Rodin Museum, Napoleon's Tomb & The Invalides

This morning my alarm didn't go off at 8 a.m., but I had been woken up at 7:15 by Meredith's four alarms. She didn't wake up to any of them so I figured I'd just get up when mine went off. I finally looked at the clock and it was 8:15 and we had to be downstairs at 8:30. I quickly got up and woke up Meredith, who didn't seem to have any sense of urgency. It drives me absolutely nuts. Every single day we are late because of her. I constantly say hey we have ten minutes, hey we have to be downstairs in two minutes and she is never on time. Plus all of her stuff is in the bathroom and she takes her sweet time so I do my makeup on my bed and look at my hair two minutes before we leave. Sheesh.

We headed to school and had class with Thomas. We were all dreading it, but it wasn't TOO bad today. I felt really awful though when Kaitlin was giving him a bunch of attitude about how she didn't care about marketing and wouldn't need it for her career and acted so rudely to Thomas. When he walked away John was like he isn't attacking you so stop being so defensive he is just trying to help. Kaitlin is so rude. She really likes to argue with people and is very ignorant and it made me feel bad that she is representing ISU. Class carried on and we were supposed to finish at 12:30, and he went over by about ten minutes. Sallie decides to make huge movements with her arms and says wrap it up while Josh keeps tapping his watch and making comments and finally Sallie is like It's time to go you need to wrap it up. Thomas looked so offended and everyone was literally staring at her. My mouth was hanging open. She is so ignorant and disrespectful. I couldn't believe she acted that way. We were all completely embarrassed to be associated with her.

Of course at lunch when everyone is talking about it, Sallie and Attiya see no problem with the way anyone acted. Really? Are you that stupid? We all made the point that it was rude and shouldn't have happened so they better figure it out.

Then we had to meet Armoogum at the Rodin museum. Rodin sculpted the Thinking Man and The Kiss but we didn't know much about him so it is hard to be interested in something you don't know about. There were really beautiful gardens though so I took a lot of pictures. We weren't there for long and then we headed to Napoleon's tomb. It was really beautiful inside, with ornate ceilings and different tombs. It was very lavish and pretty, but luckily we got in for free because I would not pay seven euro for that. The tomb is gigantic and apparently they don't even know if it is his remains in there or not. I took some cool pictures in there, but again I really don't know much about Napoleon or the other people there too fully appreciate it. That seems to be a running theme with this program...

After Napoleon's we walked to the Invalides which is a hospital where military people hurt from war go. It has all these cannons and things like that around it. It was really beautiful. We were only there for about ten minutes because it was really cold out today and everyone wanted to go home. I know we are going to amazing places and I want to appreciate them, but it is hard to do so when I have no background knowledge. Everything is pretty and I can appreciate its beauty but the significance seems to be lost. At least I actually have an interest to learn about things unlike some stupid people on this trip.

We got home and checked out a couple shops, but I didn't get anything. I came home and talked with Kara for a while and then made some dinner. It was a tomato, basil, and cheese pasta that was really good. We have a ton of projects due next week and almost everyone is leaving for the weekend. So we have no time to get anything done and everyone is freaking out. On top of that everyone is running out of money and kind of ready to go home. I don't feel like I was well informed about this trip and I think they should change a lot of things. They need to better explain the budget. If we are paying $3,000 to stay in a dorm shouldn't they provide the soap and toilet paper for us? Like really? Or clue us in to the fact that you need to budget a lot of money for food because everything here is expensive. We are all pretty frustrated with both Accent and ISU. Oh well. A bunch of people came in my room and talked for a while and then I just showered and I'm going to relax and go to sleep because we have to be downstairs at 8 a.m. tomorrow. We have our written part of our final with Mickey tomorrow so that should be interesting. I don't think it should be too bad. A lot of what we have learned in her class is review for me. We'll see how it goes. Some people are going to the Moulin Rouge tomorrow, but I didn't want to go so I may go out with other people or try to get some work done. Time is flying by and I feel really behind on everything. Especially sleep.

Day trip to Chartre

Today we had class with Henri and the metro was having problems so we were late, but when we got there Henri asked us about our weekend and then suggested a coffee break where he treated us all so we didn't start class for a solid hour. None of us minded. Then we slowly got into the material and it was pretty interesting; we talked about local and global brands. I really like Henri because he keeps things interesting and relevant. He has an interest in getting to know us and wants us to have a great experience in Paris.

After class he asked if he could join us for lunch so we sat and talked. I got green beans, some beef skewer thing and chocolate pudding. It was alright. The beef was cooked kind of weird so a lot of the pieces didn't seem edible. Then we had to leave to meet someone from Accent outside school at 1:30 to go to Chartre. We got on the coach bus and I sat in the back in this VIP style couch. I put my ipod on and fell asleep for most of the hour and a half ride. We got out and had an hour to walk around before our tour so we went to this overlook and took a lot of pictures. There was a really pretty garden that we checked out too. The whole town was beautiful and our Accent person made a great point that Paris is not France, it is only one part so we need to experience the other parts too. Chartre is beautiful and really quaint. It is much different than Paris, there is no hustle and bustle or craziness. It is exactly what you would think of a French town looking like.

We went into the cathedral and got our headsets and met our tour guide, Malcolm Miller. He has to be like 70 years old and has been lecturing at the cathedral since 1958. He is from England and is a total sarcastic hardass so he was really fun to listen to. He mentioned that visiting the cathedral is like visiting a library, you can't read all the books in one day or even in a life time, and you can't see or fully appreciate the cathedral in one day either. And we only had an hour. He started off telling us a brief history about the cathedral and how it has been under construction for a year and will be for another five. Every time the workers made noises he stopped and made some comment about working with animals. He also is not a fan of kids as there was a big group of them running around.

He explained how the stained glass is original and tells all different types of stories. You have to read them top to bottom then left to right. He showed us one stained glass window that has all the zodiac signs on it. He also explained that apparently there is a long piece of material that was Mary's from the nativity when she had Jesus, but it is kept in this beautiful casing that thieves tried to steal and they ripped the cloth so now only a small piece remains. It was pretty neat to look at everything, but we only had an hour with him and clearly needed more time. Mr. Miller is extremely knowledgeable and was great to listen to. I just got really annoyed when Sallie was sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM and was asleep for about 50% of the lecture. She is so stupid. A lot of people looked pretty bored, but I really really enjoyed it. I wish I had more time there though. I think it is my second favorite place we have been to after Sacre Coeur.

It took two hours to get home so we got dropped off at Bastille and there were a ton of police army people in front of the Opera house and they asked where we were going. I have no idea what happened. There was red tape in front of the entrance to the opera so clearly something was going down. We stopped at Monoprix to get groceries and then I headed home and had some yummy cheese tortellini and a tomato and basil noodle salad thing. It is my roommate's 22nd birthday today so some people are going out, but I'm exhausted and will be going to sleep shortly. We have class with boring Thomas tomorrow and then our last visit with Armoogum. It's going to be a long day....

Amsterdam: Day Three (Van Gogh Museum)

Saturday morning I decided not to get up for breakfast so I showered because I was sweating all night in that hot box of a hotel. That's what you get for staying in the attic; musty and hot. Sallie stayed behind too so I had to wait to shower so I started working on my blog and emails. I take my shower, which was literally a room in the hall that has a shower head at one side, it was bizarre. I come back and Sallie is laying on my bed..in her towel..on my computer..and listening to music. I was like ...hi. She is really weird and a huge moocher so I was uncomfortable. So as I am getting ready I plug my camera in to charge it for the day and five minutes later Sallie asks if it's charged. I told her no that I had just plugged it in. Two minutes later she unplugs it so she can charge her phone. Wtf don't you understand? She is so stupid. Luckily me and John were leaving to go to museums and everyone else was going shopping so I wouldn't have to deal with her.

