Au Revoir La France! =(

Sooo. I'm sitting in the Charles de Gaulle Airport waiting for my flight.  Paris was very relaxing and fun but I'm so ready to see my family! Tuesday morning I got up early and went to the Louvre.  Maureen and I decided that we LOVE going to museums alone because you can go fast when you want to and slow when you want to.  At the Louvre, I looked at French, Spanish, and Italian sculptures.  I also went to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo again.  It was really nice to be able to go back being older and all, but I really don't feel as though I got the full experience.  I would like to take some art history classes before I return again so I can have a fuller appreciation for what I'm looking at.  I got lunch at a place near the opera house, which was nice.  It's so weird to eat alone but I am so used to it now.  Afterward, I took the metro and got off near the Musee Galliera, or Musee de la Mode (fashion museum).  Unfortunately, it was closed and doesn't open again til late November.  That was a bummer! After that, I went back to my hotel and grabbed a pizza to go at a little Italian place.  I showered, got ready, and went out with Maureen and her friends in her program.  It was the funniest thing, but I saw this kid Todd I know from Michigan.  He is hooking up with Maureen's roommate, who is way too hot for him.  My theory is that girls have lower self-confidence than they should and guys have higher self-confidence than they should, so you always see girls who are too pretty for the guys they are with.  Seriously, look around it's true.  The boys treat them like shit too because they think they are so cool because they can get such a hot girl.  Not true.  Not all, but a lot of girls realize this (still my theory) and realize how much better they can do after the fact.  Smart guys will realize this during the fact and step up their game to keep the girl.  Dumb ones are jerks and act like idiots, lose the girl, and never find a girl that measures up.  Moving on, we went bar-hopping in Paris...stayed out til 3 a.m. etc.  I went back to my hotel and slept in and Maureen and I went to lunch at her favorite gyro place.  So bad, but so good.  Afterward we went to the Musee d'Orsay, and we split up and agreed on a place to meet in a few hours, since we both like exploring museums alone so much!  I like Musee d'Orsay better than the Louvre because there are more things that I recognize and it's actually air-conditioned.  I saw a lot of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and more.  I would like to go back there someday.  Last night we got dinner at an Italian place.  I had mussels and pasta, it was good.  Maureen had a really yummy pizza.  Afterwards I went home and packed.  This morning I woke up, took bus 91 to Gare de Lyon, and caught a shuttle from there to the airport.  It only cost 15 euro.  It was very easy, way easier than the metro (which I am still sore from dragging my bags from Gare de Lyon to Avenue de Gobelin where the hotel was).  I probably waited like 45 minutes for the shuttle to come and I made buddies with this couple who lives in Paris but is on their way to Hong Kong for few weeks.  The girl just finished college and she was sooo cute.  She was wearing these tortoise shell RayBan eyeglasses, and I was in lovvve.  I really want another pair of glasses.  Ooh. Boarding is delayed 10 minutes!  Bummer.  Anyway, her boyfriend was cute too.  Really tall with dark hair and blue eyes.  They were so nice.  We sat by each other on the bus and talked the whole time, and I ended up friending her on Facebook.  Gotta love Facebook.  Well I board in about 10 minutes, so I'm gonna wrap up this post.  See ya in the mitten!

Adventurous Weekend

So I'm sitting in a McDonalds in Paris right now close to Maureen's apartment.  I had a VERY interesting weekend, let me tell you.  Friday, Adrienne and I boarded a train to Milan and had a fabulous (FABULOUS!!!!) time shopping and eating Italian food.  There really isn't much else to do in Milan, believe it or not! We went on a bus tour and saw all the important monuments, and Monday I went to La Scala (not sure if I spelled that right).  It's the famous Milan opera house.  Unfortunately the actual theater was closed for construction but I explored the museum by myself and the building was sooo beautiful.  You could only take pictures in the lobby though, so that's all I have.  They had this big exhibit on a woman named Maria Callas who was an opera singer there for a period of 30 or 40 years.  She was Greek, so that reminded me of my favorite girls that I miss oh-so-much (it's getting to be a bit ridiculous).  They had all the costumes that she ever wore and they are so intricate and beautiful and they all seemed hand-made.  Hopefully my parents stopped reading this because what I did Monday night is a little sketchy.  I COUCH SURFED! Yeah, worst idea ever, lesson learned.  Important part = I'm still alive. I planned on staying in the Riviera area for a few days, but I was so uncomfortable at the apartment I was at that I up and left the next morning which  brought me here.  I can't believe how stupid I am for bringing TWO suitcases that are SO heavy and how stupid the French are for not having ONE DAMN ELEVATOR OR ESCALATOR in the entire underground system.  My shoulders/back, literally, have never felt so bad (remember, I am a swimmer).  A pair of macho guys did save me a trip up one flight of stairs though.  Anyway, I feel really empowered and independent because of my success in traveling alone (for the most part).  Next step is to be able to pay for it myself... ha! Yea right.  I would not have survived Milan if I didn't have my parents to fall back on...Adrienne and I booked a 12 Euro/night hostel in Milan, which worked out fine the first night, even if it was a little sketch.  We climbed the stairs and walked into what looked like a scene out of Requiem for a Dream and waited for our room for quite awhile even though we had previously booked it online.  In the meantime, a little mini-bulldog (my favorite) peed on the floor, but neither of us had noticed and we kept stepping in it.  When our room was finally ready, we were told that two other people would be joining us in the room later.  We were so exhausted from our day of traveling that we went right to bed and around 3 in the morning, the concierge just walked in (the doors don't lock), and led in two girls, one of whom took off all her clothes and got in the bed next to me which was only about 5 inches away from me.  I could smell her breath the entire night, and it REEKED of alcohol, let me tell you.  The next day, we were told we would have to move rooms.  We were led (very sketchily) to a room in a different building which REALLY looked like a scene out of Requiem for a Dream.  There were 8 bunk beds and half-naked men strewn everywhere, plus the room smelled like absolute shit.  As we were being shown the room, Adrienne and I were exchanging TERRIFIED looks that said "no way in hell are we seriously staying here."  I pulled out the parents-love-me card and told my mom that we would have to find a hotel. We ended up finding a place in a 4-star hotel that was only 63 Euros a night.  Breakfast was included and it was sooo good, and so worth the extra money.  Anyway, I guess I'll wrap up this post and head back to my hotel because Maureen is deeply involved in her work right now.  She has two exams, two papers, and a presentation tomorrow.  But you know what that means! She will be ready to party for my last night in France, and I CAN'T WAIT! It's a bummer that I have to go back to acknowledging my severe dependence on my parents in the U.S.  But, I am looking forward to a few things including AIR CONDITIONING, the good hygiene of the general American population, driving my own car instead of taking the disgusting metro/SNCF trains everywhere.... I have come to the conclusion that homeless people piss all over the underground when everyone else is sleeping.....How else can it smell so bad???  Tomorrow, I plan on hitting up the Louvre again as well as the Galliera because I've never been there.  I'd like to go shopping of course, but I seriously can't afford to put anything else in my suitcase.  I have a terrible feeling I'm going to lose a wheel or an arm or both next time I need to take it somewhere...  Well, back to the hotel for moi. Make sure to call me or get online if you are bored because for the next three nights I will be alone in my hotel =(  While I have definitely gotten to appreciate all the benefits that come with being totally by myself during my stay in France, I have also come to appreciate all the benefits of living with my two wonderful families (at home and at school).  I miss my brothers and sisters so much that it hurts, and I cannot wait to move into my new apartment with Vassi and start things up with that crowd again.  Yesterday, I talked on the phone to my sisters and after I hung up I started crying because I miss them that much.  I know, pathetic.  It's just, I' m SO close to seeing them, yet so far.  Until next time!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Well, my bags are all packed up and I'm just waiting to leave Grenoble.  I am meeting Adrienne at the train station and we're headed to Milan.  It's been fun, but I am not sad to leave the town, just my friends.  But I know I'll see them all again during welcome week.  This will probably be my last post on here! So thank you guys all for reading and see you in Michigan. Love you all! xoxo

