It seems as if the picture thing is finally working, so here is something. Proof that I was in France!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
class?
So I've gone to my "doctorate" class for two days. I was a little nervous about it, and had no idea what to expect, but it turns out that, despite the fact that the course is titled "Current Spanish Novel", we will not actually be reading any novels. In fact, it seems like mostly we'll be reading four-page excerpts, getting asked our general opinion of whether we like it or not (to which the professor usually replies "good, good, yes" no matter what we say) and getting lots of summaries about other books, as well as extremely general summaries about context that aren't actually all that helpful. Attendance is 80%-85%, and there is an optional 13-15 page final paper at the end if we want to get above a C, but if not, that's okay too. Today the most interesting comment was "well, I notice that this fragment has a lot of dialogue, which seems to be common among novels from the 1950s".
I'm sorry, but I thought I had already graduated with a Bachelor's degree. If I'm going to go to class I would like it to at least be interesting, and I was looking forward to immersing myself in some novels, even if I'm still not allowed to check out books from the library. Overall, since I'm not studying for my comprehensive exams anymore, I find that I really don't care about memorizing authors' names and book titles, but that seems to be what this class is most good for.
So, I'm actively looking for other hobbies. I thought about buying some yarn and knitting needles in a cheap Chinese import store, but then I thought that I didn't want to be lame. I think I might start wandering around campus and finding random classes to sit in on. Honestly, things are so laid back here I don't think anyone would notice or care. I'm going to search through the catalog tonight to try to at least find one class that makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time.
One of my roommates is now hooking up with our landlord. I let her know that I was 100% opposed, because I think that there's no way it can turn out in a positive way, and she said that if things got awkward she would move. It seems like a lot of trouble that could be avoided if they could just not hook up (because awkwardness is almost certain in this situation, by definition). He is an admitted player who told me he likes to kick girls out after one-night-stands. Yep. Awkwardness, here we come.
Luckily I'm finally learning my way around the city and instead of getting lost every day, it's now down to every other day. And time seems to function differently. At home there's never enough and here there's just too much. Today I *thought* I needed to rush to class and ended up getting there 5 minutes early. And it's not just me that feels this way, either. It's almost like we've collectively wandered into another dimension.
My Spanish isn't really improving and I think it's because I haven't found anyone sufficiently interesting to have a conversation with. I would like to know where you go to find interesting people in Spain that don't give you strange looks when you say any combination of the following:
a) I try to avoid getting drunk.
b) Sometimes, instead of going out, I prefer to sleep.
c) I'm not interested in one-night-stands.
d) I'm American.
e) I'm Catholic.
However, there are good things. I think I might die from too much hot chocolate, which here has the consistency of a thick sauce and is 100% better than anything that ever called itself hot chocolate in the States.
I'm sorry, but I thought I had already graduated with a Bachelor's degree. If I'm going to go to class I would like it to at least be interesting, and I was looking forward to immersing myself in some novels, even if I'm still not allowed to check out books from the library. Overall, since I'm not studying for my comprehensive exams anymore, I find that I really don't care about memorizing authors' names and book titles, but that seems to be what this class is most good for.
So, I'm actively looking for other hobbies. I thought about buying some yarn and knitting needles in a cheap Chinese import store, but then I thought that I didn't want to be lame. I think I might start wandering around campus and finding random classes to sit in on. Honestly, things are so laid back here I don't think anyone would notice or care. I'm going to search through the catalog tonight to try to at least find one class that makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time.
One of my roommates is now hooking up with our landlord. I let her know that I was 100% opposed, because I think that there's no way it can turn out in a positive way, and she said that if things got awkward she would move. It seems like a lot of trouble that could be avoided if they could just not hook up (because awkwardness is almost certain in this situation, by definition). He is an admitted player who told me he likes to kick girls out after one-night-stands. Yep. Awkwardness, here we come.
Luckily I'm finally learning my way around the city and instead of getting lost every day, it's now down to every other day. And time seems to function differently. At home there's never enough and here there's just too much. Today I *thought* I needed to rush to class and ended up getting there 5 minutes early. And it's not just me that feels this way, either. It's almost like we've collectively wandered into another dimension.
My Spanish isn't really improving and I think it's because I haven't found anyone sufficiently interesting to have a conversation with. I would like to know where you go to find interesting people in Spain that don't give you strange looks when you say any combination of the following:
a) I try to avoid getting drunk.
b) Sometimes, instead of going out, I prefer to sleep.
c) I'm not interested in one-night-stands.
d) I'm American.
e) I'm Catholic.
However, there are good things. I think I might die from too much hot chocolate, which here has the consistency of a thick sauce and is 100% better than anything that ever called itself hot chocolate in the States.