It was very cold out, but we were going to walk to the museum district and check out a few places then meet back at the hotel around 4p.m. We stopped in a few stores on the way and I ended up getting a pretty cool track jacket that I put on about ten minutes later because it was around 50 degrees and windy. Perfect. We walked for what felt like forever so we asked one guy where the museums are and he said we just had to go down the street and then we asked about the Dutch Resistance museum and he just laughed. Lovely. We walked over to the museum area and spotted the I Am Amsterdam sign so we took some pics. Then we decided to go to the Van Gogh museum which was poppin off. I had to get a hotdog before hand because I was famished and it was delicious.

While standing in line we were both pretty dead and it was only like 1p.m. My legs were really sore and my feet were starting to blister. But we walked all that way so we decided to check it out. I didn't know too much about Van Gogh prior to this trip other than a few very famous works so it was interesting to read all the stuff about his life. He became a painter when he was 27 and then died when he was 37, but managed to create mass amounts of art. He admitted himself into an insane asylum and had some form of epilepsy, which may be how he accidentally cut his ear off. Ouch. He ended up shooting himself in the chest and dying two days later with his brother by his side.

There were a lot of sections to the museum so the first part was all his influences, and believe me there were a ton of them. Then he had a Japanese nature section which was really pretty. There was a huge peasant section. There was a paper section, which was newer and had works that were new for the times for like newspaper type things. There was some Monet and Manat thrown in there also. Then we got to the top section which featured Montmarte where Van Gogh lived for a while. This was the symbolic section and had a lot of cool works. We were both pretty dead after walking around so much but there was a small Picasso in Paris exhibit so we checked that out. It was pretty cool, I didn't realize he did some sculpture work so those were interesting pieces to check out.

After the museum we headed home and made a beeline for the hotel. We got all the way up the death stairs to our room and tried for a solid two minutes to get the stupid key to work but it kept making an angry sound so luckily a maid was around and helped us. Dumbest hotel ever. We got there right around four and then I Skyped with mom and dad. That was fun. I played around on my computer as we waited for the other group to get back and when they did they showed us what they bought and then everyone fell asleep. We got up around seven and decided to go to this Italian place for dinner because the hotel gave us a card for 5% off.

It was a pretty quaint little restaurant but not many people were there. I got a margarita pizza and a beer. The pizza was absolutely delicious and I ate the entire thing and could have had a second. After din we headed to the liquor store and then to the room to drink, but ended up sitting around for a while. Around ten everyone started getting ready so we drank and planned to leave around eleven. Gabby asked for some of my wine which was fine and then go figure moocher Sallie wants some too so she helps herself to the rest of the bottle. I was like really? Did you just finish that? We headed out and walked towards the Red Light District as there are a ton of bars over there. We walked around for a while and met some characters on the way. There are a lot of weirdos in Amsterdam. We finally decided to go into a place and it had big couches so we sat by a group of three guys from London or something. They were really boring so me, Gabby and Meredith chit chatted and got drinks. We left and were heading towards other bars when one of the guys from the last place sprints down and says he wants to come with us but he has to go get his jacket...uhh okay.

He was apparently trying to lead us somewhere, but we weren't members of the hotel so we couldn't get in. Good job. We decided to try a few other bars that were also failures so we ditched the guy and decided to go to the same bar from the night before. It was pretty crowded in there and everyone but me got drinks so we chilled there for a while. The dj played a lot of American music but mainly old stuff like who let the dogs out. As we were in there we slowly concluded that it was an African American bar and we were by far the youngest people there..by a solid 10 or 15 years. We left and headed home and I went to sleep while everyone talked.

We woke up this morning around nine and I packed and then got breakfast. We had to check out at 10:15 so we got a taxi and headed to the train station. The train was on time and pretty crowded but I grabbed the window seat and listened to my ipod. I was pretty tired and kept dozing off and slammed my head into the window. I finally stopped resisting and took a nap, which was great. We got home around 3:30 so I unpacked and then fell asleep. I woke up not too long ago and I am still exhausted so I hope to go to bed around nine or ten. The weather here is great so that was really nice to come home to since Amsterdam was like Chicago November. We have to drop our metro passes off at Accent tomorrow to recharge them and they want them there at 7:15 so of course everyone is being quiet about who is going to take them. I'm not. That's for damn sure.

Tomorrow we have class with Henri and then we are taking a day trip to Chartres, which I believe is southwest of Paris. We are taking a coach bus and we get headphone guides which is sweet. I've been looking up a little bit of info so I have an idea of what we are going to see and it sounds pretty, except for the name. I'm not sure what time I get back tomorrow though. I hope not late. Tuesday will be a long day too, but then we only have class Wednesday and then a four day weekend. I don't have any set plans yet, but we are talking about going to Giverny. I went through a lot of money in Amsterdam so I need to be pretty conservative the rest of the trip, but I only plan on buying a bottle of wine and then that is the last souvenier. I have to send postcards and those things are expensive to mail! But I'm a nice person so I'll do it.

I feel like I've been here for months. I like it in Paris, but I will be very happy to go home where things are simple and convenient. I need Taco Bell for real.

Amsterdam: Day 2 (Anne Frank's Annex)

We woke up at 9 so we could catch breakfast downstairs and it was pretty good. They gave us really good bread, hard boiled egg, different jellys, this other little square of bread, a slice of some meat, a slice of cheese. It was surprisingly tasty. After breakfast we got ready and headed to Anne Frank's annex. The long was already pretty long but it moved quickly. We couldn't take any pictures so I took a few of the outside and I'll just have to do a good job of explaining the rest.

You walk into this room with a few different quotes on the wall from Anne's diary and then you basically walk the layout of the whole building where the annex was, although some rooms aren't available to go into. I then went into a room prefacing the tour and had a video playing that read more quotes from her diary and showed a ton of images. Right away I knew it would be hard to get through. I went upstairs and saw the office area where Miep and everyone worked. There was a video of Meip and she talked about how she didn't think twice when Otto Frank asked her to help them. She worked in the kitchen at first and then Otto said she would basically be the receptionist and information person. None of the rooms have the original furniture in them because Otto Frank did not want it there. He wanted it to be restored and shown but not to have all the original things there. We went through a living room and dining area and a few rooms that showed models of what the place used to look like.

There is a huge staircase that Anne and everyone would have to sneak down during the night to get out of the annex for a little bit. Then we headed up to the annex and you go into this room with the blackout curtains and it was a kitchen area and has recipes and things that actually used. There isn't much in any of the rooms except a few artifacts and explanations so it was kind of hard to imagine an entire family living in the space for so long. Then I saw the bedrooms where they all slept and they are so tiny for three people to sleep comfortably. Anne's room was eery. She shared it with Fritz Pfeffer It is also very small and she wrote in her diary of how bare it was so her dad had grabbed her postcards and pictures before they went into hiding and Miep got her glue and stuff to hang them up. There are sections of the wall that still have the original pictures on them. It really started to hit me there. She had so many pictures of Shirley Temple and famous actresses. There were also a lot of silly magazine clippings and comics too. We also saw Peter van Pels room which was in a random room under a staircase that lead to this attic that he and Anne would sneak up to at night.

In all the rooms were more quotes on the wall from Anne's diary saying how scared she was or how they couldn't do anything all day and had to be quiet at mice. It was really hard to read them especially the one that said she just wanted to yell or laugh or run around. I can't even fathom that. After you see the bedrooms You can go down to different levels and just learn more about their situation. There was one section that had all of the people hiding and their cards they got when they had to go to the concentration camps. Anne's had a video playing behind her that was so gruesome and showed the camps and bodies literally just piled up and people so emaciated and withered. It made my stomach turn. Then there was a video of Anne's friend Hannah talking about how they were separated for so long and she got wind that Anne was at the camp next to hers so she tried to send her packages. Hannah was in a different kind of camp because her family's ethnicity or heritage put them on a higher level than other Jews. It was really sad to hear her talk about Anne because when Margot and her mom died Anne didn't feel like she had anything to live for because she didn't know her dad was still alive and so she kind of gave up and died just weeks before the camps were liberated.

