I sincerely apologize for the delay in my postings. I will report on Venice and other occurrences in Europe after I sort out my own existential crisis. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Friday afternoon, after surviving my first art history exam, I spent two and a half hours at the Museum of Art and History of Judaism. It was really quite interesting, and since I had nothing else to do, I just took my time and learned as much about Judaism as I could retain. It was cool, because there were personal narratives of people from all over the world talking about what it's like to be Jewish where they live. So there were a lot people from France, but also Jews from Israel and Northern Africa and Eastern Europe. Some of them talked about how they're very religious and some are more spiritual and some are more cultural. Others define themselves as Jews and others said it was just a minor part of their lives. There were some expositions on Jews in Jerusalem and how they deal with daily conflicts and racism, and it was very eye-opening. It reminded me of my dear friend Alex, studying in Jerusalem for the semester.

Later that night I went to a bar called Footsie, which is where drink prices change like the stock market. It's kinda cool, but it was a tad disappointing, because the prices don't change that much, and they didn't have a lot of variety. I was hoping to have to really gamble for things, but I totally didn't. Oh well. I learned that Porto is good.

I may have stayed out a little too late, because the next morning, I missed my train to Strasbourg. Oops. Go me. I was literally stamping my ticket a few feet from the train when it pulled away. Sigh...

But good news! The next train was less than an hour later, and I actually made 9 euros, because the next train was 12 euros cheaper and there was a 3 euro charge fee. Woot! Don't know how I lucked out on that one... but I'll take it!

Also, on the metro on the way to the train station, I had a very interesting confrontation. A man asked why I was in such a hurry at 7am on a Saturday morning. He didn't seem too creepy/homeless, so I answered. I said I have a train to catch. And he said, oh... where are you going? I said I was on my way to Strasbourg, and he said, that's great, will you send me a postcard? And I laughed and said sure. He chuckled too and pulled out a pen. He took my metro map and wrote his address on my map! Then he kissed me and said, I can't wait to hear from you, and walked away. What in the world??? Oh, French men.

So I took the two-hour TGV to Strasbourg, and I arrived at about 10:30am. It was only about a twenty-minute walk from the train station to the center of the old village, so I started there. I went to the tourist office which is right next to the cathedral to see if they had any good information. They kindly informed me that the astronomical clock in the cathedral would not be viewable on Easter, so if I wanted to see it (which I did), I would have to do it today. So I immediately went back to the cathedral to buy a ticket. I walked around inside the cathedral for about twenty minutes or so, and then I went back to the clock to wait for a short twenty-minute film to start. It was not that informative/necessary, but it did tell us what to look for when the clock struck 12:30pm. The clock is huge, and it has little angels that ring bells and a rooster that crows and the twelve apostles are blessed by Jesus. It's about a five-minute shindig, and I think that's why they only do it once a day, so as not to run down the mechanics on the really, really, really old cathedral. It was cool, and I'm definitely glad I saw it. Then I climbed up approximately eight billion stairs to go to the top of the cathedral. My legs are still sore. And then the view was ultimately disappointing. The view from the Duomo in Milan was way cooler, and I definitely didn't climb up as many steps. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Then I decided to try a Strasbourg specialty for lunch, so I had a tarte flambee. It's kinda like a croque monsieur with a layer of cream... except that this layer of sour cream is at least one centimeter thick the whole way through. It was absolutely abominable. I couldn't eat it. But then I made myself feel better by going to this biscuit place, where they had specialty biscuits (cookies). I tried about six different kinds, and I went back the next day to buy my favorites (raspberry, almond, and chocolate) for my host family. Delicious!

Then I decided it was freezing, so I was gonna spend the rest of the afternoon inside. I went to Palais Rohan, where there are three museums: Decorative Arts, Archaeological, and Fine Arts. I spent about an hour in each, and I got in free, so of course it was worth it. I actually learned a fair amount in each. Ask if you wanna quiz me.

Then I took a bus to a park called l'Orangerie, which was actually very small, and again, it was freezing, but there was a miniature zoo there. I randomly stumbled upon ostriches, wild goats, lynxes, monkeys, peacocks, chickens, lemurs, parrots, parakeets, cockatoos, flamingos, ducks, and geese. I'm really not sure why they're there, but it was something to do. I also witnessed a very happy wedding from a distance. I heard all these cars honking, like crazy mad people honking, and they didn't stop, so I figured it was a procession of some kind. Then they all pulled into the park, and a band got out with drums and brass, and they played all kinds of funky music, and they all seemed to be having such a great time. Then I saw the bride in her beautiful white wedding dress, and she seemed so happy. And I thought, that's gonna last.

So I went back to the town, and I found a cute place called l'Epicerie, and I had an aperitif (a kir) and a bowl of beef broth. I was freezing at the point, so it was very necessary. Then I went to dinner, and that was the first time that it really sucked to be traveling alone. In French, when you wanna ask for a table for one, you say 'toute seule,' which means 'all alone.' So that's a depressing reminder that you're eating all alone. Oh well. I had an amazing dinner. I started with grilled vegetables, and then my main course was beef with mustard sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans wrapped with bacon, breaded cooked tomato, and fries. I'm not sure why everything comes with fries in France (especially when I already had mashed potatoes), but I ate them! It was amazing. Then I had apple tart for dessert, and I drink a local white wine, which was a little sweet, and I always like sweet. I was quite satisfied.

I took a bus to the hostel, and when I arrived at my room, I couldn't get the door to open. It took me awhile to realize that whoever was in the room probably had bolted the door. So I had to knock and wake her up, but I didn't feel that guilty, cause she should know not to do that. Anyway, I started speaking to her in French, cuz that's what I do when I'm in French, and she just stared blankly at me. So I thought, okay, maybe she speaks German, since I was so close to the German border, and everyone seemed to speak only French or German. I discovered the next morning that she speaks English! Blahh... oh language barriers... nonexistent ones, that is. It was very interesting though that all the French people thought I was German instead of American. In Paris, everyone knows I'm American, but I guess I'm blond enough that I can look German, too. Also, at restaurants, I could overhear families who were clearly speaking German the whole dinner, but they spoke fluent French to the waiters. I was like, I wished I had grown up in Europe, because I would know like at least three languages. Lucky ducks.

The next day, it was snowing! I hadn't seen snow since I left Boston in January. So I decided I wanted to be inside again, and I went to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art for about two hours. It was cool. I saw a lot of trash, quite literally, and plain white canvasses. I just love modern art. I think my favorite was an exposition called Empty Space, and it was quite literally a room with nothing in it. I was like, right on, man, love empty space.

Then I went to a cute little area called La Petite France, which is kinda like a little Venice, because it has lots of little canals and waterways. The streets were cute little cobblestone paths with sidewalk cafes and a few accordionists. (Not many, recall that it was both snowing and Easter.) I wanted to explore, but my hunger and the thought of dying as a frozen ice cube convinced me that going into a restaurant to eat might be a better choice. So I ate at an adorable little French-German place. I had a delicious duck salad, and I even drank coffee... which, you know, never happens. It was kinda sad to see all the big families having huge Easter brunches while I was sitting all alone. Oh well.

Then I took a long walk back to the cathedral, because I was going to the Easter music concert at 3pm. That was fun. There were two pieces by Haydn and one by someone named Buxtehude. It was very nice.

Then I took an earlier train back to Paris, because there was nothing more to do, and I was cold. Also, I wanted to eat Easter dinner with my family. They made me foie gras, which is apparently duck liver smashed into a nice pate. Mmm. It was actually very good, and I didn't ask what it was until after I finished eating. Which was good, because I asked for more, and they told me to finish it all. So I did. Excellent choice.

Now I have a ridiculous amount of work to do this work, but I'm going to Venice this weekend with five of my friends! It's gonna be awesome! Wish me luck!

