Champagne, Lorna, Waterlilies, and Mimes

This past Tuesday, Andrea, a friend Kitsy from wine class, and I all took a visit to Epernay and Reims, in the famous Champagne region in France. For those of you who don’t know, to officially receive an appellation of controlled origin as a “Champagne”, your sparkling wine must be made in a very particular manner, and all of the grapes must come from this region. So as good as that Italian Prosecco is from Trader Joe’s, technically speaking, it’s only a “sparkling wine”.

So, we woke up early and met at the train station in the wee hours of the morning (though there are worse things I’ve gotten up at 7:15 AM for), and headed off, first to Epernay and then to Reims. Epernay is a charming town with a town square, lovely park, and is the spot where the pope Dom Perignon discovered “stars in his wine”. It is also the town which houses Moet et Chandon, where the three of us took an exciting tour. We got to go to through the cellars and look at some fine sparkling champagnes mid-production, after which we tasted two AMAZING glasses of fine Champagne. Thanks to wine class, the three of us were able to articulate what was so great about them too; they were very crisp (which we could see in the precise vertical movements of the bubbles), not too sweet, and had a good combination of grapes.

Next: wonderful lunch with of course more Champagne! Then we were off to Reims to visit the house of Mumm. Along the way, we got a little lost, but the Provincials (people from the provinces of France) were so charming and helpful.

Finally, we arrived at Mumms and joined a tour group of about 30-40 people (as opposed to our group of 7 total at Moet) who were mostly American (as opposed to Australian and Dutch). The Mumms tour was a lot more fabricated; there were little story books in the cellars, display bottles, etc. along the way—suggesting these cellars were set up for viewing as much as they were for production—not the case at Moet. Finally, we tasted our two glasses, a vintage and the “red ribbon” Mumms, and decided that we all preferred the Moet Champagnes.

We were glad to have visited the Mumm house though because firstly it made our experience at Moet seem more authentic by contrast, secondly, the Champagne we had was still VERY GOOD, and lastly, Reims is an ADORABLE little town that we got to walk around in after.

All in all, it was an incredibly FABULOUS day—a once in a lifetime experience!

The next day, I met up with Lorna Khoo—the president of Chi O when I joined and a really cool, down to earth, and intelligent Berkeley grad. Lorna and I began our day picnicking at Monceau, then took a visit to Sacre Coeur and Monmartre, after which we ended up at an exhibit called Dali at Work. It was a nice follow-up to the Dali exhibit I saw in Prague, and included some of his pieces that were more “project”-y, and sculptures based on his paintings. Dali had a twisted mind and it was interesting to get a bit of a peek into it.

Next, we grabbed some gelato outside of the Pompidou museum, and headed off to St. Chappelle—the chapel from the 13th century (!!!) with some of the world’s most stunning stained glass. I had visited this chapel when I came to Paris before, and it was WONDERFUL to see again; the stained glass was seriously beautiful. Finally, we saw some relics in Notre Dam, and ended up at Shakespeare and Company—a REALLY cool independent bookstore/historical site, a favorite of many in Paris.

We then parted ways until the next day, when we met up closer to Lorna’s residence and headed off to Pere Lachaise cemetery. I had been to this cemetery once before, but it was a totally different experience this time, owing first to the bad weather, and second to the fact that we took a totally different route than I had the last time. We did hit up the favorite graves (i.e. Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison), but we also saw Chopin, and many sad and haunting memorials for those who passed away at concentration camps. These were beautiful sculptures with poetic inscriptions, reminding us: “N’oublions jamais!”—or never forget.

Next, Lorna and I headed over to L’as du falafel in the Marais (really a Paris MUST I think), which we ate in Place de Voges—the oldest park in Paris. We then had a lot of laughter and some TERRIBLE service at a café along place de Voges, and Lorna told me a highly entertaining story about a family vacation being ruined by airplane seat-induced static-y hair.

Finally, we went to l’Orangerie—the museum that houses les nymphéas, Monet’s room-sized Water Lilies. Now’s the time to fess up; Monet’s Water Lilies were probably one of the first pieces of art I ever truly appreciated when I saw them the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York when I was ten. To me, the point of viewing art is to experience an emotion, either the one intentionally evoked by the artist, or even an independent feeling representing your own reaction to the experience. And whether it be due to their sheer size, the vibrancy of their colors, or the beauty of the scenes depicted in them, I can vividly recall the overwhelming feeling of serenity and awe as I stood there in the presence of les nymphéas for the first time. Seeing them again, that feeling was renewed. And what was more, this time, the gratitude for the beauty of nature and simplicity of life that I feel Monet must have been exhibiting in creating les nymphéas resonated with me incredibly strongly. How much I have to appreciate!

If that had already merited the entrance fee I somehow did not have to pay, L’Orangerie also housed an amazing collection of works by Picasso, Rousseau, and many others, including Chaïm Soutine—a VERY French artist with a beautifully sarcastic style—whom I’d never heard of before but whom I now adore. There was also a lovely exhibit on artist Didier Paquignon—a contemporary artist who uses a multitude of bright and lovely colors to portray dingy urban environments. I was very impressed by the effect of this technique and told him so in the guest book I signed upon exiting the exhibit.

Lorna and I capped off our day with some hot chocolate and macarons from Angelina before meeting up with her couch-surfing host in the tenth. “Couchsurfing host?” you say... “really…?” Yes, for those of you who know what that is, Lorna has been couchsurfing here in Paris to experience the city from an insider’s perspective and to save money. For those of you who don’t know, couchsurfing is a program where you can go online, check the profile of local residents who have chosen to host people in their homes for a weekend or a night, email them, and crash on their couch. Sound sketchy? That’s what I thought. As my World of Wine professor so eloquently put it: “As a mother, a teacher, and a former hippie, I have conflicting views about the whole ting…” But, as Lorna explained to me, the people who host surfers go through a verification process, have references from surfers who have stayed with them, and get “vouched for” by users of the system. And, Lorna’s host, Bruce, turned out to be really really cool, so I’m thinking, the program is a winner!

So, we met up with Bruce and some of his friends in a bar in the tenth, and headed across the street to Bruce’s school to watch a piece of performance art. Bruce is in an elite miming school in Paris, so the piece we saw was a very abstract theatrical work about the relationship of space and props to the actor, and was based on Le Ventre de Paris—a French book about the city that I have actually read! The piece was a bit abstract, particularly to Lorna and I who did not know the theory behind it, but very cool nonetheless. After watching, we chatted with some of the performers over wine, and saw art pieces they created with Le Ventre as their inspiration. We then headed back to the bar and hung out with the troop of mimes, until Baggy joined us and we all headed off to Pont des Art together. What an interesting, fun, and random night! I absolutely LOVED it.

Last night (Saturday), a group of us met on Champs de Mars for a goodbye party slash Swedish holiday party. Another lovely evening with lovely people.

Now, I’ve been at l’imprevu for a few hours and have gone through a Chai Tea and a café and have yet to even begin on studying for my TWO finals on Wednesday. So, I better get to it I guess….

post Barca

Thanks to papers and school work galore, my post-Barca week totally flew by! That Tuesday, though, I did have the distinct pleasure of welcoming Erin and Allie, two of my friends since freshmen year, as well as two of their sorority sisters, to Paris. Their group of four has been traveling for nearly a month and spent 3 weeks in Europe, and they are now in China! I took them to my favorite, moderately-priced French restaurant—Café Etienne, in the Marais, where the food is great but the service is crap. Very French all in all. Two papers and three days later, I met up with three of them between my afternoon classes, and they treated me to a picnic on the Champs de Mars—the grassy area in front of the Eiffel Tour. It was lovely seeing Erin and Allie and nice to meet their lovely friends.

Last Thursday night was the eve of the birthday of my good friend Andrea, and in celebration, we popped some bubbly in some benches by the Tracedero—an area right across the Seine from the Eiffel Tour with picturesque views of it. The tower sparkles every hour on the hour, which at midnight was a great marker of Andrea’s 21^st. I don’t think life gets any better than Champagne in front of the Tour Eiffel.

The next night, some of my Aussie friends hosted a Great Gatsby party along the Seine, which was a great opportunity for me to bust out some sparkly headbands. Have I properly mentioned my love for the Seine?

Finally, Saturday we continued Andrea’s birthday celebration with a game of beer pong in a park, which later turned into King’s cup in an apartment after we were informed their was no alcohol allowed (I guess there is an open container law in this country…?), after which Andrea and I grabbed some snacks, cider, and then watched a movie at her place. Sunday, Miss Allison Bagg and I met up and picnicked at Monceau, and then watched Good Morning, England (Boat of Rock or something like that in the States…?), which was FANTASTIC. Think: About a Boy + Love, Actually + The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou + Across the Universe + a bit of vulgarity and male bonding + Phillip Seymour Hoffman. If that sounds like your type of movie, GO FOR IT.

Now, I am in total and complete shock as to how little time I have left here, when there is absolutely so much to do and see. My only comfort is knowing that I can always come back.

Barcelona at Chez Coward

Unfortunately, I didn’t keep very well track of the weeks leading up to or after my weekend in Barcelona, which was the first week in June, mostly because these two weeks were filled with work, work, and more work, thanks to the numerous papers I had! However, Barcelona remains firmly ingrained into my mind as another FABULOUS week-end.

Friday June 5^th:

Thanks to an accident on the Metro, I arrived at the airport 40 minutes before my flight, and was treated very unkindly by one particular French woman who single-handedly decided that I was too late for my flight and that I had to check my bag (Mom: it was your tiny lark week-ender!!!). She doesn’t merit going into detail about, but I will say that I’m glad that I’ve met a million other French people, including one of her co-workers, who have been nothing but nice to me.

