au bord de la mer

I have returned from a fabulous weekend in the south of France. NYU treated us (well, I suppose our tuition dollars paid for it) to a trip to Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Sète. About fifty of us left Gare de Lyon early Friday morning on a high-speed train, and spent the weekend in the sun.

Montpellier is a cute little city. We had lunch when we first got there, and then took a guided tour of the main interest points in town. Compared to other big cities in France, Montpellier is relatively new. But it has a sort of old-world vibe (because it really is old, compared to most American cities) that I really liked. Cobblestones and palm trees everywhere. We got to climb Montpellier's version of the Arc du Triomphe (those things are everywhere in Europe!) and see the views of the city..and the Mediterranean. But more on that later.

After our three brief hours in Montpellier, we got on a bus and drove about two hours to Carcassonne, which is a walled-in, medieval city. This is where we slept that night. Our hotel was super nice, all sorts of swirly ironwork and high ceilings and crown moldings and rich colors. The only thing that wasn't quite up to par was the fact that the room I shared with Joleen smelled like rotten eggs, so we slept with the windows to our mini-balcony open.

Dinner that night was on NYU's tab, and they really went all-out. We had an entire restaurant to ourselves, and ate a nice three-course meal. For the entrée (here in France, the entrée is really the appetizer) we had a goat cheese salad. Our plat principal (the main dish) was a specialty of southern France: cassoulet. It's delicious. Finally, we had some sort of really creamy ice cream for dessert, with a little lemony-sugary wafer and some strawberry coulis. Oh, and wine and baguette, of course. We were, after all, still in France, even if the experience of eating by an ancient castle and palm trees made us feel like we were in another world.

Saturday morning we went on a tour of Carcassonne, walked around the perimeter of the barricades and took lots of photos. Then we got on the bus again and drove back towards Montpellier--but not all the way. No. We stopped in Sète.

Most everyone on the bus was sleeping, but those of us who weren't certainly woke the others up with our collective gasps and shrieks of admiration when the bus drove right up to the Mediterranean. We had lunch here, and about two hours of free time. How did we choose to spend this time? Why, by climbing down boulders to sit au bord de la mer, of course. It was so nice to let my body soak up the sun and to take in the immense expanse that is the ocean. I dipped my feet in, but the water was too chilly. Joleen, of course, free (crazy) spirit that she is, went swimming in it for a good hour. Ridiculous.

And then it was time to go. We got back on the TGV and zoomed through the French countryside back to la belle Paris. Rough life, right?

I love trains and long bus rides, for two main reasons, the first being that they make me fall asleep so well. Despite that, I do some of my best thinking while traveling on trains and buses, which is the other reason I love them. Sitting on the bus and discussing the concept of happiness with Joleen while a flock of bright pink flamingos took flight was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Watching the French countryside go by and thinking of all the history that happened there was also very inspiring, and I wrote down a lot of little pensées in the notebook that I always have with me. My little notebook of random thoughts and inspirations.

I have also decided that at some point in my life, I would like to live in the south of France, mostly so I can lay in a field of Queen Anne's Lace when things go wrong. Ideally, I will have a nice little stone cottage, with bright blue shutters and a terracotta scalloped roof. There will be plenty of lavender bushes and basil in my kitchen garden. I will also have sheep and cows (all white, of course) grazing in the pasture in my backyard. Oh, and this future home of mine is situated ten minutes away from the beach, by bicycle. This is going to happen.

Happiness...

life, i tell you

my teenage years were pretty uneventful. meaning i have been very happy and very lucky with everything that life has given me. but i think, for some reason, my brain panicked and realized that i had never had to deal with the phenomenon known as 'teen angst,' and is now packing all of that angst into my last two months as a teenager.

ciao bella

\

well well well.

i am never leaving europe. it is absolutely magnificent to be able to fly to another country for a weekend, on a cheap airline, and to absorb a completely different culture and get away from the mundane. as if paris could ever be mundane. but still. who just jets off to venice for the weekend? my life is so surreal.

