I'm pretty sure this is the product of a lack of sleep (fête fête fête!), lots of chatting, and over-comsumption of cheese and baguettes. Not that cheese and baguettes are by themselves terrible for you... but that's all I eat. As a result I'm seriously lacking in nutrients and my immune system is down.
This causes a couple of problems: of course, when you're sick you have less energy to go out and explore things (although I'm very willing to push past that), but mostly it's just that I can't talk. In other words, I can't speak French. At least, not very audibly. I'm supposed to go to the country with my host family and their friends tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to contribute to the conversation. It'll probably be a lot of listening from my end.
Vocal difficulties aside, I've had a really great week. I'm sorry I haven't been great lately about frequent posts, but it's been pretty busy with my friends here. I'm so so happy to have Reid, Anna and Mandi here with me - although I was loving all of the independent walks in Paris and trips to the museums, it's nice to have some real friends here.
Yesterday was fantastic. After class, Reid (who also has her program in the same building) and I took the subway back to her host mom's apartment, bought some cheese and baguettes (so predictable), and found a shady spot in the park where we could escape the sweltering heat. The weather here has been so strange lately; as I was walking to school yesterday, it was about 25°C and raining. Anyways, we had such a lovely time catching up, and the best part was that it was mostly in French. I'm so thankful that she's willing to really work on the language with me, even though it would have much easier (and faster) to speak in English.
Last night, after walking for ages and grocery shopping in the humidity, we went over to Anna's for dinner. I hadn't cooked in so long and, if I do say so myself, we did a good job. We started with melon and prosciutto and then helped ourselves to second portions of gemelli pasta with eggplant, tomato, olives and goat cheese. All accompanied by a bottle of wine, of course. (I will include pictures that Reid took later.) We talked until we realized it was close to midnight, and decided to spend the night in her otherwise empty house. Needless to say, it was another morning of commuting in clothes from the night before, observing all of the Parisians on their way to work. One beak-nosed man on the metro with dyed, slicked-back blonde hair and a beard was sitting down, when the train came to a sudden halt and an Asian woman standing up accidentally stepped on his foot. He gave her the most evil snake eye I have ever seen. Scoffing in disgust, he said, "It's not very nice," with a heavy French accent. He definitely didn't give me the impression of a population of morning people, although to be fair, it's Friday.
Other notable things I've done recently: I went to an 8:30 service at the Notre Dame on Sunday. It didn't really do much for me, personally, because I couldn't understand much of the old French and we were sitting in the back, but it was interesting to hear a sermon in a different language. Plus, I'd never been to a Catholic service before.
A room in the Pompidou
I went to the Pompidou on Wednesday, and was utterly impressed. It's in this weird, futuristic factory-looking thing where you have to take the escalator in these glass tubes on the outside of the building. Honestly, it was a bit confusing to try and find the art. But architecture aside, there was a really strong collection of modern art. I both love and have no patience for modern art because I think it can be too bizarre just for the sake of shocking people, but they had some really nice pieces. Lots of Picasso, lots of Delaunay, and even some Dalí. I plan on going back to see the rest soon.
Oh, and I meant to make a new post out of it, but I forgot; on Wednesday, an ice cream changed my life. I am not the type of person who usually makes such bold claims regarding food, but this is an exception. Berthillon is world-renown for their incredible ice cream, so after class some of us decided to go to Îsle St Louis (the smaller island in the Seine) and brave the lines to try it. My mouth will never be the same. I had butter salted caramel and earl grey tea flavors. Um, yeah, pretty good. The caramel tasted exactly like that's what I was eating, rather than ice cream, with bites that were especially salty. My only qualm was that the portions were not very big, but that's just a French phenomenon, in general.
It's hard to believe I've been here for a month. I feel really comfortable in Paris and can usually find my way around without looking at a map (at least, not too frequently). And my French is worlds better than when I first got here, which is really exciting. Still, I'm glad I still have a month to solidify the language, better get to know my host family, and hopefully do some traveling around France. But don't get me wrong, I already look forward to coming home...
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