Finally, at around 11:30 PM I arrived in Barcelona and saw Ms. Laura Chandler (2 visits in one European adventure: lucky me!!) and Mr. Corwin Coward approaching me. Corwin’s wife Arline has known my mother since they were eleven years old, and saved me from drowning in a swimming pool when I was three years old, prompting her to be my Godmother. Corwin and Arline have lived in Spain for 35 years.

So after our quick hellos, the three of us headed to our fantastic lodging at Chez Coward, where my godmother and some fabulous tortilla, courtesy of Emy—their fantastic chef and helper, awaited us. Laura and I caught up until the wee hours in the morning, and woke up late the next day.

Saturday, June 6^th:

We explored, explored, explored and saw such great sights as as La Boqueria, a huge market with 1 euro fresh juice, the “Old Port”, and Las Ramblas, a long street with a lively character. We even ran into Brett Henderson, my grand-big sister in Chi O who just graduated from Berkeley!

That night, Arline, Corwin, Laura, and I met up with Alex (Arline and Corwin’s son) and his girlfriend. I had some DELICIOUS paella and it was nice to catch up and converse! The “kids” then took us to two bars—one that was pirate-themed and one called L’acensor, where we enjoyed really good cocktails called Capriovskas and talked politics and music—two of my favorite subjects. Finally, around 3:30 AM, Laura and I said goodbye and caught a cab to Razzmatazz—the biggest nightclub I have EVER seen in my life. It was AWESOME and we stayed there just long enough to catch the first metro home, at around 6:30 AM!!!

Sunday, June 7^th:

I coerced Laura into waking up at around noon (after going to bed at 7AM) so that we could make the Picasso museum before our guide said it closed at 3PM. We DID make it, but it did in fact close at 8 PM, rendering our lack of sleep totally unnecessary! It was worth it though; it’s no secret I’m a huge Picasso fan, and the museum focused on his early and late works, allowing the museum go-er to peek into a part of Picasso’s life we rarely get to view elsewhere. My favorite painting was of a woman from his Blue Period that was done in Paris.

Next, Laura and I said a quick “hello” to Cristina, another Chi O who was in Barcelona at the same time, and then headed down to Corwin’s sailboat, where we enjoyed some Cava and snacks, with Corwin and his sailing partner Joh.

Finally, after a necessary siesta, Corwin took us for some AMAZING tapas at a wonderful and crowded tapas bar.

Monday, June 8^th:

Laura and I slept in a bit, and then headed off for a day of Gaudi. First, we went to the Cathedral la Sagrada Famillia, which is still a work in progress. After properly examining both facades of the cathedral (the nativity and the passion) Laura and I went inside, and got to see the modern stained glass. I can see why the cathedral is considered a modern architectural masterpiece; it was stunningly beautiful and intricate and seemed as if it were coming from nature.

Next, after successfully finding some great and well-priced tapas, we headed over to the Park Guell, the whimsical area that Gaudi and Guell had originally intended to be a high-end neighborhood. What surprised me most about Gaudi’s architecture was how far ahead of his time he was; a lot of the fluid motifs and bright colors were stylistic features that I typically associate with the mid-nineteenth century at the earliest.

Finally, we retraced some of our steps from earlier in the week and headed back to Chez Corward, and then off to dinner around the corner with the whole Coward crew.

Tuesday, June 9^th, we woke up around 8:30 and I headed home to Paris and Laura was off to London!

It was an absolutely AMAZING week-end, and I was so glad to share it with the wonderful, easy-going, fun, and Spanish-speaking Miss Laura Chandler, as well as with my hospitable, interesting, and intelligent god-family (is that the proper term….?) Barcelona is on my list of places I MUST go back to, especially after the world-class treatment I received at Chez Coward!

Ce Soir...

Tonight was VERY amazing and so French. I had a diner de conf (or dinner for my class) for my World of Wine Class. We decided to have a picnic in lieu of going to a restaurant, due to budget constraints. We began at Place de Voges and then moved to the Seine when the police approached us and told us that the plethora of wine we had was "interdit". After moving to the Seine, we fully enjoyed our wine (I brought REAL Champagne) and sang Edith Piaf as the sun went down. Yes it was a cliche and YES I LOVED it. We ended up at a bar near our school, singing to more Edith Piaf songs and enjoying more wine. I learned that at Sciences Po, there are the "cool kids"--whom I got to hang out with tonight and who are actually totally normal and fun, and the more "traditional students"--who I seem to be encountering in the majority of my classes, and who aren't quite as social. In any event, I am glad to hang with Frenchies, and feel like it's "better late than never" to explore nightlife with them.

More updates later, but I was too excited about tonight to not let this one pass...

It's Nights Like These...

It’s nights like these that I’m going to remember most fondly: hanging out with amazing people and enjoying the simpler pleasures of life (good conversation, cheap wine, laughter, and friendship…) in the middle of the Seine…

I left off on Friday, after completing my last 2 exposés ever! That night, as celebration, I returned to chez moi, watched the Movie Choke (which I highly recommend, although it was oddly much more heart warming than I thought it would be, considering the subject matter), and caught up on some sleep. The next day, I woke up late, and then took advantage of the stunningly beautiful weather via a walk along the Seine. I ended up at L’imprevu, where I enjoyed two chai teas, and some free wireless which I used to work on a paper and skype Serena. I stayed at l’imprevu for quite a while, but finally worked up the willpower to leave—which was really hard, considering the atmosphere and music selection (we’re talking Oasis, Air, Beck, Radiohead, Bjork—all in a row)—and headed home.

That night, my friend Annie threw a going away party at her house, as she’s unfortunately leaving the country a bit early, thanks to a job. Annie’s parties are always a BLAST, and this one included a dance party, funny French people, and some good friends (such as Rafaella, her friend Stacey who is visiting, Neema, and Annie). A few of Rafaella’s French friends joined us and they were charming and hilarious.

Next day, I signed online to find Ms. Allison Bagg on, one of my best friends from University who came to Paris on Saturday. Baggy is going to be here for three weeks doing a French immersion program and I’m so happy about that!!!! Right as I was starting to get a bit homesick (I’ve been here for 4 months, can you blame me…?, she came…PARFAIT!)

So, Baggy and I met up, caught up, and had a picnic by the park outside of the École Militaire. I pass by this park everyday, but seeing it with Baggy allowed me to see it with fresh eyes. Having her around is also going to ensure I don’t become jaded.

Then, Baggy and I went to see David LaChappelle exhibit. You may know some of LaChappelle’s commercial works, such as the photo he took of Kanye West as Jesus for Rolling Stone magazines. His less commercial and more artist works, center around themes of anti-consumerism, apocalyptic, pro-human relationships, anti-holy war, etc. … a bit cliché but wonderful execution, so the clichés were forgivable. Next, we headed over to the gift shop, so Baggy could pick up some postcards. When we got inside, it was very crowded and people were scrambling to get their perfect posters, books, etc, without regards for their fellow patrons. I noticed this and the irony was just too much, not only were these patrons living proof of LaChappelle’s message: we are a consumer society that can only be aided by helping each other, but they had JUST seen the exhibit where he tells us this. I had to tell Baggy, and she whole-heartedly agreed, and subsequently gave up on buying a postcard (Sorry, Baggy). She understood the hilariousness of the situation and put it even more eloquently than me: “We were all snorting our diamonds in there” (referring to a photo where the subject is snorting diamonds as if they were cocaine: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/pictures/image/0,,-1060329464954,00.html). Baggy and I finished with a stroll along the Seine, with more discussing and catching up. I’m seriously SO SO happy she’s here; she is a wonderful and dear friend.

Finally, last night was aforementioned picnic along the Seine (the one that I meant when I said “nights like these”), highlights of which included talking to good friends I have made and feeling totally at ease, sending off a message in a wine bottle containing a note in 5 different languages (mine portion said: “J’habite dans un rêve. Ne me levez pas s’il vous plait), hippie dancing, enjoying the company of a very diverse group, and going on another Berkeley liberal hippie rant, this time about climate change. We soaked up all of the Parisian air we could, knowing our time here is coming to a close.

Today, I met up with Raf and her friend Stacey for a walk along the Champs-Elysées, around to the Eiffel Tour, and then for some gelato at Amarino—the best gelato place ever!!! Now, I’m getting ready to meet Baggy and the CA party posse at Piano Vache.

So, apparently I’m blogging way more frequently now. I think that this is because I’m realizing that I have not a whole lot of time left here, and thus am trying to capture every precious moment I can. I’m already getting sad to leave, even with a month in front of me. I guess I just have to STOP thinking about it. So I will.

I will miss you, exposés...

Today I had the last 2 exposés of my life, both in French, and while I'm glad to be done with them, part of me is sort of going to miss the concept of them. "Wait, what...", my fellow exchange students are thinking, "...that wasn't a sarcastic title?" En fait, no. I actually liked the oral presentations that consititute the majority of work here at Sciences Po. And really... what's not to like? (Apart from the high expectations of professors that you will read their mind and make the exact right obscure reference that they wanted you to, the overbroad topics, the 20 minutes of questionning after the already mentaly-draining task of speaking for around 15 minutes, the extensive preparation that still gets you nowhere, the horrid American accent that emerges from nerves, and the general public humiliation of it all...)

Well, okay, maybe they aren't the world's most "fun" excercises in the traditional sense of that word, but no pain no gain, right? Or maybe I'm just a little bit more masochistic than we all thought. In any case, oral presentations in a foreign language (or in English) were an interesting challenge, and in all sincerety, I'm glad to have been pushed out of my academic comfort zone grace aux exposés.

With that said, I'm SO glad to be done. Time to CELEBRATE. Wooooohooo!!!!!!

So French

Tuesday, I was evacuated from Sciences Po thanks to a bomb threat. Then, I witnessed a protest. This morning I was late meeting a friend for coffee due to a perturbation of my metro line. Oh France...

