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