Catching up

Ok, wow. It has been a while since I have written, many many apologies. As I catch you up on what is going on ... on my side of the puddle... I think it will be clear to you as to why I don't write.... SLEEP is something I cherish and have been trying to get to for the longest time. Our group has been running around all over the place for the past two weeks. Busy Busy

So here we go... a quick run though

Friday 11 --

Woke up early as usual for French class which was then followed by a presentation by Elodie Nowinsky on cultural differences. It was fascinating. This young Sciences-Po professor gave a really exiting lecture on culture (who would have thought that exciting and lecture could be caught together in a sentence). But wow. She teaches pop culture and rock and roll, she had a bright pink bow in her hair, and a very chill but intense way of talking. She didn't go though the usual "we eat french fries with mayo and you eat it with ketchup." Instead she dove into the attitudes of the cultures. The perceptions of success and money, opportunity and value. America is "yes we can!" while France is a bit more skeptical. She compared the educational systems, the value of history and antiquity... depth in understanding (the French side of course). It was a cool presentation and I hope to listen to her lectures again sometime this semester.

Afterwards we went on our scavenger hunt. We got into groups and went out to the Concord- American Embassy- a small chocolate shop- then Moulin Rouge- and up the hill to the beautiful white church whose name I know but I don't feel like butchering. The day was gorgeous so the view was wonderful. At each location we had to take pictures to prove the whole group was there... which was a bit of a problem at the US embassy given that the guards forbid any pictures... how silly. They might as well build a wall around it if no one is allowed to take a few pics. Well anyway... our team won by far, and then sat at a bar to chill and wait for the rest. The ending location was our restaurant for dinner.... a wonderful and funky fondu place.

First of all, the place is tiny and covered in signatures of former customers. Secondly, the toilet seat is bright yellow with cheese pictures on it. Then, in order to sit at your table you need to climb on a chair and jump over the table (tiny place). We were served cheese fondu and meat fondu (hot oil where we cook our meat) and our wine was served in baby bottles. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, nor is my mind shutting down from lack of sleep... BABY bottles. Very odd and charming in its own way as a group of 25 people piled up in a tiny restaurant holding baby bottles of wine. It was a fun night to say the least.

Saturday 12- Was a relatively chill day. I went out with my roomie and got veggies from the open market, and necessities from the supermarket, and walked around and around and had lunch etc. Went out that night for a bit and yea... all was chill.

Sunday 13- I went to my friends house for brunch. Absolutely fantastic. Then they showed me many great places to visit in Paris while I'm here. Then I went out with N, we made dinner at home and then went out for a movie... Inglorious Bastards. Fantastic title, but eh... good movie but didn't really see the point. Not that movies need to have a point... but it wasn't charming in the way Pulp Fiction had been... no where as many good quotes and it was a bit of a ugh.. idk, touchy movie.

Monday- Schooool... it was wonderful, the professor really knows how to speak to the class, how to get us involved and lecture all at the same time. Everyone seems to like her and really enjoy the class. After class we had lunch, (3 euro sandwiches at the cafeteria,,, bravo, really good!) Then off to French class were we had.... wait for it.... wait for it.... guess what.... another scavenger hunt!!

But much harder given that it was all in French and that the teachers overestimated our French skills and our cultural knowledge. So we got thought about a fourth of it. We were stuck on the metro for a bit because it took a long time for the groups to get tickets... then we were off to the cemetery. It was really incredibly old and beautiful. We stopped by many famous graves and then saw something a bit more contemporary.... a couple going at it in the cemetery. They weren't doing anything bad per se, just showing the Americans that all rules against PDAs (public displays of affection) do not exist in Paris. So, quite a few people in the group were a bit offended that the couple was making out in a graveyard and didn't even unlock lips as we passed (and some took pics (not me)). But in my opinion, they brought a little life to the place.

We then passed through streets with interesting graffiti, and unpleasant smells and cool cafes. It was a good experience... getting to see the "other side" of Paris... not just the glamor. Unfortunately one of the groups got a little too much of a taste as they witnessed a mugging...

everyone, hold on tight to their handbags. We were dead tired when we got back to the dorms. I made dinner and then read and slept.