Then I went into rooms that started talking about her diary and getting it published and there was a video of Otto Frank where he said when he found out his children were dead he read Anne's diary and realized that she had a lot of feelings that she never brought up to anyone. He said that parents may never really know their children. It was really sad to hear him talk about Anne and it was very difficult to not start crying. I headed downstairs and saw a collection of Anne's journals and other writings and things she had done while in the annex. She went back and wrote some new things in her journal so you could see the red pen marks. Her journal is translated in about 70 languages. One of the last parts of the tour is a section dedicated to Margot who does not get a lot of credit. They had videos of her friends and school mates that were angry that she does not get much recognition probably because the diaries that she kept were never found. She was extremely intelligent and would send her Latin teacher letters and exercises so she could practice and improve. Otto said that she was much deeper than Anne was. I thought it was really nice that they had that section for her because it really highlighted her as an interesting person. She wanted to be a nurse, but died in the camps.

There was also a section with brief videos discussing injustice and things like that so for example there are groups on Facebook that deny that the Holocaust ever happened and is it okay for them to say that because freedom of speech or should that be illegal. It was interesting and definitely thought provoking so they had mini polls for each one. Then we went to the gift shop and I got a few postcards. We all met up outside and agreed that it was a great presentation and experience.

We walked around for a while and checked out the town which is adorable. It doesn't even feel real. I don't think I could ever live here, but it is the perfect weekend spot. I took a ton of pictures and then we wandered over to this place called Gray Area that apparently is a famous cannabis shop. A couple of the people in our group were very excited to be there. There were a bunch of old stoners in there and really loud music and a ton of smoke so it was not comfortable. I looked completely out of place because I had on my skinnies, my cute flower scarf that mom bought me, my blazer and a giant pink Gossip Girl style headband. It was interesting to see all the people and know that smoking is legal? It was strange. A couple people bought stuff and then we left to walk around. It was pretty cold outside so we quickly made our way to get food.

After a while we got pretty lost because we were trying to get to the Red Light District and made one wrong turn and wound up prowling all around the city. We came back home and everyone slept for like two hours. It was so nice to nap. My legs and feet are so tired. When we woke up I got a chorizo and cheese sandwich downstairs and it was delish. I decided to treat myself and got a diet coke. Everyone else wanted to try Indonesian food so we went to this restaurant down the street. There was this hokey island music playing with sad decorations and this German lady had to be 65 and was a total hardass. She didn't really greet us so Gabby went up to the counter and told her we were ready and she was like I'm busy I'll be there when I'm ready. All in all the food looked like the same stuff you can get at any chinese restaurant around home. Then we came back to the room and drank and hung out for a bit then headed to the Red Light District.

We finally found it and it was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. All the prostitutes looked completely bored and they were texting or reading magazines. It was pretty funny to see all the groups of drunk guys freaking out at the windows. It's basically only one street with a canal in the middle so there isn't a lot to it so we went to a bar that was on a side street and it was pretty fun. It wasn't jam packed and everyone was in a good mood so it was cool. We hung out there for most of the night and then headed home around 2:30 or 3 a.m. Can you say laaaate night? I've been having fun with the group here though, living so close forces you to get to know each other. I'm ready to go back to Paris though and be back in more of a comfort zone. I can't believe how quickly time is going! Before I know it mom and dad will be here and then we will be heading home! Ayeee

Amsterdam, Day One

Thursday we had class with Mickee and it was pretty interesting because we talked about Hofstede's dimensions of culture. She talked about some of the differences in teaching students from different cultures like how French students talk all during class and the Asian students never talk and don't ask questions. She likes teaching the American students because we interact a lot more. I've already learned about a lot of the stuff we cover in her class, but it is interesting to put it into a different context. Then we had lunch and I got this good pasta with creme brule and something else but I don't remember. It was a good meal. Me, Gabby and Meredith headed home to get our luggage because John, Sallie and Beth all brought theirs to class. Some people went to the Louvre but it was more of a free for all than anything. We all met up at the train station and didn't have to wait long to board.

I was expecting a really shitty train, but it was actually really nice. There were nice lights and the chairs were really comfy and they were red or magenta. It was a classy train for sure. They had the announcements in like four languages so it took a while to figure out what was going on. Nobody was in the seat next to me for about the first 50 minutes and then we stopped at Brussels and this German lady sat down and she was sneezing and coughing on everything. It was sick. I brought my book with me but I felt car sick so I just listened to my ipod and it was really nice. I took some pictures of the scenery. We saw TWO rainbows on the way! I got a picture of them. It was so cool.

We finally got to Amsterdam around 9:30 p.m. and we were greeted with high winds, rain and like 45 degree weather. It was awful and none of us were dressed for it. We took a taxi to the hotel, which was pretty close to the train station and found our hotel. It is this rinky dink place above a restaurant that is never occupied. The stairs are ridiculous; they are at about a 90 degree angle and you have to turn your foot sideways to try and pull yourself up the 2 inch deep stairs. I got a salami and cheese panini that was delish! The bread is really good so that made it. Then we went to the liquor store and I got wine and we came back to the room to drink and hang out. It was actually a lot of fun because this is such a random group that we ended up talking for like two hours and didn't even head out until like 12:30. We didn't realize that everything closes at 1 a.m. so there wasn't much going on. We came back to the room like an hour later and talked for a while and John wanted to kill us all because we wouldn't stop talking and laughing. We stopped by one bar/restaurant that was really nice and I got a Johnny Walker and Coke. It was kind of rough, but I thought Daniel would appreciate it :) The guy that worked there was really friendly and filled us in a lot on Amsterdam. Friday and Saturday things are open till 3 a.m. so they don't really do Thirsty Thursday here. Regardless it was a fun way to kick off the weekend and bond as a group.

Class, class, class

The past couple days have been extremely uneventful and tiring. We had two classes Tuesday and Wednesday and only one today, but that means six hours of lecture back to back. It was kind of awful. I really like the teachers here, but none of us are used to sitting through a lecture for three hours so it's rough. Especially in Thomas' class; he drags on and likes to talk about his new job and how much he knows about marketing and then gives us a five minute break. I have grown very fond of doodling since being in that class. I do feel bad because when I look around at the room almost everyone's head is down and they're doing something else. But I don't blame them because it is so boring.

We are learning about branding and marketing and management which is all interesting, but much of it is pretty basic and things I have learned in a lot of my PR classes. It is always fun to hear more real world stories from the teachers when we can get them talking about their experiences or ask for recommendations. They have some great stories to tell and a few of them actually have a sense of humor. I think Henri is the favorite teacher of everyone here. He is really funny and he makes a lot of jokes and sometimes he tries to explain things but it doesn't translate right so he just laughs because we look so confused. We are doing a wine tasting in his class and then he said he will take us to a little store where they have a great selection and it isn't pricy like some of the specialty shops so he said if we want to bring wine back to get it there.

Yesterday these two french guys came over to our table at lunch and asked if they could sit with us to work on their English. Yeah good line buddy. Anyway they were nice and one of them is named Quinton and he studied in Wisconsin for a semester and it was so funny to hear him talk about it. He kept saying, "Yeah we drank in ze parking lot and did ze beer bongs." And we're like oh you went tailgating haha. He was wearing a Hollister shirt and I asked why so many people where that here and he said it is really cool for people to wear American clothes that they get in the states. Pretty interesting.

