I couldn't sleep last night so, once again, 7:30 came too early for my liking. I got up, got dressed in the first comfy outfit I could find (jeans and a cropped black sweater), and made myself my usual peanut butter and honey (thank you Jimmy for forcing me to eat these everyday. how can i use all of this peanut butter before the end of the quarter?!). I ate my breakfast while checking my email and trying in vain to find the right station on pandora. It was going to be a long day.
I got to school, and French passed normally. We were all asleep so class wasn't as interesting as it normally is. We even skipped our morning discussion of our lives. The only thing to report is that I got "bonjoured" by one of the construction men that was working on the building. He was standing right next to the door that leads to my classroom. I think he bonjoured all of us, but I'm pretty sure he whistled at me when I had to walk passed him again. During break I got the directions for tonight's field trip and then googled how to get there. I also managed to print off my histories monument analysis before going upstairs to read my book.
Next up was histories. It was a fairly easy class today because we got into a long discussion about American traditions that I won't need to know for the final. Then came the moment of truth--Christina passed back our midterms at the end of class. I already knew what was going to happen, but I wanted to see it for myself. Comments on my first essay included "nice!, a smiley face, well-phrased, lovely". The end comments on my first essay state "My goodness Michaela, how did you squeeze all this here, churches to boot! You must have two fingers left, but it was worth the effort!!! A+". The second essay's comments "good, smiley face, aha! nice!". The end comments state "Michaela, you provide a clear view and interpretation of the major issues that haunt urban planners. Written with precision and verve. A+ another one!" I could class that a success.
On my way home from class I stopped at the boulangerie to get my baguette. I remembered halfway to the boulangerie near my apartment that it's closed on Tuesday, but to my surprise, it was open. I got my baguette and immediately starting eating it while wiping crumbs out of my scarf. While I was walking a man stopped me to ask where I got my bread from. I was able to understand, and respond, to a question from a stranger!
I had to leave for the crepe dinner at 6:30, and I had a lot of things to do so I knew that I needed to hurry. I rushed through my pop reading about hip hop while eating my baguette, and then turned my attention to editing my histories synecdoche paper according to Nic's suggestions. Next up was my French homework. We got a photocopy sheet day in class that we had to finish as homework. I didn't understand one of the exercises so I emailed my professor. She emailed me back a few minutes later saying that she would help me but only if I wrote to her in French. What sass that woman has! I google translated my email and then responded to her. While I was waiting I wrote a long paragraph in French about how the iphone defines my generation (while singing the song my generation in my head).
Next up was reading Loosely for pop (blah!). I was convinced that we had done the reading before so I checked the syllabus. It turns out that we had read most of the chapter already so all I had to read was something like eight pages. It still took me forever and required a caramel eating break. I finished the reading and checked my email. My professor had responded, but I still didn't understand the directions. I didn't email her back to clarify, but tried to do the exercise anyhow. It didn't turn out well. I finished that, and then looked at my list. The only thing I had left was editing my pop paper. I didn't want to do it so I wasted time on the internet. Just to make myself feel better I decided to work on the citations for my pop paper. It was a lot more difficult than I thought. I use a lot of singers from the 1930s-1950s so the songs weren't on records but were either live or single releases. They're impossible to cite! I ended up trying to do those (badly) and then editing my paper.
I had about 22 minutes left to spare before I had to rush out the door. I checked the weather report before deciding if I should dress up or not. It said that there was a 7 percent change of rain at 6 o'clock and then zero after that. I opened my window and saw that the ground outside was soaked. I wore jeans and a sweater and was not happy.
I left at 6:30 and took the one from gare de lyon to Concorde. I didn't use a ticket because one of the gates from open. Once again I'm a Parisian who can't bother to pay 1,37 for the metro. I checked the time on the metro screen before I got off at Concorde, and it said that it was 6:47. I was going to be late. I got onto the 12 from Concorde and realized that it was the same old, slow line that I took on Friday. The metro chugged slowly along, making five million stops, until it got to one stop before mine (Montparnasse Bienvenue) and then the lights went out. The lights then started to flicker and I heard an announcement come over the loudspeaker that included the word "patience". The doors didn't open and no one moved or groaned. I then heard yelling and realized that there were two hobos on the platform screaming at women or something. The car stayed dark for at least a minute before going back into service and going to my stop. The station was really busy, and I suppose that the Montparnasse is also a super busy tourist area (I've never been before). There were souvenir vendors everywhere.
I was a little confused as to how to find the restaurant. My directions said that I was just supposed to walk straight, but the street I wanted required me to take a left. I looked at all of the street numbers until I just so happened to see a large group of girls that I recognized entering a restaurant; I also saw Coraline outside. We all went in without Coraline and sat down. We were given a set menu of things we could choose from and were given apple juice. I ordered a savory crepe that had a sunny side up egg, jam, emmental cheese, and mushrooms. I didn't want to be a weird kid and have a special order (I wasn't even sure if the restaurant would do it) so I just prayed for the best. Thank god that when the crepe came out the yoke wasn't broken like the girl's sitting next to me. I simply cut the yoke out and ate the rest of the crepe. It was delicious! It came with a side salad and was packed full of mushrooms. It tasted like cooked parmesan cheese and was perfectly crispy but yet not all at the same time. I loved it. I even loved the ham! I'm really growing as a person in Europe. For dessert I had a crepe with a salted butter caramel sauce. It was so sticky sweet I thought a tooth would fall out. I was sad that there was no chantilly creme, but I guess I'll just have to live without it.
My savory crepe
After dinner we took a tour of Tour Montparnasse. You get in an elevator that takes 38 seconds to get to the 56th floor. Then you are forced to take a picture in front of a cheesy background before climbing three flights of stairs to the 59th floor. Woah. It is the best view in Paris. You can see everything! I could see the layout of individual blocks, the Eiffel Tower, several other monuments that was go unnamed (the really cool ones are lit up at night), and the traffic patterns with stop lights glowing green and red. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I can't believe it. I walked around the deck several times before leaving with Morgan.
Photos don't do it justice
We got on the four near the Tour Montparnasse. The train was really nice; good lighting, lots of empty seats, and good upholstery. The metro slammed to a stop that literally shook up in our seats on the first stop after we got on. At the second stop, the metro pulled into the station and the car went completely dark. There was an announcement about something which I didn't understand, and no one moved. We sat there for probably a minute before departing. I feel like I'm a bad luck charm tonight!
I came back home and couldn't get myself showered and ready for bed. I ended up wasting time on the internet. For once I actually read an email from the art history academic advisor in Santa Barbara. She was writing to us to tell us about an anthropology class about Japan. It fits perfectly into my schedule and sounds way more fascinating than the Mesoamerican class I was signed up for. I emailed her for the add code, added it, and then dropped my previous anthropology class. Score.
While wasting time I facebook I also managed to have this conversation with the guy I had met when I went to hangout with Quentin a long time ago:
about an hour ago
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