A day in the life

Rather than a "what I did this week" post (which will come on Friday or Saturday instead) I am going to show you what a normal day looks like for me! Note: no day is really "normal" here. Two days a week I have an hour and a half of classes, two days a week I have three hours of classes, three days a week I don't have any class at all. Routine has yet to come, which is something I'm absolutely loving. Everyday is different from the next.

And now I shall begin.

I woke up at 9:15 because I thought I deserved some extra sleep. I had oral presentations in two different classes yesterday, so I was somewhat exhausted. After getting my things together and "organizing" my room by putting clothes on the bed instead of the floor, I was ready to go.

I went downstairs where my host mom had laid out breakfast for me. She does this every morning and it's so nice of her. Breakfast is either cereal or toasted baguettes with jam. And always with orange juice. Everyone was gone so I had a quiet breakfast where I tried to finish the reading for class.

Then I was off for my five minute walk to the metro.

And then the 20 minute ride to class. Here is a beautiful scene of an empty metro car. It didn't last long.

Then, because I got to CUPA early, I actually finished the reading. Today was a one-class day, which is great. It's the class with the Carleton professor, called "Crossing identities" and we've been looking at how to define identity when you come from different backgrounds. We just finished a (admittedly confusing) book about people who wanted to leave Morocco for Spain. We'll be meeting the author of the book in Morocco and asking him questions, which I am super excited about.

Then for lunch Austin, Francina, and I went to a boulangerie just down the street for sandwiches, and then to Starbucks to get a drink and sit to do homework.

Here are my lunch buddies not looking happy that I took a picture of them while eating.

I sat at Starbucks for a while and tried to start my essay for the Crossing Identities class. However when I realized my topic was about how buildings/monuments reflect time and memory in Paris, I decided to walk around for inspiration. Basically: no homework was done.

Here are a few pictures of places I ended up while wandering. I would say I got lost, but I didn't really have a real destination to get lost from.

Wandering the Luxembourg Gardens. The vegetation and bright colors are
a lovely break from all the buildings in the city.

Under-construction Pantheon in background,
weird naked statue man in foreground.
Overall weird picture.

Saint Genevieve is a cathedral just behind the Pantheon. It's (unsurprisingly) beautiful.

I've already found the best, and cheapest, crepes in Paris, at a stand right next to
the Saint Michel Fountain. Everything in this picture is perfect.

Visiting Notre Dame really just means people watching.
Number of languages heard: 12

Eventually I decided it was time to return to the suburbs and getting cracking on this essay. I went to the local "mediatheque" which is actually just a lending library with tables to work at. I got one and a half paragraphs done before heading home for dinner.

The porch of my house one story about street level.

When I got back, my host mom asked if I wanted to help her make a "tarte au pomme" for dinner. There was no way to reject this offer. Although I struggled with the strange method of cutting apples (into thin slices and without a cutting board) I think I did a decent job. However the struggle really came with the conversation. Since it was just me and my host mom I had to talk more that I usually do. I want to think my French is improving, but at one point I forgot the word for gym and described it as "a house of physical activity." Rough going. I also tried to crack a walnut  and the shell ended up flying halfway across the kitchen. I tell you these things because I do not have a picture of the beautiful apple pie we made and I'm sorry.

Now, it's time for me to finish this paper that's due Friday. Tomorrow we're going to an opera (that's right, opera) so I won't have time. However, I'll probably end up getting distracted by Youtube and chocolate. I do realized I've already eaten a crepe and some apple pie, but I can't deny who I am.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one day of my wonderful Parisian life.

A bientot!