Ma Vie à Paris

Oh My Gad!

2008-04-07T18:01:00.001+02:00

So my students always quote this guy. I finally looked up his video on Youtube and fell in love with him and his sketch. He is hilarious! I love it! Watch it and enjoy the humor!

pas de temps...no time...to update that is. ;)

2008-03-19T22:51:00.002+01:00

Shit! I have a test tomorrow and I haven't studied! Instead I'm updating? There is something wrong with that? Eek! Well, on another note, it's official I leave for the US on July 1st, 2008. I just changed my flight and there's no backing out. I don't want to go home; I love it here! I've met such wonderful people and this city is so full of everything! Oh well, all good things must come to an end.

On playlist: Erykah Badu "On & On" & "Tyrone"
I love when she says, "keep in mind that I'm a'artist and I'm sensitive about my shit. So y'all be nice about it" LOL she is too cute!

Today it was hailing, what the dilly yo!?! Not hail. I was getting hit in the face with these little ice pebbles...I was pissed.

Well, ma'asalaam. I gotta kick rocks, and get crackin' on studying for my test yo! LOL JK (on the language, not the studying).

à plus.

Butte aux Cailles

2008-03-19T00:54:00.003+01:00

I had a poker class and that was coo'. I'm not very good, but ça va. I think I'm coming down with a cold so my nose was a bit runny, désolée (sorry). I had some time to kill afterwards and hit up MacDo for some grub (which I can't afford). I got back just in time for St. Pat's...There was a lot of people outside and I found my class. They were all eager to get the party started as was I. Some had Vodka in their backpacks others had kronenberg.
I had one of the worst classes ever! We were supposed to go to a bar and celebrate St. Pat's day, but instead we ended up on the street sippin' Desperado beer/tequilia. The bars were lame and expensive. We opted for 2.50euro cans at the mom & pop shop. We stood there freezing, laughing, talking, and ignoring the cold. I had 12 students. They are all great guys. They like coming to my classes or so they say and I love having them. They are über-nice and funny. One of them said "elle est gentille" (she's nice) and the other said "oui, trop gentille, c'est pour ça qu'il y a trop du monde" (yes, too nice, that's why there's so many people). It was so flattering. Someone told me you should always remember the compliments and forget the insults. Which is why I'm taking that one down. People don't know how little things like that can be so uplifting. When my students pay me compliments it's one of the best feelings in the world.
Anyway we were on the sidewalk drinking and my student bought me a 5.50 euro beer (so nice!) and I got really drunk! Then all of a sudden I hold on to Nayomee and I thought she had me, but next thing I know I'm on the floor. Shit! I just fell over drunk! Oops! No worries, I'm up and ready to hit the metro home. I picked myself up and promised to get wasted with the gals on Friday. Lily, Nick, and I walked to the metro with a student that I trust dearly. He is very sweet and always lookin' out for me. I walked from Boissière to my house, scary! Well, not as scary as I thought and now I'm home. I was greeted by an unpleasant surprise when I opened my email, but it's coo. As long as I press delete, I can make it go away. It can live in my mind but not on my email list. NO!

Playlist before I got home: Andy & Kourus "Ameneh"
Playlist after I got home (and saw email): Bob Sinclair "Together"

March 17th 2005?

2008-03-17T16:39:00.003+01:00

<--Bun in the oven? NO WAY! LOL

Three years ago on this day marks a very important date. It's not just St Patty's Day, for me it's something else. Something I had forgotten about until this morning and realized OMGosh its been three years already! I can't believe it. Well, Happy St. Pat's to me! I wore my green that day, I guess that was the reason for the luck I was into. Some luck, LOL, JK. Lookin' good in my green off-the-shoulder tee and white sneakers. I walked in greeted by hungover peeps. I had no idea what would happen next. I walked out, with no special feeling, just thinking hhhmmm interesting very interesting. Well, that was three years ago in a county I no longer frequent (because I'm in another country at the moment, LOL). I didn't wear green this year, maybe that's a good thing. Days like those should be ever present in your memory, so why did it almost slip my mind? Oh la, ça va pas! LOL La vie est folle...

On my play list:
John Legend, The Killers, P. Diddy, Rick Ross, Lloyd Banks.

The opera yesterday was coo. The director of Devdas, came out at the end and I gave him a standing ovation. The guy is a genious.

I should study I got a test Thursday and loads of other homework. My ami gets here Sunday, I'm so excited! =)

Don't forget to wear your green! Happy St Patrick's Day!

The Way We Were...

2008-03-16T02:32:00.002+01:00

A poem by Pablo Neruda: (I love it!)

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Escribir, por ejemplo: «La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos».

El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.

En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.

Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Pensar que no la tengo. Sentir que la he perdido.

Oír la noche inmensa, más inmensa sin ella.
Y el verso cae al alma como al pasto el rocío.

Qué importa que mi amor no pudiera guardarla.
La noche está estrellada y ella no está conmigo.

Eso es todo. A lo lejos alguien canta. A lo lejos.
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Como para acercarla mi mirada la busca.
Mi corazón la busca, y ella no está conmigo.

La misma noche que hace blanquear los mismos árboles.
Nosotros, los de entonces, ya no somos los mismos.

Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero cuánto la quise.
Mi voz buscaba el viento para tocar su oído.

De otro. Será de otro. Como antes de mis besos.
Su voz, su cuerpo claro. Sus ojos infinitos.

Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero tal vez la quiero.
Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido.

Porque en noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos,
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Aunque éste sea el último dolor que ella me causa,
y éstos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo.

Puta mierda, todavia pienso en el. >|

March update

2008-03-16T01:21:00.009+01:00

In Berlin---->>>

<<--In Prague In London

Pics of everywhere, sauf Amsterdam...no good pics there :(
Time has gone by too fast. I did lots of exciting things in Feb. and for March.
I traveled to:

London:
POS: hott desis, fancy movie theater w/ushers & curtains, clean metro, clean streets, no homeless peeps, very diverse, tasty peanuts, yummy fish & chips, hindi movies in theaters, the Tate Museum is free!, and did I mention HOTT desis.
NEGS: I didn't get a desi :(, a bit rainy, not enough time there...

Berlin:
NEGS: windy, cold, rainy, too modern, dim street lights, I don't speak German...not coo...
POS: currywurst, cute tour guide, leaving...

Prague:
NEGS: ghetto metro, ghetto hostel neighborhood, not diverse, no good food, I don't speak Czech, annoying Italian teenage tourists everywhere!, 5flights of stairs to our hotel apartment...
POS: beautiful city, it snowed!, nice tour guide, Jewish cemetery, CHEAP!, did I mention snow!

Amsterdam:
POS: Beautiful city, so many canals, the architecture is fabulous, the tram is clean!, Coffeeshops, beautiful parks, everyone speaks REALLY good English and is SUPER nice, good pancakes.
NEGS: My soeur got sick, it rained the entire time, hotel room stunk of cigs.

The entire trip was a lot of work. All the sight seeing and running around, hours of walking, and planning. It was exhausting! I'm very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to travel though. I'm very lucky. Merci, mon Dieu! =) Obviously, London was my favorite city. It was harder to understand people with British Accents than I thought it would be. Bring it! My English is better than yours! LOL JK.

Between my travels I filled out my FASFA, had some great classes with my students and somehow I went to my courses. Woo, let's slow it down... c'est trop. I'm taking a traveling break.
My friend is coming to visit; I'm über-excited to have him here! It's going to be fabulous. =) I get to play tour guide again.
I'm going to a ballet today. It's a Bollywood inspired ballet. It's being directed by the same guy that directed Devdas, hence I'm expecting a good show. I'm going solo because it was a bit pricey and I figured peeps wouldn't go for it. Ça me dérange pas! J'y vais!

He's just not that into you... ;)

2008-02-07T23:18:00.000+01:00

The title of this blog entry is the title of a book that was highly recommended to me. One of the author's used to write episodes for my favorite TV series S&TC. It's pretty much a self-help book. I have only read two self-help books in my life. My first was when I was a tween and trying to figure out why my body was looking all funky...LMAO. I'm so glad I'm not a teenager anymore LOL!!! Anyway, the second one was when I was in high school. It was, The 7Habits of Highly Effective Teens, at least that's what I think it was called. I read it for a leadership class.

In this new dating help book, I found one chapter really useful. It helped me with something that I had been holding on to for awhile. I'm still not done with the book, but so far it just states the obvious, which I guess is hard to see when one is going through the situation. He's Just Not That Into Me...ok, next please! =) I remember that line from the Sex & The City episode LOL.
I took the bus from Montparnasse to the upper 17th. That was my first time relying on the bus and not the metro. Somehow, I believed the metro was the only effective mode of transportation in Paris. I'm obviously very wrong. I love the bus, I see the city and it doesn't smell like pee! I went to work tonight and that was cool, but I think I prefer having my EPITECH classes...I'm sensing that I'm going to quit this Spanish tutor thingy...:( Out with the old, in with the new!

Movies to watch:
La Graine et Le Mulet
The Lives of Others
Hindi Movie
La Fabrique des Sentiments

FYI: There is no word for PMS in French! LOL Ma poule, c'est ton PMS encore! LOL They need a word for PMS.

Cocktails it is!

2008-02-07T01:20:00.000+01:00

Off to a hurried start! I show up to my appointment with Rosalie (Resident Director of CSU students in France), we went over my schedule. I wasn't very organized, but we actually accomplished a lot. She gave me my grade for my French Business class. That class was way too early and I was always a minute or two late. I would fall asleep during classes and I would only skim the chapters, but my French in class was acceptable. All of this was confirmed by my professor in his evaluation of me. I got a 13 in the class aka a B but he also said I could have done better if I would have tried harder. Ouch! Hit me where it hurts! I knew I was slacking, but I didn't want him to know that. That means he knew I had it in me and I just let it go to waste...the truth hurts. :(
Arabic class was f'in awesome as always! My professor brought dates (non, merci) and we actually learned some useful vocabulary. Afterwards I headed to work to meet my class. I had scheduled a "Cocktails" class. I stood there in the dark courtyard looking for boys looking for me. LOL Soon a few dark shadows approached me. Yuppie! My class!
A few people were absent and that sucks, but a student I had met Sunday came and that was nice of him. The rest I had never met and we set off to Rue Mouffetard to the Student Bar where all cocktails were only 4,50euro. The waiter was very rude! But we sat around and made the most of it. Of course once the Alcohol hit everyone there was quite a bit of English being spoken. The time went by really quick and everyone was really nice. One guy was just a friend tagging along and he goes to my university...yeah he was hott! LOL Nice guy too!

I think I really like this job! I wouldn't mind being a professor...=) I hope I'm not speaking too soon...:(

My soeur and I studied some Arabic, we are so smitten with the language!

If anyone has suggestions on classes I can create for my Frenchie students please let me know! My creative juices can only go so far...
I need to create three classes:
1.Culture
2.Fun
3.Reading

Thanks!

Lots of SUPER things this last week.

2008-02-05T19:31:00.000+01:00

WATCH...

...AND LEARN!

So...I've been neglecting my blog quite a bit. This I know. I haven't found the time or energy to get around to it, until now...and even now I'm forcing myself to do it. I know it's important to me and that is why I am still here typing...
Last week I wrote about studying for finals. Well that Tuesday final didn't go so well. The professor completely changed the format of the final and I didn't study much in depth as I should have. Tuesday was also my last day at work (for the Cérisy's, family with young children) you wouldn't even know I was leaving LOL. They for once were really sweet that day. Oh the irony!!! The mom was a little mean because I didn't have a replacement for me, but honestly that is not my problem. She can find someone herself! That night my soeur and I went to Dupleix. We were standing around watching middle aged French people dance to Funk and Disco...waiting for the crowd to arrive. We stood there with all of the stares from drunken middle aged French men eyeing us. Ugh gross! We tried desperately to look like we didn't want guys to hit on us, but a brave soul thought we were out to get some and he approached us. He says to us "Are you Arab?" we say "no," and he continues to talk to us in his drunken state. We pay him no attention gets the hint and walks away. We danced the night away to memorable tunes such as "Jealousy," "I Just Want to Call You My Bitch," and "Destination Unknown." The turn out was low because most students were still finishing up their finals. We walked the three blocks back to my house with our heels squeezing our poor little toes and the shock of every step resounding in an ever aching pain!

Wednesday, I had Arabic class and we got a new book! One of those that starts from right to left, hence what I would expect to be the back of the book is really the front, ah too cool! I had a chinese lunch afterwards and the owner kept yelling at her son, it made for a an uncomfortable meal and was a very unprofessional attitude.
note:This has happened to me before. I had my favorite Italian Pizza place. I small mom&pop resto in San Jose. One afternoon, as I sat enjoying my delicious pizza in the company of my once lovely boyfriend. The owner felt the need to argue with his son about his future and not running the family business. They weren't yelling, but obviously it was a heated debate and it was ruining my almost perfect meal. After that I always ordered To-Go! Ugh!
I can't tell you if the food was good I was too uncomfortable to enjoy it, but it was cheap. That afternoon I got home and tried to study and I did somewhat...Well I really studied the first two chapters and then just skimmed through the other four of them...hehehe.

Thursday: I woke up and looked over a chapter. I got dressed and made it just on time to the exam. Everyone had already sat down and the tests were being handed out...too close! I sat and read the first question...holy shit I'm screwed. I had no idea what the first question was saying...ça tourne mal, mèrde ça commence trop mal! I BS'd it in hopes that it had something vague to do with the actual answer. (Later a friend confirmed that I was completely wrong!) The rest was ok, honestly I did what I could. I finished about 30min before the time given. My friend saw me and gave me the "no-way you're done look?" not knowing that I had not "torn-up" the exam. I handed in my test and the very nice prof smiles at me and says "how was it?" I said "it was ok..." She smiled and said goodbye. If she only knew...well she will once she corrects it. I just don't like sitting through a test for another 30min if I know I don't know the answers and am just going to add a bunch of meaningless words that aren't going to make any sense. I would just be wasting my time and her own.
After that I got home and went grocery shopping. I hate grocery shopping! It's such a devoir! I was standing in line at the cashier's and an old man tried to push my basket out of the way to pass through. Well I didn't budge, I'm sick of old French people pushing me around in grocery stores. I don't care if they're old! They can go around like everyone else! Instead the man pushed the guy behind me. The guy gets irritated and says sarcastically to the old man "merci!" and the old man turns around and says "La dame n'a pas bouger!" and the guy says "Elle a raison, vous n'avez même pas dit pardon," and I'm thinking why is this guy defending me? I didn't say anything and ignored the whole thing. It made for a very awkward situation. LOL Old people are just so bitter sometimes!
I got home, made curry chicken and watched Guru. Boring movie. Fake curry sauce.

Saturday: I had an awing experience at La Défense. It was a beautiful morning in Paris and we went to a mall? LOL yes we did. We spent so many hours there and bought absolutely nothing. We ended up going to a Target like store attached to the mall and bought groceries and Malibu for that night's soirée. The soirée was coo. I saw familiar faces. We danced, drank, and chatted up politics.
Thanks Eliana!

