Le Cirque d'Hiver (Bourglione)

I would like to preface this e-mail by saying that the past week has been particularly crappy, until yesterday that is. I have ANOTHER kidney infection. On Thursday morning on the way to work I puked in the bus...at 8am during rush hour. Then Friday in the middle of the night I woke up in unbearable pain in my kidney so I had to get an ambulance and go to the hospital. Now, this was a cultural experience because the hospitals in France are not like the ones we have in America. So even though we pay like 5 million dollars for our health care..at least we have nice nurses right? Now i'm taking antibiotics for a week...etc etc.

So in good news,
Last night Jérôme and I went to the Cirque d'Hiver. It is the oldest and most famous circus in France..and probably one of the most famous ones in the world I suspect. Last night was their 150 year anniversary and the opening night of their new show "Étoiles." I had never been to a circus before..and let me tell you..I LOVED it! I didn't want it to end. There were so many cool acts, and the things they did were amazing. There was tigers, horses, flying trapeze, burlesque, juggling, clowns etc..it was very cool needless to say. I would love to go again.


Here are just a couple pictures I took last night..I took like a million more but my internet is being slow so I will make a Facebook album of the rest! ENJOY!


After the show we went to eat at this really good restaurant called "Le Relais de l'Entrecote"..it's one of his favorites...near Saint Germain des Près. They don't have a menu, they always serve the same thing...a l'entrecote (which is a very nice piece of steak) served in this super yummy sauce and fries...and you get a salad as well...all of which is very tasty.

Last week I also went to the Palais de Tokyp, the exhibit sucked a little bit, but we did get to hang out by the Eiffel Tower and guess what....Hello Kitty is visiting! There are these 3 huge sculptures of Hello Kitty and 2 other Sanrio characters on tehTrocadero right now...they're pretty sweet...and they are also fountains, there are streams of water coming from they're little black eyes. ahh I love Paris!

at the lycée

Right now I am at work strenuously typing on a french keyboard to make this post. I have an hour in between the classes I teach and, therefore, I must blog.

The past week has just been spent getting into a routine of school and work...Over the weekend I went to the countryside AGAIN (i love it there) and spent my time working on various art projects including a moulage of Jérome's hand. He is teaching me how to play Chess...and I love it, I cant wait until I can actually play well.

Tonight I am going to my favorite contemporary art museum the Palais de Tokyo which is near the Eiffel Tower. It only costs me 1 euro and they always have crazy exhibits. We will definitely be taking pictures in the Photomaton and I may have to buy some cool art book...because they have an awesome bookstore; and as always we wxill probably do our little photo shoot thing and take cool pictures in the exhibit, which I will post asap..along with the Nuit Blanche photos I promised like 5 million years ago.

In Food news:

Jérome took me to a mexican restaurant here in Paris that was actually very good. Of course it was nothing like the real Mexican food Im used to, but it was very gourmet and tasty, and i had a yummy margarita and an agua fresca Jamaica.

Lately though because I am a lazy ass, I dont like going to the grocery store so I just eat cereal in my room or get a croissant aux amandes at the boulangerie. What happens is I eat super good over the weekends in the country and then I eat crap during the week..

well, back to work...

I should have a more interesting life right?

i pray to someday look like Penelope.

I haven't had the chance to update in about a week...I just started my classes and my job last week and I have been quite busy making the commute. Here's the deal-io..I needed to take studio art classes this semester, therefore, I had to register at Paris VIII instead of Paris IV. The fact that I get to take studio art in Paris is amazing, BUT the university is in the complete opposite side of the city so it takes me an hour just to get there. The school is not my favorite, it's very overcrowded, but it's only for one semester. The classes I am taking are pretty chouette...i have courses in drawing, sculpture, history of photography and the philosophy of art esthetics. In the past week I have had to haggle my way into these classes..but things finally seem to be settling. I get to carry a big portfolio case around Paris like a real life art student...but honestly I feel like a poser...hah

in other news, I saw 2 plays last week...one was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and the other was a musical based on the band "Queen"...one of my students was playing Freddy Mercury so I obviously had to go. The theater was completely packed so I had to sit in the very front row and center..which was awkward because I was literally face to face with my student while he was singing. Otherwise it was cute. Espescially the fact that mini frenchies were singing Queen songs...with little frenchie accents.

Over the weekend I went back to the ountryside and got some homework done. I also went horseback riding with Jérôme, which was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect and we went on a ballad for 2 hours.

