The Paris Experience

What am I thankful for?

2012-11-22T23:31:00.002+01:00

Before the family begins eating, as tradition indicates, we will go around the table and reveal what we are thankful for. I have always said family, friends, school, the usual. However, this time around I am thankful for the experience of a life time. My semester abroad was truly amazing. I hear many negative reviews about the city; people are rude and it is crowded however, I love Paris. I am not sure if it is the actual city or the fact that I had great roommates and had my own apartment. Whatever the motive I think living in Paris has really impacted me and helped me realized who I am and what I enjoy. I like sitting on a metro and reading a newspaper in a foreign language, I like getting totally lost and having to figure out where how to get back home, I like meeting new people that are not scared of revealing their opinions, and most of all I like the feeling of independence. While abroad, I could only depend on myself. There was not a person that I could call and ask for money when I ran out. I even had to think twice before telling someone I was "excited" I did not want to give them the wrong impression.

Now I must reflect on everything that I learned, graduate, and move out. I may not return to Paris but I know that I will eventually end up in Europe. All in all, living all the way across the ocean helped me realize that we are our own limitation. There is so much around the world to explore and learn that there is no reason to stay in one spot. Actually going overseas opened up so many possibilities. And this is what I am thankful for, an eye opening experience.

Coping

2012-07-26T17:50:00.001+02:00

Alright so I cannot be in Paris, I think I am okay with the idea now.

However, in order to not lose touch with the past semester, I decided to read up a little on the culture, very French of me I would life to add. I now read on train, the doctor's office, and whenever I have free time. I went to my public library on Monday and picked up 3 books: A Dog's Life, A Year in the Merde, and Something to Declare.

Thus far I have only finished A Dog's Life. A witty tale narrated by a local dog of Provence France who describes a dog's life to the tea. The book gives reason and background to a dog's typical behavior. Of course it is written by a non-canine but the facts are presented in a humors form and one starts to believe that you really are reading a dog's diary. The best part about the book were the anecdotes and random French words thrown in, all which I understood (yay). Boy, the dog, gives informations about wine tastings, the countryside, and typical French shops. This was a cute book with some detail into traditions practiced in France.

A Year in the Merde, I was first reeled in when I read a short passage in the back explaining how to adapt in the city, "The best way to find an apartment in Paris, get a French girlfriend and move in." This is very true. Finding an apartment in Paris is a headache to say the least.I recall spending countless hours attempting to figure out where I was going to live after I was expected to move out of my apartment, I was getting really worried. I then told my on-site director of my issues and his first comment, "pfff easy just get a boyfriend and live with him." Easier said than done, but a very accurate comment on the author's behalf. After the first sentence about the book, I knew I had to read this.

A Year in the Merde, I have just started, is about an English man that has moved to Paris to work. I am not sure what year this book is based in but there are mentions of CD-ROMs.This book has a more critical view of Paris and its not so polite inhabitants. So far, the details of Parisians have been dead on, including the terrible English pronunciation, the hatred of non-french speakers, and their fashion sense. I am only a few pages in but I wanted to report on what I have read. I have come to realize that the French are rude and I do not know why I loved Paris so dang much. The author describes Paris as a sea where only sharks survive (the sharks being all the Parisians)and you need to quickly adapt. This sounds like a sad story but on the contrary it is pretty entertaining and funny. Basically I am just thinking back to last semester and reminiscing on what I experienced. So far it has been a parallel description of my first few weeks in Paris, many hand gestures, a barrier to communicate, and overall general confusion. Despite many initial set backs, I still love Paris.

As I keep reading, I will report more. For now, Au Revoir!

I Am Back

2012-07-23T01:21:00.000+02:00

...in Chchchch-icago. It has now been 24 days since I have returned to the mother land. However, I MISS PARIS oh so much. I never thought that I would be sad to be in Chicago. It used to be a joy when I returned to the city after being in Ohio but now, I hate it here. Okay I don't hate it hate it, its just that is is not Paris and I keep comparing. The city isn't as pretty..its dirty, full of crime, not kept well, and transportation SUCKS. I now have to depend on rides again, I never thought I would miss the Paris Métro, even the RER. Now that I am back is when I am noticing all the differences between the two cities.

Basically I miss having an apartment where I can go and return as I please, I miss my roommies, and I miss exploring/finding new things everyday. I even miss slaughtering French. I came back and bam culture shock, when I speak, everyone understands me! Oh my!

Yes I missed my family and Friends while in Paris but why can't they all just go over to the city if lights with me? I am actually bummed because I wanted to stay in Paris the entire summer, I was even considering a whole semester. But somehow I got sucked in by my mother and returned with her after she visited.

On that subject, having my mother in Paris was pretty awesome. She was impressed with my French and by how well I knew how to get around the city. I felt quite proud. I finally went up the Eiffel Tower and got to be a tourist again. It was fun and not to mention that I did not have to pay for meals or random thing that were bought. I guess that is one thing I will not miss from Europe, expenses (a lot, and high). After Paris, mom and I did Rome. We did the Roman attractions, the Trevy Fountain and the Vatican City. The trip was truly amazing! Except for the heat but hey I had some great Pizza!

Now that I am back, I need to find someone to practice my French with. I know that once school starts I will have classes in which I will speak some French but that is not enough. For now I have been watching French movies. Also I give random French lessons to my friends whom props don't really care/pay attention but that's how I practice. OH! I am proud to say that I think in French! Thinking in French was a must in Paris, this way I could reply quickly or ask questions without having to translate between English/Spanish/French. Now i think it became a habit. I walked into the YMCA today and I was at the desk to hand in my card to be scanned and I almost said "bonjour." See I can speak French ;)

One thing I must remember I am Mexican/American not French, get over it Elvialuz.

Finalement!

2012-05-08T22:11:00.001+02:00

Finally, I have brought myself to sit for a while and write on my blog! I really have no excuse for not writing but laziness. Like I said last time, it take a while to write. I mean there are also the factors that one, I have been on vacation and that two I no longer have internet at home (I think my program director did not pay the bill and is now neglecting any contact.and Starbucks usually cuts me off after an hour) The problem with not updating often is that I have a lot to write about. Well I shall commence, while I sit here at the park freeloading off of the internet and enjoying a nice self rolled American Spirt and listening to the little kids and 20 something year olds runs around.

Let me cover the important things: TRAVELS!

Before I begin, I need to explain one thing, couchsurffing. I'm sure some have heard of this website, its awesome. Basically you contact people through the website and look at references pictures and a profile. The point of this is to find a place to stay where you are traveling and its all free. A lot of times the hosts are people that have themselves traveled extensively and want to share their knowledge of the world and their extra bed. Everything is super safe (I now know that) and you get to meet some great people. My roommates and I heard about this and we decided that well, since we were going all over the place, it would be nice to save a couple of bucks on logging. However, we were not too sure how everything would work out, none of us had ever used such site. What if our host was an ax murderer and we did not know before hand! I mean its not like they were going to put on their profile, "hey I welcome you to my home, I'm sure you will have a great time, and by the time you have to leave, well, you may not quiet make it back home, I have a passion for killing individuals." But hey we took the risk. I'll just say now, everyone made it back safe and with some great stories to tell.

I had two weeks of spring break and I took advantage (to the max) that well I was in Europe. Lets see, I went to 5 countries in 2 weeks. My stops were Morocco, Holland, United Kingdom, Germany, and Czech Republic.

