http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=328162&id=567995098&l=c5b3df558a
The pictures aren't all that exciting but there are a couple good ones.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
“To London, to London, where everything is fine!”
Sorry it took me so long to post about my trip, I needed a day of recovery….
First off: thank you NFL, thank you, thank you, thank you! I am seriously the luckiest girl on the planet. It was a given that the Patriots would eventually play a game in London when the NFL started its "International Series" three years ago but for the Pats to come the same semester that I am studying abroad in Paris is just awesome. My first NFL game and it's in London at Wembley Stadium….so cool.
I had a wonderful weekend trip to London but boy am I glad to be back in Paris. Part of it I'm sure is just getting back to a city I'm familiar with but Paris is so much prettier than London. Sure London has its pretty parts (Saint James Park was particularly lovely this weekend) but on the whole Paris is beaucoup plus belle que Londres. Going to London for the weekend sure made me appreciate Paris a whole lot more than before my little weekend séjour.
This week is vacances de la Toussant in France so I have a week off from my Reid Hall classes. Most French students have either this week or next week off. In terms of my schedule, it was absolutely the perfect weekend for the Patriots to come to Europe. I left early Friday morning on a 7h13 train from Paris Gare du Nord to London St. Pancras International. I ran into some of the other girls on my program who were going to London this weekend at the train station because they had missed their earlier train. It ended up being the only point in the trip where I saw them. I'll call it a lack of communication and leave it at that….
The train ride through the Chunnel was not as dramatic as I had hoped. Not gonna lie, but I was really looking forward to going through the famous Chunnel. I was half expecting some sort of sign or signal, anything really, along the lines of "We are now entering the Chunnel! You are under the ocean!" From the French side, the only indication that you are in the actual Chunnel is that it stays dark for around 25 minutes instead of 2 minutes like the other couple tunnels we went through (on the British side you can see the highway and border control so you know the tunnel is coming). Yeah, I know…in Boston we go through underwater tunnels all the time but my apologies to Teddy Ballgame, the Chunnel is way cooler.
After arriving in London, I made the required stop at Platform 9 ¾ in King's Cross Station with the other VWPP girls (it's the domestic station attached to St. Pancras International), bought my Oyster Card, and hoped on the Tube to my hostel in Pimlico. My hostel was really easy to find and turned out to be really nice. It was my first hostel experience and I was staying by myself in a 10 bed dorm style room so I was a little nervous beforehand but I didn't have any problems all weekend. The hostel was clean, the staff was really friendly and welcoming, and the other girls in my room were fun to talk to. I didn't spend all that much time there but it made the weekend a lot more comfortable not having to worry about staying at the hostel by myself for three days.
After checking in, I was off! That first day (Friday) I saw Westminster Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, and the London Eye. Oh, I also ran into some Patriots outside Big Ben......!!!!!!!!! Around 8 o'clock I was walking towards the London Eye when I saw a group of big black guys who looked kind of familiar. I went up to them and told them I was from Boston and studying abroad in Paris and that I had come to London to see the game on Sunday. They were friendly enough and happily took a picture with me (Jerod Mayo is the one not smiling. He was a little whiney, even before I went up to talk to them he had a pouty look on his face). Adalius Thomas may have been scratched last week but he was so nice! That definitely made walking around by myself doing my own thing totally worth it.
On Saturday, I got up and saw the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square and then went to the British Museum (talk about imperialism on parade….) where I had my second chance encounter of the weekend (no, it was not more Patriots). When I was admiring the Rosetta Stone (yup, no joke….) I spotted another friend from my program. As it turns out, Elise was also in London for the weekend, visiting a friend who is studying abroad at the London School of Economics. I didn't even know she was in London but it was a welcome surprise. I ended up spending the rest of the day with Elise, including a fabulous fish and chips lunch at an English pub, The Tower of London and London Bridge, and Hairspray in the theater district that evening. Needless to say I was having a great weekend even before my main event on Sunday!
