April 30th Wednesday

Today, I had a trip with Adrienne and Amanda scheduled. We were going to Reims, France in the Champagne region. We had an early train so I got up at 6:00am and had some of my fruit granola cereal mixed with yogurt. I got ready and finished collecting my things. Adrienne and I left the apartment at 7:00am. Karuna was still sleeping. She had a flight to the states later in the morning the same day.

Adrienne and I took the metro to Gare de l’Est where we met Amanda. We were all very excited to be going on our trip together. We got on the train and it left at 7:57am. We headed off to Reims through the French countryside. It was fun watching the passing trees and fields. It’s always surprising to see how fast you can leave the Parisian buildings behind. We had a fun conversation with Amanda. The ride was only an hour long and it went by very quickly. Amanda said that she realized it took her the same amount of time to cross Paris on the metro as it would for us to take the train from Paris to Reims.

We arrived in Reims around 9:00am. Amanda had done a lot of research for the trip and had some great suggestions. She even made some reservations for us! We made our way from the train station to the tourism office. We got some maps and asked them questions about the town. It was quite cold and gray there. The wind was blowing severely. I didn’t want to stay outside for long.

Next to the tourism office was the famous cathedral of Reims called Notre Dame de Reims. The outside had some pretty impressive carvings but it was a bit too cold to admire them at the moment. We went inside. The inside of the cathedral was huge. It was very tall and long. It was also very dark. It gave it a kind of older and mysterious feel. The stained glass above the entrance was impressive. Reims’ cathedral was known for its stained glass windows made with a dark blue color typical of the Reims area. Sadly, many of the windows were damaged in wars throughout history and they needed to be replaced. The replacements were actually made with some of the original blue fragments of the old windows. Some of the walls still had marks from all the blasts.

The redone windows on the sides and in the back were more modern and equally impressive. The rear windows were a dark blue and had a flowing design of figures from the bible. It looked a bit like a dark watercolor. With all the blues and greens the Virgin Mary looked kind of like a mermaid to me.

In another corner there was a statue of Jeanne d’Arc. I was pretty excited to see it. It was painted with neat designs and colors. There were other interesting stone statues in the cathedral as well.

We finished looking at the cathedral and made our way out the front again. We walked to the Basilique de Saint Rémi which was nearby. On the way we got to see pink cherry blossoms falling from the trees. I was wishing that some of my high school group was there so that we could make jokes about anime.

We got to the basilica and went inside. This was very different from the cathedral. It looked much brighter. It was probably a combination of better lighting and different building materials. I also discovered that the roof stones were very recent. The entire roof had been blown away in the bombardment in 1918. They had some impressive yet depressing photos of the devastation.

I liked the design of it. It had a much brighter and closer feel. There were also some modern stained glass windows here. We took our time walking around and looking at everything. It really was much brighter here than the dark cathedral.

After we’d finished looking at the basilica, we walked around the town. There were some streets that had very different styles of architecture all crammed together. It’s one thing to have two houses sitting next to one another that look very different. It’s another thing when it all forms one wall on the front.

We also passed through the Gallo-Roman doors to the city. They were just stone remnants of the gateway built in Gallo-Roman times but it showed how much history existed in this city. People walked right by these things every day and find it normal and quotidian. And we think our high school buildings are old.

While walking along we came upon a large pink building. As we went around the front, we realized that it was the Marché du Vins that we’d read about. We would be visiting champagne houses later and this was a place where we could buy bottles cheaper than on the estate. We peeked in and looked around. We asked when they were closing deciding that it was better to come back later so that we didn’t have to carry around the bottles.

It was getting to be lunch time. We passed the Hôtel de Ville on our way to the restaurant. The Hôtel de Ville was done up with French flags hanging out front.

Lunch was at a restaurant called Le Boulingrin. Amanda had made a reservation for us. It had a really fun interior. It was fairly large and had white tablecloths on all the tables. There were big scenes painted on the walls. Amanda and I decided to get the Brasserie menu for €18. It actually turned out to be a really good deal. It came with a first course, main course, dessert, wine, and coffee. Our waiter was quite funny. When we realized how much came with the menu he said “It’s magnificent isn’t it? But not as magnificent as these ladies in front of me of course.” We all kind of laughed. He continued to look over and flirt with us various times throughout the meal. French waiters are the only ones that I can put up with flirting with me because they always do it in a classy way.

Since Amanda and I both ordered the menu, we both got wine with it. We agreed on red and they brought out a full carafe. This led to over 2 glasses between the two of us (Adrienne doesn’t drink). That was quite a powerful drink for lunch. For my first dish I had œufs meurettes. This was actually a piece of toast with poached eggs on top with bacon and mushrooms. It had a brown sauce spooned over the top. It tasted amazing. There were so many flavors in that sauce.

For my main dish, I ordered the filet de tacaud, sauce champagne. This turned out to be a white fish on top of a bed of green beans and covered in a white champagne sauce. I was actually able to taste the champagne in the sauce. It was a very light flavor that went well with the fish.

My dessert was a plate called œuf à la neige. I’ve also seen this called île flottante (floating island). It basically consists of a light fluffy egg white meringue with a crème anglaise sauce. It also usually has toasted almonds on top. The dish is extraordinary. It’s light and cool and perfect for a spring treat. Adrienne is a chocolate addict so she ordered a chocolate mousse that turned out to be extremely rich. Amanda’s dessert choice was the cheese plate.

We finished off our meals with a cup of coffee. We sadly had to rush them because we had a tour at a champagne house scheduled after lunch that we might be late to. Our coffees also came with little caramels. I greatly enjoyed my lunch at the restaurant.

Our next stop was at the Pommery champagne house. It was all the way across Reims and we had to make a bit of a run for it. I must admit that after the two healthy glasses of wine with lunch I wasn’t feeling up to running. It had also started to sprinkle a little bit and the air had become quite humid.

Finally we arrived at a gate that had Pommery written on it in golden letters. We walked up the expanse of a large lawn toward a sprawling building that looked like a modern imitation of a castle. We were rushing to try to get to the tour that Amanda had tried to reserve for us. When we arrived I was sweating and red in the face. It was a nice looking building so I felt like a bit of a bum showing up in such a state. It turned out that we’d missed the French guided tour. We’d have to wait and take the English tour next. Thank goodness we can speak both languages eh? I paid 10€ for my tour. We would have a guided tour followed by a champagne tasting. The price varied based on what kind of champagne you wanted to taste at the end. I went with the “tradition” option.

We went and sat down in a little waiting area in a room the size of a small warehouse. We noticed one reason for this was that there was a two story tall wooden wine keg set into one wall. It had wooden sculptures on the front. Eventually, our tour guide, Benjamine, came to look for us. He was a funny sort of man who was shorter and wearing a suit jacket over long pants and sneakers. He also had a scarf to go with it.

Benjamine led us down a very long flight of stairs into the wine caves below. As we went along, we learned that the Pommery champagne was named after the widow Pommery. After her husband died, she took over and made the champagne successful.

The different underground chambers were actually pits dug into the ground. They had a wide base and got narrow near the top like a pyramid. This was because the Romans had originally created these as chalk quarries. They used the chalk as building materials among other things. Madame Pommery found these and decided it was a good place to age the champagne. She had them dig out tunnels connecting all the pits. The chalk made the atmosphere more favorable to keeping the bottles.

As we continued through the tunnels, we saw many dark bottles stacked along the wall and covered in dust. We also saw names of cities on the walls in certain nooks with bottles stacked as tall as I am. It was a tradition that the Pommery widow had created. She had started tours of the caves with candles and torches. She had put the names of where they ship to on the walls. All the guests were excited to see their city’s name on the wall. I took some pictures of different names that struck me like Munich, Berne, and Kyoto.

As we walked through the tunnels, our guide told us about champagne in general and how it’s made. He showed us different sizes of bottles. The largest, of course, was the magnum. The bottles were arranged in a shelf that had their corks pointing at the floor. They had developed a way to get the yeast out over the years. They used to just leave it in, hence the tall skinny glasses.

Our tour also included some interesting art. The piece that was most memorable was entitled Phantome. It resembled a man hanging upside down made of shiny silver material. There were also glass pieces that, through internal lighting, projected images and words onto the floor and walls. It was really interesting and quite creepy.

After the tour, we all emerged back into the large room/entryway. The end of our tour came with a tasting. Amanda had sprung for the more expensive glass. I stuck with the cheaper champagne under the “tradition” category. This meant that we got to try both of them. I could taste a distinct difference between the two types. They were both very light but the flavor was drier on the better quality one. I preferred the cheaper kind. Adrienne can’t drink alcohol so she gave her glass to Amanda and me to split. We definitely didn’t complain.