Morocco:
Two of my friends and I went to Tangier and Fez. Tangier is the northern most part of Morocco, right off the ocean (you can see Spain.) Tangier was our first stop and let me tell you, we were beyond shocked! We flew arrived at the airport exchanged money and got into a taxi. On the way "downtown" I was already shocked, all 3 of us were, we didn't talk much in the cab, we were observing. The day was a bit cloudy there were women standing in back of pick up trucks all covered up, kids running around, and half built buildings. We went to the RIF Cinema where we would later meet our couchsurfing host. We would be about 5ish hours early so we decided to explore Tangier and get to know the city we were planned to stay for four days. We walked into the crowed medina hearing nothing but requests for Moroccan husbands and getting many stink eyes and nothing but obvious stares. At this point, we were already intimidated. So we wanted to seek refuge. We sat at a little restaurant had couscous and the first of what would become our obsseion fresh mint tea. We sat there watching the Tangiers pass by and the sunset. After we walked around a little more, but this time there was less sunlight and less women in the streets, we were even more scared. I know it sounds bad but really, we were in a completly different country and we are not used to the custms and we totally stood out as tourists, targets for selling goods. We escaped what we believed to be dangerous street and hid out in the RIF theater expecting to catch a movie. It turns out that out of pure luck it was the 5th university of the only independent movie theater in Northern Africa. In honer of the date, there was a trivia session and free drinks and snacks, perfection. We enjoyed a few Moroccan pasties and mocktails that were delicious and at the trivia, we could not answer a single question. We were not discouraged and we continued to hideout until our host would arrive. Ok, so a little embarrassing, we did not end up couchsurfing. We got a little freaked out by the unknown Moroccan men that wanted to go party and we ended up getting a 3 person room for the night, only 15euros. The next day we went to an internet cafe and book a hotel to stay in Fez. That day we explored some more and drank our weight in tea. We were hassled by vendors a few times, got lost in the median, fell in love with our "mama" at the hotel, found the (beautiful) beach touristy side of Tangier, took a camel ride, visited the Hercules cave, finally and felt way safer in the city. Fez was great! we took a 5 hour, first class train ride and had the hole day to see what Fez had to offer. Fez ended up being shopping, couscous eating, tea drinking, getting henna, finiding an awesome "hipster" cafe, oh and staying at a nice hotel. I really enjoyed Fez, there were more tourists and we did not get as weird looks. However, we did hear "hey spice girls" twice.

Holand:
This one will be short I promise, I did not do much in Amsterdam. After meeting up Natalie and getting lunch we headed to a coffee shop. We had a muffin and then decided to go shopping. Shopping was awesome...ish. Got some cool clothes, but eventually I began to think I was being chased by the security guard and kind freaked out. Once done with shopping, we payed a visit to the Mecca of stores, an American food store. I think I was in there for about an hour and bought craisins and candy that I used to eat when I was little. After we payed a visit to a fry shop, Amsterdam is known for their fries? After inhaling every last fry we walked, and walked, and walked. We took another break and stopped for an ice cream. I helped myself to a popsicle and a dr pepper. We walked around some more, saw a few of the same things we had seen earlier and well, I think it was because we were really struggling to figure out the map. Once again, we stopped for a snack, a Dutch pancake. Yum! I do not totally remember what kind it was but I think it was super good, as I did not even say a word to Natalie. After we wanted to find the red light district but we failed, once again, the map was too hard to figure out. After about 5 hours of walking around (I am not even exaggerating) we realized we were tired and that Amsterdam is a complete mystery, so we headed home. However, the bus system turned out to be just as confusing and we got on a bus that headed the opposite way (I think) we asked the driver and he said just to sit and he would tell us when we arrived at our stop. After the long day we crashed and got up early in the AM to catch our plane to London.

Ok. That's cool for now I will update on London, Germany and Prague soon!! :D

Update: 2 months

2012-04-02T15:48:00.001+02:00

So really, I am über lazy. Blogging takes thinking and time....I mean I am not doing all that much with my life but still. You guys know me, I am lazy and would rather just lay in my bed (what I am doing now cause of Sunday Funday) or go out and party. But I really really want to keep a blog and I think its so supér cool that people actually read this thing. Shout out to anyone that is reading this!!! HAAAAY!

Ok, so I have been over two months. And I already feel like I going to have to go home in like 2 weeks. I'm actually pretty depressed about this. I love everyone back home but I hate school and the States and I would much rather just travel and be a bum. Don't worry, I am going to finish school. Just not super happy about it...okay sorry if I am boring you I kinda just went on a rant yeah?

What have I been doing? Hmmm good question. Let's see:

- I have been going to class (typically not on Mondays because of the above reference, although I went today.) School is much more chill here. I meo an its language classes and even those back home are pretty chill. And its different because here there are 59 year olds in your class and everyone is treated as an adult and not a little kid. Like in the states where teachers baby us and its all about grades. Here it's about getting the most out of class and actually learning. GPA do not really matter (well for me yes because I want the credits to transfer for a major) and you go to class because you want to learn, not because you need to pass the frekin class so that it actually counts towards your major. Ugh, see this is why I don't want to go back, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?

-I dyed my hair purple. Right now its kinda reddish now. Purple faded a bit...I think

-I found another babysitting job! The previous one was too far. I took it because I need the money so I can go shopping. But it was way out of my way. Getting there and back took close to two hours and I mean I usually babysat for one hour and a half to two hours. So not worth all the travel. Now where I am going to work is about 20mins from me! Woot! However this one is more intense. I will be babysitting but really I am teaching a 4 year old English. Thats cool huh? A lot of responsibility, so I am not sure if I am going to be able to handle this. But I already committed and today will be my first day. I think I am already regretting my decision. But hey, I'll have a lot of new clothes

- Guess what!!! Spring Break is only 2 weeks away!!! WHAT UPPP!!!! so happy. I don't remember if I already wrote about this but I will be going to Tangier, Amsterdam, London, Munich, and possibly south of France. I need to get to Barcelona, Greece (too expensive), Venice, and well probs Madrid.

- Language is improving! I still sound terrible but I feel a bit more confident.

- So I've been to a picnic at the Eiffel Tower and at the Luxembourg Gardens

- I haven't been to too many bars or clubs. Super disappointing but I have been lazy and broke.However, St Pattys was pretty sweet. Went to an Irish pub in the Latin Quarter. Everyone was prancing around in green and with these top hats that say happy St. Patty's day. We met some people. Okay this one English guy was ridiculous. He had a twisted handlebar mustache and was pretty funny. He looked like this classy guy, then he was spotted making out hardcore with some girl. Totally a throw off. Also apparently French people think one night stands are like sooooo dumb. I am not saying they are good or bad but wait, are the French being more conservative than the US? Maybe it was just this one guy? I shall do some research.

- OMG, went to a wine expo! THE best. I went two days. Both were amazing. Megan, my flatmate, and I ended up buying 7 bottles. Wooppss. But I mean when am I going to be drinking good wine again? We literally buy the cheapest wine possible. So really I am just becoming more classy.

what else what else....

-Oh yeah celling in the kitchen collapsed. We came home one night and a huge chunk of celling was on the floor. No big right? Wrong. There was mold and plaster alllll over the kitchen and the food (noooooooo).

Ok so there are sooo many things that happen that its actually really hard to write about. I actually write stuff down in my phone when it happens so I could remember. It kidna sucks because I want to be able to remember everything from studying abroad but it seems like I have already forgotten.

Ok went to a Mexican restuarant. The guys that own the place are from Aguscalients. It was super cool to finally eat some spicy Mexican food. I was talking to a few Mexican customers that were there. They were pretty cool. Some where studying some where working. Later I left and then realized "damn I'm dumb, I should have like asked for the number or something." It's always nice to be able to meet Mexicans in Paris, there aren't many here.

Things I have noticed on the Metro

When someone jumps on the train and makes it in just before the door closes is the happiest moment of the day. In paris the doors just close. Sometimes on you. Parisians are always in a rush so it is imperative to make it on the metro right at that moment.
The people that play at the metro, apparently they need to audition to play. So basically we get the best of the best here in Paris. Ok, I don't know how accurate this is because someone told me about this and well who knows.
Americans are easy to spot. First of all, they (haha I think I just disassociated myself from america) are super loud. Like ummm you can hear the convo miles away, Parisians are not as loud. Um men wear shorts. I think that is a no no here. Obvi not cool. Also umm why are you wearing sweats. The only people that do that here are...well actually the Middle Eastern men. Not being racist or anything, just simple observations.
Everyone reads. If you are on the metro you better have a book or grab the journal right before you hop on. If you don't you are forced to make eye contact with your neighbor, and I mean that is the worst thing for the Parisians. Oh mind you, they will look at you up and down and totally judge your clothes with no shame, but looking you in the eye or smiling torture. However, I have adapted, I have become a huge fan of sudoku.

Last comments:

ummm, ummm, weather is nice. ok ok, I am talking about the weather I think I have nothing to say.

"how about them bears?"

ok tootles. ps, not gonna edit this post. so if i misspelled something too bad.

I'll put pictures, just cause I mean you can't post a blog and not put pictures right?

Mexican Flag in Paris!!

The Kitchen

Sweet Moroccan Restaurant.