Study Break

Thursday, Ms. Ara and I met up for coffee at a café called L’imprevu, and were later joined by Matt and Neema. After exiting the Metro at Chatelet, I met Ara and we headed over to an area of the Marais (in the fourth district) that I had never been to before, which is much fancier and classier than our normal, “student-friendly” locales. However fancy and classy this area is though, L’imprevu remains charmingly unpretentious. Tucked away in the Marais, it boasts free wifi, a lounge-y/eclectic atmosphere, and a large menu of both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. (And yes, I would gladly head their ad campaign if they asked). In our cozy corner in the back, the four of us discussed life, love, and values over the most brilliant Chai Tea I’ve had in a long while, until departing at 2AM. How I enjoy the simpler pleasures in life!

That night, I decided to work, and attempted to finish an exposé that I thought may had been due for my Introduction à la pensée liberale course. I didn’t finish though, but to my relief, the (exceptionally disorganized) course turned out to be cancelled. The good news continued as I received back my midterm in my Grands enjeux de la construction européenne course. In spite of my difficulties during the exam (see blog from beginning of May where I basically call the passing of the test as the hardest two hours of my life), the large number of fail grades in my section, and the fact that every single critique my professor made about the exam was applicable to my test, I received a note signifying that my work was “assez bien”, or “good enough”, a SERIOUS victory!

I celebrated this victory that night, first with a visit to the Tribal Café in the 18^th which serves free couscous with drink purchase, and then at a party at my friend Cara’s apartment. Ms. Andrea even brought me some celebratory sparkling wine and we toasted the end of the week.

The next day I caught up on sleep until meeting Dre in the Marais for a night of Tapas and bar hopping, and man did those tapas get me excited for Barcelona! The rest of the week has been full of studying, studying, studying, and more studying, as I have two exposés on Friday, three papers due after that, and final exams rapidly approaching. However, the discovery of L’imprevenu has made said studying much more enjoyable, as has the company of my friends. (I also took an excellent study break Monday night at the Moose bar where a group of us had a lively debate about the global wealth gap, where I characteristically took on the position of none other than the token bleeding-heart liberal Berkeley hippie. duh.) Currently, it’s early Wednesday morning (5 AM) and I’m sitting next to Ara at Le Départ, an overpriced café in St. Michel whose only draws are its availability of outlets, and its 24-hour access.

Now that I’ve caught you up to date, then, I guess it’s time to end my study break and get back to work. Until next time, wish me luck!

Picnic

Last night Ara invited a ton of people to a picnic along the Seine under these premises:

"Okay, this is the premise of the party:
(In the wise words of Neema Righteous Ghiasi)
Imagine ourselves 5-6 months from now, somewhere other than Paris...maybe a tiny cubicle in an office in a 9-5 job, or classroom back home, what have you, and thinking, remember that Great party that awesome Ara Girl threw on May 20th? It was a picnic by the Seine...we played beerpong, had long talks about love and life by the Seine...all of us feeling pleasantly light-headed by the wine....it was one of those perfect nights....
I really wish that I could be back there, be at that party just for one day........
AND THEN, VOILA! Your very own Delorean waiting for your trip to the past....
you then proceed to punch in 10:00 PM, Pont de la Tournelle on the south bank of Seine..."


And you know what, this picnic lived up to its aims. A surprisingly large number of us (around 20) got ourselves organized at the last minute and gathered on the grassy banks of the Seine and enjoyed hours upon hours of conversation, goofing around, and general bonding. Tons of other people had the same idea too apparently, because we were also joined by around a thousand strangers partaking in similar activities, and at one point, I even paused and danced around a drum circle. I don't think I could imagine a more perfect night than good wine, good friends, good conversation, and the riverbanks of an amazing city. So, thanks Ara. I hope we can do this again.

Failure

It's been far too long since my last update, sorry I am such a failure.

Well, after Amsterdam, I returned to Paris just in time for an expose in my History of Rock Music Class. This expose was all about the development of visuals in SF in the 1960's and it was a joy to research. I LOVE LOVE LOVE learning about the 1960's counterculture, especially from a more intellectual perspective. It went pretty well, and in any event, I had a fun time writing it. (Ask for my outline if you're curious, it's about everything from beatnicks, to LSD, to Jim Morrison, to high arts).

The next weekend, I headed off to Marseille, in the South of France with Tami, Matt, and Neema (aka the Cairo Crew). We had no Friday class (Again!) and had a lovely 3 hour train ride in first class! We arrived in the Beach Town and found ourselves in a lovely hotel room,which fit all 4 of us pretty comfortable, and was actually cheaper than our hostel in Amsterdam! That night, we headed out to a concert by one of my favorite electronic artists, MSTRKRFT, which was kind of our inspiration for going to Marseille that weekend. The concert was A TOTAL BLAST! The venue was in this strange gallery type place that had a side building full of graffitti art, one of my favorite types of art, and had a skate park/patio. We danced the night away to LA Riots and MSTRKRFT, and I had such a fun time.

The next day, we woke up late and made our way to a market in Marseille, picked up some grub, and headed to the beach, where we bathed in the freezing cold water and relaxed under the sun. The R and R was definitely necessary considering all the papers and exposes we've all had for the past few weeks. We then headed over to Old Port, and grubed on the local speacialty, fish stew, which we enjoyed with a nice bottle of white wine. I think I'm going to have to say that this was my favorite meal so far abroad. The stew itself was so flavorful--the perfect mix of salty, savory, and maybe even citrusy, and it complimented the tender fish quite well. What an amazing and authentic meal! Exhausted and full, we headed back to our hotel and chilled out until we feel asleep.

The next day, Neema left in the morning, and Tami, Matt, and I checked out of our hotel and decided to go exploring. Matt had heard that Marseille was known for it's cliffs, which evidently we could hike on/around. We all three decided to check them out, and Matt took the initiative to figure out how to get to them. First, we tried going by boat, but by the time we got to Old Port (around 4PM), it was evidently too late. Next, Matt had heard that we could take a bus there, so we all decided this would be a good idea. We found the particular bus that apparently was supposed to take us to the cliffs, and got on, but we were a bit unsure of what stop to get off of. Matt kept asking the driver, who eventually directed us to the last stop of the line, after we'd travelled out of the city into the boonies for about an hour.

To be perfectly honest, at this point, I had my doubts. We ended up getting of the bus in what seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, but I decided that the worst case scenario of continuing on our journey would be that we ended up not finding the cliffs, but went on a funny adventure instead. I'm all about funny adventures anyway, so we made our way in the direction that the bus driver told us to walk. On our way, we passed by a prison, some houses, and finally, groups of people in hiking gear--a good sign! Something important to note is that when we left our hotel that morning, we weren't entirely sure what we were going to do, so Tami and I were dressed in street clothes, and for me that meant a flowy skirt, tank top, leather jacket, spangled scarf, and gladiator sandals; not exactly hiking-friendly attire.

What's also important to note is that we checked out of our hotel that morning and thus had all of our stuff with us. Ironically enough, I fell back on bad habits before this trip and packed more for my weekend in Marseille than I did for Amsterdam and Cairo combined. But, these cliffs seemed pretty cool so Tami and I went into our bags, changed into our sneakers, and persisted on the road, that would eventually lead to some cliffs.

Finally, after about 20 minutes, we came upon an entrance to what seemed to be a hiking trail and decided that this was it. We headed up and up and up, luggage in tote, and found ourselves on a 45 minute (?) hike ONTOP (I thought it would be AROUND) of some beautiful cliffs. When we finally arrived at the top, the view was majestic. These particular cliffs were right above the ocean. Particularly considering that we really had no idea what to expect, we were all mystified, amazed, and eccstatic (and personally, I was quite grateful to have brought my running shoes). We spent a good chunk of time taking in the view, and at one point paused in silence for a few minutes to meditate, enjoy, breathe, etc. I think the only word that would even begin to appropriately describe what I felt at this moment was sheer awe.

I've been on a lot of hikes in my life, but I can honestly say that this was the most beautiful (and short!), so in lieu of attempting to describe it, I'm posting pictures. (see below).

That night, we ate some VietNamese food, checked out a fortress, and made our merry way home on a Party Train that Tami had inadvertently booked. This party train was quite hillarious, and consisted of a bar with a DJ and lots of middle-aged men dancing and getting drunk off of beer and Smirnoff Ice (a bottled combination of Sprite and Vodka, for those of you who are too classy to know), which I don't think I've seen in person since first semester my freshmen year. Tami and I decided to enjoy the night train in an ironic, we're-laughing-at-you-not-with-you kind of way, and ended up having a surprisingly fun time!

Marseille was amazing and a lot more urban and diverse than Paris, so it was nice to be somewhere that felt more like the real world. I actually really appreciated it and honestly think that if I had to live somewhere in France for a long period of time, I'd prefer somewhere more down-to-earth like Marseille, although Paris is ideal for studying abroad.

The next week, I had tons more work, and this past weekend I enjoyed some time off. In general, my life has consisted of picnics, trips to Parc Monceau, walks around Paris, and time spent with friends.

Last night, I did a presentation on California Wines and their relationship to French wines in my wine class with Andrea and Song-My, and it was a raging success. A few people told us it was the best presentation yet... maybe the chardonnays we fed them got to their heads! I arrived home to the remnants of an engagement party, which was a bit shocking, considering that I live with an older woman, but which was nice, as it gave me the opportunity to bond with her friendly grandsons and their friends.