Sunday: I was supposed to go to a museum but I fell asleep...then I headed over to the "Carnaval" parade. I watched a Samba band of youngsters playing at Place de la République. It was f'in awesome! I was solo waiting for my soeur and Lily to arrive. When they got their we saw the Incredibles playing samba, it was adorable! We walked with the parade from République to Hotel de Ville. Then we had a merguez hot dog and split to our own places. We needed a break before heading to the Super Bowl soirée.
Marion called and we went out for a drink. It had been so long since I had seen her! It was so great seeing her again. She said my French had gotten a lot better and she was impressed. Ohla! That's a big compliment. Thanks Marion! I lost track of time and it was an hour before I had to be at work and it takes an hour to get to my work! OH SHIT! Hustle! I ran to the metro and made it there with my soeur with no time to spare.
No one had signed up for my class so I was free to go, but I didn't travel all that way for ntohing, so I went. It ended up being at a bar in the neighborhood where I had been, my own! GGRHH!
We got their and the French students weren't talking. Of course not, they were watching the game. Well I finally pinned down a few students and got them to talk to me. I got a Blow Job shot and that was fun! Yes, I ordered a Blow job and got a Blow job . That was my first time getting a Blow job so as you can tell I was very excited about it, hehe. Erin and I felt the need to sing the entire Grease soundtrack to our French students LOL that was too funny and poor guys they were horrified and confused! LOL
While at the bar you meet many interesting people. We met a group of men from Michigan here on Business, an old Italian guy giving us advice on Paris and Europe in general (he also bought us drinks!), and two guys from Denmark who just stopped to get a drink and stumbled onto the SuperBowl game LOL. The night was very rewarding an spent in some of the best company, my soeur, Lily, Erin, and very neato French students.
After the game, around 4am Lily, my soeur, and myself walked up the Champs-Elysées back to my place. It was only an hour til the metro opened so we watched "10 Things I Hate About You" in honor of the late Heath Ledger (tear*). So many memories with that movie...ah...
They went home and I slept fo a few hours.

At 4pm I had my first class. Obama vs. Clinton. and I had a total of 8 students, one of them was just crashing my course. I ran out of words by 5pm and still had an hour to go...shit! Well we filled it in with random stuff and actually went over class time by 15min. It was a good debate class...I named a student Bill he said my name is "Guillaume" I said oh ok so I'll call you William, he said no, I said ok then "Bill" and he said um ok, I said in honor of Hillary and then he said o ok! LOL too cute.

I liked having a class...power!

Today was SUPER TUESDAY! I went out to vote and was greeted by ladies supporting Obama! Obviously he is a favorite here! My word! I took the propaganda and headed for the polls. I cast my vote and was a little sad that I wouldn't be counted with California, but rather as a "Democrat Abroad" oh well no worries. I really hope he wins! I went on his site and I really support him and have HOPE that he will win.
Here is his video:

La mariée était en noir

2008-01-28T21:27:00.000+01:00

The title of this blog is a film by Truffaut. Direct Soir is a free daily newspaper and I read that the film would be on tonight. I'm watching it as I type. I took a French film class and all we watched were Truffauts films. There was always a beautiful powerful women and a weak man, scenes with a woman's legs were always to be found. I'm 30min into the film and this is already proving to be true...
Anyway the film is about a lady who goes around killing men at least that's what it's about so far...

I have a final Thursday which I have not yet studied for but I will...soon. My soeur said that the French don't volunteer information, maybe I shouldn't either. I tried to tell someone how something is and she tried to tell me I was wrong. Well whatever then! I just won't ever again.

I took a final today and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The professor brought candy; he is always so sweet. :) Then I went shopping, yes! Shopping! I know the soldes (aka: sales) started a month ago, but I have been so busy, sick, tired, and stressed, that I haven't had the chance to take advantage of this golden opportuniy. Well today I made the time. I went to Auber and the Champs-Élysées. I always try to go shopping on Monday and Tuesday early afternoons because that is when there is the least amount of people. I found fabulous things at fabulous prices! I have been searching everywhere since November for a wool jacket, a short one, fitted and perfect. I had such an image in my mind that I didn't want to settle for anything other than what I had pictured. I found it! I went to NAFNAF. Saturday, I saw Sara with a cute jacket and I asked her where she had gotten it, she said NAFNAF. I went and searched everywhere, I had almost lost hope when I saw it! It was hanging on a display rack among other ugly coats. It was my size too! The only one in the store! We were made for eachother! Ahhhhh...la vie est belle. I'm too happy.

Then it was off to work, Tom wanting to discuss drugs and Lucas talking about films avoiding all Spanish, of course! Ah...I'm so tired and the film is still going, she is still trying to kill men....aye aye aye...

QUOTE (from the movie): "Ce que disent les Italiens 'Tous les femmes sont des putaines sauf ma mère elle est sainte!'"

Her killing spree continues...

I have a REAL job! YAY for my BLACKLIST!

2008-01-22T20:38:00.000+01:00

Well...it's not really a job it's technically an internship. I am now a SUSI at EPITECH aka an English assistant at an engineering university in Paris. SWEET! Way better than my gigs I have now! Not that I won't miss my kids, but I got to do the best thing for my resumé.
Congratulations to Lily too, who also got hired! =) We both skipped our class in order to get hired. We'll get the notes from someone no worries.
I'm not sure when I start but no hurry.
I picked my classes for next semester I guess we'll see how that goes.
I had a final today and I'm not sure how that went, but I'm hoping for the best. I might go to Dupleix tonight...maybe not I'm tired and I have nothing to wear! LOL
Someone is on my blacklist but I won't tell who. AARRGGHHH!!!! Don't ask me who it is, if you don't know already maybe I don't want to share. I just wanted to vent about it on here.
Tomorrow should be fun I have Arabic and Hindi movie night with my soeur!
My landlady came in my studio without asking, that pisses me off, but oh well what can I do.
I mailed in my CAF and my medical receipts so soon I will have some dough in my pocket.

I feel better about Paris now...I just have to try harder when it comes to French., it's just that sometimes I get so frustrated I want to give up. >|

c'est à toi...

2008-01-20T16:21:00.000+01:00

I named this blog entry "it's your turn," because this weekend I met some people who are just starting this crazy experience.

Friday: I stayed up until 3am finishing my school work. I went to my last day of Marketing class. Then I met up with Jose Luis (a Spanish exchange student) to work on our oral presentation. He said my French was really good, I was very flattered! Whenever we spoke Spanish he would start to laugh. I finally asked him what was so funny he said "it's your Mexican accent when you speak Spanish," I thought to myself "whatever buddy." He was a nice guy and the presentation went well. A group presented on the French government funding films and we presented on the troubles of the banlieues (suburbs). At the end of class we had our oral final. I did ok sauf (except) for the nasales words ending in: -an, -en, and -on. No worries. When we finished I told the professor how much I loved Phonetics. She asked me how long have I been studying French and I said since I was 14yrs old. She asked me how it was that I spoke Spanish. I told her I was Mexican and my parents raised us bilingual. She said that helps when you have two identities. I guess it facilitates your adaptation and makes it easier for you to leave one identity and go to another. She said there are two kinds of people that learn languages one because they want it on their resumé and the other because they really want to integrate into society. Those who want to integrate will be much more willing to adopt the accent. I don't know if I believe this theory but it's some food for thought.
Well she again was very encouraging. I told her about my experience at La Comédie Française, and she wasn't surprised she said that even for the French those plays are hard to follow. Great it seems everyone knew how awful it was except for us.

Immediately after, I rushed to EPITECH a technical school for computer nerds. Lily and I arrived just on time. We were greeted by Ana (an English Tutor), she told us the nitty gritty the horrors of the job and what to expect. Basically a few rules : never be late, never speak French, no giving out your number or email to students. Then Emery comes in and uses 5things to describe himself: manic depressive, bipolar, alcoholic, grumpy, and alcoholic. Hmmmm oh and he won't hire guys. Perfect! :/

We all walk out of the meeting wondering whether or not we really want to do this. There were lots of new bees at the meeting. They looked so happy to be in France, but we quickly shot down their dreams of a wonderland. Of course maybe for them it will be different no major holidays to spend alone and no 4 degree Celsius weather to bear weeks without end...

Lily and I bought some booze and wandered to streets for a while then we called it a night.

Saturday:
My landlady invited me to have lunch with her. I went up and entered a fabulous apartment. It occupied the entire floor and had head to toe windows overlooking the street and the garden. It wasn't an old school place. It had lots of clean lines and bright primary colors. She made a full 3 course meal. We had grapefruit full of shrimp oil and chunks of grapefruit, as an appetizer. Then veal with cloves and carrots. We finished with dessert which was an apricot tart. She is quite a talker. Her daughter is living in Switzerland and hardly ever visits. this makes her sad and she is a heavy smoker. She was born in 1926. Her husband goes hunting every weekend in their country home and so she spends weekends alone. She had an aupair from Mexico many years ago when her daughter was young (now her daughter is 36) and still writes to this lady from time to time. She was prying into my life as well. Questioning me about why my parents immigrated, how I learned Spanish and if my parents English is any good. That kind of ticked me off. I had to cut our lunch short because I had to go meet my soeur and Lily.

The girls and I went to Gare du Nord and we tried the Indo-Mexi resto, it had nothing to do with Mexican food. Lily had never had Indain food but she liked it. They had chicken curry with nann and I had veggie samosas (they weren't very good) I was expecting something a lil' more spicy. We walked down the street and I gawked at the DVDs and elaborate Sari displays in the windows. Lily and I both want to get henna done before we leave.

We went back to my quartier and explored Sephora. Then we found a cheapy (by Paris standards) hair cutting place. So Liz and I got our hair cut for 22euro. It was alright but I think she cut off too much hair!

It was a good night. :)
Happy belated birthday to Allan and Topher may all your wishes come true!

Libres Sont Les Papillons

2008-01-18T00:54:00.000+01:00

I shouldn't even be on here, I have a presentation tomorrow and I haven't even done my outline for it! Second of all I have an oral exam tomorrow which I didn't study for either! Oh well...i'll wing it :) So why am I on here? Well I had a GOOD day!

I cleaned out my fridge (stuff was moldy in there...), I went to get my boots fixed, and I bought some much groceries. I haven't seen my French TV in awhile so I decided to turn it on and check out the new French music. I was so wrong, they were playing the same clips (music videos, called clips here) and the same English songs. So, I turned it off.

Then I went to class for the first time in three weeks. I saw Imane (Ihaven't seen her in a long time) a Spanish exchange student that is half Moroccan (she helps me with my Arabic). It was a good class, I sat next to Marion and we chatted throughout the lecture.

I got home and had some Sangria and a chocolate sandwich. I also quit my job, the one where I teach the little ones to speak English. They are just too much for me to handle and I rather work at EPITECH. A lady I babysat for about two months ago called me so that I could babysit again, so weird I thought she didn't like me. Oh well, cool, I'll do it a lil extra euros never hurt anyone! Then I went to work. Lucas made a lasagna it was delicious. We talked about Colombia's drug war. We chatted about his girlfriends in Spanish and I taught him some vocab. Tom wasn't around, he went to Jujitsu class.

Then I rushed to the play. My soeur has wanted to see it for awhile. Artur was supposed to come but the damn ticket website wouldn't let me reserve one ticket, jerks! Anyway, so I had ten minutes to spare when I finally reached the theater. The play is called, LIBRES SONT LES PAPILLONS. It was awesome! It's about I blind guy who has a girlfriend. After the Comédie Française disaster I was not expecting to understand this play, but I did, I understood the whole thing! I feel there is still hope for me! LOL I really felt for the characters in the play, by the end of it I was so full of emotion! The CD was for sale and my soeur bought it (I'll burn it later, hehehe), the actress had a really good voice! I HIGHLY recommend the play. It's playing at Théatre Coté Cour. Métro: Parmentier. Tickets are 10euro (reserve by two) at billetreduc.fr

After the play we hit up MacDo. I had a KitKat McFlurry, yummmmy! We sat and were chatting in our own little corner. We, of course were speaking in English. I was settled and talking away to my soeur when a mec (French guy) comes and taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and I see a guy, average height, long curly hair, in khakis, carrying a duffel bag. He says to me "I-I-I...just wanted to say I really enjoyed hearing you speak American." I was completely caught off guard. I smile and say to him "thanks," and he runs out of the resto (what was I supposed to say? LOL). LMAO What was that? Whenever I speak English I was always get these disapproving stares and here was a mec telling me he enjoyed hearing us speak American LMAO! I guess you just never know.

Ok, I better start my outline...

This blog is dedicated to my brother.
I forgot to thank him in my previous blog. He really helped me get through my one week depression. He would stay up and Skype with me until I fell asleep. He is awesome; I love him so much! Thanks Brother!

life after Jan 4th...

2008-01-14T22:26:00.000+01:00

Well my life has been pretty boring this New Year. I was sick with Bronchitis and the stomach flu from the 3rd through the 11th. During that time I locked myself in my room (I know, not healthy) and did nothing but Skype with the fam, watch Weeds, Gossip Girl, bollywood movies...I couldn't eat my stomach didn't want anything and I just kept hacking all this phlegm , it was disgusting but my bronchial tubes forced it out of me. I tried to be positive but it wasn't happening. I missed the first week of school and work.

On Monday the 7th I decided to go see a Doc. I called Nancy at MICEFA to get in touch with a Doc that spoke some English. She referred me to Dr. Wilson. I called and said I needed an appointment pronto, like today! He said "ouf! ok come at 16h45" he took my name and hung up. JERK! I'm fucking dying asshole! (I felt awful.) I don't know how I managed to get out of bed that day take a shower and stand the reeking smell of the metro, as well as the body odor, and coughs of all the stinky French people around me. I was stick to my stomach and by the time I got off I wanted to puke, instead I hacked another glob of phlegm. I walked for about 3 blocks and finally arrived 5 min early. He opened the door while I was still in the hall and said "come in" it was a messy office. He had a thick English accent and he himself had a cough (not as bad as mine). We went through the Q&A and he listened to my chest and said "looks like you got the two bugs that are going around" no shit fucker! Give me the meds! At this point I wanted to pass out! He said I'll give you a few days rest (I thought to myself oh hells no! I'm dying here, you better give me at least a week.) I demanded the week off and he consented. He made me pay 40euro (roughly $60) and buy 4 different meds including an antibiotic. I was out of there within 15min. What a diagnosis! (not!) I walked to the nearest pharmacy, where the pharmacist seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. I wanted to bust a cap in his ass for not moving faster! I spent almost 20euro on meds.

I got home in one piece. I crashed on my couch and popped the pills. I felt worse with all the meds in my empty stomach, but I couldn't stomach anything other than Orangina. I sipped through the corner of my mouth hoping I wouldn't puke out all the meds that would supposedly make me healthy again. My soeur came over and brought me edibles. The next day I still felt sick, Wednesday I still felt sick. Luckily, my soeur came by everyday that week to keep me company. This was the most grim week of my life here in Paris. I felt awful. I just wanted to go home. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to be home with my family, where people speak English, where I don't need a metro, where I have TLC, where my friends are...Get me out of here! I wanted out. But my soeur reasoned with me and my immune system kicked up and I was once again ready to face the fact that I was living in Paris.

Reincarnation:
Thursday things started to feel alive again, and by evening I felt ready to face the world. I went out to see Marion and catch up on gossip and her vacation. Then I was going to see play with my soeur but we couldn't get in. I was getting my life back...

Friday.
I returned to school. I really didn't want to face my professor, I had missed the past 2wks of the class. But I went and it was fine. I got my Marketing midterm back and surprisingly did really well, I got a B! Things were looking up! I had lunch with Loreto and told her about my travels through Spain. Then I headed to Phonetics, my professor had so much energy that I quickly regained my interest in French. She went around the room asking what we had learned in class and how had it helped us? She looks at me with her Bette Midler smirk and says "et toi Romina, en quoi est-ce que ce cours t'as aidé?" I was so down and out about my French that I didn't know what to say. How do you say "I hate French, I want to get out of here!" But before I could get a word out she said, "tu n'as pas eu vraiement un problème avec la phonétique," I didn't know what to say, I was so happy that she had said that, I shrieked "really?" The class burst into laughter. My confidence was renewed and I had again found encouragement in this roller coaster of experience.