Me and my Burrito

Oh yeah, finally made it to pere lachaise. You know were oscar wilde and Jim Morrison were put in tombs. Quick story, the creepiest thing on Earth. I don't know how I feel about how much people obsess over someone they do not even know. Like really, this person is dead and you are taking pictures of their grave. IDK I think its a weird concept.
Photo cred: Natalie

Exploring Paris

2012-03-10T23:51:00.000+01:00

Time for a new post. So what have I been doing in Paris for more than a month? A lot! General outline of what has happened since my last post:

- Ashley form OWU came to visit and crashed at the apartment (super fun)

-Classes

-Meeting new people

-Finally got a phone (I can actually make free calls to the US) and a bank card

-Discovered the (night) bus

-Advancing in finding a job

Ashley Visiting

-Have taken more pictures (with my 35mm this time)

-Went to the movies

-I now roll my own cigarets

-Less spending more of budgeting

-Almost saw Tim Burton

-Running

-Visited the Sacré Coeur

-Nicer weather

-Went to a play

-Finally walked around the Latin Quarter

-Found my favorite bar, Chupitos (Originally a Spanish bar)

-I have an official Parisian library card

Parisian Carte Bleu Warning: Memorize you pin number! When you finally get your bank card (It took me about a month) you get your PIN number in the mail. The problem is that unlike the US banking system, you cannot change the code. So me being the crazy person I am, I never memorized my PIN and would guess on the numbers. Let me just say now, huge mistake. Here you only get 3 tries before you get your card blocked and stolen by the ATM. I do not mean 3 times in a row, no, total. So by the third time I was guessing the ATM only gave me a receipt saying that I needed to call my bank. I was left with no cash and no card. Bummer!

School: Classes have actually been awesome! I wake up not dreading the day, I am excited to learn and go to class for once. Not only am I excited for class, but I'm not late!! Well I was once but that's because I started off walking but then realized I did not have enough time to make it to class on time. See, back home if that were to happen (even though class is like a 10min walk tops, I would just skip class. andI mean I would have to skip the rest just so I don't pick favorites. Best Part: When I am sitting in class, I actually have to remind myself that I am sitting in a room where only French is spoken. Granted the teacher speaks slowly and everyone takes about half hour to ask a question, but the point is that I totally understand everything that is being said! This actually makes me super excited! I mean when first arriving in Paris, I could only guess what people were saying and was limited to picking up a few words. Everyone would then speak English to me. And don't even get me started on me trying to answer the person, there was no French spoken on my behalf. Now, well let's just say people understand me; with difficulties none the less but hey hey hey, that's a step.

Random Weekend on the Metro

Paris is definitely smaller than I expected, I can walk everyone. I legitimately walked from one end of Paris to the other. My metro stop is the second to last on a line that runs North/South and I walked to the 4th to last line at the other end. I mean I took a bus for like 10 mins but got off because the day was so nice and I wanted to explore a bit. So I got off the bus (which btw, there was an old lady with her damn dog on the bus), went to the Louvre Gardens, took pictures, went to the Opéra and sat there eating a grapefruit and people watching. Actually really funny, a random Mickey Mouse appeared right in front of the Opéra house and was dancing and sketching people out. After about 20 minuets or so I began walking towards Place de Clichy. I walked there without making any other stops or really knowing where I was going. I kinda ended up in a semi sketch part of the city but only a few block from my goal destination. Basically I saw all Paris has to offer. I saw the touristy (expensive) area, not so touristy area but still in the ritz, the artistic area, and the more of a, well... where the less wealthy live. I basically got a whole tour of Paris today. However, the best part was Sacré Coeur, beautiful. You get to see all of Paris and the area is so nice. Well, just around there because a few block after that, not so much, more of a ghetto part of Paris. But yea, at the S.C, there was a guy preforming and everyone was sitting on the steps listening and singing along. It was great everyone looked happy and were enjoying themselves. After, I actually took the métro home because I was too lazy and I was getting kinda tired. But when transferring lines, I actually thought I was in Chicago. Not literally but the stop reminded me very much of the Red Line back home.

Cool House

Ok so, going back a few days from today (obvi you can tell I have ADD and can't keep things in order,) I went for a walk around the apartment and found the 'hood to be very nice! I discovered an Indian resturant near by that looks very good and the cutest street in the Paris. So instead of taking the main street back to the apartment, I decided to walk through all the little streets. I walked through a tiny block where all the apartments were white. I made a left turn, and ended up on Rue des Artists. This was a memorable block, it reminded me of Mexico! Two of the houses were brightly painted, one orange and the other yellow. It was actually kind of nostalgic, partly because there are not many Latin Americans and much less Mexicans in Pairs. I mean I'm pretty sure the houses weren't colorful because Mexicans lived there, but it was a reminded of home. Actually, speaking of, I think there is a Hispanic in my apartment complex!!! Well, I know I sounds like a total stalker but I am super intrigued by all the neighbors. We haven't really met any but here at the apartment, we like to think that they are all artsy and cool Parisians. Anyway, back to me being cheesy...whenever I see someone who looks Hispanic I feel all happy inside (awwww). I want to ask their ethnicity, but I guess I'm too scared to be yelled at by an angry French person that has nothing to do with Latin America. I guess I have to hear them speak Spanish and they have to be wearing a flag of their country for me to ask, I don't want to be rude now.

Super Random, but I cleaned the Fridge!

Kay, so the big news, I am thinking of spending another semester here!!!!!! Well, this idea just started today but I'm super pumped and want to make it happen. It seems like I would be able to even graduate on time and my visa maybe easily extended. What I have to worry about is housing and probably wether or not my school will allow me to stay another semester. This may not even happen at all but it would be nice. I would love to spend the summer here traveling and then doing fall semester here in Europe. I think I wouldn't want to stay in Paris because everything is so damn expensive but I am thinking Spain. I have not gone but I feel like it is cheaper and def fun! I mean, taking classes other than language courses would be easy there because I already speak Spanish. If not maybe somewhere in England or some English speaking country. I guess I have to really look more into this idea and do my research. And to make this happen, I would have to find a job so that I could actually afford to live here for another 6 months. But as I mentioned earlier, I maybe babysitting for a French family starting soonish!

Two Videos!

At Sacré Coeur:Guy sining and everyone enjoying The happiest Parisians I have seen

1 Month, Swwaatt?

2012-02-27T14:19:00.000+01:00

Yes, I have been in Paris for one month already. There has almost 20 days since my lost post, my bad. But since my last post SO much has happened...

First of all, I finally started school! Super exciting. I am taking French Language, Written French and Oral French. Yes, I know sad, I'm not actually taking an art history or anything fun like that. But sounds like my French will really be improving right? Well I hope. I have class Tuesday through Thursday. On Tuesday I go from 9am-1pm and on Weds and Thurs I have class from 9am-5pm. Those two days will be super long and exhausting but I mean tots worth not having class on Monday and Friday (4day weekend.) Having those two days off means I get to travel!

Speaking of travel, I have an official travel date!!! and its to........Tangier, MOROCCO!! I finally get to go to Morocco! Bucket list item! Not only is going to Morocco on the list but also camel ridding, which...will be done, Yay! I looked into some hostels for the Trip, and there is one in particular that I would love to book. The hostel is called Dar Jameel, and it looks super super cool. The rooms are covered in colorful tiles, the views look beautiful and there are really good reviews. Another really exciting aspect of Morocco is the cuisine, I have a feeling I will be in Vegan heaven. Eating in Paris is awesome but just a bit challenging because everything contains milk...everything. Tangier will will be a break from always having to be super worried about what I am consuming. Not only from the food but also, I will be getting out of Europe. I think Morocco will be a nice relaxing experience.

So what have I done in Paris? Beaucoup(a lot)! I've been to the Louvre once with the flatmates and once alone. It's so cool cause I always wanted to go to a museum by myself and I finally got to go, and I mean how cool is it that I got to hit up the Louvre. I went around 7 ish and as I was walking around, the sun started setting, it was beautiful! You could see the horizon and the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Pyramid. I was tots overwhelmed at that point! I was taking pictures when one of the museum security guards asked if I was in Paris on vacation. I explained that I was here for a semester and guess what, he actually said that my French was pretty good! yeyaa! I mean I know its not but that's a confidence booster.

