A bit of neglect.

Yes, I have been neglecting, but not purposely of course..... It has been a busy time, finished with 2 research papers and a final exam that counted for 70% of my grade and 10 credits are riding on that exam. Hope I passed. Anywho.... now that I have some time I have a few things to write down and get off my chest. Yes, the one thing I'm pretty damn good at.... complaining.

So, lets start with....... Bush.

A few days ago he appeared on TV and gave a 'speech.' I didn't see it, no, but I read about it in the French newspaper Liberation. Basically he told us that he didn't run his presidential campaign on the fact that he was going to have to make decisions about war. Whoa? what? you're the commander in chief, that's in the job description buddy... look back to the previous presidents, Clinton had Kosovo, Bush had the Iraq, prior was the Korean war, Cold War, Vietnam War, WWII, WWI... are you kidding? for the past century, we've constantly been at war so don't give us that. And how dare he say he wasn't prepared..... the death count of this war is outrageous.... so basically when he said he wasn't prepared it just basically means he sent all of our soldiers into the battle field with no plan? Ugh! I'm glad, for how dense this guy is, that he realizes that he's a moron... there were no weapons of mass destruction, and yeah, he sucks. Did we also forget Sadam was hanged? Bush- you caused that buddy. I was sick after reading this article.... still insisting that hes going to do everything he can to win this war and that he offers his condolences to the families... what a tool.

Anyways, I'll be 21 in a few hours... insanity and very typical of me to be in europe for my 21st.... bah!!!

hope it will be fun

Booby Tassels.

You're probably thinking, what the eff...(allusion to parody on David Blaine, mandatory to watch)? But yes, booby tassels. I've seen some pretty nice ones recently, which is to say that I went to a Burlesque show recently with a few friends. Unfortunately, I won't have more pictures for another week, but anywho. What an amazing spectacle. I think this art should be more celebrated, it's a classy blast from the past. After listening to 20's music all night, I wish I had grown up in that era- happy-go-lucky, flappers, clad, the dances, the whole nine yards, minus the depression and the war. So, if you've never seen one of these shows, you must.
Plus, the drinks are 20's style - really strong a.k.a. pure gin.
chui tombé sur un con.

I went to the prefecture of police for Cité U here in paris to obtain my carte de séjour. mmmmm, well needless to say, I didn't get it. I woke up at 7, to get to the RER and take that to Cité U for an appointment at 8h35. However, the place doesn't even open till 9. 3 hours later, i'm leaving carte-de-sejourless... Once again, France does not want me. But in actuality, it was probably just the douchebag that was processing my papers, so I'm told. No worries, I have another option thankfully, grâce à Helene and Elisa at the CEA office, and if that doesn't work then it looks like I just need to stay here illegally and fly under the radar, which I doubt that that would be a problem considering France doesn't swipe passports or even have anyone attending the passport control gates anymore.

Speaking of douchebags, my welcome-dad (the persons whose house i'm staying in) is probably grade-A douche. Despite my attempts to avoid him, I still manage to run into him from time to time, and he always manages to make a snide remark and make it known that he's the head of the house. Frankly, I don't care. If it weren't for the 2 free meals and the use of the dishwasher, I'd have peaced outta this joint long ago, but the pro's outway the con's (con is french for dick making that statement really funny double entendre/pun)

Oh yay! I bought a coat, very professional and androgynous-looking, thanks to Kiersten, my love. I'm way too indecisive to go shopping on my own, I've concluded.

Thanks <3

Now off to find some num-nums, and do a paper!