I had this interesting pasta for lunch yesterday, it was kind of crunchy but I think it was more like the crust and then I had these little potato things with some sort of spice on them and they were great! I loved those and wolfed them down. Today I got some other type of pasta with cheese and it was really good. I like more plain stuff. I also got an egg salad with some type of cream that was really tasty and then creme brule. It was SO good. The guy was making it with the torch thing right in front of us. Delish.

Some of the class went to the Louvre, but I had to come back here and get all my luggage for Amsterdam because I am leaving today so I'm hoping I can go there with Mom and Dad. I can't believe they're going to be here soon!!! Oh last night I watched Passport to Paris with Mary Kate and Ashley Olson with a few of the girls and it was so funny. I used to love that movie and watching it now it was the dumbest thing ever. It was cool to see all the sites in the movie that we have seen. We are going to try and find some of the cafes they were at. They talked about francs in the movie so it must have been filmed before France adopted the euro.

So like I said I am leaving for Amsterdam in a little bit and I am so excited! Our teacher Mickee is from there and she said we will love it. It is one of the friendliest places in the world AND they speak English! Merciiiii. We get in around 9 tonight so I am not sure what we will do. I would rather rest up so I can get up early tomorrow and go see a lot. We are going to Anne Frank's annex and I am SO excited. I'm bummed we can't take pictures, but it will definitely be an amazing thing to see. We are also going to the Dutch Resistance museum and a Jewish museum. I want to do a boat tour because Mickee was saying it is a great way to see a lot of Amsterdam if we aren't there for a long time. She also mentioned that there is a large Indonesian influence there so we should try one of the restaurants. I am a little nervous for that, but I am bringing my Pepto so I should be okay.

There were five of us going originally and then Sallie decided to come with at the last second. That is totally fine except we are staying in a hotel with five beds and she thinks she is sharing with someone. Hell. No. She is a little feisty so I am nervous for how she is going to react. We have all told her to bring a blanket and pillow and she keeps saying she doesn't need it because she will share...yeah okay. She is going to be a handful. It is kind of an interesting group that is going. Everyone gets along but we don't really hang out so it may be kind weird. Oh well. PMA. There is a lot of really great history there that I am interested in learning about, but a couple of the people seem to have different priorities. I just don't want to get stuck at a club till 4a.m. because they want to stay and I can't walk by myself. But we will see what happens. At least we get breakfast from the hotel. That will be awesome.

I'm excited to go I think it will be a really great experience. This trip is going by so quickly I can't believe it. I feel like there is still so much that I want to see here! Thankfully I am staying with the fun couple :) I'm bringing my laptop to Amsterdam (fingers crossed that its safe) so I will be able to post about my day. I plan on taking a TON of pics. It is supposed to be cooler and rainy, but never the less I am ready! Adios!

Notre Dame & Sorbonne

Sunday was pretty lazy. We headed back to Montmarte and I got most of my souveniers so I'm pretty set. We decided to take the side stairs up to the little town and that was the worst idea ever. There easily had to be 150 steps at a ridiculous incline. We were gasping for air after the second set. Awful. We finally got to the top and checked out the artists because a couple people wanted to buy stuff. We went to a cafe that had a special for 12 euro you got a burger, fries, drink and dessert. It was really yummy and it was fun sitting outside but our waiter was a punk. Liz and Attiya ended up buying art and then we headed back home because we were dead. I didn't do much when I got back. I watched Project Runway online for a solid 3 hours.

Monday was alright. We had to meet Armoogum at Notre Dame at 9:30 and we were a solid twenty minutes late. There were a ton of people there too so it was kind of a pain. We had to walk up this tiny staircase and we were already sore from walking up the steps at Montmarte. Everyone was so dizzy and tired. We went out to this viewing area and it was really pretty. Then we crawled through this little door where Quasimoto used to live or something and saw the giant bell. It was way too crowded and people don't know how to move so this trip was really more hassle than it was worth. We went up a little higher and then had to go down the small spiral staircase all the way to the bottom. Some of us went inside the church and I lit a candle. It was very pretty inside, but hard to take pictures without the flash. Then some chamber singers came out all dressed up and started singing so I took a video. We waited for everyone to go through the church and then Armoogum talked a little bit about the area. He said Notre Dame was built where it is because the soil is special and they believe it has the power to connect to Heaven so it is sacred. I'm not sure what he was talking about. It was very pretty none the less.

Then we walked to Sorbonne which is a University in Paris that was the sight of the student's revolution in the 1960s. They shut down the school because they wanted better education and as a result they now have dorms for men and women that are closer and school is a heck of a lot cheaper than it is in the U.S. It is a beautiful area and has a lot of historic meaning. I think ISU needs to have a revolt so we don't have to pay so damn much for school.

We left Armoogum and headed to school for lunch. Negocia and Accent clearly don't know how to make our schedule because we had an hour to get back to school and to eat lunch before class but it takes a solid forty minutes to get there. I ate a rushed and crappy lunch of rice and fries and chocolate pudding and all the bread was gone. What a disappointment. We had class with Henri and it was kind of a snoozefest. He is really nice and tries to make jokes but it was so hot in the classroom and we were walking around so much that everyone was ready for sleep. Not to mention we were still hungry. We did a few exercises in class and then were done at 4:30 where we had to get back on the Metro and head to Accent for a meeting. Dumb.

We finally got to Accent and everyone was drained. They gave us weird cookies and warm drinks. Thanks for that. We had a meeting with the director of Accent who wanted to see how everything was going. She is kind of annoying. Nobody really had much to say. She did mention that a volcano in Iceland is erupting and the volcanic cloud is supposed to be here by Thursday so flights may be canceled. It was only like a 15 minute meeting and it was stupid so afterwards a bunch of us got Subway because it was close and American. It was delicious. I got a footlong, which here is 30 cm or something and I inhaled it. I am so hungry all the time here. They don't make eating a priority like we do. After that I mailed some postcards and came home to watch the finale of Project Runway. Me and Kara and John wanted to go out so we sat in my room with Meredith and Gabby and drank for a bit and hung out. It was fun. We decided to go out because we didn't have class today until 1:30. We went to Iguana again because it is familiar and we had a good time. We saw some familiar people there which was funny. The music wasn't as good as it has been and none of us wanted to stay too late so we didn't get too crazy. We walked to this food place and got a bite to eat and the people working were pretty amused with us. I came home and went to sleep hoping to sleep till noon and instead my roommate woke up at 9 to do laundry with Gabby and they thought talking loudly and turning the lights on and slamming doors was a good idea. I'm so. freaking. tired. I will write about today later.

TGIF

Friday morning was hard to wake up after going out the night before. It was worth it though. We headed to school and met our marketing teacher, Thomas Misslin. It was the most painful three hours of my life. Thomas Misslin is very nice and he was born in New Jersey so I could actually understand him. By the end of the day I wish he was speaking Japanese so I could have an excuse to fall asleep. He wore the ugliest pleated pants that were so short I couldn't believe he was for real. He decided to tuck this puffy checkered shirt into the pants, which made his outfit so distracting I had no idea what he was talking about. To be honest, I'm not sure what he talked about for the entire time. It was the most basic class that I thought it was a joke. I know how to put a resume together. I have a general knowledge about marketing. I don't need to give my resume to someone else and have them critique it because I already know I am better then them. I was not amused.

The class was putting everyone to sleep and the teacher noticed quite easily when at least three people fell asleep. I don't blame them. I tried taking notes just to keep myself busy but instead I wound up writing about how bored I was. He gave us a five minute break. In the span of three hours. Seriously? I thought it was a joke. Thankfully I brought my bacon flavored pringles so I could snack. He spent about thirty minutes explaining how his class and Henri's class were different. I figured that out thank you. Thank goodness Penny called Accent and told them we were getting lunch before we stopped there because I was flippin ravenous. They served plain pasta which I love so I was a happy camper. I put a little cheese on top and got some pudding and bread and was set.