Alright what else has there been? I've been to some pretty cool Cafes, meet some pretty cool people, bought a few things, spent an unnecessary amount of money, finally have my bank card (long crazy process) I actually now understand the majority of what people are saying to me (HUGE deal), I'm vegan again, visited Dzifa in Besançon, I no longer feel like a total American I feel more Parisian, explored paris a little more since the weather is way better, visited the nearby park which is really nice on Sundays because everyone is out jogging and with their family, gave myself a budget, checked out
Cézanne à Paris at the Cluny Mueseum, had many
adventures with trying to get home after the metro
stops running (which are just as fun as the actual
night this includes asking a hooker for directions,)
went to the movies to see War Horse and sprinted
in the station to make it on time for the
last train, and overall have had a blast for the past month!

A little on taking the train here in Paris. Not the Métro but the SNCF which are the trains that take you out of Paris. You can buy your tickets online, at the agencies that are all around town, or right at the station. So the day before I was going to Besançon, I wanted to go pick up my reduction card and also figure out the train system before my 7am journey the next day. In order to get to Gare de Lyon, I took two trains and about 30 mins. Not a big deal at all, it was all pretty fast and transferring was a breeze. How ever once I arrived it was a little crazy. Basically, everything is done at machines. People just show up and confirm their ride in this big yellow machine and you are done. The machine prints out your ticket and then you are set to go. There are people to help people out at counters but everyone mainly uses the machines which are actually in many languages. This was nice because without having the options in English I would have had no clue what to do. Not that I actually successfully printed out my ticket from the machine or anything because I had trouble with my card. When you get ticket, you need the credit card that you used to purchase the ticket as confirmation. My card from Chase has given me many problems over here in Paris. The card does not always work even if I go have the sufficient funds. I think the card is rejected mainly because it is missing a chip that allows machines to read your card. So if you are coming to Paris anytime soon, it would be a good idea to get a card with the little yellow square at the front so there are no problems when paying, because I never knew when the card would actually work and sometimes had to have my roommates pay for me :/

Anyway, the trip itself was only 2hours long and went by super fast, seats are comfortable and the conductors were very helpful. Another note about the train is that seats are assigned. I of course did not know this and just plopped down on the first available seat I found. However I soon realized that I had a designated place once I saw people looking at their tickets and then looking up at the seat numbers. I quickly grabbed all my belongings and went to find the seat that was indicated on my ticket. Places by the way are established based on cart and on seat number. The disaster of the trip however was that there were two Besançon stops, and I obviously was not aware. So when we get to the first I get off the train but am not sure if that is my stop!!! I heard the conductor say the name of the stop and then I heard him say that the last stop would be Besançon center. What was I supposed to do?! Was this my stop? So I ran over to the conductors and asked what the difference was between the two stops. He asked for my ticket and said, well this is the ticket you bought so this is your stop but yes there is another one after. He asked if I had someone at this particular stop to pick me up I told him no, he gave me a disappointed look and said, okay, just get on its fine. I could tell he was not too happy but he was compassionate and let me slide. However, I was not at total ease, I wasn't sure that the next stop was where I wanted to go! Luckily, I made the right choice by hopping back on because Dzifa was at the Besançon Viotte stop waiting for me! YAY! happy ending right? After, well I had a blast visiting her and finally got to see a city other than Paris. Seeing Dzifa was great! we had some Thai food, went to a museum, went to a princess looking café, caught up because we hadn't seen each other since freshmen year, and partied on Saturday night.

Pictures of Besançon:

The river that crosses the town

A plaza...I think it was downtown?

Victor Hugo was born in Besançon
This is the house he was born in

Alright so an observation that I made while in Paris: people here are very independent. Everyone does their own thing and does not seem to care about what others think. All the Parisians are in their own little world. They cross the street without caring if a car has to wait for them, they spends hours at cafés alone reading the paper or a book, and they ride the train with their headphones blaring and enjoying the music. This is really nice and I feel like I totally fit in with the scene. Only because I kinda live in my own little world and can have a blast even if I am walking down the street by myself. What I do not like however is that people here are not very friendly. Well, they are help if you ask them something, but nobody stops and takes time to give a smile or say hello to the person sitting next to them on the métro. I guess just being overly friendly is not a necessity here, even waiters and ticket agents are very much straight to the point and strictly about business.

A few Pictures of Paris:

Becoming a Parisian?

2012-02-08T22:35:00.001+01:00

The Flatmates on our first days in Paris
Super late but I just wanted to put them in here

Woke up super early today and decided that it was the day to finally be productive. Now, as the flat has been at freezing temperatures, I did not want to get out of bed so I was all covered and snuggled up while attempting to stay warm. With the least amount of movement possible, I did not want to move to the cold side of the bed, I bought my "carte de reduction" for the French rail system. Now, if you are in France and planning on making trips to places like Amsterdam, Milan, and Cannes (yes I maybe going to all these cities!!!!) it's a very good idea to get one of these cards. Basically it is a 50euro card that will save you about 50% on the average train ride. AKA, it is very much worth the purchase. It kinda sucks because you pay 50euro up front but don't get a special gift immediately or anything like that. Once you book a ticket, its obvi how much you actually save. By the second ticket purchase, you're already getting your money's worth. I'll post the link at the bottom incase anyone wants to take a peek. After you buy the card thing online, you can go to the gate place and present the debit card used for the purchase and a valid form of identification. I think I'll do that tomorrow? Yeah, I'm still not totally sure on the picking up part, but I'll update once I know fer sure.

For flying, Ryanair seems to be the least expensive. However, it sounds a little sketch, the flights are (too?) cheap. The airline is able to keep prices lowers because they fly into airports that are not right in the city. For example: Ryanair actually only flies out of two airports that are 1hour plus away from Paris. However, there are shuttles that can take you from the city for 15euros. So overall as my research has concluded... booking with Ryanair is okay if you don't mind being on a shuttle for about an hour. Which I mean, when first arriving in Paris, it took me 2 hours to get from the airport to the apartment, and for one of the girls it took 4 hours.

So I may seem totally travel savvy here but OH MY GOD! Trying to figure travel is "a joke and a half" (my fav Natalie phrase.) It has been super stressful. I of course want to go everywhere and pay little to no money. But I've come to find that it's not totally possible. For the past few days, I've been glued to my laptop trying to find the cheapest way around Europe. The whole time I was just thinking dang, this is so expensive. Then I took a second, wait, I've been saving up as much money as I can (mind you, I am a shopping addict and crave buying clothes) so that I could finally travel to all the places on that bucket list of mine, and now that I have the opportunity I'm going to back down? NO! In reality, travel is actually not that expensive. When going form C-bus to Chicago, I've spent around $100 on the bus or even more on flights, and that's just to go home. So why am I being so cheap? This is Morocco, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain we are talking about here! Being in Europe maybe a once in a life time opportunity (hopefully not,) I'm gonna go crazy! So yes, actually, after this blog I'm booking everything now! I've inspired myself. Ok, wait no, I'll slow down and I should see who's going with me first. But I'm still going (yep, just typed out my whole thought process, don't judge.)

Here is what the title is referring to: Speaking French!. After all the internet research from the morning, I got ready (by this I mean getting dressed and searching frantically cause I thought I lost my passport) and went straight to my school (Institut Catholique.) I was on a mission to make a few copies/print some things Once there, I got on the word's smallest elevator that according to a sign, fits 4 people, but there were 3 and we couldn't even move. The library was a bit crazy, the librarian spoke no English. I somehow managed to forget how to say computer and paper, which I mean is a big problem if you are wanting to print and make copies. With much confusion, we managed to understand each other and I left with a copy of my passport and the conformation for my reduction card... on green paper.

After that, I finally made it to the bank. Ok, so I must say I am a bit proud of myself. Banking is complicated in the states, so imagine in France! For one, banks are set up very differently from American banks. In these Parisian banks, there is only a front desk, some offices that are not just cubicles, and a bunch of ATMs. If you need to deposit or withdraw money, this is all done solely at the ATMs. You put in your card and you can do everything at the machines, even change your money from bills to coins. So why are there people bank? Well, they are there to help you open your account, get loans, start a mortgage, all that bank jazz. So I went into one of the offices, the lady spoke no English; challenge number two of the day. So, without going into too much detail, I now have a bank account that is actually only possible to open at BNP because the Catho (my school, I've heard that's what the cool kids call it here) has a partnership with this bank. So now, I have this French bank account and about 93809128309 pieces of paper regarding the rules and regulations. As I told Adrienne once I was back at the flat I am hoping that by the end of the semester, I will be able to know exactly what I got myself into with said account. I understood most of what the lady was saying, but some times she would speak too fast and unfortunately there was no available info packets in English. Needless to say, I am not 100% sure of what the rules of banking are here in France. Since, I am already an established Parisian banker, I should just stay here to live right? Oh Mon Dieu!

