Toujours marcher! Written August 26th

8/26/2010 6:29 PM

Today has been quite a day. We woke up and took the metro à Palais Royal/Musee Louvre. Then walked through some of the enclosed shopping centres and learned their history and lots of interesting things that I can’t quite remember because I wasn’t quite awake. Apparently, il faut que je commence à boire le green tea encore. So that I can be awake enough to listen to and process French. The walk was very interesting. We started à la Comedie Francaise, which I love because it has a history (which I have learned and forgotten L ) with Moliere, including the chair where he “died”. I looked at the schedule and there’s a Moliere show this September, so I need to research how much it would cost.

Apres ca, we went back to our foyers for lunch and a break. I bought a butter and ham sandwich with an éclair café (coffee éclair) pour dessert. C’etait parfait! Puis, I tried to use the WiFi, I got my code and managed to check Facebook v  e  r  y    s  l  o  w  l  y. Then the wifi stopped working because they shut it down every half hour or so because they don’t want people downloading anything. Then when I tried to use it again, it wouldn’t work, then it would barely load, then it wouldn’t work. All this happened very slowly, so I probably won’t be on the internet for a long time. I can either get the Wifi in my room recommended by the foyer, or the Mayor of Paris did this wifi thing around the city and I think I might be able to get it in my room because there a bunch of “Free Wifi” networks that appear in the list of available wifi’s but need a code to use. Another thing to research.

This afternoon, we walked around “Le nouveau quartier bibliotheque Francois Mitterand.” It was really cool because it’s a part of Paris which used to be countryside. Then they built this new sort of shopping district but used all the old buildings. So, there’s a Sephora in a building that use to (I believe) make wine. There are also lots of new buildings, so there’s a lot of modernity mixed with the old style. We also walked around a beautiful park with a rose garden and little ponds with ducks and fish. Jessica pointed out lots of cool places to go, like a boat that has concerts and dance parties on it.

After finishing that walk, we went back to our foyers. Right now I’m currently trying to rest a bit so that I don’t burn myself out. But I’m honestly not as tired as I thought I would be.

It’s getting a little easier to speak French because even when I leave the GPP activities, I speak French. It feels a little weird to write in English now, and I’m trying not to watch movies in English or read books in English during my downtime.

I can’t wait to get internet so that I can share the view from my window. It doesn’t have any grand monuments, but it’s very cute. There’s lots of little chimney stacks like in Mary Poppins.

J’ai faim, so I’m going to go find some diner. Au revoir!

First Day, written august 25th

8/25/2010 9:09 PM

Today, orientation started, and with that we started speaking only French. This was cool, because it made me work on my speaking skills, but I’m sooo tired now that I can barely understand French anymore and that’s my strong point. I really need to go downstairs and figure out the WiFi, but I’m kinda afraid to attempt to speak French with anyone else. So tired.

So, this morning Eliza and I successfully walked to IFE, but once we got there we realized we weren’t really sure where to go. So we just waited until Emily came to the rescue and explained the door system. We met Thomas, Timothy, et Severine. Talked a lot about the program, signed a form saying we would only speak French, and then ate lunch at a Café. Lunch is supposed to last at least an hour here, it definitely did and it was a very bizarre experience for me. There was nothing actually weird about it, I just prefer to eat and run come lunch time. There was a lot of talking and a lot of noise. My salad was huge, but it had some sort of weird meat which tasted really good, and which I’ve eaten before, know what it is, but just can’t remember right now.

After lunch Jessica brought us to get cell phones (which all come with FM radio! Et pas a camera! Tres bizarre) and then on a tour of the area. We walked on this garden above some stores and I believe the metro. It was really pretty and made me look forward to spring when all the flowers start blooming. Later we went to this see the celebration for the liberation of France. I couldn’t understand the guy speaking, but it was pretty cool to see everyone there and all the fanfare involved. After that we bought some crepes next to the Pompidou, which was cool because we got to see a bunch of street performances. We took a trip to MonoPrix for some necessities and realized that lots of things that are cheap in the US are very expensive here, and the other way around. For instance, I got 3 hangers for  4 euros, but a pillow only cost 11 euros.

For dinner I bought a Ham and Butter sandwich with actual hunks of butter on it, soooo good.

Now I have to decide if I’m going to figure out the WiFi, or go to bed. Hmm, sorry Ma, you may have to wait a few more days to find out I’m alive. 😛