Monday, February 23, 2009
sigh
I found out yesterday that my Granny died on Friday. Please pray for her. I´m so sad that I´m stuck here while the funeral is going on as I write this. I´m trying to not just go around crying all the time because it´s pretty embarrassing and instead of asking what might be wrong people just look at me funny and move away, trying to be subtle. Just because I´m sad doesn´t make me a psycho, people.
Not having internet is killing me. Last night I tried to go to a mall where there is WiFi but there were no plugs for public use and my laptop had zero battery. I ended up using a free plug on a power strip next to these chairs that give you a massage for one euro. I got yelled at twice by a security guard telling me I couldn´t plug my computer in there, and couldn´t sit in the chairs unless I was paying for a massage. It was really frustrating...why advertise WiFi and not have any plugs? But luckily Bohumira´s mom and sister let me spend the night at their house so I got to Skype with everyone back home. Still, it´s just not the same. Now that my laptop is charged up I have a little more freedom and am going to try to Skype them later at a café or even at the mall.
On Friday I accidentally skipped my first class because I got confused about the time it was at, and today when I went the only people that turned up were four other international students who had also skipped on Friday (some less accidentally than others). There was a note on a desk at the front that said that NO ONE had shown up on Friday, but we weren´t sure who had written it or why, or what it means for the class the rest of the semester. I hope this class isn´t cancelled because I don´t know which other one I would take, and it´s also very frustrating that decisions seem to get made without informing anyone, but it also doesn´t seem right that no Spanish students would be enrolled in an upper-level class. Even just a non-cryptic note would be fine in terms of information, but doesn´t seem possible. Tomorrow apparently we don´t have classes because of Carnaval (which I don´t think I´ll participate in...it sounds like what happens when Halloween and Mardi Gras combine, and I don´t really feel like trying to find out what that´s like) so the earliest I´ll find out ANYTHING about this class is Friday. Great.
On the bright side salons here are super cheap and today a Portuguese woman waxed my eyebrows and said that the Americans before her had done a pathetic job.
Anyway, I have a lingering feeling that I´m just wasting time and money being here. This feeling doesn´t seem to bother the Erasmus students, who basically go to another country for a year after college to party with other Europeans from different countries and learn how to swear in a different language, but I don´t think I can be content with the Erasmus-style life 24/7. I´m trying to be grateful for the opportunity, especially because I think this is the last time in my life I have so much free time on my hands (and as a result may be the ONLY time a thought occurs to me like ¨well...I´m bored...guess I´ll write my thesis...¨), and not everyone gets to loaf around in Europe for six months, but I feel sickeningly unproductive so far, and a little like I´m just playing around and putting off a real life as long as possible.
Anyway, wish I could be home.
Not having internet is killing me. Last night I tried to go to a mall where there is WiFi but there were no plugs for public use and my laptop had zero battery. I ended up using a free plug on a power strip next to these chairs that give you a massage for one euro. I got yelled at twice by a security guard telling me I couldn´t plug my computer in there, and couldn´t sit in the chairs unless I was paying for a massage. It was really frustrating...why advertise WiFi and not have any plugs? But luckily Bohumira´s mom and sister let me spend the night at their house so I got to Skype with everyone back home. Still, it´s just not the same. Now that my laptop is charged up I have a little more freedom and am going to try to Skype them later at a café or even at the mall.
On Friday I accidentally skipped my first class because I got confused about the time it was at, and today when I went the only people that turned up were four other international students who had also skipped on Friday (some less accidentally than others). There was a note on a desk at the front that said that NO ONE had shown up on Friday, but we weren´t sure who had written it or why, or what it means for the class the rest of the semester. I hope this class isn´t cancelled because I don´t know which other one I would take, and it´s also very frustrating that decisions seem to get made without informing anyone, but it also doesn´t seem right that no Spanish students would be enrolled in an upper-level class. Even just a non-cryptic note would be fine in terms of information, but doesn´t seem possible. Tomorrow apparently we don´t have classes because of Carnaval (which I don´t think I´ll participate in...it sounds like what happens when Halloween and Mardi Gras combine, and I don´t really feel like trying to find out what that´s like) so the earliest I´ll find out ANYTHING about this class is Friday. Great.
On the bright side salons here are super cheap and today a Portuguese woman waxed my eyebrows and said that the Americans before her had done a pathetic job.
Anyway, I have a lingering feeling that I´m just wasting time and money being here. This feeling doesn´t seem to bother the Erasmus students, who basically go to another country for a year after college to party with other Europeans from different countries and learn how to swear in a different language, but I don´t think I can be content with the Erasmus-style life 24/7. I´m trying to be grateful for the opportunity, especially because I think this is the last time in my life I have so much free time on my hands (and as a result may be the ONLY time a thought occurs to me like ¨well...I´m bored...guess I´ll write my thesis...¨), and not everyone gets to loaf around in Europe for six months, but I feel sickeningly unproductive so far, and a little like I´m just playing around and putting off a real life as long as possible.
