Au Bonheur Des Dames

Alrighty 3 days to catch up on...

tuesday we had class in the morning with this lady who has fantastic red hair that we all KNOW is curly but she weirdly straightens it- drives me nuts. (fake red, but i love it nonetheless)
she could be fun, except her job is to teach us about politics in france... YAY not :/

the chicago girls are still super fun to be around :) we're all officially facebook friends so techncially we're all officially real friends too. i'm really fond of my foyer for the most part. the guy who sits at the front desk at night is super sweet and is new and i love to ask him questions. making pasta and sandwiches is my new favorite pasttime. everyone says hello and goodbye on the elevators which is really nice :) and hopefully i'll pop into the directrice's office soon and meet her, she seems fun. today she came into the common room with another guy that works here and showed him how to turn on the fun colored lights in there (the kind you'd use at a batmitzvah) and then sat at a table and announced each color that she saw with a big smile. my kind of gal :)

after that class on tuesday (i tried SO hard not to sleep- i was mostly successful) we went out with hélène who is just so adorable it's ridiculous. she'll pop in english words and try to make fun of us by exagerrating the way we say them- and it's always hysterical.

at this point i can't remember where she took us on what days- but today was my FAVORITE little spot so far. so i'll talk about that:

Cité des sciences et de l'industrie
AMAZING <--- check out the site
it's basically like a big interactive science museum for kids and adults- but not only that. it's surrounded by an uber industrial area so there are these awesome big buidlings and cool bridges and it's right next to a nice canal and basically i could see myself living in that huge play area created just for me. hélène told us how in the spring and summer the grassy areas are covered with people tanning and enjoying the weather. so much more my idea of fun than bars and clubs like everyone else wants to do...

we also enjoyed du café right on the canal at a cute little bar place. it was so nice- the first day with legitimately nice weather. the area surrounding apparently is full of illegal immigrants or something and isn't quite safe but i wouldn't ever want to venture out of the gorgeous science building so no worries

wednesday we took out placement exams for the language class we will take at the Sorbonne. it was really quick and i have no way of knowing where i'll be placed- just not beginner i suppose. and then we sat with a professor for 2 minutes and talked to be placed in the speaking part of the class also. so i'll find out about that soon.

that afternoon we walked around (in the freezing cold rain) with Jerome, who taught a class earlier about french culture. it was his first day in 3 months walking without any help because he broke his leg so we moved slow and didn't stay out too long. even so, it was SO boring for me so i people watched most of the time. i honestly don't even really know what we saw or what he talked about- we were right around the louvre though. woopdeedooda.

and finally, ce soir (after much deliberation and convincing and guilt tripping) i decided to go out with haley and neta to a club to this Au Bonheur Des Dames party that hélène told us about and apparently put us on a list for. we did everything we were supposed to - got there early, dressed appropriatly, etc. and still the bouncer said after a second "no." so we stood there next to the line for another half hour or so (my feet WERE DEAD I WAS SO ANGRY) and finally figured out that hélène couldn't get us in and wouldn't arrive for a while. so we went to a café and had delicious salmon instead. i would have been content with just the salmon and i am reminded why i don't go to places like clubs. not my scene- i didn't want to go, but i figured new experiences YAY. well, new experience had. not again thanks. and the heel grip fell out of one of my shoes :(

i don't remember at the moment what we saw or did tuesday and thursday afternoons, but perhaps i will remember and update about it later.

it is extremely late now- and i'm finally starting to be able to sleep for more than an hour. so i will go to sleep :)

à bientôt!

OH AND LISE EMAILED ME!!! lise is one of the conservatory students from marseille that hosted laura (who is also in paris doing IFE) last summer on our theatre trip- maintenant, elle habite à paris!!! so hopefully i will see her soon. and my cousin. and becca's friend. soon :)

<3

and pictures eventually, i promise