Last Wednesday, I saw a violin and piano recital with Yura Lee and Dina Vainshtein. It was amazing. It was a small, intimate performance hall, and Tufts paid for it, so of course I liked it. No really, they played Mozart, Prokofiev, Ysaye, Debussy, and Tchaikovsy. It was really nice, and the violinist was really quite marvelous. I don't know a lot about violin technique, but it was still amazing. One of the best parts of the performance was before the show when an usher asked if I would give flowers to the pianist at the end of the performance. I was told it was because I'm blond. (I'm still not sure why that's important, but c'est la vie.) So I said sure, why not? So I sat through the performance with a wicked large bouquet of flowers, and then I got to present them at the end of the concert. 'Twas quite random, but fun.

Friday night when I was waiting at the St. Michel fountain with Kelly, some guy asked where we were going and if he could come with us. And we were like, sorry, we're waiting for someone. And he asked, are you lady friends? And Kelly started to say no, but I took her arm and said yes. And he looked at me and said, oh, so you like girls? And I nodded, and he walked away. Good times.

Also, I saw a man coming from the grocery store, and all he had in his bag was cheese and cigarettes. How French, eh?

Saturday, Tufts took us on a short day trip to Fontainebleau where there is a lovely chateau. They also gave us 10 euros for lunch, which is always welcome. We even managed to eat a good sandwich with a pastry for only 5 euros. Mmm... chocolate eclairs. The castle was nice. I guess Napoleon lived there, and there are these huge entrance stairs where he descended and ascended. Good times. There were apartments inside, and it was nicely furnished, and there were lots of spectacular pieces of furniture and paintings, like most castles. It was cool to go, and I'm glad to say I've been.

Then that night was also technically St. Patrick's Day (some mumbo jumbo with the Roman Catholic Church and Holy Week...), so we went out to an Irish pub... what else? It was great! It was crowded and drunken, and they were playing great American 80's music. Kelly has a great video of us singing Tainted Love. Good times. Then I was the only one who had to take three metro lines to get home, and of course, I missed the last one. Ugh. So I had to borrow money from Chantel to take a cab. (I still owe her money for that.)

Sunday, Kelly and I went to see an opera by Stravinsky called The Rake's Progress at Palais Garnier. I didn't know that Stravinsky wrote operas, and now I know why. It was pretty terrible, but at least we got to say we saw a show at Palais Garnier. We even had our own private box in the nosebleed, can't-get-enough-oxygen section. It was great. However, I did have two extra tickets, cuz people flaked on me. So I awkwardly stood outside the theatre holding up the tickets, hoping someone would buy them off me. Some Spanish-speaking people came over and asked, but I think there were four of them, so that didn't work. Then some random dude came up to me, grabbed the tickets, peered at them, and handed me a 20. And I was like, sweet, fully reimbursed. Pure luck! I think he sold them to someone else for a higher price. Fneh. I was just happy to not be broke. Anyway, show was not so great... with a wicked random story about making deals with the devil... kinda like Damn Yankees.

Then Monday was a repeat of Saturday night cuz it was like real St. Patrick's Day. So we went to another Irish pub and did flavored vodka shots. Mmm... vodka caramel. It was pretty sweet, and the bartender was totally cute, so it was worth it.

I would also officially like to announce that I am finished planning my spring break. We have finished booking flights, trains, buses, hostels, hotels, and apartments. Phew! It's two weeks, and we're going to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. I'm so stoked, cuz it's gonna be awesome! We leave one month from today, and also today, I've been here exactly two months! I guess it does go by pretty quickly. Be home in two and a half months.

So I was in Milan for the past four days, and I had an absolutely great time. I arrived late Wednesday night, and my friend Stephanie picked me up where the buses dropped us off from the airport. I stayed in her apartment for the weekend, and it was really great to not spend money on a hostel. She's studying in Milan for the semester doing a music program, and she has five other roommates in her apartment. It was huge, and I had a really comfortable bed and pillows.

Thursday morning, we walked down Corso Buenos Aires to the Duomo, which is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. It was absolutely amazing. It was so finely decorated and sculpted. There are 3400 sculptures on the outside. It's totally crazy. Inside was also a sensory overload. From the floor patterns to the ceiling designs, everything was so ornate. It was incredible.



Then we walked into the galleria, which is an indoor shopping area with such brands as Prada and lots of other ridiculous designer brands. The floor is also a cool mosaic, and apparently if you spin three times on the balls of the bull, you get good luck! So I certainly did that.



Then we got tickets to La Scala! Cheap ones, mind you. We stood in line the day of, and we got tickets for 12 euros! Woot! It was for 3 Puccini operas.



Then Stephanie fed me this amazing food called Panzerotti. It was deliciously scrumptious fried food. Who doesn't want that, eh? Then she went to class, and I went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. It has lots of really cool old Italian paintings, like the first ever still life, Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit and the sketch for Raphael's School of Athens. And other cool stuff that I'm sure I'm forgetting. Then I went back to the Duomo, and I climbed the stairs up to the top. It really wasn't that far, but I got to wander around on the roof, and it was such a nice day that I could see the Alps!


Then I walked all the way across town to the church next to where The Last Supper is. Apparently, you need reservations one to two weeks in advance to see that. Whoops. Too bad. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back. Then I went inside the museum of La Scala. It was kinda interesting. There was an exposition on Maria Callas, so that was pretty cool.

Then I met back up with Stephanie, and we picked up our tickets for the evening with her roommate Jamie. Then we met a man named Billy Ray, who is about 24, wearing a spiffy Italian suit, who was a math major from Colorado, and now works as an engineer in Siberia. He bought us dinner! It was amazing! Then we went to La Scala, and it was absolutely wonderful. I missed singing so much. It was three one-act operas by Puccini, and I can't get over how great it was to be in La Scala seeing Puccini! We were in the very top and back, and we had to stand the whole time to see anything, but it was sooo worth it! I gasped during the first, cried during the second, and laughed during the third. They were so fantastic. Even though they were really long, and we were there for four hours, it was still uber-cool. Then we met up with our buddy again, and we went out for gelato and then dancing! It was awesome... again. Great first night in Milan.



Friday, we slept a lot. Necessary after such a long day. We went back to La Scala to get 10 euro tickets for the ballet Romeo and Juliet! Ahh!!! Then we went to a castle, and we went inside it's museums. They were cool, especially the museum of musical instruments. There were sooo many old instruments, and they were all so cool and interesting. I was amazed with their collection. Then Stephanie fed me the most amazing cannoli ever in the world. I don't know how I'm going to survive without them in France. I'm sure I'll be able to find them. Then we showered, also very necessary, and we went to the ballet! It was just as gorgeous, and it made me miss dancing. It was also dramatic and sad and funny. I loved it so much. I was so happy to go to La Scala twice for 22 euros total and see such amazing works. Now I'm jealous of Stephanie for being in Milan. I'm gonna have to get down to the Paris Opera and see something cool.

Saturday we decided to take a day trip, since there's not as much to do in Milan. I randomly decided to go to Mantua (Mantova). It was actually quite fun, and it was an adorable little Italian town. Round trip train tickets were only 17 euros, but it was 2 hours each way. We slept a lot. The town was soooo old, the palaces and cathedrals were all from like before the 10th century. Everything was brick and falling apart. But there were small remnants of the beautiful frescoes, and it was really great that we went. We also tried this Mantovian delicacy called a chocolate tart, but it definitely didn't look like one. It looked like the amazingness of the top of an apple crumble, but it did not taste nearly as good. Not that it wasn't good at all, but we were expecting more. Furthermore, everytime we ate it, people stared at us. So we wondered if we were eating it wrong or something. Oh well.

Then today, Sunday, we finished up Milan by eating pizza in the canal area. It was nice, but the canal seemed really low on water for some reason. Then we went to Basilica Sant'Ambrogio. It was equally as old as other stuff, and it was very cool to see. Then we had another cannoli, and we walked through the Golden Rectangle, where all the designer shops are. And that was basically it. It took me forever to get home, cuz the Paris metro sucks late at night on Sundays. Oh well, I survived.

Now I'm home. I really will post pictures soon. It was a great trip, but I'm really happy to be back home in Paris!