We had to stop by Accent to drop off our Metro cards to be charged. Checked a few emails, talked to Stephen Graff who is quite easily the most energetic person I have ever known. I also talked to my friend Scott who is in Cologne, Germany and we may be going to visit him on our four day weekend. He mentioned he is going to Berlin so we may meet him there or do a night in Cologne and then all go together to Berlin. It is really up in the air at this point.

We left Accent and headed home where everyone took naps. I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open. I woke up at five to shower and then Skype with Anthony for a bit. It was really nice to hear from him and I was excited to tell him about all the things I have been doing. I got ready and met the girls down stairs. Everyone wanted to go out, but we wanted to hit up happy hour because we wanted to get the deals so we hurried to the bars because it ends at 9p.m. Me, Kara, Liz, Lynn, Sally and Attiya went to Iguana and we each got two drinks. I got a Jaeger bomb and I think a Bull Island which is like a Long Island but has redbull in it? I may have made that up. It was tasty though. We stayed there for a little while before checking out the surrounding bars. We decided to split a few drinks because they are so expensive so I got a Sex on the Beach, which was a little too fruity and pineappley for me. I also had a whiskey coke which was hella strong and not that good but for 5 euro it was legit.

We ended up going back to Iguana around 11 or so and saw some people from our group. They were not in good moods and apparently don't like to smile or talk to anyone so we did our own thing. Me, Kara and Liz decided to go back to the bar with the 5 euro whiskey cokes and ended up talking to people there for a while. Everyone thinks it is interesting that we are from America. They did point out though that they don't binge drink like Americans do so people may make fun of us for that. Whatev. We headed back to Iguana after a while and everybody left so we sat for a bit and met people from California and Rhode Island. Is anyone in Paris actually FROM Paris? We didn't stay long and decided to walk around and saw more people from our group who had just come from a bar where they ran into Dr. Long and Penny. I guess they were dancing with them and getting drinks which is a little odd considering they both have to be 60. Little late don't you think? We all went to the bar with the whiskey cokes and some people got drinks but most of us were pretty tired. We headed back after a little bit and I went to sleep.

I woke up today and haven't done much. I like being lazy after doing so much during the week. I read Water for Elephants and then watched some tv on my lappy. Me and Liz went to franprix to get some food because I am starving here. Then we came back and I cleaned my room and took a shower. I haven't been doing much since. It is almost 7:30pm here so it is practically time to get ready to go out for the night. I think the whole group may go out to a dancing club which would be super fun. Kara and Lynn ended up going to Normandy for the day because a family friend of Kara's is in Paris. They left before I even woke up so I didn't really care. They should be back around 9 tonight so I'm not sure if they will come out with us. It is really hot here today so hopefully it will be warm when we go out.

Some people were talking about some club that's on a boat and cost ten euro to get in. Um what? I don't really want to do that. I need to save some mons here. Tomorrow we may go back to Montmarte but I am not sure. It will probably be a pretty mellow day because we have a long week ahead of us. That's all for now. I wish I had On Demand and fast food here. And wifi. That would be great.

Opera House

This post will probably be short because I can't remember everything from yesterday and I am tired. We had class for part of the day and met our teacher Henri Simmonet who teaches global branding. He was really funny and interesting so class didn't drag. He was really interested in what we are doing while we are here and recommended a lot of things to do. We did an exercise about branding and had to give personalities to brands like Audie, Jeep and BMW. It was fun and relevant and the whole class really liked him.

Then we had lunch and I got some sick egg and spinach thing with some sort of rice thing that sucked. I was not happy. So I stocked up on free bread.

Then we had to meet Armoogum at the opera house and we got on the metro and hear someone say, "You are on the right train," and it was Armoogum. So that was pretty funny and at least we figured out how to get there. We walked around and saw a few theaters including one that is like a French comedy theater that was used to show plays that made fun of the government and were off the beaten path. We stopped by another theater and they wouldn't let us in so we got to look at some dumb pictures.

We made our way back to the opera house and there was this gypsy child in a chicken costume that would hop in pictures and then make you pay her. I didn't fall for it. We got to go through the ball room and the main areas in the opera house and it was so ornate and beautiful. It was for royals only, but now it is obviously open to the public as there is no royal family. We had to tell the ticket people that we were art students from Chicago so they would let us in for free. It worked so it saved me some euroooo. They were rehearsing so we only had a limited amount of time to look around. We got to go in one of the balconies that is actually inside the theater and take a few pictures. It is really pretty and the ceiling is very ornate. It was pretty cool but there were like 30 people jammed in this tiny space.

For some reason everyone was really tired and didn't want to walk around so after we were done with the opera we all wanted to leave. We headed home and a few of us went to Accent to print resumes for class today and then I mailed some postcards and we went out to eat. Everyone got margherita pizza except for me. I got some cheese gnocchi that was ballin. I couldn't eat it all so I brought it home and I'm going to eat it in just a little bit for dinner. Then I called mom and chatted with her and we tried to Skype. That was an experience. The internet here is really slow so the connection sucks. I think the sound is really delayed. It is a pain to Skype with anyone.

I had an migraine and didn't want to do much, but I sucked it up and went out with Lynn, Kara, Liz, Meredith and Josh. It was really fun. We went to this bar called Iguana and there was like nobody there so we brought the party. Drinks were hella expensive so I stuck with the cheapest thing I liked which was jaeger bombs for 6.50. Ouch. I only got 2 drinks because they were so expensive. We tried checking out prices at other bars but everything was more expensive than Iguana. Of all the places in the world, we are in a bar in Paris and met people from Wheaton. It was the strangest thing. We didn't stay too late because we had class early today and I was exhausted so we headed back and went to bed. It was a really fun night and I am glad that I made myself go out because it was such a fun night with everyone. Waking up this morning..was not so fun....

The Catacombs

Today we had to be at school and it was not fun waking up at 7:20 a.m. I hate waking up early. But it was supposed to be 77 degrees today so I can't complain. We all went together and have to make a few changes on the metro. We got on at Auber I believe and Kaitie was by me and then there were a ton of people on my car so she decided to get on the other car. We got off only a couple stops later and we step off the train and Kaitlin yells, "Look out for the gypsys!" We turn around and Kaitie was sobbing because there was a group of kids that shoved her right before they got off and they stole her camera. Another girl tried grabbing Kaitlin's wallet and she grabbed the girls arm and snatched it back. I felt so bad. Kallie said right when she got on the train there was a girl that reached into her back and she slapped the girls hand and yelled at her. Hahaha. Actually it isn't funny because I would be devastated if someone stole something from me. Me, Lauren and Kallie waited with Kaitie as she talked to the guy at the Information desk and told the people downstairs in the metro area and told Kaitie where to go to file a police report and then go back to the Auber station because they have cameras in the station and on the train.

The people at Accent warned us about all the kids on the train. They said that it is a huge problem on the Metro and they just busted two of the main people in this group. They are usually kids and sometimes an adult and they create a distraction by either shoving someone or having a doll that looks like a baby and dropping it to distract people and then taking their stuff. Kaitlin's bag doesn't have a zipper and was wide open and Kaitie's bag was behind her and unzipped, which is exactly what they told us not to do. I flip my bag towards me and hold it to me so nobody's getting in here. I felt really bad because it is scary more than anything to know that someone is in your stuff.

