Something fun from the weekend. Location: Paris.

I'm pretty wiped out, but I thought I'd write about something I did this weekend that was particularly fun before I go to bed.

As I've mentioned and as you can see from pictures, the little street I live on is pretty damn cute. The people who live here are also incredibly neighborly and Rue Emile Desvaux is definitely a community. This past Friday night, my block had a movie night outside. All the neighbors got together and organized it- someone got a huge screen to project on, someone brought a bunch of benches, everyone brought a ton of wine. Of course, no one has real backyards because we do still live in Paris and not the suburbs, so they blocked off the dead end in front of my house for the evening. When Hal and I first got there, everyone was hanging out and talking and drinking while Looney Tunes played for the kids with French subtitles. I would have loved to watch Looney Tunes out there all night, honestly, because I didn't understand a whole lot of the movie. Around 11:30, they put on a classic black and white French movie comparable to The Little Rascals. Hal and I stayed for about half of it before we decided it was freezing and we were barely able to understand all of the kids in the movie with their slang and mumbling. The evening was trop gentille, though, and enough to keep me around here rather than going out clubbing with friends. I love living here because of how incredibly diverse my neighborhood is and how accessible things are in the city. But it's also really nice that the block I live on is super safe and a real community. Especially since the language and culture here are still pretty foreign to me,  it helps to be having such a wonderful experience with my host family and such a warm home. Most people in the program aren't nearly as happy as I am with their host families for one reason or another. I definitely got lucky. This Thursday my host father actually invited Hal to join us for dinner. It's things like that that are absolutely not required of them, but my host family does anyway to make me feel welcome.

Okay off to bed now.
Love,
Anj

A day in the life... Location: Paris.

I'm totally exhausted, but I realized I haven't posted in forever and it's because I have crazy days like today allll the time. To show you exactly how little time I have to post, here's what I did today:

8 AM: wake up, get dressed, make lunch, jump on the metro to go to class

9:30-11 AM: French grammar class

11 AM -12:45 PM: watch L'Italien, a movie for my class Muslim Presence in Europe

12:45-2 PM: eat lunch, catch up with friends, take the metro to Ile de la Cité

2-2:40 PM: wait in line at Sainte Chapelle with every single idiotic American tourist in Paris

2:40-3:40 PM: visit Sainte Chapelle, draft an essay about Sainte Chapelle inside, sketch Sainte Chapelle for my Paris Collage architecture class

3:40-4:15 PM: scramble to the metro to go to the Louvre, get lost at the Louvre and be 15 minutes late for my Issues in 19th Century Painting class

4:15-6:15 PM: tour Classicism and Rococo painting sections of the Louvre with class

6:15-7 PM:  sit outside the Louvre with a friend eating pain au chocolat and resting feet

7-7:30 PM: metro home

7:45-8 PM: frantically write Sainte Chapelle essay and finish labeling Sainte Chapelle drawing

8-10:30 PM: dinner with host family, Pauline (French student next door) and young Chinese opera student/family friend of host family

10:30 PM-12:30 AM shower, finish up some homework, book plane tickets for October break

12:45 AM: bed!

Although today was slightly crazier than usual, it certainly was not extraordinary. This weekend I'm trying to give myself some more downtime so perhaps a real post with photos and what not is on its way... Until then, bonne nuit!

Love,
Anjuli

A very busy week. Location: Paris.

Okay I know it's been a while since I last posted but things have been busy!! I'll try to give a quick recap of last week but so much has happened I barely know where to start...

