Friday January 30th
Today was a good day. I had signed up, along with a bunch of others, to go to Versailles castle. Versailles is outside Paris, and we had to take a different train out there. We got up, got ready and had to be downstairs by 10 AM that morning. It only cost us 5 dollars (well euros)- for our train tickets to and from Versailles. We walked to the train station, about 7-10 minutes away. Once we got onto the train, which we had to run to, it was from there a 20 minute train ride to Versailles. We got off and walked about 5 minutes to the castle. It was contained in a gold gate, and it was HUGE! The castle was massive- we only walked a little bit through it and went into the back, and saw all of the grounds. Many of the rooms we walked through looked exactly the same, just in different colors. In the back, there was land as far as we couldn't even see anymore- It seemed like it went on forever.The palace was massive. It was really pretty to see, and I'm glad i went, but i thought i would have been more impressed with it.
After we left the palace, we went back onto the train and went back to campus. We stopped at Quick- which was a fast food place- in the train station on the way back. After we ate, we went back to our rooms, hung out, took a quick nap, and watched movies that Jen had brought with her.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Catch Up
Today there was planned a huge strike on the city's transportation- so they suspected no one to be able to use the buses, and metros, because they would all be on strike. Because of the strike, our professor was going to have to walk from his house all the way to school. He lived in the north of
Catching Up
These entries may be short because i am so behind... I will fill in more details when i figure them out!
Tuesday January 27th
Today i didn't have class until the afternoon. I woke up a 7:30, went to breakfast for 8, and took a nap afterward. I had class at 1:30. Philosophy-- i don't like this class very much it is so boring. Dinner at 7- read for class afterward.
Wednesday January 28th
Today I had theology class, but not until 1:30. I got up the same as the day before, went to breakfast but stayed up. We had our weekly meeting at 5:30. After class, we had dinner. (More details to come)
Tuesday January 27th
Today i didn't have class until the afternoon. I woke up a 7:30, went to breakfast for 8, and took a nap afterward. I had class at 1:30. Philosophy-- i don't like this class very much it is so boring. Dinner at 7- read for class afterward.
Wednesday January 28th
Today I had theology class, but not until 1:30. I got up the same as the day before, went to breakfast but stayed up. We had our weekly meeting at 5:30. After class, we had dinner. (More details to come)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Service day
Monday January 26th, 2009
Today i woke up got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. I had class today at 8:45 until 12:30. Today was philosophy. it was equally as boring as last week. We started presentations today which took up some time (yay). I hung out with Brittany and Kelly for a little bit in their room, and then went out to walk around and go shopping with them. I didn't buy anything though. There were fresh seafood places here and there along the streets-- it makes it smell pretty bad, and must be horrible in the summer. There were also fresh flower stands on the streets, which smelt pretty. We went into the grocery store Shopi and Brittany had bought some stuff. After she paid, we went back to campus. She noticed one of the coins was not like any she had seen yet, so she asked the woman at the desk what it was. She said it was a franc, which isn't used anymore so we had to go back to Shopi to exchange it. The lady we checked out at didn't know any English, but thankfully we saw someone we knew there- Mikey- who spoke French and he helped us out. We thought she wouldn't exchange the franc for the euro, but thankfully she did. if Mikey wasn't there, i highly doubt that she would have given Brittany back the change, because she denied that she even saw us come into her line.
We went back to campus and i read until about 5, when I had to get ready to go to service. I was going to the Soup Kitchen with Stephanie. Once we got ready, we went downstairs and left to the soup kitchen with Leandro and Manuel. We had to take 2 subways to where we needed to go. We took the 10 train to Jeissiu and then the 7 train to somewhere else, i forgot where though. it wasn't the best area, but it wasn't a bad walk after that. Manuel told us to be careful because the men are rude. he told us "don't afraid to kick ass" haha. Only a few people spoke English there. We had to wear gowns, like in hospitals, shoe coverings and hairnets and gloves to work there in back in the kitchen area. I felt like a surgeon. I was behind dished out chicken patties onto plates in an assembly line fashion. A french lady next to me asked " how do you say this in English (pointing at the sauce she was serving)?" I said " ... sauce.?" and she goes " Ohhhh Sauce! Americans must have taken word from French" I was like " ah... yea probably" haha
Everyone there was really nice. One man started talking to me in french but i had no clue what he was saying so i just smiled and nodded hah. i swear that can get you through anything! lol It was a really good experience. i didn't mind it at all. It was long though, 3 hrs plus travel. I wouldn't have minded it if there were extra spots to do it again though. As long as I'm doing the same things.. i liked being behind the counter because i felt like if i was giving out milk, i wouldn't be able communicate with them-- it would have just been harder. Steph and I were invited to eat with them afterwards, but we both had a lot of work to do for classes. We headed back to school and i read for philosophy all night and went to sleep.