First of all, Mother, you would love the Musee Marmottan. It's basically just a museum of Monet and friends. It has so much of his waterlilies and other stuff he painted at Giverny. It was really fun, and there's a lot of neat stuff there.

Okay, about the trip to Lyon. It was wonderful! Lyon is a gorgeous and surprisingly uber-historic city, and I would highly recommend a trip there, if anyone's thinking of random places to go in France. ;)

I was supposed to meet Kelly at the train station on Friday at the ticket window; however, we quickly learned that Kelly has trouble following signs. Sooo... we had to cut in line, just like I did two weeks ago when I went to Reims, and I made a lot of French people very angry. I really need to try to not let this be a trend. Anyway, we made the train, and we found seats together, and that was good and all. Cheese and crackers and Bueno bars are excellent snacks on trains.

(Have I talked about Bueno bars yet? They're these amazing candy bars that are kind of like large kit kat bars in that they have a wafer-like middle covered in chocolate, except that they're also filled with hazelnut cream. I think they're the best candy bars in the world. No joke.)

Anyway, we arrived in Lyon around 9pm, and we decided to go eat dinner first so that the restaurants wouldn't close, and I am glad we did. We learned, when we finished dinner around 11 or 1130, that it's a freaking half-hour walk all uphill, very steep uphill mind you, on windy cobblestone road that's dimly lit, while we're carrying all of our stuff, and my cell phone has no battery and Kelly's cell phone has no minutes. Good going, us. Luckily, we weren't attacked (which is good, because we wouldn't have been able to run anywhere), and we did manage to make it to our hostel safely just after midnight. It was a nice hostel, we were in a six-person room, but no one was there when we arrived. Some old French lady arrived shortly after us, and the only problem with her was the window wars. Kelly and random French lady had a good time silently arguing over whether or not to keep the window open.

The next morning, we learned the fun of the shower. It was a random button on the wall, so you had no control over temperature. You just pushed the button, and the shower turned on for about 20 seconds or so. Then you had to push it again... and again. It was odd, shall we say. It had uber-high water pressure, which was wonderful for washing your hair, but really terrible for washing your face. Also, the sink in the bathroom had similar water pressure and pretty much gave you a shower every time you used it anyway. Also, we were basically-virgin hostelers, and we didn't realize we needed to bring our own towels. However, in my own defense, previous hostels either have had towels, let you rent towels, or tell you to bring your own. This hostel had none of the above, we so kinda air-dried. Yum.

Then I discovered my new favorite thing for breakfast: French bread with nutella and honey. Mmm... good. Then we set out to discover the city. We started at the tourist office, which is always a good idea, and we purchased city cards, just like we did in Reims. They're cheap, and they get you everything free, including transportation, for 2 days. It was great. We started with a walking tour of La Croix-Rousse, which is the silk industry area on the north hill. It was really cool. We learned a lot about the history of silk coming to Lyon from Italy and China before that. We also just learned about the basic history and geography of the city. It was surprisingly really interesting. We also got to see a silk-printing workshop. It was really cool how they have to use different frames for each color, so if they have a pattern with 38 colors, you need 38 frames. And the frames have to be placed exactly. It was neato. They also showed us these passageways called "traboules." It's a Lyon-specific word, and it means a passageway that leads you from one street to another, if it goes back to the same street then it's not a traboule. So Lyon has a lot of these, and they were created because they live on wicked large, steep hills with two huge rivers at the bottoms, so they decided it would be easier and more efficient if they could cross through people houses to get up and down the hill. So yea, they were really neat.

To top off our visit of the silk-making industry, we visited the Musee de Tissus, which was a cool museum showing all the different fabrics from different cultures, focusing on those from Lyon, mainly silk. It was pretty cool.

Then I ate the largest sandwich of my life. Correction: I tried to eat the largest sandwich of my life. It was delicious, but it was ginormous. There were French fries inside my sandwich! It was like a huge panini stuffed with like Greek seasoned chicken kebab and French fries! Whoda thunk, eh?

Then we moved on to our second walking tour of the day: Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon). It's at the bottom of the west hill, and it's... some centuries old? It's pretty cool. We started in the Place Bellecour, which has been a really historical place throughout many centuries again. I think a bunch of people were shot there, particularly during the Resistance in WWII. Then we crossed la Saone river on Pont Bonaparte to get to the Cathedrale Saint-Jean, which has a cool astronomical clock. My guidebook said that it reenacts the annunciation every hour, but it definitely did not. Some things moved and it rang, and it was very unexciting. However, the clock itself is cool, because it does everything. It shows you the time, plus where the sun is in the sky, and the date, and all the Catholic holidays from now until eternity. I was like... I bet I could make the mathematical equation to figure out all this stuff, and then I felt smart.

Then we wandered through a ton more traboules, and it was fun. Then we decided to go to the top of the hill, called Fourviere, where the old Roman ruins are. Yes, Lyon is that old. There are some old Roman amphitheatres that we wandered through, and then we went to the Musee Gallo-Romain and saw even more really really old stuff. It was cool, mostly because I didn't know that Lyon had that much coolness surrounding it.

So then we wandered back down the hill to the center of the peninsula and went to happy hour at a place called the Tavern of the Drunken Parrot. It was nice and sketchy, and we were the only ones there, but the drinks were cheap. They specialized in flavored rum shots, and they had tons of flavors. It was awesome... until really crazy man started harassing us. At least he didn't hit us like he did one guy. Oh crazy people. We were so full from lunch that we didn't want a three-course meal for dinner. So we had pizza and Haagen-Dazs. We were tired. Furthermore, we wanted to get back up the hill before the funiculaire closed at 10pm. And we did.

However, by the time we got back, shortly after 10pm, our room was full, and everyone was asleep! Imagine that. Young people asleep at 10pm on a Saturday night! What a lame place, eh? So we hung out in the lobby and checked our email for about an hour. Then we woke everyone up when we went to bed. Oh well. It happens when you're in a dorm.

Next morning, we headed all the way across town (across both rivers to the east side) into modern Lyon, to see the Centre de la Resistance et de la Deportation. It was a really cool museum about the Resistance movement in France, particularly in Lyon, during WWII. Apparently, Jean Moulin was arrested in Lyon, and it was a big center for a lot of the Resistance. It went through the history of everything, and it talked a lot about other stuff too, like the concentration camps and the sociologies of people and why they did what they did during the war. It was really interesting. I think the most disturbing part of the museum was a book with initial blueprints for the gas chambers. It had several different versions, each explaining the pros and cons of each before they decided on which one to use, reasons such as this chamber camouflages better as a shower room, so people won't revolt before entering, etc. I can sometimes understand how a few people, like Hitler and a few others could have been so crazy and demented to do this. However, I can't wrap my head around the fact that so many of these people, including architects and builders who were probably sound of mind went through this process so rationally. It was a heavy museum basically. It's overwhelming even now as I think about it.

We had pastries for lunch to make us feel better about life. Then we headed over to the Institut Lumiere, which is where the Lumiere brothers basically invented cinematography. There's a whole museum inside their old house with the first video camera they ever made and a film screening room where you could watch some of the first movies every made. It was really cool, and I really didn't know that much about them, so I definitely learned a lot.

Then we headed back over to the top of the Fourviere to see the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourviere. It's a huge 19th century church, with lots of amazing mosaics inside. It has one mosaic depicting the life of Jeanne d'Arc. I really don't even know how to describe the amazingness of this church. It really was unlike anything I had ever seen. Italian churches are gorgeous with all of their sculpted marble and paintings from the Renaissance and earlier, but this was just stunning. It was cool. And outside, there was a gorgeous view of the city, because we were so high up. Right near there, there is also a random TV tower that sort of looks like the Eiffel Tower. It was... random. Then we wandered down the hill through a large rose garden. Though it wasn't very cool, you know, cause it's winter and all, and everything's dead. Oh well. We went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff before we left. I hung out with the hostel's cat, named Callie, for awhile. She was absolutely adorable and the friendliest cat I've ever met. I walked up to her, and she jumped into my arms. I guess you gotta be friendly if you live in a hostel.