These are the current addictions. Photo cred: Natalie

The remanning of the day has consisted of a flat-wide nap, Glee, speaking French with Adrianne, Emily, and Liz, and buying cereal and bread. Actually two very important things, I found my fav cereal and we got free bread from our fav bakery. The bakery is our fav because we love the lady that works there. She speaks some english and we speak some french, perfect. Also she's always happy and I mean she gave us free bread, yum. OK, this is my favorite cereal, its granola with crasins, dried bananas, some sort of nut, and almonds! Yes, everything I love. Oh yeah I also went shopping, bought a coat. See, I told ya I shop till I drop (...dead cause I won't have anymore money after Europe!)

Train card: http://www.12-25-sncf.com/accueil/ oh I forgot you have to be between the ages of 12&25

Paris, Je t'aime

2012-02-07T12:53:00.002+01:00

Basically, it finally sunk in last night that I am living in Paris. There have been those little moments where I am walking down the street I turn to the left and BAM there is the Eiffel Tower, and that's when I do feel like I am à Paris. Other than that, I do not realize I am in Paris partially because I speak a lot of English, school hasn't started and its been too cold to really go on day long exploration sessions. But last night, I watch Midnight in Paris for the first time (awesome movie by the way, Woody Allen is totally awesome.) It finally hit me: hey wait a minute I can walk outside and head straight to those place! I know this is beyond cheesy, but I honestly had dreamed about this all my life. And when I say all my life I'm not exaggerating. Before coming to Paris I was cleaning out my room and I found a "portfolio" of 6th grade writing class. The assignment was to research and write about the one place in the world where you wanted to visit, I obviously wrote about Paris. 12 year old Elvialuz wrote all about the Louvre, the food, and the Eiffel Tower and now I've actually seen all of that and can go there or eat any of that whenever I please.

McDonald's Coffee

Ok, done with the corny moments. So now to the interesting stuff like bars and what not. Back in the states everyone was watching the superbowl around 4 (?) I was "watching" the Giants win around 4:30 am. Yep, that's right, I was at a Canadian bar called The Moose from 11pm-4:30am ish for the super bowl. Obviously, I do not care much about football but I was going there for the crazy people yelling and the excitement. While, I was pretending to watch the game, I managed to somehow spend about 50 euro but also met some cool people and ended up having a great time. After the game was over, Natalie, Emily, Charlotte, and I decided to start walking back home since there was about only 30min before the metro started. Cabs can be kind of expensive and I mean we all bought Navigos so it only made sense to walk around Paris for half hour. By the time the clock struck 5am, we were already home. Apparently my very American roommates were hungry and were craving McD's and guess what! I bought something there. Granted I only had a coffee but I still felt so weird supporting McDonalds. Oh and yes, my shoes were really bothering me so I ended up walking a barefoot (I had tights on) in Paris, mind you its really really cold here. But I guess I have some sort of super powers and can't feel the cold. I think its that whole beer blanket sort of thing.

Huge Bowl of Noodles I demolished

Best Dessert EVER

Ok, so I decided that I basically love my roommates and I am super glad that I did not get stuck with weridos (ok no my flatmates are pretty weird but I guess I deal :P ) Yesterday was an awesome day with all of the. We woke up late as usual and finally headed to out the apartment around like 2/3. Well, let me tell you I had the best Vietnams food ever! We were in the Chinese hood and stopped by Pho 14. I had this huge bowl of noodles and managed to down everything, so good. Meg met us up there and we went to Tang Fere for our weekly grocery shopping. Once there, we went crazy and picked up everything that we could get our hands on. The fruit and the veggies all looked so fresh and even exotic. There was a "tropical avocado" that was about the size of my head and strange spiky red fruit. But, what was the most shocking to us was that after our two baskets full of food that we collected, we each only ended up pay 10euro at the register. Basically, Tang Fere is my new favorite market ever! After dancing on the train and being super hyper we got back home ate some candies and coconut balls we bought and watched Midnight in Paris. After the movie, I think we felt inspired so Adrianne, Megan, and I went to a café to end up having the best chocolate dessert of our lives.

A few things I've noticed: there is a mass amount of fur coats, movie theaters are in two parts (meanings there are two buildings on opposite sides of the street, each playing different movies), Parisians love jaywalking, and people here are not scared (like back home) of going to a café and just sitting there for ours by themselves.

Alright, so I am down for today as I need to get out of bed and get ready to go to my school to ask a few questions and then go to Shakespeare and Company, the Notre Dame, and Latin Quarters.

Ok so this is random, but how cute is that,

a Hello Kitty vespa! I want this one.

Freezing and Blending In

2012-02-05T02:36:00.002+01:00

So did you know that it's currently around 25 degrees here in Paris? Its COLD! Well, the weather can be compared to Chicago weather but I was not prepared. I was hoping to get away from frigid Chi Town cold but nope, it followed me to Paris. The thing is, I do not have my big jackets or nice warm boots so I freeze. But I guess I am better prepared then my flatmate Natalie who is from sunny Cali and actually had to buy winter clothes before coming here. In the past few days I have bought a few things here in Paris. I took advantage of the soldés (sales) purchased a very large scarf that can probably double as a dress and some cute headbands. I also bought boots which I love but, I did not realize that I grabbed shoes that were not really a pair. They are size 37 and size 39. Now I have to go back and try to explain in French my little problem.

So, there have been more typical touristy things going on recently. Today we went to the cutest and yummiest macaroon place, Laudrée right on the Champs Elysées. Took us a while but we finally made it to that landmark of pastries. We also walked by the Lourve today, I must say, that whole area is gorgeous. Filled with English speakers but still great. Oh and also, I have found that so many people speak Spanish here! I think I find myself speaking more Spanish than French. Which is an error on my behalf because I do not need to practice my Spanish, its the French that I need to improve.

Sorries, a little blurry. But, c'est Laudrée

Last night Megan, her roommate Norma, and I went to a bar called Violon Dingue. It is an American bar with happy hour until 22h and at 12 they open the cave section! Yes, there is a legit cave that is a bar and there is no cover for girls! How fantastic is that? Even better is that they always play old school American Music! I def remember jamming out to Jump Around by House of Pain. The bad thing about Parisian bars however is that they are crazy expensive. There are always long lists of drink but prices are way higher than in the states. However, do a little flirting with the bartenders (or any guy for that matter) and they buy you free drinks! Apparently, luring a guy in France is not very difficult. All you need is a little eye contact and a smile. Which by the way, I believe I have accidentally perfected. On various occasions I have found myself being talked at by bums. Apparently I tend to smile a lot and make eye contact, so I ended up luring these half drunk men. Yeah, need to smile less and be a true Parisian. Note to self, look mad more often.

The Flat has definitely become our little home. After walks in the cold we all come rushing in the door and it actually feels good to be "home." The girls and I prepare "gourmet" dinners, watch movies, make extensive travel plans, and just lounge around in the apartment. The big but is that our heating does not work very well, so the apt is pretty cold. We need layers to wear inside, have put towels at the door to stop the draft from coming in and we even close the kitchen door because it is the coldest part of the house. Yet, I can finally say that I have my own apartment, how cool is that? And I did not start off badly, my first apartment is in Paris, not bad not bad. I've come to realize that choosing an apartment over a home stay was the right choice; I get to come home late, have guests, play music, there is no awkwardness or feeling like you are an inconvenience. Last night, after the bar, I crashed Meg's room because I did not want to take a taxi back alone. So we get to her apartment and we get yelled at by here mother! She is not really allowed to have guests and especially not loud ones at 3am. Here at the apartment, nobody minds.

Tomorrow will be great! The day will consist of a large lunch (so we don't get too hungry and have to spend more money, we are poor college students remember?) the Lourve and finally around midnight we will be heading to the Moose, a Canadian bar to watch the Superbowl. Yep sounds really French right?

It Snowed Last Night!

