Le jour de Dinde et l'approache du fin du semestre

Now we are officially in the winter times. It is cold and occasionally snowy here in the city of lights. The weather turned in such a way that I had to buy a new coat( thanks mom!) and other necessary winter gear. Classes have been going well, although ass kicking at times. However, I truly feel it's the kind of ass kicking to make me better as opposed to tear me down so that's good. 

In general things are still going really well, but there are some interesting things that happened that I wish to share with you. Primarily:

THANKSGIVING!

Yes, I found a way to celebrate thanksgiving even under the oppressive rule of the evil french government haha. My good friend Katherine's parents were visiting for that period and they rented an apartment for the two weeks they stayed. They brought a bunch of things from the South that they feared they would not find here and they prepared a wonderful thanksgiving meal for all of us. All of us being my girlfriend Anna, Katherine, Lucy, and several friends from their program. It was absolutely marvelous. The turkey was cooked perfectly, the stuffing was amazing, the cranberry chutney that Mrs. Stone made was to die for and, last but not least, they had grits! It was so nice to have a staple from southern cooking here in france. Really made me feel like home. Then, for dessert, there was pumpkin and pecan pie! Both were absolutely fantastic. I'm not generally a pecan pie fan, but Mrs. Stone's has joined the ranks, along with Andy's and my grandmama's, of the pecan pies I like the best. 

Although it was all a tad bittersweet because it really was the first time I felt a wave of homesickness spread over me. But I was able to call home and talk to everyone and wish them a happy thanksgiving which made it a little better.

The entire evening is going down in my books as one of the pest evenings. As a matter of fact, every single dinner function held by the Stone family has been a truly exceptional experience (despite home much Katherine may protest about the first one being a disaster.)

SAM'S BIRTHDAY!

I'll tell you this story briefly because it sort of leads into another thing that I hope will happen soon. 

So my friend Samantha's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and she had it a kareoke bar. Generally, parties at bars aren't really my thing because usually the bar is crowded and loud and expensive and on and on and on blah blah blah. BUT this was an exception and actually it was one of the nicest night's I've had "out on the town." First of all because it was a cool place to hang out. Yes, it was expensive, but the atmosphere was nice and the people around were't too eurotrashy/club type people (although there were an appropriate amount of skeeze bags there) It was also really to chill with a few of the people from my program outside of the school setting for once. All in all, it was a night to be able to cut loose for a bit and just have fun.

I also got to sing kareoke which is always fun :)

But another interesting thing is that I met a singer, a really good singer who hope fully will be a part of...

MY NEW BAND

Yep, i'm trying to start a band. It's a proving to be a little harder than I thought mainly because it's hard for me to focus on what kind of music I want to play. I would like to do originals at some point, but there are a bunch of covers I love and would love to do. More on this as it progresses!!

IN OTHER NEWS

I got to sing the other night which was a lot of fun. I think really got to sort of show a lot of the students at Le CIM who I was as a performer. It was hard at first because most of the performance opportunities have been out of my genre and comfort zone (doesn't mean I didn't do them, but I have sucked to semi-sucked in front of a lot of these students on more than one occasion) but this time I was able to show off my bluesier side and rock out pressure free for once. 

I'm performing tuesday night in my school bands. One ensemble is playing Latin music. That was a fun experience to learn, but it's safe to say that it's not really my style. I really respect it, especially the intense rhythmic complexity, but it's just not clicking with me. I especially noticed this when our teachers changed (this ensemble is one where we get several different teachers, who each teach different styles, throughout the year.) and we got a jazz standard teacher and I was just more comfortable with my comping and soloing. 

In generally i'm becoming more comfortable playing jazz and soloing. This is because i'm focusing more on my technique and scales then I ever have before. My voice teacher told me the other day that my problem was that I lacked precision in my work which was a big "call out" as it were. It really forced me to look at the work I was doing and realize that I just need to go back and re work some things that I sort of thought I knew and really get them solid.

The magnum opus continues. 

on a lighter note...

TODAY

Today, I went to the Louvre and spent a good part of the afternoon in the egyptian section. MAN that may be one of the largest collections of Egyptian artifacts I've ever seen. It makes the British museum look like a rock collection and the Met look like an archology set you buy at walmart. It just kept going on and on and on. Every aspect of egyptian life was covered. It was absolutely wonderful. I got to sort of wander through my childhood again. When I was younger I was incredibly interested in egyptian life, particularly their gods. It's been awhile since I've formally studied it (have I ever formally studied it?) so it was really nice to get a good solid refresher.   

Well week is the last week before la vacance du noël. I leave for Berlin on saturday night! I'm staying with my friend Fanni and Shay and a few other for the following week then i'm back in paris for awhile. But fear not, I'm already signed up for another school trip to the south of france (Marseilles, to be exact) around the 14th of january. I'm just a ramblin' man I guess haha. 

À bientôt!

J'adore les arts! J'aime mes études!

Les arts spectacle! La danse! Le film! Il faut qu'étudier! These were the words and phrases that were thematic during this latest period in my Parisian existence.