Sunday night my host family returned from a wedding they were at in the countryside and Tuesday I had dinner with them. They're really wonderful and I feel so lucky to be placed here! Tudy, the father, is indeed as loud and welcoming as I heard he was. He speaks nearly perfect English, but he only uses it with me when it's absolutely necessary because I don't understand something important. Annie is very sweet and she doesn't speak any English. Their son, Arthur, is really goofy and has been equally welcoming, which is great considering how used to having students here he is. I'm something like their 15th student so by now, they know how to give students independence as well as make them feel welcome. For dinner Tuesday we had delicious asian noodles made by Annie and an apple tarte that Tudy made. We had great conversation and I got to know more about them, including the fact that they love spicy food! What a great match. Tudy told me all about a great Indian restaurant close by that makes very spicy curries and Arthur suggested we go together last Friday. It actually did end up being pretty good- no dosas or anything, but I'll take what I can get. I met Arthur's girlfriend that night too and got to practice French a lot over dinner and then drinks with them and my friends. Part of what makes Arthur so goofy is that he really likes practicing his English with me, which isn't quite as good as his Dad's. He spent some time in Australia so he does speak a considerable amount, but sometimes the way he puts things is just hilarious and adorable. Overall it's been a smooth transition moving in with the Berniers and it's hard to imagine anyone else got as lucky as I did.

Wednesday the student living next door to me moved in. It turns out she isn't American, but rather, from the coast of France. She doesn't speak any English, which a lot better for the sake of my French. She's here for podiatry school for the next few years and this is actually her first time in Paris. I haven't gotten much of a chance to hang out with her because we've both been busy, but tonight we're going to have a drink at some point. I like the people on our program, but I'm also really happy to have some young French people to hang out with.

Classes started last week too. For the most part they're okay. Here's my schedule:

Lundi: 9h30-10h55 Grammaire
Mardi: 11-12h25 Conversation, 12h30-15h25 Muslim Presence in Europe
Mercredi: 9h30-10h55 Grammaire, 15h30-18h30 Issues in 19th Century French Painting
Jeudi: 11-12h25 Conversation, 14-15h25 Paris Collage
Vendredi: rien! hurray!

I LOVE my grammar prof. She's hilarious and amazing at teaching grammar. To counteract the torture of a Monday morning grammar class she constantly tells us, "vous etes jeunes...vous etes a Paris... La vie est belle!" (You are young... you are in Paris... life is beautiful!). Paris Collage should end up being cool, as it's an architecture class in which every class we take a field trip to discuss the buildings of Paris in person. My other classes are just alright except for Muslim Presence which is currently a little terrifying since my prof acts like an Israeli general. Hopefully she'll calm down as the semester progresses, but for now, 3 hours of her at once is a little intense.

If you know me at all, you know that the one thing I don't do is procrastinate. This week, however, I found out that studying abroad is a whole new game. I think for the first time in my life I waited more than a few days to start homework. I'm definitely not in the school mode and it's difficult to be considering how much there is that I want to see and do here that isn't homework. I'm sure I'll find a good balance eventually, but until then, sacrificing an evening in a great café to read 40 pages about Jacques-Louis David is not high on my list of priorities.

Something really fun I did to avoid homework was go to Fashion Night Out on Thursday with a bunch of friends. Fashion Night Out is a night all over the world hosted by Vogue when couture houses open their doors to the public (with an invitation from the September Issue) and offer free champagne and deliciously expensive shopping. I went with a bunch of friends and had champagne at Ferragamo and cosmos at Chanel for a very fancy and totally free night of fun. It was so great to do something out of the ordinary and feel like a part of this high society (consisting of the most fashionable people from the most fashionable city in the world).

 Champagne at Hal's apartment with Miranda and other friends before heading to Champs Elysees. 

Another cool thing I did this weekend was see an exhibit at the Pompidou about India and France. The pieces in the exhibit were extremely diverse ranging from a movie about the experiences of hijras and transsexuals in France, Dehli and Bombay to a pieces critiquing the relationship French people have with Indian culture. This was the first museum trip for me since I've been here. I'm honestly waiting to see a lot of them because I'll be going with classes or with my dad I'm sure when he and my brother visit.

The exhibit poster.

Okay. Enough for now. I'll try to post more often so these aren't so rambling. 

Love,

Anj

More of my neighborhood. Location: Paris.

I took a few more pictures on the street where I live so you can get a sense of it. It's totally weird because there are like 3 blocks that are like this and then afterwards there's nothing similar at all. It becomes a lot less quaint very quickly, not that I don't like the other streets too.

The house in the middle is my house. Yes, all of it. The very top left window is my window. 

