Week 6: Saint Valentin

...Valentine's Day. Very quiet and uncommercial here- I couldn't even find valentines to send out. And the massive amounts of candy and little cards for everyone at school? The girls had no idea what I was talking about.

It has been a pretty quiet week this week. Most of my classes are still canceled, a fact that I only learn after going to the class. I took some pictures of the posters all over campus.


La fac stands for la faculté, or school, university. The next one says 'Students on strike against the education reforms,' which I'm sure any of you who have studied a little Spanish or French got!


I did have a few classes on Thursday last week and one of them was just way too fun. First of all, it was in English because it's in the Anglo-American studies department and it's on British History after 1945. So I think being in a lecture that was so similar to home, even though it was 2 hours long, was just so stimulating and interesting. But also, the professor was just hilarious! He must have been French, but with a perfect English accent- he even dressed English- like Bridget Jones' dad or something. Really ugly sweater- anything un-chic around here really stands out. He was talking about how England had to become much more socialist during and after WWII than it had ever been. He taught the French kids about the Protestant work ethic, and mentioned that in England (and in the US to a certain extent) being lazy was a very very shameful thing. (To us it's like duh, right?) He said, "Can you imagine calling an unemployed person lazy? Can you imagine?" and he repeated it in French for them, just to make sure. Later, I literally could not stop laughing after he said, "In France, we believe you must help the poor, in Britain, you don't help the poor- you kick them!" God, I can't recreate how funny it was but I almost died. I guess it was also context- these kids were actually taking notes and no one laughed besides me when he said that. Like their notes must have been "a. French = help poor, British = kick"

I was actually thinking about that before I had that class. It's one of the huge differences for me here- there is no shame in being lazy. I mean, this is a country that invented joie de vivre, a word that we had to hijack because we don't have an equivalent, even though we have almost seven times the number of words in the English language than the French do. (I know I should cite that number but I really couldn't find a good source. I don't know what the exact number is, but we do have a heck of a lot more words for things than they do.) In any case, I will definitely come back to this point soon, since I spend a lot of time thinking about it here.

Saturday was Valentine's Day and my host family was gone so I had some friends over for a potluck. It was really nice to cook and to have the place to myself. I didn't realize how much I miss having friends to live with- and having my own place.

Anyway, I better get going- I have to pack. Spring Break is next week and I am going to Barcelona and (drumroll, please) Marrakesh, Morocco! I'll be in Barcelona 3 nights, Marrakesh 4, and back to Barcelona for another 3 before heading home on the 2nd. So I'll miss a blog entry but the next one will have TONS of pictures, I am sure. And yes, my mom knows and is only having a minor heart attack. Yes, I will be with many friends and am staying in a safe place. No, I don't even know what hashish is. And finally, yes, I do hope to ride a camel. Bisous!

Week 5: La Tempête

La tempête: the windstorm, gale, or just ordinary storm. Of course the tempest takes a feminine article- French is such a misogynist language. (just kidding... kinda)

So my university is still up in arms about the education reforms. I hope I can get some pictures of all the signs up, etc. Classes are canceled more often than not, but we still need to go and check every day- I guess shooting an email out to your class would be too difficult for some profs. At the same time, France has been dealing with another tempête. This time though, we were allowed to go outside, it just wasn't encouraged. The wind is so strong the rain is basically falling horizontally and it's very hard to stay dry. What a crazy time for me to have come to France!

Even though things here are pretty crazy, I'm still very glad that I came and very psyched to be here. Even la grippe, which in my humble opinion was bronchitis, can't keep me down! My listening comprehension skills are improving, I think, though I still catch myself saying totally grammatically incorrect things. At least I catch myself now! I'm so lucky to have a host family who don't laugh at the ridiculous way I sometimes speak. I need to talk more, but I am still very shy about talking in French- I really hate sounding stupid. And even though they try not to, I think people still stereotype people who speak with incorrect grammar as uninformed or not as smart as someone who speaks correctly.