I am as happy and as grateful as ever. I am really living in a dream. Please don't wake me up yet.

life is good

After Spring Break, I became a hermit (and refused multiple invitations for nights on the town as hard as it was) thanks to the 094q349123p847p29384 assignments I had due. Two Saturdays ago, I had my first midterm for my lecture course en francais. It was 2 hours for 2 essays and it kind of sucked... Thinking and writing and learning in a foreign language is hard. REALLY HARD. Really, really hard. However, I completed the two essays with coherent albeit elementary and over simplistic argumentation, thus I claim VICTORY. Honestly, for the first time in my life, I'm going to be happy with my grade no matter what, because taking this midterm was a learning experience itself, and I'm pleased with all the hard work I put into studying for it. To me, that is "doing well"...

After some more work last week, this past weekend I rewarded myself with a weekend trip to Amsterdam with Ara, Matt, Andrea, and Tami. After sleeping in and missing my flight, I took a train ride through the French, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Dutch countrysides before arriving in one of the most beautiful cities ever. While there, I enjoyed the local cuisine (stroop waffles = AMAZING), enjoyed some long walks through th town, became extremely disturbed by the redlight district, drove a paddle boat through the canal, took pictures at the "I am sterdam" sign, saw Starry Night (for the second time in my life) at the Van Gough museum, frolicked in tulips, and visited some coffee shops. It was a gorgeous city and I had an unforgettable time. I'd love to go back when I have the chance.

Now, I'm bracing myself for another busy week ahead and for my upcoming visit to Marseille.

LIFE IS GOOD.

Longest Post I'll Ever Write: My Friends Are Awesome: BEST Spring Break EVER Part 2

After a quick stop to Paris, I went on my way to Cairo for the continuation of my Spring Break to visit my friend Lina, a Berkeley/Chi O/BMUN alumni whom I became close with sophomore year. I got to the airport and headed to Madrid, where I had a three hour stopover. There, even though I'm sure I could get by the extremely limited amount of Spanish I do know, I found myself wanting to substitute por favor's and gracias's with s'il vous plait's and merci's. This language confusion continued even in Cairo, where I began to think in French each time I heard a lot of Arabic at once. I think this tendency reflects the fact that there seems to be a "foreign language dial" in my brain, which at present is switched to "French". I hope this is a good thing; maybe it means I'm absorbing my studies...? On my flight to Cairo, I was lucky enough to get an entire row to myself and slept very soundly.

When I arrived in Cairo at around 9:30 pM, I was TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY culture-shocked. Everyone seemed different from my in every way possible--from how they dressed to the language they spoke to the color of their skin, they were somewhat alike and I was evidently an outsider. And they all noticed. First, when I was going through the passport check point, I got held up because the guard had to call in multiple officers for reinforcement to be sure that I was who I said I was. Apparently, they don't come across highlights often, and my recently-dyed blond hair threw them off. Then when I got out into the arrival area, I was surprised to find that I was one of only a few women in a crowd of hundreds with uncovered hair. Lina, who does not wear a headscarf herself, later explained to me that in Cairo you find people with all different lifestyles co-habituating together--from "modern"/"Western" types to "conservative"/"traditional" ones. I must say though that I was somewhat satisfied to be perceived as outwardly "different" for probably the first time in my life and to be in a place where not everyone was like me. I think I've gotten too comfortable with the idea that the world revolves around Western culture, ideals and people and I was happy to be reminded of the arrogance and falsehood of that notion.

In any event though, I was relieved to have opted for a long skirt and sweater that morning, so as not to attract any more attention than the apparent curiosity that was already directed at me as a clear foreigner. I was further relieved to be approached by a man with a sing with my name on it, whom I later found out was Lina's driver and stand-in to pick me up as she was working late to finish up a project.

We headed off to Lina's house where her lovely parents kept me entertained until around 11:30 when Lina arrived from work and took me to a cafe. (She works way too hard!) There, we caught up and I heard all about Lina's post-Berkeley life as a working woman. Right now, Lina is working at a consulting firm that does a lot of government/public sector work. I was glad to hear that Lina found a way to utilize her business/econ double major to serve the public good. I wasn't, however, at all surprised to hear about all her hard work because Lina has always been an incredibly impressive person. Throughout the trip though, Lina and her friends urged me to savor every moment while I'm still in school before I begin life in the "real world"--probably just the advice I need at the halfway mark of my time abroad and prior to my last year at Berkeley.

Thursday morning, Lina and I woke up bright and early to take her to work and then drop me off to meet some of my Paris study abroad friends. I arrived at 10 AM at Hotel Luna and was so happy to be reunited with the rest of the "Cairo crew" (as we've been referring to ourselves), Matt, Neema, and Tami. I heard about their Spring Breaks and we chilled in their hostel as they booked a trip to Luxor. While they were doing that, I ended up talking with an Australian who has been traveling around the world since he graduated last winter and I decided that that sounded like the most fabulous experience ever--definitely something I'd love to do one day; I've officially caught the "traveling bug".

After N, M, and T were done booking their trip, we headed off to the pyramids in Giza, via a cab with a hillarious driver whom I think was trying to teach us and/or Neema Arabic. In general, people didn't really know what to make of our group. Neema, who is Iranian-American, and Tami, who is half Colombian and half Japanese, were taken for Egyptian, Matt who is Korean-American, got an annoying amount of Ni hao's ("hello" in Chinese), whereas my pale self was the only member of our party whom the Egyptians accepted as properly coming "from America". What's funny is that I'm sure our group wouldn't receive a second look in So Cal, where we're all from.

We finally got to the pyramids, bought our tickets and headed inside, where Lina's "guy at the pyramids"--a tour guide whose number she had gotten after a pleasant experience--was waiting for us. Our guide, Eid, greeted us by telling us that the pyramids were happy today because we had come to visit and we were on our way, assured that this would be a good time. We headed into a tomb and took some obligatory photos while Eid told us the history of the place and cracked jokes. I've heard people (Raf before our visit and Neema after) say that they were surprised at how small the pyramids were, but frankly, I was highly impressed by their stature and amazed by the amount of desert around and between them. This desert was so vast, in fact, that it merited a camel and/or horse in order to conquer. So, Eid took us to some guy who had camels and horses and we each got one or the other and were off.

I began on a very large camel, who was super fun to ride, but extremely difficult to get on and off of. Each time I did (which was a lot due to the number of photo ops) there was lots of leaning/holding/involuntary muscle contraction going on, which my legs paid for over the next few days. Probably one of the funniest moments of the trip was watching Matt get on and off the camel for the first time because he was visibly shocked by the whole experience despite Tami and my multiple warnings. I don't blame him though.... it was tough!

After riding around the desert for a while, Eid took us to the second pyramid where we all decided to go inside. We basically had to bend over completely while climbing up and down stairs through the sauna-hot passageway for about 10 minutes until we reached a room with an empty sarcophagus in it and then turned around. I concede that whether or not this experience was "worth it" is debatable, but I'm still glad we did it because how many people can say that they've been inside of a pyramid, and the whole ordeal kind of makes for a funny story. Even the guards seemed to be laughing "with us" on our way out as the welcomed us "back to life".

Next, Eid took us through a ride in the desert again and this time I was on a horse. It was fun to go trotting through the desert, but I was a bit too cowardly to "ride like a Bedouin" (let the horse run very very quickly) for more than five minutes, unlike the very brave Tami and Neema who were at it all afternoon. Apparently, I got on and off the camel very much "like a Bedouin", so that was enough immersion for me.

We eventually ended up at the sphinx where we took some more obligatory toursit photos, admired it's grandeur, and warded off all of the vendors who were trying to sell us stuff. I was quite heartbroken to see very young children made to sell souvenirs and I think they all could see that in my face, as I was especially hassled. I find it very disturbing that we live in a world where children are sometimes peddlers instead of students, and have a hard time being comforted without knowing any way to mitigate these circumstances. However, after half-jokingly deciding to adopt and/or build a school for all of these children when I am rich and powerful someday, I pulled myself together and left the sphinx for more desert riding with my travel companions.

This time my camel and I totally lagged behind as he was wholly unresponsive to any of my (perhaps too light) kicks. This particularly became an issue when Eid guided us out of the desert and onto the streets of Cairo where the combination of unresponsive camel + oncoming traffic + tired legs (after about 4 hours of riding/walking) made me a bit nervous to say the least. However, eventually Eid realized that we were ready for a break and we parked our animals which he then switched for a carriage. It is pretty cool though that I rode through the streets of Cairo on a camel, even though I didn't fully appreciate the experience at the time.

During the time that he was making the switch, Eid had us wait in a perfume shop whose owner (naturally) proceeded to conduct a number of demonstrations in an effort to get us to buy some of his oils. At one point, he doused some colognes and perfumes onto us and had us all smelling each other's necks and faces, which was equal parts awkward and hilarious. After a particularly compelling experiment involving peppermint oil and hot water, Neema took the bait and got a few (actually quite nice) oils. Coincidentally enough, Eid returned the exact moment after Neema paid (good timing Eid...) and took us in the carriage to an ATM so that we could pay him. All in all, it was an amazing, historic, and adventurous day--a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life (and one which truly merited the plethora of paragraphs that it took up in this blog).

Next, we headed back to Hotel Luna and after a short while were picked up by Lina, who had gotten out of work early at 5PM. She took us a BEAUTIFUL restaurant called Sequoia which was in a tent right on top of the Nile. We got a ton of amazing Lebanese food which, thanks to the fact that we hadn't eaten for hours coupled with our day's long journey, we completely devoured in silence. I think the fact that we can (and often do) eat without feeling compelled to make small talk is a sign that we have become really comfortable with each other. At the end of our meal, we temporarily parted ways until reuniting for a night on the town.

We first hit up a chic bar/resto/lounge called La Bodega which to me had kind of a French feel. Then, after some cocktails and caffeine (remember the part about waking up early and riding around the desert for 4 hours?), we headed off to a club called purple (also on the Nile) where we got jiggy with it to some great late 90's hip hop classics. Besides being an impressive person, Lina is also very cool and knows her Cairo nightlife very well, which we were all glad for. The night ended and I bode farewell and bon voyage to the rest of the Cairo crew, who were off to Luxor in the coming hours.

