Barcelona!

Hey all! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written! I hope everything at home is great, I'm really starting to miss everyone back home!

So a lot of things have happened since I last wrote (my fault, sorry) but I will try and hit the high points.

First of all, I changed my flight back to June 15! I get an extra month here without classes, which will be a welcome change. Classes are over May 12, and I'm not entirely sure yet what I want to do with the first two weeks of freedom. If I get a job in Paris, I may just stay here for 2 weeks -- either with Ian's mom or possibly my host family. If not, I'm thinking about going to work on an organic farm for a couple weeks, that would be an experience! It all depends more or less if I get a job. I'm applying for a job this week at Breakfast in America, the American restaurant I mentioned before that I LOVE. It would be nice to have a little extra spending money, and I would also feel much more productive (something I've missed since being here).

But anywho, the fun stuff! I just got back Monday from a 4 day trip to Barcelona. My friend Mitch from school is studying in Salamanca, Spain and we met up on Thursday night for the weekend together. It seems like just yesterday that Mitch and I were in Westover talking about how cool it would be to see a Barcelona game, and we actually did it! We had the most perfect weather all weekend, blue skies and 65.

Besides finding Mitch at the airport, my travels went very smoothly. The first night we walked around a little bit to see the city, but it was raining and I was tired from travel so we decided to sleep (at 2 am...). We woke up the next morning and walked form 11am to 6 pm. We bought a tourist map and just walked to all the sites within a reasonable distance. The sea was beautiful, if only 20 degrees warmer! It was so nice being back at the beach; I find there's always a different attitude in beach towns. But we saw a lot of the sites before we decided it was siesta time. We took quick naps, grabbed dinner, then hit the town.

Adjusting to the Spanish lifestyle was not easy for me-- especially not over a weekend. Spaniards always eat a huge, late lunch around 2 or 3 pm. They then nap for an hour or two and go back to work. They don't have dinner until around 10:30, restaurants were deserted until about 10pm. Then they go to bars, then clubs (which don't open until at least midnight) and stay out until the sun rises... It was not easy to adjust to.

So Saturday was the soccer game that we had been waiting for. We had both gotten some really nice gear the day before so we were all decked out and ready to go. We spent the entire day at Camp Nou (the stadium) walking around and seeing what was up there. The game was crazy!!! I thought Lane Stadium was big-- this stadium holds over 100, 000 people. And Barcelona is currently the best soccer team in the world, with an obsessive following. It was a crazy experience and I'm so glad I did it.

Sunday we did more tourism. We saw a lot of things, but the most impressive was the Sagrada Familia. It's a church that was started in 1900, and is still under construction. Just when I thought I had seen 100 churches and none could be different, I was proven wrong. It's hard to put into words how magnificent it was. We also saw the Torre Agbar, a giant skyscraper that lights up at night.

To see pics of the trip, go to http://gallery.me.com/mp3superman (mitch's site) and click on either of the albums that say Barclona.

Monday morning, EARLY, I headed home. My travels went perfectly smoothly and I was exhausted when I got home. I spent most of this week recovering from my travels and doing homework. I have a free weekend this weekend so Kelsey and Kelly and I are trying to plan lots of fun things since the next few weekends are for Loire Valley and Normandie.

I'll try to update more often! Miss you all!

Catching up...

Hey Guys! I wanted to make a post (sorry if it's short) to let you all know about my trip in the South of France last week. Unfortunately, not much to talk about this week as I've been under the weather and loaded down with hw. But today, I'm leaving for barcelona!! I will have to tell you all about that too when I return.

The south of France was beautiful! We went to several cities including Arles, Avignon, Nice and Beaux de Provence. It was cold there still, but at least it was sunny!

Arles was a tiny little city -- smaller than Lynchburg-- but contains the best preserved Roman theatre remains in the world. It was really neat to be able to walk around there, knowing I was standing where there was once gladiator fights. Since the town was so small and almost everything was closed, we had a picnic in the hotel with friends and it was really fun. The hotel in Arles was also really nice, we got lucky.