Today i woke up got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. I had class today at 8:45 until 12:30. Today was philosophy. it was equally as boring as last week. We started presentations today which took up some time (yay). I hung out with Brittany and Kelly for a little bit in their room, and then went out to walk around and go shopping with them. I didn't buy anything though. There were fresh seafood places here and there along the streets-- it makes it smell pretty bad, and must be horrible in the summer. There were also fresh flower stands on the streets, which smelt pretty. We went into the grocery store Shopi and Brittany had bought some stuff. After she paid, we went back to campus. She noticed one of the coins was not like any she had seen yet, so she asked the woman at the desk what it was. She said it was a franc, which isn't used anymore so we had to go back to Shopi to exchange it. The lady we checked out at didn't know any English, but thankfully we saw someone we knew there- Mikey- who spoke French and he helped us out. We thought she wouldn't exchange the franc for the euro, but thankfully she did. if Mikey wasn't there, i highly doubt that she would have given Brittany back the change, because she denied that she even saw us come into her line.
We went back to campus and i read until about 5, when I had to get ready to go to service. I was going to the Soup Kitchen with Stephanie. Once we got ready, we went downstairs and left to the soup kitchen with Leandro and Manuel. We had to take 2 subways to where we needed to go. We took the 10 train to Jeissiu and then the 7 train to somewhere else, i forgot where though. it wasn't the best area, but it wasn't a bad walk after that. Manuel told us to be careful because the men are rude. he told us "don't afraid to kick ass" haha. Only a few people spoke English there. We had to wear gowns, like in hospitals, shoe coverings and hairnets and gloves to work there in back in the kitchen area. I felt like a surgeon. I was behind dished out chicken patties onto plates in an assembly line fashion. A french lady next to me asked " how do you say this in English (pointing at the sauce she was serving)?" I said " ... sauce.?" and she goes " Ohhhh Sauce! Americans must have taken word from French" I was like " ah... yea probably" haha
Everyone there was really nice. One man started talking to me in french but i had no clue what he was saying so i just smiled and nodded hah. i swear that can get you through anything! lol It was a really good experience. i didn't mind it at all. It was long though, 3 hrs plus travel. I wouldn't have minded it if there were extra spots to do it again though. As long as I'm doing the same things.. i liked being behind the counter because i felt like if i was giving out milk, i wouldn't be able communicate with them-- it would have just been harder. Steph and I were invited to eat with them afterwards, but we both had a lot of work to do for classes. We headed back to school and i read for philosophy all night and went to sleep.
Relaxing day
Sunday January 25th, 2009
Honestly nothing really happened today. We went to the grocery store to buy oranges and stuff.. i attempted to blog.. didn't work to well obviously since I'm just catching up right now... and i caught up on reading for metaphysics class.
Boring (but relaxing) day!
Honestly nothing really happened today. We went to the grocery store to buy oranges and stuff.. i attempted to blog.. didn't work to well obviously since I'm just catching up right now... and i caught up on reading for metaphysics class.
Boring (but relaxing) day!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Continuing...
Hey sorry I haven't updated in a while... I've been busy. But I skipped going out tonight so i could get some stuff done, so I'm trying to get more entries in, since I am now two weeks behind...I have done a lot so here it goes....
Saturday January 24th, 2009
Today was a great day... a slow start but ended wonderfully! We got to see so much, and was so beautiful!! Anyway...