We walked to school and we were only like two minutes late. We met our teacher Mickey Keeren who teaches Intercultural Management. She gave us a brief history of Europe and the EU and it was so boring. It was hard to stay awake. Then we got a 30 minute break and came back to finish up some notes about cultural difference and what makes people different. Then she explained that we have a final project to do in pairs and we have to research a cluster of countries and explain the similarities and differences in business practices compared to the U.S. I am working with Liz and we got the Low Countries which are like the Netherlands or something. Of course we get the place that the teacher is originally from so that is great. Again, people were really disrespectful in class and like putting on makeup or lotion and talking and passing notes. Really? So stupid. Then we got lunch; I had a pork chop, some rice pilaf or something, mozarella and tomato salad, chocolate pudding and bread with olive oil. Delicious. Absolutely delish. And only 5 euro. Even better.

The pork chop was pretty good but I never have them with the bone in so it was a little weird. Kind of dry and not as good as dad's, but it was like the first real meat that I've had. Everything else was really good. It is such a good price that it makes everything taste better.

We headed back home and met up with some people and made our way to the Catacombs. It was a pretty short metro trip there and it was right across the street where we got off. It was only four euro too. The sign said it may not be good for children or those with a nervous disposition so of course I started to get nervous. You have to walk down 130 stairs to get to the bottom and 80 some stairs back up. It's like 20 meters down and the staircase is this spiral that feels like it is never going to end. I got really scared and worried about having enough air but it was fine. You have to walk 500 meters to get to the actual start and you're in this tiny hallway with uneven footing and it gets really chilly and there are drops of water falling. It was so creepy. You'd think they'd put a few more lights in there, but apparently that's not in the budget.

There were engravings on the wall to signify when that part was built and which pillar it belonged too. Also there original markings from the workers and their tools. People used to be able to go down there by candlelight so there are a lot of black markings on the ceiling so they knew where they were. There are also street signs on the walls so you know which street your walking under.

It was pretty creepy to be down there and actually seeing the bones was a strange feeling. There was one sign right before you enter the area with the bones that mentioned to be respectful as so many people are buried there. I almost felt bad taking pictures because I don't want to be disrespectful. It was very interesting to see and I couldn't believe how many bones were there. Everything was arranged so neatly and in such order, I don't know who would have had the patience to do that. It only takes about 45 minutes to go through the whole Catacombs so we weren't there for very long. We stopped in the gift shop after but everything just had skulls on it. Nothing historic or cool looking. Just overpriced and tacky. A few people stopped to get ice cream and then we got back on the metro to come home.

A few of us stayed in the Gare dy Lyon metro station because they have a bunch of cute shops and one store had a ton of beauty products and they were all 2 euro so I got some Pantene shampoo and conditioner because the stuff I brought isn't enough for one shower. Then we walked home and I've been sitting here uploading pictures and updating my blog. I will be going to bed early tonite. Some of us want to go out tomorrow night because come Friday, everyone's schedule is different and people are going different places all the time. I only have my trip to Amsterdam next weekend. I was talking to Kara about going to the South of France for our long weekend, but if it is too expensive then I will stay here. I can't justify spending a ton of money on travel to a lower part of the country I'm in. We'll see.

I can't wait for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait to be home and have Walmart and Target and Taco Bell. Convenience doesn't seem to be a big thing here. There are no one stop shops really. Our teacher today was explaining how a lot of people hate the euro because they used to use the French Franc here and when they switched to the euro it was six times only one franc. Crazy. Needless to say the cost of living here went through the roof.

I'm already tired. I hope I can fall asleep around 10. Au revoir? I think that's bye.

Victor Hugo's Apartment

Yesterday was our first real day of class. We met at 10 a.m. and Armoogum lectured for a bit about Paris and what we would be doing in the class. We have 6 sessions with him and we meet him at different locations and he teaches us about the culture around Paris. We were all pretty tired in class, but I felt bad because one girl actually fell asleep and acted to rude when he told her to pay attention. I'm not sure what people thought they were signing up for, but apparently class wasn't part of it.

He explained that our first visit was to Des Vosges and we would go to Marais and see where a lot of royalty lived and then Victor Hugo's apartment. I had my first lunch in the cafeteria, which is pretty tiny but the salads and desserts are delicious and really pretty. I got a burger without a bun (?) and a butt ton of fries. I got a mini salad and water too. The burger was a huge disappointment because it was REALLY pink on the inside and weird to eat so I only had a bite. They give you so many fries, which was kind of nice since I didn't have much else to eat. The salad was okay, except it had some nuts in it that I didn't like. But the water was free and they have free bread and olive oil so I stocked up.

Then we left to met Armoogum. It was a pretty easy metro ride but we couldn't figure out how to get to the exact location but luckily we saw him on the street. As we walked to the first location we passed a school for Torah and a few Jewish restaurants. There were a lot of Orthodox Jews around. I found this surprising.

We arrived at this beautiful garden that is where royals used to pass the time. Armoogum explained the differences in the architecture that was for the wealthy and the common. There are a lot of arches around the rich people and their apartments and houses are higher up than the commoners. They have 3 or more levels usually. We got to go into the museum attached to it and look around. It had a lot of random paintings and a section for the French Revolution. All the signs were in French so I couldn't read them so I had no idea what I was looking at.

Next we headed just down the street to a park in the middle of a bunch of apartments that royalty stays at. You have to be of high status to stay there. Ministers and ambassadors stay at these residences. It had a few fountains in it and there were a ton of people outside so it was nice to sit for a few minutes.

Then we went to Victor Hugo's apartment, which was just across the park. I don't know how nobody has heard of him or Les Mis. I was really excited to go. We sat in the waiting room and there was some weird movie playing made by like little French kids. We weren't sure if that was part of the exhibit or not. My guess is not. The tour is pretty short since it is only an apartment and they are pretty small. Leading up the stairs are a lot of political posters and pieces of art. Then inside there are a few different relics including paintings and chairs. There was a group of little kids there and they took up a bunch of space so it was hard to move around. His windows look out on the park we sat in earlier.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes so I hope we didn't miss anything, but the apartment was pretty slow. It was really annoying because so many people kept complaining how bored they were. I don't get it. Whatever then we walked for what felt like forever and were going to get ice cream. We stopped by a school where a bunch of kids were hanging out and Armoogum asked one girl to read the sign out loud to us because it is one of the last remaining pieces from the 16th century or something.

We ended up by the Seine and Notre Dame and got ice cream at this little shop. It was poppin off. I got dark chocolate and it was delish. Kara got pear and it was so refreshing. I tried some of Lynn's grapefruit and it was so good. It was one of the moments where I felt like we were actually in Paris because we were eating our ice cream, sitting on the ledge and there was a man playing an accordion. It was really cool. The weather was perfect too and the Seine looked beautiful. We were free to go after our ice cream so me, Lynn, Kara and Liz walked around for a little bit and looked at a few stores. There was a vintage designer shop that had the most beautiful Louis Vuitton bags but I don't have 600 euro for a handbag. We were pretty tired so we started heading back and ended up just walking down the Seine and got home. We couldn't find a metro and it was so nice out that we didn't mind. I don't know why people can't take five minutes to look at map and figure out where we are and where a street is on a map, but I find myself always being the one to figure out directions.

When I got home I talked with Meredith for a while and then uploaded pictures and before I knew it, it was like 9:30 p.m. Since we had to be at school at 9 a.m. today I wanted to shower and go to bed. Meredith hopped in the shower.....for 20 minutes.....yes, all the hot water was gone. I went in after her and it was ice cold. I tried waiting 15 minutes and it was still freezing so I went down to Kara and Lynn's room and used their shower. I tried their hair dryer too but my hair is out of control. I came back up and read for a little bit then went to sleep around 10:45. I took benadryl but that didn't help for some reason. I was exhausted but couldn't fall asleep so I only got around six hours of sleep.

It was a long day, but it was really interesting. I wish Armoogum could come everywhere with us because he knows so much. He is funny too so he tries to keep things interesting. I appreciate it but there are a lot of people on the trip that are rude and complain all day. I've noticed that a ton of people have dogs here and none of them are on leashes, the dog just trots in front of the owner. It's so cute. There are also a lot of blind people around our apartment. And some other people with disabilities that have to use those poles that brace on their forearms. It's interesting.