I've seen much more arts this past week. Friday of last week, our french class went to see a film called "Les Petits Mouchoirs" or "the little tissues" in english. It was about a group of friends that live in paris. One of them gets in a horrible motor accident: he was riding his moped back home after a night of partying and then gets PLOWED by a truck. He manages to survive. His friends are all distraught, but they have a tradition of going to the beach each year for a week or two, and they decide to go ahead and go. The film after that is a series of little scenes and dramas that happen over that vacation. All of these people are upper class and a bit ego centric and it's sort of a critique of their selfish behavior, but in the end they all learn something about themselves. I won't spoil the ending or anything like that but it was the first movie I had seen in a while(like an idiot, I forgot ALL of my DVDs when I came here)and it was a really good experience for me.

The next Wednesday( this past Wednesday, if i'm not mistaken) SLC organized another meeting with french students. We met in this very nice café in the 5th arrondisement and had drinks. These were girls from a school that I think bridges between high school and college, but all of the girls there were 18 or 19. I think there was supposed to be a sort of official discussion, but you know how those "planned" things go. After that we all left to go find some dinner, which was falafel plates at a nearby Lebanese restaurant ...
wells goes off on a tangent for two seconds
it's interesting to see the places that are popular here, that aren't anywhere near as popular back home, or even just in NYC and also how different cuisines are treated here. First of all, you cannot go one two or three blocks without finding a Greek sandwich/kebab place. There are often times two on three in any given block. Second thing is Chinese food here is generally not good. there is a large refrigerated display case with all of the food in it, and then behind the people working there there is a bank of about 4 microwaves. You're basically eating leftovers all of the time. It's not like they're trying to hide it either, it just doesn't occur to them to prepare it any other way, nor to the French people to have it changed either.
back to my story...
and we sat down and enjoyed our falafel and talked about things. they asked me questions abotu american politics and they told me about the new Justin Beiber movie that's coming out and then they had to stop me from killing myself because the idea that Justin Beiber is making a movie about himself sickens me to my soul....sorry, where was I? It was a very nice evening and I got to meet a very nice group of native French speakers

After a couple of days of studying and reading like a madman, Saturday came! I woke up and practiced and then went and had MORE FALAFEL, but this time it was in the Marais again so it was 10x better than that falafel from Wednesday. I met the girl i'm dating, Anna, at Hôtel de Ville, and then we walked over to get the falafel. It was just as good as I remembered when I got it with Alex :) Anna and I walked around the marais in the rain eating our falafel and it was very nice. But then I had to go. I had tickets to see a Merce Cunningham dance show!

For those of you who don't know Merce Cunningham (I include myself in this category, by the way) He was an incredibly influential modern dance choreographer during, I think, the 70s and 80s. He worked with John Cage a great deal and the piece we saw that day, Roaratorio (1983), was scored by John Cage. Well, I say scored loosely. It was more of an electronic music piece using various types of sound clips. really interesting and unnerving sometimes. Movement was very, very intriguing. Cunningham,s use of the space was fantastic. he used a lot of angular athletic movements and it was all very controlled. It wasn't like a lot of dance pieces where it looks like they're moving like water, it was very tense. The control that the dancers were using over their bodies and the way they kept track of the form of the piece was incredible. There was no "music" in the regular sense of the word, meaning no beat, no count (that I know of) meaning that they had to have it all internalized and they had to now what parts were coming when. It was really interesting and I left the theatre with my mind full of questions which, I believe, the sign of good art(unless the question is "who the hell thought this was a good idea haha)

Sunday night, Anna and I went to go see another French movie called "Potiche" Which directly translates to "Decorative Vase" in English. I'm sure the title people back aux États-Unis will think of something a little more catchy. This movie was another comedy, about a woman in the 70s who is a typical housewife. She is the daughter of a rich umbrella manufacturer, but her husband runs the company now, because you know, he's the man. Her husband is basically a scumbag. He berates his wife all day and then has affairs with his secretary. One day, however, there is a grève or strike at the factory and her husband goes apoplectic with rage and gets a heart attack. He does not die, but he is put out of commission for awhile. So, the company is legally transferred over to the heroine's name and she starts making some changes. she hires both of her children and they make changes through out the company and it's a huge success. Even the secretary, with whom the husband had cheated with, was now in awe of this woman and became a devout follower. Again, not to give away too much, this movie is about how this woman becomes herself and does not allow herself to become a Potiche.(haha that's why the title makes sense :-P)

As always I have a lot of work to do and I'm doing the best I can, although I feel a little overwhelmed. Luckily we all have individual meetings with our program director this week so I'll talk to her about it then. perhaps she'll have some ideas about being able to do everything while still having time to go out and experience this great city i'm in. Ah well, C'est la vie des étudiants.

Have a good week everyone!

The British are coming, and they want Falafel!

Once again, I have left you hanging for an extra week. Again, I apologize. Last Sunday was right in the middle of Alex's visit to Paris and then everything started up again. Work overload = blog underload.

prequel
The real story begins the night before...well not the real story, just a really interesting story that happened the night before I picked up Alex from the airport. Friday the 29th, my dorm held a huge halloween party. and when I say huge, I mean Full bar with beers and mixed drinks, cover charge to get in, huge speakers blasting dance/house music until 4 in the morning, coat check, and really big bouncers.

It was a night of debauchery for all...except me.