Sunday was the first day of daylight savings time in Europe so I was able to wake up early (8am) no problem. That gave me a whole half day to walk around and see more of London before heading over to Wembley. I saw the Tate Modern (contemporary art museum), the Millennium Bridge (the one the Death Eaters destroy in HBP movie), grabbed a snack at a Farmers Market I stumbled upon near Waterloo, and then hopped on the Tube for Wembley Park. As soon as I got to Wembley, I saw Steve Burton filming a couple bits for Patriots All Access. (I was going to stick around and try to get in a shot but they weren't going to him live for a while.) It was certainly very bizarre to suddenly see tons of people from home and Steve Burton of all people after three months of European living. It is hard for me to judge how many people came from Boston to see the game. There were so many people in Patriots jersey's but a lot of them were Brits! I had no idea so many English people cared about American football. If you watched the game, the national anthem says it all. I was hoping for a loud singing of The Star Spangled Banner but the crowd really was mostly English. I guess that is what the NFL was hoping for so good for them. It was super annoying that the Bucs were the home team. Me and the other Pats fans in my section were annoyed when we found Bucs flags under our seats. There weren't that many Bucs fans in the stands. It may have looked like it on TV but they were just being festive. I saw people in Tom Brady jerseys waving Buc flags. It was painful.
Besides the fact that it was a Buccaneer home game, the game was really fun. The first half was high scoring and big plays by the Patriots so I had a lot to cheer for. My seat was sick. I was row 22, directly up from the corner of the Patriots end zone. I had a blue card during the anthems and was part of the Union Jack. Wes Welker scored his touchdown on my side. The second half was a little boring and Tom Brady got taken out but it was still really cool to be in Wembley Stadium . I read Dan Shaughnessy's column and he seemed pretty cynical about the whole thing but I had a fabulous time.
Although I had a wonderful weekend in London, I was very happy to get back on the train and head back to Paris. It was great to be in an English speaking country (a bit of a culture shock actually, I had to stop myself saying merci a couple times) but I was very happy to step off the train in Paris and expertly navigate my way through the train station past all the tourists on my way to the Metro and my quick train ride home.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Figaro et Fromage
I went for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne this morning, a park in western Paris that is 2.5 times the size of Central Park. I obviously did not see the entire park but I saw most of it. It is an absolutely beautiful day and there were tons out people out running and little kids riding bikes. Me and all the Parisians going for a Sunday morning walk in le bois (woods).
Yesterday I was like a ten year old in Paris. I went to Salon du Chocolat in the afternoon with friends and then we went to see the Petit Nicolas movie. The Salon du Chocolat was a huge chocolate expo in Paris’s big convention center complex. It was a little pricey to get in (12 euro) but every booth had free sample and taste tastings that it was definitely worth it. It also gave me an opportunity to bring back a little chocolate present for my host family. Lame and pathetic, yes, bribing my host family to like me better but I think it worked. It’s not that they don’t like me (as far as I can tell anyways…) but things are still a little awkward. I feel like I don’t know anything about them and they don’t know much about me. I got to know the Marlier’s a lot better in the two weeks I stayed with them than I have so far in the month and a half I have been with the D’Ussel’s. Chocolate is always a helpful step in the right direction….
Anyways, as the title of the post indicates, my two big events this week were my trip to the opéra and a dégustation de fromage (cheese tasting)! On Wednesday, I saw Le Barbier de Seville at L’Opéra de la Bastille. It was actually inaugurated on the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille and is supposed to be the people’s opera house. Luckily, nobody did any storming and I had a great time at my first opera. We didn’t have to get super dressed up but I still felt very fancy and sophisticated putting on ma robe (dress) and going to the Opera. We saw le Barbier de Seville and it was in Italian but there were subtitles in French projected above the stage so it was easy enough to follow what was going on. It was kind of cool actually to be listening to the Italian but reading in French. They are really similar languages and I felt like I could understand the Italian better because I was reading in French. I definitely wouldn’t have had the same experience if I was reading the dialogue in English.
I am obviously an opera novice and I did not know the story of le Barbier de Seville before seeing the play but it was really good! I recognized the music (everybody would have) and I was very happy to get to hear “Figaro, Figaro, Figarooo.” As it turns out, Figaro, the barber of Seville, sings the famous line because he is lamenting the fact that everybody always wants something from him, saying Figaro this and Figaro that, always “Figaro, Figaro, Figarrooo.” So great.
After my swanky night at the opera, I got to go to une fromagerie for a dégustation de fromage the following night. Now I know why everybody makes fun of smelly French cheese. I was hoping to go out afterwards and meet up with friends but that did not happen. I smelled like le fromage…. tasty and wonderfully delicious fromage….. but still fromage….