Tuesday- Crazy busy day... Class then lunch (where we met with our groups for the marketing project) then french class then I walked home to get my cell, then turned around and walked back to the place we were going to have dinner... Crepes are yummy. Yep. yummy. I had one with all sorts of things... mushrooms, and creme, and salad and ooh. Then a raspberry chocolate ice-cream moosh. Then we went on a tour boat on the river.... then sleeeep. I know it sounded really fast, but really... the day was packed, no time to breath... only time to learn, walk and eat!

Ok... speaking of sleep, i'm going to go get some of that now. I'll continue catching up tomorrow. : )

Good night!

Day 4

Woke up and walked to class with the group... verrry slow but its ok. French class moved to a different location and once that was settled, it began! We reviewed numbers, played a game involving skipping the numbers 5 and 7 and multiples.... and then looked at picture of famous people and asked/answered questions about them.

Eventually we met Anya who took us to Florence's office after the groups had reunited. Florence is such a character.... in the clouds, kind, happy, smiling, a little lost and a little confused but wonderful. She could be drawn. Her office was very cute.

We then went home to get some things done before wine and cheese. We tried champaign and 5 other types of wine along with at least 10 types of cheese. We got lessons on wine tasting, what to look for, what goes with what, how to hold the glass, how it was made and the whole 9 yards.

It was very fun... and yes, my cheeks were a rosy by the end.

Then I rushed to go to an alumni meeting. Only 2 of us went. But it was a goo networking event and the dean of the elliot school gave a speech about the foreign policy of Obama. And of course.... the food was WOOOW... especially the sweets.

Then home again to chill with roommate, dye laughing at something online, and email/write, see nasssimmmmm... and then plop into bed ready to sleep

Sorry this was short and no fun... i'll spice it up again later... but i'm too sleepy and again class at 9:30 tomorrow.

Wish me luck waking up... or with my roommate luck in waking me : P

Day 3

6:00 AM, demon dogs barked their heads off in the courtyard. 7:00 AM my alarm goes off.

7:50AM my roomie wakes me up.... 10 mins before we leave.

But we were the first ones outside where we met with three Sciences-Po students.

The group sluggishly made their way to Sciences-Po (the really nice building this time) via bus. It was slightly awkward when at 8AM we were riding the bus with the silent Parisians and one girl from our group spoke really really loudly. She didn't notice. But later on in the day we became that typical loud American group when we were on the metro so she was not the only one... but that was after a night out... Hopefully we will avoid being the loud group after this week... and blend into the French culture a little better as opposed to sticking out like dust on a black dress under a blacklight.

We were quite late so when we arrived we were greeted by the vice president of Sciences-Po as opposed to eating breakfast first. He greeted us warmly and explained his vision for the future of education.... the interconnection of schools and cultures. He was the founder of the program eight years ago. Then we met a few more administrative people and proceeded to juice, coffee and mini pastries.

After that meeting we went to our first French lesson. The teachers put us into two groups, level one and level two. They determined the groups by asking us a series of questions... like our name, how to spell it, what we liked to do and where we live. They adjusted the questions for each person depending on how they responded. Some of the responses were quite funny and amusing and the two teachers had a great sense of humor. They were constantly smiling and laughing. It was quite nice.

I was in group one but had pretty good pronunciation. I was able to help some of the students around me as well! : ) The lesson was entirely in French which was fantastic... opposite of my Spanish classes in high school.

Later we had lunch in the cafeteria, got our Sciences-Po emails activated and went to the old building for a meeting about some administrative stuff.

We then walked to the Musée d'Orsay were we got a guided tour of a little old french lady who was all dressed in purple and had a strong demanding voice and quite good English. We all had microphones in order to hear her no matter where we were. We saw sooo many good paintings and I got to see a part of that museum that i had never seen before.

I will add more pictures to the blog tomorrow to further explain what words can't.

Then... dorm, salad at the dorm, grocery shopping, crepe, and sports bar for Serbia Vs France!!!