My Halloween costume was the timeless classic "sleepy college kid who needs to do laundry and clean his room before his friend comes to visit." Not really in the party mood that night I guess. I'm not usually comfortable at those kinds of dance parties anyway unless i'm with a bunch of friends or I've been "celebratory" that evening prior. So, I was not an active participant in the crazy events.

1st crazy thing that happened!!!
I was sitting talking with ma mère on skype. suddenly, I hear a knock. However, it did not come from the door, as one might have thought but from the window. Now I live on the first floor. That's first floor in French numbers so that means I live one flight of stairs up from the ground floor. It was slightly outside the realm of my normal expectations to hear a rap-tap-tapping on my window (even if it was close to Halloween). I go to the window and, sure enough, there was a guy hanging on my window sill, like freaking spiderman. He started  asking me in broken English to let him in. I paused to think for about a half of a second. "hmmm there's a party down stairs with a bunch of drunk people from who knows where from. this guy obviously was not allowed into the building the normal way, or he exited the building in an unwanted way (remember the big bouncers? I'm guessing they were involved.) So, knowing these facts, should I let this person into my room, while I am here in my pajamas?" Well, as difficult of a decision as that was, I denied him entry into my room. Although I had to give him credit. I mean he really put a lot of effort into getting to my room. It's pretty high up off the ground.

2nd crazy thing that happened!!!!!!!
2 people had to go to the hospital!!! One guy got into a drunken rage, punched a wall, and then tried to fight the bodyguards! I'm guessing the other girl had way too much to drink! WOAH! PARTY FOWL!

...

Over all message:  la Fondation des Etats-Unis can thrown one hell of a party. Maybe next time do it when I don't have to get up in the morning.


Alex's Visit!
This past weekend, Alex (you remember, the guy who I visited in London) came to Paris to visit me. After sleeping for 2 hours (the halloween party lasted until 4am and no one could fall asleep with Ludakris and Lady Gaga blasting through the entire house. I had to be up at 6am saturday morning so I could catch the right train to go get Alex.) I got on the RER B to Charles de Gaulle airport to meet alex when his flight got in at 8. After a little catching up on what play he was cast in for his final project, we made it back to my place, dumped off his stuff, did some grocery shopping and headed out on the town. We decided that we were going to try to find le marais, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris. The reason? Le marais also is home to some of the best Falafel. Ever. We spent the majority of the morning searching for it. It was a long and hard search, but when we found it and finally tasted it...oh my god. Totally worth every single step and misstep. It was even worth the huge stain from the juices I got on on my sweater. Incredible.

As we walked around, Alex would ask me what the buildings were. this is when I realized that I am a horrible tour guide. Besides the obvious ones, I didn't know any of the names of the buildings or what they were for. this was good for because now when I know other Americans are coming to visit, I'll do my research ahead of time. so have no fear, future visitors of me in Paris, I will be able to tour you around appropriately when you come to visit. I'm just sorry Alex had to be the failure to open my eyes to my ignorance.

After that we met up with some other Sarah Lawrence people. Samantha is in the Paris program with me and DeeDee is in the London program with Alex and was visiting Paris the same weekend. We had a coffee and relaxed but eventually Alex and I had tired ourselves so we went back to chez moi to rest for a bit. After chilling out, maxing, and relaxing all cool we went and had dinner at a very nice Japanese restaurant with my good friend Anna where we ate a very nice meal (although Alex had a tough time finding vegetarian options.)

The next day we did some more walking around. However, the main thing we did was eat a lot of bread. I showed Alex the magic of a warm baguette de tradition and he opened my eyes to the other types of bread they have there. He bought a nice loaf of whole grain bread. we ate both loaves in a day. Oh, and we had had crêpes for lunch. CARBSSSSS!!!! it was great. We cooked in that night and we made quinoa with a red sauce over it with eggplant and mushrooms. oh it was sooo good. I think i'm making quinoa for dinner tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.
That day we also ended up going to le Musée D'Orsay and saw some impressionists. I'm really enjoying learning more and more about this movement just by going to museums and seeing works and seeing descriptions of paintings. For example, did you know Monet's famous painting of the water lilies was probably incredibly influential for the abstract expressionists? The removal of a clear focus and the abstract blotches of light were some of the first real abstractions. It's amazing to see things you had always thought were beautiful, but then develop a greater appreciation for them. (just for facts, I learned the thing about Monet and abstract expressionism at the Tate Modern  museum in London.) While we were there at le musée d'orsay, I really was able to see the work of degas in a whole different way. I suppose I had never really taken a lot of time to look at his work, but there was a whole section on pastels and Degas was featured heavily. There's a softness in his impressions that really touches me. It even spills over into his sculptures. A delicate nature and a delicate perspective, but with such vibrant colors. the mix between the vibrancy of his colors and the sensitivity of his figures was truly masterful to me. I had never really taken time to notice that before, but after this trip to the museum I left with a new appreciation for Edgar Degas.

Monday, we spent most of our time at the Louvre. I didn't have quite a revelatory experience as at the Musée D'orsay, but it was still a great day. However I still have yet to see the Mona Lisa!(on this trip at least) We were just too tired. Then, after eating leftovers for dinner, we watched Hot Tub Time Machine (hilarious! such a good movie!) and then we went out to Montmartre to meet up with Sam and DeeDee again. We walked around next to the Sacré Coeur and then we went down the hill to this bar I found. the drinks weren't all the great and the wait staff was being sterotypically parisian, so after 2 drinks we left. We ate dinner again (left overs don't always cover it) at a little chinese resturant and then afterwards we got crêpes from a little crêpe stand right next to the Moulin Rouge. Really fun night!