The next day, Lina and I slept in a little and then were off for breakfast/lunch. On the way, we drove around Cairo a bit and stopped at a a large and incredibly awesome park with a perfect view of "Old Town" Cairo. This area is the Cairo you see in movies with centuries-old mosques and other buildings, the Citadel, and old/decrepit shantytowns. Lina told me that Cairo used to be called the City of a Thousand Minarets (which are the towers from were Muslims are called to prayer throughout the day), and she elaborated on aspects of Egyptian culture a bit. Something interesting she pointed out was that all of the decrepit buildings in the shantytowns had multiple satelites on their roofs, indicated that pretty much all of these really poor people in Cairo have Direct TV. I haven't quite yet hypothesized as to what this signifies sociologically, so for now it will remain an interesting observation.

Next, Lina and I arrived at Sangria, a cafe with an outdoor cabana whose roof was made of multi-colored shutters, which again was RIGHT on the Nile. We then briefly parted ways as I enjoyed the Egyptian museum.

The museum was HUGE and chock-full of artifacts mostly found in the ancient Egyptian tombs. The highlights for me were the jewelry (typical!), the animal-related items, and most of all, the royal mummies. Yes, I actually saw thousands of years old corpses and yes I very much liked it! As a side note, I'm still trying to figure out why my favorite experiences abroad have all been related to death/dead people (catacombs and Pere-Lachaise in Paris and now the mummies in Egypt) as I don't consider myself a particularly morbid person. For now at least, I'm gong to go with my love of history as an explanation.

After I had my fix of dead people, Lina came to get me and we took a night cruise down the Nile in a sailboat called the Soltan with one of her friends. Then, we all three headed to a restaurant where I enjoyed some ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS traditional Egyptian food. We then headed to a very classy New York-esque club called Tamuri and danced for hours to the melange of all different kinds of fun music.

I was lucky enough to be visiting Lina during Coptic Easter, meaning that Lina got off Sunday and Monday (as weekends in Cairo are normally Friday and Saturday). I was even luckier to be invited with Lina to the Red Sea by Lina's friend Marwa and her family at Marwa's father's newly opened resort. So, Saturday morning, after around 20 minutes of sleep on my part and zero on Lina's, we beat the sun to the Cairo airport to catch our flight to Hurgada at 5 AM. From there, we drove 2.5 hours to Marsa Alam where we found ourselves at the Palace at Port Ghalib, a STUNNING beach resort which reminded Lina and I of Disney's Aladdin. We spent all of Saturday on the beach swimming, snorkeling, and lounging in the sun with Marwa and her sister Heba.

I knocked out a couple of times on the beach, thanks to the all-nighter Lina and I had pulled just before coming, so despite my multiple applications of sunscreen, I caught some SERIOUS RAYS. I mean really, really SERIOUS rays. Lina told me that the Red Sea gets its name from the color that the coral reflects onto the water in certain areas during certain times, but I contend that it's called the Red Sea because red is the color you return after a visit to its beaches. (I am literally the color of smoked salmon right now, no exaggeration.)

That night, we grabbed some dinner on the nice boardwalk type area by the resort and proceeded to pass out. Throughout the weekend, I apparently slept through radios, alarms, and phones; I guess I was a bit tired. When we awoke, we grabbed breakfast, returned to the beach for a bit, and then took a submarine ride. We saw some beautiful sea creatures and I was particularly impressed by the coral reefs. AT one point, their formations reminded me of the castle in the Little Mermaid and I think perhaps the majesty of the weekend trip caused the multiple allusions to Disney movies that I made. I then got ready to go and had a quick (and AMAZINGLY good) lunch with Lina, Marwa, and Marwa's family before saying goodbye to Lina and heading off to the airport in Marsa Alam. The trip back to Cairo ws particularly nice as I was with Marwa's parents who made sure I was well taken care of. This family was extremely hospitable and welcoming the whole weekend and I'm so lucky to have had my Red Sea experience. (I definitely plan on returning.)

If I could have a third subtitle for this entry (and yes I know, 2's already excessive), it would be "My Trip to Cairo and My Vacation to the Red Sea". Prior to our visit to Port Ghalib, Lina was a bit nervous about our all-nighter. I assured her, however, that we would be fine because the light at the end of the tunnel was a vacation, and not a trip--the distinction between which I think is very important. The former implies a refreshing and relaxing time, while the latter implies excitement, adventure, and activity. And indeed, our visit to the Red Sea was quite a vacation, the perfect few days to balance my "trip" to Cairo and to prepare me for the upcoming week of too many assignments.

In short, this half of Spring Break was as perfect as the first, though they were both INCREDIBLY different. I am the luckiest person EVER (!!!) to be afforded such unique experiences and I think I'm going to have to do a lot of good deeds in my life as positive karmic retribution for this past week alone.

Speaking of luck, and with regards to the first subtitle of this entry, I am incredibly lucky to have such awesome friends. This is something I've always known but don't often enough acknowledge, and which Spring Break has helped to shine a light on. First, there's my Claremont friends, like Serena or my twinsies, who always keep in touch with me and manage to make me smile even from across the globe with a funny youtube video or facebook hello. Then, there are my Berkeley friends, like Baggy and Lina--the two most hospitable/fun hosts a girl could ever ask for, or Ani and Mariana--the most easy-going and gracious guests you could ever imagine, all of whom happen to make great pals as well. Finally, there are my Paris companions, whom I'm particularly grateful for because even though our situation forced us together, I legitimatley consider them to be true pals and awesome people--the kind of people I'd love to be friends with even if I had my choice of many. So, world, thanks for connecting me with such awesome people, and friends, thanks for being so awesome and thanks for being my friends.

Now, the length of this post has long surpassed the absurd and my ability to write well has long ago diminished, so in lieu of an eloquent closing, I'll just call this the end for now.

Best Spring Break EVER (Part 1)

Wow, I guess my titles have been getting a lot less clever lately, but whatever; the point of this blog is to tell it like I see it--any entertainment that anyone else derives out of it is a purely coincidental spillover effect. Anyway, speaking of telling it like I see it, the past few days in Prague have really constituted one of the best vacations I've ever had. So... Here's the play-by-play:


Thursday, April 9th:

My official Spring Break at Sciences Po didn't actually being until Saturday, but in terms of flights, my own enjoyment, etc., I decided to take mine a few days early. However, I still had both a presentation AND a dissertation for my French class (which is on Thursdays), so I definitely had to attend that. The presentation went incredibly well (thanks largely due to my new Dalhia-inspired strategy of spicing up Sciences Po presentations with a bit of dynamism and charisma) and at the end of my class at 2:30 on the dot, I BUM RUSHED the Sciences Po exit to catch my 4:30 flight. I literally ran to the Metro, then to a bus, and I'm sure all of the French people thought I was really cool.

Finally, after a delayed flight, I got into Prague around 7:00PM, and headed towards the cab line outside of the airport. However, as soon as I got there, I immediatley realized that I didn't know ANY Czech whatsoever. This was a huge culture shock for me because (aside from a family trip to Mexico when I was a kid) I've never been to a country and not known the language. It was very strange, but the Czechs are very accommodating with English (which, although the Frenchies try to deny it, is totally Europe's new universal language), so I got by just fine.

One of my main reasons for going to Prague was that one of my closest friends from Berkeley, Allison Bagg (aka Baggy), is studying there for the semester, so I stayed with her in her fabulously large apartment. I even had my own room, owing to one absent roommate, and one who never showed in the beginning. After arriving at Baggy's, I met her FANTASTIC roomies, Julie, Kiernan, and Alyssa and then Baggy and I made a quick trip to Tulip, one of her favorite cafes. Next, Baggy, Alyssa, Julie, and I danced the night away at Radost, the nightclub featured in this music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRWpK4pf90, which we then followed with some fried cheese sandwiches. (Yes, they are as simultaneously disgusting and amazing as they sound.)

Prague nightlife is totally different Paris nightlife, I think owing mostly to how cheap it is. In Paris, I've only been to a few night clubs, but I largely am forced to figure out other fun things to do thanks to the 15-20 euros their entrance requires. In Prague, however, entrance fees range from around 0 to 5 dollars, and drinks are equally cheap. They are totally fun too!


Friday, April 10th:

We woke up around noon and decided to take the day and go sight-seeing. Baggy and her roomie Alyssa took me across a bridge over Prague's Seine--the Vltava to an AMAZING and beautiful cafe, Cafe Savoy. I had a delicious gourmet Czech brunch, complete with Prague ham. In fact, the three of us had so much food, our waiter had to bring over a new table to fit it all. When we finally got the bill, I couldn't help but cringe at the fact that my meal would have been at least 10 euros more expensive at any comparable French cafe. Next, we strolled through a beautiful park where we ended up ascending a hill and had a fantastic view of the city. The weather was so great (perfect, actually) my entire time in Prague so it was wonderful to take advantage of such a sunny day. From the park, we headed over the "the Castle"--a bunch of really old buildings and cathedral that looked over all of Prague. There, we saw the gate where Baggy had seen Obama speak a few weeks earlier, which I noticed was surrounded by two graphically violent statues of Czech soldiers and their victims. Baggy commented that the setting juxtaposed Obama's speech about nuclear disarmament nicely.