Bets were on... but tied game. Serbia will soon qualify for the world cupppp wooooo :)

The group was lured into a bar by the bartender who said he would give many free drinks if we would go... and sure enough we attracted even more people soon after since we were a large group of ten. Ebbe, Chris, and I went to the next bar over that had a better TV so we could watch the game. After we rejoined everyone in the first bar and danced to good music and talked. I had a cranberry juice the whole night but it looked like the rest of the group had quite a good collection of empty glasses.

Anyway.... we made it back home safe from the meto...

and now i'm in a rush to close this computer and go sleep...

my apologies

: )

Day 2

Today was a simple day...

Woke up with the usual shower etc and met the group in front of the main office at 10. It was a lucky day... sunny again! We had a short meeting about our surroundings, shopping etc and then went on a tour. Bus stop, metro, cheap grocery store, Luxingburg garden, then lunch and Sciences-Po.

The group was large and happily chit-chatted for the duration of the walk. Everyone especially enjoyed the garden. But ok... how does this make any sense? I have been to the Luxingburg garden three times in the past three days. And each time, I got the hiccups while in the garden.... ?? Can any one explain that to me?

Lunch was yummy, of course, creamy rich goat cheese with peppers and salad, a quiche, couscous, more salad and a black sausage. I tried the black sausage but didn't eat it. It was the blood sausage and it didn't suite my taste. But its ok, I wanted to try and the meal was filling without it.We then went to the Sciences-Po building to get a lecture on safety by Floronce, our program coordinator. She is a very perky and all-over-the-place kind of woman. Very

kind and cheerful. Always smiling in a genuine kind of way. The building we were in was.... well... lets just say I shouldn't have gone to the Sorbonne the day before because this

building was the complete opposite. The windows all had cracks and pealing paint around them... the entrance itself was pealing and completely run down. It was NOT the main Sciences-Po building though. The main building was far more attractive. But this little side building was old and charming in its own way. Though I didn't dare crack a window in case the whole window fell through.

We split up into two groups to go shopping afterwards to go shopping. My roommate and I wen to a place that was suppose to be equivalent to Target.... but lets just say we skipped on buying linens and towels given that ONE bath-towel was 25 euros. We will stick to the ones we have until we find a better deal. Another amusing sight at this store was an old granny with half a shopping cart full of wine bottles. Maybe she wants to be healthy... anti-oxidants?

The walk back to the dorms was very pleasant. We passed through the garden ag

ain and saw people walking their dogs, playing tennis, dancing, and old french men with big noses and puffs of white hair playing checkers and chess... at least 30 of them.

After chilling in the dorm for a bit (where I fell into one of those zombie-heat sleeps... you know the kind where it is really hot out and you close your eyes for a nap but can not get out of bed after because you just want sleeeeeeeep) my roomie and I went shopping for food (though we will save most of it for the open market) then went back to make dinner. It took a while because we didn't realize the stove tops were on the lowest temperature setting... we thought the stove was broken hahaha... but then realized our booboo.

I made pasta with tomatoes onions and peppers. Went online, chatted a bit... and sleeeeep time now... 7am wakeup tomorrow!

Goodnight everyone!

Ahh, one more thing.... today we also signed up to dress the models for the Saab fashion show October 7th... : )

First Day of the GW Business Program

So the story begins…

Today I moved into the apartment. It is small, sweet and gorgeous. But first… how I got there. This morning I woke up at 10:15 with the wails of an infant downstairs. It is incredible what a loud noise can emerge from such a small mouth.

So the day started off slowly, breakfast, shower, packing… it all seemed to go at snail pace. But finally Nassim and I left the house, as I waved goodbye to his mother and the little kids she takes care of. Since we didn't have the car we had to go by train. The rest of the luggage was saved for the car... because dragging it all on the train would have been impossible.

