I woke up to my alarm this morning and couldn't bear to get out of bed. I rolled over, grabbed my laptop from the table, and turned it on. I was blinded by the light; literally I put my hand up in front of the screen like it would help. I looked over at the clock in the corner of my laptop and realized that it said 7am. What?! I totally forgot that it was daylight savings time yesterday. I turned off my computer, reset my alarm, and rolled over. After I few minutes I knew that I wasn't going to fall asleep. I got up to get my laptop and stayed in bed until 8. I made myself my half a peanut butter and honey sandwich and got to studying.
For some reason I just couldn't focus. My head hurt and I was twitching all over the place. My mind wandered just enough for me to realize that I hadn't been studying some of the material for French. I had totally forgotten to review the vocab for house objects and the verbs for environmental conservation. I frantically searched through my door for them until I finally found them. By this time my whole routine was upset. I throbbing and cloudy head really didn't help me review the material.
I struggled through French, put an item on my to-do list that stated that I should review the vocab again later, and then gathered my laundry. As you've probably figured out, I haven't done laundry since I've been here. If something is dirty I just handwash it. Well my lack of underwear finally got to me, and with holiday right around the corner, I figured I should get it done. I got all of my clothes together praying that it would all fit in the washing machine and turned my attention to finding some euros. I didn't realize that I had given most of my coins to Leila yesterday, and today all I had left was two one euro pieces and two two euro pieces. It's 3 euros to wash, and one to dry. I was sunk.
I took my clothes downstairs, somehow read the signs well enough to get my clothes washing, and went upstairs. I set my timer for 38 minutes and started to study for pop. Today I had decided to look up all of the genres on wikipedia so I could get a clearer picture of their historical background and instrumentation. I also looked up all of the songs online to see if they had a wikipedia page. Some of them didn't so I just looked up their lyrics. My head was hurting pretty badly by then so I made myself another half of a peanut butter and honey. My headache instantly went away.
38 minutes came and went and I went downstairs to put my clothes in the dryer. I set the dryer to its delicate cycle so my cute lace undies wouldn't die in the cycle, and came back upstairs. This time I set my timer for 50 minutes and got back to studying. I heard my alarm go off and went downstairs armed with my clothes basket. I started to pull my clothes out of the dryer when I realized that they were all wet. I was going to just run upstairs and get another euro when I realized that all I had was a two euro piece, and it is only one euro to dry. I was forced to take my wet clothes upstairs. I didn't know what else to do so I went about hanging up all of my clothing around the apartment. There's a rule in the building that says that we can't hung our clothes out the window. I though that was strange, but now that I realize delicate cycle means "doesn't dry your clothes" in French I'm rethinking my previous assumption.
I finished studying for pop and then wrote one of my histories essays. I finished with 51 seconds (really 40 seconds because I give myself an extra 10 seconds headstart) to spare, and then took my lunch break. I heated up one of my meals from Monoprix. It was a salmon and spinach lasagna. Sounds weird, but was actually really delicious. What is with France and its love affair with spinach and salmon (which I keep wanting to write "saumon")?? I watched an episode of Judge Judy even after I had finished eating. I just couldn't care today.
It was already past 2:15. My next goal was to write short summaries of the three articles that the pop essay will potentially be based on. I wrote the summaries and then analyzed my notes on the readings. I'm freaked out that I'm still getting new information out of them. By now I should have sucked them dry.
That took way longer than I thought, and it was almost four by the time I finished. I still had an essay for histories to write, but I needed my daily break. I was going to just stay home, but I figured that I needed to get out and have a more positive activity for today. I choice to finally go to Jardin des Plantes. I thought that I had been to it before, but I figured out when we walked passed it on Nuit Blanche that I hadn't (fyi nuit blanche is loosely translated to "sleepless night"….of the sexy variety….what is with the French and sex?!). I wrote down the instructions then figured out that I had written down the driving instructions. I wrote them down again, and set on my way. I thought the instructions were weird because they told me to head towards Boulevard Diderot. I know that I take exit Diderot when I get off the one, but I have never seen the street sign.
I was only wearing a long sleeved shirt after my adventures of being too hot in a coat recently. The second I got outside I figured out tha it was colder than the 64 degrees the internet told me it was. I walked to where I thought Diderot was, and it wasn't there. I went in the other direction, and it wasn't there either. I was still near home so I went back. I realized as I was entering the building that I had put "89 Daumesnil" into google instead of 39. I rewrote the instructions and left again. Life has been so rough today. I turned left on Ledru-Rollin like I was supposed to, and started walking towards the Seine. On my way I passed a Halloween shop! They don't celebrate Halloween in France so I was really surprised to see it.
I got to Pont d'Austerlitz and saw a metal bridge over the Seine, and then I saw a metro go across it. A metro goes above ground and over the Seine! I have to find this metro! I kept walking to a roundabout. My directions said take the first exit, so I turned left. I found myself walking along the quai in front of Gare d'Austerlitz in a direction that I knew was definitely not towards the jardin. When I had turned left I saw a garden in front of me that I could have sworn said Italie. I walked back to the garden, and figured out that it was the Natural History Museum. I didn't want that, so I kept walking. I got to the corner and saw a sign for a street that I didn't want to be on. I went back, and saw a food court inside of the garden that said "jardin des plantes" on the side. Bingo.
There were tons of people streaming in and out of the garden. I hooked a right to avoid the crowd. The setup of the garden was really weird. There were areas of trees and bushes that were gated and locked. Then there was a big pathway lined with trees. I walked on the side near one of the locked gardens to avoid the crowd. I passed the zoo inside of the garden and kept walking. I saw a small area with patches of cultivated flowers. I walked around taking pictures until I saw a huge greenhouse in the back. It was some kind of exhibition about hybrids, but I didn't go in. I then went right and some a beautiful patch of flowers, an old house in which an exhibition was being held, and some giant sculptures. To the left were several paths that went straight up into a wooded area. I went up the path and found out what was at the top. The top was covered in concentric circles of trimmed bushes with a look out at the top. I didn't climb to the top.
A bear attacking a human being
The cultivated garden
Stone sculptures
A wooden teepee in a field of flowers
The very top of the hill darkened by the setting sun
I passed another history museum, and then turned to leave. The main pathway was on my left, and I knew that it was the way out. I should have started there in the first place. There was a thick strip of grass and flowers with sculptures running down the center, and there were two smaller lines of grass and flowers on either side. I stopped to take five million pictures of flowers and the sculptures before heading home. The sun was setting and I still had an essay to write.
A sculpture at the entrance to the garden. It's made of crates
A series of four sculptures in the center of the garden. A unicorn, a walfrus, a deer, and a bear.
Flowers
A sculpture in the center of the garden. It looks like a hose
Quai d'Austerlitz
I came home to find out that it was only a few minutes after six. I must have only been at the garden for 40 minutes or so. I ate some cheetos and nutella before writing my final essay. Once again I had 2 minutes and 51 seconds to spare, and I had written more than I did yesterday. I like that essay the best, but it seems to be trouble. Next up was reading a chapter of The Phantom Tollbooth and a shower. My stomach was growling for some reason, so I heated up another of my Monoprix meals. This one was fish in a creamy sauce with basmati rice and vegetable pieces. Okay, but not fantastic.
I'm so exhausted. Can it be holiday already?
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