Adrienne was a sweetheart and bought one of the bottles of the Pommery champagne. She wanted to give it to my parents as a gift. I felt it was way too much money for her to spend but she insisted.

We left the Pommery place and had to hurry to Veuve Cliquot. We hurried in and paid for our tour which was €8.50. The tour had already started as we joined it in the next room. This tour was in French. We had a woman tour guide this time. She was in the middle of explaining the history of the family and people who started the company. Much like the other champagne house, this was started by a man who had then died and left it to his young spouse. Veuve Cliquot (Widow Cliquot) was a rough businesswoman who wanted nothing less than the best. They showed us a picture of her and she looked like she’d led a life full of running a business. She and her husband had been able to conceive a child before his death so she had a daughter. Veuve Cliquot wanted to protect her child from the difficulties in her life which, they say, made it impossible to hand the business over to her. She wasn’t able to survive in the business world.

The Veuve Cliquot champagne has a very distinct color as its theme. Its labels are a rich golden yellow. The color was present everywhere. It was even present in our tour guide’s voluminous yellow scarf which looked like it may have been a mile long. She finished telling us about the widow and continued with where the grapes were collected and other information. This tour felt much more modern. We headed outside so that we could go down into the caves like we had in the other place. But Amanda was stopped by the man at the cash register. Apparently he’d accidentally charged her the wrong price and needed to charge her the rest of the ticket. He had to do it on her credit card and those take a very long time to go through. I had to get the tour guide to wait for her.

The tour was mostly the same. Our guide explained to us how the champagne was made and showed us bottles in different stages. After our trip through the caves we went up into the very stylish bar where we’d get our tasting. Our guide even showed us how to open a bottle of champagne. With one hand, place your thumb on the top of the cork and wrap your hand around the cork and top of bottle. Place your other hand on the bottom of the bottle and use it to twist the bottle while maintaining a firm grip on the cork with the other. It should ease the cork out with the satisfying pop. She poured our glasses and we toasted and drank them. Once again, Adrienne gave Amanda and me her glass to split.

We were the last ones in the gift shop. I was intrigued by the champagne carrying cases that they had. Everything was the same yellow color as the labels on the bottles. We looked around and headed out. I didn’t realize how late it was. They had to unlock the gate for us to leave. We had had a wonderful time in both tours and now headed back into town.

We rushed again because Amanda had read about a bakery in Reims that makes famous pink biscuits. It was getting late and we didn’t want to risk it closing. The woman was just closing up as we arrived. Amanda asked her very sweetly if it would be possible for her to keep the shop open just a bit longer so that we could buy the cookies. The lady hesitated but because Amanda was so nice, she agreed and let us in. She was very nice to us. We ended up buying bags of the pink biscuits. They’ve been a tradition in France since the kings. They used to dip the cookies in champagne.

We thanked the lady and continued onto another chocolate store we saw down the road. There, we bought a few pieces of chocolate. I had one with cinnamon in it and a piece of marzipan.

Our next stop on our whirlwind tour was the Marché du Vin. This was the large store that sold bottles of wine and champagne for cheaper than on the properties. We arrived an hour or so before closing. I ended up buying a bottle of the Veuve Cliquot carte jaune. It was around €40 but I thought it was worth it to share real champagne with my parents. Adrienne bought a bottle of Veuve Cliquot riche (a vintage year).

Happily laden with our bottles of champagne, we walked toward the commerce and downtown area of Reims. Here, it began to look less traditional and more modern. We came up to a big square with lots of restaurants. I was hungry and wanted to get something to eat on the train ride back. I ended up buying a pizza sandwich with chorizo, and ham. I had an orange Fanta to accompany it. Amanda and Adrienne also bought some food.

We made our way back to the train station. We found our train and boarded. The train was packed. We got to our seats and found a family with a young child sitting there. It felt wrong to displace them, but we really wanted to sit and the seats were assigned to us. We did get to sit down and as the train started across the fields surrounding Reims, we tucked into our sandwiches. We were kind of silly on the train. It could be a lasting effect of how much we drank in Reims. The ride felt very fast. I was sort of sad when we arrived in Paris, wishing the ride had been longer. We’d arrived in Paris in the late evening.

Adrienne and I said goodbye to Amanda and took the metro to the RER C. We took that home to our apartment.

Once home, we were able to put down all of our belongings and I called my dad on Skype. I talked to him for a while. I ended up going to bed around 2:30am.

April 29th Tuesday

We got up at 8:00am. I felt pretty exhausted but I wanted to finish preparing the presentation before class. I got ready for the day and ate my cereal. Then I set to work and finished practicing the presentation. I would have liked more time to work on it but that’s just how life goes sometimes.

We walked to school early so that we could print out handouts. Some nerd had made handouts for the class during their presentation and the professor said that he wanted the rest to do that as well. We were able to print them out without any big problem. We just made a printout of our PowerPoint slides.

We went to class. The general class was interesting. It was difficult waiting to present. I would have preferred to do it at the beginning instead of the end. We presented on the American process of impeachment. The question was “Does the power of impeachment give Congress power over the President?” We gave our presentation and said that it can have power but it can only be used in such rare circumstances that the power doesn’t turn out to be that significant. I felt like I fumbled a lot. I was nervous and felt like my accent was bad. Adrienne made me feel better later and told me I did well.

After class we went to the Pesto Basil restaurant on the corner. I got a ham, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich. I ate there with Amanda and a few others. The regular cafeteria was closed because of school vacations. Then it was time to go meet up with Karuna and Adrienne. Karuna had discovered an apartment that rented out two bedrooms separately. She was going to take one room but she thought that Adrienne and I might prefer a two bedroom place. It sounded like a good idea for the thesis module. It might be nice to have separate working spaces.

We met up outside of the building. Karuna took us up and the current resident showed us the apartment. Square meter-wise it was bigger than our current apartment but it felt smaller. The walls seemed to chop it in awkward shapes. The two bedrooms were long and skinny and only had room for foldout beds. The bathroom was nice and large but the kitchen was just a kitchenette in the hallway leading to the bathroom. We weren’t impressed with the place. The windows were even smaller and darker than our current place.

We thanked them for showing it to us. We split up then, Karuna went off on her own and Adrienne went to the library. I headed home. I watched a few episodes of Smallville and X-Men online. Adrienne came home then and we made some dinner. We had couscous and some leftover ratatouille.

After dinner we decided to go to the store. It was raining slightly as we went. I also had problems with the trees. Sometimes small parts fall off of the trees and land in my eye. It itches terribly and I can’t get it out very well. I still managed to get to the store at least. We shopped there and then made our way back home. Once we got home I watched some TV on my computer.

Karuna came home later. I got to talk to my dad on Skype and then went to bed around 12:15am.

April 28th Monday

I had trouble waking up in the morning. I didn’t want to get up. I was finally able to get up around 9 and have some cereal. I worked on trying to find some sources on impeachment at the apartment.

Anna had invited me to go swimming with her today. I left to meet her at 11:45. We went to the municipal pool. It wasn’t quite open yet so we had to go shopping for an hour. I went ahead and bought a chausson de pommes (apple pastry) because I was hungry.

We were finally able to go to the pool. It only cost €1.50 to get in. Once in, they handed us a hanger and basket with a rubber bracelet. We changed clothes and hung everything on the hanger. We gave it to the attendants to keep in the back and kept our bracelet to show them which one was ours.

We went and swam in the pool. There were a fair amount of people there and we ended up having to swim around a few kids. It was a lot of fun but I was realizing how out of shape I was. I used to be able to swim really well and now I needed to stop to breathe. We finished swimming and went in to shower. I tried to wash the best I could but they were joint showers with the opposite sex so I had to keep my swimming suit on. We went up and got our hangers so we could change.

We left and Anna went home. I stopped by Monoprix and got a few things before heading home. When I got there I made lunch for myself. I was feeling healthy after my exercise so I made a salad with leftover couscous, emmenthal cheese, ham and carrots. I did have to finish it off with some of my chocolate bunny though.

Karuna arrived with Alex. He was the guy that she’d been busy with at the club the other night. We said hello and he went on his way. Karuna and I went to the library to prepare for our presentation. We got some books and researched. We then went back to the apartment to work.

We stopped to make some dinner. Karuna prepared some Indian chicken with rice as well as some apples with chocolate and custard.

After dinner we worked on our presentation. I’d wished that Karuna had come back earlier so that we could start working on this sooner. I guess that’s what I got for picking the same subject as her. We were able to finally finish the PowerPoint. It took a long time.