Gourmet Cooking

On our visit to l'arc de triomphe it was FREEZING!

ok so random tidbits

1. I have a cell now

2. It snowed yesterday

3. I kinda want to start school already

4. I have adjusted to the time '
5. I bought tickets to go see Tune Yards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not today, but yes I <3 Paris

Parisians Are Very Strict

2012-01-30T23:17:00.001+01:00

Well my placement exam was supposed to take place today, but it did not. I was waking up but then I realized that I did not necessarily have to go at 10:00 am so I decided to just go after the mates and I went grocery shopping. If you are in Paris and looking to buy inexpensive food, go to Carrefour. They have some great prices! I found a container of jam for ,99€, which comes out to about $1.30. The other thing I love about this store is that they enforce you to bring your own bags! Well I guess this is a Parisian thing, but if at all you need a bag and do not have one, you have to actually buy one. Oh and their wine selection is huge! They have everything, not kidding and well since it is France, at a really good price.

After groceries, I headed to L'Institute Catholique, my school. The métro ride went smoothly. Well, it took me a few minuets to figure out how to buy a ticket but by watching someone helped out. Once on the train, I did well no problems. But getting off the train, that's a different story. I realized once I went up the stairs and exited the subway that I did not know where the school was located! I did not even know the street name. I recognized the area but just could not find the school, I even remembered seeing the same streets from the time Boris gave us a tour. Basically I was lost for around half an hour. I asked some people but since I did not know the street name, they were not sure. Two girls said I was going in the right direction but even then, I had no luck. I finally ended up in the larger part of the university but I knew that was not the section for the international students. I went inside asked about the program and I was given a map. With the map I walked to the right building but when I got there, I was told they were closed. They close at 16:00h and it was 16:02! They were not even happy about the fact that I asked a question regardless of the fact that they had already sent me away. This was strict Parisian encounter number one. I basically just told to show up the 14th of Feb and take written and my oral exam together. But I'm scared that if I wait until that date, I will get the crap classes. So I am going with Liz tomorrow in the early early am to try and take the test.

After being sent off by the strict Parisian women, I came back home, but before I made quick stop at a store, the sales are still going on. Looked a round a bit and bought 3 things: a sweater, a shirt, and some funky shiny gold leggings. I am not sure when or with what I will wear them but I could not resist, they are sparkly and only 5€!

Pizzas marguerite

Meg, Dasom and I

Bastille Métro Stop

For an early ish dinner the girls and I headed to the Bastille area for the first time. We stopped by this little Italian restaurant. We ate pizza and pasta. The food was good but not the best I have had here. I actually think the prices were a bit high for the quality of the food and even the service. I think they charged us the wrong thing so they took the receipt back after they placed it on our table and they even took a long time to return with the tab. However I did learn the word for check, l'addition. After dinner, Dasom and Meg met us up. Sadly, Dasom had to leave early but Meg and the 4 of the Alesiannes went to the cute little place that reminded me of the cheesecake factory for dessert and a drink; both were great!

Alright so here is the highlight of the day. At the metro So we put our tickets in, except two of the girls get stuck. What do they do, adapt to the Parisian way and slide on in with some other people. Well we take a few step, laughing at our genius ideas when we all of a sudden get stopped. Excuse me, may I see your ticket the police told me. I thought, ha! in your face, I do have a ticket. They take one look at my ticket and ask me to step to the side with them. But why what it wrong? Turns out we were caught, in order to "save" some dinero, one of my flatmates bought a pack of little kid tickets for the metro. Well, this may have been a bad idea. The guy made each of us pay 25€ for this small mistake.

So what did I learn today? Do not try and cheat the system here in Paris. They will catch you! Not even when you try and explain to them with your puppy eyes that everything was a total mistake. They do not take kindly to foreigners trying to take advantage.

To the right is the reduced price ticket, the one for kids. On the left, was the fine we recieved for being criminals.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-29T19:36:00.000+01:00

2nd blog of the day!

In the Chinese Quarter

So after waking up super late and finally heading out, my flatmates and I decided to go grocery shopping. This turned out to be some what of a mistake on our part. So we did our research a few nights ago and decided that we wanted to visit Tang Fere, an Asian market in the 13ème arr of Paris. We decided to walk there because we do not have our Metro Passes yet, and well we like to walk. After all, some exercise is needed there is an excess of wine, bread and cheese. A few blocks away from Tang, we noticed that the police were putting up barriers for what we thought was a protest. As we kept walking, the protest actually ended up being a Chinese New Years celebration with floats and the whole sha-bang. The streets were beyond full, walking was nearly impossible and Tang Fere was on the opposite side of us. In other words we had to cross the parade so that we could get to the grocery store. It ended up not being too bad though, the floats were moving at a snail pace and we were able to cross the street without getting yelled at or trampled by the floats. We finally got to the store but it was closed. Why you may ask? It is Sunday today! So a lot of everything is closed on Sundays, something we did not expect. There are two facts that I gathered from this error, I am new to the city, there is a lot to learn and that here is so much to do in Paris. We were not expecting to run into a full street celebration, we just needed to go grocery shopping but we did something fun and exciting, oh and super cold.

After the chaos, we headed towards the flat. Well, more of we walked in the general direction. We realized we were unsure of where we were heading so we asked a French lady. She was actually very nice. She pulled put her little map and explained how to get back to the Rue d'alesia, all in French ;) not only did we understand everything but we were actually on the right path. So see, we are not totally lost in this city, we know what we are doing, kinda.

We concluded our day by stopping at a boulangerie that always has a line outside the door. I got a mozzarella and tomato sandwich and topped it off with Flan. French flan however is very different from Mexican flan. This flan was not a flubbery (reference to the movie) and is more eggy and has a crust (yes indulging in the non vegan foods.) The flatmates and I got our food and came back to the room to enjoy our delicious food accompanied by Chocolate which was the cutes movie and I mean Mr. Depp is in it, so why not watch.

Dominique Saibron: the Boulangerie

French Flan

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27 Hours, and then Some

2012-01-29T12:32:00.000+01:00

Let me just start off by saying that maintaining a blog is not as easy as I thought it would be! There are so many things going on in one day that I know writing will take time. Even though we have not done the touristy things, like visiting the Eiffel Tower or seeing the Mona Lisa there is a still a lot going on not to mention that classes have not even started.

Alright so today is day 4 which means that I missed two days of blogging aka this will be a long post.

Day two was interesting to say the least. Wait, don't think that I mean bad, far from that, it was a pretty awesome day! First of all day one was jet lag central, not just me but also for my 3 flatmates Liz, Adrianne (my roommate) and Natalie. It was around 3am (Parisian time) when we all woke up. We were in zombie mode but for some reason could not sleep. We all ended up just walking around making some tea, after a bit of early morning bonding time we attempted to sleep. But, there was no sleep involved. Basically, the failed attempts comprised of laying in bed for hours and hours. I could not sleep, the excitement, the jet lag, the speaking French in my head to practice. Not to mention that I turned on my phone and only to instantly get a voicemail from my mother crying and asking me to call her. Yea, I got super worried but it turned out that she just wanted to make sure I was ok, how cute right? But yes, at the same time sad, my mommy misses me.

After the sleepless episode, it was time to head to the Sorbonne and that whole area. Actually, before leaving Liz and I were told that our school did not receive the online placement test we took and that we will have to take a written portion in addition to the oral test, YIKES. The international office however was closed on Friday which means that we will have to take our written exam tomorrow. With already haven taken the online version, I hope that I will be a little more prepared and won't do horribly. So, since we did not have an exam to take that day, Boris, decided to give Liz and I a tour of the area. We saw both schools, walked all the way to the Lourve, saw the student bars, a café thats always pictured on French textbooks, St-Saint-Germain (a super ritzy area) and the RUGBY bar AREA, yes there is a whole area where there are multiple rugby bars within a few feet from each other. After our hour long tour, Boris left. Liz and I both stopped by the Luxembourg park which may I say is beautiful. We actually ended up waling from that area back to our flat. We were not lost and we figured everything out pretty quickly! I felt like a true Parisian. Minus the whole part where we were walking, turned to the right, saw the Eiffel Tour and totally freaked out; jumping up and down in the middle of the street.

Oh and I almost forgot, on our little adventure we were super hungry, so we decided to buy a baguette. Now this may take some explaining. During the tossing and turning of the morning, I decided to look online to see when my year of being vegan would be over. Turns out it would not be until April or late March, the whole day I was battling with the idea. Dang, being in Paris and I could eat nothing but salads for two months! Back home this would be totally ok, but 1. the US does not have the spectacular cuisine that is here in Paris. 2. I don't know everything on menus and probs would eat many many things with dairy even if i tried m y best to avoid animal products. So I ended up sharing a cheese baguette with Liz (from Paul, a famous place apparently.) So, I am no longer vegan :/ The food is great but I do feel really bad. Even with the high five from Boris and the explosion of taste in my mouth, there was still a part of me that felt like a traitor almost a years effort to give in for some fromage.