Anyway, wish I could be home.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Oviedo
So let´s go over the things I have now in Oviedo:
Apartment - check
Class schedule - check
Pending lawsuit - check...wait...what?
That´s right, I´ve learned a valuable lesson which may or may not cost me €250. The apartment that I thought I was going to rent when I saw the pictures online from the U.S. turned out to be a true rat-hole, in the most atrocious sense of the word. It was cramped and dark. The room I was supposed to be renting had bunk beds and a wall full of closets that actually turned out to not be that useful, since they were not actually deep enough for clothes hangers to fit. The window was about 2 x 1 ft., with a lovely view to an interior patio surrounded by large, gray, prison-like walls, and the space itself was barely big enough for three people to stand. It felt like I was renting an elevator. Also, when we walked in there was a boyfriend sitting casually on the couch (at least that´s who I think it was...it´s anybody´s guess since he didn´t introduce himself), and when I went back the next day my future roommate had hopped over to Germany and left garlic and onions and their peels on the table in the kitchen and cigarrettes in the ashtray. What a wonderful welcome gift! But the best part was when I lost my keys and ran all over the apartment looking in every possible place until I realized that they had fallen through a hole in the middle of the couch and were resting comfortably on the floor. So, add ¨sticking hand through a leather sofa¨ to my list of things I did in Europe.
So I didn´t sleep there at all, but the girl is saying that verbal agreements are legal contracts in Spain and that I owe her the whole month´s rent since she told other people no since I said I was coming, and that she´ll sue me if I don´t give her all the money by tomorrow. Everyone I talk to says that since I didn´t sign anything there´s really nothing she can do. I feel bad and am vascillating between losing all the money and only giving her the equivalent of the time I had the keys, which hasn´t even been a week. I want to puke when I think of both the apartment and losing 250€ for absolutely nothing.
But apart from that I found another apartment which is 100% better...50€ cheaper, closer to the university, and entire wall of window in my room, new appliances, two bathrooms, closets I can actually use, and a landlord who is only a year older than me and is already introducing me to his friends, some of whom have turned out to be incredibly helpful in helping find things on campus. I think we´ll get along well...so far he´s been very honest and direct. I even got to meet his parents because they were helping clean the apartment up when I came to visit and his mom was so cute and friendly.
So I´m happy for the moment, but the only thing is that we haven´t gotten internet yet so I STILL can´t post pictures. I start classes tomorrow. I´m finally excited about them. This entire time the fact that I´ll be taking classes has really been the part I´m least excited about, but after talking to some people in the university, I think they´ll be interesting. I´m just not sure what I´ll do with all the free time it looks like I´ll have. I wanted to take a translation course here but I´m not sure if it´ll conflict with the doctoral course I´m taking.
When I can finally connect with my laptop I´ll be sure to write about my adventures in France post-Paris. Lourdes was absolutely magical even though most of the time I was soaked through to the bone (although paradoxically practically the only time I was dry was after getting out of ¨the¨ baths there), I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying not to get poked in the eyes from the umbrellas of European women trying to avoid getting their fur coats wet, and everyone kept speaking to me in Italian, only about half of which I understood, and if I responded to them in Spanish they gave me the strangest looks. My trip from Lourdes to Toulouse included a two-hour long intense but good-natured argument in a mix of Spanish and French about Christ´s divinity and original sin with a French guy named Raphaël who knew the Bible surprisingly well and swore he was unaware of exactly which heretical group he belonged to, in which a French Franciscan Friar for the Renewal and his mother got involved. Afterwards he bought me two coffees and offered to buy me food and even helped me with my luggage, which was unexpected and nice, although we drank the coffees in a kind of awkward silence.
And then followed quite a tiring journey, although it went through what I decided was the perfect place to live. On the left of the bus were snow-covered mountains and floating patches of mist and on the right was a bright blue ocean, and in-between were what looked like centuries-old houses in tiny little towns that each had at least three churches. And the sun was shining and I felt like I had accidentally wandered into Lord of the Rings...the good part...not Mordor...
When I got to Oviedo I met my friend Bohumira´s mom and sister who totally welcomed me and were very nice in showing me around and letting me stay with them.
So...I have a couple more hours to decide how much money to leave this girl and continue to unpack my things. The weather here is gorgeous and is completely the opposite of everything I had heard about Oviedo before. All anyone could ever talk about was rain and cold, but ever since I got here the sun has been out and it hasn´t been all that chilly, although I am glad that I brought my coat. The city itself is beautiful and it really is so easy to walk around, except that the almost universal lack of street signs or plaques or anything that might provide some information about where you are located sometimes does present a problem, especially with old, narrow, winding streets.