We didn’t go to bed until after 2:00am.

April 27th Sunday

I got up around 12:30pm. I showered and ate some cereal. I got a message from Julia and Anna. They wanted to have a picnic today! I quickly packed up what food I had into my shopping caddy and went over to Anna’s apartment. She served us some coffee while we discussed where to go. We decided to go eat at the Champ de Mars. We met up with Karuna on the way there. She’d needed more time to shower.

We walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was sunny and hot! We spread out a blanket and brought out our food. We had some cheese, bread, cucumber, sparkling water, hummus, raisin bread, and cookies. We also had some fresh fruit. It was a very fun lunch. I very much enjoyed it.

After lunch, we walked back toward the apartments. Karuna split off when she ran into an old friend. I showed Julia and Anna the apartment. They stayed for a little bit and then left.

I watched some X-Men and made the rest of my half package of ramen noodles. I wasn’t quite filled up from the picnic lunch. After watching X-Men for a bit, Adrienne and I made some dinner. We had some of our frozen mixture with chicken, noodles, and tomatoes. I left around 9:00pm to do the trivia at the Scottish bar with Tobias and the others. It took me a long time to get there and I couldn’t find the bar at first. Then I found it. It was called The Thistle. The trivia was done in English. They had a section with questions about the Simpsons. I knew all the answers! The questions were:
What is the name of the Simpson’s dog?
What is the name of the character who often says “HA ha!”?
What color are the pearls on Marge’s necklace?
What is the name of Springfield’s rival town?
What is Marge’s maiden name?

I was proud to be a Simpsons fan. After the trivia, we went to a bar near the Marché de Saint Germain. I walked home from there. Once home, I talked to my parents on Skype. I was in bed around 2:30am.

April 26th Saturday

I was able to sleep until 1:00pm. I got up and took a shower. I had my cereal for breakfast.

I researched for a while. I had a presentation for Dehousse’s class on Tuesday. This was the presentation that would replace the final paper. After researching I watched some TV episodes online.

For lunch I cooked up some of my frozen Chinese vegetables with half of a package of Ramen noodles. I was planning to go to the library after but then decided to look online. I found out that the library was indeed closed. I stayed home. I ended up chilling out for a while and watched some Smallville and X-Men. I was feeling sleepy still so I dozed for a little bit. My parents called me on Skype so I talked to them for a while.

We made some dinner after that. We had chicken cooked with ratatouille and couscous. I watched some more X-Men and chatted with friends. I went to bed around 1:30am.

April 25th Friday

Today was the finish of our first week with professor Lafond. This meant that our class was now half over. I got up at 9:00am and had some cereal for breakfast.

I walked to class. Today we were discussing genetically modified organisms. Lafond was very much against the idea which is apparently the general European opinion. I hadn’t thought about it before but I didn’t really have a problem with GMOs. I’d always been fascinated by biology and genetics. If there was a way for science to create food that would stay fresher longer I was for it.

After class we went to the cafeteria. I bought a ham baguette sandwich and an orange juice. It was only after I’d bought the sandwich that Amanda invited me to go with her to have lunch with a friend of a friend. I ate half of my sandwich on the way because I was hungry. Amanda and I walked to Sèvres Babylone to meet Jessica. We all walked to Le Café du Marché. Karuna met us there. We were able to get an outside table. I split a salade césar with Karuna. It was one of the restaurant’s special salads with tandoori chicken on top. We also shared a tiramisu for dessert. We sat there for a while and talked. I’d been hoping to leave by three. At that time, there was a gathering of Obama supporters on one of the bridges. Across the world, supporters were taking pictures on bridges to show Obama’s ability to bridge the gap. I wasn’t necessarily going to jump in but I wanted to at least see it and take a picture myself. Sadly though, we were there until after 4pm.

We split up and Karuna took Jessica to a sewing store. I walked with Amanda back in the direction of my place. We talked along the way. Amanda told me some more about her friend. The strange thing was that Jessica had just gotten married to a man that was about twice her age. She was our age and her husband was in his forties. Apparently they met while she was doing an internship in Albania. He was stationed there. Now, she’s in Paris with him. It sounded like a strange couple.

Amanda walked me home and then took the metro home. I stopped in Nicolas and bought some wines before going to the apartment. When I got home I hung out with Adrienne for a bit. We watched some more Smallville. For dinner we simply heated up some vegetable soup and had it with bread and butter.

That evening, John (Euromaster) was hosting a party at his apartment. I got ready and then left with Karuna on the metro. We went up to the Barbès stop and got off. All around the station there were these really creepy guys. Some of them were trying to sell cigarettes to the people coming out of the metro. Some of them gave us a look that made me want to get away very quickly. We had trouble finding the apartment but eventually succeeded. We went up and joined the party. It was a very large apartment. John lived there with five roommates I think. There were Euromasters and other guests there. It was fun to see everyone.

They were worried about getting noise complaints from their neighbors so as it got later and the guests diminished, we went to a bar downstairs. We stayed there for a while but then the bar closed. We ended up going to a nearby club/bar called Le Blue Note. Tonight it was playing Brazilian music. I wanted to just stop in for a minute and then go home. I was starting to feel kind of tired. I listened to the music and liked it all right. There were two guys that asked me to dance with them. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to dance but I figured it would at least pass the time. They were kind of weird. I don’t know why it’s always the weird guys that ask me to dance. Just once it would be nice for a normal, attractive guy to show some interest.

I’d finally had enough and told Karuna that I wanted to go around 3:30am. We went outside where we found John and some of his friends. We talked to them outside for a while. I kept waiting for Karuna to pull herself away. We ended up leaving at 4:30am. We had definitely missed the last metro. I wanted to take a taxi home but I wasn’t sure if we’d find one. We decided to start walking in the direction of the apartment and catching a cab if we saw one.

We ended up walking the entire way home. I was tired and still mildly cranky when we arrived at the apartment between 5:15 and 5:30. I went to bed around 5:45. I was exhausted.

April 24th Thursday

I got up at 9:00am feeling very tired and very sick. Apparently I’d partied a little too hard the night before. I ate some cereal and got ready for class. I walked there rather slowly.

It was another class with Lafond. Today we discussed biomedical issues. We talked about medications and technologies. It was interesting enough but through the whole class I just wanted to go back to bed.

I made it through and some of us went to the cafeteria to buy lunch. We went to the smaller cafeteria that often has a smaller line. I bought a chicken baguette sandwich and a Coca Light. The group wanted to eat outside since the weather was amazing. Karuna led us to another Sciences Po building that had a small courtyard and garden. Our group was rather large. There was Amanda, David, John, Karuna, Manu, Matteo, Milva, Casey, and me. We sat in the sun to eat lunch and talk.

Casey and I walked back toward the school. She needed to print some things. We went there and we also printed the instructions on how to connect to the wireless at Sciences Po.

After that I walked home. I needed to charge my computer for the evening class we had. I read a bit for the class. I took a small nap. I woke up in time to get ready for the next class. I had a yogurt and made a peanut butter and nutella sandwich. I walked back to Sciences Po. I saw some other students coming in. When we arrived there was a sign on the door saying that the class had been moved. We tried running to the other side of the building and couldn’t find it. Then we ran back to the original one. Apparently the sign was wrong and our class was sitting in there.

This class was a bit special. It was at 6:00pm so that we could have a video conference with the Seattle site. We discussed the reading and prepared for the class. Before getting started, Lafond came over to me and pointed to my computer. He said “Vous écrivez tout ce que je dis?” (do you write down everything I say?) I said, “Well not everything. I just take notes.” He said, “Ah c’est génial. Pouvez-vous m’envoyer les notes?” (That’s great! Could you send me the notes?). I shifted in my seat and said “For the video conference?” He wanted the notes for the whole course. I was like, “Well they’re not that great. There’s not much to them.” He said it didn’t matter. Tobias piped up in front of me saying “I take good notes!” Lafond kind of looked at him as if to say "That's nice." He wanted my notes. I turned to Sara in a panic. She said, “Ah I thought you’d react that way.” What student wants to send his or her notes to the professor after the class?

The video conference started. We had an interesting enough discussion. It was held in English. The topic drifted toward the environment and I interjected a comment. They had asked, “Why was America the leader in environmental legislation but now it’s backed down and Europe has taken the lead?” I’d pointed out an idea that I’d found while researching my environment paper last module. Part of it is due to the fact that the European countries are so close together. They have the threat of neighbor’s pollutants coming in to their own country. I said “Is America really that concerned over what Canada or Mexico is sending our way?” America has to legislate to control its own pollution. Europeans are pushing not just to control themselves but to also control their neighbors. I thought it was a valid point but the Seattle professor said, “Well I don’t really think that’s the reason.” They seemed utterly unimpressed by my idea.