So after the walking we came back to the flat to hangout for a bit before our welcome dinner. We got ready, drank a little wine and headed to this fancy restaurant from what we saw online. Well we had a large tipical French 3 course meal which was AMAZING. I had to appetizers, and a dessert of 3 types of sorbets: pear, pineapple, and passion fruit. Everything was delicious and the waiter loved us. We ended up leaving the restaurant around what I think was 11:30, which means we were there for over 2 hours. I just want to point out that one of the girls snuck a peek at the check, came out to around 400 euros, yep no big (it was free, the program paid, phew.) Coming out of the restaurant we decided that it was essential to go out and experience Parisian nightlife for ourselves. Yes, I know what you are thinking what a burden, but hey we were in the RUGBY BAR area! So yeah my first night in Paris, I was heading to rugby bars which contrary to those "classy" socials everyone was nicely dressed and behaving properly. We stayed there for a few hours had a drinks, and danced a little to songs like Thriller, some salsa song, shakira, tonights going to be a good night (very entertaining when the whole bar sings it and everyone has a huge French accent.) One thing we found out is that guys cannot get in if they re not accompanied by girls. Also, one of the bars has a cave! yeah it was pretty awesome, and they put glowsticks in the drinks! So needless to say, these French rugby bars are pretty much awesome.

OK so yesterday was a bit more chill and can probs be summarized in one paragraph? So we wanted to go shopping to take advantage of the "huge sales" going on. Well they are not all that. Stuff was still a bit expensive, I just ended up buying a shirt. Oh and can I mention that I have yet to exchange my money! I have basically been using my debit card to pay, which IS NOT a good idea. Chase has a crazy exchange and usage rates. And, me taking out money to exchange over here was not as good idea as I thought. Paris is not like Mexico, exchanging money is difficult I have only seen on exchange place and well I did not have the money with me. Alright so the best best part of yesterdays shopping adventure was the crêpe that I ate from a little cart. It was awesome and well only 4 euros! After we hung out at the flat and then joined Emily and Charlotte (2 more girls from Abroadco that are staying in the dorm) for curry dinner and wine.
The meal was homemade and super good! Oh and the dorms are actually pretty cool. There are a bunch of old but pretty buildings for all the international students in Paris. The houses are divided by nation, meaning all the Americans are in one dorm and the Moroccans in another.

As far as the language deal is going, a lot of people speak english and well I try my best at the French. I still get nervous but I'm easing my way into everything. We have all witnessed some embarrassing moments but we deal. Some have been with language (being explained for about 10 minutes about some key) and some have been just with the traditions here (not being able to open doors)

Last note, I have not really taken many picture. Well, more like any but I promise I will soon start.

DONE! Until next time hopefully I do a better job on updating from now on.

Arrived

2012-01-26T16:30:00.002+01:00

everything went well during the flight. we departed on time, arrived on time, customs was a breeze, and the shuttle picked me up right on time. The only problem was that they did not get the memo on me being a vegan. So i ended up just getting a tiny salad and buying a mini bottle of wine. The lady apparently felt really bad because the second time she came around, she snuck me a second bottle of wine. I couldn't complain.
Getting to the apartment took forever. There was a lot of traffic and the airport is on the other end if the city. But the ride was a nice tour. I saw a large part of the city. As I sat in the backseat, I read all the signs. My ability to read and understand was great. I felt prepared for the French! So at the end of the ride the driver started asking about me, you know small talk. How long was in Paris, had i been there before. This seemed pretty normal until we were a few block away from my destination. "So would you like to go out for wine" he said. I did not know what to say so I kind of just ignored the question. Well he ended up giving me his number so I could call him. Yeah right buddy you are about 40 and probably married. Eh, it was pretty funny.
So get my bags and cross the street to my apartment. I enter the code and get in with the first try. I walk in head to the elevator and press the 2nd floor button. The door opens I head towards the stairs and ring the doorbell. I though, great! I am finally at my home for the next 6 months. Except there are no college students, an older French lady comes out in her PJs! I try to explain that I actually ended up going on the 3rd floor and not the 2nd. The problem, I couldn't say what I wanted to say in French! AH! She actually seemed a bit bothered, but she spoked English and I explained a little better. I head down the stairs and approach the apartment on the actual 2nd floor. I ring the doorbell and out comes another lady, ah I messed up again? She asks if I am a student and tells me that she is the cleaning lady. Except this took like 3 minuets. Not only that but she tried to tell me to call my director. Basically I was all very confusing, but things have been sorted out. I met all the girls on the trip and we went to breakfast with Boris. It was a good time.
As of now I am attempting to combat jet lag. It is currently 4:25 here in Paris. This means that back home in Chicago it is night time. And I am running on a max of 2 hours of sleep. But I cannot complain, my flat mates are really cool, the flat itself is awesome and I AM IN PARIS!

The apartment

Patio in my room!

The hallway

View from the kitchen

Kitchen

Shower Room

My room!

Today is the day

2012-01-25T16:14:00.003+01:00

In about 8 hours, I will be on my flight stright to Paris. Yes straight, that means I will be on the plane for 15 hours! Before I leave, I think I will be making a quick stop to Walgreens for some Nyquill. Also, I have to make sure I have some cash so that I can buy a few glasses of wine in case the Nyquill is taken away for being in a container that is too large.

When I woke up this morning I looked at my phone and saw an Email from my contact in Paris. Needless to say this made me pretty excited. He seems to be a funny guy and his name is Boris. Maybe he will be easier to contact than my program.

Ok so I realize that my Visa is up in July. And well maybe I will need to return after my program is over. Sad, very sad, I wanted to spend the summer in Europe backpacking. But I guess I have to take charge of my college responsibilities. So I checked the flights and ummm right now they are 1,000+ woah! Yeah I think I should have just bought them as a round trip. I saved a lot on the flight to Paris as I only paid $250 something, but now, I am going to be spending a fortune. Bummer!

Last thoughts:

- I am actually a little nervous now! I had been super chill about everything and just anxious to leave. Now Im getting the flutters (butterflies).
- I get sheets ready in the apartment! Which means I don't have to take mine. Which is excellent because taking stuff out my bag means I maybe wont surpass the weight limit
- I actually have to make a few stops before the airport. I just need to buy a few things and make a run to the bank.
- I need to call ATT so they know I will be abroad
- I received an email from my cellphone company abroad, I will have my phone starting January 26th! Good good good
- I took my online placement test, Im in the intermediate level.
- My arrival will be super hectic. I get to my flat and and go straight to le petit déjeuner. Then I have some time in the apartment but after I have to go do some other things, I cannot remember what the email said. Well, I will be busy busy and I will be jet lagged.

Alright, that is it for now I have to start getting ready for my flight (YEAH!)

The Day Before

2012-01-24T23:28:00.001+01:00

Alright so only one more day left. :DDDDDDD

I've basically been on hold for an hour with Pinccell. Apparently they have no record of my order and that means I may not be getting a cellphone as soon as I arrive. They first said that I would be on hold for 5 minuets, lies. "Your call is next in line and will be answered by the next available representative." What, do you only have one person on the phones that is currently on break? Booo! Update: so they answered but said that my order was never conformed. Um yes it was I sent an email. Not only that but the guy hung up. ugh! now I don't know if he confirmed the package and I still have questions!!! I am not going to wait another hour on the frekin phone, so i sent an angry email! hmmmm

I called my bank today to let them know that I will be abroad. Turns out there is about a $5 fee every time I use an ATM. There is also a 3% fee when I use the debit card for a purchase. Yikes, the Euro is already "expensive" and now I will lose even more money to my bank. I thought about opening a bank account abroad but apparently the banks are really picky with documentation and its an extensive process. I think I will just have to check everything out once I am in Paris.

As for my baggage, I have two bags. I really really hope they are no more than 50lbs, I don't want to have to leave anything behind. As for carry on items, I have a book bag and my camera bag. The camera bag is small which is good because I want to keep what I carry to a minimum. I really want to avoid having to lug around a lot of things in the airport. I do not want to have to take an actual carry on with me, what a hassle.

Basically today has been a lot of stress!
Yesterday however was good, I bough a new
ipod and found out my film camera works!!

For now I am taking a break: drinking tea and watching "Nigh Buffalo". Yum Diego Luna

Update: 2days left!!!