We took the bus to the train, changed tracks three times and emerged from the metro to the sunny streets of Paris. One thing must be made clear… and should be a warning to all visitors of Paris : The weather is bipolar. Plain and simple. In fact, I’m not sure what weathermen do when they “predict” the weather in Paris because it is s

imply a guessing game. “Today we have random busts of sun and rain… bonne chance!” Two days ago it was cold and chilly and now, hot and sunny and humid… and I bet you tomorrow it will be sunny and then suddenly rain as if old women were dumping buckets from their balconies.

We walked down the streets until we reached the Paris American Academy office that is providing the housing for our stay. We were greeted by two friendly men (one seemed very quiet and shy) and then shown to the room.

The entrance to the building is simple, the lobby floor is covered in a ceramic mosaic and the stair case spirals up to the seventh floor. We took the small four-person elevator up to the fifth floor. The man guiding us unlocked the door. Then he turned the circular handle that was smack in the middle of the door (just like a hobbit hole door).

The door opened up to a small hallway, with a closet door on the left and the kitchen and bathroom doors on the right. The main room has two soft beds, bed tables, a phone, drawers, a table, desk and two armchairs. Everything is made of hardwood and doesn’t look like dorm-furniture. Instead it is decent looking furniture that one would place in a home. The windows are large and have two layers of curtains, white see-though knitting and then two heavier blue fabrics. But never mind the windows, the view outside the windows is what counts. Wow! …French rooftops, buildings, flowery gardens down below, and the windows face west allowing for a peaceful view of the sun’s departure each day.

The bathroom is like a zebra with spots. It is entirely covered with black and while checkered tiles. Its funny and a bit shocking at first glance but interesting in a pleasant way (not the “interesting” in an unpleasant, sarcastic way). The kitchen has a cute small café sized table with two chairs and enough space to twirl, in case one ever has the sudden urge to twirl. Utensils, glasses, pots and all that jazz have been provided and I am extremely grateful… and the fridge is a nice size, so Jana’s stomach is not disappointed. Tomorrows task will be to play Tetris with the fridge, and chunks of cheese. Speaking of Tetris… after unpacking the bag I had, I went with Nassim in search of food and a cell phone… and the cell phone has TETRIS!!!! I didn’t know it when I bought it, but it was a good way to win over my heart in place of the old phone.

We got the phone at the post office. Yes… le poste. The post office sells stuff, including postcards, boxes, cell phones, phone cards…. And is a bank. Talk about multitasking. But unfortunately, it seems like that more they take on, the more chaotic the environment so it took almost an hour to get the phone.

But before the phone adventure, we went in the hunt for food… we were quite quite hungry. To the point were we couldn’t find anything fast enough and we thus settled for a panini. I’ve had better (Summer 2005, Ohrid, Macedonia) but it filled the stomach and allowed us to enjoy the day. With a panini in one hand, and Nassim’s hand in the other, we went to the Luxemburg gardens, sat on the benches and enjoyed the afternoon.

He also showed me the Sorbonne… his gorgeous school with carvings, painted ceilings, sculptures and marble stairs…. Old fashion wooden desks and benches, small green chalk boards and large frescos painted in the lecture halls. Quite breathtaking. Bravo Nassim : )

Around six, we headed back to the dorm in time to meet my roommate Colleen, who seemed very nice and pleasant and a bit tired from her long travels. Nassim left for home but promised to be back later... and with the new phone, it made it much easier to plan everything so there were no worries.

I went on skype for a bit and then headed to dinner down the street at 7:30.

Le Vin Sobre was half full with the students from our group. I sat between two

Sciences-Po students and across from three GW students. I really enjoyed the dinner and the company. We talked about the US, France, healthcare, pharmacies, commercials, schooling, sports and so on… it was lovely. As for dinner, I had a tomato-zebra salad, a juicy streak with French fries and salad, and a pear-cookie-cake-like-thing-covered-in-crème.

After dinner (10:00) we all went our separate ways… one of the other tables left earlier for the Eiffel tower, and my group split in order to get some sleep.

In the mean time I got to meet with Nassim and enjoy a walk in front of the Eiffel tower. : )

By one, I had to say goodbye and went back to my dorm… wrote a bit… and then awaited the soothing caress of sleep… bonne nuit