Not only was the cheese very delicious, I learned so much! I tried to write everything down when I got home but I am going to have to look up a lot of the stuff again online. We got to taste all different types of regional French specialties (with du pain et du vin of course). I also got my most pressing French cheese questions answered by le fromageur himself (when do we eat la croûte, the crust/outside of the cheese, red or white wine…very important stuff) The most bizarre part of the evening was when right after Monsieur le fromageur told us how rosé isn’t real wine and shouldn’t be drank with good cheese, a man walked into the store and seeing a group of jeunes femmes, proceeded to buy us a bottle of rosé. The guy was trying to be flashy and act like he was wealthy (ie. making his purchase with cash that he pulled out of an envelope) and talking about how he had a great rosé one weekend in Switzerland. We saw right through him. Rosé…ptchhhh.
After my École du Vin in Bordeaux and now my dégustation de fromage here in Paris, my French education is pretty much complete!
Bonne soirée!
Yesterday I was like a ten year old in Paris. I went to Salon du Chocolat in the afternoon with friends and then we went to see the Petit Nicolas movie. The Salon du Chocolat was a huge chocolate expo in Paris’s big convention center complex. It was a little pricey to get in (12 euro) but every booth had free sample and taste tastings that it was definitely worth it. It also gave me an opportunity to bring back a little chocolate present for my host family. Lame and pathetic, yes, bribing my host family to like me better but I think it worked. It’s not that they don’t like me (as far as I can tell anyways…) but things are still a little awkward. I feel like I don’t know anything about them and they don’t know much about me. I got to know the Marlier’s a lot better in the two weeks I stayed with them than I have so far in the month and a half I have been with the D’Ussel’s. Chocolate is always a helpful step in the right direction….
Anyways, as the title of the post indicates, my two big events this week were my trip to the opéra and a dégustation de fromage (cheese tasting)! On Wednesday, I saw Le Barbier de Seville at L’Opéra de la Bastille. It was actually inaugurated on the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille and is supposed to be the people’s opera house. Luckily, nobody did any storming and I had a great time at my first opera. We didn’t have to get super dressed up but I still felt very fancy and sophisticated putting on ma robe (dress) and going to the Opera. We saw le Barbier de Seville and it was in Italian but there were subtitles in French projected above the stage so it was easy enough to follow what was going on. It was kind of cool actually to be listening to the Italian but reading in French. They are really similar languages and I felt like I could understand the Italian better because I was reading in French. I definitely wouldn’t have had the same experience if I was reading the dialogue in English.
I am obviously an opera novice and I did not know the story of le Barbier de Seville before seeing the play but it was really good! I recognized the music (everybody would have) and I was very happy to get to hear “Figaro, Figaro, Figarooo.” As it turns out, Figaro, the barber of Seville, sings the famous line because he is lamenting the fact that everybody always wants something from him, saying Figaro this and Figaro that, always “Figaro, Figaro, Figarrooo.” So great.
After my swanky night at the opera, I got to go to une fromagerie for a dégustation de fromage the following night. Now I know why everybody makes fun of smelly French cheese. I was hoping to go out afterwards and meet up with friends but that did not happen. I smelled like le fromage…. tasty and wonderfully delicious fromage….. but still fromage….
Not only was the cheese very delicious, I learned so much! I tried to write everything down when I got home but I am going to have to look up a lot of the stuff again online. We got to taste all different types of regional French specialties (with du pain et du vin of course). I also got my most pressing French cheese questions answered by le fromageur himself (when do we eat la croûte, the crust/outside of the cheese, red or white wine…very important stuff) The most bizarre part of the evening was when right after Monsieur le fromageur told us how rosé isn’t real wine and shouldn’t be drank with good cheese, a man walked into the store and seeing a group of jeunes femmes, proceeded to buy us a bottle of rosé. The guy was trying to be flashy and act like he was wealthy (ie. making his purchase with cash that he pulled out of an envelope) and talking about how he had a great rosé one weekend in Switzerland. We saw right through him. Rosé…ptchhhh.
After my École du Vin in Bordeaux and now my dégustation de fromage here in Paris, my French education is pretty much complete!
Bonne soirée!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?
What just happened ?
Well, last night was absolutely terrible, wouldn't you say? I had to listen to that turd of a ninth inning over here all by my lonesome myself in my little chambre à coucher (bedroom). It was quite the kick in the gut, Even when I am 3,441.5 miles away they still get me (yes, that is the exact distance from Fenway park to my apartment here in the 17ième arrondissement of Paris, I used Google Earth). Cue the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saalGKY7ifU And then having to get up this morning and read that the Pats lost in OT to Josh McDaniels and the Broncos….very disappointing.