Then we were off to Avignon. In Avignon we went to a small winery and got to do a tasting there. It was really interesting, but I'm certainly no expert... We then hopped back on the bus and headed to Nice. We got to do an olive oil tasting there which was certainly a different experience! We got to walk along the beaches and in flower markets and in the beautiful old town. It was really a charming town, and there were a lot of things there that I saw that I remembered from my first time there. Also, once a year Nice has a huge carnival, and we showed up right in the middle. So the town was covered with crazy statues and floats and posters-- it was certainly interesting to see.

Among other things, we got to see a really neat Picasso exhibit that I enjoyed a lot. We saw plenty more churches, they're all starting to blend together! We also got to visit some cute little mountain top villages with gorgeous views.

The trip was a really nice escape from city life, but coming back to Paris felt a lot like coming back home!

I'll update you all after Barcelona, I can't wait!

Just popping in to say I'll be updating soon!!

Feb 10-17

Hey all! Sorry I've been slacking on posts lately! I've had a really great week so far. And this weekend was one of the best weekends ever!

I'll start Friday. It was 60 and finally sunny! It hasn't been like that since, so I'm really glad I took advantage of that day. My friend Jessica and I went to Parc Buttes de Chaumont and took a day to sit on the grass and read, write, and picnic. The place was really lively because of the unexpected good weather, and the people watching was great. This is one of only a few parks in Paris where you can actually walk/sit on the grass. Here are a few photos from the park and our picnic:

Then we went to dinner with Valerie and Hannah where we found a nice Italian place and split a few pizzas. I then had the BEST CREPE OF MY LIFE. It was delicious and perfect and filled with Nutella goodness. But I digress....

Saturday was really great too! Hannah and I found a really neat restaurant called Breakfast in America which is an American diner with all the comfort foods I was craving. It was perfect and delish and I even had Dr. Pepper !! We hung out for a bit in that little quartier (district) and then later I went out to dinner with Kelsey, Kelley, and Jessica. We were all craving Mexican food so we found a little restaurant and it was really good, but certainly no La Caretta. Then Jessica and I were off to a concert! I stumbled upon tickets for a band that I knew (not very well) for around 10 euros and we bought them that day. And I'm so excited we did! The band (Freelance Whales) was so fun! We had a great time and I even met some girls from NYU we might hang out with later.  A few photos from Saturday:

They had Dr. Pepper at Breakfast in America!! It's unheard of everywhere else here

Then Sunday we went to one of my favorite quartiers, called Le Marais. We had delicious fallafel (again) and did some fun thrift store shopping. I then came home to a great dinner from my host family.

Then this week went by really quickly! Monday was Valentine's day and even though I was 4,000 miles away from my valentine and from friends/family, it was a very nice one.  I got a surprise valentine from Ian and then got cards from mom and gma. I was very pleasantly surprised. The rest of this week consisted of exploring some quartiers and going to classes. I'm now enrolled in an independent study with the director which should be really interesting. Hopefully I'll be back on Sunday to update you all, but if not- I'll talk to you when I get back from the south of France! And here, some vday flowers for you :)

Finally!!!

It's 60 degrees out today!!! It's supposed to rain all next week so I intend on taking full advantage of today. Jessica and I are going to Parc Butte Chaumont (wiki it) to sit and read and chat, then we're going to do some exploring. This park is one of the only parks in Paris where you can actuall sit/stand/play in the grass.

Also, I found a concert tomorrow night for a band I like for just 10 Euros!! That's cheaper than a cover charge for a club here!

Paris v Lynchburg

I am loving it here, more than I even expected. The transition was easier than I thought, my French is much better than I thought, and I've already made some friends! However, I have been compiling a short list of things I prefer in the US. 

1. THE BREAKFASTS

Here, breakfast consists of a chunk of a baguette, a bit of jam, and coffee/tea. To me, that constitutes a snack. And when I have a busy day ahead, that doesn't give me enough fuel to make it to lunch. I can not wait for pancakes, scrambled eggs, biscuits.... I'm making myself so hungry!