Today we woke up around 10:30. A little later, about noon or one, we went to an area called Monte Martre. It was about a 15-20 minute metro ride on the 12 train. Upon exiting the subway, we had to go up a flight of spiral stairs, where there was beautiful artwork on the walls. We all quickly figured out why they wanted to distract us with the artwork on the walls.... it was probably the longest flight of spiral stairs i have ever been on! We had to take some breaks, and we thought the stairs would never end! By the end of the stairs, we were all dying. After getting to the top, we figured out there was an elevator....figures.
After we got out of the subway, it brought us to a little park area where there was merry-go-round. It was so cute and picturesque. Little kids were running around waiting for their turn to go on the carousel. We walked down the street and found a little sandwich place for lunch. we all had baguette sandwiches. At the sandwich place, we asked where the area of Moulin Rouge is, and he explained it was just down the street- a little of a walk. So we headed out down the street--- we had to go see the famous Moulin Rouge building... What we weren't expecting the other surroundings.. it seemed like every store was a sex shop on both sides of the street! awkward haha. Either that or a small crepe or gyro place. It was not an area for kids to walk around in.. hah
But we saw the Moulin Rouge Building-- just like in pictures! I was cool to see. After we took pictures, we walked toward the Monte Martre area, and to the Sacre-Coeur (a huge church that was built after the Franco-Prussian War). This part was breathtaking. However, it was at top of a hill... and involved even more stairs. But the 2nd set of stairs was not as bad because they weren't as steep, but there were like 300 of those. After we got up the stairs, the view was amazing! I don't even know how to explain it... which is why I took a bunch of pictures. We got there before sunset, so when it finally was sunset, we were able to watch the sun go down.
On the huge staircase in front of the Sacre-Coeur there was a group of 2-3 men singing songs. It was so peaceful--He was singing acoustic songs with his guitar-- Hallelujah, Beatles songs, and mellow songs. It was so... idk. Amazing. We sat on the stairs and listened to them play some music. It was like a concert- all the locals were just sitting on the steps of the basilica, some with wine and beer, just listening to the singers. A couple people went up and sang songs as well.. one of them being my friend Jen. I didn't know she could sing as well as she does... Jen sang a couple verses of "Amazing Grace". It was amazing. Everyone wanted her to sing some more. It was so cool. (I have videos of both Jen and a song the real people sang. lol I will try to upload them) After sitting there for a while though, we wanted to go inside the basilica. The church was just as beautiful inside as it was on the outside! We weren't able to take pictures or anything.. It was extremely quiet... i felt bad whispering. lol I wish i could have taken pictures inside. It was beautiful.
After we walked around the church, we took some pictures of the sun setting with the Eiffel tower in the background. Amazing. Around the corner from the church, there were little shops that we looked through, and we found a section of bars and clubs (Discotheques), as well of crepe and gyro places (EMMY!! haha). While walking around there, there were some men standing there with their drawing pads, ready to draw you. One said something to Kelly, asking her if she wanted her picture drawn (but said this in French). He started drawing even before she had a chance to say no to the man. They are very persistent-- But it seemed so french-- the men in their beret's drawing. haha So cliche-- but i love it!
After we were done in that area, which i loved (and i hope we go back before we leave again) we headed down the 300 steps to go find this fondue place that Kelly had heard about. It was called "The Laughing Sisters". (but in french) When we finally found it, there was a baby bottle as the door handle, and a clown, painted on the window. We asked, if this was the place. What was she getting us into? hah It was just about 7-- a few minutes before, and the place was empty, except for a few men sitting down and eating. We didn't know what to do- whether to go in or not. She Kim started to go in. and they started speaking french to us. Kim goes "Angleis?", and the man held up his hand and said five minutes. So all five of us inched out of the doorway, and back onto the street. We wandered up the street for a few minutes and found this little hole-in-the-wall vintage/thrift shop that smelt gross inside. They had a lot of really old styled clothes and bags and stuff though. It was cool to see. After we were done with that we went back to the baby bottle place (which will soon be evident of why we called it that). We walked in and another group of people were sitting down at the other end of the table. This place was pretty small. It just had 2 rows of tables against the wall (long booth styles seat along each wall, tables then individual chairs). This place probably sat like 60-70ish people... close seating though. The other group of people that were just sitting down as we were coming in were the group of people we met at the Frog and the Princess from NYU. It was really random that we saw them there at the same exact time. The walls were painted like scenes from a circus. And all along every inch of the walls, and starting on the ceiling, people had written their names, and signed it. We were reading them while we sat there we found a signature around Boston university. I thought it was cool. we wanted to sign our names on the ceiling. But we never ended up doing that. It would be cool to say we left our mark in Paris-- maybe another time... lol
continued...
