February 20th Wednesday

I got up at 9:00am and gave the new cereal another chance. It still needs a little sugar.

We walked to our regular class building to meet up with our professor. Today we had a field trip to the UNAF (Union nationale des associations familiales) building. The UNAF is the national group of family associations. They look out for families in situations and laws. I found the trip very interesting because I researched a lot about parental leave and the CAF (caisse d’allocations familials). The CAF gives money to families for housing. Students can ask for some of the CAF too usually. It was an interesting visit and I enjoyed learning in a different environment. We learned that the 4 missions of the UNAF are to (1) represent all the families of France, (2) give an opinion on the public power of families, (3) develop services for families, and (4) to be a party to legal proceedings.

After we finished at the UNAF it was time for lunch. We didn’t have class with Irondelle that day so we could kill a little time. Adrienne, Renée, Amanda, and I decided to try to find a restaurant or café in that area. We ended up going into a Lebanese restaurant. I paid €4.50 for a pita sandwich. It had seasoned chicken, hummus, lettuce, tzatziki, and potatoes in it. I really liked the flavor and the price was pretty good.

When we were taking the metro back Renée decided to go off on her own to do something. Adrienne and I went back to the apartment. Whenever we have a guest I usually end up sharing my bed. It’s hard for me to sleep with someone at night so I was kind of tired. I researched for a little bit and then took a nap.

Renée came back from her outing and we snacked on baguette and cheese while we discussed dinner possibilities. We ended up taking the metro to the Bastille stop. We looked at some of the restaurants and settled on the Hippopotamus restaurant. It’s a chain in France that’s fun to see. It kind of has a feel of an upscale Red Robin. They had the Hippo Duo and Hippo Trio that let you order 2 or 3 courses. I started with soupe à l’oignon. Then I had a steak with pepper sauce that came with fries. We also ordered a small carafe of red wine to go with it. The dinner was delicious. I had not had a steak in a while. Renée bought us dinner to thank us for letting her stay. It was a very nice gesture.

After dinner we decided to go looking around the area. We walked along the streets and ended up rediscovering the Café Iguana. We went in and decided that Renée and I would each order a B’52 drink. We had an English speaking bartender this time. He got the drinks to stay on fire longer. He told us that we were supposed to drink it like a shot but through a straw. I had sipped the drink the last time I had it. It seemed a waste to drink it in one go but we decided to give it a try. I drank it but then my throat felt like it was burning. The drink stayed very hot from being lit on fire. I preferred letting the fire go out and then sipping it. I could feel the heat traveling all the way down my throat.

It was a fun experience but then it was time to go home. We took the metro to our Solférino stop and went to bed a little after 1:00am.