The academic process hasn´t been all that difficult, either, except that apparently it is universally recognized both inside and outside of my department that the guy that I´m supposed to talk to (the one in charge of my studies here and who is supposed to sign off on my classes) is never in his office. I have the feeling that I won´t meet him until the day before I leave, and until then he´ll remain a phantom whose existence I doubt from time to time, although he is one of my professor´s cousins and she said that he likes to party and will probably take me out drinking. All in all, everything I´ve heard about this mysterious character has led to a kind of a strange impression of him so far.
Alright, on to decide how much money I´m going to lose!
Apartment - check
Class schedule - check
Pending lawsuit - check...wait...what?
That´s right, I´ve learned a valuable lesson which may or may not cost me €250. The apartment that I thought I was going to rent when I saw the pictures online from the U.S. turned out to be a true rat-hole, in the most atrocious sense of the word. It was cramped and dark. The room I was supposed to be renting had bunk beds and a wall full of closets that actually turned out to not be that useful, since they were not actually deep enough for clothes hangers to fit. The window was about 2 x 1 ft., with a lovely view to an interior patio surrounded by large, gray, prison-like walls, and the space itself was barely big enough for three people to stand. It felt like I was renting an elevator. Also, when we walked in there was a boyfriend sitting casually on the couch (at least that´s who I think it was...it´s anybody´s guess since he didn´t introduce himself), and when I went back the next day my future roommate had hopped over to Germany and left garlic and onions and their peels on the table in the kitchen and cigarrettes in the ashtray. What a wonderful welcome gift! But the best part was when I lost my keys and ran all over the apartment looking in every possible place until I realized that they had fallen through a hole in the middle of the couch and were resting comfortably on the floor. So, add ¨sticking hand through a leather sofa¨ to my list of things I did in Europe.
So I didn´t sleep there at all, but the girl is saying that verbal agreements are legal contracts in Spain and that I owe her the whole month´s rent since she told other people no since I said I was coming, and that she´ll sue me if I don´t give her all the money by tomorrow. Everyone I talk to says that since I didn´t sign anything there´s really nothing she can do. I feel bad and am vascillating between losing all the money and only giving her the equivalent of the time I had the keys, which hasn´t even been a week. I want to puke when I think of both the apartment and losing 250€ for absolutely nothing.
But apart from that I found another apartment which is 100% better...50€ cheaper, closer to the university, and entire wall of window in my room, new appliances, two bathrooms, closets I can actually use, and a landlord who is only a year older than me and is already introducing me to his friends, some of whom have turned out to be incredibly helpful in helping find things on campus. I think we´ll get along well...so far he´s been very honest and direct. I even got to meet his parents because they were helping clean the apartment up when I came to visit and his mom was so cute and friendly.
So I´m happy for the moment, but the only thing is that we haven´t gotten internet yet so I STILL can´t post pictures. I start classes tomorrow. I´m finally excited about them. This entire time the fact that I´ll be taking classes has really been the part I´m least excited about, but after talking to some people in the university, I think they´ll be interesting. I´m just not sure what I´ll do with all the free time it looks like I´ll have. I wanted to take a translation course here but I´m not sure if it´ll conflict with the doctoral course I´m taking.
When I can finally connect with my laptop I´ll be sure to write about my adventures in France post-Paris. Lourdes was absolutely magical even though most of the time I was soaked through to the bone (although paradoxically practically the only time I was dry was after getting out of ¨the¨ baths there), I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying not to get poked in the eyes from the umbrellas of European women trying to avoid getting their fur coats wet, and everyone kept speaking to me in Italian, only about half of which I understood, and if I responded to them in Spanish they gave me the strangest looks. My trip from Lourdes to Toulouse included a two-hour long intense but good-natured argument in a mix of Spanish and French about Christ´s divinity and original sin with a French guy named Raphaël who knew the Bible surprisingly well and swore he was unaware of exactly which heretical group he belonged to, in which a French Franciscan Friar for the Renewal and his mother got involved. Afterwards he bought me two coffees and offered to buy me food and even helped me with my luggage, which was unexpected and nice, although we drank the coffees in a kind of awkward silence.
And then followed quite a tiring journey, although it went through what I decided was the perfect place to live. On the left of the bus were snow-covered mountains and floating patches of mist and on the right was a bright blue ocean, and in-between were what looked like centuries-old houses in tiny little towns that each had at least three churches. And the sun was shining and I felt like I had accidentally wandered into Lord of the Rings...the good part...not Mordor...
When I got to Oviedo I met my friend Bohumira´s mom and sister who totally welcomed me and were very nice in showing me around and letting me stay with them.