Alex had to leave the next day which was sad, but probably better for my french. I'd been speaking english all weekend and it was beginning to show.

In general I need to try get back in the habit of speaking more. I think there was a dip when I went to le Cim and was surrounded by a bunch of people who already seemed to know each other speaking very quickly. I clammed up as it were. But now I'm more familiar there, and the french students there are actually quite friendly. I should be getting back into the french speaking way of things soon.

Life in General

Classes are continuing to go well. I wasn't as good about my practicing this week because of a bunch of work I had to do for my immigration class. Work that I found out wasn't due until next week :-/ oh well, at least i'm ahead now. After this post i'm headed off to the practice rooms and then French class. I finally have a good grasp on when i'm doing for my French conference project.

Things are moving smoothly along. I'm learning a lot and i'm enjoying every minute.

OH and I'm going to a Merce Cunningham show this weekend. No big deal.

Ok, next week, I'll post on time. See you all then!

Chapters 7 8 9 10 11... and 12 ...or something like that

HOLY BEJESUS

It's been a really long time since I've written anything here. Sorry about that guys. I guess I was just sort of taking some time to get settled into my Parisian life here.

This post will be extra long to make up for it.

Academic Life

All of my classes have now started. I'm taking a course on Immigration in Paris, and French with Sarah Lawrence, and I'm taking a variety of music courses at Le Cim, a jazz school in the northern part of the city.  Getting in the groove of all the classes has been interesting. It's all moving so fast. at this point, Sarah Lawrence is already on fall break! My music school, however, doesn't have one because they started so late. I guess I'll just start with each school and fill you in on my work and life at each place.

Sarah Lawrence


My immigration course is incredibly interesting. I had no idea up until this point just how multinational and multi cultural Paris, and France, is. My teacher is incredibly enthusiastic and thoughtful. He's one of those teachers who waves his arms around and bangs the table, but it also really nice. He's also been pretty helpful with my big independent project.

For my tutorat (conference work, for those Sarah Lawrence students who know the lingo), I will be reading the The Hero of 1000 Faces by Joseph Campbell, in french, and then studying the history of the french resistance. My goal is to look through the events that happened within the resistance and see if there are any correlations in between those events and the "mono-myth" of Campbell. The reason I think this could work is because a lot of Campbell's research is also based in Freudian and Jungian psychology, there are interesting relations to the myths we tell and psycho analysis. My hypothesis is that, if you expand the lens to a group larger than a single person, you should be able to find similar patterns or stories, if you will. the main obstacle I'm finding so far is the difficulty of understanding the density of Campbell's research in a foreign language. However, with some time and intellectual elbow grease I believe I can accomplish this thing.

It's funny...I remember an earlier post about dragons I have to slay with courage.

I think my subconscious is mocking me.

________________________________

I love my French class, and my French teacher.

She has the amazing balance of  a cold unflinching control over the classroom, with being really cool and awesome at the same time. She not only knows a lot about French language, but French history, culture, and just things about the regular goings on in Paris. When ever there's something we hear about on the news (Like strikes...i'll get to that later) we'll go to her and she'll generally have all the info.

I feel like my language skills have grown so much. The other day I got the highest quiz score I've ever gotten since freshmen year! I really feel like i'm improving. Even the things I don't quite understand yet, it's more like a slightly difficult piano piece: you understand how to do it, but it's still not second nature to you yet. The places, however, where I most get tripped up are the places where I think they're second nature...and they aren't. But I'm having a great time learning!

My conversational French has improved enormously! I would say that I am definitely able to carry on a conversation now. I may struggle for proper vocabulary here and there, but in general I speak much more smoothly and easily.

Sometimes listening is a little hard. Native French speakers speak quite rapidly so it can be hard to completely grasp what they're saying. Which brings me to my music school...

Le Cim, l'ecole du Jazz


I love my classes here. All of the teachers are really smart and really talented musicians. There was a big concert/jam session on the first day and all of the teachers performed. My voice teacher sang bye bye black bird and she was AMAZING. My piano teacher was also there (although at this point I didn't know he was my piano teacher yet) He was f***ing incredible. I would say he was one of the best pianists that played that night. I was SO LUCKY to get him as a teacher. When I had my lesson with him, I learned more about chord voicing in that one lesson than I learned from one whole year of Jazz piano lessons with that crochety old guy from SLC. Really cool. I'm also taking a class which is basically "how to make a band sound good" , Music theory, Sight Singing, Solfège, Rhythmic Solfège, (I'm not quite sure what the difference is between sighting singing and solfège yet...), and then every Tuesday night they bring in a band that we "are required" to go hear.
The band last week was an amazing jazz trio (organ, guitar, and drums) and they rocked! I wondered how they would fare sans bassist, but the organist played the bass line AND the keyboard parts. It was almost like having a quartet there but only three people.
the band that came a couple of weeks ago was...interesting and educational. There were a Brazilian samba band that played a kind of music called "Samba de Mesa" or something like that. It was a lot of really complex rhythms and grooves, that were overlaid by high pitched chordal instruments (kind of like mandolins and banjos, but smaller). It was really cool to hear how these songs and this style was constructed, but after awhile all of their songs began to sound alike.