Saturday.
My soeur and I somehow thought that going to a play was a fabulous idea. Derek, my soeur, and myself found ourselves at the Comédie Française (a theatre in Paris), buying the left over tickets to Le Mariage de Figaro. Tix were 5euro each. The theatre was beautiful. I expected to be able to understand the entire play...We sat through 3hours of jibberish. The audience cheered and laughed while we looked on baffled by the dialogue and the lack of set design. We were completely bored and confused. What a waste. Then we went to Gare du Nord to get some Indian grub. Our waiter was cute but slow. We were in a quartier bursting with color, I was surrounded by Sari shops, markets, bollywood posters, Indian pastry shops, and plenty of Indian and Pakistani restos. I was in heaven! We even spoted an Indo-Mexi resto, that's right it was a resto specializing in Indian-Mexican food! So cool! After dinner my soeur and I found a bollywood DVD shop 4dvds for 10euro! Oh for sure! I bought the latest Bollywood films.

Sunday.
I went back to Gare du Nord, alone. Not the best neighborhood to be in solo. So I put on my don't mess with me face and walked in the shadow of a thick Indian lady carrying her groceries. hehehe. I walked into an Indian Beauty salon to get my eyebrows THREADED (threading is the best!) I walked into a gold and purple room, it had two salon chairs. The room was a little small and 5 ladies were sitting around gossiping. I braved the xenophobia and said to the lady behind the counter "do you do threading?" She said yes. She sat me down and tore a piece of thread off with her teeth. I held my skin, without giving her directions, I knew she knew how to fix my bushy brows. She whisked away while still chatting away in Hindi. She did my upper lip too and that was a lil painful but no biggie. I walked away with perfect arches and no waxy residue! I was so happy! YES!!!!! and all for 12euro! I'LL BE BACK!!!!! :)
That night I went to mass. The sermon was about Jesus' baptism. For some reason I wasn't really feeling the priest. Afterwards, we had our Youth group. We had a gift exchange. We were all assigned a character from the Nativity scene and had to give a gift to someone from the Nativity scene. I was baby Jesus and had to give a gift to the cow. What does baby Jesus give a cow? Well I gave him a jar shaped like a cow stuffed with chocolates. Sister Pilar was the cow and she loved the gift! Awesome! Score! The crib gave me a vanilla scented candle. ummm cool. We're meeting next week to talk about, Immigration week, the theme is "Jeune de tout pays, quels sont tes trèsors?" so we have to think about our "treasure" that we have to offer the world. Well we exchanged gifts and had a Gallette des Rois, it was yummy. I really like Sister Pilar, she always makes me feel so welcome! :)

Monday.
Looking fab with my new brows I went to class and watched the worst movie ever. I went to work and ate lamb and potatoes with the boys. We read about Colombia's problems with coke and went over vocab.

je suis malade...

2008-01-04T11:53:00.000+01:00

My sister left behind her germs and got me sick. I called my soeur to pick up her present from our friend Hondo and to have some company (to fill the void I felt after my fam left). She came over and put up with my illness. We watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a bollywood film. She slept over and I wouldn't let her sleep because I kept waking up in the middle of the night coughing. So sorry! She came back later the next day and nourished me with pasta and salad, brining tea bags and some Emergen-C, along with some magic meds! We ate, chatted, and watched the Karate Kid! I love that movie, Mr. Miyagi is awesome! She parted to let me rest and then I skyped with the fam until they made me go to sleep.

Today, I have awoken and feel 80% better, I'm still a little weak, a tad lonely, and without an appetite. I'm ready to face the world again!

I don't care about my marketing class! and I can't wait to be back in California, where the Mexicans roam, and the aztecs play, and tortillas are cheap!! I always thought I wanted to live abroad and now I don't want to! This experience was great but it just served to help me realize how much I love and miss home! Maybe it's just my illness talking but there's no place like Cali! But it's like Lily said in her blog, the life I had planned for myself, I now realize it's not for me, I don't want it anymore!

Depressed...

2008-01-02T14:47:00.000+01:00

My mom and sis came and went. They were here and we spent a fabulous 3weeks together. I adore them. It was weird seeing them after so long, but within a few minutes we were ourselves.

They came and turned my Parisian life upside down. It was a whirlwind...I didn't want it to end. I felt at ease. All things must come to an end. They left today, leaving things behind that just serve as a reminder that they were here with me. When I was on the escalator on the way to the metro, I looked behind me thinking they would be there asking me what line we were taking next...I miss them. I cried at the airport and eventhough the sun is shining in Paris today. There is no place I'd rather be than in their arms in California... :(

Sunday

2007-12-09T18:35:00.000+01:00

I slept in until 13h00. I didn't get to bed until 7am this morning. I awoke to Eliana's call. She apologized for my wallet being stolen. No worries, it's all replaceable. Then I made some pasta. I studied. and now I'm blogging and I have a partiel tomorrow. I feel like crap. I just need some rest. I really don't care about this partiel tomorrow anymore. I'm sooo tired. My mom and sis get here on Friday woohoo! Wait til she here's about my wallet she'll freak out! Marion offered to lend me some money, that was sweet. She's a really good friend, I'm so lucky to have met her! I missed mass today and they had a bilingual mass today for Marie Immaculée, to cute. I didn't go because: I should be studying, I'm tired, I have a headache, and it's raining cats and dogs!

This week: three midterms, project due, grève on Thursday, family arrives on Friday...aye aye aye! I don't know how I'm going to do this...The Week From HELL!

Dec. 8th Samedi

2007-12-09T18:04:00.001+01:00

I spent my afternoon in the 17th bossing chez Marion and Myriam joined us. We hit the books hard and had some intervals of gossip and snacking. Marion invited me to play pool but I had promised my friend Eliana long ago that I would go to her autumn party. So at around 22h45 I was in the 3d arrond. punching in her code to get into the bldg. when in the shadow of the courtyard I see two familiar figures...It's Topher and Alain! yay! This was going to be a good night I could feel it! and not just because my horoscope said so LOL! jk!
We finally got in. I got to meet Sally an English fille who teaches here in Paris. Two of my classmates were there as well, we had never talked before so it was nice getting to know them. Erin is from Louisana and is a fabulous belly dancer! Sebastian is from Waterloo, and is fluent in German. We had such a good time (that was an understatement)! Alain is a fabulous dancer. He picked me up and twirled me around the room, too bad I was a terrible follower considering I was bourréd! Tophed was mesmerized by Phillip (a friend of Eliana's working in animation here), he knows magic and had us all in a trance over his card tricks. (see above picture)
mini story: How Eliana and Phillip met. Eliana was walking in the wee hours of the night and a man started following her, she grabbed the closest guy around and asked him for help, she asked him to walk with her. This man was Phillip, he didn't understand French, Eliana said "english?" he said yes. She was saved and a friendship was born! How neat right!?
Well we danced the night away while Alain kept snapping incriminating photos of us LOL it was so funny. Around 3am I checked the "coat room" my tote was on the floor and my stuff was everywhere, my wallet however was gone. I spent the next hour looking for it (it killed my buzz!) and then the following hour coming to terms with the fact that it had stolen. Phillip let me borrow 20euros to get home. I was chez moi by 6am and called to cancel my credit cards.

Gone: american credit cards, 20euros, my carte bleu (debit card), my hostel card, my ISIC, my Franch student ID card, my California Driver's license, my $200 Coach wallet, and photos of family and friends.

oh well, no use in crying over spilled milk...*tear*

Dec. 7th Friday

2007-12-09T17:50:00.000+01:00

After much consideration, I decided to watch Ratatouille. The movie was a lot more than I expected; it had humor, amour, and character. I really liked it and definitely recommend it. I had lunch at my school's CROUS resto. Loreto and I stood in a hideously long line to eat mediocre food. I had veggies, frites, fish, and some sort of mystery salad. For only 3 euros, what a deal! As we ate, we talked about, traveling, school, and our ambitious dream to do volunteer work in 3rd world countries...we'll see.
I headed to my Phonetics class. Paul (who's from Trin&Tobago) and Pio (who's from Spain) gave a presentation on France's immigration reforms. It's an awful law...that's all I have to say about that. The presentation launched a debate as to whether or not to limit, restrict, or forcefully remove all illegal immigrants! MY ASS!! I'm sorry it just makes me so mad to listen to all of these European students bash immigrants. Poor Paul wants to stay in France and can't because of immigration issues, and I know a few people here and the only way they can stay is by maintaining their student status. I hate it...I'm an immigrant and it's just not fair to treat hard working people like this, people who are contributing to your country, our country! It makes me upset! A french politician was quoted saying "La France ne peut pas soutenir la misère du monde!" food for thought... *injuste*

Dec. 6th jeudi

2007-12-09T17:31:00.000+01:00

I actually went to bed at a decent hour last night and was able to get up on time in order to go to the BU (bibliothèque Universitaire) and study with Marion for our Marketing midterm on Monday. We studied and then I went home and came back for our Marketing lecture. The professor told us we needed to know the terminology of the course in order to do well on the partiel. So Marion and I grabbed some caffeine and headed back to the BU to bosse (work). I was going to crack at about 18h30 so I decided to leave. I went home and studied a bit more. For some reason I thought I had to be at work at 20h00 and not 19h30. Needless to say while I was on the metro I realized I was arriving 20min late to work! mèrde! I was so ashamed! I was sooo late! GGRRRHHH! Where is my tête these days!?!
Tom was home alone too! Luckily he had already started dinner. We started eating and then Lucas showed up. They were about to start arguing again in one of their brotherly rants. (it happens every time) and I just about had it with that so I cut in and said "stop! not again! You guys do this everytime, I can't stand it!" They were surprised I said anything and quickly apologized and stopped. Great, I won't have to deal with that anymore!
Tom was very tired and went to bed early. Lucas and I practiced on his oral Spanish and then we called it a night.
I got home and talked to my folks. Boy, do they miss me! I love them so much...I can't imagine my life without them...my mom and sister get here next Friday, woohoo! We're still trying to find a logement in Barcelona, crap! Time is running out!

Dec. 5th Wednesday, Mercredi, Miercoles

2007-12-09T17:07:00.000+01:00

Yay! Arabic class! I did my Arabic homework and hour before class. I arrived 5min late as usual. We reviewed a little bit and learned some new stuff. I went up the board and said a few phrases in Arabic, it was awesome! I didn't stutter and my pronunciation was so much better! The professor clapped and said "bravo!" I was so happy. He brought cookies for the entire class, they had a date filling, and tasted like fig newtons, blah! They were good, but they made my throat really dry and there wasn't any water. The class was being obnoxious and talking over the professor while he was teaching, that's so annoying! I'm trying to learn here! I have a crush on someone in my class! AH! He is such a BG (beau gosse), but sssshhh don't tell anyone. I won't name names either hehehe.

Romina fait dodo...

2007-12-05T01:08:00.000+01:00

faire dodo: go night night...
I stayed up 'til 2am last night, ouch don't ask what i was doing, it wasn't anything worthwhile lol. I was doing my devoir and surfing the net. Anyway i had class this morning at 8h30 and as you can imagine I was 5min late. I was falling asleep throughout the entire class. My eyes kept trying to close and my vision blurred from exhaustion. The prof asked me a few questions and I couldn't answer like a con because I was half asleep. GGrrrhhh! I need to get in gear! After class i went straight home and dealt with the overtly complicated deposit system at the bank. I passed by a Starbucks and there was an employee outseid giving free samples with whipped cream, (it reminded me of the States) but I knew if I had some it would take away my immense need for a sièste so I decided to go home and sleep...Romina fait dodo...
I got home and set my alarm to wake me up in an hour. I was to sleepy to realize that my phone was on 24h time and I wanted to wake up at 2pm setting my alarm at 2h00 and not at 14h00 like a con! I had to be at work at 16h30 and I woke up at 16h00! Putain mèrde! I got up in a mad rush and bolted to the metro! Luckily, the RER is very efficient (when there isn't a grève) then I ran to the school with 2min to spare! I made it!

I was supposed to go to Dupleix, but amie was too fatiguéd. Instead we went to the quartier Juif and had us some Israeli grub. I had a Falafel assiette and Israelien jus. The neighborhood was trop mignon! Then we were supposed to go bowling and arrived to the "Américain Billiards" only to find out that it was closed to the public for a private event. So we decided to go have a drink. We went to a bar called "Toi" it was über-chic! It's off of the Champs-Élysées. I had a "red apple" it was a mix of vodka and other fruity goodies. We talked about our sisters, friends, religions, and our sisters! We're both really close to our sisters and it was great having someone to talk to about it.

On our way home, we saw a guy in a banged up car trying to look very cool. He had the seat back, and his chin raised, music blasting, and windows down. He was a small man lol. Marion says to me "he's such a banlieuesard! Trying to look so cool!" I said, "how do you know?" She pointed to his license plate and affirmative the mec was from département 93, lol, too funny. We mocked the banlieue accent and said things "eh mmef , je te kiffe!"HAHAHA trop drôle!

Anywho now I'm home wide awake. I didn't go clubbing, and I'm a little buzzed. I'm too comfy now to go out...dodo...z...z...z...
Tomorrow Arabic class, woohoo!

Countdown: 9 more days 'til my sis and mom arrive! ah j'ait hâte de les voir!

Primer domingo de Adviento

2007-12-02T22:18:00.000+01:00

Today was the first Sunday of the month and the first Sunday of Advent. I woke up and the wind was howling and there was a pounding rain. I went to the Champs Élysées and bought a phone from FNAC. The walk back to the metro station was a challenge. My umbrella was no match for the wind. It was being turned upside, and the fabric was tearing...time for a new umbrella. I wore my faux leather boots and when I got home my toes were soaked!
At 15h00, I had a rd (rendez-vous) with the nuns. Our youth group got together and watched "Pay It Forward," it was a beautiful movie! Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, etc...a great cast. Then Sister Pilar asked me to read the Second Reading during mass. I have never done a reading in front of the entire congregation...not even in my own church back home. But I was über-excited and honored that she had asked me. So I went up the priest (very nice man) and asked him for the reading. He said, "here you go, read it over, and when you go up to read remember to read slowly." I sat at the pew tout seule and read, read, read...then I read it aloud to Sister Pilar and she helped through some of the pronunciation. She said I was ready! She was very encouraging!
I sat close to the altar and there was no one in my section! When the lady finished the Salmo Responsorial, I got up walked to the altar, bowed, and stepped onto the podium. I can't remember if I was reading too fast, or too low. I just remember crossing my hands, and having the words just flow out of my mouth. Not once did I look up, well only when I said "Palabra de Dios." I walked back to my seat and trembled...it was awesome!
After mass, our youth group met up, we talked about the movie, friendship, and family. We ate "merienda." We didn't finish until 21h30. ouch! We made plans for January to visit Versailles, eat la Gallette du Roi, and have a Christmas exchange. Nice company...:)

Just Another Manic Monday...

2007-11-26T22:32:00.000+01:00

You know, like the song "Manic Monday," by The Bangles (I think). Mondays are always crazy. I I went to my class today without doing my homework and I felt awful. The professor just stared at us desperately hoping that someone had an answer to all of his questions. Désolée. He's such a sweet man, he deserves good students...pas moi obviously. I had lunch at Quick, and I know, I know I shouldn't eat le fast food, but I just couldn't help myself. I had a coke too! ah!
Then I picked up my enfants at their school. I honestly want to quit. I can't stand the boy. He is very intelligent, but he is such a pain in my derrière, I won't miss him! Désolée, again. We read an English book together and it was quite a success. He loves being challenged.
Then I went to the 17th and had dinner with my other students. Lucas and I ate pizza and salad. New dressing recipe: mustard, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Yummy! I told him about my Thanksgiving weekend and he was very amused. Then Lucas asked me for women advice, he said he really values my advice and opinion, LOL, yeah right! We didn't really speak Spanish.
I just got home and turned on the News. I watch EuroNews and BBC World news. Now, I remember why I don't like watching the news, it's too depressing! Bush and Putin are in the news a lot. Bush is in the spotlight because of the Annapolis thingy, you know negotiations for Israel and Palestine (I doubt that a negotiation will ever be reached).