French Riviera

Hey guys! I am back from the French Riviera.  Friday, we piled in the bus for Nice and made two stops on the near six-hour drive down south.  At one stop, we used these self-cleaning toilets, and Alli was in one when it started cleaning itself.  She was screaming and she couldn't get out and she was getting sprayed with toilet water.  We could all hear her but we couldn't help her.  We were hysterical for a good ten minutes afterwards.  When we finally got to Nice, we had gross dinner at some random restaurant the University picked (fried chicken and fries), then they sent us to the hotel without a confirmation code or anything.  When we got there, we were told that our group had already arrived and there were no more rooms left.  That was confusing.  It ended up that the concierge double booked the rooms, so we had to change hotels.  By the time we got settled it was around 1 a.m., but we decided to go out anyway.  Let's just say it was a rough night.  Rough, but fun.  Even rougher was the next morning.  We all got up at 8 a.m. and went exploring in Nice.  It's right on the Mediterranean and it's beautiful.  Also, in the "vielle ville" or "old town" there were marches en plein air... which I don't really know how to explain.  Kind of like flea markets.  The buildings were all gorgeous.  Andrea, Jennifer, Matt, Raffi and I had lunch at an outdoor restaurant.  It was sooo good.  I don't think I've ever had bad food here, come to think of it.  Anyway, lunch was really nice because we sat there for a good two hours discussing everything from politics to relationships to adoption and the future.  We all kind of fell in love with Matt a little more because he plans on doing the peace corps after school and adopting a kid from wherever he goes. At around 2:30, we met up with the rest of the program to go to Monaco.  On the way, we stopped at this parfumerie and learned out people make perfume.  I bought my mom this flower-shaped candle that smells amazing.  It's really pretty too.  When we finally got to Monaco, it was incredible.  We visited an aquarium, the cathedral where Princess Grace was married and later buried, Prince Albert's palace (anyone remember that episode of Girls Next Door?), and explored the principality.  On the way back we stopped at Monte Carlo and saw the famous casino.  We got back to Nice around 11, got ready, and all of us went to dinner at a really yummy restaurant.  Afterwards, we went to a salsa bar.  They started playing American songs and we got a little too into it.  The next day, everyone wanted to go to the beach, but I knew we would go when we went to Cannes, so I explored by myself.  I had breakfast at this little place and was sitting across from this cute guy and we kept making awkward eye contact.  When I got my croissant he even said "Bon Appetite."  I was just catching up on celebrity gossip on my phone when he asked me if I wanted this feminine magazine that was sitting on his table.  We got to talking and he ended up pulling his chair up to my table.  We talked for a good hour! Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye and head back to the hotel because we were leaving for Cannes.  Cannes was INCREDIBLE.  We only had two hours there so we just explored the city and then swam in the sea...which was, again, INCREDIBLE.  The water was great, it was a beautiful day, etc.  Matt, Michelle, Adrienne and I swam out to this floating dock way far out and joined a bunch of little kids who were amusing themselves by jumping off and climbing back up.  I guess we're still little at heart because we stayed out there for awhile and did the same thing.  Afterward we swam back in, dried in the sun, and got back on the bus.  All in all, it was an amazing trip and it was so great to bond with everyone during one of our last weekends.  It is remarkable that there is no drama within our group and that we all genuinely get along and love each other's company!  Pictures  soon! Love you guys =)

HAHA. Dinner is always so awkward post-Bruno's attempt to kiss me.  I try to avoid him as much as possible and he tries to run into me as often as possible.  Jessica cannot stop laughing at the whole situation.  Thankfully I am leaving town tomorrow!

I am starting to LOVE having class so early.  The people in my class are so fun.  Alli, this girl from my program, and I sit in the back at a table with this guy Mitch, and we have a ball for how early it is.  There are also like 5 people over 40 in our class from Poland, and we always pick on them.  The man of the group is a-know-it-all, and we always compete to say answers before he can because he takes too long to talk! There is also this one really cute old lady from Japan.  She told the class that in America they call daylight savings "summertime." We got a kick out of that.  Then there's this Turkish girl Aidan, who is the cutest thing ever, she reminds me of my good friend Fatima from Harvard.  There's also this Mexican girl named Adrienne.  In our other class (oral perfection) we had to act out a scenario and I had to be her 50-year-old politician boyfriend, and we had to explain why we loved each other in French...hahaha! We all have oral perfection after grammar every day and our teacher is amazing! We love her.

It is crazy that I will be all done with this in a week!  I am still trying to figure out plans for my extra week.  I was talking to my friend Matt today while we were all at the pool and he is going to stay with his friend in Montpellier and they're gonna travel around the South of France until the 6th or 7th and he told me to come! That sounds like my most appealing option so far if Barcelona with Rachelle doesn't work out! I loved Montpellier and I am not sure I want to stay with 018375018735 people in a hostel in Paris.  I really want to see my friend Saad but I don't think the train ride to Geneva is worth a two day stay, and I don't want to stay somewhere alone.

Anyway, I thought I should update since I NEVER talk about my classes and it hit me today how much I'm gonna miss that kind of intersection of nationalities and ages in my daily life...

Tour de France

Today a bunch of us skipped our second class and went to the Tour de France! It was SO fun! We waited an hour or so for them to come, and during that time the press and some promotional vehicles were driving by and throwing stuff at us.  I got a cool slap bracelet! Haha.  When the bikers did come, there were 3 up front really fast, I didn't get a picture but Geoff did so I'm stealing it!  Then came a huge pack of bikers and the sound of all their pedals going was insane! So loud! Afterward, there were a few stragglers (literally like 2 or 3).  But yeah! It was done within 30 seconds basically! Then we all went to a public pool because it was SO HOT out there all day!  Great day over all =)

Tour de France, Nice, etc. etc.

Tomorrow the Tour de France is coming through Grenoble, RIGHT down the road I live off of - La Rue de la Liberation. A bunch of us are skipping our second class of the day and going to see it. Afterwards we're going to lounge by the pool chez moi. Friday I leave for Nice for the weekend and I'm absolutely ecstatic! I reaaaallllyyyy wanna go to Monaco! I am extra excited because everyone I have ever bonded with on this trip is going so it's going to be sooo much fun. We are all staying in a hotel together! It's gonna be crazy. Right now I have to go read for Emily's class, which is the worst class I've ever taken by the way. Yesterday we turned in a 7 pg paper, tomorrow we have a 3 pg one due and Tuesday we have another 7 pg one. Taking this pass/fail was the second best decision I've ever made. The best decision I've ever made was to come here. I have learned so much about what kind of person I am and what I am capable of. I definitely want to return here for a longer period of time in the near future, but I know that next summer I really wanna do something in the Middle East. Big plans, huh? Miss you all very, very much. Can't wait to see [most of] you again! Also, so excited to meet Baxter and Fluffy! =)

It's Time to Get Goin'

Today was not productive at all.  I gave myself a manicure and a pedicure and went out to eat alone, which was kind of fun, actually.  I sat there for a really long time, just contemplating life =)  Afterwards I walked the half hour home.  It was raining.  Thunder-storming, actually.  I'm gonna shower and finish reading Franny & Zooey (J.D. Salinger).  I love reading when it's storming.  I hope I can fall asleep tonight after all the sleeping I did this weekend.  Oh. Another thing.  I really wish my host sister would wear a bra.  She always wears these disgusting tunic things with NO BRA underneath, it's disgusting!!! Her boobs are like massive and saggy.  Dinner is the only meal I really eat all day, and I should be hungry for it, but her boobs never fail to steal away my appetite.  I really hope next weekend will be fun in Nice! I know my friend Geoff (from Hong Kong) and my friend Andrea are both going! So hopefully we will have a blast.  I really hope we can get out to Monaco!  Anyway. Sorry for the multiple updates this weekend, I've been super bored.  Benny, I hope your birthday was amazing, although I am still mad at you for putting those hideous pics on FB.  Don't worry though, check out the payback in my Paris album =)

Lazy Sunday

I've been sleeping a lot lately! Friday night I went to bed at 2 a.m. and slept straight through until 12:30 p.m. the next day.  Yesterday, there was barely anyone in town (everyone went to Marseille for the day and didn't get back until between 12-1), and everyone who was in town was lame and/or didn't want to go out.  So I was bummed about that.  But I took advantage of the situation and just took some alone time...I read a few stories out of the new David Sedaris book and ended up going to bed before 11.  Didn't wake up til 10:30 this morning! It felt so nice.  I just hope I can get to bed tonight since I have to get up at 7 a.m. for the rest of the week.  Ughh.  This morning, I woke up to thunderstorms and just laid in bed reading celeb gossip and listening to music for an hour or two.  The rain has stopped and I am debating leaving the house to go get a sandwich or something.  Otherwise I won't have eaten all day by the time dinner rolls around between 7:30-8.  I might bring some work with me and just sit at a restaurant and eat.  Sounds good. Guess I'll get out of bed.  Hope everyone had a fun weekend! Tell me about in the comments section.  Love you guys!