Besides the terrible Sunday evening, I had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday, I met up with a friend and we went to Centre Georges Pompidou and the Musée National d’Art Moderne. Two floors of the Centre Pompidou are dedicated to the musee, the 4ième et 5ième niveaux . The 4ième niveau was the contemporary art floor, with a special exhibition right now called elles@ centripompidou. It was so bizarre. I was reading the English explanations of all the different artwork and I still didn’t understand what they were trying to say. The fifth floor was much better, lots of cubism, Picassos, much nicer to walk through. Plus, it didn't have rooms with giant video projections of naked woman standing on random boxes and flailing around trying to fly....like I said, it was a bizarre exhibition.
It was kind of my weekend for absurd art. On Friday, I visited Milly-la-Forêt (town about an hour from Paris) and saw Le Cyclop with my contemporary art class. It was strange to say the least, un fou furieux (a furious madness) my teacher rightly called it. It was pretty much a big tree house that a bunch of artists built in the middle of the forest. It was really fun to walk through, with the big tree growing in the middle and it had all kinds of moving parts but it was really bizarre to think how someone could be motivated to build something like that. Trop beaucoup du vin, peut-etre? I was required to go because I am taking the installations art class at Reid Hall but I am glad I went. We also visited Barbizon, the tiny village where many French painters lived and worked. It’s too bad nobody outside our class signed up to come on the trip but maybe that had something to do with our leaving at 8:45 on a Friday morning....
Back to this past weekend, after doing the Centre Pompidou, Meredith and I grabbed a little lunch and hopped on the Metro to get to Montmartre for la fête des Vendanges (Grape Harvest Festival), a yearly festival in the 18ième that celebrates the Parisian grape harvest. Before coming to Paris, I had no idea that there were even les vignobles in the city! As it turns out, there are actually small vineyards in Montmartre, the 18ième arrondissement of Paris. Right next to Sacré Coeur was le Parcours de Goût featuring small stands with specialties from all the regions of France. I bought une flûte de champagne (actually allowed to be called champagne because it comes from the Champagne-Ardenne region of France) and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around looking at all the amazing specialty foods for sale. On our way back to the Metro, Meredith and I walked alongside a parade featuring peoples dressed in traditional French costumes, each representing a different wine region. I was even poured a small cup of wine by one of the guys walking in the parade. He was carrying a bottle and small cups to give the spectators a taste of his company's wine. Is that even allowed in the US? C’est la France!
It was kind of my weekend for absurd art. On Friday, I visited Milly-la-Forêt (town about an hour from Paris) and saw Le Cyclop with my contemporary art class. It was strange to say the least, un fou furieux (a furious madness) my teacher rightly called it. It was pretty much a big tree house that a bunch of artists built in the middle of the forest. It was really fun to walk through, with the big tree growing in the middle and it had all kinds of moving parts but it was really bizarre to think how someone could be motivated to build something like that. Trop beaucoup du vin, peut-etre? I was required to go because I am taking the installations art class at Reid Hall but I am glad I went. We also visited Barbizon, the tiny village where many French painters lived and worked. It’s too bad nobody outside our class signed up to come on the trip but maybe that had something to do with our leaving at 8:45 on a Friday morning....
Back to this past weekend, after doing the Centre Pompidou, Meredith and I grabbed a little lunch and hopped on the Metro to get to Montmartre for la fête des Vendanges (Grape Harvest Festival), a yearly festival in the 18ième that celebrates the Parisian grape harvest. Before coming to Paris, I had no idea that there were even les vignobles in the city! As it turns out, there are actually small vineyards in Montmartre, the 18ième arrondissement of Paris. Right next to Sacré Coeur was le Parcours de Goût featuring small stands with specialties from all the regions of France. I bought une flûte de champagne (actually allowed to be called champagne because it comes from the Champagne-Ardenne region of France) and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around looking at all the amazing specialty foods for sale. On our way back to the Metro, Meredith and I walked alongside a parade featuring peoples dressed in traditional French costumes, each representing a different wine region. I was even poured a small cup of wine by one of the guys walking in the parade. He was carrying a bottle and small cups to give the spectators a taste of his company's wine. Is that even allowed in the US? C’est la France!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
La Nuit Blanche
Paris never ceases to amaze me. Last night was La Nuit Blanche (literally ‘white night’ but means ‘all-nighter’ in French), a once a year event that showcases contemporary art in three big neighborhoods in Paris. (After a little Google search, I just learned that there are ‘White Nights’ all over the world, in one form or another). There were les installations, les films, and even les installations sonores (sound installations) all over the city. I am taking a class at Reid Hall on les installations so it was really cool for me to see all this crazy stuff all over the city. The closest thing that I can compare it to is New Year’s Eve and First Night in Boston. There were so many people out and about and it was such a festive atmosphere in the city. Plus, it was a little chilly in Paris so it finally felt like l’automne!
