The Reality Sets In...

Le 21 octobre, 2008

So the reality is finally setting in that I actually LIVE in this city. It's unbelievable. I've been here a month now, so it's not a visit anymore. C'est la vie.

The last couple of weeks have been eventful, as always. It's already the 4th week of classes at L'Institut Catholique, and having a routine makes the days go by very quickly. The weekends, of course, go faster! On Saturday I went to the marché des puces (flea market), one of the biggest and most famous antique furniture markets in the world. There is also a part that's just a bunch of cheap stuff, which was interesting to look at! After we went to Sacré Coeur during the day and went inside. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was obviously beautiful. I didn't like all the tourist-y "buy stuff!" advertisements inside the church, but I suppose that's just how it is these days! It was peaceful to just sit in a pew and look around, though.

Every Sunday I am trying to visit different places in Paris I haven't been with my friend Lauren. Last Sunday we went to Père-Lachaise with our friend Alec. It is a cemetery where a bunch of famous people are buried, like Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. This Sunday we went to the Jardin du Tuileries and then just walked around all over the place for a while. Sundays have been good to us, the weather has been just beautiful.

Last week our program went to l'Opéra Bastille to see the opera Rigoletto. It was amazing. All the subtitles were in French and I had no difficultly reading them so I was very proud of myself :-). The music was extraordinary, if you ever get a chance to see that opera you should!

Also last weekend my friend Beka came to visit from Barcelona. It was great having her here! We did a lot of things in Paris, but mostly just wandered around. This is a picture of us in the Jardin du Luxembourg:
Well, that's about all for now. Pictures are slow to be uploaded, but will be posted soon! Don't forget to check back for new ones! I have a bunch!

Love,

Sunanna

Week 3 already!

Mercredi, le 8 octobre, 2008

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update this again. I have had a lot of problems uploading photos with this internet connection, so I ended up having to switch sites. I'm now using shutterfly, and you can find the link to my most recent pictures to the right of the screen.

Needless to say, a lot has happened this past week, almost too much to post! But I shall try...

I think I left off right before our trip to Versailles. It was amazing! What an incredible place, although overly extravagant. There was also a modern art exhibit there at the time, with work by Jeff Koons, an American artist. It is very controversial in France, and if you look at my ablum, you may understand why. Basically all the things that look out of place in my Versailles pictures are works by Jeff Koons! I thought it was actually pretty interesting, but a lot of people don't like it. Also, we visited not only the palace itself, but also "Le Petit Trianon," the palace of Marie-Antoinette. All and all it was 5 hours of walking all over Versailles, but definitely worth it!

The next day I moved into my permanent residence, the Fondation des Etats-Unis at the Cité Universitaire. As it turns out, there aren't all Americans here...I was surprised when the first person I met here was Spanish! I have made friends with a lot of people on my floor and even went out with a couple of new friends of mine from Madrid on Thursday. I'm loving it here at the Fondation...there are always people around to talk to and to befriend!

I also started classes last week, and so far they have been very interesting. They are completely in French, but I'm finding myself able to understand almost all of it. My classes are challenging, but they will definitely help me a lot with my French skills, so I'm happy with them. Also, I don't have class on Fridays, so I can't complain!

During the week I do lots of things, from shopping to trying to figure out practical things like bank accounts. Last week I got intentionally lost because I had some time and found myself with a pot of tea people watching on the Boulevard St. Germain. Again, I truly can't complain.

On Friday night I hung out with some people from Illinois and our French friends, but I made sure to get home early because the next day we all had to rise and shine very early to go to two chateaux, Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte. They are both located about an hour outside of Paris. They are a lot smaller than Versailles, but have a certain charm that I think I liked even better than Versailles. You can find the pictures in my album, it was a really fun! This is a picture of the group of us outside of Vaux-le-Vicomte:




On Saturday night I went to Nuit Blanche, a night of music and art in Paris, which was fun but crowded. After that I went to the Champs-Elysees, which was a ton of fun.

Nothing much else to report, classes again this week and another fun weekend approaching. Hope everyone is doing well back in the States!

Love to all,

Sunanna