Then Kelly and I managed to not miss our train home, and we ate more cheese and crackers and Bueno bars. Yum. Some kind lady switched seats with me so that I could sit with Kelly. And it wasn't like I was a few seats away. She moved two whole cars away to accommodate us. I wish I could have expressed my gratitude better. Damn French language. Ugh.

Anyway, it was a good time. My host parents were also gone this weekend to St. Jean-de-Luz, which is near the Spain-France border. They didn't get back until Monday night, but they brought my macarons from the area. They're really good.

This week I have a lot of work, so it's probably not going to very exciting, so I'm probably not going to update. Wish me luck with my first papers and exams. I'll definitely need it.

Sunday was a necessary lazy day. I slept for about 14 hours or so, and it was absolutely wonderful.

Monday was Ivy's birthday, so we had a lot of things planned. We started at the Musee Picasso, which was really cool, but it was also the world's smallest museum, I believe. (I later learned, from my friends who were in Madrid this past weekend, that a lot of stuff they say there was on loan from the Musee Picasso in Paris, so that explains some, I suppose.) It was interesting, but we did all of it in less than an hour. Fneh.

Then we had the most delicious lunch at Breakfast-in-America. It's an all-American diner, where the waiters speak English, and it is sooo refreshing. (Not that I don't love French food, but I need a break occasionally.) I had a bacon cheeseburger with a Coke, and I felt wonderfully American. Mmm... mmm.



Then we went to a place on the Champs-Elysees called Laduree, and they have the best macaroons. They're not the same as macaroons in the US, but they are a delectable treat. Kinda expensive, but worth it to try at least.



Then we went to the Musee de l'Erotisme. That was a trip. Seven stories of... well, basically porn from all different cultures and time periods. My favorite part was watching other people go through and examine things and the placards like they were in the Louvre, completely seriously. Meanwhile, my friends and I are giggling and pointing and just totally getting a kick out of how ridiculous it all is. Oy.



We ran out of time to go ice skating, but maybe next week? The rinks close March 9th, so I gotta fit it in soon!

Then Tuesday night I tried out my new dance class. It was a Modern-Jazz class with a really hippie-style teacher. He was much kinder than the last one, and he didn't treat us differently than anyone else in the class (which means he neither ignored us nor pointed us out a lot). It was a little contemporary for my liking, meaning he was really uber into breathing and contractions and really using the ground as your tool. But it was generally good. I'm definitely going back. It's Tuesdays 530-7, so I can still get home in time for dinner. Also, it was slightly cheaper than the other class. It was more difficult to understand than the ballet class, because all ballet is in French in the US anyway. However, I found that I really don't know the parts of the body, especially really specific things. So I had to watch and learn a lot more, but still, it's totally doable. And I'm glad I'm taking class with a good friend, too. It's much more comforting.
I ate with my host brother alone again that night. It was somewhat better. He smiled at me and asked me how my day was. So I talked for a little, but he didn't really respond. So then I asked him about his day, and he said, "I worked, and then I worked some more." Then he turned on the TV, and I was like, I guess that means this conversation is over. Oy. Boys.

Yesterday, my plan was to ask some French people to eat lunch with us, but the opportunity didn't really arise, and I was tired as crazy anyway. It's so hard to get up the courage, but I have to do it. I was talking to French students in my class the other weeks, but I didn't know how to talk to them more. Then someone gave me the lunch idea, but it didn't work out this week. I'm a little mad at myself. I really wanna make some French friends, so I can hang out with them and speak French at bars and stuff. (Especially since my host brother doesn't seem to be very helpful.) We'll see. I'm REALLY going to make an effort next week.

Then I went to the Benjamin Franklin exhibition at the Musee Carnavalet with Kelly. It was not as cool as I wanted it to be. There was a very informative 10-second video demonstrating the two possibilities of when lighting strikes a house: one with a lighting rod, one without. I much preferred the one without then the house just exploded. That was cool. It even had sweet sound effects and cool two-dimensional graphics! Anyway, I'm still glad I went, but I wanted more.

Also this week, Ivy showed me a 4 euro lunch deal with a huge panini of your choice and a nutella crepe! What a deal! And it's the most delicious thing in the world. I was in love! Now i've been told about a 3 euro deal with a slice of pizza, a cookie, and a water bottle. Must check these out! Love cheap lunches, then I can eat well for my 2 dinners a week that I don't eat with my family.

Last night was terrible dinner-wise. Not at all because of what we ate. But because it was the day I was the hungriest that I've ever been here. I got home at 645, and I was starving. And I knew we wouldn't eat til 8, like usual. But then I remembered it was the night that my mother has Spanish class, so we weren't going to eat until 830. But then she was late, and she didn't prepare the meal in advance, so we didn't eat until 9! It was the most terrible 2 hours of my life. I thought my stomach was eating itself. It was death.

Also, I lost internet connection on Monday night for 10 hours! Also the worst 10 hours of my life. It's amazing how addicted I am to this thing. I lose connection, and I feel like I'm lost, completely disconnected from reality and people and life. Oh man, I also thought I was going to die then. I lost sleep over it. I almost broke my computer because I threw it on the floor, I was so angry. Eventually, things worked out. But I definitely learned it's never good to go to bed angry.

Today after class, I went to Angelina, which has the best hot chocolate in Paris. But also the most expensive hot chocolate in the world. Granted, it was worth it, but I wouldn't do it again unless I really really really needed a super-awesome chocolate mix. They also looked like that had amazing pastries, but I just couldn't spend 7 euros on hot chocolate and another 7 on a Mont Blanc. Oh well... another time. Or another place that has reason... or just a heart.

I swear I'm gonna pull a Jean Valjean and steal bread because everything in this city is so expensive. Oy.

Tomorrow my art history class goes to the Musee Marmottan. Then I leave for Lyon! With Kelly! We're gonna have a blast, yo. See ya when I get back.

So today I slept late... 'twas very necessary. Then I went to La Comedie-Francaise to see Le Misanthrope by Moliere. It was great. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than L'Ecole des Femmes. I think this was better directed and better acted. Don't get me wrong, Daniel Auteuil was great in the last show. But this cast was a great ensemble. They were ALL good. And all of their characters were wonderful. They were so theatrical, and their physical humor was absolutely magnificent, especially for those of us that couldn't understand all the French. I really enjoyed myself. Granted, it was over three hours long, and I may have slept through part of it, but overall, it was an excellent show. Also, the set design was really interesting. (This might be hard to describe, since I actually don't know the correct theatre terminology, but I'll do my best.) They used white sheets/scrims/backdrops to form a triangle with the front of the stage. They were lightly decorated with squares and rectangles to make it look like French walls... you know what I mean by French walls... very classical... very Moliere. And then there were cut outs for the doors, one on each side. Then the cool part was that, depending on how you light the stage, you can see through the sheets, right? So there were more sheets behind in patterns to make it look like hallways and other rooms. So without any actual construction, they were able to create the effect of a giant French mansion. So that was awesome. Also, the French take longer bows than in the US. They have like five encores... it's a little repetitive. Oh well. Gotta love the French.

Then I spent the rest of the day in that area, which is the Louvre area. I walked down the Rue de Rivoli and had a chocolate crepe. Then I walked through the Tuileries. Wandered down the Seine to the Hotel de Ville, and crossed a bridge to Notre Dame. I had dinner at Le Quasimodo. Haha. Then I took the bus home. I like taking the bus home, because I don't have to change metros 3 times, and it doesn't smell, and I get to see Paris by night. It's wonderful.

Tomorrow I have nothing planned. So I'll wander. Maybe go to the Bois de Boulogne. Maybe go to Angelina's (best hot chocolate in Paris). Maybe see Victor Hugo's house. Who knows?

Some... interesting (shall we say) things have happened since we last talked...