In today's news: Romina decides to give her notice chez the Cérisy's. Bush is putting up a front. Romina didn't do her homework. And two youngsters were killed by police in the Parisien banlieue. That's all for tonight. Thank you for tuning in and bonne soirée. :) For more on Today's news please log on to Romina's Facebook or MySpace.

Le dimanche...25 Nov.

2007-11-26T00:10:00.000+01:00

No hangover, yay! Lucia and I woke up at 12h00. We had lunch at MacDo. I showed her around my quartier. Then I met up with Lou (my friend the nounou). We had dinner at Bastille. It was nice. She was impressed with all the mauvais français I had learned.
Some examples:
1.Beau gosse, B.G. (pronounced BJ)
2.J'ai hâte
3.putain mèrde
4.les nanas
5. instead of saying très you replace it by trop (ex: c'est trop mignon!)
There are others but I'm too tired and worn out to list them. Our waiter was sssooooo hott! She swears he was un arabe because of his tête (rien à voir!)LOL. We left at about 23h00. Oh I'm soo full and so tired! I never see her anymore because she got fired from her nounou job! So unfair! She's trop gentille!

Le samedi...24 Nov.

2007-11-25T23:58:00.001+01:00

Samedi: Big Jour. Tonight was Marion's big bash. First I went to H&M and returned a few bad buys...and exchanged them for a jolie jupe and some basics. I'm all about basics! It's all about solid warm colors. Then I got my boots fixed. I wore the heel down so much that I was walking on the nail of the boot! It sounded like I was walking around in tap shoes!
I went to Marion's house and we worked on our marketing project with Myriam and Chloé. We're doing a 20pg paper on Men's Lingerie! I know the imagery is very graphic. After we bossed (worked) and hurried home to get ready for the fête.
I arrived with Lucia and we were greeted by a very buzzed Marion, who made us take a shot of tequila with her upon entering. Her parents had gone to the country for the weekend and we had the apartment to ourselves! The living room and dining room were decorated with bougies and red lighting. Lots of ambiance. Marion was definitely the life of the party! There was plenty to drink. I table was crowded with whisky, malibu, champagne, snacks, and more... Loreto came, and we bumped the reggeaton, but occasionally a Frenchie would come over and switch it over to House music! no! STP! oh well it's ok. We danced, drank, chatted, played Never Have You Ever (very lycée but Marion insisted)! Somehow a whip was found and all you could hear was the crack of the whip on people's butts as they shouted "putain mèrde arrete!" LOL hahaha trop rigolo! Later we were joined by Steven and his roomies, and Sarah G. It was mos def a soirée to remember. At about 4h00 the party started winding down and we took a cab to my place. Joyeux anniversaire Marion!

Le vendredi...23 Nov.

2007-11-25T23:37:00.000+01:00

Vendredi:
J'ai pas fait grand chose. I was supposed to go to school, but I was so tired from Thanksgiving that I slept, slept, and slept. Then I woke up and watched Fred Claus. I waited for my mom to get home from Black Friday shopping in order to work out the details of our x-mas vacation. She is coming to visit me along with my sister. Trop mignon, I can't wait! J'ai hâte de la voir! We decided to go to Barcelona and Rome. They get here on Dec.14th I'm über excited to see them! Bon, je fait dodo à 1h du matin...z..z..z...Joyeux anniversaire momsies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T02:02:00.000+01:00

Today, was such a long day! Not! Well actually it was just a long night.

I promised myself I would go to class today. Again I slept in. I slept until about 11h. I decided I would try my luck at Havre-Caumartin and do some damage to my wallet by going to H&M. I hopped on line 2 and line 3 and voilà! I tried to shop at Printemps but as I was going up each floor on the escalator I was looking at Designer names and exorbitant prices. I quickly realized this store wasn't for me! So then, I tried my luck at H&M. Surprisingly, it wasn't that crowded (it always is!) and the inventory looked really good! I descended into shopping heaven and quickly forgot that I had class in 30min. The idea was just to pick up a few things (essential basics like: a hat, hair ties, and tights), but it soon turned into a lot more than that. I waited in the horrendous line for a dressing room. I was out the door about 2hrs later with a hole in my Carte de Crédit.

Picture of Thanksgiving at Steven's house! so fun!

On the metro ride home a beggar asked me for money, I refused, she kepting insisting with desperation in her eyes. I couldn't look up at her. Inside me I was thinking, you just went shopping, you have change in your purse, she looks desperate, it's Thanksgiving! But I couldn't get the money out of my wallet and the metro was breaking to stop at the next station. This all happened in a matter of seconds. I felt horrid; the lady got off. After she left I kept beating myself up for not giving her money, how could I be so mean! I"m so sorry! I feel awful! I just keep seeing her face yelling at me "une petite pièce pour améliorer la situation..."
I got home and went to Leader Price a really cheap grocery store. It was super cheap. They don't have plastic bags so you either have to buy one or bring your own. I didn't know this until I got there. There were about 5 people in line to pay with full shopping carts. I left my 3 items and went to Casino where they have plastic bags and more than one cashier.
I got ready for work and made my Thanksgiving salad. I got on the metro and it was so packed! I ran to get in just as the buzzer was signaling the departure. But it was so full that I could barely get on, a man had to hold my purse and bag from preventing the metro doors from closing. It was insane! We got to Étoile and there was a world of people trying to get on, but it was impossible to fit anyone else in there. One women was trying to get out and shouted, "Pardon, je vais sortir, mèrde laisse moi sortir!" No one would move to let her out and she almost missed the stop. Hilarious! Until it happens to you!
I got to work. I made crèpes and veggies for dinner. The boys started arguing again. They do this everytime. They argue over the dumbest things. When they're done arguing in English they start arguing in French, until I groan a bit and then they calm down. It's so annoying! I told them about Thanksgiving and they wrote it off as a stupid American Holiday. They bash America all the time.
I walked to Steven's house after work. We were having a lovely Thanksgiving celebration. There was stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, apple pies, wine (a lot of it), turkey, roasted chicken, deviled eggs, plenty of baguettes, cranberry sauce, corn bread, and cookies. I invited Marion and Edwige, they loved the food. Success! We gave thanks before eating and that was awesome. There was singing, dancing, grubbing, drinking, and mingling going on. It was a happening place!
Afterwards, Marion and I went to the Erasmus Bar, at Montparnasse in Le Financier. It was awful everyone was drunk and smelly. We headed straight for the bathroom. Unfortunately the femmes bathroom had been invaded by a male film crew interviewing Erasmus students. When I got out of the stall I had a french guy with a camera and mic in my face wanting to know where I was from. Jerk! Get out of the bathroom! There was plenty of Erasmus students and local gents trying to score with them. We stayed a demi heure and then decided to leave. Piece of mèrde, it was! Ok it's 2h34 and I have class at 10h. This is an awful habit. I must sleep.
For the record: the past two nights I have tried to go to sleep by 23h30 and it hasn't worked. I just toss and turn til about 2am...

Determined. Nov. 21

2007-11-22T00:06:00.000+01:00

(picture:MICEFA's Prethanksgiving soirée Nayomee and I)

I am determined to keep up this blog.

aujourd'hui.

Last night I was determined to go to sleep at a decent hour. I tried to sleep at 11pm and didn't end up falling asleep until 2:30am. I woke up and got ready to face the horrid metro. I left chez moi at 11h50m and got to Étoile at 12h00, I hopped on line 1 got off on Chatelet and walked to line 7. I waited for line 7 for 40min. I finally gave up hope and walked the 30min to my class. I had to cross the entire 5th arrondissement. The walk wasn't that bad. The weather was surprisingly really good. There was a crisp breeze and the sun was shining. I finally made it to class 30min late. I buzzed into the building and found out that my professor had canceled the class because only one student showed up. GREAT!
I was supposed to go shopping with my soeur, but then she canceled because she had fallen sick. The journey back home would be long and I had a soirée in this neighborhood later so I decided to stick around. I gave Elaine a call seeking company for lunch. Luckily, I caught her just as she was leaving her apartment. We went up the street and had a falafel. It was cheap and delicious. Then we kept walking to Jardins du Luxembourg. We sat in these lounge chairs and watched French toddlers chase pigeons.
I noticed someone waving to me. It was Janina a German student on Erasmus at my fac. We chat and made promises of hanging out. (It's weird how the city is so big and yet you still bump into people you know.) As she left I realized that I had lost my Paris map. Elaine and I walked to the Quartier Latin where I bought a new planner and a new map. We needed to kill time for the 19h MICEFA Pre-Thanksgiving soirée. We wandered into the Shakespeare Bookstore and then back chez her. As we walked to Café Universal, we stopped by the infamous Mayflower bar. I had a framboise. It was delicious. We got the Café and had good fun. I had a Mai Tai, it was my first Mai Tai. The presentation was trop mignon! It was garnished with a strawberry, slice of orange, and blue sugar. Everything a Mai Tai should be! By the time I finished it, I had a good strong buzz! Ça suffit! Well I have class in the morning and I will go this time so I better get some sleep! z...z...z...

Ange dans le métro (angel on the metro)

2007-11-20T21:09:00.000+01:00

I almost died on the metro yesterday...or at least it felt like it. Lately, I've had the terrible habit of sleeping late and getting up even later. I don't know, I'm either out or watching a movie on Alluc or Sidereel (thanks Lily for the sites!). Monday is my run around day. I have to rush to class and then commute to my two jobs. Well between my commute from one job to the next my fatigue, malnourished-ness(mauvais anglais!), and just overall crappiness, I almost fainted on the metro.
It happened between Barbès and Anvers on line 2. On the way to Barbès...I was standing amongst a sweaty, annoyed, and tall crowd of commuters. We were all sharing a limited space on the metro cart. I was standing next to the window. A chilly breeze kept flowing in while the heat inside the cart was overwhelming. All of a sudden my body started trembling, I felt an incredible amount of heat and loosened my scarf that was choking my neck, my head felt light, I couldn't breathe. The Barbès neighborhood is terrible and I was clutching my purse knowing very well it would be gone if I fainted. I just remember staring out the window and praying that I could make it out of the metro safely as my body trembled and my head spun...then I don't know what happened...in a hazy faze I remember a lady handing me my bag and sitting me down, everyone cleared to give me as much space as possible. I sat there confused and so weak! The lady asked me if I was ok...I could bearly utter "oui, je crois..." then she asked my metro stop I told her "Rome" she said "moi aussi, je vais t'aider," I was so relieved and scared! What just happened to me! Well I got out just fine and so did she. She asked me again if I was ok I said yes, and thanked her for her help, we parted. I felt awful! What the heck just happened!
I walked the 5min to my work. I was already 35min late to work. GREAT! I got there and luckily only Luca was home, everyone else was out and about. I was exhausted. I didn't tell him what happened, I was just so relieved to be feeling a little better. And didn't have the energy or strength to explain.
We ate. We hardly spoke any Spanish. I feel bad getting paid to eat and hang out with them and not teaching them Spanish. It's just that sometimes they don't want to and you can't force a 16yr old. We talked about his girlfriends and he confessed he wasn't a virgin! at 16! Call me old fashioned, but that's too young! Anyway then he wanted my advice on sex...how do you explain this?
It was one of the most awkward situations of my life. It felt as if a younger brother wanted sex advice, I couldn't do it. He probably thinks I'm a prude, but I'm sorry I couldn't it was too awkward. I could have given him tips, but I couldn't make the words come out of my mouth. Around my friends I can talk about it and its fine, but Luca? He's like my student, I'm his tutor? It was weird. And he seemed so eager to know...sorry.

Today was a disaster I missed my class because I over slept. I was up 'til 3am chatting with Hondo, Jose, and Ter Bear, hence I awoke at 12h30 with 15min left of class. Then I ate, had some Airborne to boost my immunity, and waited for the slow a** metro thanks to the damn strike! I picked up Marie. We walked the dog, went to the boulangerie, I taught her "twinkle twinkle little star," blow dryed her hair, had a snack, and watched cartoons 'til their demi-brother came to take over.
It took me 40min to get home. Thank you strike! I joined a group on facebook called "Replace the RATP & SNCF idiots with machines" its a reaction to the strikes. It just makes living in Paris impossible, its ridiculous!
Playing in my head:
Twinkle Twinkle...
Jenifer: Tourner ma page
Fatal Bazooka: Parle a ma main (such a funny song!)
James Deano: "On dit que les Blancs savent pas danser" (funny!)

2007-11-18T13:05:00.001+01:00

So much has happened!
Not to mention the strike. I think strikes are good, I'm pro strikes, but I'm not pro-no-metro! I hate not having the metro available! I can't go anywhere without it! I missed my Arabic class because there was no metro! and I couldn't shopping, I couldn't go to this cool midnight thingy in Elaine's quartier, and I had to take a taxi home from work on Thursday because the metro stopped running early.

That thursday I took the metro to work around 6:30pm and it was a little crowded, but once we got to Étoile, there was so many people waiting to get on it was ridiculous! One lady said "non, c'est pas possible monsieur, maintenant vous êtes sur moi!" LOL You could feel people breathing on your face, and since I'm short I got to experience everyones BO and bad breath. Well I got to work ok, but on the way back the metro had stopped running. I had to walk to Place de Clichy and in line for a taxi. I didn't wait long, just about 15 min. And I got home with under 10euro.

Friday Marion took me to a café that was absolutely fabulous! It was at Trocadéro in the Museum de l'Homme. It had a floor to ceiling glass wall overlooking the Champs de Mars and of course the Eiffel Tower! It was gorgeous! The most fabulous café I've ever been to! We chatted over a Baï Baï-a vodka and Passoa (a passion fruit liquor) cocktail, it was very strong and very sweet.
Later that night she picked me up and we headed just down the street of Victor Hugo and had dinner at MacDo's a block away was a party of one of her Spanish friend's who was visiting for the weekend. The appartement was HUGE! It was the entire floor, with tall ceilings and ample room. Her friend spoke mostly English. The guy who owned the place "Charles" was an aristocratic snob, who was depressed over a recent break up with a Spanish girl. It was only the four of us for a while, and the Charles' friends arrived. About 10-15 men arrived, all around their mid to late 20's and they all bisoued me left to right! My head was tired from turning so much. They all lit up their cigarettes, blasted house music, sang, chatted amongst their-manly-selves, and drank, drank, drank. Us girls stuck together and gossiped. Marion and I were exhausted and this really was are crowd. A few more Spanish girls arrived but we decided to throw in the towel. We went home and called it a night. My first encounter with aristocratic snobs...LOL

Saturday, I slept til about 13h, that's becoming a bad habit these days. I had no more minutes on my phone and I needed some TP. But it was so cold and I had woken up with a cough that I decided to stay in and finish watching Georgia Rule. Then I desperately needed minutes and forced myself to go out because I knew that Sunday everything would be closed. I recharged my phone flew to Casino (supermarket) and hurried home in the freezing cold.
Marion invited me over for dinner, but I didn't want to go out, it was cold and there was no metro. And then I said to myself "you're here to learn french, emerge yourself!" so I went and waited 45min for a taxi. I got there and they had already had dinner but they heated me up a plate. I ate, they talked, I listened. I met her cousins, uncle, and father. Her Dad is soooo funny. (he reminds me of my Dad). It was really nice I'm glad I went. Dessert was a cake and vanilla macaroons from Le Notre(one of the best bakeries in Paris), Delicious!
We followed this up with a trip to the Vidéo-Club, we rented The Holiday. The plan was to watch it at Edwige's friend's house (Elouise) because she has a projector. Elouise lives in the banlieue (92) boy was it far, we had to cross the Seine and then some! When we got there her brother was watching TV and we had to go back to Marion's place. As we were leaving Paris, it felt like I was leaving Manhattan and going to Brooklyn, it just felt wrong LOL. Well we got back to the 17th and were walking to her building when this car almost ran us over and Marion shouted "Retourne à ton Banlieue!" LOL You see the beginning of your license plate says where you're from 75 is Paris and 92 is the banlieue, it was just too funny! The movie finished at 2am, I slept over, and in the morn' her mom had an errand to run and was nice enough to drop me off chez moi! Aw so sweet! I would have stayed for breakfast, but I didn't want to intrude too much.
On a final note, I'm really excited about this week! It's Thanksgiving and Marion's b-day bash!
On a sorry note, the grève is continuing into Tuesday! Zut, how will I get to work?!