We continued down the hill and stumbled upon a cool garden with a grotto/rock wall and a large cage full of owls. (Aparently we were just outside of the Prague Senate.) The grotto was one of the coolest architectural features I've seen so far, as it was a simulation of drooping rocks with a cave-like feel that had sculptures of snakes, monsters, etc. interspersed throughout. After that we headed over the the Lennon Wall (graffiti wall in tribute to John Lennon), where I took a handful of touristy photos and contributed my favorite Ben Harper quote from "Better Way". I also got to see Baggy's school which was really nice. We then headed over the Charles Bridge, which reminded me of Telegraph Avenue, thanks to all of its hippie merchants, to Old Town Square--totally the inspiration for the setting of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Provincial France, my ass!) Here, we had a fun interaction with a worker in candy store, who informed us that his day was "infinity super". We topped off our day with a visit to a shoe store where I bought some fabulous yellow studded gladiator sandals.

After such a great Prague-esque day, we decided some traditional Czech food was in order, so all the roomies, Baggy and I headed over to a restaurant called Kalich. We had a slightly awkward and very Czech waiter whom I found very amusing, listened to some excellent European techno music, and ate some serious Czech food. I ordered salmon because I was so stuffed from Savoy, but that was apparently a mistake, as my meal was pretty dry and terrible while the people who ordered more traditional Czech meals really enjoyed theirs. However, I tried some of Kiernan's beef tar tar which was DELICIOUS (mmmmmmm raw beef and raw eggs....) and we all had some great gelato for dessert. I found the whole experience delightful and hilarious and I think I got a sense of what it means to be "so Czech".

That night, Baggy, Alyssa, and I headed over to the nightclub Lucerna, where we split our time dancing to the great 80's and 90's music and warding off odd Czech men. Naturally, Baggy befriended a man wearing a long blond pony-tailed wig. The night ended with an excellent hot dog and we all headed home.


Saturday, April 11th:

Alyssa, Baggy, and I had enjoyed the sun so much the day before that we decided a picnic was in order for Saturday. Accordingly, we grabbed some treats at Bake Shop, an AMAZING bakery (and that's coming from a girl who's in the bakery capital of the world) in between Old Town Square and Prague's Jewish quarter. We then headed across the river and ended up stumbling upon another secret garden, which had willow trees cherry blossoms, a bond, and abundant grass which we promptly parked on. We picnicked in the sun for a few hours and I made everyone daisy chains which we all wore for the rest of the day. I think we fit in well with all the Bohemian hippies in Prague. I contend that in any city, the places you stumble upon are the most special, so I was glad to be with two companions who felt the same way. We then wondered around and ended up having a great chat with an adorable Czech man about rugs, and later I found a great (/cheap) Spring trench.

Next on the agenda: paddle-boating, an activity Kiernan had suggested to us that we all agreed would be perfect for the beautiful weather. So the three of us headed over to a little island on the Vltava and rented a boat for an hour. We had grabbed some guacamole at Bake Shop and chaps at a market near by, and they were the perfect compliment to our journey. We paddled around for an hour, chased a swan at one point, and decided that this was the most perfect activity ever. While on our boat, we saw an outdoor cafe on a peninsula and decided that we needed to head over there and Czech it out. I'm so glad we did too; the sunset, water, Pilsner (Czech beer), picnic benches, people-watching, and live music (covers of Bob Marley and other favorites) worked harmoniously together and I was in heaven. Nothing could be better, except maybe the wine and cheese night Baggy and I enjoyed in her apartment after.


Sunday, April 11th:

The next day, Baggy and I headed over to the middle of Old Town Square for lunch, which was the perfect spot for people watching and getting some vitamin D (have I mentioned the glorious weather in Prague yet...?). Easter was probably the best time for my visit, too, as Old Town Square was funn of decorations, a petting zoo, and Easter vendors. The city was really lively and vibrant throughout my stay. Next, considering that a) I haven't been shopping in Paris thanks to the absurd prices, b) I wanted some long skirts for my upcoming visit to Cairo, and c) Baggy is one of my favorite shopping buddies, we decided a little retail therapy was in order and I got some great items.

That night, Baggy's dad and his girlfriend got into town and they took the two of us to Cafe Louvre--a favorite of Baggy's and Albert Einstein's Czech stomping grounds. Baggy's dad is always a hoot and he is totally the source of her great humor. After dinner, Baggy, Alyssa, Julie and I headed to a neighborhood bar, Usudo, which I decided is their Piano Vache. Of course the night ended in fast food, which in my case was my second fried cheese.


Monday, April 13th:

Monday I decided it was time to do a little exploring on my own, so I let Baggy entertain her dad and Pam as I hit up Prague's museums. First, I decided to get my bearings and walk around Old Town for an hour, and I noted that Prague-proper is very small--much smaller than Paris, which I even think of as a small city. On my way, I got whipped by an old man with a glorified twig who shouted something at me in Czech. Never fear though, Mom and Dad, he was just acting upon the day after Easter tradition in these parts where the men whip good-looking women with "whipping sticks" (braided twigs with ribbon/crepe paper at the end) before noon and then the women throw water on the men after noon. (Yeah, I have no idea either...) After this, I ended up at Bake Shop again for Lunch. Next: Museum time. I went to:

1. A Dali Much double exhibit, which was small, but accessible and great because I love them both. It also juxtaposed a lot of Mucha's ads with his noncommercial works, which I found fascinating due to my interest in the cross-pollination of art and advertising.
2. The Sex Machine Museum, which was all at once hilarious, disturbing, and historical. Mostly disturbing, but sill an interesting experience.
3. A Laudek exhibit, featuring the work of Jan Laudek, an amazing Czech photographer with a twisted and often ironic yet always compassionate portrayal of his subjects.
   
4. The Communist Museum, which I LOVED because apparently I am a HUGE history buff. It was really cool to see some of the stuff linking Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution to Rock music, something I've researched a bit in both my European history class last semester and my current History of Rock Music Course at Sciences Po.

The nice thing about Prague's museums/exhibits is that they're all small and thus bite-sized/digestible, unlike places like the Louvre which inevitably make my brain hurt.

When I was finally all museum'ed out, I decided to head towards the river and wait for Baggy's call as I enjoyed a walk on the bank. On my way, I ran into first Alyssa, then Baggy--who apparently had tried to call me two times right before seeing me. Both run-ins were quite magical and I think Prague must have some Parisian-style surrealism in it too. Baggy and I took a lovely walk along the Vltava, shared stories about our days, and then headed home to get ready for the ballet that Baggy had bought tickets for earlier. Alyssa, Julie, Baggy, Gerald (Baggy's Dad), Pam, and I all then headed over to see Swan Lake at Prague's State Opera House and the whole experience was quite lovely--from the graceful lead to the interior of the theater. This rendition was a bit different from the all-male version I'd seen in NYC when I was 10, but it was still quite world-class.

Baggy, Gerald, Pam, and I then went to Pravda, a restaurant known to be the best in the city. Pravda definitely lived up to its reputation; between the ambiance (live Norah Jones-esque singer), the service (which up to that point had ranged from nonexistent to very poor in this country), and the food, I was really impressed. Baggy and I both had tuna tartar followed by an excellent salmon dished and topped off with some Hungarian dessert wine that our waiter insisted upon. We were quite pleased and I am so grateful that Baggy's dad took me to two exceptional meals! Baggy and I went home and immediately conked out in magnificent food comas.


Tuesday, April 14th:

Today, I woke up around 10:15 in order to grab breakfast and catch my 2:10 flight. Baggy and I met Alyssa at Bohemian Bagel, near their school, where I had the most delicious eggs scramble ever per Baggy's suggestion. Baggy and Alyssa invited me to be their sixth roommate, and while the offer was tempting based on the few days I'd spent with them, I decided that my Paris friends would hate me too much for leaving them, and declined. Seriously though, I was REALLY (REALLY, REALLY) sad to leave because I had the most amazing time. I think I left at the top of the parabola, one which started off crossing the Y-axis at a really high point anyway! All in all, I was so happy to experience Czech culture, visit the city I've been learning about in various history courses, enjoy the sunshine, and of course, hang out with my WONDERFUL friend and her AWESOME roommates.

Now I'm back in Paris for a short spell before heading off to Cairo tomorrow, and I'm excited to see what the rest of break has in store!

Quick update + Fun Friends

Quite a bit has happened since my last blog, so here's my shot at another quick update:

Two weeks ago, a group of us decided to go to EuroDisneyland in the outskirts of Paris. The day was quite interesting and its highlights included watching a gaggle of "characters" dance in the skimpiest outifits that would not fly in Anaheim (oh, Europe!) during "Stitch's Magical Party Time", gross "Mexican" food (I think at this point my line between amusement and annoyance is nonexistent), and the lack of lines. That night, a few of us then headed over to Fleche d'or--a music club in the 19th, which was well-worth the trek thanks to its cool ambiance. Definitely a place I will be going back to.

The following week-end, a few of my dearest friends since Freshmen year at Berkeley, Ani and Marianna came to Paris. I'd been really really looking forward to their visit, and they definitely didn't disappoint. Friday night, I was going to meet them at their hostel, but instead ran around the nineteenth arrondisement for nearly an hour until finally meeting them back at the Metro stop (which I later found out was about 3 blocks away from their hostel). We headed off to one of my favorite Lebanese restaurants (thanks, Raf) in the fifth and ended up at Matt and Neema's apartment with Tami, followed by a visit to our favorite bar, Piano Vache. Sensing that my girls were tired from their travels, we decided to head back to their hostel and check out what was happening there and I'm glad that we did because the bar underneath their hostel was having a free reggae show.... just another Paris surprise!

The next day, Ani, Mar, Tami, Neema and I met near Monmartre and had a picnic at the base of the Sacre Coeur (cathedral overlooking the city), complete with chocolate, truffle-filled cheese, fresh baguettes, and raspberries. We reminisced a bit about Berkeley and now I'm truly stoked for senior year!!! We then did a little shopping in a touristy area and I bought a wonderful little lilac beret (so necessary to complete my Parisian lifestyle). We then headed down to Paris's redlight district, where we took advantage of the photo opp in front of the Moulin Rouge. Forgetting that not everyone likes to just roam around for hours on end until they find their way, I then got everyone lost on an adventure roaming through the 17th and 18th arrondissements. It was worth it for me though, as a I found a lovely little park near my house. Ani and Mari are such great friends and having a little taste of home was EXACTLY what I needed as school is getting hard. Their visit was especially nice because they are two of the most easy-going, flexible, gracious girls ever.