Entertainment wise...I am currently addicted to The Office..I have watched seasons 1, 2 and most of 3. Caroline is a life saver and is ordering season 4...why didn't i watch this series before? Last night I went and saw Vicky Christina Barcelona and i loved it! It was very true to European mentality on love adn relationships and Penelope Cruz was awesome. I's alowly realizing that I may never leave Europe...or at least not anytime soon, I really love it here and I feel I can be more myself and less restricted to what is "expected" of me. There is this very cool quote from the song "The Healer" by Erykah Badu that says: "You don't have to believe everything you think"...it seems simple, but if you think about it..it makes a lot of sense(God. I would kill to look like her or to marry Jim...and that is a request)

In the past 3 weeks I have read 2 books and now I have started "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck...which I am enjoying very much. It is the first Steinbeck book I've read since "The Red Pony" in the 8th grade (which I hated)...next I plan on reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway, then I will have read all the books I brought with me. HELP.
if any of you are feeling overly compassionate and rich please send me a present of a good book and some peanut butter M&Ms...not likely but I thought I'd throw it in there.

the fabulous life of...

updating my blog right now seems like a big task since a lot has happened in the past week. BUT here it goes....

I started my job last Wednesday at the high school where I'm teaching: Lycée Jacques Monod...and I was very pleasantly surprised. The teachers were super nice and the job is going to be so much fun. Basically everytime I work I will have a group of 8 or so students and I have conversation lessons with them. I have free reign to talk about whatever I want..well almost whatever I want besides the usual list of banned topics. Along with my job I have also started my classes. Today I had my first studio class (Carnet et Croquis: Dessin et écriture)..I know none of you know what that means, neither do I, but basically it is a drawing course. It's based off of artists such as Matisse and Kandinsky and their works of observation drawing and painting. The rest of my classes will come as the week goes on..that's how it works here..it's such a pain in the ass.

So along, with starting my actual schooling and everything last week I got very sick with that wonderful 2 day flu. I went to the Opéra Bastille with Caroline and we got student rush tickets to see Rigoletto by Verdi. It was amazing...not as amazing as it should have been because half way through the show I got a fever and runny nose and sore throat and it was awful. I spent the next 2 days in bed. Damn opera. ...je rigole;);)

In weekend news: Every Friday night in Paris an organized group of rollerbladers goes rollerblading around Paris until 1am Saturday morning. The group estimates to about 15,000 people. Jérôme and I went this past Friday, it was the 10 year anniversary of the group called "Roller Pari." It was really cool, we started at the Tour Montparnasse and rollerbladed around Paris with the mass of people (all shapes and sizes) for 3 hours. It is really amazing because they literally have police men to stop the traffic so we can go by...and it's really cool to watch so many people rollerblading at once. Anyway, we went everywhere EVEN down the Champs Elysées since it was the 10 year fête...so we stopped the traffic on the Champs, which is pretty cool needless to say. Obviously, this vigorous sport kicked my ass so afterwards I was exhausted and I had a blister...but all in all definitely worth it.

This past Saturday was the "Nuit Blanche"..literally "white night" but thats how the frenchies say "all nighter." It's every year on the first Saturday in October and all the museums and parks stay open all night and have special exhibits. The coolest one I saw this year was the light pillar at the Tour Montparnasse...unfortunately I didn't think this year was as cool as last year's fire exhibit in the Tuileries.

**pictures to come**

well kids, I'm planning my Christmas vacation...where should I go?????

La Campagne

La campagne or "the countryside" as we say in anglophone countries is a necessity for the over exerted Parisian lifestyle. Many Parisians since they were young spent the weekends in the countryside going mushroom hunting and picking chesnuts...and obviously roasting them afterward. Well, since I am lucky enough to date a frenchy..I too spend many weekends at his family's countryside home. Many of us Americans would automitaclly presume that he is wealthy in some respect to have a house out in the wilderness...but in fact it is very common for most families to have some kind of shindig out in the middle of nowhere. During the weekends the frenchies thrive on social interaction and lots of wine. Most of the time we are waiting for the next huge meal....which is wonderfu I might add. We eat ALOT and spend most of the weekend there relaxing, chatting, reading and riding bikes or taking "ballades" through the "bois" (walks through the woods)

Last weekend we went to Combreaux (where Jérôme's house is) and lavished ourselves in the perfect Fall weather. It was nice, sunny and crisp...even warm enough to lay outside on a blanket in a t-shirt and read. The leaves are changing, which is my favorite time of the year...so I took some pictures of the beautiful landscape. It is literally desolate out there...at nighttime it is pitch black...no light pollution..it's kind of creepy. If anyone gets a chance to spend a weekend in the French countryside they should definitely take it....you'll never be so lazy and full in your life.

Chez Moi

Salut à tous!

I have had a busy busy week...and I have a lot to write, but in this post I want to let you guys in on my Parisian digs. I took some pictures to post and show everyone. I live in the Cité Univérsitaire in the 14th arrondissement (quarter) of Paris. It is in the very southern part of Paris. Anyway, it is a sort of campus that houses international students from everywhere. The architecture is pretty impressive and there is a beautiful park across the street next to the RER B station. I am only 2 métro stops away from the center of Paris...pretty neat huh?

Anyway, here are some photos of my room here in the Cité...now that I think of it I should have taken some pics of the exterior of the building because it's pretty cool too.