Duplex

2007-11-07T03:19:00.000+01:00

I found my boîte(night club)! It's called Duplex and it's only three blocks from chez moi! It's so awesome! Ça bouge! Mon amie française de cours de marketing m'a invité. At first I thought no it's a Tuesday night no one will be there! Plus I have class tomorrow no way! We met at 11:45pm at Étoile. I thought it was way too late to go out on a Tuesday night. But I emerged from the depths of the metro to encounter a petit crowd of Students in front of "Duplex."
It's funny because I've passed by it a number of times in the past and have never thought of going in. Well Marion showed up and then we waited outside for her Spanish friend Loreto (female). We had to wait an extra 10min for her to get there (hint hint). LOL. We flashed our school IDs and got in for freezy! O fo sho! As we descended into the club I immediately fell in love with it. It was dark not too big not too small and had a good college crowd. Most were French students. All they were playing was house music. And I like House, but there's only so much House music you can take! They played the usual David Guetta was a must!
I didn't see any goodlooking guys. Either way I really don't like meeting guys at a club. We started dancing without anything to drink, hence I was stiff as a board. I saw a guy standing watching us and then he comes up to me(whispering into my ear as the bass is blasting in front of us): "t'es française?" "enchanté Christophe." I was like yeah yeah whatever I'm Mexican no comprendo! And her was cute too! Tall, blonde, blue eyes. But nope not my type! You see I like myself a nice tall, dark man, one with some color! deep brown eyes, a BIG NOSE, and dark eye brows! I know what I like and he wasn't cutting it. That and I just didn't wanna deal with what I thought was a clubber. Poor guy he really tried too. The girls wanted me to use him to buy us a drink, but that wouldn't be right and then I'd be indebted to him! (no no no) He would occasionally come around and ask me if I wanted to dance and if I was having fun. After a couple of hours we couldn't stand the house music and decided to go. As we made our way through the haze of smoke and sea of french and spanish students I felt an arm on my back, who do ou think it is? Christophe! He just wouldn't give up. He asked me stay and when I refused he wanted my number, but nope nope, as I said before I don't like meeting guys at clubs, he wasn't my type, and I just didn't wanna deal with it. It was sweet though!
We were just on our way out when we heard the thud of REGGEATON! C'est CHAUD ÇA! I love dancing to reggeaton! Marion has got some junk in her trunk, she could really bouge to this! Loreto and I were immediately drawn onto the dance floor whil shaking our trunks! It was so fabulous, there's nothing like listening to Pitbull's Culo after two hours of house. Give me something with some SABOR! So I can shake my saltshaker! Well here it was! The next 45min was devoted to Rhianna, Sean Paul, Don Omar, and Ivy Queen! And trust me I didn't let it go to waste! Most girls there were French and didn't have much trunk worst of all they couldn't move their trunk! Loreto and I were bouncin'up & down singing along to the lyrics and eventually Marion started shaking what her mama gave her! LOL it was such a blast. Of course the boys were staring and would come up and try to rub all up on us, but as a group of three we would circle out the intruder. At 3am it was time to call it a night, Marion had class at 8:30am.
Goodbye Duplex! Thanks Marion! Nice to meet you Loreto! And all of this on a Tuesday night! Amazing only in Paris I guess! To my pleasant suprise Marion had a car! A very French car! It was very mignon! It made me miss my car! Oh well, and luckily she drove us home! I was worried about how I would get home, but luckily I had a friend who drives and has a car here! Anway I wanted to write about this night ASAP because nights like this are memorable. One of my best nights here in Paris and I didn't even drink or admission!

FYI:They never played a song in French. Everything was in English or Spanish...so sad!
4am i'm hittin'the sack!

Vivement Dimanche!

2007-11-05T00:16:00.000+01:00

I have internet chez moi! and TV chez moi! It's a rêve! So amazing! My Gardienne let me borrow her TV (that means I didn't have to buy one!). This means: more Skype time, American French dubbed TV shows, more blogs, and more SSUpLoad. All in all it's a good deal. France Telecom told me I'd have to wait 10days to get it, but it only took 5days! Woohoo!

I saw a movie called, Les Coeurs des Hommes2, It was pretty good. It made me think, that all men like to cheat and will always get away with it. Not a very good thought, since I like the idea of monogamy but c'est dommage. All in all it was a good movie, but bad message.

Sunday:
I went to the Orsay today, for the third time in my vie (life). This time it was different, I got to see places that I had never seen before. I loved the Art Nouveau! Art nouveau is my favorite decorative art! I had some coffee in the lavish Tearoom with Lucia. We were kicked out at 5:30pm even though closing time is at 6pm.

Spanish Mass is at 6pm in my quartier with the nuns. It was 6:20pm when I got to my quartier. I stood at Place Victor Hugo debating with myself whether or not to go to mass. I decided I might as well, if I went home I’d probably just watch another Bollywood DVD or be on the internet. So I went and good thing to! I got there and Sister Pilar (she’s a 33yr. old nun, from Spain, speaks flawless French) greeted me at the door. Since it had been Toussaints (All Saints Day) we were celebrating the dead. She gave me the readings for the mass, a paper (so that I could write down the names of those who have passed away), and a tea candle (to light in their honor). I was just in time for the last reading and the Sermon. I sat down and was immediately at ease…Then they told us to go to the altar with our paper and our tea candle. There was a basket at the foot of the altar with the names of all of our loved ones who have died, and beside it there were rows and rows of tea candles lit in their honor. It was beautiful and I shed a tear. I always shed a tear when I think of my grandparents, I was very close to them…every time I go to church and they mention a prayer for dead I can’t help but get all choked up inside. It was beautiful. There was so much faith and love at that moment you could feel it in the air and it was as if they were there with us, embracing us, as we embraced their memory.*tear* I’m truly happy that I decided to go to mass…

As mass ended Sister Pilar asked me to stay for the Youth Group. I stayed. It was like being in the States. Most of the people that stayed were from Bolivia, Peru, that’s amazing (how can you manage to immigrate that far!). Some were already in their 30’s some youth group! LOL jk. There were two other girls studying abroad one from Mexico and the other from Spain. It was nice they were all nice. Most of them have just recently immigrated here and don’t speak French very well. There is a community French class being offered to them. It’s so funny in the US you get Spanish speaking immigrants taking English classes and here they’re still Spanish speaking immigrants except that their English is French! LOL It’s just crazy! I came here to learn French and I find myself in a Spanish mass, joining a Spanish youth group full of South American immigrants and Speaking a whole lotta SPANISH! LOL I like the sense of community and the Spanish but I’m here to learn French! Do I stray away from this community that has welcomed me with open arms, go to French mass, and join a French Youth Group? Or do I stay? Dilemma! My heart says stay, my head says go find Frenchies!

Mont St. Michel nuf'said

2007-10-25T16:09:00.001+02:00

Mont St. Michel

Ajouter à mon profil | Plus de Vidéos

Recap of week

2007-10-25T13:36:00.000+02:00

Oct. 21

I was supposed to go to Versailles today but I was exhausted from Mont St. Michel yesterday, so I passed. Instead I slept in and went to church. The church in my neighborhood has a roman style interior and is one of the smallest churches I’ve seen here in Paris. There is a bigger one just around the corner. It is the main church of my quartier. It is HUGE! And has a gothic style interior. It’s a new church so eventhough it’s gothic you don’t get the same old world feel when you walk in. The back balcony houses an enormous pipe organ and a fifteen person choir. The hymns they sing resonate throughout the entire church causing a dramatic effect. It feels like the force of God is pounding on top of you. It’s a very overwhelming experience.

In the evening I celebrated my soeur’s b-day she is a wopping 22! Woah! The years are really coming down on us! Anyway we went to the Quartier Latin and she was sweet talked into eating at a Fondue restaurant. I had confit de canard (preserved duck). It was salty but good. Overall, I wouldn’t go back. It wasn’t one of those places. The waiter was nice. It was Heidrun, Elaine, my soeur, and I. We dove into French cuisine:escargots, confit, French onion soup, and fondue. It was a cool chilly night. Afterwards we walked to the metro snapped some photos and mimicked French accents. And talked about how funny the Italians French accent sounds…hehehehe, no worries we love Italians! Mama mia! Che Bella!

I finished Kathy’s book today. “Free Gondola Ride” it’s about her summer in Venice with a group of Gondoliers. It started off a bit slow, but as the chapters reveal these men and her adventures I was captivated. I hated going to sleep at night because I couldn’t read on. I loved it! It was like being in Venice and seduced by their Italian accents. Nothing but wine, sunshine, gondolas, and my camera. It’s everything that I’d like my Italian vacation to be like.

Oct. 22

Oh no! The week has just begun! Shit! LOL It’s going to be a long week…

I hate the heterosexual bathrooms here! Urinals all up in my face gross! Anyway I mention this because I ate at Quick today and had to pee in their heterosexual bathroom…eeughhh. Then I headed to work, where I saw my friend the nunu. She is so nice! And she digs my American-ness. When she saw me she said “aw, ça me plait de te voir!” (I’m happy to see you!) I was so happy, a frenchie was actually happy to see me! LOL She’s actually African and not French (she reminds me of that all the time). With her I have to speak French because she speaks no English. Sometimes we don’t understand each other but it’s cool! Lately we’ve been talking a little more and I get the feeling that when I see her she tries to lean in for a bisou (kiss) but I’m not sure. Since I’m not used to doing that I never insist on it but it’s weird. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or what but anywho yeah…That makes me feel good though, that she wants to bisou me! That means we are starting to be amies (friends) or at least I think so?

Oct. 23
Today was very crazy. I had to go work at both jobs. I hate that! It means I have to run around the entire city. And I only have thirty minutes to get from one job to the next! It’s such an exhausting day. There was the cutest man on the RER today. He was a middle aged black man. He was soo cute, he was tall, slim, and wore a knee length black wool coat. He wore a rainbow striped shirt with a matching striped scarf. He smelled of musky cologne. The RER was really crowded. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and you couldn’t help but smell the other person’s B.O. and breath. Well this man was standing next to me and he was at least two heads taller than me. He saw how short I was and tried really hard not to suffocate me. It was so cute; he tried his hardest to give me breathing room. He gave me a smile and blocked the traffic from blowing me over. He kept saying “pardon” every time he accidentally bumped into me. It was mignon.ah…les hommes!

Luke was being such a pest today. I can’t stand that boy. He is very smart but also very rude. Here in France a child is a reflection of the parents. Well if he is the reflection, then his parents did a terrible job of raising him. Marie is sweet but she has a difficult time learning English. She tries her best but it isn’t easy for her. She turned to me with her sad discouraged face and said “Romina, tu as de la chance, tu parle Anglais” (Romina, you’re luck, you speak English). I felt so bad! Here I am trying to learn her beautiful language and the poor thing has so much pressure on her to learn the English language. So then I said, «aw Marie, le français est une très belle langue» (French is a very beautiful language). And she says “non, moi je préfères l’anglais” (Me, I prefer English). I felt really bad for her. It’s not easy learning a new language and it’s even worse when you have so much pressure from your parents. I’ve been to a few countries in Europe and to Mexico, and from those travels I can see that knowing English determines whether or not you sink or swim in the job market. It’s sad to say but true. It’s moments like those where I realize how lucky I am to be fluent in English.

Well then I saw my two chaps Tom and Lucas. They coo. We had a few good laughs. Lucas told me of his new love interest. Tom told me about his Jujitsu class. I was 15min late to work. It was my long commute! We made pasta shells, it was the most perfect pasta I’ve made yet! It was al dente! Parfait! Perfect! Anyway we had pasta shells, with butter, emmental cheese (gross), and ham.

la semaine

2007-10-24T19:20:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone,
Life in Paris is harsh...two words: Cold and Windy! Oh my goodness is it cold here! Ah! How will I ever get through the winter. One thing I realized today is that I will miss Halloween in the States and I love Halloween. I remember last year I went trick-or-treating with my ex, my goddaughter, and my sis. It was so much fun! I love trick-or-treating, and this year all I will have is...nothing. I'll have to go out and buy candy for myself...:( oh well.

Other than missing Halloween, I'm pretty happy here.
I like living alone. I like this feeling of getting through this solo. It's made me a stronger person. I feel it. It's like my skin is much tougher! gggrrrhhh!! LOL Well I don't know but I like whats happening here. I'm sitting in my bibliothèque at skoo using the wifi and it's about 7:30pm and they're about to close. I heard from Ben today and that was cool...It made me smile. I'm in the process of uploading my Mont St. Michel video and I don't think I'll write about it. I'll just let the images speak for themselves. I got the idea from Davey's Blog on YouTube. I'll post the video here:

(I'm glad I'm not the only one who has heard of it, Elaine has heard of it lol I like this blog stuff it's neato.). I really want to keep this updated as much as possible but unfortunately I'm still lacking internet chez moi. So i'm really behind. Oh well. I miss the internet. I like Paris though. I like seeing the same people in my Quartier. The poop on the sidewalk. The same musicians on the metro. The same homeless people. The same Eiffel Tower on line 6. The city of lights...

Oct. 24
Arabic class was today! Hence my favorite day of the week! I love it. One of my favorite artists is Talib Kweli. And in class today I found out that Talib means student in Arabic. My professor doesn’t speak English so I’m learning my fifth language in my third language (French). The fourth language I learned was Italian, but I’ve forgotten most of it. Arabic is very amusing. I love hearing all of these foreign, exotic sounds coming out of my mouth! Oh, that’s hott! L’arabe me plait. When I got my Arabic textbook today I was so excited. I love learning new languages. I’m particularly excited about Arabic because that means I can go back home and use it. And there is a huge Arab community here too. I’m especially excited because there are a lot of Arab roots to Spanish words! I love learning new languages it’s one of my favorite passions next to traveling.

Dîner à la mexicaine or something like it LOL

2007-10-19T13:02:00.000+02:00

So last night was my long awaited Mexican dinner.