So...I have a couple more hours to decide how much money to leave this girl and continue to unpack my things. The weather here is gorgeous and is completely the opposite of everything I had heard about Oviedo before. All anyone could ever talk about was rain and cold, but ever since I got here the sun has been out and it hasn´t been all that chilly, although I am glad that I brought my coat. The city itself is beautiful and it really is so easy to walk around, except that the almost universal lack of street signs or plaques or anything that might provide some information about where you are located sometimes does present a problem, especially with old, narrow, winding streets.
The academic process hasn´t been all that difficult, either, except that apparently it is universally recognized both inside and outside of my department that the guy that I´m supposed to talk to (the one in charge of my studies here and who is supposed to sign off on my classes) is never in his office. I have the feeling that I won´t meet him until the day before I leave, and until then he´ll remain a phantom whose existence I doubt from time to time, although he is one of my professor´s cousins and she said that he likes to party and will probably take me out drinking. All in all, everything I´ve heard about this mysterious character has led to a kind of a strange impression of him so far.
Alright, on to decide how much money I´m going to lose!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Paris, encore
I apologize for no pictures so far, which was one of the reasons for starting this whole thing. Hopefully in Spain the "Add pictures" thing will work.
Yesterday was indeed a full day. Early in the morning I went to the Sacré Coeur for what my guidebook had described as "choir practice" at 9:45 a.m. Despite having been warned by several people about the Africans who shamelessly hawk cheap friendship bracelets to unsuspecting tourists, I decided to brave the main stairs. Instead of deterring me, those warnings had kind of piqued my curiosity, and I also thought that since it was early it really couldn't be that bad. Little did I know that I should have been prepared to tackle, because four of them tried to form a line that I had to try to run and break through wearing my best scowl, which I did successfully, making me feel like a football star. The one that I had crashed into while running past yelled something after me about not being nice, but I felt quite satisfied.
Sacré Coeur was incredibly beautiful, and the Mass inside it was also quite lovely. I've never heard an organ like that. When it played right before Mass started, it felt like an army was marching behind me, just an enormous wall of harmony that started soft and got louder and louder the closer it got to Mass. It was amazing and for me quite unexpected.
I didn't know that there was an order of nuns created when the Sacré Coeur was built in order to minister to everyone that comes, as well as to take care of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed there all the time, so that at every moment someone can look up and know that someone is up there praying for them). After Mass, they mentioned that any pilgrims could go eat lunch with the nuns. Silly me, I thought that it would be free, but it ended up being a reasonable price for what we got.
And what we got ended up being exactly what I wanted. The downside to traveling alone is that eating alone in restaurants isn't very fun, and I'm a little more hesitant to go out at night than I would be if I had someone with me. But it turns out that for 12 euros I got a four-course meal with wine, and three friendly French-speaking dining companions who were all very faithful Catholics and didn't mind that my French was by no means perfect (I know...hard to believe, but true!). One of them was Moroccan and gave me great tips on where to stay in Lourdes and Lisieux and even in Paris (turns out you can stay with the nuns and it's really cheap, something like 30 euros including ALL meals), and had some very interesting things to say about being Catholic, and the other two were French. We had a great conversation and the best part was that we all had considered not going there for some reason that day, but something had made us go. So, I was finally able to have a truly French meal (my first time trying paté, and it was actually really good!) and actually got to meet and talk to locals, something that would have otherwise been virtually impossible.
Seeing as the Moroccan woman had told me that I could stay with the sisters, I went to ask them afterwards if they had some information I could take with me, and the sister said yes and told me to wait for her. Since my comprehension isn't 100%, I wasn't sure what was going on, but it ended up that out came a sister from England, and we ended up having quite a long conversation that ranged from general feelings about Obama to World Youth Day and the Williamson controversy (which, sadly, is huge in Europe right now). She was really nice and gave me information on good times to come back and stay with them if I wanted to, and told me to email her just to give her updates on how things were going.
So after that I took the side stairs, avoiding the crowds that had since accumulated now that it was afternoon, and decided to go visit St. Vincent de Paul. After seeing him, I walked way longer than I should have while I was trying to find another church, St. Germain-des-Prés, due to the fact that I don't seem to be able to correctly interpret a map to save my life. But it was alright, because Paris seems to be the perfect place to get lost and even to wander aimlessly. I eventually found St. Germain-des-Prés, right next to where Sartre and Hemingway used to hang out. And when I walk in, what do I find but a Mass in Spanish! And the priest wasn't Spanish, either...in fact, I could have sworn he was Mexican, and the songs were exactly the same as the Spanish Mass at St. Paul's in Lexington, even including the song to the tune of Blowin' in the Wind and the Sound of Silence Our Father. There were quite a few Spanish-speakers there from Spain and Latin America, which really surprised me, and I couldn't find a real explanation anywhere except a simple description of the Mass as being for the "Spanish-speaking community". Of course, there were also a few French people there who looked a little lost and distracted, including a little old lady who asked me after Mass in French if I understood Spanish and if I could tell her what announcements the priest had made...it was truly bizarre.