 This is the view down my street. (You can click the pictures to blow them up)

 My street. 

Yesterday was a fun day of running around with friends. I met some people at the Jardins Luxembourg which was totally beautiful especially on a sunny day like yesterday. 

Then we took a walk to St. Michel and the Latin Quarter to get some Amarino ice cream (I know my mom's jealous!). We poked around some of the shops there and then just hung out on the Seine for a bit.

Today I think we're going to the Marais for some shopping and falafel and tonight, my host family finally arrives.... Hopefully they're nice! I'll keep you posted.

Love,
Anj

Ma maison dans le 19eme arrondisement. Location: Paris.

Well, I'm finished with the language intensive week and all moved in to my host family's house! They're not here this weekend because they're at a friend's wedding, but a couple of their friends are staying here until they get in Sunday. I'm not sure if they're a couple, but the friends are these two women in their 40s and they're super sweet. Neither speaks English but they're very into making me understand their French which is great. They had a couple friends over for dinner and drinks so I sat around with them for like 4 hours talking. I'm pretty wiped out but I managed to make conversation in French that whole time. It's a little weird that I'm not getting to know my host family, but I feel lucky to be here finally especially because there's still 5 students who have to stay in the hotel for a few more days until their families get back from vacation. It's a good feeling to not be living out of a suitcase and finally be able to ground myself in my home for the next 4 months.

Apparently my host family is made up of a couple, Tudy and Annie, and their 26 year old son, Arthur, who lives downstairs.  They also have a 30 year old daughter but she lives in another country...not sure where. Tudy works for some French company and I've been told he's very large and loud but also very welcoming. Annie is a pharmacienne which is super great because I know I'll be taken care of if I get sick! The house is beauuuutiful. I got pretty lucky I think for a lot of reason. The house is like 4 or 5 stories with a ton of bedrooms and it sounds like there's constantly people coming and going. That said, I'm on the top floor and my room has a little kitchen area in it as well as a table and chair and a bathroom next door- plenty of privacy. There's a room next door to mine where another American student will be living too. She's supposed to move in next week and I don't know anything about her. Hopefully she's nice and as interested in practicing French as I am. I haven't seen a ton of the neighborhood here yet, but the street I live on is super quiet and charming. It actually feels like I'm outside of Paris, but then I can walk literally 3 minutes and I'll be in the middle of the bustling city again. There's a metro stop super close that will take me right to the center of Paris in 10 minutes. 

 I love my sunflower bedspread!

 The little kitchen in my room.

The view outside my window.

Another reason that I feel super lucky is that Hal is a 15 minute walk or so away. We had both told Lucie, the woman in charge of housing, that we're dating so she could factor that in when placing us and clearly she did. He got really hooked up in terms of housing too. He has his own studio, but his family also sounds super warm and interested in getting close with him. It's a little weird to be here without my family, but I'll meet them soon and I can't complain. Tomorrow I think Hal and I are going to explore our neighborhood a bit and maybe picnic in the Jardins Luxembourg with some friends. Gotta enjoy this weekend since classes officially start Monday! I just found out also that I was placed in language level 3b, which is one higher than I've been in this past week... Totally bizarre. I think I'll show up on Monday and see how it goes, but I have no idea how that happened! I don't feel very competent at all in French, although people are impressed when they find out I've only taken a year of it. It's frustrating because I have sooo much catch up to do. Even if I get the grammar right, there's a vocabulary level that's hard to reach if you haven't been around a language for a least a few years. I don't know how to say the dumbest things like "fork" and "pencil." I guess that's what immersion is for. 

On another note- I took some pictures this past Wednesday during French class. We went on a field trip to this family-run fromagerie for cheese tasting and then to a bodega for some wine tasting. Then I went back to school for a rendezvous with my professors for the semester so we could ask them questions about classes. And, of course, we had more wine with them. Needless to say, doing my homework after that afternoon was a little difficult... Maybe school isn't so bad!

That's my adorable teacher Veronique in the back!

Okay, I'm wiped out now. Miss you all! 

Love,

Anj