The conference ended a little early when the equipment decided to stop working. We left and went home. I got home and went online for a bit. Karuna ended up making dinner. She made pasta with some bacon. After dinner I took a shower. I read for class and then talked to my dad on Skype.

I also got to chat with my friend Devon from the states. I went to bed around 2 or so.

April 23rd Wednesday

I got up at 9:00am and had my usual cereal for breakfast. Adrienne had walked to class before us so I walked to class with Karuna. We were a little late.

The class was quite interesting. It was about assisted reproduction. I’ve never talked so much in class as I did that day. I’ve always found the topic to be very interesting. I was thinking that the topic would be a good one to write a paper on. The idea that freaked me out the most is that some people have gathered an egg or semen from their dead spouse to create a child after he or she is dead. That was just a weird idea to me. They said that it puts into question the ideas of inheritance because the kid would biologically be an offspring but they were conceived after death. It’s a slippery slope of morals and science.

After class I walked with Amanda and Adrienne near St Michel. We were pretty hungry so we went to a crêperie café for lunch. I had a menu that came with a ham and cheese crêpe, a pain au chocolat, and a Coca Light. We sat in the back and had lunch. Adrienne and I filled Amanda in on our housing dilemma.

Once we’d finished lunch, we went to the SNCF boutique to get train tickets. We had been planning a trip to Reims. We had to wait a bit but we got a very nice woman who helped us. She advised us on which trains would be the best to take. We got our tickets.

Next we went to a cheap store called Troifoirien. I bought a big bowl that I could use for ramen, some goggles, a swimming cap, and some other fun things. It was always fun to see the cheaper stores. Amanda went home and Adrienne and I stayed in the area a little bit longer. We went to a very big bookstore on the Boulevard St Michel. I found the Nana manga there. I bought volumes 17 and 18 for Maya. When we left the store, it was raining outside. We’d thought of maybe walking home but we decided to take the RER home instead.

When we got home we put all of our stuff away. I got on my computer and avoided reading for a little while before getting down to it. Then we decided to make some dinner. We had a frozen mixture that had chicken with mushrooms and rice in a white cream sauce. It’s one of my favorites. While we ate we watched an episode of Smallville online.

After, I got to talk to my mom on Skype. I was telling her about the plan to go out that night. Karuna came in and wanted the information on where to go. So I simultaneously talked to my mom, got information from Luis, and gave that information to Karuna. Finally she left and I was able to finish my conversation. Once we’d finished, I got ready for the party.

I walked to Luis’s apartment. There were a few people there already when I arrived. I believe the people there were Manu, Tobias, Julia, Jeannette, Luis, and me. Karuna came in a bit after me. We sat around and talked for a while. A few people had brought some bottles of wine. I was still getting to know some of the people there.

Eventually it was time to go to the Sciences Po soirée. We walked there from Luis’s apartment. It was very close to the Place de la Concorde. We just had to walk north and slightly east. We ended up at 8 boulevard de la Madeleine which housed Madeleine Plazza. We had to wait in line outside before going in. While waiting we were talking about how we would need to get tickets. Then, a group in front of us turned around and said excitedly, “Oh you need tickets!” They had some extra ones to sell. Luckily we were able to get them for the reduced price. It all worked out great.

We went in and some stopped at the coat check before going downstairs. It was an averaged sized club and the dance floor was packed with people. On the right, there was the bar and the cash register. We had to buy a ticket to get a drink. These were the cheapest drinks I would see in all of Paris so I bought a few tickets. My drink for the night would be whiskey and coke. It was very hot and humid in the club. The music was once again not my favorite but we danced anyway. Randomly they would pump stage smoke into the air and then shoot laser lights through it. The bright flashing lights made me sneeze. It’s often a reaction I have to bright lights or sunlight. It made me laugh but it was also frustrating because I kept sneezing.

Everyone seemed to be having fun. We found Carlos in the club. It was fun to just dance around with my new classmates. Eventually I got tired and my feet began hurting. I was ready to go home. I looked around for Karuna so I could tell her I wanted to leave. She was otherwise occupied with a French guy on the couch. I decided to just tell all of the others in our group that I was leaving.

Julia and I left the club around 2:30am. I wanted to walk Julia home but she lived in the opposite direction. I was walking home by myself but the area was very safe and it wasn’t a far walk at all. I got home and found Adrienne still awake. We talked for a while. I got a text from Karuna asking where I was and I told her I’d gone home.

I was in bed around 3:30am or so. Karuna came home after that but Adrienne let her in.

April 22nd Tuesday

I got up at 9:00am and had three ham and cheese crêpes for breakfast. I got ready for the day and walked with Karuna to Dehousse’s class. Amanda was the first to give a presentation. She did very well as she always does. The class went fine.

After class we went to the cafeteria and bought some lunch. I had a menu with a tuna baguette sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of water. We took our lunch outside to the little courtyard nestled in between the Sciences Po buildings. I ate on the mini hill with the Euromasters and TAM students. We tried to read for our next class. It’s always hard to read outside with all the distractions.

Our next class was with Lafond again. Our topic for the day was sécurité alimentaire. We discussed mad cow and other things that threaten food security. After class I forced myself to go to the library to do my reading for the next day’s class. It was actually an interesting topic. The reading covered reproductive technologies and cloning. Adrienne joined me in the library a bit later.

We walked home together from the library and then made dinner. I had a hamburger patty with cheese, peas, and some raw cucumber. I had milk to drink. After dinner I finished my Reese’s eggs from Easter. They were quite yummy. Then I watched a Smallville episode on Surf the Channel. I was able to stop myself after one episode! After that I read and chatted online. I got to talk to my brother Tyler.

Adrienne and Karuna went to bed around 11pm. I went to the kitchen and continued reading and surfing the internet. I got to talk to my dad on Skype. I didn’t want to wake the others so my dad talked to me while I typed. Since I’m a fast typer it worked out well. I went to bed around 1:00am.

April 21st Monday

We got up at 9am. I ate some of my chocolate granola cereal and got ready. I felt dead. I just wanted to stay in bed. I needed more time to recover from my trip.

We had our first class with Lafond. I hadn’t been able to finish reading for the class. It went okay though. He was French and he had a sense of humor. Our class was to be in scientific governance. Basically he explained that with science, there is much uncertainty and it requires scientists to help legislators make laws.

After class I went with Amanda, Casey and Christine to the cafeteria for lunch. I had a dried sausage and butter sandwich, a cookie, and orange juice. It wasn’t a very healthy lunch but it tasted good.

I walked home afterward and read for a bit. I got tired so I lied down and napped for a bit. Karuna came back around 6:30 and I woke up. I read some more then.

For dinner we made a mixture of beef with zucchini and couscous. I had Diet Coke to drink. After dinner I tried to read for class. Adrienne was asleep so I went into the kitchen with Karuna. She tried talking to me about the night that she talked to Adrienne. She said that Adrienne misunderstood what she said. I don’t see how she could misunderstand the words “You have to leave.” Adrienne woke up and came into the kitchen all smiles. I could tell that she’d heard us talking and didn’t want Karuna singling me out like she did to her.

After all that I talked to my parents on Skype and went to bed around 1:00am.

April 20th Sunday

We got up a bit before 10:00am. We needed to check out of our rooms soon. We got up and got ready and packed. As I was getting ready I discovered that the bathrooms had been made rather gross in the night by other people there. Emily was able to get online on the wireless with her laptop. She let me check my email to see if I had any changes on my flight. I didn’t have any changes but I did have a cryptic message from Adrienne. She asked if I’d be willing to meet with our landlord at 9:00pm. I didn’t know what was going on.

We packed and had to pack up Casey’s stuff as well. She hadn’t returned yet from her night out. We got all the suitcases downstairs and managed to check out. We went and sat outside to wait for Casey. Eventually, Mike drove up with Casey in the car. He offered to give us a ride to the airport. He would have given the others a ride to the bus station but there wasn’t enough room in his car for all the people and the bags. We said goodbye to Emily and Leslie. It had been a wonderful weekend with them even if the last night was rough.