Oh, I forgot two things: Thanks to Allie for sending me a lovely letter! & Happy Birthday to my baby brother Ben, who is now a teenager! (SO WEIRD!) Love you! Can't wait to hear about your GIFT =)

Other Stuff From This Week

Ok so Thursday afternoon after class, I went out and wandered around with my friend Michelle.  I REALLY like her.  She's a grade younger than me but she is so cool and very mature.  I am definitely hooking her up with my cousin Gabi, since she will be going to Wisconsin also in the fall.  Michelle and I both had some errands to run at an electronics store and then we got ice cream and headed to the park to eat it.  We sat there for like two hours, just talking. We had a really good talk.  I really like her.  Too bad she is in Geneva this weekend. Speaking of Geneva, I am meeting my friend Saad from Harvard there right after my program ends.  I think I'm going to spend the remainder of my time in London, but I really wanna find someone to go with me for my mother's sake, although I really wouldn't mind exploring London toute seule.  Yesterday I did some retail therapy after class and it definitely worked.  I bought Anna the cutest pair of orange flats!  I also got myself a dark grey metallic quilted pair of flats. I also found a place that sold super cute chandelier earrings for about 3 Euros a pair! Not bad.  They are at least $15 in the states. Last piece of exciting news: I weighed my self yesterday and the French diet is definitely working! If I finish a draft of my paper today, maybe I will go running before dinner and give my metabolism a little boost.  Maureen and I decided that we are going to look fab when we return to school in our new French bodies and French clothes.  Anyway I need a sandwich or something so I'm gonna run out and grab one then lay by the pool and work on my paper.  I'll let you all know how tonight goes! Andrea and I are probably going out with this kid Mitchell from my grammar class.

Most Awkward Night Ever

But still very fun. Will explain later.  Tomorrow is the first day I get to sleep in ... it's been weeks. 

Racism in France

Today was fun! After class, my friend Wendy and I went and searched the town for iced coffee (super hard to find, by the way).  We eventually succeeded and let me tell you, the caffeine was tres necessaire.  We finished our coffees, went to the grocery store to pick up some snacks and pop, and headed back here to go swimming.  It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.  One of Mme.'s neighbors came over, who is about her age, and she was telling us how her 19-year-old daughter is dating a black guy, and I think she is living with him.  One of her sons is living with his girlfriend too, I think she said he was 26.  After lecturing Wendy on I on the dangers of living together prior to marriage, she proceeded to warn against marrying outside of our race.  She not only denounced dating black people, but also Arabs, who are "le pier" or "the worst."  Having had enough, I told her I was Arabic and climbed out of the pool.  She tried to ameliorate the situation by saying, not Arabs, just Muslims.  To make her more uncomfortable I lied that I was Muslim.  It was funny.  I brought it up at dinner, thinking Mme. Cottave would have a more a liberal stance on the situation.  She didn't.  She and the Polish lady began tearing into black people and Arabs.  Fortunately I was done with dinner and retreated to my room to work.  Tomorrow, I have to give a presentation on Le Musee Galliera, which is a museum on Parisien fashion, past and present.  I'm about to go practice for Mme. right now! Then bedtime for me.  I don't do so well with getting up at 7 a.m. on a regular basis.  Bon soir!

Staying Fit in France

I forgot to blog about it then, so I'm doing it now, but I went on a really long run (4 km - long for me, at least!) last week and noticed some strange stuff about exercising in France.  It's bizarre to them, I guess! Everywhere I ran people were staring and men were catcalling like nobody's business.  When I was about a minute from returning to Mme. Cottave's house, a man started shouting at me and asking me why I was running! Apparently, it's true what they say: French women don't exercise.  Unfortunately, they are not as skinny as they are made out to be.  However, I will say that while some of them smell terrible...some of them wear the best perfume!  Leaves me wondering how anyone can smell that good in this kind of weather!

Paris

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a swell weekend, because I know I did! I had a fabulous time with the Nassifs (my cousins) Thursday and Friday and had so much fun with Maureen on Saturday, Sunday, and today.  It was great to catch up with my cousins and spend some one-on-one time with them.  Now that we are all older it's so much easier to relate to each other.  I always feel left out on my mom's side of the family because there is no one my exact age and at the same point as I am in my life, but now it's so much better! Same thing when I go home and visit my siblings.  Anyway some interesting things we did together were eat a really nice seafood place where we met up with their cousin Catherine (Nassif side), who was sooo cute! She grew up in London and has a British accent. It's adorable!  We also went to Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame (both very old Cathedrals).  We also went on a little boat ride and saw some Parisian monuments like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.  Friday night we ate at an American-style restaurant called Hippopotamus.  We had sooo much fun! We ended up laughing a ridiculous amount--to the point where we had a major ab workout! All in all, I had a great time seeing them.  I think the best part was the old-school sleeping arrangement. We had two queen-size beds that were pushed together so we all slept in a row.  Brings back memories!  Because I had done some sight-seeing with the Nassifs, and with my own family two years ago, and also because I am returning to paris August 2- August 8 (probably), Maureen and I decided to make the most of the sales and do some serial shopping.  I got a lot of cool stuff and bought gifts for my brothers and sisters.  Saturday night, Maureen and I had a long, nice dinner in the Latin quarter in an area called St. Michel.  We didn't end up finishing til around 1 a.m.  We decided to go home after that because we were both a little drunk off the bottle of wine we shared and the metro stops running in Paris around 2 a.m.  The next day we had a late lunch at a cute little pizzeria in an area called St. Paul and then we explored the area for some boutiques that her friend recommended we visit.  I almost bought this pair of red jeans but Maureen talked me out of it, probably for the better.  At night we had a bottle of wine at a Moroccan restaurant across the street from Maureen's apartment, and I had a little snack of some appetizer with peppers and feta...it was delicious! Afterwards, we went to an outdoor bar/cafe and just talked and had some more wine.  It was sooo nice to catch up with her because we always have the best talks.  Also, she wanted me to include in the update about her that she has recently lost about 30 pounds, and she already has 3 or 4 French men calling her incessantly to invite her on up-close tours of Paris in their private jets and romantic home-made dinners in their Parisian penthouses.  A.K.A. she is adjusting well! Anyway. It's late for me these days (10:40 p.m.) I'm exhausted from traveling and the busy weekend.  I wanted to throw a shout-out to Anna, who wrote me a letter... A very long one! I loved it. I am writing you back tomorrow.  I love you & I miss you! The rest of you important ones I hope to video chat/skype with sometime this week.  Keep in mind that I have about 6 hours of class a day and a very heavy load of coursework! Not to mention my 7 a.m. alarm clock that goes off every weekday! Despite all these complaints, I am starting to get apprehensive about the end of the program.  While I want to see all of you again as soon as possible... I also feel like this trip is going by way too fast! I'm thinking about coming back here for a year between undergrad and grad school to sharpen my French skills. I don't think six weeks is cutting it! Anyway. Love you all! Have a fabulous week. XOXO.

I'm Baaaack & More Decaffeinated Than Ever Before!