2. THE PEOPLE

The Parisians (and I'm not speaking of all French folks here, just like New Yorkers don't represent all Americans, Parisians don't represent the French well) are a cold, unwelcoming bunch of people. Even my poli sci professor has told the class that it's just their nature. You will never see a Parisian approach a frazzled person holding a map and offer to help navigate. And for example, yesterday, there was a girl who was sitting on the metro, crying, and everyone ignored her. Not a single person looked her way or asked if she was ok. Also, you can't look people in the eyes. And you certainly can not look someone in the eyes and smile. People would think a. you're crazy (if they're women) or b. you're coming on to them (for guys), and you'd guarantee yourself a stalker.  It's just odd being somewhere where the people are so distanced from each other, I think I prefer the LC campus where I smile and say hi to everyone!

3. THE WEATHER

Gray doesn't begin to describe it. I've only been able to see the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower (HUGE skyscraper) twice since I've been here. It's been that hazy and cloudy. Also, like 90% humidity. No exaggeration. Sorry I keep bringing it up, but it's putting a bit of a damper on my mood.

And obviously, I wish you were all here with me to share this experience :)

"Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more."

Forgot to mention

The weather here SUCKS right now. It's cold, SUPER GRAY (as you can see from photos), and like 90% humidity. It's quite an unusual and unfortunate combination. It's also really discouraging and makes me wanna stay in bed all day! But I'm avoiding that (except today)...

One week down...

It's hard to believe it but I've already been in Paris for one week. This time last week I was unpacking my things (although I didn't actually finish until Friday) and wondering what the next 4 months had in store for me.  Now that I've been here for a full week, I think I have a better grip on my surroundings and more realistic expectations for the trip. The things I was most worried about before leaving have already passed. The flight went fine, my french is better than expected, and I now know all of the girls (and guy) in the program pretty well.  Now, my worries have moved elsewhere. I'm worried that I'll soon become homesick and go through a tough period. It happens to almost everyone who studies abroad for a long period of time, and I don't expect myself to be immune to it. So far, I'm doing really well though. Thanks to the internet, I've been able to call, chat, or skype everyone at least a few times. I'm reallyyyy glad I decided to bring my computer along (you were right Dad and Ian).  I'm also nervous about my trip to Barcelona, I've heard some horror stories about this airline, and plus I've never travelled alone before, so this will be an adventure.


Thus far though, every thing has gone incredibly smoothly. After talking to the other girls, I am certain that I have the best host family situation out of everyone.  And after touring several other parts of town, I realize how clean/safe/nice my part of town is.  And my apartment is huge, my family is nice and respects my privacy, and my host mom is a great cook. I really am very happy with the host situation.


Additionally, my French is way better than I expected. I was put into an advanced class and the director said that might even be too easy for me! I was really proud about that, and glad that my hard work in French has paid off.  


Last night, I went over to Alice's house. She lived in Lynchburg for some time and she works at Areva, but she's a native Parisian. I was a little wary about going because I didn't know any of her friends, so I brought Jessica along with me. I ended up having so much fun though. We got there at 7 and I didn't leave until after 1! We drank wine, had some really good food, and great conversations. All of the people there were close friends and had known each other for a long time but they were so welcoming and it was nice to be in the presence of people so close to eachother, mainly because my friends from the program are all a little more distant and not as close as this group. They invited me to brunch this am, but when I woke up, I was still way too tired. So I slept in until 2 this afternoon... but I think I needed that.


Today, I'm just going to stay snuggled up in bed, write some postcards, and write for my school blog. I'll have to miss the Super Bowl because of the time difference, but that doesn't bother me all too much.


I'll out a few pics up for you guys here too.


Until next time!

My Front Door. There is a code pad on the right that you can't see, but I use that to get in, then a succession of 3 more keys to get to my appartment...

Some photos from a cute market in Versailles

Versailles Chapel

Versailles

Ceiling at Versailles

Good News!! (albeit minor)

So there's one girl in the program who is a TOTAL know-it-all. She spent a month in Tours before coming to Paris and thinks she knows everything about France that there is to know. Well anyways, the first day of the program she told me you can't use straighteners in these outlets. I was depressed, but I moved on and bought a new one for 40 Euros here.  That straightener was lukewarm and did absolutely nothing for me.
But I talked to Alex last night and said using our straighteners here is no problem, so I tried it today and they work! So lots of good hair days to come, and I will never listen to anything that stupid know-it-all says (I've seen several instances where she's also been wrong, but just says stuff to sound knowledgeable).
Plus, I think I can sell this one to a girl named Valerie in the program.
You live and you learn.