It was fabulous!
Yesterday was the grève (strike) so i had to take a cab to their house. I was ready an hour before my departure time, but I didn't want to arrive too early so I waited until I thought it was appropriate. Well I ended up being late! The cab line was soo long and the traffic was even worse. My cab driver didn't really know where he was going and left me a block away from my destination. (not tip!). Well I arrived 20min late and started preparing! I made such a mess and the mum is a clean freak! Oh well no apologies. I used lots of oil and Tom was horrified LOL sorry it's the Mexican way! He was a huge help and so was the mum. The other dinner guests were two hours late! They took a cab from the 20th arrondissement and of course traffic! I was done with dinner 30min before the arrived. Final menu: Enchiladas verdes, frijoles negros refritos, ensalada de nopales, desert of crème fraîche (sour cream) with strawberries and bananas. Tom didn't really like the taste of tomates, which kind of made me sad. We didn't have dinner til about 9:30pm! It was cool! They brought wine and I had about 4-5 glasses. Of course chips and salsa. One of the guests was a 56yr old french man that does bruitage for films (sound effects), the other was a couple and their 2yr old son (the hubby is a composer and did the music for Les Poupés Russes! OMGosh! Unbelievable. his wife a writer and their son Alban soo cute!)
Here he is on Youtube:

This was amazing the whole night Jerome and Lauront spent arguing over the acquired ear and the natural ear! The discussion got very heated. It was your typical french dinner. After the main course they insisted on cheese & bread before desert. We paused for 45 min after dinner and Lauront taught Tom some piano stuff while I watched in amazement. After we proceeded to desert at about 10:30pm. Lauront made fun of Quebuecquois (i think) accents and we listened to he movie music and he told us about his job. It was so neat I learned so much! They were all so nice and said that my French was really good. And they like my food! I was so happy! It was the perfect French dinner. If I could recount the entire night I would! I'll add more later though I gotta go to class! Phonetics here I come!

Doblure recount Oct.15

2007-10-16T13:06:00.000+02:00

So last night me and my boys were planning our Mexican dinner for Thursday, I'll be cooking for 7 people! AH! I need to call my mother and double check recipes!
Their mom went to the theater so we were free to use our English all night! She is so cute, she made Croque Monsieurs for dinner! There is a secret to not having the ham stick to the bread they use this milky sauce...it's still an enigma to me. Anyway Tom finished his graffiti of my name! It looks awesome, I love it! The best cadeau I've received here in Paris. In the middle of dinner Tom suggested I stay and watch a movie with them because his mom would get home really late. I had homework....but HEY! How many times are you invited to stay and watch a french movie with a french family? not very many...i'm in Paris 110% (on good days). So I stayed and watched a french movie called Doblure starring Daniel Auteil (he is in a lot of french movies). The movie was really funny! We watched it in this tiny family room that had a couch and at least a 50inch Plasma TV. It was soo mignon (cute) Tom had a blanket in the room that Luka and him cuddled into! aw! I miss my sis! I ended up leaving at 10:15pm not bad considering my job ends at 9pm. They are really sweet boys, when they're not bashing America.
They also told me that the dinner guests for Thursday are family friends: one is a journalist, the other a music composer, and the last a TV producer. Woah! Elaine would be in heaven if she were there hehehe.

Oct 11th. VIVE

2007-10-12T13:07:00.000+02:00

Oct. 11 vive.

Ma vie ici va bien et puis va mal, ça dépend de jour à jour. Mais je crois que la vie est comme ça...et ça ce n’est pas mal ou bien, c’est simplement comme il est...Il y a des jours où je parle français et puis il y a des jours où je parle juste l’anglais...oui, c’est grave, ça je sais. Cette ville est un peu dur, un peu injuste, un peu méchant, mais il y a aussi des moments où il est gentil, superbe, charmante...en fait Paris est plutôt une rêve où on mélange le bien et le mal, et tout ça donne un saveur...je ne sais pas, mais mon goût dit que c’est bon...ah...Paris je n’ai pas des mots pour vous...j’ai seulement un grand sentiment pour vous.

I’ve decided that I’m going to drop my Human Resources class, it’s much too difficult and I don’t want a bad grade on my transcript. I hate not knowing what’s exactly going on in the class. So in its place I will take American Civilization…lol I know it’s not a very French choice, and that it’s very much in my comfort zone, but that’s just what I’ve decided. I don’t want to have to justify it. (stern face). Actually, I’m thinking of taking that or Cultural Barriers, I’m not completely sure yet.

Since I’m lacking internet at home, I can frequently be found at my school’s library using the wifi (pronounced in French as WEE-FEE). In my time there, I see many students studying. I think to myself…what are they studying for? School just started, it’s not like we have midterms this week. These people are highlighting, reading, taking notes, and have textbooks. I don’t even have textbooks! They freak me out, when I’m in there I feel like I should be studying and not updating my blog or checking my email! AH! Should I be studying? I wouldn’t know what to study. The only thing I have to study are my notes because I haven’t been told to buy a textbook for any of my classes…ah…I don’t know, I give up. The French university system is so discobobolated, it just makes my head spin. But honestly when you go in there it feels like finals week in the States and they all look so stressed and rushed. It’s no wonder that when you walk outside they are smoking! We have this courtyard where everyone drinks coffee and smokes while they chat it up with their friends. I never see anyone eat, they’re always drinking coffee or smoking…strange. We’re definitely a Business school. My friend Lilli (a former Art student) told me that our school is really snobby and that everyone dresses really formally. I didn’t really believe her until I had a class at another campus ( a non Business school) and they all looked to be dressed very funky, relaxed, edgy, hippie-ish, you get the picture. That same day I went back to my school and noticed that people were wearing much darker colors, lots of gray, black, and brown, many of the guys were wearing suits and carrying briefcases. The girls looked much more serious, wearing dresses or slacks. It was a very different vibe there were no bright colors, definitely no hippies, and no edgy fashion looks. I guess it’s the same in the States, everyone knows the Business building because they’re all in suits, you know “the business man type of look.”

I’ve decided to babysit for a French family tomorrow they have two daughters one is 5years old and the other is 7 years old. We’ll see how it goes…stay tuned.

WORK: Tom loves graffiti. He has this balcony and he painted graffiti all over it. I walked into his room the other day and his walls are covered in it. I asked him to write my name in graffiti. Today he was working on it and it looks awesome! I’ll post a pic of it as soon as he’s done. We had this paste for dinner called Rillette (I think that’s how you spell it) its shredded pork in lard. It was very culturally different, but tasty. I’m Mexican so pork is not strange to me. They want me to make them a Mexican dinner. That is a bit of a challenge since I have no chiles verdes here…or mole…I don’t know, but I have until next Thursday to figure something out because that’s when they want it. Apparently their mom is having a guest over for dinner and they really want Mexican food, Great more pressure!

I know what you’re thinking today is Thursday I should be at the Erasmus bar, but not tonight. I’m just getting over my cold and I don’t want a relapse. I can’t afford to be sick here. I just need to rest up and then maybe next week I can go party, but this weekend will be dedicated to relaxation.

Weekend: IKEA trip (in the Paris suburbs, uncharted territory), Find Mexican food store, babysit, Montmartre festival (in honor of wine grapes). Miscellaneous in between…

Oh and STUDY!

Oct.10th Mercredi

2007-10-11T17:05:00.000+02:00

Oct. 10^th

My immune system is up and running! Today was dedicated to school. I had 3 hours of Human Resources gggrrrhhh. The people in my class aren’t very friendly. They aren’t sensitive to the fact that I’m a foreigner and have no idea how things run! No worries I have internet access here with a view to the Eiffel Tower muahahah! I was able to update my blog, Myspace, and answer emails! Still no Skype! Time flies by when you’re catching up with your online life. As I am leaving the Library I run into Paula. One of my Spanish friends from my language prep class. I told her about our Mont St. Michel trip, and she wants to go, woohoo, I hope she makes it. Another hour and thirty minutes of lecture…zzz…Again I have no idea what’s going on. I think I should drop this class. I don’t know if I can though. I hope so. Confession: I do kind of understand her but not enough to feel comfortable with my notes. I don’t even know if we need a book for the class or what our dossier d’enquête is ( I assume it’s a report about the Human Resources dept. of some company, which we’re supposed to find and interrogate them about!) Puta! How am I going to do that I can hardly buy my groceries.

I get home, again not much in my fridge. Time to go to Casino! Casino mio! I’m really craving a ham, egg, and cheese crêpe. (I’ve learned many French recipes from my boys Luka and Tom; this is one of them). I need coke! I’ve been sick I can afford a little weight gain from coke. OOOhhh and cassis (blackcurrant) sorbet. Damn I’m good. I should be a chef! Voilà le menu! I substituted the ham with some smoked salmon; it was delicious. My desert was super sweet: cassis sorbet, banana slices, chocolate wafer chunks, drizzled with nutella! Yyyyuuummmm! Darn I’m still hungry. I should’ve made another crêpe. You don’t understand I have been sick! I am hungry! Ok. Time to catch up on my blogs.

Weird recipes from Luka and Tom:
Mashed potatoes with hot dog wieners! Gross!
Pasta with butter and Emmental cheese. That makes a very bland pasta. I’m Mexican I need a lil’pizz azz in my food.
Medium rare steak. No no…in California it’s all about WELL DONE meat! No E-colia here!
Galettes de Breton (crêpe) with Emmental cheese, egg, and ham. YUM!

I’m listening to Louis Prima. He makes me happy.

“When you’re smiling, you bring on the joy! Stop your crying, won’t you be happy again” “Buona sera signorina! Kiss me good night!” “Oh, Marie! In your arms I’m dying to be!” “I eat antipasti twice just because she is so nice, Angelina!”

Aw man…I want to watch the Godfather! L “I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

“Che la luna!”

But the best Italian song is “Volare” …volare…oo…cantare…oooo..nel cello infinito…felice piu in alto! Una musica dolce…volare…oo…cantare…oooo

…memories…

Arrivedreci a tutti!

Oct.9 th Mardi

2007-10-11T17:02:00.000+02:00

Oct. 9^th

I feel a lot better today! I woke up at 4am because my sister was a missin’ me and gave me a call at 7pm her time! No worries I really needed them at that point…So I talked to her, my mom, and my dad. I cried hysterically. We talked for an hour, which was the time it took for me to calm down. I took 3 Ibuprofen pills environ 600mg and knocked out…aahh*sigh.* Well time for class! This is my FLE (français langue étrangère: French as a foreign language) Français des affaires (French for Business) class. I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to take it because it’s a level 5 class and I’m only a level 3 L. Luckily and surprisingly, only 6 other people showed up! Yes! Now, the professor will have to take me! We have an interesting mix of people. We all gave little introductions. People in my class:

Almas, he’s Russian (he felt the need to say he was single while he was introducing himself…hehe). He’s from Kasan, Russia; the city is very close to Kazakhstan…hehe again. If you saw Borat then you know why I giggled. He’s doing his master’s in Business Administration. He’s really tall! He had huge hands too I wonder what that means lol just kidding.

Alma, she’s from southern Italy. She’s soft spoken so I didn’t catch what city she’s from. She goes to school in northern Italy in Milan oh la la. She’s funny she has a huge Italian accent when she speaks French. I wish I could imitate her Italian French accent, but I can’t. I love imitating people’s accents. It’s my hobby. She has really frizzy hair; it looks like Julia Robert’s hair in Pretty Woman, except Alma’s is black.

Jackson, he’s from Hong Kong. He’s a Linguistics major. He’s amusing to talk to. I don’t know why, but just listening to him makes me giggle hehehe. He’s always getting things right too! He was in my language prep class. I had to interview him in an improv exercise we did. He said that Asians have a tough time interacting with Europeans. I can see how both cultures are polar opposites.

Emery, she’s from China, but she goes to school in Hong Kong. She’s sweet. Very petit, very soft spoken, very giggly, overall she seems very nice.

Michael, he’s from Miami, Florida. He’s actually here through MICEFA too! What a small world. How strange that I haven’t already run into him at MICEFA. He’s a very tall guy. He has a Cuban American accent, or is it a Miami accent? I don’t know, but imagine Tony Montana…no that’s too strong of an accent. Oh never mind, I don’t know!

The last person is…Candice. She’s from Trinidad & Tobago. Yup, she’s from a teeny tiny island in the Caribbean (how very Pirates of the Caribbean of her!). She studies in New York. I don’t know too much about her she was sitting too far away. Oh her island nation (how cool, her island nation!) had been an English, French, and Spanish colony, before it gained independence. Jeez, talk about interracial relationships and war! Ouchie!

This class is going to be fun!

Work: Today I saw my chicklins, Luke and Marie. We learned colors, and how to ask: How are you? Comment-vas tu? Je vais bien. I am good. Je vais très bien. I am very good. Je vais comme-ci comme-ça. I am so-so. Je vais mal. I am bad. Je vais très mal. I am very bad. All of this was a breeze for Luke. But even by the end poor Marie was still in a bit of a struggle. Time for your bath! Our English lesson took too long. Poop! Five minute bath! They love their baths and hate to get out so soon. Luke was first. It’s funny the first few days I worked with them Luke would lock himself in the bathroom because he didn’t want me to see him nakey. But now he’s fine if I go in, of course he still hides his private parts. He says to me “eets my peRsonal part.” LOL I just laugh.

Oct 8th. still sick... j'ai mal à la gorge!

2007-10-10T14:57:00.000+02:00

Oct. 8^th

If this is Hell I hate it! Fuck I feel so crappy! Luckily my class starts at 12h30pm. I’m still sick! Fucking Nuit Blanche! If it wasn’t so awesome I’d be more pissed than I am right now! Well, I had no food at home. And I couldn’t get any better on an empty stomach. So I got my sickling self out of bed and went and bought myself some groceries! Aarrgghhh! I miss my mom and sis right now! If they were here. I’d be in such great TLC (Tender.Loving.Care.) that I very well could’ve been better by now! No! ah! Sister! Mother! I’m coming home! (yes homesickness has kicked in and is in full force) but I can’t call them I have no calling card and no internet! Skype I need you! No!!!!!! No time to be sad I have to eat, go to school (I was late), and go to both my jobs!

Mme. Hudson made these awesome pork chops with a savory pasta and I couldn’t enjoy it because my taste buds were numbed and my tonsils were so big that I could hardly swallow or chew the meat or the pasta! No! Finally a REAL MEAL and I can’t eat it litteraly I couldn’t eat it! When she took my second chop off my plate after I told her it was to painful to eat…I felt like crying! Pork chop (not Doug Funny’s Pork Chop) come back! I need protein! (*tears*). I don’t feel like writing about my jobs. I felt so crappy I just wanted to go home and crash into my bed and never wake up! MOM! (*tear* yes people I cried, I’m human, ok!) At last the end of the day!

Oct. 7th Puta! I'm sick!

2007-10-10T14:56:00.000+02:00

Oct. 7^th

We slept until 2pm (yet again), except this time I woke up sick! More than sick I woke up with a fever! She let me sleep on her mattress but the thing is so hard it might as well have been the floor! Not only was I sick but know I was sore too! I went home sick and crappy looking. With tourists making out all over the metro jerks! This was the first Sunday of the month meaning most museums are free. The plan had been to go to the Orsay and look at the Monet’s and VanGogh’s. No way! Not for me at least! The rest of this day was a blur for me I slept right through it and to the next…zzzzzzzz…zzz…zzz…

Oct. 6th Mes amis!

2007-10-10T14:50:00.000+02:00

Oct. 6^th

Saturday for me started at 2pm. Sad I know! I got up and did my laundry. Trust me, it was time. Laundry eats up all my afternoon. Woops! I missed shopping with my soeur! Not such a bad thing (remember the Parisian dress on Friday?). But I’m at my soeur’s for dinner. It was a dinner for four people: Elaine (fellow blogger), Lucia, my soeur, and I. For some odd reason my soeur’s power was out. She obviously couldn’t make dinner because her stove needed electricity! Thanks soeur, I didn’t eat anything because I was a expecting a huge dinner! jjeeezzz! J No worries, I’ll live.