Hey guys! I'm back.  It only took them about 3 days to fix my computer.  Apparently they put in a new logic board, whatever that means.  I got a cool blue plastic cover for it too, so it looks pretty sweet right now.

My schedule right now is super busy, so that's why I haven't had time to update.  For the rest of this week and next week I have class every day from 8:30-12:30 and every other day from 4:30-6:30.  Tons of class! Tons of work.  My two morning classes are vocabulary and grammar, and my afternoon class is the same one I've been taking (with Emily on La Haute Couture).  Emily's class is really the only class that is really hard for me and also, we have the most work in that class.

Fortunately, I get to skip her class tomorrow as I am going to Paris this weekend!!! Yup. I leave tomorrow after my morning classes at 1:20, which means I have to pack tonight and go straight from class to the train station.  It worked out this way because the trip tomorrow is way cheaper than the ones that leave later in the day or on Friday.  Also, I didn't want to get to Paris very late because I don't really know where the train station is relative to downtown.

My mom's sister Ninette is there with her husband and her three kids (my cousins, clearly) and they will be there until Saturday morning.  I'm going to stay with them tomorrow night and Friday night and then I'm going to pay Maureen a visit!!! Maureen arrived in Paris today.  I'm probably going to crash on her couch for Saturday and Sunday.  I can't wait to see her!  Monday is a national holiday here, so I'm not coming back to Grenoble until Monday evening.

Today was really productive.  I had class 8:30-12:30, lunch, bought my train ticket at the SNCF boutique downtown, went back to the University, wrote a 600-word paper in 2.5 hrs for Emily's class.  Yeah, I know we just had one due Monday, don't worry about it.  >:-| Then I went back downtown to pick up my computer.

While I was waiting for the tram to take me downtown, this guy sat next to me at the stop and asked me if I was married. I was like, no. He was like, oh do you have a boyfriend? I was so confused.  Since when do people stop you on the street and question your relationship status?  I put my iPod headphones in and stopped talking to him.  When the tram came he blocked the door and told me I was cute and he'd like to take me out sometime (props to me for understanding his French!).  I told him I was a lesbian (which I learned last weekend is the same word in French), and if he could please move because he was making me late for a date with my girlfriend...

Some thing I've noticed: there are two categories of young people here.  Those with multiple, painful-looking facial piercings who dress like punks and have really bad hair (think Pete Wentz), and those who are like 18 and married.  So, basically if you are under 25 and you live here, you are either a Joel Madden-wannabe or a Kevin Jonas- wannabe.  Just today, I sat on the bus next to a girl with a dyed black mullet wearing a Slipknot t-shirt.  It was all I could do to keep from wondering aloud...who told her that was cute?

Anyway, the life I've settled into here is drastically different from the life I have in Ann Arbor.  I've been going to bed between 10 and 11 and waking up at 7.  Yeah, I didn't know I was capable of that either.  Also, Paris better have a Starbucks, because I haven't had a coffee in like 4 weeks.  I don't like it hot and they don't do iced caffeinated drinks here.  Also, I've been going without my Diet Coke.  I feel like Amy Winehouse must have felt after her doctor told her she had to stop taking drugs or she would die within the month (she did stop, didn't she?)

DINNER TIME!!!!!!!!!!! later dawgz.

Montpellier + Pictures

Hi! It's a been a few days! I hope everyone had a great weekend and very happy 4th of July! I missed the West Michigan festivities but fortunately had a great Friday night nonetheless.  We arrived in Montpellier, a small southern French city that borders the Mediterranean Sea sometime late afternoon.  We took the tram to our hotel (Hotel Ulysse) which was only one stop away from stop from downtown Montpellier.  It was a small family-owned and operated hotel and we all got our own beds except for Stephanie and Alyssa, who had to share a queen-sized bed.

After settling in, we headed out with intentions of going to the beach and then out to dinner.  Unfortunately, we missed the last bus to the beach, so we just went straight to dinner (still in our swimsuits).  We went to this little Italian cafe with outside seating called La Piazza Papa, and I ordered a pizza au fromage. It turned out to be a wood-fired cheese pizza with black olives and olive oil.  It was DELICIOUS.  I woofed it down, as I was starving.  We drank white wine with our meal and shared desserts when we were finished with our entrees.  After dinner, we strolled around the downtown area, exploring and searching for something to do.  We stumbled across an empty retro/mod nightclub called Le Huit, or The Eight in English.

We were the only people in there for the first half-hour, but then we were joined by two women in their mid-twenties working on their PhD's.  I sat up at the bar with them and talked to them.  We asked them questions like what kind of music we should listen to and things we should do in Grenoble.  I also ordered a drink called "Blonde Ass" whose ingredients were listed like so: zubrowka (???), liquer de vanille, puree pomme verte, jus de mangue, et citron sucre.  We were intrigued by the name.  Most of us ordered it, and the bartender laughed each time we said the words "Blonde Ass" in our American accents.  We also tried some French beer and a Belgian beer called 1664 as the night went on.  We were actually introduced to 1664 by a French boy named Paul.  He stood next to me at the bar, and when he got his drink, I asked him what he ordered (I discovered this was a great way to make friends, as this was how we started conversation with two women in their mid-twenties).  He told us and then invited us to come and sit with him and his friends (William and Bertrand).  They were all cute but very young (just finished high school) and they had two adorable girl friends, Leopoldine (and I forgot the other girl's name).  We all got along great and we left the club with them and went to this huge public garden and sat around and talked while they passed around an enormous bottle of wine.  At this point, most of us were not interested in having more to drink.  The best part of the night was being in the company of actual French people who didn't speak English and wanted to be our friends.  We got back to the hotel around 1:30-2 a.m. and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up at 10 a.m. and headed downtown to pick up brunch from a grocery store.  Afterward, we hopped on a bus headed for the beach (!!!) and laid out/dipped in the Mediterranean all day long.  We bought a couple bags of interestingly flavored chips and a six-pack of Krotenbourg beer and shared it (which was perfect, since there were six of us).  When we decided we had gotten enough color (around 6:30 p.m.) we returned to the hotel and got dressed for dinner and everything after.  I wore a grey American Apparel tank top tucked into a pair of high waisted dark jeans from Urban Outfitters.  I wore my bangs down too, along with a vintage red leather bag with a chain strap a la Mommy, so I felt super French and stylin'.

For dinner, we went to a little outdoor cafe called Brasserie Chez Regis which apparently specialized in seafood.  To start, we all had some white wine called vin de pays de l'heruait.  Alyssa and I ordered two plates to share, tagliatelles de fruits de mer (seafood pasta with a cream sauce), and moules au pistou (mussels in a basil-garlic cream sauce).  Neither of us had ever tried mussels and we were really excited to but kind of scared as well! Luckily, they turned out to be AMAZING.  We polished them off in record time!

Afterward we headed to the garden to meet up with Paul, William, and one of their friends that we hadn't met the previous night.  They led us to a bar whose name I forgot to record.  The bar was really chic with huge mod black leather couches and really cool lighting.  Very sophisticated.  I ordered a gin and tonic and messed up the translation and was given a drink with MINT in it.  We all know how I feel about that!  I immediately grabbed a lemon and sucked on it really hard in order to get rid of the taste.  We sat at the bar and talked about how to say bad words in French and English and American movies that the boys had seen dubbed over in French.  We learned that basically very American Blockbuster hit is released in France in this manner.  We asked them if they had seen Mes Amis Mes Amours, the movie we saw last Wednesday, and they said that they hadn't and that no one likes French films. =(

After the bar, we headed back to the garden to meet our friend Michelle who took the same train as we did (she's in our program) but wanted to meet up with some French friends who did an exchange program in Madison for the weekend.  The boys bought beer on the way to the garden and they taught us this French drinking game called "Caps."  Basically, everyone puts the bottle caps on top of their full bottles of beer and uses another cap to try to knock other peoples caps off by throwing it.  If you knock off someone's cap, they have to drink a quarter of their bottle.  After this, we went home and went straight to bed.  By the time we were all tucked in it was 3:45 a.m.!!!!!!! We set an alarm for 10 a.m. and slept straight up until it went off.