Bruxelles, Barcelona and Paris

Bruxelles,

Friday, Melanie and I left for Bruxelles. Leaving Paris Nord, cake. It was my first trip with a friend to another country, super excited. We stayed with Melanie's step family, step-sis, her boyfriend and their infant. They really made us feel at home, and went well out of their way to make sure we had a good time. It was nice seeing this city. People were more laid back, they didn't judge you at first glance, no one cared what you wore- a total change from Paris. I think Bruxelles is a place I could retire, they speak French/English/Dutch and they are very hospitible. I found very interesting the usage of English. Niether the french nor the dutch want to speak each others language so they communicate through English, and different parts of Belgium is either dutch, french or german influenced. Somehow, they all find unity under the Belgian flag. My complaints, however, is that there is not much history. I beleive 1850 was the creation of the Belgian state, and only so many things can happen in 160ish years.
Leaving Belgium was a little bit of a nightmare. I arrived at the trainstation early, 2 hours in advance, but miraculously I missed my train. After a frantic hot second, a very kind lady at the trainstation switched me to the next train to Paris free of charge. Very grateful, I would have still payed out-the-behind to return home. I got home late, and had to be up in 3 hours for my flight to Barcelona.


Barcelona (barthelona)

Lack of sleep from the night before, the morning was a bit torturous. I needed to get to line a 1 metro station as the first or second train left to catch the bus to the airport. My only means were to walk and run to one of these stations. Somehow, I started off going south in the right direction, but ended up north of where I started from in the completely opposite direction and a very shady neighborhood. Anywho, I took the closest metro and transfered where I could. All of us ended up at the Airport in time. Ryan Air sucks and it's great at the same time. The flight was cheap but the location of the airports is lame. In the Airport I realized why Americans are so attrative to Europeans-it's the passport. We flew through the security lines, Matt didn't even have his bag checked. Everyone else had a much more difficult time/interrogation process. Sometimes I'm not to happy to be American, but I would never give up this passport, it is solid gold.
Barthelona, hmmm. It dawned on me as we arrived that Spanish was going to be our primary means of conversation. Me and Vicky were the only two that were remotely proficient. I was impressed, 1 semester in college and 1 year in middle school proved to be extremely useful. I don't know what I would have done otherwise.
In sumation, everyone ended up having a problem in Barcelona. I had awful stomach pains, Laura's foot got swollen, and Meggie had migraines. Vicky escaped malady somehow and Matt flew back to Chigago the next day. I can say, despite malady, Barcelona isn't my favorite city. There are a lot of cars, hence a lot of pollution. The air is noticably heavy. The asthetic value is not so high in my book either. However, Las Ramblas and the Gaudi Parc are incredible. Endless shopping and endless Mosaics by Gaudi is what this city is about. Not to mention the food was very very cheap. We saw pretty much everything, and we had a good time walking around, but we were too tired to experience the nightlife, which is what the city is known for, and I think the beaches would be incredible in the summer. Even still, Paris is better with it's hautain attitude. I'm not going to go into detail about the return flight, that whole process was .... exhausting.
Paris

I'm glad to be home. Paris isn't perfect, but I feel comfortable here. I can speak the language, I can walk the walk, and the Parisian-metro face is childs play. There's always something to do here, 2000 years of history is at our doorstep. And asthetically, Paris is mindblowing (and the people are a lot cleaner/cuter)

I'm glad to be home.


Paris, Je t'aime bien.

Fight or forfeit.

I told you all that I would eventually start to complain about things that have gone wrong while I'm here, and I believe that this is a perfect opportunity to visit them. So, before I left Ramapo, my lovely home institution, I asked for a written document saying that my scholarship wouldn't be in jeopardy if I studied abroad for a year. I was met with the response, of course not, you don't need any papers stating that, study abroad students do it all the time. Great! Not. First week I was here I received an email stating that my scholarship is going to be revoked. Yada yada yada, a few emails later, the situation is solved. In my favor. Next, the apartment I was originally put into (Aligre) was a mess. My college apartment, having endured countless frat parties, was needless-to-say in better condition. (See the photos below) On top of that, it was extremely shady/unsafe at night. I was aggressively followed to my door and harassed. Another night we had a doorman, not of the paid variety, who didn't mind relieving himself on our door. After bitching and moaning, which I'm great at, I got changed into a homestay without charge.

It's been a good time minus the fact that the welcome father is a complete d-bag, but I enjoy the mother, an astrologist and abstract artist. She's wonderful. Next, I was informed that the classes I planned on taking the spring semester were not being offered. The list that we were shown was just the class list of last year. Fantastic. Me along with a few other people were royally screwed. The others were forced to change cities completely, one going to Ireland, the other to Aix-en-Provence. I, luckily, found another program within Paris that had classes that would count for my major. I switched into that, which resulted in another email war between me and CEA. I prevailed a second time after threatening to just return back to Ramapo for the spring.