So much to do!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written in a few days. The first part of this week has been so hectic, and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. Everything is going well though, no worries!!


This week has been reserved for seeing most of the monuments and neighborhoods of Paris. So far I've seen Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Latin Quarter, and several neat little neighborhoods. We have a tour guide with us at all times named Marie-Laure and I LOVE her. She's really funny (not in the typical cheesy tour guide way) and knows so much about the city.


Yesterday was a lot of walking and it was FREEZING, literally. 0 degrees. I started off the day wearing flats, and had to go home and change shoes during the lunch break. Afterwards, I was much more comfrotable -- but still really cold! I honestly wasn't able to fully enjoy the monuments because I was so focused on my numb extremities. I have vowed to go back though, I have plenty of time and I want to see these things when I've got time to enjoy them.


Today we went to The Louvre which was as amazing as I had expected. I really can't wait to go spend some time there one day when it's freezing out. There is so much to see and it is truly incredible to see some of the greatest works of art in the entire world.


We also went to the Mosquée de Paris which was gorgeous! I wish I had taken better pictures, but here are the few that I've got.

We then had mint tea at a mediterranean restaurant and it was so good! The café where we had tea was beautiful inside and there were little finches flying around everywhere, it was really neat.


After that we did a little shopping. I didn't find anything (nor did I need anything) but it was really fun. I then found my way home by myself and am now snuggled in bed waiting for dinner. Navigation here is SO easy, even for someone as navigationally challenged as myself!


So far, I've really surprised myself with my French. I've done way better than I expected -- no one has responded to me in English yet!! That says alot, because the French are infamous for responding in English if they are not pleased with your French.  I wish we spoke more french with the program though; the directors and tour guide and students (obvi) all speak English. The tour guide speaks a lot of french too, but it's a mix. It makes speaking French tougher when I have to do it, so I'm ready for classes to start and to start speaking French more.


Well, that's it for now! I'll try to post in a few days!

A few photos for now...

The view from my window. It's a little grey so you can't see Montmartre, and St Augustin just isn't in the frame. 

The view from the stairs down into the living room 

the bathroom; it's really tiny and it has no heat! There's a tiny heater in the bathroom but it doesn't work well. Needless to say I don't spend much time here. 

View of the living room from the front door. SO Parisian! Along the right wall is tons of book shelves. Those stairs lead up to the 3 student rooms and our bathroom. That balcony is a little fake out. I don't know what it is/used to be...

6 Days...

I can't believe it. I am leaving to live in Paris for 4 months, in 6 days. It wasn't until tonight, as I was cramming my sundresses into SpaceBags, that I finally felt that this is real and this is happening, soon. It's a strange phenomenon, but when you talk and think about something so frequently, it loses weight and seems less real somehow. 

But now, no avoiding it. So with my departure less than a week away, I want to list my goals and plans. This list will be on-going, but for now these are the things I want to do. I've received great advice from Ian, Alex, and Dr DeClair about studying abroad and about Paris and this is what I've come up with.

1. At any given moment, pay attention to where I am and what I am doing. Even if it's walking down the street or looking out of my window. Just look around and soak it in, every tiny little thing. I don't want to forget anything that happens on this trip. 

2. Journal every day. I will blog as much as possible, but I also want a private journal where I can look back at this time of my life and know what I was thinking/feeling/seeing/learning. As DeClair said, "This is perhaps the most amazing period of your life -- ever -- you'll want to have some record of it."

3. Make a list of all of the sites I want to see. That might just be my next post.

4. Write home. Write friends. Write often. I want to avoid being on the phone with the US too often. I want to stay grounded in Paris and not forget why I’m there. My family and true friends will still be there when I return home.

5. Take pictures of everything. I’ve read a few things about photography in preparation and I’m excited to get out there and try new photo techniques and take some frame-worthy photos.

6. Connect with the people around me, especially my host family.

7. Commit to French. Avoid English with my classmates and everyone else.

8. Do some things, lots of things, that take me outside of my comfort zone. Learn something about myself I never could have found out by staying in Lynchburg.