anyway. venice was absolutely incredible. my friend katie and i flew in and spent the first day walking around venice for hours and hours and hours. it is, quite literally, the most beautiful city i have ever seen. granted, my travel experience is pretty minimal, so i'm not saying that venice is the most beautiful city in the world. but it is the most beautiful city in my world. it is so unique. i'd never seen anything like it. i don't even think any words could do it justice. even my photos won't do it justice. you're just all going to have to go to venice to see it for yourselves. preferably before it sinks.

so the first day we just walked around, found a pasticceria where we got a delicious pastry and a cappuccino for 2 euros, took hundred of photos, and ate a nice pasta meal for dinner. venice is a labyrinth of tiny alleyways, large squares, and hundreds upon hundred of bridges. we definitely got lost in its maze more than once. but getting lost when you have nothing to do with your day but explore, and be happy, and smile, is the best kind of getting lost.

saturday we woke up and took the ferry to murano and burano. two different islands. burano is an old fishing island famous for its merletto (lace-making) and its very colorful houses. it was such a happy little island! then we took the vaporetto (waterbus) to burano. we walked onto the vaporetto..and i thought i'd died and gone to heaven. katie and i shared the vaporetto with an entire italian men's soccer team. and by men i mean college age. i could not wipe the smile off my face. my hormones were going crazy. too many good looking people for one boat.

anyway, murano was pretty sweet. we were tempted to just follow the boys to their game but we decided to be cultural and touristy instead. murano is really famous for its glass-making, so we went and saw the glass-blowing museum and took a lot of photos of really crazy glass sculptures and fountains. we then popped our heads into a plethora of shops which were literally dripping with colorful glass objects. it was beautiful when the sunlight came in and cast multi-colored shadows everywhere.

on sunday we visited the modern art museum, which was pretty cool albeit small, and a costume museum, which was even smaller. we walked around some more, took our last photos, and got our last gelatos and ate them by the grand canal. as we were enjoying our gelato, the cutest puppy ever came and looked at us expectantly, begging for a lick or two. i caved. i caved to those puppy dog eyes. i offered the dog my cone when i had had enough....and i was denied. i am never doing anything nice ever again. what a waste of my cone.

and then we left venice, and saw the most perfect sunset during the bus ride to the airport. it was a very fitting end to the trip. and i would definitely love to go and explore the rest of italy sometime in the very near future.

yeah i really can't leave europe for a while. i still have so much left to see. you know what i realized? my time here is already halfway over! what? i am just now feeling settled in. and now i have to leave? what is this business?

i need to figure out summer plans. we find out about the whole RA deal next week.. i think that if i don't get that i might try and figure out a way to stay here over the summer. i don't know. i miss home. i miss new york. i miss my people. but since i'm here, i might as well. who knows when my next opportunity to come over here will be? especially since all my money will be gone after this trip.

i really wish money didn't rule the world.

oy vey.

these next weeks are going to be crazy...midterms and visitors and concerts! but keeping busy is good for me. i always work much better when i have lots of things to do. and in just one month it'll be spring break, and i'll be able to reeeeeelax. and it'll be wonderful. amended spring break plans: barcelona, marrakesh, casablanca, paris, london. i'm coming back for a bit because i feel like if i'm paying for an apartment here i might as well stay here. and there's so many corners of paris i have yet to explore, so many things i haven't been able to do because of time constraints and weather constraints and whatnot. plus i think it'd be crazy if i was gone for two weeks and then came back to go straight to school. i wouldn't have any clean underwear...

paris, je t'aime

it's springtime in paris! i think. three sunny days in a row? blissfully mild temperatures? daffodils and crocuses everywhere? i think so. it makes me so happy. last weekend and this week have been so, so good so far.

the londoners came to visit last weekend, and it was so nice to see paris through their eyes and to play tour guide for a while. my honeymoon with paris was over, and i was actually kind of depressed, but the weekend was so refreshing and so beautiful that my love for paris has been restored. can you believe it? i was taking paris for granted. what was i thinking.

anyway, we did some things that i'd never done before, such as visit the inside of notre dame and the musée rodin, and some things that i have done before, like picnic in the jardins de luxembourg. it was a wonderful time and i'm so glad that they all came.