I was a little early for meeting up with my friends at the Jardin de Luxembourg so I hopped in the security line by myself. I had my little Nuit Blanche program book that I picked up the other day in a library but very few people seemed to have them. As a result, people kept coming up to me to see if they could look at it for a second. It wasn’t a big deal really and it gave me a chance to speak a little French but it was weird. It is so funny to be asked questions about Paris when I’ve only been here three weeks! It’s happened to me on the metro a couple times too, when I’m reading my book (that’s in french). I’m glad I understood everybody who came up to me though. If I suddenly get asked a question when I’m not expecting it, I sometimes end up missing everything the person says (= I’ve always got to be on my toes). Luckily, I wasn’t zoning out too much so I didn’t have any trouble last night.
I saw three big displays last night and I can’t decide which was my favorite, so I’ll start with third place: Les Cristaux in Notre Dame. Inside the cathedral there were these light up crystal thingys. I thought that it was going to be a lot cooler, like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude or something right smack in the middle of Notre Dame. It wasn’t quite this extensive but it was still neat.
Tied for first place:
La Maitresse de la Tour Eiffel in the Jardin du Luxembourg: a huge, rotating boule à facettes (disco ball) suspended by a crane with several huge spotlights, creating the effect of dancing light all over the garden. It was so amazing that I laughed out loud when I first saw it…..by myself.
The Forty-Part Motet in L’Eglise Saint-Séverin: Forty speakers set up in the church, each playing a single voice part of an English choir. The acoustics in the church were amazing, it sounded like you were standing in the middle of the choir. Plus, the individual speakers made it sound like there was an actual person standing behind you. I can’t decide if that was part of the artist’s message or not, that people can be replaced by boxes…..whatever, c’était trop cool.
No, I did not actually faire une nuit blanche, I wanted to get the last metro home, and boy did I ever. Since I was traveling by myself, I had no problem squeezing myself into the first train that came. We were packed like a box of sardines but whatever, I got home.
Now, in the spirit of Le Stade Français, Paris’ rugby team who I saw play Friday night:
Allez….Allez… Allez les Pat-ri-ots!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Le Désespoir et le Bonheur
I am still recovering from yesterday, both physically and mentally….really, I’m serious, I am….. Once again, yesterday was a day of extreme highs and extreme lows. My life had evened out to a happy medium now that I am more settled in Paris but today was just one of those days… It started out in complete désespor (despair) but happily ended in le bonheur (happiness).
The day started out with le désespoir, caused by what else, my class at Paris 12. I knew taking a L3 (license 3 = third year) philosophy class would be difficult but what I endured today was miserable. Even for an introduction class, where we went over the syllabus (or lack thereof) pretty much sent me off the deep end.