We were supposed to meet the boys at a lake somewhere but were running too late and we decided to cancel.  Instead we went to a little cafe and got lunch and iced coffees and then went shopping at this store called Kookai.  It turned out to be a major hit with us, and we all walked away with a few items (sorry, parents! but don't worry, it was my first successful shopping trip in France).  I snagged 3 cute tops and an amazing brown taffeta NICE dress all for a very modest price.  J'aime les soldes!  I also found a really gorgeous yellow patent leather clutch with a pouch for coins (coins are used way more frequently in Europe, so this will come in handy from now on) at this store called Minelli, which is known for its shoes, or maybe just its leather in general.

Copy and paste (ATTENTION MOM! THIS IS EASIER THAN TYPING THE LINK LETTER-BY-LETTER) this address into your browser to view pictures of our trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003585&I=909&id=1263930046

Some things I noticed about France in general while in Montpellier:

-Loose dresses/tunics made of light material, worn with leggings, and belted liberally around the hip are very "in"

-Bathrooms are unisex.  I found this out the hard way when Paul followed me into the bathroom at the bar and I freaked out, thinking I was about to be abducted.

-There are lots of Arab people in France!  I met an Algerian girl and her boyfriend while swimming in the sea, and two guys (one Egyptian, one Moroccan) were harassing us while we sunned ourselves.  They even tried to find out what we were doing after dinner!

-French men are surprisingly more chauvinistic than we previously thought.  We were asked many times on our vacation for directions to the kitchen.

I arrived back at chez Cottave-Fabert around 7:20 p.m. this evening, just in time for a quick shower before dinner.  Apparently, there are two new people who have moved into the house in the place of Pierre-Eric who left early last week.  They are two Polish people, a kid and his mother, and they speak really good French.  I wonder where Mme. finds these people... does she put ads in the paper?

P.S. I sent you all postcards and you should all be receiving them within the next week or so! My parents have already gotten theirs!

Not My Day

After I updated earlier this  morning, I hung around campus with Christy (I flew here with her, Jennifer, and this girl named Sara who reminds me of Julia Giddy...maybe that's why I don't like her).  They ate lunch and I had already eaten so I just had a Diet Coke (only #2 in France!) and talked to them.  Christy was worried that she was turning into psycho girlfriend because she has been getting annoyed lately that every time she tries to call her boyfriend he either doesn't have his phone on, doesn't have it with him, or is "busy" with some non-life-threatening situation.  She was asking if it was okay to get mad at him.  We all agreed that it was considering we are on a really strict time schedule due to our classes 4 hrs+ per day, our eating schedules (dinner can take 2+ hrs) and our ridiculous amount of homework (4+ hrs per day), not to mention the time difference. We agreed that she should stop calling him, and should he get mad, she should gently inform him that she figured he would call when it was convenient for him, since the world apparently revolves around him... Sound familiar?

Anyway...after our rendez-vous, I met a bunch of other kids from our class at the Chavant tram stop and we went to a movie called Mes Amis Mes Amours which I understood surprisingly well.  Two single fathers who happen to be best friends and each have one kid (a boy and a girl) move in together in a house in London.  One of the fathers is a womanizer but he ultimately falls for this journalist who discovers his fear of heights.  It was interesting to me that all the songs on the soundtrack except one were in English!  The last one in French had a tune similar to L-O-V-E (last song in Disney's Parent Trap), but translated differently. I wish my iTunes were working so I could find it...

When we left the movie we were walking back to the train stop when Sonja noticed that I had sat on some gum.  Those of you who know me well know that I ironically have an oral fixation (cannot keep my fingers out of my mouth for the life of me) and also a phobia of anything that's been in or is going into anyone else's mouth - namely toothpaste and gum.  I FREAKED OUT! Especially since the blue Splendid sweater I was wearing was one I stole from Anna.  I tore it off and jumped on the tram.

I got off at Vallier-Jaures to switch to the bus that takes me to my neighborhood.  While on the bus, I spaced out and completely missed my stop and didn't realize it until about 5 stops later, at which point I was severely confused.  I knew I was going in the right direction and it took me forever to realize that I had just missed my stop.  I got off as soon as I realized and hopped on the bus in the other direction.  When I got back here, I asked Mme. where I could take my sweater to have it cleaned.  She pressured me into letting her clean it.  She started rubbing ice on it then told me to do it.  I pretended to take it into my room and do it (keep in mind my phobia) and she later barged in and asked me if I got it out.  I said yes, hoping she'd leave me alone and she asked me to see it.  So I just roughly asserted that I was taking it to the cleaner.  She can be REALLY pushy!  The ice wasn't working anyway.

Earlier this morning, as I mentioned in my earlier update, I spoke to my teacher (Emily) about the difficulty I was having with the text.  I feel like everyone in class is either A) smarter than me B) majoring in French C) had way more French classes than me D) lying about the degree of difficulty they are having or E) all of the above.  I told Emily that this is the second text that has taken me multiple hours to get through, and I can't even understand what it's saying, let alone write a paper on it (which is what we were supposed to do last night).  I've NEVER had so much trouble with a French class.  Every French class I took prior to this was difficult for me, I would work really hard and never ended up with anything other than a B+ in all three classes, which I was happy with.  This class, however, is RIDICULOUS. We have hours upon hours of homework and it's frustrating and time consuming and there's just no time to do it.  Emily promised that I would understand the text better after class and that's what class is for, etc.  She was right.  Between listening to other people's questions and breaking up into small groups, I realized that I actually understood the article better than most people.  Which is sad, because I didn't understand a lot of it at all.  We have a small paper due Monday (about three pages) on the article and then Thursday we have a big paper (about six pages) due.  It's just a lot of work and I feel like they aren't taking into account that a lot of us would like to see the country in between class and dinner...

I think I'm going to take it easy tonight, maybe plan an outline for the paper on the way to Montpelier tomorrow afternoon and write it Sunday evening when I get home.  I'll go in early Monday to talk to Emily about it and make sure that it's legit to turn in.  I need to do better than I did on my last one... Apparently she wasn't too impressed...  We have a placement test tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. and then after I'm coming back here to pack and maybe nap and then dropping my computer off at Apple before boarding the train to Montpelier.  Hopefully I will have time to post pics before things pick up speed again on Monday (I start my other class on Tuesday).  It's crazy that after next week we will be halfway through the program!

Okay...well shower and bedtime for yours truly.  I had to get up at 8 this morning and tomorrow I have to get up even earlier.  Mme. and Mme. Dosso got a kick out of that at dinner.  They think everything I do is funny... read in the pool, BBM Anna all day long, wake up at 10 or 11...  They are going to be rolling tomorrow when I show up for le petit dejeuner around 7:30 a.m.

Au revoir!

I'm Not Dead

My computer is just broken so I'm using one at the university with a French keyboard so don't mind strange mistakes like a "q" for an "a" or an "o" for q "p", etc. Fortunately nothing big has happened in the past few days. My computer breaking turned out to be a major French lesson. First I had to explain what was going on to Mme. Then she had me explain it to Bruno who called Apple support in France and had me listen (in French) and then respond to the machine accordingly. Mme. also had me explain the problem to Stephanie. The next day (yesterday) I went to the Apple store dowtown and explained my issue surprisingly well, because they seemed to understand. So I'm bringing it in tomorrow before I leave for Montpelier, a French city on the Mediterranean Sea, for the weekend with six girls i don't really know (Andrea, Alyssa, Kelley, Stephanie, and Michelle). I also had strawberry ice cream for the first time yesterday and I love it!!!!!!! Last night was also the night I promised to pose for Mme. and her artist friends...I had to sit still for two hours! I took pictures of all of their drawings though so I will post those Sunday night when I return from Montpelier if I have my computer back, which come to think of it I probably won't. Class is really really hard, I have never had so much trouble with French. Also, she assigns a ridiculous amount of work. I'm sick of typing like this so I'm leaving. Biii.