i got my computer back yesterday. everything's gone. so seriously, everyone should send me a CD or two. not having my music sucks, and also not having a lot of my files sucks. i have to rewrite my resume so i can start applying for internships and jobs this summer! like stat. ideally, summer plans would involve being an RA, having an internship, and taking intro to marketing. aka being in nyc all summer. i could potentially take some classes and pay for summer housing, if i don't get RA, but meh. i'd rather not. but there's no other way to stay in new york, i don't think. i do need to come back to akron though, at some point. mainly to hit up highland square, hike amidst all the nature, reconnect with my buddies (who might not even be there!) and get some swenson's. oh and hang out with my parents because they're my BFFs.

not only do i need to figure out summer plans, i also need to figure out LIFE plans. we register for fall classes soon, and i have no idea what my plan of action is going to be. ack. good thing my computer is back. good, good thing.

today i sent postcards to new york, miami, ohio, california, and washington. it makes me so happy that i have friends everywhere =]

i can't decide if i like living alone or not. on one hand, i don't have to make awkward small talk with people if i don't want to. i can fart whenever i jolly well please. and it's nice to be able to reconnect with myself and figure out my thoughts on life and all sorts of other subjects. on the other hand, i really don't think i can live alone for extended periods of time. i lack motivation to get out of bed, to take out the garbage, and to do my homework. i am afraid of the dark. i need someone to tighten my faucet. i want someone to cook for me. and someone to snuggle with.

also, it turns out that i am super weird. it must be pretty bad if i think so myself. but literally, when i'm alone for long periods of time, i go crazy. i start dancing around with my ipod in my ears, and put on lipstick for the hell of it and make faces in the mirror. i talk to myself. i really, really hope that i don't become a crazy cat lady.

haha now no one is going to want to live with a weirdo like me.

this weekend is VENICE. yes yes yes. so pumped for that.
the rest of march is filled with lovely visitors, and concerts.

i am happy as a clam.

viva la vida

so let me tell you about a little trip i took this past weekend to madrid...

we left thursday night, and arrived just in time to leave our bags at our (very orange) hostel and go right back out again. we ended up going to grab a bite to eat at a café&té, which is a fast food chain, but it was very good. what surprised me was the overpowering smell of smoke...i guess people can still smoke in public places in madrid---one of the few places where they still can! so the smell was kind of nauseating everywhere, actually, but we left and went to a club called...wait for it... joy. it was pretty joyous, i must say. it was a masquerade, so we all got cardboard masks to wear, and we danced the night away...well, til about 4, when we parisians decided we were too tired to continue.

the next morning (friday) joleen and i slept in til 11, took showers (bliss! so sad that i look forward to staying at hostels to take a shower) and discovered that our room had a balcony. we ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant on a "calle" with quotations on the cobblestones (i forget what it's called) and it was de-licious. then, since it was a cloudless, 60 degree day, we took a walk around our area, found the museo del prado and then stumbled upon the retiro, which is like central park and tuileries mixed together. we seriously were exicted to see the sunshine and to be able to take off our jackets; we could not stop giggling for about half an hour. and then we laid in the sun until it was time to meet the others at bilbao for pizza. not very spanish, but whatever.

we then walked to a park to see the temple of debod, or something along those lines, which is on a hill that boasts amazing views of madrid- and of the sunset. so we stayed to watch the sunset and i was seriously the happiest i've been so far here in europe. as the first stars began to come out, we set off to el jardin secreto (apologies for the massacre of the spanish language) which is well-known for its desserts. meh. twas okay. i've had better. but i do love me some cheesecake.

on saturday we did some more touristy things: we saw the royal palace, the plaza de mayor, cibeles, and took pictures of all of the above. i'm convinced that clouds do not exist in madrid: another 65 degree, blue-skied day. we then went to the reina sofia, a museum that houses works by dali, picasso, etc. because it was free, but we really only saw guernica before the guards ushered us out because it was time to close. from what i saw of the rest of the artworks, though, i can't say i really like dali too much. i am a fan; however, of magritte. and of picasso, bien sur.