Casey and I got in Mike’s car and stopped off to get some breakfast. He took us to a café that he knew. I had a big mug of hot chocolate and an Italian chicken sandwich. It tasted pretty good. After our meal, Mike drove us out to the airport. Casey and I managed to wrestle her stuff into the airport. We sat down and rearranged her bags. She had to make sure that all the liquids were going into her checked bag. She also tried to put the heavy things into her backpack. We went up and checked in. Casey’s bag was very overweight so we took some more of the heavy stuff and put it in our carry-ons. Her bag was still overweight but at least the charge wasn’t as outrageous.

We went through the airport and found a Burger King. I just got a Coke there and Casey got some food. Eventually we were able to board our plane. We sat back and I slept through the whole flight. We landed around 5pm in Charles de Gaulle. We got Casey’s bag and then went to the RER to buy tickets back into Paris. We got in the RER and I gave Adrienne a call to see what the email had been about. She told me that in the middle of the night, Karuna had come home drunk and told her that M. Choupin wanted us to leave. Hearing this, Adrienne scheduled a meeting with our landlord to discuss the problem.

After talking to Adrienne, I had the whole RER ride back into town to complain to Casey about the situation. Adrienne and I had let Karuna stay in our apartment with us for a month rent free and then she pulls a stunt like this. I was not pleased to say the least.

I finally got back to the apartment. Thankfully, it was just Adrienne there. She filled me in on the situation. I called my parents on Skype to tell them I was back from my trip but ended up breaking down telling them about the situation. I was so angry that we had done so much for Karuna and she did nothing but take advantage of us.

I was starving at this point so I made some noodles to hold me over. Around 9pm, our landlord came over and we discussed the situation. He told us that Karuna was the confused one and that we should be talking to her. We told M. Choupin that she’d said to Adrienne that he wanted us to leave. He assured us that he had no reason to ask us to leave. He was still under the agreement that we’d had that we were staying until November. What he did say though was “Think of Karuna. Without her you wouldn’t know about this place. Whatever you do, don’t start a fight with her.” The meeting left me feeling reassured that we weren’t getting kicked out but still pissed at the situation.

I talked to Tom online for a bit and he let me bitch about it. Then I called my parents and told them how the meeting went. I was in bed around midnight. Once we were settled, Karuna came back to the apartment. We were all tired so we didn’t talk to her about the situation.

I was ready to go to sleep but then felt sick. I had taken a vitamin without much food in my stomach and it made me throw up. I felt better afterwards and was able to go to sleep around 1:00.

April 19th Saturday

Today was Leslie’s actual birthday. Sadly, she wasn’t able to sleep in. We had to get up at 7:30am. We had decided to take the morning Stonehenge tour as a replacement of the one that was canceled. We got ready and headed into town. We stopped by Starbucks and I got a lemon poppy seed muffin and a caramel hot chocolate.

We met up in front of a glass store at 8:30 for the tour. There were a few other people on the same tour. Our guide/driver was a younger man with curly black hair. He was rather funny. We got in the van and he drove us out to Stonehenge. As we drove he explained some of the history of Stonehenge and the area. As we drove up I could see it on the hill. I was so excited. I have wanted to see Stonehenge for as long as I can remember. We parked in the parking lot and our guide bought our tickets. Sadly, the weather was dreadful for our little visit. It was raining and the wind was blowing it sideways. It was deathly cold.

We went through the tunnel that takes you under the street to Stonehenge. The first thing I was struck with was how small all of it was. I had been under the impression that Stonehenge was really quite tall. It was maybe a little over one story tall. It was still impressive but it wasn’t what I had been expecting. We took our photos with it and walked the path that circled it. We were given audio guides for information on it but it was so cold and windy that we just wanted to get inside. I tried to stay as long as I could to take pictures and look at it. It was kind of cool to see Stonehenge in a misty haze. I was glad we’d made the trip to see it.

Finally, we’d made our trip around Stonehenge and made our way back through the tunnel toward the gift shop and ticket booth. I bought myself a miniature pewter model of Stonehenge. I got my dad a bookmark and my mom a pin. For my brother, I got him a black rubber stone with the logo “Stonehenge rocks!” on it. We’d gotten a big kick out of the gimmick.

After making our purchases we went outside and waited for those in our group that were buying hot drinks. We all gratefully piled back in the van. I felt bad getting the seat wet. I was soaked from head to toe.

Our little tour continued onward. On the way, we passed houses with thatched roofs. Our tour guide was pointing out little thatched figures on the roofs. We saw a cat and an owl. These were the signature of the thatch worker who did the roof. In older times, the thatch worker would leave a thatch figure on the roof until the payments had been fully made. It was to shame the residents into paying the full price. Now, though, the figures are left up there as a sort of business card of the thatch worker.

Our next stop was a charming little town called Lacock. It turns out they filmed a lot of the early Harry Potter films here. But the film crew took advantage of the town and its people so they weren’t invited back. The newest director has rebuilt those ties though and the newer films will have scenes from Lacock.

We parked the van and everyone made a pit stop. Then our guide took us on a little walking tour. We learned about the little town and its residents. Throughout the town, there were all these strange figures. It was apparently a scarecrow contest. Every year the town has a fundraiser where they give a theme and people and businesses have to create scarecrows. People go around and guess what the scarecrows are. I saw things like Tom and Jerry and Catwoman. Our guide also showed us a tanning barn where they used to hang up the leather. He also showed us the highlight of the trip: Harry Potter’s parents’ house. This house was used in the making of the movies as Harry Potter’s parents’ house. We made sure this wasn’t Daniel Radcliff’s parents’ house. We all smiled and took pictures in front of it like the nerds that we are. Some of us seemed just as excited by this house as they were by Stonehenge.

We also saw a small church where I believe it was Camilla’s niece got married. It had an interesting looking graveyard. Our guide showed us a little bit more and then told us to meet at the van at a certain time. We poked around a little bit and ended up going into a bakery where some people bought some cupcakes and other treats.

We piled back in the van and we drove back to Bath. It had been a fun tour. We thanked our guide and piled out of the van at the main square. We decided to stop by the MKPD house (Meredith, Keith, Patrick, and Devon) so that Casey could pick up her suitcase there. We said hi to Patrick and Devon since the others were out. Leslie invited all of them to her birthday lunch.

The birthday lunch took place at Mai Thai. It was a fun Thai restaurant. I was definitely in the mood for some Thai. We sat at a big long table. There were lots of people there. I got to sit next to Keith and catch up some more. For lunch, I started with the coconut milk chicken soup. It was delicious. Then I had Pad Thai. It was all very delicious. It had been a long time since I’d had either of these dishes.

For dessert, the restaurant brought in the cake that Emily had secretly bought. It had candles lit on it. Leslie was really surprised and blew out the candles. It was a cute cake with little bears in cars driving around on it. We sliced it up and served it around. Emily told the story about how she tried to get the store to put “happy birthday” on it.
Emily: “Do you have any cakes that say happy birthday on them?”
Store: “No.”
Emily: “Can I get one of these cakes and have you write happy birthday on it?”
Store: “No.”
Emily: “Not even if I pay extra?”
Store: “No.”
Emily: “Well can I write happy birthday on it myself?”
Store: “No.”

Oh well at least she tried. The candles made it seem birthday enough anyway. We had a fun lunch and then dispersed. We had another trip to go on. That afternoon we were headed to Bristol. Leslie, Bram, and I headed to Leslie’s place. Leslie and I packed our things and then Bram walked us to the bus stop.

There, we bought the £4 bus ticket to Bristol. It was Emily, Casey, Glynnis, Leslie, and I in the bus. The ride didn’t take that long. Though it was funny when we realized how loud we were talking. Everyone in the bus was looking at us.

We got off the bus in Bristol and tried to find our hostel. The bus had to drop us off before the actual bus station and our directions were from the bus station. We eventually found our way there. It was called the Full Moon. We checked in. The interesting part was that we didn’t need keys. They registered our fingerprints. We just had to put our thumb on the finger pad to open the doors. It was pretty futuristic.

We went in and put all our stuff down. Casey had come here to meet a friend of hers named Mike. She got ready and went off to meet him. The rest of us showered and got ready ourselves. Once ready, we took a taxi into town. Our taxi driver asked us where we were from and we said cheerfully “the states.” He peered at us in the rearview and said “Well, you’re not too popular in the world now are you?” Leslie just smiled at him and said “But as individuals we’re okay!” Everyone griped about it once we got out of the cab.

We looked around and found a restaurant called the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. We weren’t in there until 9:30 or 10pm. I had a Mexican burger. It had the beef patty, sour cream, avocado, salsa (complete with beans), and lettuce. When it arrived I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were the biggest burgers I’d ever seen. I was so hungry that I ate most of it. I also got a lime milkshake to drink. It was good but could have used more lime flavor.