Back to School & The Concert

Today was the first day of school and I was not ready for it. We had to meet downstairs at 12:30 p.m. but it was really hard to get moving this morning. We met a representative from Accent, who would take us to Negocia and she looked like a character from Harry Potter. I wore my cute Nordstrom dress that has multicolored thin stripes and my blazer, but it ended up being pretty chilly today. We got to the school around 1:20 and had a few minutes to sit around. There were a bunch of French students playing foosball outside, but they really wanted nothing to do with us. Go figure.

We headed into the conference room and got a brief history about Negocia. They started the exchange program about 8 years ago and ISU has been with them from the start. In the Spring they send grad students over and one of them just got back to Paris and they said he is so excited to go back to the states. Who can blame him; Normal, IL is bumpin.

One lady tried to talk about Negocia and our classes but she couldn't speak English very well so it was painful to listen to her, but I appreciated her trying. Next, one of our teachers, I think her name was Emanuel, talked to us about Advancia-Negocia and how college works in France. She explained that if you want higher education you have two options: a humanities or science or arts school which are more specialized schools, or go to a business school, which you have to test to get into. Apparently the business schools in Europe, especially Paris, are extremely competitive. There are about 200 in France and only 40 have certain accredidation, and Advancia-Negocia is one of them. They are partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and is in one of the wealthiest areas in Paris so it is the real deal. When we were walking around later and people saw our Negocia folders they reacted like we would if someone had a Harvard folder or MIT.

Next Armoogam talked to us and explained that he came to Paris when he was 18 and was supposed to study here for 2 years and 50 years later he is still here. He is from India and in just the few minutes he spoke to us I knew I would love him as a teacher. He has such a passion for Paris that radiates in the way he speaks. He will be the teacher that takes us on little field trips around the city so I am excited. Blair said he was a great teacher and kind of goofy so class was fun. We will meet with him tomorrow and go on our first trip. That will probably be my favorite class because we get to go places.

I don't think we meet our other teachers until Thursday. We have one teacher who is Dutch, but we haven't met him yet. I am really excited for the classes to start. I need some structure and regularity to my schedule so my sleeping can get on track and my eating too. After class we went to this market type thing just down the street. It was indoors and there were a ton of vendors giving out samples. There was meat, cheese, wine, desserts, everything. I was starving so I tried anything. There were these French-Canadians that turned syrup into butter and hard candy and they were fascinated that we were from Chicago. Everyone thinks it's so cool that we are from America and they want to speak English with us. We tried some sparkling apple juice that was delish but way over priced. I tried some sausage that was awesome and I wanted more but the samples were skimpy. I only bought some type of wine whose name translates to female devil. It was tasty so I got a vile of it for Catie's 21st birthday. Hollaaa.

We didn't have much time to walk around there because we had to get back and get ready for the classical music concert. We met downstairs at 6 and met with another representative from Accent. He was so adorable. He should have been our guide the first few days because he explained things so thoroughly and was really interested in getting to know us. It was really easy to get to the concert and wasn't far from Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter. The concert was in Saint Chappelle, which was the gorgeous church with the most amazing stained glass windows I've ever seen. It was breathtaking. It was a very small venue and we were in the back but I got plenty of great pictures.

There were 5 or 6 musicians, mostly playing the violin and one on chello and I believe one harpischord or something. They played a selection of classical music and it was incredible. The setting added so much and the sound in the church was amazing. I really loved the concert. It was so pretty to listen to and the one guy on violin was so into it so that made it fun. They kept announcing the songs in in French so I had no idea what they were playing or saying. It only lasted about 45 minutes and then we all went to this restaurant down the street. I got a ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwich. Nothing special but I was starving and needed something. The waiter was really fun and kept teasing us about our French.

We were all exhausted since it was like 9:30 when we left. We headed back and I just got home. I talked to mom on the phone and uploaded pics. Tomorrow is our first real day and I am not looking forward to waking up at 8:00 a.m. I need to send my postcards tomorrow! They take like 5-10 business days. Dumb. Okay I need to sleep. I'm going to get like 8 hours of sleep and I need like 14.

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday I slept until 1 p.m. and it was great. I need to get on a better sleep schedule. Me, Kara, Lynn, Meredith and Sally went up on the walking path that is right next to our apartment and it's raised off the street. It was a little cooler than it has been and a bit windier, but the sun was still out so it was nice.

The path goes pretty far down so you can see a lot on the walk. I'm not sure what most of it was, but it looked nice. There were a lot of people out since it was Sunday afternoon. There were a few homeless people asleep in some of the plants. It was a nice touch. We were all starving and with very little options for places to eat, we wound up at trusty McDonalds. The ordering process was bizarre and thankfully one of the employees spoke some English. I got a cheeseburger, fries and a Diet Coke.

I tried asking for a plain cheeseburger and she kept asking if I still wanted the burger on there. They have the option of regular fries or potato wedges, but I opted for fries. They taste basically the same as the fries at home. My cheeseburger was good; it had mustard on it so I'm guessing "plain" means no ketchup or pickles. Whatever.

We sat there for a while and talked which was nice because there wasn't much else to do. When we left we headed to Marche Franprix, which is a small grocery store. I got some French Pringles for a snack, toilet paper, yogurt and these cheese things to put in the microwave. They have a lot of American products like Lays chips and Peppridgefarm stuff but it is crazy expensive. I had no idea what the cashier was saying to me, which makes it hard to buy things but Kara saw the total on the screen and filled me in.

Lynn, who is not a drinker at all, decided that she should get a flask of some 40% white rum. It was only like 5 euro and came in plastic with a cardboard backing. We are awaiting the night to pop that thing open. It looks sick. It gives you recipes on the back of the packaging, but they are in French so that isn't much help.

Once we got back we sat in Kara and Lynn's room and just talked. The other group of people stopped by to see if we wanted to go for a walk, but they could not have looked more uninviting. Kara and I passed and just stayed and talked, while Lynn and Liz went with. We were right to pass. They came back and explained how miserable it was being with the other group because they were so exclusive and didn't talk to anyone. Whatever they are lame so I don't care. I like the people I am hanging around with so I'm fine.

Around 10 we were starving because none of us had eaten dinner and a collection of people was slowly forming in their room. We ended up calling Domino's to deliver a pizza and THAT ordering process was hysterical. Kaitie called and talked to about seven different people trying to order 3 large cheese pizzas. It was the most ridiculous thing ever. Forty-five minutes later we called Domino's and asked where our pizza was and they said three minutes so Lauren and Liz went outside to wait. Apparently we were 40 cents short so they had to run back up to get the right change. What a joke.

After that I pretty much blacked out because I have never shoved pizza into my face so fast. Me and Kara split one pizza and we destroyed it. It was DELICIOUS. I have never been happier to have Domino's in my life. More people came into the room so we were all talking for a while and around midnight, people started to leave.

I went to bed around 1 or so and had a really nice night. I like hanging around with Kara, Lynn and Liz a lot. They are really funny and nice. I didn't sleep that well last night. My mind was racing and then I woke up at 8 a.m. and had weird dreams. I had this dream that I had to go back to Downers Grove South and eat lunch and then get back on a plane to Paris but I didn't know how to find a ticket back so the plane was leaving in like an hour and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it or not. Such drama. I woke up before I found out if I got back to Paris so who knows. I'm a little tired so it will probably be an early night for me.

It is hard when everyone wants to stay up till 1 or 2 a.m. and I am exhausted because I want to be included but I can't stay up that late! I need to rest up so I can be awake during the day. I am excited to start school and get into a schedule and routine. That will be nice. I know I need more rest because my eye has been twitching like cray cray. It is uncomfortable and I get nervous that people are staring at it. Oh well.