I went out with Kelly's friends on Tuesday night... I think that was when. We were at some random bar near the Bastille, and it was nice. We chatted it up with some French guys... who offered to buy us drinks, which we apparently turned down (really don't know why looking back on it). They were nice enough. After Kelly and I left, we chatted it up over a nutella banana crepe. Good memories.

Wednesday after class, I went lingerie shopping. It seems necessary that I have French lingerie. I was indeed successful. However, I did go home immediately after, because for about a week now, I've been getting these terrible headaches at the most random times. It doesn't appear to be related to sleep, dehydration, food, sickness, or whatever else is normal to cause headaches. So I went home to sleep it off.

Thursday was interesting... Rachel and I went to our first ballet class together. It was terrible. The professor was so mean to us because we weren't French, even though we told her we could still understand her. There was another girl from Germany who didn't speak any French, but we could speak with her in English. The professor really picked on her. It was so obnoxious and inappropriate. Moreover, the course was a lower intermediate course, and we were clearly better than everyone else in the class. But she seemed to correct us more than anyone else, which was ridiculous. We were so upset. Then the class cost 20 euros! Blah!! Never again. We'll definitely have to find another class.

Also, the class went a half hour longer than I expected, so I had to call my host family and tell them I was going to be late for dinner. I was so apologetic. They said not to worry, that in all the years of American students they've hosted, I'm the only one who's ever called to tell them I would be late. So I guess I'm cool like that. My family is awesomely understanding.

Then it was still Valentine's Day / Chantel's 21st birthday! So of course we had to celebrate! We went to a club that lets in international people free, so that was awesome. Meeting all kinds of people from all over the world... wicked sweet, eh? Then Chantel and I somehow managed to dance for six hours straight without realizing the time flying by. We were home by 630am. Whoops. I had class at 1230pm, and I'm proud to say that I went!

Number one thing I learned at the club: French guys are actually really sketchy.

Moving on... went to my 2-hour art history course at the Musee d'Orsay today. Then I spent two hours in the Centre Pompidou and two hours at the Louvre with my friend. I can only say that I'm exhausted. I am going to crash like whoa right now.

Yesterday I saw the French film Asterix aux Jeux Olympiques. It's a French comic/cartoon Asterix et Obelix, and they made it into a movie with real people. It had Gerard Depardieu as Obelix. It was very odd. And by odd, I mean stupid. It was terrible! We thought it would never end. It just kept going, and it just got more and more stupid. Blah. The only thing that was worth it was the almost naked, muscular men wrestling with each other. That was pretty hot. But otherwise, not worth it.

As a side note, I want to tell my parents that last night at dinner, my host parents said concerning my food tastes, "Cassie likes everything... except for fish." I was like... wow, I must be awesome. I apparently eat everything now. I even had scallops last night. I must really rock.

Today, after my classes, I attempted to go to the Musee Picasso... but apparently it's closed on Tuesdays. So I went to the Musee Carnavalet. It was cool. Then I had some tea. Good times. So I'm gonna plan some trips tonight. And chill out. Peace be with you.

Oy... so I'm almost fully recovered from my sickness. Just a little stuffy nose... but I'm pretty much better... which means... back to having fun!

So I didn't do much this week, cuz I was lame and sleeping all the time. I ended up being late for class a lot, because I was still sleeping and tired... Boo. But my language professor was also sick... which was gross when she sneezed on my paper and then handed it back to me. Oy. That was also the most boring class of my life. No joke. I could have hanged myself... we did nothing at all interesting or even applicable to any aspect of life... ever. Even worse than my class at Le Catho on Wednesday, my "urban planning" class. I don't know why there are so many people in the course. I'm only there cause it looked easy, and Monique recommended I take it. Maybe that makes me a horrible person, but I'm really not here to take classes. None of them apply to my major, and most aren't even interesting to me. I stayed awake for the first hour and fifteen minutes or so, then I slept for the last forty-five. But I have four other Tufts friends in the class, so they'll keep me adrift... I hope.

Anyway, Friday was our first art history class at an actual museum. It was at Musee d'Orsay, and I'm not sure if I've already been there or not. But it was cool. This will probably be my most interesting class. I hope that means I'll do well in it. We looked at some pre-impressionist stuff and then some impressionist stuff. The course is mostly on impressionism, so I think my mom would like it. :) Anyway, she had just sent an email out about not being late... because they don't have time to wait for latecomers... blah blah blah. And course, I was late. So I'm freaking out... thinking... where could they be? how will I get in? I don't wanna pay... who can I ask? will they know what I'm talking about? crap, I have to go through security... I hope my bag's not to big... where ARE they?

Of course, I was only 4 minutes late... and I ask a guy, and he says go through security and down the stairs. So I go through security, and then I can't find the freaking stairs! Somehow, I must be magical, I made it through without buying a ticket... and it wasn't even difficult. No one even looked at me. Nice.

Then I'm wandering through the ginormous entrance thinking... how in the world do I find them? ...

I turn around, and they're right behind me! They just got in, and they hadn't even done anything yet. I must really rock. Sort of. I'd still rather not be late again... ever.

So that was nice. Then that night we had amazing pizza somewhere. There's a French dish called a tartiflette, and it's basically cheese, potatoes, and bacon (everything that is good in the world). And they had a tartiflette pizza, and oh, was it heaven. Then we tried to go to this nice wine tasting place, but of course, you need a reservation for 7 freaking people. So we wandered down a really long road... forever and ever... until I thought I was going to die. It might not have been so bad if I hadn't been walking in new 3-inch heels on cobblestone, and I really needed to pee, and I might have been slightly intoxicated. But we eventually made it to this cozy wine place... very intellectual-looking with books covering the shelves, and nice looking people everywhere. Basically, I had a lot of wine. It's easy to do when you share a bottle of the cheapest wine with six people. Then someone broke a glass... whoops! We also got cheese... cuz what else do you really do with wine? Anyway, I eventually made it home, and I slept a little before we went to Reims!

This weekend was awesome, cuz Sophia, Chantel and I (aka Team Bubbly) went to Reims for the weekend. It's in the Champagne region of France, which is where champagne was invented. Cool, huh? We (and by we, I mean I) almost missed the train Saturday morning, cuz I didn't realize it would take me almost an hour to get to the freaking train station! Then of course, my American credit card wouldn't work to get the tickets. Blahh!!! So we had to cut in line to ask the people what to do. It wasn't a problem, but I was sooo worried we would miss the train! Then it only took 45 minutes to get from Paris to Reims! What? It takes longer to get from Boulogne-Billancourt to Gare de l'Est than from Paris to Reims. Crazy!

Anyway, when we arrived, we decided the best thing to do was follow random signs/people to the tourism office. This was a totally excellent decision. We found it without too much trouble, and the city of Reims isn't that big, so we could walk everywhere! Then the nice man at the tourism office gave us 12-euro passes that got us into a champagne cave for a tour and a free tasting, an audioguide for the Cathedrale Notre Dame, and entrance to 4 museums. And to put that slightly in perspective, a normal champagne cave tour is bout 12 euros, the audioguide is 5.50, and each museum is a few euros. So... good deal, I believe, since we did everything... except for the planetarium... sorry Chantel.

So we started with the audioguide for the Cathedrale Notre Dame. I think we were there for over an hour. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the audioguide was filled with information. And there were these beautiful stained glass windows in the back painted by Marc Chagall. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. It was fun. Then we went to the Palais du Tau, which is right next door. It was a free museum, that used to be a palace... I guess. And it had very little stuff in it. I think it was where the banquets were held after each coronation of the French kings. We learned a lot about Clovis, the first king of France, in like AD 486 or something. He was the first crowned here, and the first baptized here, and the first everything here. Clovis, Clovis, Clovis. Maybe I'll name my firstborn Clovis.



Then we ate... we were starving! I had a huge sandwich... as usual. And Chantel and I had a our first glass of champagne in Reims. Of course, it's really meant to go with desserts... but... we're classy like that. Then we walked all the way south to the Musee St-Remi and the Basilique St-Remi. The museum had lots of random unrelated stuff. From military costumes and weapons to pottery and a skeleton from people before Christ to random Roman sculptures and religious stuff. Crazy times. But amusing. Then the basilica was cool. Less cool than the cathedral, but you know... not everyone can live up to such standards.

