Mont St. Michel nuf'said

Mont St. Michel

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Recap of week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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...

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

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

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!

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...

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:

1. pick up my check book at the bank to pay my rent.
2. 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
3. Go to the 16th Arrondissment, sign and give my copies to my new landlady.
4. Go home, check email, do bank transfers, look up classes and try to go to them....:)
5. Go to work at 16h30 & then go to 2nd job at 19h30....:(
6. 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

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!