This place was so tiny, we had to step on a chair, over the table, for people to get to the other side of the table. why we couldn't just pull out the table... idk. So we all ordered cheese fondue., which came with bread to dip it in. Before hand, when we sat down, they brought us a small glass of pink wine (really good) and a platter of small finger foods that we ate then, but probably could have dipped into the cheese. What makes this place famous i think was the fact they serve wine out of baby bottles. it is really funny to watch a 40 year old man drinking out of a baby bottle like its nothing! hah We had fun though; taking a bunch of pictures, videos, and eating the fondue. There was a woman next to Kelly who came after us, who was giving us dirty looks like the whole time. she didn't look like she was having fun-- but the people with her seemed to have fun. We were talking with them for a little bit. They were nice. The check sort of came to a big one for the 5 of us girls--- 90.00-- but it came out to 18.00 each person, which wasn't too bad, because it was a lot of fun... its all the experience... right??
After we left the baby bottle place, we walked back to the metro, down all the winding stairs... it made me so dizzy! we should have taken the elevator hah. We headed back to school and freshened up to go out again with the rest of the group. We went to the Long Hop again, and saw Meredith, Stephanie, and Mikey. We didn't stay there for long, because we were all pretty tired after the day. We headed back to school, caught the metro back, and got ready for bed. It was a pretty good day!
Saturday January 24th, 2009
Today was a great day... a slow start but ended wonderfully! We got to see so much, and was so beautiful!! Anyway...
Today we woke up around 10:30. A little later, about noon or one, we went to an area called Monte Martre. It was about a 15-20 minute metro ride on the 12 train. Upon exiting the subway, we had to go up a flight of spiral stairs, where there was beautiful artwork on the walls. We all quickly figured out why they wanted to distract us with the artwork on the walls.... it was probably the longest flight of spiral stairs i have ever been on! We had to take some breaks, and we thought the stairs would never end! By the end of the stairs, we were all dying. After getting to the top, we figured out there was an elevator....figures.
After we got out of the subway, it brought us to a little park area where there was merry-go-round. It was so cute and picturesque. Little kids were running around waiting for their turn to go on the carousel. We walked down the street and found a little sandwich place for lunch. we all had baguette sandwiches. At the sandwich place, we asked where the area of Moulin Rouge is, and he explained it was just down the street- a little of a walk. So we headed out down the street--- we had to go see the famous Moulin Rouge building... What we weren't expecting the other surroundings.. it seemed like every store was a sex shop on both sides of the street! awkward haha. Either that or a small crepe or gyro place. It was not an area for kids to walk around in.. hah
But we saw the Moulin Rouge Building-- just like in pictures! I was cool to see. After we took pictures, we walked toward the Monte Martre area, and to the Sacre-Coeur (a huge church that was built after the Franco-Prussian War). This part was breathtaking. However, it was at top of a hill... and involved even more stairs. But the 2nd set of stairs was not as bad because they weren't as steep, but there were like 300 of those. After we got up the stairs, the view was amazing! I don't even know how to explain it... which is why I took a bunch of pictures. We got there before sunset, so when it finally was sunset, we were able to watch the sun go down.