Then we moseyed on over to the Pommery Champagne Caves. We got a half-hour tour of the caves where they make champagne. It was really cool. And we saw a really old bottle... like 150-year-old bottle of champagne, I think. Then we got free samples, which, you know, is always cool.

Then we hiked back up to dinner at a really awesome Mexican restaurant. It was sooo necessary. I was sooo happy to eat Mexican food again. Sooo delicious! Except for maybe the grapefruit salad we had. It was lettuce, grapefruit, salmon, avocado, lemon, and salad dressing. Odd combination. Probably wouldn't ever do it again.

Then we went to our hostel, which was actually wicked awesome. It was cheap, and it included breakfast, and we had our own room with our own shower and toilet. Amazing! It was totally clean, and the beds were really comfortable. And I think we crashed around 10pm. It was very necessary.

We woke up at 8am the next morning for breakfast... with a random high school group. Yay. And we went back to the cathedral for 930am mass to hear the organ play. I suppose we should have known it wouldn't be the big organ, even though it was the first Sunday of Lent. I guess that's not too important. Whatever.

We then walked up to the Musee de la Reddition, which is where the surrender of Germany at the end of WWII took place, before it was again signed in Berlin. (I think the Russians weren't present at the first signing, so they demanded it happen again.) Anyway, it took places at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, so it was the War Room or the Map Room. And there were all these maps on the walls and stats and everything from May 6, the day before they signed the surrender. It was sooo cool. We felt so historical. And there were lots of cool pictures of Eisenhower and Churchill and De Gaulle. And there was even real footage of the signing. Ahh! It was awesome cool.



Then we returned by train, and it again took longer to get from the train station to my house than from Reims to Paris.

Also, when I got home, nothing was open, because it's Sunday. So I went to a patisserie and bought an almond croissant and ate it in the park across the street from my apartment. I watched the children play on the playground, and the older kids play basketball, and older couples sitting on benches, and naked marble statues doing pretty much nothing in the lake. 'Twas fabulous.



Also, I failed to mention that Kelly and I went to the Eiffel Tower at some point last week. And I'm finally posting pictures of where I live...

So I slept as much as possible over the past few days, and I think I'm actually beginning to recover. Good news. I spent a bit of time playing charades with my pharmacist to find some drugs that might actually help me. So now I have Doliprane and Bronchokod. Mmm...

Today, I woke up at 630am and left at 755am to get to my 9am class, only to find out that it had been canceled... for the semester. Blahh!!! Apparently this is normal for France... so I hear. Anyway, so now I'm not taking the social and political morals course. I will be taking the course entitled The Passage to Modernity, whatever that means. At least that gives me a fourth course. So then I went to a cafe and had a chocolat chaud until my next class started. Then my afternoon class was canceled! NOT for the whole semester, just cause my professor was sick. So my day quickly went from three classes to one. Bravo, Cassie!

So I planned my weekend to trip to Reims with Chantel and Sophia. I'm pretty stoked. We'll drink lots of champagne... I mean, that's what you're supposed to do there, right? And apparently I've already been there... whoops! I guess that's what happens when you travel a lot before you even have a brain.

Then I attempted to get Kelly to the Tour CIT, but that failed miserably. Oh well... We found each other eventually, and then we went shopping in Boulogne. I spent way too much on clothes, but I finally found the boots I wanted for cheap! Apparently the short, cute boots I got are called bottines, not bottes, in French. Anyway, I'm in love with them. I also bought my host parents a pretty bouquet of peach tulips to thank them for having me here and taking care of me while I'm sick. I guess that's a definite plus to living with a family.

Then, my mother made crepes for dinner to celebrate Mardi Gras! I ate 5 crepes, which I thought was a lot, but then everyone else ate at least twice as many... especially my host brother. I think he ate about 20. I should mention that they were very tiny crepes, and we could make them ourselves. We had all kinds of toppings for both savory and sweet crepes. There was gruyere, ham, eggs, hummus, guacamole, salmon, nutella, sugar, chestnut spread, bananas, raspberry jam, orange honey, and other things that I can't remember right now. Anyway, it was intensely amazing. I'm even beginning to joke around with my brother now. My host parents explained to me the other night that he's really very shy, but he puts on the tough guy act around his parents or when he's otherwise uncomfortable. I told them that's pretty normal, and they were like, no no, it's really bizarre. Whatever. He seems nice enough... maybe eventually we'll hang out.

I now can actually read the paper everyday, and I can understand most of the news on TV. I did ask my host parents to clarify what was happening with the amendments to France's constitution in relation to the European Treaty or whatever. I don't know the English words for things that I read in French. Haha. And I can understand what my parents and brother are talking about at dinner. So, I suppose I'm making progress.

Tonight my host father should me a magic trick with two corks, and he said I have until tomorrow morning to figure it out. He does and is like, isn't it easy? You try. And I'm like... uhh... and I totally make a fool of myself trying to figure out this stupid trick with corks. Oh well. He'll tell me tomorrow. Or I might just fiddle with that instead of doing homework.

The goal is to sleep tonight in order to be able to do more fun stuff tomorrow and in the near future. Hence, I leave you. Good night.

So yesterday's dance show was absolutely amazing. It was the choreography of Georges Momboyes. He was born on the Ivory Coast, which is a culturally-rich dance area of West Africa. It was one of the most amazing live performances I've ever seen. There were only six dancers and two drummers, and they performed a piece called Clair de Lune for a little over an hour, and it was sooo worth it. It was the story of Africans who live in the forest without electricity and only have the light of the moon to light their nights. So the piece generally had very little light on the stage, and it started with the dancers carrying lanterns. And they danced with these lanterns, which turned out to be really great props. There was also a bit in the middle where they played with shadows. One person stood all the way upstage and one person stood all the way downstage, and then their shadows were different sizes. So the bigger shadow could knock the small shadow around, and so there was a significant deal of humor in it. The dancers also had clear personalities, which made it more like these people were actually members of a village, instead of a corps of dancers on a stage. The music was constantly changing from calm to ridiculously fast, high-energy music. It was mostly just drums, but you could tell that it wasn't quite authentic West African music, because the meter was in the typical Western music 8-bar. However, the dancers were incredible. They were so freaking muscular, and this piece is unforgiving. You must have the stamina and speed to run a marathon in an hour in order to do this type of dancing. I like to describe this choreography as a combination of my three favorite choreographers. It had the raw African spiritualism and live musicians of Katherine Dunham, the innovative and storytelling qualities of Alvin Ailey, and the experimentation and playfulness of Bill T. Jones. Katherine Dunham was one of the first choreographers to bring the idea of possession into play in her choreography. I felt like there were hints of that in this work, but a lot of the dancing was also experimental in that it was surely a combination of African dance, classical dance, hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary modern. It was really fabulous. I'm not sure how else I can put it in words. I'm so happy I went.

Anyway, I'm posting this blog at an awkward time, not because I stayed out all night to watch the Super Bowl, but because when you're sick, you sleep at odd times. I decided that getting better was more important than watching football. And I would have been disappointed anyway, or so I hear. Hence, I return to bed.

Kelly.

So we saw Moliere's L'Ecole des Femmes (The School for Wives) on Wednesday night with Daniel Auteuil. For those of you who are uncultured, Daniel Auteuil is one of France's leading actors. He has been in hundreds of movies, and he's absolutely amazing. And he was absolutely wonderful in this show. I can't say that I understood all of it, and I certainly didn't get a lot of the high humor and the wit and the play on words. However, I did know what was going on. And I think that's something.