Nothing else too eventful happened the rest of the week, except for that this past Wednesday, I grabbed some gelato with a few of my friends to say a quick goodbye before leaving for break on Thursday, and found myself weirdly sentimental about leaving these people for a week. Consdering that I at one point saw them nearly every day, and now see them around three or four times a week, I guess my sentiments weren't that weird. They just make me a little nervous for when my program ACTUALLY ends, but I find no use in thinking about that now.

Best Day in Paris

This past week and week-end were quite eventful. Many of my friends had visitors in town, as this past week was the UC Spring Break, so I got to do a lot of fun touristy stuff with them. Wednesday, I even got to see the wonderful and FABULOUS Yuna Shin, who updated me about life in Berkeley over a nice hot chocolate by the eiffel tour. Yuna is a total gem in every way and it was nice to check-in with her about home and it made me realize how much I miss her and all my Berkeley hommies. Although I'm seriously getting quite used to Parisian bars, museums, parks, and party posse, I think all of the fantastic friends I have at home are going to make my transition back to Berk sooo much better! (Plus I get Raf, Allie, and Melissa in Berk too, and Andrea--just a train ride away in SB).

Other than that, I've had a lot of school work (!), which I've nicely balanced with tons of fun (perhaps a little too much fun, thinking about this week's bar expentitures...). Sciences Po is challenging, and I feel like I can't bullshit my way through it, as I often do in my classes at Berkeley. However, being the perhaps slightly-masochistic girl that I am, I wouldn't haven't any other way. And insteading of just screwing around while being abroad (which, don't get me wrong, I'm doing plenty of), I'm learning A TON. All in all, every day is different and wondrous and fun and stimulating and educational and everything I could ever want or imagine from my abroad experience. I am a REALLY REALLY REALLY lucky girl!!! REALLY.

Today may have been the best day in Paris yet. I'm going to officially count the day as beginning at midnight last night, when I found myself at a party in the seventh, hosted by an Australian friend, Cara. The guests at this party were such an eclectic mix and it was just as much fun to watch the group dynamic as it was to interact with everyone. I think I just I really enjoy people, especially the kinds of people who live in Paris. One of the people I really enjoy is my friend Song-My, who arrived at the party last night shortly after midnight, marking the beginning of her birthday! This prompted (or perhaps I prompted...?) many multi-lingual renditions of the "Happy Birthday Song". I can recall Farsi (spell-check...?), Chinese, Korean (Song-My's personal favorite), Finnish, English, and of course, French. There may have been more, considering that everyone I meet seems to know 17 million languages. Moments like these make me laugh at all the fears I had about being lonely prior to coming to Paris. Instead there are so many gems here--truly exceptional people!

This afternoon, I visited the Salon du Vin--an exposition of independent wine sellers from all over France. I got to go the exposition for free thanks to my wine class (anyone in California who has been reading about said class has the right to be totally jealous), and headed over with Andrea, her boyfriend Luke who is visiting from Santa Barbara, and the birthday girl. As we headed inside, we were handed a glass, and found ourselves face to face with hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands...?) of wine booths in an enormous hall with multiple rooms. Overwhelmed, we began at a booth from Loire Valley, the region that Andrea, Song-My and I are focusing on for the presentation we are going to do for our wine class. I think we spent a good 20 minutes at the first booth, talking (in French + English, or "Franglais" if you will) with the wine producer about everything from the production to the marketing of his Chardonnay, as we tasted it and some Muscats. He gave us some literature about his exports and was so friendly and helpful. At the end of the day, we actually returned to his booth, picked up a couple of bottles, and discussed even possibly visiting him and his wife at their vineyard! How does that sound for homework? Throughout the day, we basically traveled booth by booth and tried wines from all over France, talking to the producers as well. I could go on for days and months and years about how great it was, but I will just say that I was in wine heaven, which for me is basically plain old heaven. In fact, heaven might be a let-down compared to the Salon du Vin. I think my life is complete now.

After a trip to heaven, how could my day possibly get any better? Simple, with a trip to visit our favorite jazz musician, Patty Sherlock, for a celebration of Song-My's birthday! I absolutely LOVE our Sunday night jazz bar expeditions, and tonight was especially fun because Patty, who is quite fond of Song-My, dedicated a few special birthday songs to her. Aaand, at one point, he compelled the entire bar (well over 50 people) to sing her the Happy Birthday song, which I thought was pretty cool! Aaaand, maybe it was all the wine going to my brain, but I had a particularly good time, and felt more compelled to dance (which I of course did) tonight than I have at any other jazz.

I think my blog might be insanely boring to read, because I feel like I just babel on about how great my life is. So I'm really sorry, but I just can't help it. My life is really great. Have I mentioned that I'm REALLY REALLY lucky? Well I am. Thanks Mom and Dad and Aunt Berta and everyone else for the best semester of my life so far.

Last Night!

I had such a great night last night that I think it merited its own post. First, we had a wine tasting of a 2007 Cote du Rhone in my World of Wine class, complete with chocolate, fruit, and cheese (to see how it tasted differently with each component). Then, directly from wine class, I headed over to a Girl Talk! concert. Girl Talk is a really well-known mash-up artist and DJ from Detroit and I personally am a huge fan. It was sooo fun to dance and reminded me of home a bit. Furthermore, there were tons of Americans at this concert, including many Berkeley kids--so it was SUPER SUPER fun to see them and reunite as well. After the concert, Tami and I decided to grab some sushi and warm sake (it was a cold night), so we headed over the the 11th and grabbed ourselves a treat. That was the first sushi I've had since being here, so I was SO SO HAPPY to have some. It was really really good. All in all, I can't think of an equation for a better night!

Longest. Post. Ever.

As some of you (i.e. Rafaella and Dad, probably like half of my audience right there) have noticed, I haven’t blogged in a while. So, to make up for it, I am writing a super-extra long blog—you get 3 posts for the price of 1! However, I don’t expect you to be entertained by my life for multiple pages worth of events, so I will try to intersperse some philosophical musings/ fun facts for your pleasure. Enjoy!

P.S. I would also like to apologize if I begin to use extremely long sentences or if I have become less succinct. It’s just a part of my integration process.

Exposé 1:

Last Friday I had my first oral presentation (exposé) for my French seminar course, Introduction à la pensée liberale. This wasn’t actually even an exposé, which are kind of like oral essays, but was a review of the press from the “liberal perspective”. I struggled a little with my French but in general I thought I did a pretty good job of preparing my work; I did a fair amount of research, included a lot of quotes, picked an interesting topic, and did kind of a broad overview of the liberal point of view of my topic—presenting alternative view points and showing that the liberal perspective on the subject was nuanced. Apparently, though, my professor disagreed. He appreciated my work, but had a lot of specific clarifications/corrections to make about things I had said. So, I got to hear him tell the rest of the class all of the things I said that were “not exactly right”. For around fifteen to twenty minutes. As I stood in front of them. As they all watched me. And as I felt myself turning bright red. At first, I was embarrassed, frustrated, and feeling argumentative. But then, after about another ten minutes, I realized that I am here to learn. And although the degree of work that I did may have been acceptable for a course taught in America in English, French is not my native language and I lack some of the reference points that many of the French students have. So, I decided that I would take this humiliation as a lesson learned, and have now realized that in my French classes, I need to have my exposés totally written out (not just with notes) and I need to do MORE research and ask for help when I need it. By the end of this two hour class, I was surprisingly quite chipper.

I think this change in attitude reflects the fact that in general, I’ve had much more of a sunny disposition here, because:

1) I’m only in France for 5 months, and I want to take advantage of every opportunity;

2) I’ve realized that a lot of situations here are beyond my control, and I can either choose to get upset/frustrated/complain when things don’t go as expected or I can say: hmmm… that’s interesting, how can I tailor this new situation to my advantage? And I’ve been choosing the latter because, well, … see #1;

3) I’ve tried to take a lot of my experiences here as reflecting cultural differences, which I think has allowed me to feel more neutral about things I might normally get pissed off about, and

4) ummm… I’m in Paris. Life is good.

Yes, maybe this list is a little corny, naïve, and idealistic, but.... See #4, in reference as to why I don’t care.

Funk Festival and Francophone Friends:

That night, Song-My’s Moroccan friend from her foyer Sarah (who had invited us to the jazz club a few times) invited our group to a funk festival put on by one of her friends. I was expecting a small gathering of locals in a club, but was pleasantly surprised when we rolled up to a large university and found ourselves in the midst of a full-force concert, complete with a bar and an art exposition. Instead of the 50 people gathered round tables that I had imagined, there were hundreds, on the floor (with us) and generally packed into a large lecture hall. Three bands played, and we danced the night away. I think the highlight was listening to the French-accented audience belting “Now you do what they told ya…” to a (quite good) funk rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killin’ in the Name Of”. Two of Sarah’s Moroccan friends, who are also studying in Paris, came and they proved to be both excellent dance partners and, as I found out later in the night, great French tutors (though all three of them speak fluent English). It was such a fun time, and this felt like a more authentically French experience than the California Party Posse’s normal bar scene (which, don’t get me wrong, is definitely fun too). It was just a nice change.