Something else I've learned here, although I suppose it should have been expected:

Parisians can't play the blues.

It's horrible.

I mean sure, they know "how to play the blues" but they just can't get the feeling right.

on our first day of "how to make a band sound good" class, this kid hops up and tells the other guys about this great american blues song. He starts singing Pride and Joy, the Stevie Ray Vaughn song. I wanted to bang my head on the chair. It was just bad. there was no drum and bass groove , and essential element of that song, and the guitars were turned up too loud (a classic problem, not just a french one). Plus the guy who was all hot to play the blues was a horrible singer. But luckily there was a teacher there who basically fixed it, but in the end it just sounded like "this is how to play the blues properly". It just didn't have the "umph" that that song, and the blues in general, needs. Oh well. I guess us amuricans'll hafta show'em how it's done.

___________
IN OTHER NEWS


Food


I have really started getting into cooking for myself. It's cheap and i'm actually fairly good at it. I think in the near future i'm going to invest in a recipe book so I can broaden my horizons beyond pasta, rice, tomatoes, and beans. I am becoming a master of the red-sauce. I made this really strange one the other day, but it was REALLY GOOD.

It started out by me saying "well, i'm really hungry, I don't want to make anything crazy. I'll just boil some pasta and then heat up some garlic in olive oil and just pour the garlic oil over the pasta. Maybe some salt and pepper once that's done. no big deal" So I start boiling water and I chop the garlic, then I start getting ideas. I have a big jar of tomato purée in the fridge, so I got that out along with a jar of pre-made pesto, plus some sugar(I think...I can't really remember. this was one of those, enjoy it now, because it will never be this way again kind of meals. ) and I just sort of started...mixing things. a few minutes later I had this wonderful tomatoey, basily, olive oily, garlicky, balsamic vinagary sauce over bow-tie pasta. It was MARVELOUS.
Today was sort of another such thing. I didn't have any classes today so I spent about..2 hours making lunch. I boiled some more bow-ties, then while that was going on I made a salad dressing like my mom makes with Olive oil, balsamic, mustard, and sugar. Then after that was done I put the pasta inside a Tupperware, poured the dressing over it, mixed it up, and put it in the fridge. Then I went shopping at the grocery store. I bought some more snacky type things for later this week, butter, mint tea, and some cheese that was good for spreading. Then I popped over to the boulangerie and picked up a baguette tradition (there is a HUGE difference between a baguette and a baguette tradition. Baguette tradition maybe 2 cents more expensive, but the quality is 10 times better. If you're ever in France, ask for baguette tradition.) and walked back home. After I unloaded my cold items into the tiny territory Ive claimed for myself inside the community fridge, I took out my pasta, which had cooled down a bit, grabbed the spreadable cheese,  went back to my room with them and feasted on pasta and herb cheese on baguette.

I know. Carb overload, I know...but it was soooo good. I got shopping for real this weekend, and I'll have Alex with me this time and he's a far better shopper than I am. I need to invest in my own fridge.

Speaking of Alex

London


This past weekend I went to LONDON TOWN! Alex, one of my best friends, is studying theatre at BADA (British-American Academy of Dramatic Arts) and Paris was getting a little crazy with strikes and whatnot so it was a very good thing to go over to an English speaking country for a while. We had a great time. The first night there we ate Thai food, drank cider (a pretty big drink over there apparently. Alex prefers it to beer. who knew!) and left lewd messages to our mutual american friends with some of Alex's free minutes to USA. It was great and festive night.

Next day we went to Camden Market. I think it's literally one of the coolest places on earth. You can find anything there, I think. There were food vendors with types of food from any country you could imagine, there were clothing shops that catered to all styles and tastes, there was a music shop where I bought a harmonica, just EVERYTHING! then after we wandered around there for awhile, we went to the British museum. We looked at all of the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, then went to the India and Asia section for a bit, but by that point I was on a caffeine low so I needed a pick-me-up. After stopping to get a latte (I drink them just to spite Glenn Beck) we walked down to Trafalgar's Square and the National Gallery. There were so many beautiful paintings there. It was really interesting to see the things written about some of the paintings there. It was interesting to be told about some techniques and how each painter used them to in their works. There was a room full of portraits and mythological works that I really enjoyed. Plus, they had an impressionist section which always gets points with me. Then we went back, made our own dinner (stir fry. YUM) then after that went out and had a pint(London bomber or something like that, for those beer enthusiasts who may or may not read my blog. "Wells" was on the label somewhere, but I don't think that was the beer name. That's why I bought it haha) with some other people in Alex's program from SLC (DeeDee, Daniella, and Malka) then just kind of went to bed after awhile.

Sunday was a work day. Alex and I spent the majority of the time either reading, discussing something we were working on, or eating.  then that night we ate Indian food with Malka and Daniella. One of the best Indian meals I've had in a long time! It was all very pungent and flavorful. really nice night. Then we got back to Alex's place and the four of us hung out until ten, when the girls left, and then Alex and I discussed the screen play he was writing. Then we went to bed.