Then Thursday we started classes. I had my French literature and my French language courses on Thursday. They were pretty much alright. Our literature professor made us feel stupid, because we didn't know anything about French writers during the Enlightenment. And we were like... sorry our American teachers suck. Then our language professor told us she was a witch. And we were like... yea, ok... that's great! Anyway, I guess the classes will be fine. I feel like they're a lot of work. I don't wanna work while I'm abroad. That's ridiculous. Then art history was Friday. It was chill. It'll be less work... more fun. My other class is called Justice, Peace, and Charity: Social and Political Morals. We'll see how that goes on Tuesday.

I'm also sick... and that's lame. I had to blow people off today, cause I felt like dying/sleeping. Then I didn't even sleep very well. Lameness. But I had to get up to go to the circus!!! Which was like porn... I wish I had pictures to show you, but I only took video. I suppose I could figure out how to upload those, too. We'll see how adventurous I am at 2am. Anyway, the Cirque d'Hiver was a porno. It's actually a good example of French-American cultural differences. It's a circus, so there are like three billion children in the audience, and there's a chorus of girls, and each time they enter, they're wearing less clothing. By the end, you could see their entire butts. So yea, I took video. And they're just dancing and smiling, half-naked. And we were all like... but there are four-year-olds watching!!! And then, there was one girl who did a whole routine hanging from a hoop. She was an acrobat, gymnast, uber-flexible dancer, like Marissa, kinda thing, where she hangs onto the hoop and contorts her body in cool ways. She was totally awesome, but quite literally there were some sequins to cover her nipples and some sequins to cover her vagina, and that was it. She was basically naked. And then she jumps into a diamond-shaped pool of water, and she's all sexual. She's thrashing around in the water and rubbing her body all over. And we were all... what the hell is this??? Why is Tufts paying for us to see a porno for children? What is going on??? It was so absurd. Like, I guess I'm glad I went, but I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

That was fun. Then we went out to dinner, and we've gotten really into these fixed price menus, where you get 3 courses for like 10 euros. It's pretty great, and the food is always good. And we've also discovered hitting up happy hour before dinner. Good times. And chocolate mousse is really great.

Tomorrow I'm also seeing a dance show with my friend Sophia. It should be really awesome. I'll tell you all about it! And also tomorrow, we're going to a bar to watch the Super Bowl... all night long. Hope I'm feeling better by then!

So it's been a while...

So we went to Montmartre... yea... pretty sketchy if you ask me. The first guy asked how much, the second guy offered us weed, and the third guy followed us back to the metro station. Just glad I wasn't alone. The Sacre Coeur at night is gorgeous though and totally worth it.

Friday we finally got our Louvre passes. So now we can go all the time. Tous les jours, bien sur! And we had a speed tour. That's always fun. At least it was better than the 20 minutes we got there in high school (oh, Kelly... it'll be great when you get here).

Then I spent the afternoon freaking out about what courses to take. Monique recommended a course on urban development... which, you know, I never thought I would ever consider, but I'm getting a little desperate. So now I'm feeling like it's probably a great idea. We'll see. I'll find some other options soon, too.

Then we went out to dinner and dancing! Dinner was fabulous. And friends are great. Then we wandered to find cheap wine and/or happy hours. We sort of succeeded. We ended up in this oddly shaped cave with too many bright lights and a terrible DJ with French boys who refused to dance with us. But whatever, it was cool. We started the dance party... as usual.



The next morning we left en train for Normandie. Well... most of us. Except for Sophia. She missed the train. Haha. She had to take the next one two hours later... eek! Most of us slept the whole way there, so it was pretty necessary. Then we were starving when we woke up, and we scarfed down whatever they gave us. We toured Caen, and then we took a bus to the Bayeux Tapestry. It wasn't as long as I remembered... so that was nice. And we ate un petit gouter at a patisserie. Then we ate again. Then we drank again. (We eat and drink a lot.) It was... how shall I put this?... a great Saturday night.

The next morning we went to the American cemetery and Pointe du Hoc and some random castle and Omaha Beach. Lots of information... in French, of course, so you know, I didn't understand most of it. But it was good times.




I crashed when I got home, and French class again the morning was just absolute torture. I don't even remember what we did. And our lecture on French politics this afternoon was equally as boring and uninformative and waaay too freaking long. They never put end times in our orientation schedule, which is a really terrible thing.

Then I went home and cried and slept. But I did watch the news again tonight, and I actually got the gist of every segment. That was pretty sweet. And I read some of Le Figaro. Tres interessant. Then I went back out to Saint Michel avec mes amies, and we found a cute little cafe. 'Twas nice. The best part was when we entered:

Waitress: Cinq?
Us: Oui.
Waitress: Huit?
Us: Cinq.

(Translation for those who don't speak French:
Waitress: Five?
Us: Yes.
Waitress: Eight?
Us: Five)

Do you get why? Do you get why? It's funny cuz 'oui' and 'huit' sound similar. Hahaha.

So done.



Anyway, tomorrow... guess what? More French class! We have a test! Yes, in our orientation program. We have to write... lame, right? This will probably go terribly wrong, but I guess that'll be the exciting thing to my morning. Then a tour of the Quartier Latin. Good times.

Today at dinner my host father started asking me about my day, and I couldn't remember what I did this morning. I just stared at him blankly until he said "trop de francais? pas de probleme." (Translation: too much French? don't worry.)

So yea... that's the joy in my life right now.

So today was a bit more amusing than yesterday. Yesterday was full of academic talk... which is very clearly totally unimportant. Today was more... fun.

We had another 3-hour French class this morning... which was, you know... fine and all. Just not the most exciting thing to do your first week in Paris. But we did have fun discussing our host families. We talked about the differences in dinner conversations. Also, we've discovered that, just like in the US, French families are all different. Haha. No host family is perfect, just like no family is perfect. My host brother is 22, and he doesn't leave his room. He also refuses to talk to me... or even look at me. Oh well. My host parents very nice, very sweet, and extremely patient. I understand most of what they say, but sometimes the dinner conversation goes a little too fast for me, and then they reexplain everything... still in French, but slower. So I can get it. They've been hosting American students for 10 years, so I think they're pretty used to it. And they must like it. I'm very happy here. They invite me to watch the news with them after dinner. And the let me read Le Figaro. It's much easier to read the paper than to watch the news. The journalists speak very fast. And there's a lot of vocabulary that I don't know. But already I'm understanding more! And I'm understanding more at dinner, too. And in class. Slow progression. A few people keep telling me that since I'm farther behind everyone else, I'll get more out of the program... I guess that's good? I mean, I'm definitely not the worst in the program... but I'm certainly not the best either. Whatever... I'm talking with the director tomorrow about courses. So I won't fail this semester.

Then we went to the Louvre after lunch to get our free semester passes. But, of course, what else? They were on strike! So we have to wait until tomorrow to get them. Then we walked around the Palais Royale and the cute little streets in the area. 'Twas great, until we ran across a HUGE STRIKE!!! We couldn't cross the street. It was absolutely hilarious. So French.

But Tufts fed us at an amazing pastry shop. It made us all very happy.

Tonight we're going to Montmartre after dinner. I'm pretty stoked. I hope we don't get pickpocketed... or worse. Cheers!

I am absolutely exhausted. I counted up my actual hours of walking, and I legit think I walked for 8 hours today. No freaking joke. My feet hurt, my back hurts, and my brain hurts.

I woke up very early to deposit my check, and then it turned out it took literally less then 30 seconds to do. I guess I don't know why I thought it would take longer... you know, besides the language barrier and all. And then stores don't open before 10. So... bummer.

Three hours of language classes at 10am is just a terrible idea. And it just makes me more stressed that I don't know the language. So that's lame.

After the wonderful French class, I had a fabulous lunch with mes amies. I had a crepe with Nutella and bananas. Strong choice, Cassie. It was heaven. Also, the most amazing moment of my day was when we discovered what the difference is between a croque monsieur and a croque madame. A croque madame has an egg! Hahahaha!!!

C'est bon.

Anyway, then we took a wicked long walk around Le Marais and Notre Dame and the Village Saint-Paul and Les Vosges. It was nice... and very old. Gotta love that about Europe, everything is waaay mad older than in the US. We also met some very nice children, about ten years old, on a playground. They study English, and we study, French so we had a nice exchange:

What is your name?
Je m'appelle Cassie.
I love you, Cassie.
Je t'aime aussi.