We have to meet downstairs soon to go to class and then we are done around 3:30 or 4 p.m. We leave for the concert at like 6:30 and it starts at 7:30 p.m. I'm excited to go. I'm wearing a cute dress and cardi, but it looks a little cool and overcast =/ lame.

Montmarte, Sacre Coeur & Moulin Rouge

Saturday was a really nice day overall. We planned to meet Penny and Dr. Long at Montmarte. We got there 40 minutes early so we walked around the streets a bit and stopped in all the cute little shops. One store had a bunch of interesting homeware type of things so I got mom a gift there. I think she will really like it and if she doesn't, I think Caitlin will.

We met up with the Longs and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Only four people from our group were not there. We started walking up the hill to Sacre Coeur and the streets were jam-packed with people. I guess that's what you get for a Saturday at 2:30. There are a ton of touristy shops on the way up the hill and they all sell the exact same things at different prices. There are a few different levels before you get up to Sacre Coeur so we stopped at all of them to take pictures. It was the perfect day and the sky was like a postcard so my pictures turned out really cool.

You have to take stairs up to the top and they were kind of slanted so it was hard to walk at times. I can't wait to see mom try and do this. We got to one level where there were a bunch of army looking men with machine guns and we took pictures with them and I think it made their day. We waited in line to go inside, but we couldn't take pictures inside. It was beyond beautiful inside. The stain glass and all the detail was amazing. You could pay 2 euro and light a candle and leave it there, but I didn't do that. You walk around the perimeter and there are all these little stations honoring saints and holy people. There is one station for St. Peter and everyone rubs his foot so it is all tarnished and worn. They had a lot of stuff for Pope John Paul II including a book you could leave a message in. All the stainglass windows and the inscriptions were so pretty I was bummed I couldn't get any pictures. There were some people in the pews praying but there wasn't a mass going on.

We finished walking around the church and went outside and listened to a guy playing the harp. It was so pretty and scenic. We walked more into the village of Montmarte and got lunch at this cute cafe. The inside was so interesting and modern. I got a salami, lettuce and tomato sandwich. It was a little plain but very good. I loved the bread it was a little tough but soft on the inside. We left and bought some stuff at all the stores around, but mainly took a lot of pictures. There were a bunch of artists selling things on the streets and some of them were really interesting but I'm not about to pay 40 euro for a painting the size of my thumb. We walked some more and decided to come back another day to go to the Dali museum. We shopped some more and then headed to the Moulin Rouge.

The Moulin Rouge was shocking to say the least. There are sex shops and peep shows everywhere. Not exactly my thing but it was kind of funny to see. We walked past the Museum of Erotic Art and I don't think I need to go there before I leave. The Moulin Rouge wasn't what I expected it to be. I guess I expected a more village type feel and more vintage looking, but it was very modern and in a city setting.

We headed back home because everyone was starting to drag and I talked to Anthony for a while. We think taking some time apart might be the best thing right now. I am in a different country and we are still fighting about dumb things. I am hoping that this time apart, being under such extreme circumstances, will help us appreciate and respect each other more. We plan on not talking much, not that it is very easy to talk anyway. I want to enjoy my time here as much as I can and I think it will be one of the biggest growing experiences. I didn't think I could come here, with no friends and not much knowledge about the country, and here I am quickly adapting to things.

I really feel like I am in Chicago and everyone speaks French. It is a strange feeling. It is like any big city; they have monuments and famous spots and a lot of tourists. The metro is similar to Chicago's, but easier to pick up. The food is a little different, but good. Overall I don't feel that far from home when I can relate things to Chicago.

I am excited for the rest of the trip because I am getting to experience such exciting things, but I am sad that it took me coming to Paris to realize that things need to be different with me and Anthony. I am not going to let what is going on between us hold me back because I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone. I just want to get into the swing of things with school and then I will feel more settled.

I am excited to get a feel for the city and show mom and dad around when they get here. Today is Sunday and we have nothing planned so I'm not sure what I will do. I woke up at 1 p.m. Guess I needed the sleep. Tomorrow is our orientation at school and then at night we will be going to a classical music concert, which I am VERY excited about. I will post about that either Monday night or on Tuesday.

Seine Boat Tour & Eiffel Tower

This is a few days late, but I'll try to remember everything.

We had to meet at Accent at 10 a.m. and me and Meredith were five minutes late. Kate took us through an orientation of safety, money, phones, etc. We had a 15 minute break so myself, Kaitie and Lauren ran to this little bakery and got sandwiches. I got a salmon, hardboiled egg and tomato sandwich that was delish! It was about 3.50 euro. Then we met back up at Accent and Adrien and Francois took us to the Bastille Metro, which is right next to this huge opera hall. He said most of the French don't like it because it is too modern looking. We then waited for the metro, which is pretty simple to figure out. We all crammed on and took the train to the Seine River.

As soon as we got off the metro everyone started snapping pics. I don't know what most of mine are pictures of, but the buildings are all really pretty. Such interesting architectural detail. We missed the original time for the boat tour so we had a little time to look around. I took some more pictures and eventually we got on the boat. The tour was nice because the weather was so sunny and warm, but there are so many trees blocking the buildings it was hard to see everything. There is also so much to see and so much information that it made it difficult to absorb everything the lady said. All in all it was a great experience. There are a ton of bridges that have such interesting detail so I have a lot of pictures of those. By many of the bridges are chain link fences so people can't fall in and they have locks all over them because couples come and put a lock on the fence and drop the key into the Seine to represent eternal love. I wonder how many of them end up breaking up.

After the boat tour, me, Lauren and Kaitie went back home and stopped at Accent so they could print stuff. I sat on the computer and talked to Adrien and Kate about wanting to go to the Eiffel Tower. We planned to meet another group of girls at 6:30 to go to eat then head to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up. The other group went shopping and didn't come back till later so we finally got to this restaurant down the street from our apartments at like 7:50. I had a bad migraine and wasn't feeling great so I wanted to eat and get going so I could rest later. I got a Madame Croquet (?) which is bread, ham, cheese and an egg of top. It came with fries and a salad. It was alright. I really want American food at this point. I rarely feel FULL after I eat here.

The waiter gave us directions to Gare de Lyon metro stop so we headed there with a little confusion. The metro had a poster for the Hangover 2 movie but they call it "Very Bad Trip 2" so that was pretty funny to see. We figured out the metro and got to the Eiffel Tower while it was lit up so we tried snapping a few pics. We decided to go up it and got tickets that were about 12 euro. We went through security and waited for an elevator up. We got to the first level and got off and it was beautiful. You could see so much of Paris and the whole city was all lit up. It was hard to get good pictures because it was so dark out, but some of mine turned out okay. We waited in line to go up even higher and by the other levels, it all kind of looked the same. I liked the first stop the best because it was so breathtaking. By the time we got to the top it was close to midnight and I was freezing and exhausted. The line down was a giant herd of people so we all smooshed into an elevator and began the walk back. Luckily there were a ton of people around so it wasn't scary being out that late. The metro was also really packed so it wasn't scary either.

We finally got back to Gare de Lyon and everyone was pretty crabby at this point because we just wanted to go to sleep. Apparently nobody knows how to navigate a map or read street signs and they all freaked out when we came out on a different side of the building than we went in. I tried to explain that if we pick one direction we will eventually be on the side we came in so I led the group and figured out where we were and got us home. Some people decided that complaining would help the process, so I explained that if you take two seconds to calmly look at the map we could get home. And we did.

We got home around 1:30 a.m. and I talked to Anthony for a little bit then went to sleep. I was beyond exhausted and still had a migraine so it wasn't the greatest night. People are very cliquey and it rude about it so I am trying to surround myself with nice people. I will save my next post for Montmarte and Sacre Cour.