So my weekend was pretty quiet- I had fun at my host sister's birthday party. I organized a treasure hunt with her older sister (that's right- in French) which turned out well, I think. Except that when I asked Léonie if she liked her treasure hunt she said, "Yes, but it was a little too easy," after having cried all morning that we were making it too difficult and she wanted it to be very easy. What can you do? I took a few photos but I think there is some law against putting up pictures of kids so I avoided those ones.


Interesting fact for you: I'm not sure how common this is, but my host family and all of Léonie's little friends sing Happy Birthday to You in English, even though most of them speak very little to no English at all.


It's nice to see the pretty laid back parenting styles of French parents. No theme for the party- no real food, just a LOT of candy, cake, and fruit juice. Defrosted cake with a candle on it- no Icing on the Cake extravaganza. It wasn't very planned but I guess it was assumed that as long as kids could run around and play with each other under the influence of candy they would be happy- and the assumption was correct! I loved my big birthday extravaganzas when I was little, but this was nice too.

I just got Valentines from my mom and my grandma- so cute! I have a Skype date with Mike on Saturday to watch a movie, in case you were wondering. I'm not sure how dorky that is so I'm not sure if I should tell everyone about it- but I think it's cute. Hope everyone has a good Valentine's Day!

I thought I would be blogging on Sundays, but I guess I'm switching to Wednesdays now- I only have one class at 4:30 and it doesn't take place every week. Sunday is my Skype day- let me know if you want to chat some Sunday morning! I would love to hear from any of you guys!

Love and bisous!

Part I: la grève, Part II: Rick Steves is My Homeboy (Week 4)

Part I: la grève (the strike)

Last week there was a general strike throughout France on Thursday to speak out against many of Sarkozy's reforms lately. 70% of the country is an agreement with those on strike. Since one of the main reforms has to do with education and universities, my school was in a tizzy all week. We had classes that were banalisé, meaning that the teacher wouldn't teach and would only give us information about the grève during class. I have a pretty good understanding of what they're upset about, but I am still a little fuzzy on the details.

We went to a demonstration in one of the amphitheatres and it was really incredible- standing room only. People talked way too fast, the sound wasn't great, and there were a whole lot of idioms in there. But I could understand that when the head of the history department took the mic to speak, the entire amphitheatre cheered and clapped for this little old man in tweed and glasses. (by the way, the history department is leading a lot of the strike- yay!) In fact, almost all of the professors got rounds of applause before and after they gave short talks about how the government is trying to take away our most fundamental right- our right to learn. (yes, they really talk like that) Crowds of people were cheering on professors. Later on in the week, the streets of Bordeaux were packed with more protestors- a lot of teachers, parents, and students, especially. Once again, crowds of people who were very, very angry about the state of their education system. I keep thinking- if only the US could be like that! If only we could love and respect our professors and teachers so much that we cheered for them and marched for them and went on strike for them.

EDIT 2/11: This pic is of the meeting in the amphitheatre- there have been many more good opportunities lately to take pics at school but who would think to bring their camera to school? Guess I have to start! Photo credit: my friend Elita, traveling companion and badass photographer.


I don't think France is perfect or that we can really compare France with the US very well since the countries and the citizens are so different. But there is a certain love and respect for intellectualism here that I think we are really missing at home.

So no class last Thursday because of the grève and no class on Monday because the history professors are still not satisfied, and I'm never actually quite sure if we will have class or not.

Part II: Rick Steves is My Homeboy

His book was my Bible this weekend in Paris- and the map inside of it started getting worn at the edges. I actually got into Paris alone and navigated the metro system to get to where I was staying with my friends. But I was never actually alone because I always had Rick! (sorry, lame, but I seriously love this guy)

I rented an apartment for the weekend that I found on Craigslist with two other girls. The area was nice, very central (3rd arrondissement, near the Marais), and it was cool to have our own, safe place! It was also cheaper than anything, even the hostels. Bummers were that it smelled like smoke and was kinda dirty in that way that guy's studios tend to be. But the owner was very nice- he even showed us around a little bit and fed lunch to my friend who met him in the morning to get the keys.