Afterwards I finally got to have my nutella and banana crèpe and amused myself by looking at shops that look like they are so hidden on narrow, winding streets that no one could ever find them except by accident, and then it turns out that they are Prada or other ridiculously expensive designer stores.
And then today...I was too tempted by sleeping in to head to the Louvre as I had planned, but I did venture out into the rain to visit the Middle Ages museum in the afternoon, which I really liked. It ended up that I went at the perfect time, because it seemed like no matter where I was there was a group of school children on a tour, and apparently the language used to tell 10-year-olds about the Middle Ages is right at my level of French comprehension, so my visit was quite educational even though I was too cheap to pay for the Audio tour. I kept trying to pretend that I really wasn't that interested in what the children's guides were saying by staring determinedly at tapestries, but really I was hanging onto every word.
I tried to go to the Sainte-Chappelle after that, but it was (of course) closed. So then I thought that I'd just go to Notre Dame again and ended up getting picked up by a French guy who said he would accompany me to the Cathedral and then treat me to a drink. He was pretty amusing and I really just wanted to know what he would say, and since I didn't have any plans I said okay.
But boy, did his audacity exceed my feeble American expectations! He managed to turn every single thing I said into a pick-up line. It was hilarious. And he kept trying even while I sat there laughing at him! Here is a sample:
Me: So where do you live in Paris?
French guy: A little outside the city. It's a nice house. Would you like to see it?
And another:
French guy: Have you gone up the Eiffel Tower?
Me: No, not this time. It's too expensive.
French guy: I'll pay for you! Let's go!
And here is my best translation of what I consider to be the funniest thing he said:
French guy: So what are your plans for later?
Me: Go back to my hotel and pack.
French guy: Don't you need someone to help you close your suitcase?
Anyway, despite all of his most valiant efforts (most of which are unfit to type), I made it very clear that I could close my own suitcase quite well, thank you. He didn't try to follow me or anything, which was quite a relief, but did ask for my email because he said he wanted to visit me in Spain in May. I couldn't believe that anyone could say such ridiculous things and yet be so sincere, but the whole encounter did give me a great laugh and allowed me to use the verb "draguer" (to hit on, as in "Do you make a habit of hitting on American girls?") in conversation, which I have been wanting to do ever since I learned that word in French 101.
So, I bought some pastries and went back to my apartment and will start packing. Tomorrow the transport service is coming at 9:30 to take me to the airport, where I have a full day of traveling...a flight to Toulouse and then a train from Toulouse to Lourdes. So far I haven't planned anything in Lourdes...I'm kind of expecting it to be rewarding enough just to walk outside and see pretty much anything and start talking to the other pilgrims, but I'm also thinking that I should probably start looking up events so that I don't miss out on something.
Yesterday was indeed a full day. Early in the morning I went to the Sacré Coeur for what my guidebook had described as "choir practice" at 9:45 a.m. Despite having been warned by several people about the Africans who shamelessly hawk cheap friendship bracelets to unsuspecting tourists, I decided to brave the main stairs. Instead of deterring me, those warnings had kind of piqued my curiosity, and I also thought that since it was early it really couldn't be that bad. Little did I know that I should have been prepared to tackle, because four of them tried to form a line that I had to try to run and break through wearing my best scowl, which I did successfully, making me feel like a football star. The one that I had crashed into while running past yelled something after me about not being nice, but I felt quite satisfied.
Sacré Coeur was incredibly beautiful, and the Mass inside it was also quite lovely. I've never heard an organ like that. When it played right before Mass started, it felt like an army was marching behind me, just an enormous wall of harmony that started soft and got louder and louder the closer it got to Mass. It was amazing and for me quite unexpected.
I didn't know that there was an order of nuns created when the Sacré Coeur was built in order to minister to everyone that comes, as well as to take care of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed there all the time, so that at every moment someone can look up and know that someone is up there praying for them). After Mass, they mentioned that any pilgrims could go eat lunch with the nuns. Silly me, I thought that it would be free, but it ended up being a reasonable price for what we got.