saturday night was our tapas-hopping night. i forget the verb that gwenna told me, but i guess going from restaurant to restaurant in search of tortilla de patatas is a legitimate activity. so we did as the spaniards do. we then went to this bar that has been made to look like you're in a cave. stalagmites and stalactites and rock walls. this bar is very well known for a drink that sounded pretty weird to me: milk, cinnamon, and four different types of alcohol? what? but it ended up tasting incredibly amazing. i yearn for it. and what made it ten times better was that the milk for this drink came out of one of the stalagmites from the ceiling. yes. you read that correctly.

sunday morning we only had time for a visit to the street market before we had to go back to the hostel and leave for paris. but mark my words, i will return.

there's something about spain that i like so much more than france. probably the sunshine and the warmth had a lot to do with it, not going to lie. and perhaps the sunshine, then, makes the people of madrid more laid back and carefree. viva la vida. whereas the french (well, the parisians, anyway) are very uptight. all i want to do is go outside not dressed like i'm off to a fashion show or a shoot for the latest hipster mag. seriously, people. chill. and quit judging me.

i do what i want.

still no computer. it's ridiculous. but it definitely crashed. so everyone should send me mix CDs so i can start to rebuild my itunes library. hint, hint.

i met my french language exchange partner! her name is imene, she's algerian, 19, and a student of languages at the sorbonne. AKA she speaks arabic, french, spanish, english (she's SO good) and she's learning italian. ridiculous. we talked a lot about the differences between the education systems here in france and in the US. i met her entire family, and we talked in english for an hour and a half and then in french for another hour and a half. this is going to be so good for my french. when i'm forced to speak in class, i speak very slowly. but with imene, and her family, i got into a nice rhythm and was speaking pretty rapidly and animatedly, and i even started adopting some slang towards the end of our conversation. sweet deal.

i think that's all for now. this weekend i'll be exploring paris, hopefully have my computer, and doing my homework for all my classes. oh, and i have to clean. living alone has turned me into a pig. not even kidding. it's probably a good thing that i'll have so many guests because i'll actually keept the apartment clean!

WAIT! wait wait wait.
spring break is (almost) finalized.

barcelona for three days. morocco for ten days. london for four days. all for less than 300 euros. yes. you read that correctly. i can't even begin to describe how excited i am.

i may not ever leave europe.

i think i'll write anyway

so i haven't gotten my computer back yet, which literally made me sob for half an hour today. i called the so-called apple care center and, after sighing after i asked him to please repeat what he said slower, it turns out that i basically won't have my computer back for another week. so here's what happened: two weeks ago, i took my computer there, hoping they could fix it for me. ten days later, they called me. i went there, all excited, but was told, upon arrival, that they had merely found the problem, did i still want them to fix it? um, clearly i want you to fix it. that's why i brought it there in the first place!!!! goodness. so then they said they'd call me on monday. they didn't. so i called them on tuesday (today) and here i am.

i am pretty upset about the way they are treating me, and i am upset about not having my computer and therefore not talking to my friends and family as often or much, but i think the crying session today was a culmination of all the stress that i've been dealing with in my month abroad. oy. it felt good to get it out.

anyway, i'm going to update just because i feel like it, darn it. although it's going to be a workout for the brain because i'm typing in english on a french keyboard, so none of the letters are where they are supposed to be. it's taking me a long time to write this. but i accept the challenge.

i guess i'll start with egyptian princes, as promised. i don't even remember when this was, but a while ago i pretended i was an AUP student and went to the Plaza Madeleine with them: a club that their university had rented out for their biannual fundraiser or something along those lines. honestly one of the most fun times i've had in a really, really long time. i was never really big on clubbing, because the thought of bumping booties with complete strangers gave me the willies. but that night was just so much fun! perhaps because i knew everyone was a college student, i don't know. so anyway, this one girl comes up to me at some point and says "my friend thinks you're really cute. you should go and talk to him; he's an arab prince." intrigued, i went over to talk to this kid, who ended up taking me to his private table in what i guess constituted as the VIP area. we talked for a little bit, and his name is khaled and he's from egypt. and then he asked me to dance. sweet. so i start dancing. and he just stands there with his drink in his hand. okay, i thought, maybe it's a cultural thing. maybe i should take a few steps away from him or something and continue dancing less suggestively. nope. nothing. no reaction. finally, after feeling supremely awkward for dancing in front of this "prince" i gave up and told him i was going back down, maybe i'd see him later.