When I switched the program, I received an invoice from my school stating that I have to pay the full amount of the program within 1 month. This sounds reasonable, however, before I left Ramapo, I asked the Study Abroad Office adviser( on 3 separate occasions ) how and when do I pay the school. My question was met with "oh don't worry, it will be billed to you when you return" LIE! Consequently, she was fired. One could imagine why. So this past week has been dedicated to a fafsa, student loan applications, numerous projects and midterms etc. etc. I specifically didn't want to deal with these applications here because it becomes 1,000 more difficult. I'm in the process of finishing all that paperwork up, and hopefully by the end of the week I will have that done.

My problem of the week arose today when I checked my email. I was told that since I changed my programs I will not be covered for winter housing and A)I have to pay for it or B) I have to find my own housing. Hmmm. I'm sure one could understand my frustrations. This means, inevitably another email war, but this time I just might give in. CEA rants and raves how they want this to be the best experience, but they're making my experience a living h-e-double hockey sticks.

What do I do?

I can't leave, I'm here to learn French and to become proficient in it. The credits I receive here will allow me to have a French Minor back home, and ultimately allow me to teach French to highschool students. I can't do this back home; there aren't enough students interested in the higher level French classes for them to be offered. I want to be here, but I also NEED to be here. I'm stuck in an impossible position of fight or forfeit.

Staying here is proving to be an endless battle.
Let's see who wins.


I must admit, the apartment doesn't look that bad through these pictures, but believe-you-me, it was. There were no lighting fixtures, the sink dripped, there was mold on the bathroom ceiling, the plaster, yes plaster was coming off the walls, there were no curtains, the couches were hand-me-downs or picked up off the street and subsequently wreaked of homeless man, the floor was stained and unfinished for at least 10 years, not art on the walls and this list just goes on. Plus, it was dangerous to enter at night. Now, I can admit I was being a little princess, but compared to everyone else's apartments, we got the shaft, and I wasn't having it. This is Paris, but we were living in Harlem.

Fin, I'm done complaining.

IKEA déjà conquit la France

I started a blog. If that wasn't evident, then the fact that I'm completely procrastinating from doing my work should be. But why? Good question, I have a journal, a very cute journal given to me by my best friend Maria, but frankly it takes so much for me to write by hand - a bloodletting process. In any case, here I am, or should I say here are my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions, my random words, my quirks, my loves, my life and my laziness(because I'm already predicting my inability to keep up with this blog). Oh, and most importantly my countless typo's, spelling errors, comma misplacage, made up words and incorrect usage of them.

So where am I?

France. Paris, France. It wasn't easy getting here, and it's proving difficult to stay here. Since I've arrived there's been a new problem every week. I'm sure my unsteady procrastinating fingers will elaborate later on, but not now. oisif- it's my middle name.
Anywho ... 2 months in 8 months to go. Somedays I wish is fast, somedays as slow as one would cook, I don't know- something that takes a long time to cook. But I'd like to play cultural differences between France and US.

France:
Beautiful language, country
Men who want you wear their heart on their sleeve (no chase, no excitement à mon avis)
No highfructosecorncrap
Amazing Wine
Cat calling becomes quite literal
Verbal harassment is the norm
Scarves are always in
Black, black, black... and more black. Has anyone heard of some color?
Speaking/Eating/Drinking on the metro is Taboo
so is washing your hands after you use the restroom.

US:
Sarah Palin (don't get me started)
Good DJ's
Dating
habitudes et certitudes
etc.


Now, I'm staring into a fluorescent, energy-saving lightbulb from IKEA; listening to Deezer, a French website which plays anything and everything you want to hear; reflecting and relaxing - reflaxing. Today, I helped someone; I think I'm good at that. It encouraged me to look at Teach for America's website, and I believe that is a path that I want to take in the next year or two. Exciting. In any case, I hope this blog proves itself useful to someone. Well, it has. me