The day started out well enough, I got to Paris 12 for my first philosophy class no problem and found the room right away. The teacher began talking about the course and right off the bat he says that he has changed the course description from what he wrote in June for the livret etudiant (student book, has info about each department and classes offered every semester). Uh oh, bad sign, right there. I only took the class based on the course description because it included a bit of political philosophy that I need for my government major at Hamilton. I was still calm at this point, I thought “Ok, whatever. I’ll give it a try.” Plus, I still had another hour and a half to sit through so I couldn’t get all stressed out so early. Well, that lasted about two seconds because the final exam is a four hour dissertation. As in TALKING, in French, for FOUR HOURS. Now, as a foreign student, I would not be expected to do this same assignment, the teachers here have lots of exchange students and are usually pretty good about giving written assignments or alternative assignments that are do-able for foreign kids. However, I do not want to deal with a guy who makes his student talk for four hours in an undergraduate class! Also, he didn’t really have a syllabus. While this is typical for French universities, he kept talking about more books he was thinking about giving us. He finished off the class by saying that because he is teaching his thesis research topic, a class like this has never been taught before. Well, that was it for me. If I am going to take a philosophy class in French, I want a topic that has been discussed over and over and there are lots of books on the subject. As soon as class ended, I tried to talk to the professor and explain that I probably won’t be back but it was terrible. I was all nervous and didn’t really know what I wanted to say. Well, I made the conversation as short as possible and then I ran. Well, not literally, I speed walked but boy did I book it out of Paris 12. The whole time I was walking back to the metro, I couldn’t get a particular song out of my head….. “I rannnn, I ran so far away.” Right now, I believe that I have to find another class at Paris 12. Our program only has so many spots in each university each semester and the other universities are filled. “Couldn’t get away….” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUjIA3Rt7gk
Thank goodness I had rugby in afternoon. After the fiasco in the morning, I really needed to plaquer (tackle) something. It was a only a little scrimmage tournament but it was pretty fun. I still don’t really know what I am doing out there but the team and the coach have such high expectations! I got put right in the middle and I am was supposed to get in the middle and pouse, pousse, pousse (push,push,push). After the first play where I touched the ball I saw that my knee that was bleeding. Does that make me a real rugby player now? The coach even drew up a little give and go play that was supposed to get me the ball but we never got it to work. We still have so much to learn and work on at practice. We have another game on Thursday so bring it on ‘em.
Tomorrow night is Nuit Blanche (white night = all nighter) so all the museums will be free (they're always free for me) but there are also lots of contemporary art installations all over the city. I have to go, its my homework! J'adore Paris.
The day started out with le désespoir, caused by what else, my class at Paris 12. I knew taking a L3 (license 3 = third year) philosophy class would be difficult but what I endured today was miserable. Even for an introduction class, where we went over the syllabus (or lack thereof) pretty much sent me off the deep end.
The day started out well enough, I got to Paris 12 for my first philosophy class no problem and found the room right away. The teacher began talking about the course and right off the bat he says that he has changed the course description from what he wrote in June for the livret etudiant (student book, has info about each department and classes offered every semester). Uh oh, bad sign, right there. I only took the class based on the course description because it included a bit of political philosophy that I need for my government major at Hamilton. I was still calm at this point, I thought “Ok, whatever. I’ll give it a try.” Plus, I still had another hour and a half to sit through so I couldn’t get all stressed out so early. Well, that lasted about two seconds because the final exam is a four hour dissertation. As in TALKING, in French, for FOUR HOURS. Now, as a foreign student, I would not be expected to do this same assignment, the teachers here have lots of exchange students and are usually pretty good about giving written assignments or alternative assignments that are do-able for foreign kids. However, I do not want to deal with a guy who makes his student talk for four hours in an undergraduate class! Also, he didn’t really have a syllabus. While this is typical for French universities, he kept talking about more books he was thinking about giving us. He finished off the class by saying that because he is teaching his thesis research topic, a class like this has never been taught before. Well, that was it for me. If I am going to take a philosophy class in French, I want a topic that has been discussed over and over and there are lots of books on the subject. As soon as class ended, I tried to talk to the professor and explain that I probably won’t be back but it was terrible. I was all nervous and didn’t really know what I wanted to say. Well, I made the conversation as short as possible and then I ran. Well, not literally, I speed walked but boy did I book it out of Paris 12. The whole time I was walking back to the metro, I couldn’t get a particular song out of my head….. “I rannnn, I ran so far away.” Right now, I believe that I have to find another class at Paris 12. Our program only has so many spots in each university each semester and the other universities are filled. “Couldn’t get away….” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUjIA3Rt7gk
Thank goodness I had rugby in afternoon. After the fiasco in the morning, I really needed to plaquer (tackle) something. It was a only a little scrimmage tournament but it was pretty fun. I still don’t really know what I am doing out there but the team and the coach have such high expectations! I got put right in the middle and I am was supposed to get in the middle and pouse, pousse, pousse (push,push,push). After the first play where I touched the ball I saw that my knee that was bleeding. Does that make me a real rugby player now? The coach even drew up a little give and go play that was supposed to get me the ball but we never got it to work. We still have so much to learn and work on at practice. We have another game on Thursday so bring it on ‘em.
Tomorrow night is Nuit Blanche (white night = all nighter) so all the museums will be free (they're always free for me) but there are also lots of contemporary art installations all over the city. I have to go, its my homework! J'adore Paris.
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