*We were supposed to have pasta (again! I think I’ve eaten more pasta since I moved to Paris, than in my entire life. I heard on the movie “Knocked Up” that pasta is the poor man’s food. And I really didn’t believe that until now. Because I’m a poor student living in Paris and frequently eat pasta! Ah! Prophecies coming true! Merde!(shit!))

We eventually did have our pasta because my soeur’s neighbor Heidrun (she’s German) let us use her stove. Aw how sweet. However she left shortly after that and we had to have dinner by candlelight in my soeur’s place ooooooooo romantic LOL!

Liz made this candle holder for the candle that the guardian gave her hehehe what a consulation for not having electricity.

Dinner: Avocado salad. Brie & bread. Red wine 2006 Bordeaux (yum!). Pasta! Strawberry ice cream with grapes, and chocolate covered waffle chunks.

Après le diner (after dinner), it was time for la Nuit Blanche (apparently that means all nighter). It’s a night where metro line 14 runs all night and has expos at every stop. We only saw the second one which was at metro stop Madeline, at some église (church). We didn’t go in right away. Frist we went to Place de Concorde with Lily, Sara, Lucia, Elaine, and my soeur. Then we walked to the Jardins de Tuileries (gardens of Tuileries). Where there is this huge ferris wheel. It’s officially known as “La grande roué de Paris.”

In honor of Nuit Blanche rides on the ferris wheel were free all night! Woohoo! I’m terrified of heights. But just like I went up the Eiffel tower almost six years ago and just like a climb a 3 foot ladder from time to time, I got on this damn wheel. What the Fuck was I thinking! AHHHHH!!!!! Get me off now! Holy poop! It was the best and worst feeling I’ve ever felt! Like I was going to die but like I was looking at Heaven straight in the eye! It was gorgeous! By far the best view of Paris! There are no words! You have to go up and see it for yourself! I was scared stiff, but it was the most wonderful experience I’ve had here in Paris! We went around the wheel 3 times: for the first time I mostly kept my eyes closed, by the second time I was really feelin’ all the good vibes! I’m with my friends! I’m in Paris! I’m on top of Fucking Paris! It’s Nuit Blanche! This is amazing! I’M IN PARIS! Sucks to be my friends in San Jose!

Ok. After that enlightening experience. We all went to the gardens and watched the gardens burn. There was a giant chandelier on fire, hanging atop the gradens. Around 1:30am we realized we wouldn’t be able to catch the metro back home. But Sara and Lily decided they just might and headed home. Our decision:stay out and wait for the 5:30am metro! What the hey? You only have Nuit Blanche, once in a blue moon! Then the temperature plummeted and we warmed up at a café with a noisette (coffee with cream). We talked to kill time until the metro arose from its deep slumber. We talked about boys, culture, mine and Lucia’s identity crisis, languages, majors…ya know the works. The café was closing and we weren’t looking forward to the cold. But there was fire all around the gardens. So we parked our cold behinds next to a giant fire ball with a bunch of drunken tourists and drunken Parisians. It was cute. Security started kicking people out at 3am (what the heck it’s Nuit Blanche!) on our way out we ran into the girls (Morgan, Kathy, & Kristin). They join us and we continue walking. It is still freezing. We buy churros and share. By now my coffee has been digested and I need to pee! No luck. No toilettes anywhere! Merde!(shit!) Puta!(yes I know that’s a Spanish cuss word but apparently its big here too! Awesome!)

We decide to walk back the exhibit at the église (church). We go in and woooahhh! It’s like I’m tripping off E (not that I have ever done E) and my hallucination has come true. The church is completely dark. This makes me very sleepy. Weirdo music is playing. The kind that’s I dono creepy and yet soothing! There are people standing on these posts and carrying long (Luke Skywalker looking) blue poles. I see that these strange people are whispering into these poles and innocent civilians are listening to their lies! So I decided to try it out before I fell asleep and peed in my pants! I got up and waited for one of theses weirdoes to pick me. I listened to 3 different people: one spoke of love, one spoke of flowers, the other of rain. Yes, a very bizarre experience. I kept forgetting that I was in an église (church). I was just about to pass out into a deep sleep when my friends finally decided we should go home. By then it was 6am and I had been listening to the metro rumble below us for the pat half and hour. By the way I STILL HAD TO GO PEE! It was still dark out and my soeur and I found a free public toilette and I finally got the release I needed! We went back to her place and slept.

Oct. 5th Vendredi pour la plus part toute seulle...

2007-10-10T14:47:00.001+02:00

Oct. 5 (Friday)

Hmmmm, this was so long ago. I can’t remember what happened. Well, I went to school and found out that my class that I had come to school for won’t start until next week. Fabulous. That was the end of that. I went home cleaned. And I forget what else not important stuff, obviously because I can’t remember what I did. Wait! I remember. I took a walk around my quartier (neighborhood) and found Zara and GAP stores two blocks from my place! Fabulous! Then I proceeded and oops…I stumbled onto the Champs Elysées, where I of course did some damage to my wallet. A hop skip and jump away, and lookie here I’m in Promod (a clothing store) where I found a wonderful Parisian knit dress to go perfectly with my ZARA boots! It was a match made in heaven I couldn’t just let this opportunity pass me by! (it was like finding a diamond in the rough!) ahhh…it felt sooo good to spend money on something that looked so good!

À plus tard (much later) I found myself chillin’at my new pad…with not much to do and started reading my friend’s book (Kathy: former English Teacher), Free Gondola Ride, it’s the story of her summer with the gondoliers of Venice! Everytime I read it, I can picture her there surrounded by all these handsome men, with their irresistible Italian accents! I love it. Then all of a sudden, just as I was settling into my book and had finished my dinner (must not have been very good because I can’t remember what it was), Lou calls. An hour later I’m in the 11^th at Place de la Bastille, walking to Nick’s apartment where I would find myself in the company of Will, Marie, Carmen, Lou, & (duh) Nick. I remember that walk very well because I was in my Parisian dress and let me tell you I was turning heads LOL!

Ok. So at Nick’s we had a good time. We danced a little. We drank a little. Listened to (more) Indie music. Talked a lot. Nick guessed my sign! Correctly! Off of these facts: I like fruit & chocolate combos, I can suppress my sexual drive, I have to make sure people stay close to me. I don’t know how he does it! But it was a very cool. We talked theology (violent Jews & Muslims, sexist Christians). Is religion the source of all evil? In my opinion: no. I tried out my Italian accent on Nick. Sta bene! Bello! Ragazzo! Grazie! Prego! Ya’know we used hand gestures and all! LOL good fun. Italians…I think they are my second passion. I can’t wait to hit up Italy! Watch out, I’m a comin’! Marie & Will told my the nitty gritty of a European winter. Marie told me Paris is the center of France and the rest of France is screwed because of it! (jerks!) Marie is a super nice girl! And then…Nick’s roommate came home! Wooahh awkward, evacuate all of Nick’s friends immediately! Then it was time to head home. Go salsa dancing (nah, to buzzed to dance!), go to Nick and Carmen’s favorite bar (nah, full of smoke and mean looking guys). Home it was! AH! My pillow. My bed. Priceless. And only 10euro for a taxi!

Downside: I slept until 2pm the next day! What a waste of my morning!

Indie group to remember: The Little Ones

Jazz artist to remember: Paul Wattson

Another day late & short recap of the 4th

2007-10-05T13:38:00.000+02:00

ex:of marketing he gave us (hehehe)

Oct. 4th:
Thursday Nite is Erasmus Bar! woohoo! party ova'here!
LOL we'll get to that in a minute.
So today I woke up on time and last night I went to bed on time because I have no internet at my new place :( Anyway I made it to class at 8h30am, and again I got lost looking for the room...Again I took half ass notes because I didn't really understand her lecture and she is really boring! The amphitheater was huge, again about 85students there! NO! drop it bitches it's mine!
My next class, Marketing, started at 13h45 (I know 24h time is annoying but that's how they do it here and I'm finally starting to get used to it!) Another big amphitheater with balcony seating (I like. but i'll probably never sit there because then I really won't be able to hear or understand what the professor is saying...sadness). My professor is kinda cute, he's a young guy. His lectures are on PowerPoint! yes! easy note taking! The class was 3hrs long (sleepy very sleepy...) and there was a break. It was a crash intro to Marketing. (view above image)
Après (after) that was over I went to work! today was boys night I went to the 17th arrondissment to teach my boys Español, Turns out one of them ditched our lesson (the younger one Tom) and I got to go over verb conjugation with Luka how exciting...Then he told me that he wants to be a film director (and I thought of Elaine!). He also told me he was working on writing a scenario and creating 3D images for it...the computer program looked very complicated. He made a wolf all by himself! crazy! He likes to watch Prison Break (gross) and he loves film music (We both like the music for The Godfather) ok back to verb conjugation... That was it for the night and I got to meet his half sister she's really pretty. There's a Franprix(supermarket) near his house so decided to buy dinner there. I of course had to carry it on the metro and all the way home along with my purse and laptop! ggrrhh!
ok nite time! Time to boogie! Erasmus Bar! I got ready put on my best smiley face and went to Chatelet to this bar called the HideOut (if you go you'll know why...The ground floor is your average pub, but below there's a whole other world! It's a little maze of loungey type rooms, a main bar room, and a dance floor room!) Everything was perfect in this little hideout except:the trapping of all the cigarette smoke, the BO (body odor), and stank of beer all over the floor. Kris was there on his quest for the German girls (most didn't go so he bounced), Naomi left because of the lack of fresh air (it was disgusting in there), but Taylor, Sara G., Suzie, and Carmen stayed for the ride. We had a beer and then hit the dance floor. We boogied to Shakira, Daddy Yankee(it felt like home), and Michael Jackson! Of course there was singing going on, and when I heard the Frenchies sing in English I couldn't help but laugh at their accent LOL losers! jk I love you all! not! LOL kidding again...:) Anyway we wanted to catch the last metro before we forced to take the night bus, or even worse and expensive taxi, so we bounced by 12h20am. None of my Erasmus amigas went so it was just the MICEFA crowd woohoo!
I'm home finally, I want to blog before I wake up and forget what happened, but i'm exhausted, so I waited til today! and you'll read about today tomorrow, muahahahaha, and it'll be that way until I hook up an internet connection at my new casa!
=)

A day late

2007-10-04T10:49:00.000+02:00

Oct. 3

Last night I slept at my new place! It was wonderful! The mattress isn’t very soft, so I woke up a little sore, but other than that it was fabulous! I have a big window that has one of those metal exterior curtains so it gets pitch black dark in here when I close it. So much so that the only way I knew it was morning was because my alarm clock rang! My landlords came back and we signed the rent contract woohoo! Then I had to go to school, nnnnnoooo! I attempted to walk to school because my landlord Mme bourdier said it was a short walk. Well…I took a wrong turn at Ave. Foch and ended up at the Arch de Triomphe! Great! So, I then I had to find the metro and go back the other way. To take the metro from the Arch de Triomphe you have to cross the entire place and it is a huge place! I was pissed! I did eventually get to school…

School: I didn’t have any food at my place, so I had to go to school and eat. At my Fac we have this Caferteria called the CROUS (it stands for something…I just forgot for what.). They give you a 3 course meal for only 3euros! What a bargain! I had brusselles, chicken wings, salad (consisting of: pasta, boiled egg, and lettuce), wheat bread roll, and peach yogurt. YYYUUUMMM! And it was a bargain! ( sorry…I can’t get over the 3euro price tag!) If you lived in Paris you would understand. Oh and I sat all by my lonesome like a loser! L I then proceeded to the library which is on the 6^th floor. I picked a nice quiet area with a minimum of people, sat next to a window, and much to my surprise when I looked out the window…guess what I saw? The Eiffel Tower!!!!!!! No freaking way! What a view! Me and Paris we were destined for each other! LOL It’s an amazing feeling, studying right next to the tower. My fac has a view to the Tower! You don’t understand, that’s why I’m here! LOL ok, enough of that. At 13h45 we had an orientation meeting for all the foreign students. It was a medium sized amphitheatre, and they served petit croissants, pains au chocolat, and coffee. It was cute. All the administration peeps gave their little speeches. At the very end, the DEE (Dauphine Espace Europe) this student organization dedicated to faire la fête (have parties) for all Dauphine (my Fac) students, gave a speech on what they do and showed a little video of their events thus far. The video was full of those pictures people take when they’re drunk and then regret whatever they did the next day, in 80% of the pics people were wasted, in 10% of the pics they were hung over, and in the other 10% they were working on getting wasted! LOL It was cute!

The DEE is organizing this WEI (Week End Integration). Yes, it’s a weekend where we all go out to the country camp out and party, and then the next day on the way back to Paris we stop by the Château de la Loire and take a tour (all while being hungover). The price of the trip includes transportation, booze, meals, and lodging (in bungalows!). I’m contemplating whether or not I should go…my German friends Stephanie & Mette said they’d go if I went…I dono maybe I should go?...how often to I get to camp in France with a bunch of foreign exchange students and take a tour of a château in the middle of France? Not often enough…Well I have until Monday to decide so we’ll see…leaning towards a yes…ah!

After this very informative meeting NOT! I went to my first class…which was GRH et Droit du Travail (aka: Human Resource Management & Right to Work) FYI:It is as boring as it sounds!) It was awful! I couldn’t find the amphitheatre and was 15min late. The prof was going over the green sheet when I walked in (there were about 80 students in the amphitheater). Then she went into the lecture. I was like WHAT THE FUCK! It was very difficult to follow. I managed to get through it and take some half ass notes! Tomorrow is the second session of class. After class, I found out I’m also supposed to be in a lab, not just the lecture! Luckily, the labs start in two weeks. Even still if the labs are full then I’m out of the Lecture class too! No! (prayer: people drop class).

****Question: Beginning Arabic or Yoga?****tough choice I’ll have to think about this one!

Finally, I left my Fac, and went chez moi (my home). I had no food! So I went to the nearest Casino (supermarket) and bought sheets for my bed oh and TP! (I’ve been using tissues hehehe) Along the way I passed a lot of Pinoy stores, cute, cute! Next, I’ll be making Lumpias! Still no food! Poop! Ok I passed a bakery and bought some demi baguettes (aka: half of a full sized French bread) they were fresh out the oven! That was my dinner…yes, I’m malnourished! Then I went to my old place in the 9^th, I live in the 16^th now, and I picked up some food I had there. I cleaned out the room a bit too.

Now, I sit here typing on Word because I don’t have an internet connection yet.

I’m still debating about whether or not I should get internet…that’s another 25-30euro a month depending on the type of connection I want (I can’t live with Dial-up! NO! that’s so 1999! Gross!)

Je Suis une Nunu!

