The one month mark

So, as of this week I have officially been in Paris one month. That sounds so bizarre to me, for a number of reasons. In a way, I feel like I have been here forever- we were so immediately thrown into day-to-day Parisian life that it seems completely normal to me now. At the same time, I feel like I just got here, at least in the sense that my list of things to do keeps growing rather than shrinking. It's quite the paradox, and I don't know quite what to make of it. Only having class 4 days a week is probably contributing to my confusion- my Monday-Thursdays are completely packed full and then weekends of course fly by, even if they are three days long.

Both of my university courses are underway now, so I'll reflect on each briefly.

First, there's my comparative lit class at the Sorbonne, which is certainly the most intimidating of my courses. I have two lectures a week with a Monsieur Masson, dealing with the origins of the myth of Faust. The lecture hall is the largest on the Sorbonne's lit campus- I would guess that there are about 350/400 students in my class. Coming from Oxy, with our tiny student body and 13 person classes, this is quite an adjustment. In such a large lecture, student behavior varies widely- there are the extremely studious individuals, frantically taking down every word that the professor says and constantly changing highlighters, pens, and notebooks in some complex note-taking method, and then there are the rest- students chatting nonstop, students on cell phones, students asleep, etc. I also have a 2 hour seminar section for this class, with about 25 students and a different professor. In the seminar we analyze the readings in the French style, and discuss occasionally. I'm the only foreign student in the class, but my professor knows and kindly does not put me on the spot- impulsive French in front of a room of native speakers is not my strong suit. The class is hard, but interesting, and probably the most authentic "French" experience I'll have while studying here.

I'm taking an interdisciplinary class at Paris VIII, on Said's Orientalism as applied to feminist theories as applied to works of fiction. Or something like that. Paris VIII is an entirely different entity- first of all, it's not actually in Paris, it's in the Saint-Denis suburb, which is, well, sketchy. The school is very run-down and dingy, and has a very odd feel. My class here is small, maybe 15-20 students, at least 10 of whom are American. I like the professor very much, and because the class is so much smaller I'm less hesitant to participate. The only drawback is that it's 3 hours straight, and sometimes my brain starts rejecting the wave of French coming at me around hour 2 and a half.

My daily schedule, then, goes something like this:
Mondays
-Wake-up, shower, eat breakfast, metro to the Sorbonne (40 min)
-12-1, lecture at the Sorbonne
-30 minute metro ride to IES, grab a sandwich or quiche at the boulangerie on the corner
-Do homework, be social, return to the boulangerie at least once for a pastry
-4-5:30, 19th century lit
-45 min metro home with the Jennas (a couple friends of mine who live near me. They're both named Jenna.)
-7:30/8ish dinner with my host sisters
Tuesdays
-Wake-up lamentably early, get ready, metro to IES
-9-10:30, French language and grammar class
-Do homework/drink hot chocolate from the machine in the student lounge
-12:15- later grammar class finishes, go grab lunch with friends
-1:30- same group goes back for pastries
-2:15-sometime in the afternoon, Paris Museums
-After museums I usually do some Parisian meandering with friends in the class, then either pick myself up dinner or make something when I get home
Wednesdays
-Wake-up early, get ready, metro to the Sorbonne
-9-11 Sorbonne seminar
-Grab metro across town and out to Paris VIII in the suburbs, eat my sandwich on the metro while attracting odd looks from Parisians (the metro is apparently not a dignified dining establishment)
-12-3 Paris VIII class
-Metro back down to IES with Ama, another IES student who's in the class with me
-4-5:30 19th Century Lit
-Metro home with the Jennas
-7:30/8 dinner with host sisters
-After that my brain pretty much rejects French for the rest of the day
Thursdays
-Last early wake-up day, get ready, metro to IES
-9-10:30 French language/grammar
-Run very very fast to the metro, catch a train to the Sorbonne
-11-12 Sorbonne lecture
-Metro home
-12:30-1:30 lunch with youngest two host sisters
-Metro to IES
-2:15-whenever, Paris museums
-Generally go on some sort of exploration with people in the afternoon/evening that includes food

My weekends are up to me, and each one has been a little different so far. Last weekend was pretty awesome- I won this essay contest thingamabob at IES so I got to do a culinary exchange. About 8 IES Paris students met up with about 8 students who are doing the IES program in Nantes for a culinary weekend. Friday we had a lesson on French regional cuisine, which was interesting, and then a three course French dinner out. My appetizer, chevre (goat cheese) ravioli, was glorious. Then Saturday morning/day we did a cooking course where we prepared a three course meal. The menu:

Entree (which in France is the appetizer):
Terrine de legumes, Emulsion au basilic
-Basically a sort of veggie casserole with basil sauce

Plat (main course):
Grenadin de veau Forestier aux legumes epices, sauce au Noilly
-Sliced and sauteed veal, with julienne vegetables and mushrooms in between the slices and greens on top. The sauce was cream-bases, and was yummy.

Dessert:
Mousse de mangues au coulis de framboises
-Mango mousse with a raspberry jelly/sauce concoction

We then got to eat our masterpieces, which were delicious. We also got a free apron- nice. Later in the day we had a quick entree/salade at a restaurant near IES, then a Latin music concert at Cite Universitaire. Afterwards Dana and I hit up this adorable little creperie on the rue Daguerre for a truly French dinner- it was 11 PM.

In other news, my Paris museums class went to the Musee Jacquemart-Andres, which was like the coolest place ever. It's a very small, intimate museum. It's actually a mansion, that was built in the 19th century by an aristocrat named Edouard Andre and his wife, Nelly Jacquemart, who was a portraitist. In addition to throwing lavish fetes and bals and such, they were lovers of art, and amassed an amazing collection. When they died, they left their mansion to the city to be made into a museum. It's been kept much as it was, so you can walk through their bedrooms, salons, boudoirs, libraries, etc. The furnishings are amazing- these rooms exude luxury and comfort. And their collections are simply incredible. She was a portraitist, so she has all these phenomenal portraits by Rembrandt and David and Le Brun. There's a lot of French art, Boucher and Fragonard and Hubert Robert mostly. But what was coolest for me was the Italian collection. Andre was in love with Italian art, so the top floor is almost entirely his personal museum. The ceilings are Tiepolo paintings, and when you climb the stairs you reach an amazing Tiepolo mural. And in his personal museum there are Donatellos and Botticellis and Peruginos and it's just phenomenal. What I liked best was the fact that the art remains displayed the way they intended it to be displayed, and you can almost imagine living their life of luxury surrounded by only the most beautiful things. Little treasures like this are why I wanted to take this class- I never would have known it was there on my own.

What else... I've become a huge fan of le Marais, and finally hit up the oh-so-famous falafel place on the rue de rosiers, which is a famous jewish street. It was fantastic, and Lenny Kravitz-recommended haha. My Louvre count is up to 6, although most of those were visits to very specific pieces for class. I'm completely obsessed with crepes and boulangeries- it's really a problem. And I've found some fantastic friends here and am having a blast exploring with them.

So that's it for this update, random and meandering as it is. Love and miss you all!