After we finished dinner we went to meet up with Casey and Mike at a bar. I tried a white Russian there and it was pretty yummy. We had fun talking there.

After the bar we made our way to a club. While we were walking, a group of drunk guys passed me and one of them smacked me on the ass. I whipped around, glared at them, and flipped them off. I wanted to yell swear words at them but didn’t want them to decide to come beat me up. It put me in a bad mood.

Then we arrived at the club and found out that it cost £12 to get in. That’s $24! Again, I wasn’t pleased. I tried to cheer up since it was still Leslie’s birthday but I felt really grumpy. I just wanted to go back to the hostel. We had to wait in line for coat check. Once we did we walked out onto the huge dance floor. I’d never been in a club so big. This looked like something out of the movies. When we walked out, they were playing loud techno music. The bass was so strong that I could feel it pounding in my chest. I wasn’t a big fan of the music.

Leslie, Emily and I left Mike, Casey, and Glynnis in the big dance floor. We wandered upstairs and found another smaller dance area. This area was more of a rap and other type of music room. It still wasn’t my kind of music but it was better than the techno. This room was a bit creepier though. It was poorly lit and the people in it looked tougher. As we were dancing, we heard a girl scream. We turned around to see a fight breaking out. Two guys were throwing punches at each other as the girl screamed on the side. I grabbed Leslie and pulled her away from the fight. The security guys came in and dragged them away. Everyone looked around nervously and started dancing again. The three of us looked at each other and said “whoa.”

I still really wanted to leave but we ended up staying until 4:00am. Casey wanted to hang out with Mike more so they left and the rest of us went back to the hostel. Or at least we tried to. We had a map that showed us where the hostel was, but we’d left it behind at the restaurant. Now we had no map and no idea how to get home. We walked and wandered around looking at the maps on the street. Eventually we managed to find the hostel. I was so relieved to find it. It felt like we’d been wandering around forever.

We got to the hostel and made our way to bed. To add insult to injury, the bed felt like it was harder than the floor and the pillow was a bean bag. At least I was tired enough to just go to sleep.

April 18th Friday

Today was Tyler’s birthday! I wanted to mail him a postcard but I ran out of time.

Leslie got up at 9:00am and went running. I happily stayed in bed until 10:00. She woke me up when she got back. She’d come in with breakfast! She’s such a sweetheart. She’d made up some of the nice cereal with yogurt, banana, and jam.

We continued getting ready. We’d gone to the tourist office the day before and reserved a tour out to Stonehenge. Emily called us to let us know that the tour was cancelled because the driver was sick. We had a few options on what to do with our tour. We opted to do the same tour the next day.

For now, we decided to just meet up in town and figure out something to do. The weather was still gray and cold as it had been since we arrived in Bath. We decided to go to Sally Lunn’s. Leslie and I walked into town. On our way, we ran into a fudge shop. It was too delicious looking to resist so I bought a hunk of maple fudge. It was creamy and wonderful. I think it was made with real cream.

We ran into Glynnis along the way. The three of us went to Sally Lunn’s to wait for Casey and Emily. Sally Lunn’s is the oldest house in Bath. Sally was famous for, get this, her buns! She baked buns that would become a local specialty. We were there for some tea and lunch. Finally we were all together and we were shown to a table upstairs. I had a very nice tea. It’s loose leaf in the pot so that you have to pour it through a strainer. They bring you more hot water to refill your pot. I’m glad that I acquired the taste for tea.

To go with our tea we all ordered something for lunch. I had a menu that came with soup and a sandwich. The soup was vegetable soup and my sandwich had smoked salmon, with cream cheese and dill. It was quite good. For dessert, Emily and Casey ordered some of the famous buns. One was cinnamon and one was walnut coffee. They were pretty good. Glynnis left us part way through to try to go see a movie.

After lunch we went down to the basement kitchen museum. This was the actual kitchen where Sally Lunn made her buns. We got a free ticket with our meal. A good thing too because the “museum” was really just the small room. We joked about how upsetting it would be to actually buy a ticket and come down and see this. It was interesting but there really wasn’t that much to it.

We left Sally Lunn’s and met up with Glynnis at 3:30pm. We went around and looked into different shops. While we were shopping, I got a call on my cell from my landlord M. Choupin. He was calling to say that he needed one of us to return the mattress because his daughter was going to be staying there. I told him that I was in Bath right now but that I’d call Adrienne and let her know. He said “Really? I’m in England too!” It was a funny coincidence.

At one point, Emily had to go try to secretly buy a birthday cake for Leslie. When Leslie asked where Emily went, we made up some lie about her going to get phone credit. We were really bad liars and I thought she’d see right through it. Especially since Emily showed up and said “Oh, I need to get credit on my phone.”

We looked around and shopped for a while before heading back to Leslie’s. She and I walked pretty fast because we both had to pee very badly. We finally got there and were able to relax. We had some quiet time for a bit. Then it was time for Leslie’s early birthday celebration. We were going to the famous Bath spa!

We got ready for the spa and headed down into town. We met there at 7:00pm. It was £22 to get in for a few hours. It wasn’t a bad price at all. They gave us bracelets that would let us enter and then lock our lockers. We changed and locked up our things. We headed to the very top floor. They had a rooftop pool. It had a beautiful view of the abbey and the surroundings, but it was cold and windy up there. The pool was steaming so we expected it to be warm. It wasn’t much warmer than the average swimming pool. We had some fun up there and then decided it was time to go to the next part of the spa. We ran through the icy wind to the stairwell.

We went down a level to the sauna room. We walked into a large room that felt warmer and slightly humid. There were four glass cylinder rooms that had steam saunas in them. In the center of the big room there was a big waterfall. Water fell from the ceiling into the drain. We were able to go up and stand underneath it. It was warm and pounded on our shoulders. The water was lit up with different colored lights.

We tried the different sauna rooms and discovered that they had different scents. I made the mistake of going into the “mint” room first. It felt like the mint was burning my eyes. I left and tried some of the other ones. The other scents were lavender, mint and eucalyptus, and frankincense. I tried enjoying the saunas but I couldn’t really relax in them. Since I come from Colorado I’m used to really dry air. I felt like I was suffocating on the steam. My lungs don’t like wet air.

There were some other things to enjoy in the room. There were foot baths where we could put our feet in warm bubbling water. There were also showers in two of the corners. One side was hot and the other was cold. We all enjoyed the hot showers.

After the saunas we went down to the lowest level. Here there was a very large pool that was almost in the shape of a four leaf clover. The water was warmer here and people were floating about with the help of foam noodles. We soaked up the warm water and floated and talked. We discovered that the pool had a slow current in it as well. We had fun making a chain and letting it take us around the lazy river.

The spa was an amazing experience. Some of us went back up to the rooftop pool while others went to the sauna. I was on the roof. It was still cold but the view was amazing. As we got up there they lit the lights on the abbey. We stayed for a bit and then went down to the sauna room to warm up before changing.
We changed clothes and got ready to leave. We were some of the last people leaving. I accidentally left my umbrella in the changing stall so I had to go back and get it. Then we were ready to go find food. We were all quite hungry. We walked a short distance and came upon an Italian restaurant. We all got pizzas there. This made me feel nostalgic because after my brother and I would go swimming as kids in the summer, our dad would take us somewhere fun to eat like pizza. My pizza was quite good. It had dried tomatoes, onions, capers, and sausage.

After dinner we all walked home. I went to bed around 11:30pm.

April 17th Thursday

The Bath TAM students had class the next morning so we all had to wake up early. Leslie’s alarm went off at 7:00am and made me want to curl up and die. We got up and got ready. Leslie gave me some really good cereal that had granola and fruits in it.

We made our way into town. The plan was to meet up at the Starbucks so that they could go to class and my group could go do the tourist thing. Casey, Glynnis and I met up and started our day. We walked around and looked for a place to get breakfast for them. There was one with a really good deal so we decided to stop there. Only later did we find out how touristy it was. Casey and Glynnis got the full English but I wasn’t that hungry so I just got a sausage sandwich. It was pretty good. Casey and Glynnis let me eat the parts of their breakfasts that they didn’t want.

After breakfast, we went to the Roman Baths. We took a tour complete with audio guide. First you go out onto this upper level that looks down at the green water. It’s fueled by natural hot springs. You can see steam rising off of it. The baths are in the middle of town and you can see the abbey right there.