Today was pretty uneventful.  Woke up, went to class for FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT (12:30-4:30).  Learned that for talking about half-past a certain hour you say "[hour]-et-demi" only for the morning hours before noon.  After that, you say "[hour]-trente."  After class I walked around downtown by myself for a little.  Then I came home. For dinner we had beef ravioli.  Apparently two new guys have moved into the house: Pierre-Eric and Bruno (better as a dog name? let me know what you think in the comments).  This place is like a hotel.  After dinner Mme., Mme. Dosso (Mme.'s friend who is living here also and searching for an apartment of her own), Stephanie (my host sister), Bruno, and I all went swimming out back.  I was the first one in the pool and I was there alone for awhile so I brought the new David Sedaris book When You Are Engulfed in Flames to keep me company.  Everyone thought that was weird! I don't understand why.  I've been trying to get on the dog's good side.  Her name is Rubyard, and she throws a fit every time I come home.  I think she's starting to like me because she randomly wanders into my room now (usually she never goes anywhere without Mme.) Anyway.  I am le tired now, so I'm gonna do my half of the homework thanks to the system Raffi and I have going, and go to bed.  Night!

p.s. I sent most of you postcards today so let me know when you get them! It costs .85 Euros (almost $2)! So enjoy them and you people better write me back!!!

La Bastille, L'Eglise de St. Andres & Le Musee de Grenoble

Bonjour, friends! I had a busy day today! Woke up and met a few kids from my group at the Notre Dame Museum tramp stop on line B, and then we went and got lunch at this cute little restaurant called Le Librarie Le Sphinx.  Yeah, I don't get it either.  Anyway, I had a croissant and a tomato mozzarella salad, that had lots of olive oil on it and salad greens beneath it.  It was really good, fast service, and not too expensive.  Afterwards, we went took the telepherique up to La Bastille.  The telepherique is like a gondola that traverses the width of the River Isere, which wraps around Grenoble.  We were going to walk down when we got to the top of the mountain where La Bastille is, but of course it started pouring.  So we went exploring and found a long tunnel with a LOT of stairs at the end.  We climbed them, rested for a bit, and then climbed some more.  At the top we found another tunnel with holes in the walls.  We stayed in the tunnels for shelter from the rain.  La Bastille was built to protect the city of Grenoble from intruders a few hundred years ago.  We eventually took the telepherique back down, and found refuge in a church from  the 13th century, St. Andres.  It was gorgeous inside, with tons of old biblical paintings and beautiful stained glass.  After that, we went to Le Musee de Grenoble,  which had a lot of classical Italian-style art (think biblical scenes, etc.) and some artifacts stolen from Egypt in the basement.  There was another exhibit with African art that I didn't have time to go to.  I'll go back sometime this week though.  One thing that was weird about the museum was that the paintings aren't in glass cases! Hmm. Strange.  Anyway, I'm super tired so I'm putting myself to bed.  Gotta get up early tomorrow.  My new Armenian friend Raffi and I split our homework for tomorrow so we each only have to do half! Devilish, I know.  But do they really think I'm going to read 100 pages a night en francais? Non, merci!

Oh, and p.s. I've posted up some pictures on Facebook.  For you non-believers, here are the public links (you'll have to copy & paste the address into your web browser) :

Vercors: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003539&I=91398&id=1263930046

Grenoble: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2003538&I=a3006&id=1263930046

Vercors

So today we went to Vercors, which is a mountain range that makes up part of the French Alps.  We had lunch in this town called La Chapelle en Vercors (http://www.vercors-net.com/lachapelle)  in a really adorable, family owned restaurant/hotel called "Hotel Bellier" (see picture).  Ahead of time, we were given the choice between two meals: traditionally prepared trout (a plate they specialize in preparing on the mountain) and a vegetarian option.  Although I have tried to force myself to like fish many times, I really don't unless it's in sushi, so I chose the vegetarian option which turned out to be really good.  It was a squash/cheese casserole-type dish with a side of a cooked tomato stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs.  We also had le gratin dauhpinois which is a plate that the region of Dauphine specializes in.  It involves lots of cheese and potatoes.  Second, third, and fourth servings are difficult to refuse.  Desert was called profiterole, I think, but I'm not sure if I spelled it right.  The best way to describe it is an empty cream puff cut in half with a ball of ice cream in between, drizzled with chocolate...sounds disgusting, right? Ha. It was sooo good. Be jealous!

On our way up the mountain we also stopped at a little monument called "Les Pionniers du Vercors," which was a small graveyard which marked the graves of those who died in the Maquis du Vercors which was a battle between the Germans and the French resistants during World War II.  The French resistants had taken up weapons to deter the Germans from going on to Normandy and blocked the only possible route up the mountain only to be surprised by German parachutes and motor-less gliders.  The Germans raped and tortured the entire town.  A lot of civilians were killed.

On a happier note, we also saw Pont-en-Royans, which is a small town famous for its houses, which are suspended high above a river.  We continued onto the mountain's famous tourist site, Les Grottes de Choranche, or the caves of Choranche.  The caves are famous because they are full of rare stalactites that can't be found anywhere else on earth.  I think.  I should check my facts, probably.  It was about 30* cooler in the cave than outside, so I think that was my favorite part.  Also, I'll be sending you all postcards of it, so you can see just how pretty it actually was (gorgeous!) Speaking of postcards...I'd like to shout out to Erika, who is now my favorite friend because she sent me MAIL! Which I received today! Love you! And thanks for the celebrity gossip update, it takes forever to load on my BlackBerry!

So, on the bus home, this girl Ralanda, one of the like annoyingly obvious American people in our group, was preaching to the girl she was sitting next to about how gays shouldn't married because bla bla bla the Bible says so. And marriage is like, so sacred. Or whatever. Right? And then next thing I know, she's going on and on about her casual sex with some guy back home and how she hates him but she just loves having sex with him, etc.  I'm like, k so marriage is too sacred for gay people but sluts can partake in the misogynistic fun? Cool. But count me out!

Unrelated note... dinner was so fun today! The food was questionable (I ate a chunk of light pink sausage with strange texture) but the conversation was great.  And then Mme. busted out a couple pints of that liquor from Chartreuse which apparently is 50% alcohol.  Then she had us all doing shots toasting to our good health! It was hysterical.  I was obligated to whip out the camera.  Anyway, I'm about ready to go to bed.  La Bastille tomorrow! Finally.  Have a good rest of the weekend everyone!  

First Night Out on the Town

SO! Tonight was our first night out on the town.  We went out to eat at a creperie, whose name I have already forgotton! I had a Croque Monsieur Maison, which, as I found out, was a thick slice of bread with ham on top and then gruyere cheese on top of that.  I don't like ham, but they don't eat turkey in cold-cut form here. So it was okay.  I had a buerre sucre crepe for dessert- which was really good, especially with the framboise glace (strawberry ice cream) that I kept dipping it in (the girl next to me got it).  We went out in a large group of girls, most of whom were very loud and typically "American," so that was embarrassing.  They were also dressed really...um...American...as well... which was also embarrassing.  So my new friend Jennifer and I tagged along a few steps behind, and we all ended up at this place called the London Pub near the Notre Dame tram stop (which, I heard, is an awesome museum that I must go to next week!)  It was SO crowded and we were really taken aback by the Europeans dancing on these foot-wide counter-like things that bordered the entire club.  We took up a few tables in the back and met up with other people from our program.  Jennifer and I each had a Stella beer (HI FAMILY - REMEMBER WHEN TANTE SORAYA OFFERED MARY SOME STELLA WHEN SHE WAS LIKE 4 WITH HER DINNER...IN EGYPT?!?!) and later, the bartender came back (they take your order like a restaurant instead of you going up to the bar) and brought us a complimentary huge bottle of lemon drop liquor and everyone did a shot together which = bonding.  This is the end of my quick update though because I have to get up at 8 a.m. tomorrow because we are going to Vercors, a mountain that has a lot of history with la Resistance. 

P.S. If anyone wants to iChat/Skype (MOM/NATHAN/JULEZ) - tomorrow night around anywhere from 5-7 your time would be IDEAL.  I'm supposed to be home around 6 my time (12 noon your time, so we can do it then too! I just have dinner an hour and a half later). 