Père-Lachaise:

The next Sunday, a group of us decided to head over to the cemetery Père-Lachaise, which is home to the graves of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Balzac, to name a few. You may remember the cemetery from such films as Paris Je t’aime. It is an absolutely beautiful cemetery, and we had the good fortune of choosing an absolutely beautiful March day on which to visit it. The weather in general is warming up here, which this Southern Californian native is SO SO happy about. At the cemetery, we walked around for a long time and Tami, Ara, Matthew and I kissed Oscar Wilde’s grave for good luck (as is the tradition in these parts). The graves are above ground, like they are in New Orleans, and each one is unique—with varying levels of grandeur, from humble stones with sober inscriptions bearing the bodies of centuries-old Parisians, to the glass-encased sculpture that houses two Hungarian princesses. Our trip ended with a pause on a grassy-patch over by Jimmy and all in all, it was a beautiful (I hate to continuously use that word, but it is just so fitting) experience which caused for some serious reflection on life and death. As one of the few free activities in Paris, too, this one is going on the top-ten-things-to-do-in-Paris list that I just created while writing this sentence.

Beth’s Wine Tasting Guide:

A Factual Interlude to this Blog Post, Brought to You by My World of Wine Notes

Did you know that there are 5 steps to tasting wine? Here they are, in order, for your reading pleasure:

1) Smell the cork. Does your wine smell vinegary? If so, don’t drink it.

2) Pour a small quantity into your own glass to:

a. Make sure your wine is good

b. Make sure there’s no cork in it.

3) Look at the glass and look at the color. The color indicates age (darker for a white wine, brickish for a red wine) and grape variety. To clearly see the color, hold a white sheet of paper to the side of your glass. Also, look at the tiers (legs). Very visible tiers indicate well-made, alcoholic wine.

4) Smell your wine. Does it smell like: floral? Citrus? Fruits? If your wine is from California (or the rest of the “new world”), it may smell like these things because of the addition of flavored yeast. However, if you have a French wine, these aromas likely reflect the “terroir”—condititions in which the grapes were grown. By the way, you should be holding your wine by the stem and swirling it slowly to preserve the temperature and aromas throughout your drinking experience.

5) Taste it! Suck in air between your teeth as you taste your wine to aerate it. Taste it on its own, and then with something savory and sweet for different effects. After you drink it, notice how long the taste lasts in your mouth (ladies…). Bad wine fades fast.

I plan on putting these steps in action during my next class on Monday, and I hope you use them soon too!

Fun Rock History:

A Factual Interlude to this Blog Post, Brought to You by My History of Rock Music Notes

Did you know that Techno Music can be considered the great great great grandson of African American Slave Songs? That’s right! Some of your favorites like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” were brought to you by “Old Man River”. In the “Defining Age” of the 1960’s, Folk Revivalists like Woodie Guthrie sought to capture the dying spirit of the American South, and were particularly focused on preserving Black Folk Songs, which they considered to be truly American. Some of these guys then turned into hippies, like our friend Bob Dylan, who yielded the San Francisco and L.A. psychedelic scenes, like our friends Jefferson Airplane, after going electric during the “Technical Age”, around the time when Dylan traded his newsboy caps for his WayFarers. In the “Fragmented Age” that followed, psychadellic electric folk turned into electronic with dudes like Brian Eno, who then influenced your Airs and Aphex Twins of aujourd’hui. Isn’t that a doozy?

And now, back to our regular programming….

Manifestation:

Usually, I don’t have classes on Tuesdays and therefore have no reason to go to Sciences Po. However, this past Friday, I had a partnered oral presentation (actual exposé) to do in the conference for my French lecture course on “Large Questions of the Construction of Europe” and so my partner Dalhia, a French girl, and I decided to meet at the University on Tuesday at 6:30PM in preparation. When I got to the Metro Station, she called and asked where I was, and said something about not being able to go into Sciences PO owing to some men being in there, all of which I did not fully understand due to the combination of our shoddy cell phones and her speedy French. She and another kid caught up with me on my way from the Metro, and (jokingly) informed me that the 20 police officers I was about to see on the block outside of Sciences Po (which is in one building in one block in the 7^th—not quite as large as Berkeley!) were out to get me. As we made our way past them and into a crowd of hundreds of students, I discovered their true reason for being there: a MANIFÉSTATION! Note: I use the French word here, because the English word, “protest”, does not really do this event, or the French culture of strikes and protests, justice. Dalhia and I were among the crowd members who witnessed a handful of young people (likely Sorbonne students) take over our University in an anti-establishment tirade. They had got into Sciences Po (and thus justified the fact that we’ve had security guards checking our ID’s upon entrance into the building for the past few weeks), and chanted from some windows of the second floor of the building, where they had also hung a large sign, which (although it is way more elegant in French) read:

GOVERN, EXPLOIT, PRIVATIZE.

IT’S HERE WHERE THAT IS LEARNED,

HERE WHERE THE KNOWLEDGE IS THE SERVICE OF POWER!

As a bit of background, Sciences Po is one of the “grandes écoles” (“large schools”) in France, and is also the place where basically every major French name in politics or business did their first five years of University. So, while the staff and students are mostly considered to be to the Left, Sciences Po is also seen as “part of the institution”, especially amongst other students. Considering this dynamic and reputation, it was interesting then, to see some of the Sciences Po students chanting right along with the self-proclaimed anarchists, while others (of the polo shirt and khaki disposition) rebelled against the anarchists. One khaki kid fell, trying to rip down the maniefestants’ sign, and others made their own “Vive Le Roy” (Le Roy = Sciences Po founder) signs, and mooned the crowd from the classroom next to the one occupied by the anarchists. All of the public universities in France, with the exception of the grandes écoles, have been on strike since we’ve been here, and our friends like Sarah over at the Sorbonne have no idea when they’re going to begin classes. Perhaps that partially explains why a few of these students decided to come into our neighborhood.

Throughout the episode, Dalhia and I discussed our exposé and concluded that there was no better place to discuss French politics than in the midst of a manifestation—a truly French institution! After we were done, I talked to a handful of her friends about the cultural differences with regards to protests, strikes, etc. in France and the States and about the differences between French and American politics in general (my tattooed, Berkeley hippie, peace-loving, socially-concerned, Obama-obsessed Leftist self would probably be considered somewhere around the middle here), until the police came—accompanied by “Justice Nowhere Police Everywhere” chants—about an hour later and decided to remove the protestors. I’m totally glad that Dalhia and I happened to be meeting as all of this was going on because I got a lot done on my exposé, practiced my French (with Dalhia’s friends and in listening to the protestors), got students’ take on French politics, and did all of this amidst the excitement of a totally French cultural experience.

Hands down my favorite and most memorable experience in Paris so far.

Exposé 2:

When Dalhia and I met to discuss our exposé, she first asked me what I thought of the group that had gone the week before. Wanting to be polite, and also legitimately impressed by their effort, I told her that I thought they did a really thorough job and that it was pretty good. She agreed, but then added, as if reading my mind, that their presentation was also really long and pretty boring. She then informed me that she had a crazy idea to do our exposé in the form of a play, centering around the theme “Je t’aime, moi non plus” (roughly: “I love you, I love you not”), a French song and common theme in French literature. Exposés are normally very straight-forward presentations, meant to simulate political briefings, with a very strict methodology. However, considering that a) our subject: “Can France still be pro-European?” would fit appropriately with such a scene, b) Dalhia seemed pretty smart, and c) I had nothing to loose after my exposé number 1 debacle, I got on board. Furthermore, we weren’t abandoning the exposé methodology; just presenting it in a way which we hoped would compel our classmates to actually listen.

For the next few days, we prepared our exposé, with Dalhia doing a lot of research and revising, and by Friday it was ready to go. We stood up in front of our class, totally confident, and I took on the role of the non-French European community—critical of the French attitude and efforts towards integrating into Europe, and Dalhia took on the reverse. We had a very lively pre-written debate in front of our class, concluding that although both France and Europe have had difficulties in truly integrating the former into the latter, a pro-European France would be possible if each party changed their attitudes and took on some specific positive actions.

Prior to our presentation, Dalhia and I knew that it would be hit or miss, so we were both reassured to see our classmates’ and professor’s faces light up with every impassioned intonation or implanted interjection. During the “questions” segment at the end, our classmates mostly commended us for retaining their attention, and our professor, too, expressed his extreme approval for our dynamism. He only critiqued one small part of one of Dalhia’s subpoints, probably just for the sake of critiquing something.

Not only was it comforting/glorifying to do so well on this exposé (due in large part to Dalhia), but it was really fun to work with a Parisian! While breaking from our work, Dalhia gave me a lot of insider tips about slang, fun places to go at night, good food, and the real scoop on Sciences Po. I learned that, yes there are super intense kids who do nothing but study here and are disinterested/ unimpressed by Americans and international students, but there are also a fair amount of laid-back students who are sympathetic and fun to boot!

GivernyàRouen:

Today, a group of us were planning on taking the train to Giverny, site of Monet’s house and the famous water lilies (which I have a strong connection to and will probably discuss later). However, upon our arrival in Vernon, the train station about 7KM away, we learned that apparently Monet’s house isn’t open until April 1^st and that the bus from Vernon to Giverny won’t be running until then anyway. So, being the spontaneous and adventurous study abroad students that we are, we decided to keep going on our line (after some cocktails, of course), all the way to Rouen, the capital of High-Normandy, and site of the cathedral of the same name which Monet studied at different hours in the day. We walked around the town, in and out of the cathedral, and had many delicious treats along the way. All in all, it was nice to get out of Paris (as magical as it is) and to see a charming and older town. In hind site, I’m also quite glad that we’re saving our Giverny visit for another day because today marked the first sign of clouds in a while.

In general, I have a lot more I could/want to say. My life here is pretty great. Paris’ beauty never ceases to amaze me. However, owing to the fact that I have homework and a bed to attend to, and the fact that you’ve probably stopped reading by now, I will call this the end for now. If you are still reading: congratulations on making it through. Raf and Dad: was that what you were looking for?