And what we got ended up being exactly what I wanted. The downside to traveling alone is that eating alone in restaurants isn't very fun, and I'm a little more hesitant to go out at night than I would be if I had someone with me. But it turns out that for 12 euros I got a four-course meal with wine, and three friendly French-speaking dining companions who were all very faithful Catholics and didn't mind that my French was by no means perfect (I know...hard to believe, but true!). One of them was Moroccan and gave me great tips on where to stay in Lourdes and Lisieux and even in Paris (turns out you can stay with the nuns and it's really cheap, something like 30 euros including ALL meals), and had some very interesting things to say about being Catholic, and the other two were French. We had a great conversation and the best part was that we all had considered not going there for some reason that day, but something had made us go. So, I was finally able to have a truly French meal (my first time trying paté, and it was actually really good!) and actually got to meet and talk to locals, something that would have otherwise been virtually impossible.
Seeing as the Moroccan woman had told me that I could stay with the sisters, I went to ask them afterwards if they had some information I could take with me, and the sister said yes and told me to wait for her. Since my comprehension isn't 100%, I wasn't sure what was going on, but it ended up that out came a sister from England, and we ended up having quite a long conversation that ranged from general feelings about Obama to World Youth Day and the Williamson controversy (which, sadly, is huge in Europe right now). She was really nice and gave me information on good times to come back and stay with them if I wanted to, and told me to email her just to give her updates on how things were going.
So after that I took the side stairs, avoiding the crowds that had since accumulated now that it was afternoon, and decided to go visit St. Vincent de Paul. After seeing him, I walked way longer than I should have while I was trying to find another church, St. Germain-des-Prés, due to the fact that I don't seem to be able to correctly interpret a map to save my life. But it was alright, because Paris seems to be the perfect place to get lost and even to wander aimlessly. I eventually found St. Germain-des-Prés, right next to where Sartre and Hemingway used to hang out. And when I walk in, what do I find but a Mass in Spanish! And the priest wasn't Spanish, either...in fact, I could have sworn he was Mexican, and the songs were exactly the same as the Spanish Mass at St. Paul's in Lexington, even including the song to the tune of Blowin' in the Wind and the Sound of Silence Our Father. There were quite a few Spanish-speakers there from Spain and Latin America, which really surprised me, and I couldn't find a real explanation anywhere except a simple description of the Mass as being for the "Spanish-speaking community". Of course, there were also a few French people there who looked a little lost and distracted, including a little old lady who asked me after Mass in French if I understood Spanish and if I could tell her what announcements the priest had made...it was truly bizarre.
Afterwards I finally got to have my nutella and banana crèpe and amused myself by looking at shops that look like they are so hidden on narrow, winding streets that no one could ever find them except by accident, and then it turns out that they are Prada or other ridiculously expensive designer stores.
And then today...I was too tempted by sleeping in to head to the Louvre as I had planned, but I did venture out into the rain to visit the Middle Ages museum in the afternoon, which I really liked. It ended up that I went at the perfect time, because it seemed like no matter where I was there was a group of school children on a tour, and apparently the language used to tell 10-year-olds about the Middle Ages is right at my level of French comprehension, so my visit was quite educational even though I was too cheap to pay for the Audio tour. I kept trying to pretend that I really wasn't that interested in what the children's guides were saying by staring determinedly at tapestries, but really I was hanging onto every word.
I tried to go to the Sainte-Chappelle after that, but it was (of course) closed. So then I thought that I'd just go to Notre Dame again and ended up getting picked up by a French guy who said he would accompany me to the Cathedral and then treat me to a drink. He was pretty amusing and I really just wanted to know what he would say, and since I didn't have any plans I said okay.
But boy, did his audacity exceed my feeble American expectations! He managed to turn every single thing I said into a pick-up line. It was hilarious. And he kept trying even while I sat there laughing at him! Here is a sample:
Me: So where do you live in Paris?
French guy: A little outside the city. It's a nice house. Would you like to see it?
And another:
French guy: Have you gone up the Eiffel Tower?
Me: No, not this time. It's too expensive.
French guy: I'll pay for you! Let's go!
And here is my best translation of what I consider to be the funniest thing he said:
French guy: So what are your plans for later?
Me: Go back to my hotel and pack.
French guy: Don't you need someone to help you close your suitcase?
Anyway, despite all of his most valiant efforts (most of which are unfit to type), I made it very clear that I could close my own suitcase quite well, thank you. He didn't try to follow me or anything, which was quite a relief, but did ask for my email because he said he wanted to visit me in Spain in May. I couldn't believe that anyone could say such ridiculous things and yet be so sincere, but the whole encounter did give me a great laugh and allowed me to use the verb "draguer" (to hit on, as in "Do you make a habit of hitting on American girls?") in conversation, which I have been wanting to do ever since I learned that word in French 101.
So, I bought some pastries and went back to my apartment and will start packing. Tomorrow the transport service is coming at 9:30 to take me to the airport, where I have a full day of traveling...a flight to Toulouse and then a train from Toulouse to Lourdes. So far I haven't planned anything in Lourdes...I'm kind of expecting it to be rewarding enough just to walk outside and see pretty much anything and start talking to the other pilgrims, but I'm also thinking that I should probably start looking up events so that I don't miss out on something.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
À Paris!