Monday was my day to myself, because Alex had class. I took the tube to the houses of parliament, walked around the park there for a bit, then crossed the river and decided to walk up the river to the Tate modern. That was not the best decision I've made in my life. It was a looooong walk. Actually, it might not have been that long, but it was sooooooo cold that morning, eventually the fun of walking around in London began to wear off and I was just looking to a place to get warm and rest. Finally I made it. It was worth the walk though. especially after a coffee and a rest it was definitely worth the walk. however, I didn't find the blurbs on these pieces as helpful as the ones at the national gallery. they seemed to assert more about the art than I I thought was necessary. It just seemed a little egocentric in it's nature. However, I really enjoyed and was effected by the artwork. I actually discovered a new appreciation for Andy Warhol while I was there. I had never really "gotten" him before, but after seeing some of this work, and reading some of the blurbs (the Warhol blurb person was quite good) something sort of clicked. Very nice way to spend a morning. and then it was lunch time. I had yet to eat a traditional pub meal, and that was on my agenda. There was nowhere around the Tate modern so I crossed the street to the other side near St. Paul's and eventually, after some searching and following of businessmen on their lunch break, I found a place. Great beer selection, great menu, good price. Bam. I got Sausage and Mash and a London's Best Bitter. Exactly what I have been wanting.  Then, after another brief visit to Camden market, I met Alex back at his school and we walked back to his apartment and made more stir fry (even better this time around. YUM!) then I had to leave and catch the train back to Paris.


It was a very nice weekend, but I was glad to return to Paris. Visiting london was like visiting your cool uncle, or grandparent. They have a bunch of cool stuff, you get to have a lot of fun and you'll always love it there, but it's just nice to come back home.

I really do think Paris is becoming a home for me. I'm getting used to it's habits, it's sights, it's smells. But unlike some places, these sights and smells continue to amaze me. Maybe i'm in the middle stages in between fresh off the plane and jaded, but I really do love it here.
__________________
Other things that have happened in bullet points:

• It's getting colder here, but hopefully it won't get as cold as NY. fingers crossed
• Parisian Markets are awesome, but medical visits for your carte de sejour are not.
• I have developed a great appreciation for falafel.
• Alex is coming to Paris this weekend!!!

OK. I'll really try to be better about blogging from now on. Sorry about the delays. I promised to keep you better informed of my Parisian prowling in the future.

Until then,

Monsieur Wells

Chapter 7: Walking Man

Well this has been an interesting week. We finally wrapped up our orientation period today and we are starting Sarah Lawrence classes next week. I finally settled on a politics class on Immigration in France. Reasons being, A: with experiences with the art history teacher on our tours, although i'm sure she's a wonderful teacher and person, I just wasn't really digging the art history thing. Her specialty wasn't on a period I'm particularly interested in and it seemed like a lot of sitting in a dark room with a projector looking at slides, which isn't something I'm looking for. However, this immigration class seems to fit for several reasons. A: Immigration is a very pertinant issue in both France and USA, so I feel like I should be well educated in that subject. B: the way the class is set up, I think that it will incorporate well with the philosophy and literature courses I've taken at SLC already and, hopefully, frame those ideas and theories in a practical context. First class is tomorrow! Will report on that class next week.

However, during this orientation period we have been having french classes. Our teacher is very french, and very awesome. She gave an example on how to use articles while at the same time telling us the best way to make a good fish soup. It was incredible. On Wednesday she took us to a french open air market, which are everywhere, and had us look around and watch french people in action. It was interesting to watch her interact with the vendors. I don't know if this because i'm american of just because I have amisconstrued sense of manners, but if i'm at an open air market like that, I don't like to talk to the vendors because it seems that I'm just being rude to talk to them when i'm not actually going to buy anything. however, Mme Bendelien would talk to the vendors and taste things and then go on her way. the vendors didn't seem to have a problem with that! In fact, they all really like her at the markets that she goes to.

Cultural lessons aside, this market was awesome! There was one like it in Provence too (Pictures soon! there are some up from my Provence trip now, but there are more coming!) and they are just really cool places. Sights, smells, sounds, tastes. There are things from all over France. Produce is really cheap there too. you can buy a good amount of fresh peaches for perhaps a little over a euro, and the ones I had were AMAZING. You know, that perfect consistency where it's not too soft when you hold it, but then when you bite into it the juices just explode in your mouth? Amazing.

_____________________

This past Saturday was a really cool experience. We went to the Grand Opèra Garnier to see three ballets by Roland Petit. First of all, the Opèra Garnier is one of my favorite buildings in Paris. It's an architectural master piece and it's so gorgeous. We had gone on a tour the day before and had some of the things explianed to us, however, this tour was probably one of my most unpleasant experiences of my trip so far.

Well, I should preface this by saying that I am extremely grateful because we got an ALL ACCESS TOUR. The parts that were focused on the building were super cool because we got to see all the parts that most tourists don't get to see.  You know the lake below the opera house, where the phantom is supposed to live? Saw it. We also got to see the old fly system (I took pictures, Teri) and we also got to go on the stage!! Really cool!