On the huge staircase in front of the Sacre-Coeur there was a group of 2-3 men singing songs. It was so peaceful--He was singing acoustic songs with his guitar-- Hallelujah, Beatles songs, and mellow songs. It was so... idk. Amazing. We sat on the stairs and listened to them play some music. It was like a concert- all the locals were just sitting on the steps of the basilica, some with wine and beer, just listening to the singers. A couple people went up and sang songs as well.. one of them being my friend Jen. I didn't know she could sing as well as she does... Jen sang a couple verses of "Amazing Grace". It was amazing. Everyone wanted her to sing some more. It was so cool. (I have videos of both Jen and a song the real people sang. lol I will try to upload them) After sitting there for a while though, we wanted to go inside the basilica. The church was just as beautiful inside as it was on the outside! We weren't able to take pictures or anything.. It was extremely quiet... i felt bad whispering. lol I wish i could have taken pictures inside. It was beautiful.
After we walked around the church, we took some pictures of the sun setting with the Eiffel tower in the background. Amazing. Around the corner from the church, there were little shops that we looked through, and we found a section of bars and clubs (Discotheques), as well of crepe and gyro places (EMMY!! haha). While walking around there, there were some men standing there with their drawing pads, ready to draw you. One said something to Kelly, asking her if she wanted her picture drawn (but said this in French). He started drawing even before she had a chance to say no to the man. They are very persistent-- But it seemed so french-- the men in their beret's drawing. haha So cliche-- but i love it!
After we were done in that area, which i loved (and i hope we go back before we leave again) we headed down the 300 steps to go find this fondue place that Kelly had heard about. It was called "The Laughing Sisters". (but in french) When we finally found it, there was a baby bottle as the door handle, and a clown, painted on the window. We asked, if this was the place. What was she getting us into? hah It was just about 7-- a few minutes before, and the place was empty, except for a few men sitting down and eating. We didn't know what to do- whether to go in or not. She Kim started to go in. and they started speaking french to us. Kim goes "Angleis?", and the man held up his hand and said five minutes. So all five of us inched out of the doorway, and back onto the street. We wandered up the street for a few minutes and found this little hole-in-the-wall vintage/thrift shop that smelt gross inside. They had a lot of really old styled clothes and bags and stuff though. It was cool to see. After we were done with that we went back to the baby bottle place (which will soon be evident of why we called it that). We walked in and another group of people were sitting down at the other end of the table. This place was pretty small. It just had 2 rows of tables against the wall (long booth styles seat along each wall, tables then individual chairs). This place probably sat like 60-70ish people... close seating though. The other group of people that were just sitting down as we were coming in were the group of people we met at the Frog and the Princess from NYU. It was really random that we saw them there at the same exact time. The walls were painted like scenes from a circus. And all along every inch of the walls, and starting on the ceiling, people had written their names, and signed it. We were reading them while we sat there we found a signature around Boston university. I thought it was cool. we wanted to sign our names on the ceiling. But we never ended up doing that. It would be cool to say we left our mark in Paris-- maybe another time... lol
continued...
This place was so tiny, we had to step on a chair, over the table, for people to get to the other side of the table. why we couldn't just pull out the table... idk. So we all ordered cheese fondue., which came with bread to dip it in. Before hand, when we sat down, they brought us a small glass of pink wine (really good) and a platter of small finger foods that we ate then, but probably could have dipped into the cheese. What makes this place famous i think was the fact they serve wine out of baby bottles. it is really funny to watch a 40 year old man drinking out of a baby bottle like its nothing! hah We had fun though; taking a bunch of pictures, videos, and eating the fondue. There was a woman next to Kelly who came after us, who was giving us dirty looks like the whole time. she didn't look like she was having fun-- but the people with her seemed to have fun. We were talking with them for a little bit. They were nice. The check sort of came to a big one for the 5 of us girls--- 90.00-- but it came out to 18.00 each person, which wasn't too bad, because it was a lot of fun... its all the experience... right??
After we left the baby bottle place, we walked back to the metro, down all the winding stairs... it made me so dizzy! we should have taken the elevator hah. We headed back to school and freshened up to go out again with the rest of the group. We went to the Long Hop again, and saw Meredith, Stephanie, and Mikey. We didn't stay there for long, because we were all pretty tired after the day. We headed back to school, caught the metro back, and got ready for bed. It was a pretty good day!
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