listen up boys. if you can't dance (and won't even try) i'm not going to give you the time of day. hahah. okay moving on.

so that night was just a barrel of laughs and joy and we ended up staying out until the subway reopened at 5:30 AM. i didn't get home until around 6:15 en la manana. there i was, striding up the streets of my ritzy neighborhood, hair disheveled, makeup all over my face, while some typical passy ladies in their big fur coats and their collagen-infused lips were walking their dogs (and neglecting to pick up the poop. probably my only complaint about paris--other than the terrible mac people, of course--is that there is so much dog poop everywhere). yes. so that was my night.

i have nothing to write about london BECAUSE I DIDN'T GO. apparently last week and weekend was the snowstorm of the century in england, so our flight got cancelled, and i wasn't about to wait til 8 PM for the next flight when i had paid for two days in london, not one. alas, i will just have to go when it's warmer. and this time i will take the train.

instead, i will tell you about my classes. because that's what i'm here for. to go to class. ahem. yes, so i am officially enrolled in: the contemporary art world, business french, francophone literature, and gender&sexuality in france.

the contemporary art world is going to be a good class. i've always liked modern, abstract, and contemporary art. the class is set up so that mondays we're in the classroom, looking at slides, learning about how to talk about art, etc. on wednesdays we go to various museums and galleries around paris to see exhibits and works by contemporary artists, and usually we have a talk-back session with the artist as well. i'm pretty excited for this class despite the amount of written work we're going to have to turn in.

business french is, so far, my easiest class. it's really just learning the vocabulary for different business-related fields and situations. we're going to have two role-plays during the semester, so those will be a pretty big deal. and if we're good enough, the professor is going to let us take the business exam that all french people take should they express the desire to be french businesspeople. that was a horrible sentence. i apologize. but yes. so if i'm good (and i will be good, damnit) i can take the exam and perhaps come back to work in france! in advertising! or marketing! or who knows what.

francophone literature is tough. there are only seven people in the class, including myself, so there's no hiding. but so far what we're doing is really interesting. although the class is called francophone lit, it's really just african lit, so right now we're reading some fables and discussing them. we'll be reading two other african novels, watching some movies, and going to museums. sounds pretty good to me. but this one kid in this class in actually from switzerland and so he's fluent, and the class seems like it's so easy for him--not just in the language aspect but also in the analysis aspect. i feel like he knows so much more than i do. why are foreigners so much smarter than americans?

finally, gender&sexuality is my toughest class. the subject matter is mostly feminism, but we will be doing some queer studies later on. things i don't know much about in english. the reading that we've been doing so far is quite dense, and it's difficult for me to understand what's going on in class because the prof speaks very quickly...the word that comes to mind when i think of her is whippersnapper, and i'm not really sure where that came from. but yes. it's going to be so interesting, but SUCH a challenge. oy vey. so much reading for this class: 200 pages of nelly roussel for next week. woop!

tomorrow night i am going to the ballet (fo free), about which i'm quite excited. i think that will make me feel much better about my life. that or it will make me really miss dancing and feel terrible about my body, which it probably will to some extent, but i'm going for the first emotion haha. it should be good.

this weekend i am going to madrid! hopefully. fingers crossed. i haven't had the best luck here so we'll see what'll happen. probably a hurricane or something. i don't know. knock on wood. but if all goes according to plan, i'll be in madrid, speaking spanish, attracting a latin lover just in time for valentine's day.......

so happy valentine's day everyone.
til next time, x

anti-technology

i have so much to write!
but i am waiting until i get my computer back.

yes. it crashed. the ubiquitous 2-year-mac curse.

things to look forward to in my next update:
-Egyptian princes
-taking the first subway home
-classes starting
-conversation partners
-LDN!
-and all sorts of other witty observations

hopefully i get my baby back soon...