Once we made a round on the upper level, we went inside the main building. Here, they housed carvings and described how the baths were built. They had an ancient carving of a gorgon head. This is the symbol of Bath today. It was fascinating to see such old artifacts and wonder about the people who came here so long ago. They had old courtyards and other areas that were well preserved. After touring inside we went out to the area level with the bath. There were signs posted everywhere warning not to touch the water. It’s not safe to even touch. I looked at the murky water and wondered to myself if anyone had ever tried to get rid of a body in there. I guess I read too many murder mysteries.

There were more side rooms on this level. I was really interested in all the different rooms because I’d seen a documentary on TV some years ago that was about a group of men trying to build a Roman bath. I recognized the pillars of stones that kept the floor elevated. In the space they would pump hot air and heat the floors. There was also a cold plunge bath. This room was kind of creepy because the museum projected holograms on the wall of men wrapped (or not) in towels.

Before we left I bought some postcards and a bar of soap for my mom. We went outside and waited for Emily. She was going to come by after class and pick us up. It was cold outside so we went into a nearby store called BhS. The other two shopped around while I kept my eye open for Emily. Eventually I saw her come up and look around for us. I went out and brought her into the store. We decided to keep shopping in there. I came up on a table with bright green two piece swimming suits on sale. I looked at all the different styles of pieces. There was talk of going to the spa for Leslie’s birthday the next day and I’d forgotten my suit. I picked some styles and tried them on. I ended up getting a bikini type suit for only £8. It was very bright green but I thought the color would look fine on me.

Emily took us to a pub called the Pig and the Fiddle. It was dark and rustic looking. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. We selected a large round table that was near the fireplace. I was happy to see a fire crackling there. We had to go up to the bar to order. Emily ordered a pint of cider. She let me try it and I thought it tasted pretty good. I ordered one for myself. Since I hate beer, I was excited I got to finally order a pint of something. For lunch I had their special of the day which was cottage pie. It came out in an au gratin dish. There was a layer of ground beef topped with a layer of mashed potatoes and finished with a layer of cheese baked on. I also got fries on the side. It was absolutely delicious. Even though the cider filled me up quite a bit I cleaned my plate. I felt absolutely stuffed. We had a fun lunch talking about what we would be doing. Casey tried to order nachos but ended up getting nacho topping on top of French fries. I thought it looked pretty good but she seemed disappointed. Such an English thing to make nachos out of fries really.

After lunch we headed to Bath Abbey. We met up with Leslie there around 1:30pm. Casey and Glynnis had run of to find a bathroom or something so we waited for them in front of the abbey. There was a chocolate shop nearby. We went in and Leslie and Emily bought some chocolates. One of the ones that Emily bought was actually quite comical. It was in the shape of a penis. When we were all together she let all of us take bites of it. I believe I had one of its balls. Hopefully this makes my male readers cringe.

After that little fun we headed into the Abbey. (Everyone eats penis chocolate before going to church right?) They asked for a donation at the entrance. Emily dropped a coin and it went into a grate. I was able to fish it out with my long fingers. With how strong the pound is to the dollar we have to be careful.

We toured the abbey. It had one of the most amazing ceilings I’ve seen. It had intricate stone designs on it. We walked around and looked at everything. Then we went out a side door to the entrance of the crypt. They had original sculptures from the façade of the abbey and other artifacts. The most interesting was the whole skeleton that you could view through a glass floor panel. It even had its little skeleton arms crossed on its chest.

After the abbey tour, we went back to Leslie’s house. We were both exhausted from getting up so early so we decided it was nap time. Leslie let me use her computer to check my email but then I lied back and dozed for a while. We got ourselves up around 6:30pm. I got a shower and got ready. We decided to just make dinner at the apartment. Leslie made an amazing dinner. It was a salad with couscous, English cheese, and tomato. She also had bread with cheese on the side. They were cranberry, cheddar, and brie. It was all really delicious.

We went and met up with the gang in the larger house. We went in the basement kitchen and drank some wine. It was fun for me to see Keith again. He was my roommate in Chapel Hill so it was great to catch up.

We all went to a club called Opa. It was an underground bar and we had to go downstairs. It had a cool look to it. It had a bunch of stone arches in it. We had some fun dancing and hanging out. I had a whiskey and seven there. The club was pretty cool and it seemed like everyone was having fun.

We left and made our ways back home. It always felt so far and uphill to get to Leslie’s place. Apparently Emily’s was on top of an even bigger hill. I went to bed around 2:30am.

April 16th Wednesday

It had felt like a long night which I knew would lead into a long day. Karuna had been coughing all night which meant that I didn’t sleep much. I couldn’t blame her though since I’d done the same thing to her two months ago. Despite it feeling like a long night I got up at 7:00am. Today we were going to England!

I ate some cereal and yogurt for breakfast and got ready for the day and trip. I packed a few snacks in my bag like chips and drinks. I left around 8:10am. I was hefting Karuna’s big orange shoulder bag down the street. Actually, it was a handbag as it had no shoulder strap. I did not realize this as I was packing or I would have asked for another one. I’d over packed and part of the bulk was a bottle of red French wine that I’d gotten for Leslie for her birthday. More of the bulk was the class reading I’d optimistically thrown in my bag. I wanted to turn around to switch to a rolling suitcase but I didn’t have the time. I lugged my bag into the metro wondering how I let Karuna talk me out of my convenient bags.

I took the metro up to the bus station and arrived a bit before 9:00am. I met Casey and Glynnis there. Glynnis had her impressive gigantic backpack on. She wouldn’t be coming back to Paris so she had to take everything with her. We checked in and found out the area where our bus was parked. The man at the window laughed because Glynnis was the smallest with the biggest bag. I had my duffel bag and Casey had a backpack.

After checking in, we went up and found our bus. Casey and Glynnis needed breakfast so they went back to the McDonalds that they’d seen on our way up. They got some breakfast there as well as some food from the Paul bakery. I had them get me an orange juice. We waited in the food court area while they ate and then went and got on the bus a bit before 10. The bus turned out to be fairly empty.

Casey, Glynnis and I were all able to take up two seats each in the back together. We started out on what would be the longest bus ride of my life. It was a seven hour trip from Paris to London. We left at 10:00am.

As we rode we all dozed. It had been an early morning for all of us. I listened to my music. It was fun watching the countryside. Around noon, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I’d pack.

Around 1:00pm we came up to the French customs stop. They had everyone get out of the bus and bring our bags into a small building. We had to walk through a metal detector and put our bags through x-ray. Outside I watched them use dogs to sniff the cars coming through. I think someone went through the bus to make sure we brought everything. It was boring waiting for the line. We were thankful it wasn’t a full bus and that we got to stand up for a while.

We got back in the bus and drove until the British passport control. They were fairly nice there. They just asked us the typical questions. I didn’t get nearly as much grief as I had at the Scottish passport control. Once we passed the desks, they had a dog sniff us to see if we were carrying anything. It was actually a cute dog and not like the typical large scary looking drug dogs. I felt like batting at it when it went to sniff my crotch but I stood still. Either it’s a perk of the job for the dog or they’re expecting me to get creative with hiding drugs.

We piled back on the bus and continued our journey. It was a short drive to the tunnel. We had to stop and wait in line. I was thinking we’d just drive through it like any other tunnel. I didn’t understand why we were waiting in the bus. They kept talking about loading times. Then, when we were allowed to move on, I saw what the reason was. We wouldn’t be driving through the tunnel. There was a large train that all the cars drove onto and it ferried us across.

Our bus drove into it and I was amazed it fit. The interior looked like Star Trek. There were long lights on the side. Once we got on, the bus opened the doors and stopped. Casey and Glynnis were really nervous about driving underwater. To cope, they brought out some… ah… liquid refreshment that would help the time pass. I was excited about the ride. The bus had to turn off so there was no air flow. It got very hot in there. The ride went pretty quick. We were only in the tunnel for about 20 minutes.

We turned our watches back an hour. It was now 3:00pm England time. We drove and continued our way toward London. The shops immediately started looking more English than French. We arrived at the bus stop around 4:00pm. Our next bus heading to Bristol wasn’t leaving until 6:00pm. That suited us just fine and we went in search of food.

We tried to keep in mind where the bus station was and walked around until we found a mall. It had a food court inside. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. The food court looked very American. There was a McDonalds, a KFC and a Subway among other things. I’d been craving a subway sandwich so I went there. I got a Spicy Italian. Sadly, they didn’t have oil and vinegar and there were limited cheese selections. At least it still tasted amazing.