However, those things took up about 2 and a half hours MAX. We were there for at least 4 hours. The other parts of it were spent in dark ugly rooms in the opera library listening to a guy show us drawings from the ballets that this person had done in the past.

Ok, I also realize that this was really cool because we were looking at ORIGINAL sketches from the choreographer for the ballets we were seeing the next day. However, my primary interest was the building and all 17 of us were crammed into a tiny little room with no seating for at least an hour with this person. It was just not a good mix. Then we went to listen to a guy who I think is some cultural official for dance, I don't really remember, and he basically gave us a lecture. At that point in the day I had basically given up. He was speaking in french so quickly and so softly his voice just sounded like a gentle hum in my ear. I honestly barely remember a thing. It was just a bad execution of a really cool idea.


BUT

the Ballet the next day made up completly for the day before. The first piece was called Le Rendez-Vous and it was quite strange. It was very charactureish and I got a sense of Commedia delle arte (sorry if I horribly misspelled that) from it. It was very architypical. The second piece was called Le Loup or The Wolf. the story was that a man cheats on his wife with a gypsy and in order so that his wife won't find out, the gypsies make a wolf and turn him into a man and he goes back to the first man's wife as a ruse so he can go off and make sexy time with his gypsy mistress. However, with their time together, the wolf man and the wife fall in live, despite him being a wolf creature. But then all the humans become rather upset and chase them through the forest and eventually corner the girl and the wolf man. As they are about to kill the wolf she jumps into the way of the spear and is killed along side her love. Very beautiful and really well done, but it both of the first dances pale in comparison to L'homme et Mort

this piece translates to Man and Death. There are only two people in this ballet. The first section is a long, difficult solo pieces with the man dancing. There was a sense of longing, and despair in his movements. then a woman enters and they do a very sensous duet. then the woman prepares a noose and leaves. The man hangs himself and then there is an amazing scene change and then we see him walking off with the woman. The whole piece was done to Bach music and it just beautifully works together.  Absolutely wonderful.
_______________________
Mentioning food earlier reminds me of another change that's been going on. I'm cooking for myself a lot more.  Mainly our of necessity, but it's fun! It's fun to try new things. Like, for instance, I made hoppin' johns (a very nice beans and rice dish) with tomatoes mixed in with the beans the other day and it was quite lovely. I'm exploring all the ways I can combine tabouleh, lettuce, and other leftovers I happen to have. Fight now, after cooking a small dinner for myself (at 11 at night, oh how European I am!) I have a huge tupperware of pasta left over that I'll have to do something with...hmmm the mind begins to turn. Also I have a bag of potatoes that is just sitting in my closet waiting to be used for something.
_______________

Something I've noticed living here is that I love walking here. It's possibly the best walking city because no matter where you go there is always something interesting. For example, and this is an extreme example but if i hadn't been walking I never would have seen it, one day I was walking back to the big train station from the Opèra and I basically stumbled upon a string orchestra playing in the middle of this plaza. They were't phenomenal, but they were really good, and you could tell that they were having a really great time playing for everyone. Earlier in that same plaza, when I was walking to the Opèra, we walked what seemed to be a gathering of deaf people who all spoke sign language. It was like a sign language party. It was really interesting to be surrounded by a language withing a language, both of which were foreign to me.

Walking also helps my navigation skills. I've developed a really good sense of the streets because I've walked a good deal of them by now. There are still tons more left to explore, but I've fairly throughly explored my main territories. I also can read a map very well now.
____________

Well everyone, getting late again. I'm not sure why I save these entries until the wee hours of the morning, but it's pushing 2 here and I have class tomorrow. So bon soirée to you all and I will see you next week!

the Aix chapter: I actually like of want this provincial life

so sorry for not posting yesterday, we just got back from a wonderful trip in provence this past weekend and I was très fatigué. 

I think, instead of making up for all of the days I missed from the start of orientation, I will just start at the night before we left this past weekend. But, basically, we have begun our french classes now, my teacher is really cool and good. We've already done 2 oral projects and we have our first test this coming thursday. Other than that,  orientation was't anything more than a lot of meetings and your typical orientation affair. 

So, this past thursday night

I was planning on coming home, cooking a nice quiet meal and perhaps snuggling up with my laptop and watching youtube videos (yes, I do not have ANY dvds or means to watch actual movies because Netflix does not work at all. c'est dommage) however, right as I had finished preparing my pasta sauce, about 6 or 7 people walked in and began to prepare their own feast ( I had already taken all of my stuff off the stove, and was sitting at the table) I began to talk with them and it turns out they were all seniors from Georgia Tech in the architecture department here for a semester long program. All really nice people so we start eating together and drinking together and we had a good time. Plus, my friend Samantha showed up too so there was some mingling between SLC people and others. Later that night too, two of the GT guys, Samantha, and I met this really nice french artist who lives in the same dorm as us and we got to go up to his artist loft on the 5th floor and see his work. Really amazing stuff. he finds it hard to understand english, but he wants to learn so he can study in new york so we made a deal that I would only speak in french to him and he would speak in english to me so we could both practice. Lots of fun that night

Then (bum bum buuuum) the next morning we hopped over to Gare de Lyon and nous sommes allé au Provence.