French Guys Dress Like Fags

It's true.  They all wear tank tops and capris and they all have both their ears pierced and wear more jewelry than my mother.

Onto other news, this morning I woke up and opened the shutters, and there was a lizard on my window sill!!!!! Today I had a paper due, so I went to the University early to finish it, which turned out to be a really good idea since the teachers were there early too and were available for questioning.  It only took like an hour for me to do!

After class I went to Le Musee de la Resistance et la Deportation, which is a museum full of information, photographs, and keepsakes that have to do with French Resistance during La Seconde Guerre Mondiale (WWII).  It was really cool because we learned about a lot of things from that time period extensively during French 232 (winter semester).  I was really bothered by one thing though: there was a definite lack of acknowledgment of female resistantes.  I remember reading a lot about women like Lucie Aubrac and Olga Bancic who risked their lives and even the lives of their children in transporting information (sometimes swaddled within their infants' clothes) for the Allies.  There were also a bunch of women who had relationships with German soldiers and were ostracized from French communities after the occupation ended, a lot of them were forced to have their heads shaved in order to endure embarrassment for the "crimes" they had committed.  None of that was documented at the museum.  So that was disappointing, because those were some of the only fascinating things I remember from class.  Some interesting things they did have where huge publicites, or advertisements, for le S.T.O (service travailler obligatoire) which was a volunteer program available for the Southern French, and was marketed as a way to serve their country.  For every two volunteers that would go work for the Germans in Germany, one French prisoner of war would be released.  One really disturbing thing was a wall full of pictures of children from the 40's.  When I got closer, I realized they were pictures of Jewish children who had been killed by the Nazis.  Ugh. Sickening.  At the end of the exhibit, there was a quote painted on the wall that read:

"Pour prier comme il nous plait, si nous somme religieux.  pour ecrire ce qu'il nous plait, si nous sommes poetes." /"If we pray as we please, we are religious.  If we write as we please, we are poets."  That's my own translation, so I'm not sure how accurate it is.  But I took it to mean (in the context of resistance) that writing what you think is more powerful than simply thinking it or praying it because it gets things done... I thought that was interesting and true.

Oh yeah, and there was an old bike randomly sitting beneath an S.T.O. advertisement.  So Nathan, I guess if you lived in that time period, that would've been your ride.  It's more bad ass than the one you're rocking now...

I'm talking to my cousin Isabella right now.  Apparently her family will be in Paris next weekend so I'm going to try and go meet them by train!

Anyway, I am meeting a lot of people from class downtown for dinner/going out (to a club called Vertigo) in 2 hours, so I don't really have anything to do at the moment.  But I have nothing more to say so, au revoir!

It Feels Good to be a Law-Abiding Citizen

I HAD MY FIRST LEGAL DRINK TODAY!!! Yup, I did.  So this must be what it feels like to be 21... I guess I don't feel different--my law-breaking ways have spoiled me!  I got up this morning as usual, went to the University, finished up my homework/ate brunch/went to class.  Class is so long (2 hours!) because it's so hot and the room smells because we all sweat like crazy.  And next week, we have class for 4 hours straight every day! It's nuts!  A man came in around the end of class and described our "excursions" for us, which are planned trips that we already paid for in our program fee that we will be going on every saturday except for next Saturday.  I am planning on going to Monaco because I really want to...  I couldn't really understand him because he was talking so fast, but one of the excursions from what I understood was to this mountain called Chartreuse, where there is a monastery whose monks brew this exclusive liquor that is yellow-green in color.  The Chinese guy must have been talking about this but he called it wine.  Anyway, I'm going to try to head over there tomorrow after class.

Today after class, this kid Jeff, from Hong Kong (he goes to Wisconsin, went to prep school in Connecticut, speaks perfect English and two dialects of Chinese, model human) and I both had to go to the Post Office (he had to mail a postcard and I had to exchange money - which apparently you can't do in banks).  We decided to go exploring together downtown afterwards.  Turns out we have a lot in common!  We went to an art gallery and tried to go into L'Hotel de la Prefecture but we got kicked out cause apparently it's not open to the public.  We went into this church by the Victor Hugo tram stop called L'Eglise de St. Louis, which was built in the 17th century.  There were a few older people praying inside, but we went in and sat down for a little.  It was absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass was incredible.  And old! It was amazing.  Afterward, I had my first diet Coke since being in France.  I didn't realize it was going to cost 2.5 Euros! Guess it was my first AND last, ha!  We walked around a bit more, through this famous garden, and then we went to a little cafe and had our first legal BEERS! C'etait tres bien!  It was from the tap and it started with an A, it was brewed in France, but I forgot the name.  I'll find out and update with it tomorrow.  I didn't end up going to the museum I wanted to go to today because apparently we are doing it as a class after the course tomorrow.  Which is fine, although I hate traveling in big, American tourist groups.  Hopefully I will have time to go to Chartreuse afterwards!  Anyway, Mme. should be ringing the bell for dinner any second now so I'm going to go! Love you/miss you all! Post a comment to let me know you're reading! I really appreciate it.  And between the comments and the emails, I can't believe you guys are all reading this.  I have the best friends/family in the world.  Oh! There's the bell! A demain!

Weird Art People Are Taking Over My Life

I slept really well last night! I went to bed around quarter to 1 and basically slept straight through until quarter to 10 this morning.  Yup, I missed breakfast again. It's only served from 7-9 a.m. What a joke! I got up, got ready, took the bus and then the tram by myself to the University.  When I got there, I had a sandwich and did my homework for tomorrow.  We have a paper due Friday that I wanted to start today but probably won't...

This girl named Sonja who's in my program sat at the table with me and we started talking.  She seems cool and she wanted me to come to a museum today but I already promised Wendy I'd go downtown with her.  I would've rather gone to the museum, but I had to bail on Wendy the other night when she wanted to go out because apparently, I have a 10 o'clock curfew and it takes about two hours to eat dinner in France, which takes places anywhere from 7:30-9 (7:30 chez Cottave-Fabert).

Anyway, I picked up some flowers (pink tiger lilies) for Mme. Cottave at a market after class, brought them back to the house, dropped off my book bag, and headed downtown to meet Wendy and some other girls.  They were shopping at this store that did not suit my taste at all, but I waited for them to finish.  Afterwards they stopped in another store that was equally tacky and I decided I wanted to go to Mango (where I bought two cute going out tops, one for me, one for Anna) and have them meet me instead of stay in that disgusting store (think Apple Bottom-type clothes).  Jennifer, this Asian girl from New Jersey who I vaguely remember from Intro to Poetry last spring (she was in my class) volunteered to go with me.  We hit it off pretty quickly.  She told me that the other girls think I'm weird because they saw me wandering around alone yesterday! Haha! We made plans to have a picnic at La Bastille on Sunday.  We're going to take the gondola thing up and climb down.  I'm excited!  Later we met back up with Wendy and sat down for [non-alcoholic] drinks at a little cafe.

I can't believe I'm legal in Europe and I haven't had a drink yet!!! It's killing me!!!  Apparently a bunch of people are going to a discotheque on Friday around 10 but I have yet to break the news to Mme. Cottave.  I really don't know how to deal with her saying no.  It's just bizarre! I am a grown woman, she is not my mother, and I should be able to go out if I want to, n'est-pas?

When I returned home, I asked Mme. Cottave if she found the flowers and told her they were from me and she kissed me on both cheeks! I wasn't expecting such a strong reaction! I just thought I should bring her something because I know that the other students in the program brought their host families gifts.  After she thanked me, she asked me if I'd like to go in the pool before dinner.  Considering it's 90* out, I agreed.  I sat in the pool for about a half-hour, BBMing with Lana and Anna (HI GUYS!!!!!!!), then went upstairs for dinner.  I'm still lovin' that red one-piece.  I really think they're 10x sexier than bikinis...they leave more to the imagination and you don't feel like everyone's looking at your FAT!

