February 5th Tuesday

The plan was for me to get up early and finish researching the candidates in order to vote before class. The voting place would be open from noon until 8pm. I ended up sleeping in until about 10:30am. I had my little bowl of cereal for breakfast while watching debates on Youtube. I decided that it might be best to do more research and reading and hold off on voting until after class. I watched videos and read comparison charts. I also had to finish reading for my class that I had that day.

I made myself some lunch before heading to class. It was a frozen mixture called the “Parisian.” It has green beans, potatoes, mushrooms, bacon, and a slightly creamy sauce. Then we had Grossman’s class. The subject seemed interesting but got a little hard to understand at the end when he showed us a cluster graph. It tires me out concentrating intently for two hours straight. I have to work hard to understand everything that he’s saying and make sure I get it into my notes. They still can end up looking skimpy at the end.

After class I excitedly announced to friends that I was going to go vote at the American Church of Paris. Heidi decided she wanted to come with me and see what was up. We stopped by my apartment before going to the church. There were actually a lot of people there. We were greeted by Obama fans at the door handing out flyers and waving signs. We went inside and up the stairs to the second floor to wait in a small line until a table was free. The room was full of video cameras and journalists. We were then able to go to a table where they were checking off voters’ names. I had just signed up with the Democrats Abroad the night before so my name wasn’t on the list. They had me fill out the form again just in case. They just had to look at my passport and letter from my landlord to let me vote. Heidi decided to go home and grab her passport to come back and vote.

I was given a form with the different candidates on it. It was made like a caucus because under my selection I had to sign it and date it. It wasn’t a secret ballot. I took my form up and folded it before placing it in the voting box. I got my little “I voted” sticker before heading out of the room and going outside. There I ended up staying a bit to chat with some of the volunteers. Among the Obama supporters was a woman named Béatrice. She’s a Cameroonian working on her French citizenship who is very excited about Obama. She wanted to come and help out any way she could. I took a picture of her holding an Obama sign and she asked if I could send it to her. She wants to send it to Obama.

This all made me really miss the campaign trail. I miss volunteering and working toward a cause that I support. When I worked with Angie Paccione I really enjoyed all the time I spent mixing with people and knocking on doors. It was the kind of work that felt like I was fighting for a difference.

While I was talking to Béatrice and an American outside, a French journalist and his assistant came out and started talking to us about how he thinks that Obama will win the primary but lose the big election. The American volunteer went to go argue with him while the assistant started talking to me. We were speaking in French and he was slightly hard to understand because of an accent that didn’t quite sound French. He asked what I was doing in France and I told him about the program. He also wanted to know what I planned on doing after my studies. I told him that I might apply to the State Department. He was very nice and said “I can see something in your face. Someday people will be voting for you and you will do well.” Then he threw me off by asking if I wanted to go to the theater with him. I tried to politely decline because he was at least twice my age. That works for some people but it doesn’t quite float my boat. Even if he wanted to just meet as friends I still get nervous about agreeing to meet strangers somewhere. I talked for another minute with the volunteers and then left through the rain toward my house.

The rain was falling lightly but still managed to soak everything. I was wearing my heavy winter coat and had to let it dry when I got home. I’d forgotten my umbrella. I was starving at this point and quickly made some dinner. I made some of our frozen ratatouille and my fried rice. It felt so good to eat. I was very hungry. After dinner, Adrienne and I talked for a long while and had some candy for dessert.

I also read for class while Adrienne talked to her parents on Skype. We were both up quite late. I didn’t go to bed until about 3:00am.