Good times.

After our lovely walk, I decided it was really absolutely time that I stop freezing to death. So what else do we do? We shop! A few friends and I went to the Galeries Lafayette pour faire du shopping. Then we discovered everything was uber-expensive. So we walked down the street, and I bought a really nice, warm jacket at Mango for only 30 euros. I was very pleased with myself. I also bought a phone earlier today. That also only cost 40 euros. Sweet! But now I have a phone number, by the way. You can call it if you really want... but it might be more expensive for you. Heh.

Anyway, I went home for dinner. My mother made me some sort of tomato tart or quiche. I dunno. It was delectable... with a fried egg on the side. Also quite delicious. Then cheese... and then fruit... as usual. J'aime bien le fromage.

Then I went back out by myself. I went to L'Arc de Triomphe and I walked down the Champs-Elysees. I stopped at Haagen-Dazs and ate ice cream while I did my pseudo-homework. 'Twas fun. 'Twas nice. 'Twas relaxing... except for the fact that it really does take me forever to get anywhere. So it was an hour there and an hour back. Oy.

So now I'm exhausted. And I will go to bed.

It was only my second morning, and I already overslept. I was supposed to meet everyone to buy phones! So I don't have a phone... which sucks. So I cried for about thirty seconds and then got over it. But I'm going at the crack of dawn tomorrow to buy one. Then I will feel at ease. I hope.

I wandered around Montparnasse today, because that's where the Tufts office is and the classrooms, etc. It's a very commercial area, but it was still fun. We were in our orientation session for four hours. Ugh. Again, my brain was on overload. I don't speak French that well. Oy.

We talked about la vie parisienne and how to deal with our host families, etc. They talked about how it is indeed possible to live like an American in Paris, but wouldn't you rather fit in? So they're trying to make us Parisians! We'll see how well that goes over.

Then we set up our bank accounts. Yay! Money! That's always good stuff, eh? So I have a French bank account now, and tomorrow morning (also at the crack of dawn), Chantel and I are depositing our checks. So we'll have money! Yay! Then we can finally eat lunch! Yay!

They also served us galette, which is an almond-paste-filled pastry, which is mm...mm...delicious. My family served me one yesterday for lunch. It has this whole tradition behind it, as it is the food of the king or something, and they eat it on the feast of the epiphany. Some Catholic thing. I don't really know. But the point is that it has a special treat or favor in the middle, and whoever gets the piece with the treat in it gets to wear the crown! I didn't get it today, but I got it yesterday, so now I have a crown, that looks like it's from Burger King. Love it.

Anyway, then I ate dinner at home. Mom, you would be proud. I ate a grapefruit. I eat so well here, it's incredible. She also fed me this chocolate fudge ice cream chestnut cake... or something like that... with English cream on top. It was quite literally heaven. My host mother now knows that I love chocolate, so she feeds me chocolate a lot. Hehe. I am so happy.

Anyway, then I finally asked my host mother all the questions that I should have asked earlier. So now there's no confusion over anything. Yay! I also watched the news with my host parents. I understood only one of the eight or ten segments, and it was only because it was about teaching English to five-year-olds. They have American or English teachers teach the French by webcam, because it's apparently very important for the children to hear a real accent and not a French accent with their English. Also, these French teachers are buying iPods for the entire class (keep in mind they're like five), and they have English recordings they listen and repeat. Crazy, yea? The other segments were probably more relevant, but I can't understand. Oh well!

I did read Le Figaro, and I found out the Nevada caucus results and other election news in French. I felt pretty good about that. My parents also gave me an easy French book to read. It's like a ten-year-old boy in a hospital who's about to die, and he's writing letters to God. Pretty uplifting, eh?

Did I mention that someone asked me for directions yesterday? I was just going into the metro station, and another woman was coming out, and she asked me where the cinema was. Luckily, I actually knew, and I actually told her where. I guess I look somewhat like a local. Granted, I don't live in the city, so it's a less crazy, more easygoing area.

So far I've been able to express myself at the pharmacie and at the cafes. It's just difficult to talk to my family for a long time. Tomorrow we start our French review courses. Then we're taking a mini-tour of Paris. So far so good!

Today was great. I actually made contact with people. Meaning I wasn't just talking to my family all day. I saw other students!

I forgot that all the milk here is whole milk. I was glad I had corn flakes to somewhat hide the taste. Another thing I'll get used to. Like wine. I will eventually like wine, I swear.

This morning I went shopping with my host mom. She took me to the market and showed me where she buys her bread and meat. Everything smelled good. It's totally different from the US, in that you go to separate places for each thing you want to buy, but it's so much better! So worth it.

Then my host parents fed me lunch. I ate French fries! And because I'm in France, they actually count as French! But I had to eat them with a fork, which was a weird experience. The only thing you're allowed to use your hands for is bread, and you use the bread to soak up all the juices and excess food on your plate. Also, you set your silverware so that it's half on the plate and half on the table, quite unlike American manners. Dad would fit in well here.

Then my host parents took me on a two-hour driving tour of Paris. That's when I had my first massive overload of French. I simply couldn't take in anymore. And they just kept talking, and I absolutely stopped comprehending. I stopped listening. My brain shut down. Total insanity. I was so happy to see other Americans tonight.

I went to wine & cheese with all the other Tufts-in-Paris students, including the year-long ones. It was nice to talk to them. They seemed much more comfortable speaking the language, so I can only hope I'll get there eventually, too. There was so much cheese and so much wine. It was excellent. Then we all agreed to meet tomorrow morning to buy phones. Tres important.

But it was only 8pm when we were done, so we all decided to wander around the city for a few hours. We ended up somewhere along the Seine, and then we found ourselves in front of Notre Dame, and we took lots of pictures.



We wandered toward the Hotel de Ville, and we found an ice skating rink that's only 5 euros! It was closed, but we all agreed to come back another time. We eventually ended up drinking chocolat chaud et vin chaud (hot chocolate and mulled wine) at a cute cafe right across from Notre Dame. It was very necessary. And just generally a good time.

Also, for the record, I have 5 different maps in my purse. Also very necessary.

I'm here! I'm alive... barely. I think they put crack in my chocolate chip muffin this morning on the plane... which could have caused me to spill my yogurt all over myself. That was... messy.

I lucked out. I sat in the back row, and I had an aisle seat, and no one sat next to me. So I sprawled out across both seats and slept for over four hours. Then they made me eat breakfast. (See above.)

So surprise! Everyone speaks French here. What was I thinking? In my few short hours here, I've discovered I'm pretty good at understanding, but I can't actually respond. I sort of look at them stumped for about an hour, before I come up with the first word... but whatever.

I also enjoy how no one in my program knew what was going on when we got here. We didn't know if someone was meeting us or if we had to find our families on our own or what... so after we got our bags and went through customs, we just stood around for awhile going... hmm... what now? Do you know what we're supposed to do? No, it didn't say anything in my information. Me neither. Should we exit the airport? I think we should just stay here. Someone will find us, right?

And someone did. They told us to get on a bus. So we did. But we didn't know where we were going... Then they told us to get off. So we did. And we stood around for awhile... randomly in the middle of Paris. Again, no one telling us what was going on. Then suddenly, our families started to randomly show up. Good times!

My family has a car. I felt pretty special. I got to ride in a car! Whoa, dude! So the nice couple drove me back to their apartment in Boulogne-Billancourt, which is right outside of Paris. It's nice and sweet here. I can see children playing soccer... I mean, football... in the yard below me. I totally have my own balcony. Cha-ching!

Also, my host brother and sister are adopted. They're actually Korean. So they Korean-French? I dunno. I met Nicolas today, and I'll eventually meet Camille, but she doesn't live here.

For the record, I'd also like to point out that I have been here for about three hours, and I've already had eight different kinds of cheese.

This is going to be a wonderful semester.