For dinner, we started with a green salad, a Chinese cabbage salad, and a tomato salad.  I really wanna ask her how to make the dressing! It's so good.  Then she brought out two type of omelet, one with an herb similar to spinach, called sorrel in English.  I Wikipedia'd it and apparently it is commonly used  as a laxative, which would explain the last few hours... Also, it tastes like moulokheya, which is a traditional Egyptian dish that I happen to hate (although many people love it)...  The other omelet we ate had cheese and a more common herb that I of course forgot the name of already! She also made these really good potatoes.  Dessert was the same as always: cheeses, fruit, and yogurt.

After dinner, Jessica and I followed Mme. Cottave to her basement where she was holding what she calls an exposition.  All her artist friends come and do art with her in commemoration of her mother's life.  Her mother was a locally famous artist. Mme. Cottave herself is an artist as well...I just can't seem to get away from these weirdo art people.  Is someone trying to send me a sign?  Anyway, back to the story, Jessica and I went to the basement and found Mme. Cottave and her colleagues drawing these two little girls who were posing for them.  We walked around the other rooms in the basement, which were filled with art from past expositions (it's annual, I guess).  We stumbled across a book Mme. Cottave herself wrote about her mother.  It was really nice! We were surprised to see how dedicated she was to keeping the memory of her mother and her mother's art alive.  We were heading back upstairs and saying "Bon Soir" to Mme. and her friends when suddenly, she asked me if I would like to pose for her and her friends next week! I was flattered and I agreed... I mean, porquoi pas?/why not?  It'd be kind of cool to check off a list of things to do before I die (which, unfortunately, I do not have)...  Hopefully there's no catch, like, "Oh, we wanted you to go nude s'il vous plaites!" HA. Anyway goodnight! Je vais faire mes devoirs (do my homework) and go to bed.  A bunch of us are going to a public pool tomorrow to take a dip before class... Bon soir!

Nation-Wide Sale Season: A.K.A. Things Are Starting to Look Up

Today was better! I got up around 9, took a shower (here, it is commonplace to turn the water off while you soap) etc. and then took the bus and then tram to the CUEF with Jessica.  We went to the cafeteria when we got there, I got un croissant, un yaout (yogurt), and une banane (guess that one!) and une botteille d'eau. I'm finally getting the hang of ordering in French but it's still kind of intimidating.  Jessica and I ate and did our homework and then went to class (she is in 350, I am in 270).  Class is really long and boring, and before I even got there I was feeling light-headed and faint probably because of the extreme heat combined with my inability to sleep.  After class, I left immediately and alone and took the Tram B down to the Victor Hugo stop, which is downtown.  I didn't really want to go anywhere with anyone because I just wanted to be alone and do some exploring.  It's annoying to walk around with someone when you're trying to familiarize yourself with your surroundings.  Anyway, apparently les soldes start today, which are the bi-annual country-wide sales in the stores.  Clearly, things are starting to look up! Haha. Really, though.  It's really comforting to know my way (kind of) around via tram and bus.  I feel like I pass as French if I just keep my mouth closed.  In fact, the other day a lady asked me for directions in the street! Unfortunately, I couldn't help her, but it still made my day.  When I got back to la maison I did some homework before we sat down to dinner around 7:30 (it's the same time every day, and Mme. Cottave rings une cloche to let us know it's mealtime).  As usual, she asked us what we learned today...Jessica and I told her about cultural differences between the U.S. and here and Li (the Chinese guy who is living upstairs) told her how he learned imparfait.  He leaves on Sunday! After dinner, Jessica, Li, and I went for walk through the park behind our street.  It's a gorgeous park, surrounded by mountains.  This town is unbelievably GORGEOUS! Tomorrow Jessica and I are going to try and go to La Bastille, which are foundations built into the mountains from Louis XIV's era. We have to take a gondola-like contraption over the river to get there. We were thinking about climbing the mountain too about 700m.  Depends how hot it is.  Anyway, gotta get to bed so I can get up early and go shopping before class! I did see this fabulous shoe store on my exploration walk through centre-ville today...

Itchy in Grenoble

Bonjour, tout le monde! Apparently the French don't believe in putting screens over their windows and I've had to suffer the consequences.  If anyone knows a good way to stop the itch, let me know, cause I'm going crazy!

Finally!

At this time two days ago, I was on a flight to France.  My mom, Sophia, Nathan and I went to sushi at Sadako in Ann Arbor around 5:15 before we went to the airport.  I got there around 7, checked in, and boarded my plane around 9.  I watched the movie Definitely, Maybe toward the beginning of the flight, which was really good.  Then I tried to sleep, but I couldn't because I couldn't get comfortable.  We arrived in Paris at 5 a.m. Michigan time, 11 a.m. France time.  Before we boarded the plane, me and three other girls from my program (Wendy, Christy, and Andrea) found each other and introduced ourselves.   After we landed, we found each other again and made our way to the train station which was connected to the Charles de Gaulle airport.  They purchased their tickets online, as did I, but they were having problems retrieving them from the kiosks.  I already had a hard copy of mine mailed to me, and I began to wonder why they didn't.  It occurred to me that the ticket I purchased was for a train that left from Paris Gare de Lyon (Charles de Gaulle airport is about an hour away from Paris).  I got really nervous and went to information who redirected me to the guichets.  A man who worked in one of them was really helpful and not only exchanged my ticket for me, btu also gave me a student card which provides 60% discounts on TGV tickets.  This will come in handy when I visit Maureen in Paris!  Anyway, I needed two tickets, one from CDG to Lyon, and then one from Lyon to Grenoble.  We got on the first train around 8 a.m. Michigan time, 2 ;m. France time and off the second train around 12 p.m. Michigan time, 6 p.m. France time.  My host mom, Madame Cottave-Fabert picked me up from the station and drove me back to her home.  She seemed very nice and helpful.  When we arrived at her home (a kind of big, very old home on the outskirts of the city) she showed me the salle de bains, the W.C. (which we had to pay to use in the train station .50 Euros!) and my bedroom.  My bedroom is tiny with a twin bed that is too short for me.  It is also lined with dolls, which creep me out, and posters of dogs and horses.  The bed is super uncomfortable and the past two nights I have woken up in the middle of the night sweating (it gets up to 90* here lately!) and have been unable to fall back asleep for at least two hours.  When this happens, I get frustrated that I am so hot and uncomfortable and I question why I came here so eagerly.  I start to think about my family and my good friends and I get really homesick and start crying, it's weird.  I've been away from home so many times, I had no problem transitioning to college, etc.  I guess I've never been out of the country alone.  Also, when I went to Harvard summer school back in 2005, I met a really good friend named Lisa and we became really close.  This year, on Alternative Spring Break in Chicago, the same thing happened with my friend Maureen.  Here, I haven't met anyone I click with yet.  Judging by the looks of things, I don't really see a good friend in anyone here.  Luckily today, another girl came to live at the house with me.  She is from U-W Madison and she is in the same program as me.  Her name is Jessica.  She's blond and overweight from Milwaukee, and she has no interest in going out and having fun, but I am just really grateful there is someone else in the house with me.  I guess I've just been feeling really lonely.  Today we went on a walk after dinner and that was nice.  After our walk, I did some reading on Grenoble.  Two places I want to go this week are La Bastille and La Musee de la Resistance, which is on Rue Hebert.  I was actually on that road yesterday when I went to an art museum with Mme. Cottave and her friend.  The art was displayed in Ernest Hebert's old house and all of the art was by him.  It was small, but the paintings were really beautiful and I appreciated getting out of the house.  Before we left, I went for a dip in Mme.'s piscine in my new red maillot de bains.  Her pool is really weird though, it's like covered by a dome that is maybe 4 ft above the surface of the pool.  Hello, claustrophobia!  Oh, one more thing! Today, as part of our homework, we were given a kind of scavenger hunt to do around downtown Grenoble.  It was cool because I saw a lot of the shops, cool fountains, old buildings, etc.  I also had to take the tram home by myself...and I did, pas de probleme! I also took it to the university this morning for my 21h class.  It's going to suck when I begin at 8h du matin!  Anyone can tell you I am NOT a morning person! Anyway it's kinda late and I've got homework to do in the morning.  Bon soir!