2007-10-02T20:26:00.000+02:00

Aujourd'hui(today), was stressful AGAIN! I went to my Fac and reported to my class...no one was there, hmm maybe I got the room number wrong. So, then I went from floor 4 to Floor 0 and saw that the room number was right! So, then I went back up to floor 4 and again no one was there. Worst of all the International Relations office was closed! ok calm down Romina. I figured if there was a room number change then I'll just find out when the office opens. Voilà, well then I had to go back up to floor 3 and look up more classes, when all of sudden I see a really good looking noire(black guy) in the hall! woohoo! my lucky day! (of course I didn't say anything to him, because I'm not that forward...:( but then he says to me "excusez-moi madamoiselle, mais êtes-vous ici depuis longtemps?" (Excuse me Miss but have you been a student here for a while?) and I was so in shock because his voice was so sultry! (i melted on the inside!) that all i said was "non" and walked away! LOL I am so dumb! I should''ve made conversation or done something! What was I thinking! I walked away?! well yeah I did oh well another missed opportunity...(I forgot to mention I looked really crappy this morning, I had woken up less than an hour ago, and just tied my hair on the subway and rushed to school) I also saw my German friend (the girl who's name I couldn't remember in a previous blog) and I found out her name is Mette (I didn't ask her, I looked it up on the sheet where our grades were posted...hehe...i'm so sneaky!) Anywho, so I left school and went home to pack my "life"(suitcases) in order to move again. I made two trips on the metro and transported exactly two suitacases. On one of those trips I bumped into my new neighbor, the Chinese student. She is really sweet! She offered to help me move in...awwww, thanks but no! She came out of her room looking Fierce! I was thinking ooohh girl, where you goin' lookin' all fly! LOL I didn't look fly I was still looking pretty tore up, lugging around luggage does that to you. On another trip on the metro I saw Mme Catholique's sister (which I work for) AH! Both our places are on the same metro line so I figured this was bound to happen. Anyway I looked away and she did too, no funny business here! I hate running into people I work with!
at 16h10 I found myself on the metro (yet again) on my way to work, and somewhere between Juarès and Belleville these two guys got on and started fighting! It was so cool! My first fight in Paris! They were like ""ta mère" (your mother!)NON LA TIEN! (no, yours!)va-te foutre! (go fuck yourself!) and I was thinking woowee! This is getting good! Everyone on the metro was freaking out! We all thought it would turn into a brawl. One guy got involved and told them to calm down, but oh no the other guy took a swing and bam! and the people on the metro said "calme-toi" (calm yourself!)"laisse-lui" (leave him!)but no he said "Il parle de ma mère!" (he's talking about my mother!) "fait pas-ça!"(don't do that!) "Con" (idiot!)LOL It was so exciting (all along I'm thinking, please don't have any weapons!) Some people even left our metro cart, others just scooted to the sides. It was the most EXCITING metro ride I've had yet!
In less excting news: I went to the park with my chicklins and got up the courage to talk to the nunu I had met some time ago. She was really nice, she's from Côte d'Ivoire, and has a French boyfriend, she loves Americans and American music. I forgot her name...it was a toughie! and she loves to salsa hehehe. She said I'm in desperate need of an amoureux and I couldn't agree more! She said my rent is really expensive and I can't agree more! (especially with the dollar) all around she's a good chica! and my first Côte d'Ivoire friend! After a long chat of "getting to know you questions" us nunus headed back home with our enfants(children). I taught Luke and Marie some basic vocab. and in the end gave them a little cadeau (present) for being good students.
I gave them a little egg that you submerge in water and then wait 24hrs for it to break open and out pops a baby dinosaur! aw cute!
The subway ride, was no thrill! but I did enjoy some good grafitti and got to look into peoples appartments from the metro! (peoples homes are so grosss!) Now, I'm home and waiting for my soeur so that we can make another luggage trip to my new place!
luggage and metro not a good combo!

Poop...

2007-10-01T21:54:00.001+02:00

Ok...I went to bed at 3am last night...because my friend Lilly gave me the name of a site where I can watch free American movies (and I need my American movie fix!), and I stayed up watching Sydney White(not worth your time). Anywho, I was supposed to go to school today and show up to a class. Not any class in particular, I'm just supposed to go the board on the 3rd floor of my Fac(university), and look up a class that I want and then show up to it...not a very efficient system. Well I woke up at 10am...super late for my To Do List:

pick up my check book at the bank to pay my rent.
go to MICEFA(my exchange program center thingy) and pick a class from their courses. Pay my ticket for the Mont St. Michel trip. And make copies for my new rent contract
Go to the 16th Arrondissment, sign and give my copies to my new landlady.
Go home, check email, do bank transfers, look up classes and try to go to them....:)
Go to work at 16h30 & then go to 2nd job at 19h30....:(
Go home...and...BLOG! (somewhere between all of this I ate some stuff)

As you can tell...today was STRESS STRESS STRESS. (Americans and Stress, go hand in hand, you can't have one without the outhere!)

Today at work: I saw a nunu(french for babysitter) that I met a few weeks ago, she was coo. There is a limited amount of seating at the park where I take my kids, so I always try to rush to the park. I found a seat next to this really old French lady who looked like she was falling apart, like I was sitting next to death! (ah! creepy!)anyway I left my seat for a minute and another nunu sat their I was like "oh no you didn't beezie! You best get outta my seat!" LOL well actually I just said "J'étais ici" and then she said "oh, pardon" (translation:oh excuse me" and I was like "that's what I thought!" Bouge!(move) LOL I was so proud of myself I stood up to a French nunu! Then for the first time since I've been a nunu, my kids didn't have a pain au chocolat(chocolate sandwich) gouté(snack)! They had a little brioche with jelly and chocolate!(I think, chocolate replaces peanut butter here). Well then we went home...and did homework, and their Dad asked me if I had taught them anything new in English! I was like jeezzzz, it's hard enough getting them to listen and now everyday they want them to learn something new! No WAY! Doesn't he know I had a very stressful weekend! I could care less what his kids learn right now! whateva! LOL...ok so I taught them new vocab as we were looking out the window to the street, but then Luke started spitting on peoples heads so the lesson ended. That boy is trouble! After that I helped Marie take a bath (i'm still not used to doing that because...in the States that's such a nono and here she's like going potty with me in the bathroom and I'm washing her! its weird! ah! oh well I guess its acceptable here. She's a sweet girl but here French accent inhibits her English.

At 7pm I crossed the city and found myself in the 16th arrondissment, teaching my other kids Spanish. Their mom made dinner (it was chicken in a champignon sauce! It was amazing! I love eating with them, its the only time I have a real meal!). Their mom had just gotten back from a weekend in Yugoslavia! How awesome is that! The older boy is really lazy about his Spanish he could care less, but the younger one, loves it! He's always saying "Yo soy muy caliente!" LOL dork...no you're not! jk. Then the boys started arguing, I hate that why don't they leave that for when I leave, I don't like dealing with that poop! It makes me want to yell at them to stop...but then I think well is that really my place to do that? I dono this nunu or tutor stuff whatever is tough! (I never know how much authority I have) Well both boy are really coo, one is 13 Tomas, and Luka 16. Their dad is English so they speak British English, and prefer it, they pick at my American accent and I pick at the British accent. IT goes overboard sometimes, but we still coo! They love to ask me PERSONAL questions! Which I think is inapropriate but I can't help but answer, and then they get mad at me because they think I don't wanna get close to them they think I've adopted a "tutor student only relationship" and it's not that...i guess i'm just not that comfortable with them yet... In any case I love working with them they always make me laugh!(just hearing them talk is hilarious) the say PAAAsta and not PAsta ( I don't know if you get it, I'll have to find out how to spell phonetically so that you'll really know what I mean! Oh and they try to correct my French pronunciation...i feel so dumb:( oh well i'm learning I must accept that....darn! Ok that's enough blog for today I gotta sleep this time so that I can get up and go to my Fac! so Laisse-moi sleep! :) à bientôt!

New Home

2007-10-01T00:35:00.000+02:00

festival at Champs de Mars

Inside my Tête Nègre (not so good)

my tête nègre

Hi Everyone!
Great news! I found a new home! It's a petit little studio. Very tiny, but it will be my home! I will make it Romina friendly! After looking at some scary gross studios, and some tough competition from other French students looking for housing, I finally found something! Surprisingly, I found this place from a small ad posted at my Fac (aka:my university). I have been checking ads their everyday this past week and alas...I have trouvéd my new home! Thank the Lord! I have been very stressed and worried about being homeless!
The owners are a French couple (they are senior citizens), they are very cute and always bickering...how sweet! Oh and I have a neighbor, she is a Chinese student. Our hall exudes the aroma of Chinese cuisine and music...I'm still debating on whether or not that is a good thing. ok enough about my new place.

Oh by the way, I was looking for a place on Craigslist and found a dream apartment...but in the end it turned out to be a scammer! Thanks to the Craigslist community for posting the warning! The scammer actually contacted me too! It was freaky...So for all of you out there using the internet Faites Attention! Beware!In other news today...My soeur and I went to the Champs de Mars today, where the Famillathlon was taking place (I understood it to be an all day festival for the family) There were lots of booths of local sports clubs including but not limited to TaiChi, Gymnastics, Archery, Cycling, Boxing, etc...In the middle of the park there was a huge stage where we saw the Gymnastic team perform, a group performing a form of martial art from Brazil, a Kung Fu, TaiChi, and Chinese boxing team. It was wonderful! Unlike in America where festivals are overflowing with Food stands, there were no food stands at this festival!...unfortunately I was starving :(
But there was one stand and we had pasta, tarts, and a chicken sandwich, yyuuummm
Après we went Chez ma soeur and had dinner followed by a dessert called "Tête Nègre" meaning Black head, it looked to be a delicious mound of chocolate, but in reality it was kinda gross...too bad...well tomorrow I start class, and sign my new rent contract, wish me luck! à bientôt!

Memorable Days (good ones)

2007-09-28T17:40:00.000+02:00

Boobies at Fontainebleau

Romina at Fontainebleau park woohoo!

The couple in the distance that had sex at this park! scandalous!

Crew at Fontainebleau

Bridge on the Seine where we hung out!

This picture>>>taken as I Skype with my familia!=======>>>>

say this: le pêcheur pêchant sous le pêcher et la pêcher empêchait le pêcheur de pêcher

hahaha tough huh? My Prof Sandrine gave it to us to practice our pronunciation.cute.cute.but nope.

Sept. 2:

Job interview, Chez Mme Catholique (her really name has been changed, just in case I get mad at her and start talking smack on my blog...muahahaha) I tooke the metro line 6 from Cité U to the 12th and got off at station Picpus(haha funny name). Upon arriving I was completely lost and asked a traffic directing lady how to get there, and all I understood was tout droit...un thanks for the...help. AH! I don't wanna be late. So I went tout droit and OMG voilà I'm here! and 10min early!

Interview: She just got back from jogging. It was cold outside. Her nipples are ridiculously huge and hard. I assumed she was cold. That was gross. Note to self: never wear sports bras! Hmmmm she likes me & her hubby too! I'm hired! They don't even want to interview anyone else, oh yeah I'm super cool. (managment material...lol) job description:7yr old Marie and 9yr old Luke, teach them English, Park, baths, devoirs, etc...oh and time permitting:catechism & trumpet practice! no way foo! you crazy I only spend 2 1/2 hrs w/them twice a week!

Sept.3:

Turns out Mme Catholique's sis is in besoin of me! o fo sho! I'm there! Boom! I'm hired. 2nights a week teaching her teenage boys and her Spanish! dîner included. sabroso!

( I will blog later on these two families I work for)

Sept.4:

I live in the 9th Arrondissement. yay! I'm home! finally, chez moi!

Sept. 6: I'm sick this week! no! and I had my University placement test! It obviously didn't go so well...too bad, c'est dommage.

FYI:between all this I switched PLP classes from the MICEFA's to my fac's (university) PLP class.

My fac's FLE class(français langue étrangère) sucks! loads of work, very informational, people not so friendly....I miss my Californian classmates at MICEFA they are so much cooler!

Sept15:

(this weekend was the Journée de Patrimoine, when most museums, monuments, château thingies are free)Hence the trip to Fontainebleau.

MICEFA trip to Fontainebleau, not very exciting. I hate small towns, everything is so much slowwweeeerrrrr...not cool. Hung out at the park and saw a couple have sex! (what's with the PDA in this country?) Later that day: I went to what was supposed to be the Techno Parade at Place de la Bastille. It was awful. Everyone was wasted, beer bottles covering the ground. Guys trying to hit on you all drunk. Luckily three of my male classmates(Derrick, Kris, &Lou) were there and we made it back to civilization via metro. We stopped at St.Michel and met up with the girls (Kathy, Morgan, Kristin, & Carmen) and were later joined by Sarah G., Suzie, Taylor, & Naomi. It was a cool night on one of the bridges along the seine (the one pictured above) and it was full of people with their friends drinking, eating, chatting, and playing music). Morgan bought a block, Taylor peed and threw up in the Seine(yay Taylor!)

Sept.16th:

For the third time in my life I went to Versailles, with my soeur Lizzie. It was cool.

Liz and I saw the entire Château! except for the Opéra which was closed for renovation or something. I don't think Liz could've found her way through the entire château sans moi!

I should be a tourguide! Then we proceeded to the gardens where we had some of the best ice cream I had cassis avec chocolat. Liz kept bugging me about the damn boats in the what I assume to be a man made very large pond thingy. Well we had to paddle really fast because they charge like 14euro an hr je crois? Anywho we made it to the end and back in an hour and a half not bad poor Liz she paid muahahaha! But it was a lot of fun, let's do it again! on me! lol

Sept.19:

Today I met Lilli (a Japanese student here in Paris, pendant 4ans) I met her through my old Leadership teacher in high school. Lilli is awesome! She speaks:Spanish,English, French, Italian, & Japanese. What a resumé! I wanna do that too! She will be going to Dauphine too (she's in an interpreting program).She's sweet she wants to go to Italia avec moi, too.

FYI: During the month of September, every Thursday is Cultural Adaptation Class. I love it! It's not so much a class. Mostly it's a time where we all share stories of our vies in Paris, how sometimes it's coo and sometimes not so coo. It's the only time I get to see the whole crew together! We have an awesome crew. My favorite peepsin class:Morgan & Kathy (they're hilarious!) It kind of sucks that some people from the program don't show up...but oh well. :)

Sept.20th:

I finally started talking to my Dauphine classmates. Of course my first in was the España crew, and therefore I decided to attend an Erasmus party. located in Montparnasse, at a bar called Le Financier. It was awesome. good company:Lou, Nick(he does the best shopping cart dance I've ever seen), & Carmen. And we got down with the funk! and then were joined by my German buddies:Stephanie and ooppss...I forgot her name, my Australian buddy Jennifer (who demonstrated the Penguin dance), and my Spanish friends: Paula, and Paloma(super short loves to drink). I took the night bus to my quartier(neighborhood) and then grabbed a taxi at around 3am.

I had a test the next morning! no hang over woohoo!

Sans Logement!!!!

2007-09-28T17:18:00.000+02:00

So...I have decided to start a blog. I have never done anything like this before so we'll see how it goes. This is mostly for my friends back home, but I think it is also for my new & old friends here. We are all in this together and I take comfort in reading their blogs. (it makes me feel like I'm not the only one feeling crappy or like i'm dreaming everytime I realize I'm really here.) I've been here for a month now and of course I love it, but there are moments when I just wanna
curl up in my own room in good ol' San Jo, California.... :( et ça me rends triste!
I guess like in anything else we should start at the begining.

<=my room at Cité Universitaire

Highschool:3yrs of French (already imagining my life in Paris)
College:Inquiring about Study Abroad(every semester)How do I get there!?!
I'm finally here! The application process was long and full of a bunch of bureaucracy Bullshit! but I'm here! (prayers of my life have been answered)

Application Process:
Application: references, money!, essays, stress, please pick me!
Feburary:Apply for new passport, YES they picked me!
June:Passport...are we there yet? Bought my plane ticket...ah! I'm going effing scary!
July:Time to go yet?
August: Ummmm....HHHEELLLoOOOO let's go! (Bay Area not looking so appealing)
Aftermath:
Late August: FUCK...i'm here, what do I do?
Early September: This is so surreal!
Mid-September: (was like when a baby learns to walk...I can finally function normally here)
Late-September: I hate my landlady get me out of here NOW! (constant rain)

Ok....so in a nutshell, this experience is such a rollercoaster (like Space Mountain at Disneyland:dark mysterious, scary, full of STEEP ups and downs).
Aside from the bad stuff, the small good stuff always makes up for it.

Amazing:my life fits in two suitcases...cool but sad thought...