Well, I made it to Paris. So far I've occupied myself with a lot of walking and eating, as well as art-admiring and generally making a fool of myself in French.
So...remember when I said that one of the first things I would do would be to see St. Catherine Labouré at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal? And when I booked my hotel specifically because it's on the same Métro line? Well, I did make it on my first day here, only to find out that St. Catherine is "fermée" (closed) and the chapel itself is a huge mess due to construction, which will be ongoing until April.
So after being incredibly disappointed, I headed to Notre Dame, which sort of made up for everything. And then I took a 3 1/2 hour free walking tour, which was awesome, even though my feet were throbbing by the end because of my quest to defy the image of Americans in comfortable shoes.
Today I went to the Musée D'Orsay with a Colombian girl I met on the tour and felt like I wanted to stay all day. It was so strange to see paintings from the same artists, and sometimes even the same series of paintings, that I saw in Chicago the day that I left for Europe. I never would have imagined that I'd see so many Van Goghs and Monets in the same week.
And I intend to continue! I have two days left. Tomorrow I'll make my way to see the Sacré Coeur and hopefully go to Mass there, and then I'm planning on finding the cheapest Nutella crèpe. I rested today after the Museum because I felt like I was going to collapse, so I should be ready to take on the Sunday crowds of tourists tomorrow. I also might try to see Cluny, the Middle Age museum, and if it's sunny the Sainte-Chappelle. On Monday I think I may try to take on the Louvre until I faint from too much culture and beauty, although I'm trying to prevent that from happening by watching French Entertainment Tonight-type celebrity gossip shows.
Apart from that, I love where I'm staying. It's in a great location, right across from a church, and is surrounded by a ton of interesting shops and bakeries. I bought food to cook at home on the little stove here for really cheap and can thus justify spending my hard-earned paychecks on ridiculously complicated and delicious pastries.
I'm getting along surprisingly well with my French, although so far I've gotten away with speaking a crazy mix of French, Spanish and English most of the time. I enjoy being mistaken for a native Spanish speaker as I think, perhaps erroneously, that it is infinitely better than being recognized as American. Yesterday was crazy, though, as Spanish kept popping up everywhere in the most unexpected places, including a band of guys from Peru, Bolivia and Chile in the subway and French people spontaneously wanting to practice their español.
I will try to add pictures on here once I figure this out.
So...remember when I said that one of the first things I would do would be to see St. Catherine Labouré at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal? And when I booked my hotel specifically because it's on the same Métro line? Well, I did make it on my first day here, only to find out that St. Catherine is "fermée" (closed) and the chapel itself is a huge mess due to construction, which will be ongoing until April.
So after being incredibly disappointed, I headed to Notre Dame, which sort of made up for everything. And then I took a 3 1/2 hour free walking tour, which was awesome, even though my feet were throbbing by the end because of my quest to defy the image of Americans in comfortable shoes.
Today I went to the Musée D'Orsay with a Colombian girl I met on the tour and felt like I wanted to stay all day. It was so strange to see paintings from the same artists, and sometimes even the same series of paintings, that I saw in Chicago the day that I left for Europe. I never would have imagined that I'd see so many Van Goghs and Monets in the same week.
And I intend to continue! I have two days left. Tomorrow I'll make my way to see the Sacré Coeur and hopefully go to Mass there, and then I'm planning on finding the cheapest Nutella crèpe. I rested today after the Museum because I felt like I was going to collapse, so I should be ready to take on the Sunday crowds of tourists tomorrow. I also might try to see Cluny, the Middle Age museum, and if it's sunny the Sainte-Chappelle. On Monday I think I may try to take on the Louvre until I faint from too much culture and beauty, although I'm trying to prevent that from happening by watching French Entertainment Tonight-type celebrity gossip shows.
Apart from that, I love where I'm staying. It's in a great location, right across from a church, and is surrounded by a ton of interesting shops and bakeries. I bought food to cook at home on the little stove here for really cheap and can thus justify spending my hard-earned paychecks on ridiculously complicated and delicious pastries.
I'm getting along surprisingly well with my French, although so far I've gotten away with speaking a crazy mix of French, Spanish and English most of the time. I enjoy being mistaken for a native Spanish speaker as I think, perhaps erroneously, that it is infinitely better than being recognized as American. Yesterday was crazy, though, as Spanish kept popping up everywhere in the most unexpected places, including a band of guys from Peru, Bolivia and Chile in the subway and French people spontaneously wanting to practice their español.
I will try to add pictures on here once I figure this out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)