The million and one times I chase my tail

Well, I did venture out on Friday night and chose a kind of punk rock bar over the rugby game - obvious, no? It's always nice to know see the stereotype broken all over the world. Punks are not mean or rude or dirty or dumb. Ok, well, maybe sometimes they're dirty. But they're rarely elitist - like so many 'normal' people can be. A foreigner, with a cutesy haircut and regular clothes can find her way and be comfortable sitting in a black-painted bar with hand-welded-metal railings. The bartender let me sit and think, left me alone to my drink and then started a conversation. His limited English and my limited French - although both languages based in Latin of course makes it easier. I ended up talking to some of the patrons and - FINALLY - learning some bad words in French. Although.. there's the problem of pronouncing them correctly so I won't be swearing anytime soon.

Friday lasted a bit later than usual - ahem - 3am. So Saturday was a bit slow in my brain but it wasn't a heavy day. Kimberly, Anne, Caroline, Patricia, and I went out shopping. This isn't like "Let's hit Chanel and buy dresses" ya'll, it's more like, where's the semi-less-expensive part of the city where we can buy feminine business laptop bags that look kinda chic. So, most of us slightly brain-dead, we wandered the Marais until we realized that it was Saturday. And, on Saturdays the Marais - wherein a lot of the Jewish community resides - is closed.

I could go on and on about this. I'm not a moron, and most of the people in my program aren't morons. So, we knew that coming here to this international program, to this distinct European city, that we were in for a challenging and adventurous ride. 6 from USA, 1 Argentine, 1 Brazilian, 3 Canadians (2 of which are French-Canadians), 3 Chinese, 3 Colombian, 1 French, 2 Indonisian, 2 Indian, 1 Iranian, 2 Japanese, 3 Korean, 2 Peruvian, 1 Sierra Leonean, 1 Singaporian, 1 Thai. We're prepared for anything and nothing.

There's a distinct difference between reading about something and living it. I read about 7/8 of a fantastic book on French culture, history, society called "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong." And it gave me a sense of what I was in for, but there's nothing like experiencing it. I've been carrying a small Moleskine and my god how it's come in handy! Along with the bad words in French, I walk this city and take notes.

*Marais district - closed on Saturdays (Jewish stores), closed on Sundays (non-Jewish); get bagels on Sunday! Do not shop for handbags on Saturday!
*October 8 - no metro stop at Rue de Bac where school is - until December
*Pizza a exporter on rue des Martyrs & rue des Abesses - Cynthia (vegetarienne) 10,50E; Marguerite (tom-mozz) 10E; La Pignatta
*Le Nouveau Carillon, 1 rue des Abbesses
*Lava (laundromat) 7 days: 7am-10pm (Berta from Colombia who was deported from London and left her two sons in Colombia is there from 9am-6pm ironing and watching over laundry, tip her)
*Monoprix: closed Sundays! Mon-Sat 9am-10pm
*Supermarche: closed MONDAYS!
*Le Couloir bar by metro Pigalle - "couloir" is also like "neck-mouse" in French which makes no sense in English but is funny
*Ricard is a drink that is like absynthe in taste (anise) but not in alcoholic idea
*Bastille - metros Faubourg / St. Antoine towards Nacion; go to Charrone, Roquette; bars: Avenue Ledru, rue de Lappe; market Sundays 9-1
*Bercy - metro Bercy; Parc and Expo and huge multi-plex movie theatre
*Loire Valley for weekend retreat (looks kind of weird)
*Video ATM thing 1 film: 8E, 2: 15E
*5 a sec - dry-cleaning, Closed Sundays! Mon-Sat 8am-20h
*Phone House, Closed Sundays! Monday 11am-19h, Tues-Sat 10am-19h30
*Picon (avec bierre)

Lately, the slogan has been, "Well, it's not a city of convenience or efficiency. B is for bureaucracy. P is for Paris."

So, as I was saying.. Saturday was not the day to shop in the Marais. But as you'll soon see by the photos, we wandered around a bit without quarrel or qualm. It's very good bonding time and when I hear that some of the students go out together and I am not along I wonder what secrets I'll miss out on or what new information is shared. It's not jealousy, but curiosity and bonding.

So, the Canadians (Anne, Caroline, Patricia) and Kimberly (USA) and I made do without stores and shopped as we could. It seems like things take a few hours longer than they should which makes me wonder if time really is slightly warped in Paris and Einstein would find so if he were alive. Or, perhaps it's just talking and walking and not paying attention to where we're going and not knowing on the map which tiny street is which. After a while people started peeling off. We rambled over to the tip of the Ile de Saint Louis facing away from the Notre Dame. It seemed a rather Parisian thing to do, just sit on the edge of the island as the sun set romantically. Anne, Kimberly and I were wrapped up in getting to know each other under some amazing sun highlights. I noticed a couple of guys behind us along the Seine who looked distinctly north American and were talking English but took no particular note of them. Another guy came up to us and asked for a cork opener -- a staple I plan to carry from now on. We didn't have one but the north Americans did.

Turns out the two guys with wine - who shared with all of us - were Parisian and gave great tips on nights out. And the other two were Canadian guys. They left us girls on the Seine as they went to dinner. We decided it was time to make our way through the city to find some food and headed back to the left bank. Two or three blocks away we spotted a Canadian bar and restaurant. In honor of Anne we decided to stop in and ran into the Candaidan guys.

Cut to like 7 hours later. I haven't laughed so damn hard in such a long time. (Kimberly has long hair, Anne has short black hair) It was one of those nights were you feel like your laughing might be construed as fake because it just keeps coming and coming and coming but I was howling! Howling! My sides and stomach hurt! And it was quite a bonding moment for us girls.

Well, I missed the metro and the noctilien bus and had to resort to taxi.

Because I need a bank account to have a Navigo pass to have a way to get a Velib. But, as I said before, do I really want my first turn at the Velib to be after a few glasses of wine?

Sunday I woke up later than I would have liked with a slightly cloudy head. It wasn't the bottom of the barrel wine so I didn't have a huge pounding headache. But I certainly wasn't up for any of anything. Instead I focused on applying to the Berlin conference and doing laundry and later that night went to dinner with Wilfried and his girlfriend Sarah.

The weekends seem brief respites from the impossibilities of bureaucracy. Monday I thought I'd get administration registration done, Tuesday my carte de sejour (long stay visa for students) and Wed my class registration. Well, let's say that Tuesday I got my administrative registration and have a student ID card! Friday I'll probably get the carte de sejour (no rush really since I have 3 months before I become illegal, although only a few weeks for the school to help me with the process), and hopefully registration will go smoothly.

I make it sound so easy though. Ha.

I'll have to go into more details on the actual process at a bit later time. It's bedtime now as I have a class from 9-5 tomorrow and Thursday: Situating Ourselves in Complex Situations. ... no idea what the heck that means but it's taught by the Director so it's got to be important. Going to a lower budget opera Wed night and maybe a club on Friday. Have to keep the balance somehow.

Thanks to my mum for the rocking awesome box of warm clothes and other essentials.
Thanks to Sadie - one of the best interns EVER - for the wonderful cards.
Many of my friends have sent well-wishes, encouragement, and personal stories via email. You all are the bestest ever. It's very helpful to hear the good cheer. I'm not an isolated island here, but I do miss your faces, your hearts, your words, your hugs. Thank you for sharing them in any way possible.

Night,
L.

new photos: around Douai, apartment, Sacre Coeur, Pigalle/Clichy