We stayed in a city called Aix-en-Provence. very old and beautiful buildings. Lots or Oranges and Yellows on the walls and buildings. Paul Cezanne worked and lived in this area and there were a lot of things that were named after him there. We heard that Cezanne really liked a ocher, orangy color and you can understand why when you look around there. The buildings all have this orangey brown yellow color to them and they are so beautiful when the sun hits them. Also, the dirt in the surrounding area is a rich red clay which also has that same color tone.

We saw about every single church in that city. There was one that was built by the romans at first and then had several different architectural styles added on as the cathedral was built. the cloister of that place was really quite wonderful as well. all of the carvings in the wall had a little story to them (by the way, all of the things I describe will have photos once I can get a strong enough internet connection to upload them all)

After walking all over creation, we had some free time. It was during this time that I FINALLY found some blues music. I literally was walking down the street and I heard a harmonica blaring out of a cool looking bar and I basically said goodbye to who ever I was with and darted off. It was so worth it too. It was a two man blues group with a singer-harmonica player and a slide guitarist. I had seen anyone play slide guitar before so it was a cool experience for me. 

The next day we went to Marseille. Marseille is a huge and beautiful beach city on the coast. It's further west than Nice and Cannes. Very old as well and it was one of the hardest hit cities during world war 2. Thankfully, a lot of the old buildings remain. It was wonderful. You just can't the sweeping ocean views anywhere else. It was all very majestic. We saw some very cool art there as well. There was a collection of Italian renaissance paintings done by lesser known artists of that era. It was very fascinating to see these other works that were being done at the same time as ''the greats''

The next day we traveled home by way of Saint Rèmy de Provence and Avignon. Saint Rèmy de Provence is the city that Van Gogh lived just outside of and we got to go to the house he lived in. It was really beautiful there. one of the cool things they did was they would post paintings he did right next to the real life subject of the painting. It was facinating to see his unique perspective on things. 

Avignon was a very interesting city, and it was the only one where I totally lost my bearings. Generally I have a good sense of navigation, but at one point I realized that without our guide, I would be completely lost forever. I had no idea of where anything was. Luckily, we had a great guide who fearlessly led us into many museums and architectural wonders of Provence. 

I'll try to post more detailed and specific captions on each photo once they're uploaded so you can gain more insight into my Provincial voyage

now we're back and getting ready for classes to start next week. There are a few more orientation events, but they all seem like fun things so I'm excited.

I may start writing more frequently now because there is so much happening in a week that it's hard to remember it all. But, as of right now, let's just stay on a weekly basis.

À bien-tôt!

Chapter 5 part 1: The Strike and Montmartre.

Finally, the experience has begun. Last Thursday was our first day of orientation and finally the Sarah Lawrence College people all got to meet the students from the other colleges. The majority of them come from Claremont, California, but there are a few people from elsewhere. It's a good group. 

But, I'm sort of getting ahead of myself. There were several days before then un accounted for.

Well in those days, nothing terribly exciting in terms of events, but I met some cool people.

On Monday night I met up with a girl from our program and a friend of hers who is here with another program. We went to a bar in th latin quarter and had a drink and then walked around in the rain for a while looking for this jazz place. Alas, it was nowhere to be found. (but I WILL find it) After that I went to my friend Katherine's apartment that she's sharing with a friend of hers and we had some wine and laughs. Good evening.

The next day on Tuesday, Katherine, her friend, and I all went up to Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur. What a gorgeous view from that hilltop. really stunning. And then to walk around the neighborhood of Montmartre was really pretty. There were a lot of touristy places, but just the architecture and the beauty around counteracted all of the touristy BS. And then we descended into Paris' red light district.How did we know? well when the amount of strip clubs and sex shops exceed the amount of restaurants and shops, you have a good idea.  Personally, I''m not a red light district kind of person, and I have no desire to be. But it was cool to see the Moulin Rouge, so that's something I guess. 

The day we went to Montmartre was the day of ''la greve'' which means Strike. All of the metro trains were running at about half capacity, and the express RER trains were not even open. You couldn't even walk into the station. Why? The French government is trying to raise the retirement age to 62. I know, OUTRAGEOUS! (please note sarcasm) but nevertheless, it was something we had to deal with that day, and it was an ORDEAL. 

We get into the metro station from the red light district and go the the platform. the platform is full of people (mostly ''refreshed'' looking business men who I imagine partook in the benefits that the red light district has to offer) then the train pulls up and it also is jammed packed with people. We literally could not get on the train. we had to let it pass. Not just once but at least 4 times. Finally Katherine, but her friend and I were still left standing at the station. Eventually what we had to do was to go back in the other direction a stop, get on the train there and then ride it back. Not a fun time standing for 45 minutes squished together by about 50 French people while you travel all the way across town back to your room. Needless to say, I stayed in the rest of the night. 

But aside from those events, the most interesting things that have happened have been the meeting of people. I've finally met a French person! her name is Hannah and she is très chouette! She's very good at english as well as french so she makes a good person to speak to for practice. We get a long quite nicely and I believe that this is the start of une bonne amité.

Okay, so that brings us to Thursday, which is the start of Orientation! 

which I will finish tomorrow, because it is not very late here and I have an 8:30am meeting tomorrow! 

I will tell you tales of crazy latin quarter nights tomorrow!

Wells