2012-01-23T07:28:00.001+01:00

I packed and downloaded music. Today was a very productive day. At first I was freaking out and had no clue of what I was doing. I basically paced around my room pretending to start packing, but truth was: I had no clue how I was going to start. I then proceeded to raid my drawers and my closet and just threw everything I want to take on the floor. It was super crazy in my room but I managed. I now have condensed everything (for 6 months) in two suitcases.

I'm very excited...

The of the music i decided to add to my library

Last 3 White Stripes Albums
Dark Dark Dark
Cold War Kids- Loyalty to Loyalty
All of Grizzly Bear
Nouvelle Vague- Best of
The Fratellies
Federico Aubele (getting close to Jose Gonzalez...but not that close)
Civil Wars: C'est la mort/Dance Me to the End of Love
Jill Scott: Long Walk (classic)
Moby: Flowers
Plain White T's: Rhythm of Love
Modest Mouse (found out I love them!)
Gorillaz: All Alone
Thomas Newman: Any Other Name

To Do List

2012-01-22T21:49:00.002+01:00

Alright, so there are only 3 days left and there is so much I have to do before I leave! I've been putting everything off but now I need to begin preparing. I hoping that by making this posting I will be a little motivated and stop procrastinating.

The List (for now)
- Wash
- Pack
- Learn French (yes, I realized I do not know enough)
- Read Le Petit Prince
- Download music
- Take my camera to get checked out
- Buy film: 35mm and Polaroids
- Last min shopping?

Also I am thinking of video blogging at some point but maybe I'll be more inspired once I am in Paris. Right now I don't have much inspiration.

The
Study
Material

Google Maps

2012-01-20T16:33:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I received the address to the apartment in which I will be living! Instantly I looked it up on Google Maps. My neighborhood looks pretty nice, there is a train that will take me directly to my school a at an 8 minute walk and there is a pharmacy and a bunch of shops in the area. I'll live in an apartment with a blue roof and a balcony. Seems so typical of Paris. Apparently I will also be receiving more housing and arrival information this weekend. Everything is so official! I still cannot believe I will be in Paris for half a year, how wonderfully spectacular.

I also began working as an online tutor. This means that when I am in Paris I will have the opportunity to make some money and hopefully will not be completely broke. My friend is over in France already and she said everything is crazy expensive. I knew that was the case but her telling me just made it a reality. I shall have to spend very wisely.

Well I am off now. Maybe I should start thinking about packing....

10 days!

2012-01-15T17:38:00.002+01:00

Yep, that's right. 10 more days until I am Paris bound! How crazy! I should probably start packing, or at least beginning the process. Ah! I was on FB and saw pictures of two of my friends that will be over in France this semester. I instantly got butterflies in my stomach! I just thought, wow that's going o be me in a few days! I definetly think I am prepared. Now, I am just going to enjoy the last few days I have at home and get ready for 6 months en Paris.

Also I have been preparing my cameras for the trip! And decided I will be buying a wide angle lens. But the bad news is that my 35mm does not seem to be working properly! The film comes out blank! I am a little worried because last time I was in Paris, I took my camera with me as well but once back in the states, my film was ruined because the film came out foggy. So I never got to see those picture. Now I wait.

Big News!

2012-01-10T19:03:00.001+01:00

Visa for Paris: Check!

Now I wait until January 25th to depart for 6 months of.....excitement well...hmmm not sure what I will experience over there but I am sure it will be AWESOME!

I just did a bunch of laundry (realized packing for Paris is gonna be intense!) I was folding my clothes and I hear a loud bang. It was the door, but who could it be? I wasn't expecting company, maybe my brothers? I open my bedroom door, rush down the stairs, open the door and there is the mailman.

"I have a package for a Gonzalez"
"Yep, that's me"

I saw the envelope he had in his hands and I immediately knew that my French Visa was the delivery!

15 More days and I will be on an American Airlines plane heading straight to Paris

Success!

2011-12-20T21:36:00.001+01:00

Got my passport back!! WOOO sounds like I'm going to Mexico and I did not ruin my family's vacation! Cheya. The ladies at the French consulate are really nice :D I'm going to get them a christmas present!

Fail

2011-12-20T06:21:00.000+01:00

Today was my "interview" at the Chicago French Consulate. Everything went smoothly. I had all papers with me, I was done before my appointment was scheduled. Sounds all good right? Not so much. I was so happy that I would legally be able to enter Paris but I did not realize that my scheduling the appointment as soon as winter break began would lead to bad, horrible consequences. Turns out they keep your visa. Well, that I knew but, I did not put that aspect of the process with the fact that I am supposed to go to Mexico for the holidays. Yeah, that's right I'll be needing my passport to get back into my country of citizenship. Without that passport that is sitting in the French consulate, I cannot get back into the US of A. In other words, I think I just ruined my family's christmas vacation. I will be heading back to the French consulate to see what I can do to fix my fuck up.

From what I read online, it seems as though they process the visa application the next day and then mail it out? Well that would be really nice. But they also say that you cannot pick up your passport from the consulate itself. Which, presents a problem, mi familia is supposed to leave for San Luis Potosi on Wednesday. AKA there may not be enough time? We are supposed to drive down to Mexico which eases the situation BUT, the possibility of not being able to going to Mexico makes me a bit nervous. My mother wanted to spend the holidays with everyone, her kids, siblings, and well all the 40+ family members (yes we are a typical huge Mexican family).

I am waking up around super early tomorrow morning so that I can be at the place right when they open. I am not sure if I will be able to make it up to the 37th floor because, well you need an appointment. Which I obviously do not have because it was today.

French Consulate

2011-12-19T08:21:00.002+01:00

I have my visa appointment tomorrow (11:10am!) I've gathered all the papers, and have them all in my little blue folder, that is already pack in my purse so that I don't end up forgetting it at home. Getting all the paperwork is a p.r.o.c.e.s.s! I am about sure it took me about 1 hour. I really really hope I have everything prepared. I've checked about 3 times already and it seems as though everything is set and prepared. However, I am a bit nervous because I do not have a return flight. I hear that may be a problem. I tried calling but apparently they are closed on Saturdays. I hope there is not much problem, I'll just have to explain that well, I am not sure how long my stay in Paris will end up being. I have to see if I can take classes over there and how much they will cost. Also it all depends on how much money I still have at that point.

I now realize that I indeed will greatly miss my family and friends. I had a really good conversation with my mom, and well she wants me to call her about every week. Not sure how that will work but I want to stay in contact with her. I will be away for about 6 months. For me, that time seems reasonable. I want to get away, I want learn about other cultures and traditions, I want to see all the beautiful and unknown cities that seem so far away. I am completely ready for a change, a new breath of air. My mom is a bit worried about me going to a completely different country, but she know that I will do fine. I've been preparing for this moment ever since I was 14. At that age I was ready to live away from home, so I decided to go to boarding school. I think of myself as a very independent person. I feel like living in another country will be a good change and I am not worried what so ever. Well, actually that is a lie. My french is not great, I am learning. And I mean that is why you study abroad right? So you can become fluent and learn from the people themselves.

Tomorrow, I will update on how everything went at the consulate.

Sera Moi...A Paris

2011-12-15T15:01:00.001+01:00

I am done done done with finals/this semester! Yes, I am that much closer to a semester in Paris.

One really, sad note however, I did not get the scholarship I was hoping for (assholes) so now I have to rely on my mother's money and my savings for the most part. WAMP! It'll be fine though I'll survive.

Ok done with the sad stuff, I must remember, I am still going to PARIS!! Official countdown; 41 days left! 41! wow that crazy beyond belief.

I know most of my posts have just been me blabbing on about how happy I am, but I promise, this blog will get better. I plan on blogging about everything I do in Paris, yeah live vicariously through me.

Packing list

- clothes

-clothes

-shoes

-toiletries

-cameras

Yeah, that's about all I have on the list as of now. I am actually beginning to freak out a bit about what I have to take. SHIT I have to pack for 6+months! I'm bad enough as it is for one week, I have a whole entire suitcase, imagine about 30 weeks. Wait, is it only 30 weeks ish? that does not sound right. It makes it seem like I don't have that much time over there. Ok maybe it its that? I just do not have the mental capacity for that right now, I just had 4 finals and a bunch of other stuff due.

This is how I feel about the finals I just took

And this is how I feel about going to Paris :D

yep, all smiles!