking hours, so we spent the day there but didn't really even make it into the palace itself before they closed at 6. We will return. But we did see some of the grounds, ate lunch in the garden, and sat and ate ice cream on the water canal while watching young swans and fish beg for food. They were playing classical music in the gardens, and it really helped set the mood. I felt like I had just stepped into the 17th century, it was very surreal. Once upon a time Louis XIV took an afternoon stroll in that very spot.
But unlike Louis, right after we left the chateau we paid 5E to ride a Segway around for 10 minutes and it was completely worth it. I've been wanting to try one for so long! It was easy enough to control after a few minutes, but I would definitely need much more practice before I would feel comfortable using one amongst pedestrians/cars. It was super fun!
Sorry for the essay,I need to try to write each day. I have made so many cultural observations that I can't write them all, but hopefully I can share some in the future. Homework day tomorrow.
Bon soirée, Sarah
Friday, August 27, 2010
First day of school
Yesterday I was able to learn about the French family I will be staying with. First off, they live in a house just down the street from school, still in the 11th arrondissement. Houses are incredibly rare in Paris, especially so close to the center. They also have a small yard! There are four kids, around 18, 17, 13, and 10, so it should be a household full of excitement. I'll be living in the former babysitter's room. Judging by all this, I would guess they have trop d'argent ($$$), but I shall find out on Sunday when I meet them.
Today was the first day of class. I really wanted/needed to get placed into French 5, so I was nervous, but the class lists didn't even say which level was which. After being in class for 15 minutes I was handed the syllabus and found out that I was in French 5! My teacher is a young lady and seems very sweet, although I only understood what she was saying part of the time. I have some catching up to do and unfortunately our textbook looks even more boring and cruel to me than "The Sun Also Rises" did. In the afternoon Madame Scattolin took us on an excursion to the Latin Quarter and I would have enjoyed it much more had she given the tour en anglais. I kept zoning out and couldn't pay attention to her but one time I heard her say "Pantheon. . . seulement femme?" and I said "MARIE CURIE!" and I answered the question correctly even though I wasn't even listening well. We didn't go into the Pantheon or other buildings so I will certainly have to go back another day. Then I got gelato, which was overflowing my cup, then it started raining and I had gelato running down my arms so my gelato I had just bought had to be sacrificed to a trash can.
Speaking of my opinion of books, I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice and it was wonderful, I couldn't put it down. It's the first Austen I've ever read. I don't know if I'll read another one of her books because I've heard they're all very similar and I doubt I would enjoy any of the others as much. Now what shall I read next. . .
~Sarah
Today was the first day of class. I really wanted/needed to get placed into French 5, so I was nervous, but the class lists didn't even say which level was which. After being in class for 15 minutes I was handed the syllabus and found out that I was in French 5! My teacher is a young lady and seems very sweet, although I only understood what she was saying part of the time. I have some catching up to do and unfortunately our textbook looks even more boring and cruel to me than "The Sun Also Rises" did. In the afternoon Madame Scattolin took us on an excursion to the Latin Quarter and I would have enjoyed it much more had she given the tour en anglais. I kept zoning out and couldn't pay attention to her but one time I heard her say "Pantheon. . . seulement femme?" and I said "MARIE CURIE!" and I answered the question correctly even though I wasn't even listening well. We didn't go into the Pantheon or other buildings so I will certainly have to go back another day. Then I got gelato, which was overflowing my cup, then it started raining and I had gelato running down my arms so my gelato I had just bought had to be sacrificed to a trash can.
Speaking of my opinion of books, I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice and it was wonderful, I couldn't put it down. It's the first Austen I've ever read. I don't know if I'll read another one of her books because I've heard they're all very similar and I doubt I would enjoy any of the others as much. Now what shall I read next. . .
~Sarah
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The first three days
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Bonjour! I finally have the time and energy to write something on here! I had a really great flight to Paris from Dallas because I was in Business class and the food was excellent. I've only been here for three days and it feels like a week at least. I've already seen a French midget and I also saw a man get tackled by a policeman. My trip has now been successful haha. Monday night I had my first nice meal at a restaurant, Chez Clemmens, which was cuisine from the south of France. Tuesday morning I had my first French breakfast at a cafe which was cafe creme, orange juice, baguette with butter, and a croissant with jelly. I've never liked croissants and didn't understand why everyone was crazy about them, but that's because the ones I'd had in the US were terrible. Real French croissants are delicious. Last night I went to La Tour Eiffel, bought some "French" fries and watched the light show as the sun went down. Today I went to the catacombs which were actually a little unnerving at first because you walk for 10 minutes in narrow dark tunnels with poorly oxygenated air. But once I reached the spot where there were dead people I felt fine. I just went to the grocery store for some much needed snacks: milk, hummus, goat cheese (mmmmm), bananas, wine, and bread all for just 9.68 EURO. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a marche en plein air (farmer's market) close to my hotel, which should be quite fun to go to. I'll move out of the hotel and into a homestay on Sunday. I found out my classes are going to be France in Literature and Histories of Paris. I still don't know which level of language I'll be in but I'm hoping I get into French 5. I'll see.
A bientot!
Sarah
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