We did a good amount of the touristy things but definitely not all of them, and a lot of them not very thoroughly. My trip to the Louvre was short because it was free after 8 for students and we only had about an hour and a half- so it was like Mona Lisa! Winged Victory! Venus de Milo is closed! We have to leave! But we did get some cool shots of the pyramid.

I saw Versailles and though the inside was interesting and beautiful, the gardens were freezing and depressing. All the planters were covered like this one.

Paris itself was really really cold the entire time- at or below freezing, and it snowed the morning I left. The top of the Eiffel Tower was colder than I have ever been in my life and it was also kind of terrifying to be up so high with the wind so strong. The only picture of me there is out of focus because I was so scared and cold to be up there. (I know- wuss.)

Montmartre, where the movie Amelie takes place, was very cool and pretty and Sacré-Coeur basilica was one of the most beautiful things I saw in Paris. We got there just when the nuns were singing in the evening and it was so beautiful, peaceful, and spiritual after a day of absolute craziness. Here's a shot from Sacré-Coeur looking down on all of Paris.

Anyway I can't wait to go back to Paris, especially when the weather is better- maybe with Mike this summer? And really do it thoroughly. I heard that I will never get the 20 minute line to see the Eiffel Tower again- but there's a reason why it was only 20 minutes.

Interesting facts for you:
- first Sunday of every month museums are free in Paris (maybe the rest of France?)
- Friday nights museums are free for students
- I never get asked if I'm American- only English (anglaise), and I take that as a compliment
- instead of Groundhog Day they have a holiday where they eat crêpes on February 2
- the movie Groundhog Day is called the Never-ending Day in French
- the West Wing is called the White House (la maison blanche)
- there are little to no commercials here on TV, and none after 8pm (which my host dad said is because Sarkozy has buddies on certain channels)
- the Jewish Quarter in Paris is one of the only places really busy on Sundays because most places are closed. I tasted the best falafel/gyro of my entire life there. (thanks to Rick Steves)
- French primary schools don't have school on Wednesdays so my little host sisters have been underfoot all day today.

I also have a small Part III about French medicine. It's a little different. See, I've had a cold for the entire four weeks that I have been here (yes- four weeks! crazy, huh?) I haven't slept very well, had a crazy 3 days in Paris, and can get pretty stressed out about things when they are out of my control, as they have been often in the past month. So I thought it was just an ongoing cold. But coughing for weeks, and a continued fever are worrisome so I listened to my French mom and my real mom and went to the doctor. "A homeopathic doctor or a traditional doctor?," my host mom asked. Um, traditional, please.

The doc wasn't too weird but at the end she was like, "I'm going to give you some medicine and if after 5 days you don't feel better we can start antibiotics because I don't know if it's a virus or an infection." To me, this was a bit odd. Either I have a cold, in which case you tell me to sleep, drink fluids, and take tylenol, or I have an infection, in which case you give me antibiotics. But no. I got 4 prescriptions: one for fever, one for throat pain, one for coughing, and one for prescription cough drops-- what? I mentioned I have a slight heart defect (well I actually said something like, "Um, my heart? There is something to pay attention infection to my heart," in French) and immediately got some antibiotics too.

So now I'm taking antibiotics that I'm not sure I need, and staying in bed and watching Scrubs on www.surfthechannel.com all day. (By the way, a wonderful website for all TV shows and a lifesaver for me here. ) I'm missing a trip to Lyon this weekend, but will at least get to go to my little host sister's 8th birthday party! No, not sarcastic, I am actually excited for it.

I'm off to drink some tea my host mom made for me- Mariage Frères, a really nice French tea! I hope everything in California (in the Latin American rainforests, Hayley, and in Budapest, Ali) is doing well and I miss you all.