We all settled down with our food. We also had to take turns guarding it while the others went to the bathroom. It cost money to go but we were desperate. It was a rather big ordeal. We had to go downstairs to withdraw money from the ATM and then buy the food in order to get change. Finally we got to eat our food. While we ate, I looked over and saw an older woman sitting at a table. Her head was slowly drooping down until her nose was touching the newspaper she had been reading. She was falling asleep. I felt sorry for her.

After dinner we decided to go to the nearby Garfunkel’s sit down restaurant for dessert. I got a chocolate milkshake while the other two got big hot fudge sundaes. It was quite yummy.

It was time to head back to the bus station. We found where ours would be leaving from and sat down. We tried calling Emily. We were having trouble getting a hold of her. I asked a nice woman sitting near us if she knew the country code or area code. She helped me figure it out and I was able to get Emily on the phone. We told her what time our bus would be arriving in Bath.

We got to board on the bus headed to Bath. It took 2 hours and 50 minutes. There was one stop before ours. There was a toilet in the back of the bus so I decided to go before we arrived. I went in and the bus must have run into a really bumpy road. I usually squat when I pee in public restrooms. I was being bounced all over the small compartment. Even buttoning my pants took a while. I was slammed against the door more than once.

I finally escaped and sat down. It wasn’t long before we arrived in Bath. Emily, Leslie, and Devon (fellow TAM students) were waiting to pick us up. It was so good to see them! We walked with them to Devon’s house. He was living there with Keith, Meredith, and Patrick who are also in the program. Glynnis is Devon’s sister so she’d be staying with them.

Casey was staying with Emily and I was staying with Leslie. We walked to Leslie’s place. She told me that she had something to tell me to prepare me before we arrived at her apartment and saw her books. She told me that she was going to have a baby. I kind of paused because I didn’t know what to say. I think I said “Oh yeah?” She told me a little more. I said “Well I don’t know how to react because I don’t know how this news was received.” If it was a big problem I didn’t want to yell “Congratulations!” She told me about how it had been a shock to find out. It was a result of a Valentine trip back to the states to see her boyfriend. She had had a difficult choice but she and her boyfriend had decided to keep the baby. I said, “Well I’m sorry for the stress and worry it’s caused you. I’m sure it was scary. But I think you guys made a good choice and I know you’ll be great parents.” She seemed happy to hear that. I think it helps having someone think about how the news affected her first. She seemed to have become pretty excited since she accepted the news.

We continued walking uphill toward Leslie’s place. She had a room in a larger apartment. The apartment was nice. Her room was quite tiny. There was room for her bed and the extra twin mattress on the floor. That was it. It was like a fun little sleepover though. We settled down and went to bed close to 12 or 1.

April 15th Tuesday
In order to get ready for my appointment, I got up at 7:00am. I ate breakfast and got ready. Adrienne and I took the metro to the Bastille stop. We had doctors’ appointments for 8:30am. We showed up outside the government building at just before 8:30. The doors were still locked and there was a small crowd of people on the sidewalk waiting to get in. I looked around and wondered if everyone had appointments at the same time. Adrienne and I tried to do some reading while waiting for the doors to open.

Finally, someone came to open the doors. Everyone pushed and flooded the entryway. I tried to shoulder my way in and get toward the front where Adrienne was able to squeeze to. We showed our appointment forms to the main desk and got the okay to continue upstairs. We rushed up and got into another line. Here we handed in some of our forms and were told to wait in the waiting room.

We waited for a little bit. I was starting to get nervous. I wasn’t sure what the appointment would entail but I certainly didn’t want to deal with a strange doctor. They called my name and I went into the first exam room. A male doctor measured my height and my weight. He also checked my vision. He had me cover one eye and read the letters on the wall. I was slowed down by the fact that I was wearing glasses and having my hand over one eye fogged up the lens. I had to wait until it was clear to continue. He hurried me through.

It was time for the next room. The doctor showed me into a small changing room and showed me how to lock the door. There was another door on the opposite side. He told me that I had to strip off everything to the waist and put my hair up. After he left I noticed the instructions printed in many languages on the door. I read them just to be sure. I took off my top and my bra and put my hair up with one of the rubber bands they provide. I felt like I had to wait a long time. The room was kind of chilly and I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest. I tried not to be nervous wondering who was going to open the door next.

Finally the second door opened and I was glad to see a woman in a white coat asking me to come over to the x-ray machine. I must have looked like a frightened animal (I know I felt like one) because she gave me a kind smile. I went over to the machine. They had me face a wall and put my arms out parallel to the ground. I had to inhale for them to take an x-ray of my lungs.

It was over quickly and I was put back in my small changing room. I gratefully put my clothes back on. I came out of the changing room and was told to wait in the waiting area until they called me again. The waiting room had filled up with many more carte de séjour hopefuls. I sat there and watched the x-ray technicians churn out x-rays. Doctors were coming out of small offices, grabbing the next x-ray and calling in that person. Adrienne was called in first and then I was called into another office. I just had to sit down and talk to the doctor. She asked me about my family history with illnesses and looked over the x-ray. Everything looked normal so she signed a form and told me to go hand in the form at the next desk. I got to keep my x-ray.

I left the office and looked around, I didn’t see Adrienne anywhere. I went ahead to the next window. It actually was a small office dedicated to the prefecture. I turned in my form and they gave me my carte de séjour. Finally! I had it in my hands. It was now four and a half months after I arrived in Paris and I was just now getting my carte de séjour. It is a neat ID card that looks very official and French. Adrienne came and got hers too.

We decided we had enough time to drop our x-rays off at the apartment. We then left to go to class. We had our class with our program director, Renaud Dehousse. We ended up being late to the class but the professor was later. It was a pretty fun class. Each class he wanted us to give presentations instead of doing a final paper. We picked our topics. I was on the topic of Impeachment with Karuna.

After class we went to the cafeteria. I had a chicken baguette sandwich with yogurt and an orange juice. I went to the printing lab after lunch to print some things out. After that, I ran into David. He was going to the bank so I decided to go with him. He had to change his address and I had to ask them why they charged me for depositing a check. I found out that they do indeed charge fees for depositing foreign checks. I was frustrated with the fact that they didn’t tell me this when I specifically asked them before. I guess language was the barrier there.

I left and walked home. Once there I sat down with my computer. I was loading some pictures on Facebook and ended up falling asleep while I was waiting for them to load. I woke up after not too long. Karuna came home from wherever she had been.

I was drinking some sparkling water with syrup mixed in. I took it to the bed and sat down with it. When I flipped the covers onto me I knocked the glass of red liquid over. I had to mop up the drink from the floor, bed sheet, and rug. I had to throw the sheet into the laundry to keep it from staining. I managed to get most of the drink out of everything before it stained or turned sticky.

For dinner I made some spaghetti with meat sauce and salad. After dinner, I packed up my bags. I was going to take one of my small rolling suitcases but Karuna said “Oh you’re just going for a weekend, why don’t you take one of my smaller ones?” I thought about it and realized that I could probably fit it in a smaller bag. I didn’t think I could fit my stuff in the tote bag she had though so I took it in one of her larger orange duffel bags.

The next day I’d be travelling by bus to England with Casey and Glynnis. I showered and then sat down to get my plane ticket. I decided to just get a plane ticket back from Bristol to Paris on Easyjet. I bought the ticket and organized some of my stuff in the room. I went to bed around 2:30am.

April 14th Monday

Karuna had left the house early but now I forget what she had left for. I didn’t rise until around 10:30 or 11:00am. I showered and ate some cereal before getting ready for the day.

Karuna came back briefly but then left to go try to print something and get her student card. Adrienne and I went to the methodology class at 12:30 with Laurie Boussaguet. She looked at us and said “Why are you here? This is the same class as last semester.” We said that we didn’t think it would hurt to show up. She basically asked us to leave. Even though we didn’t do anything wrong, it was still embarrassing having to leave class before it began.

Adrienne, Amanda, and I went down to the cafeteria. I got a hot chocolate to drink. Then we decided to get some lunch. I got a cheese Panini that turned out to have a lot of bleu cheese in it. Oh well. I’m starting to get used to it. We joked about what brown-nosers we looked like going to class when we weren’t required to.

Eventually, the class let out and the other students came downstairs. I went with Casey, Glynnis, and some others to the student card office. We were able to help some of the other Euromasters get their cards. After that, I went with Casey and Glynnis to the Eurolines bus station in North East Paris. It was a fairly long metro ride out there. We waited in line for a while and got our tickets for the bus ride from Paris to London. We took the metro back to our places.

When I got home I did some random things. I typed on my computer and played online. Adrienne came home followed by Karuna. I went to the store with Karuna and I ended up spending a lot of money on groceries. We made our way back home and made some dinner. We made some hamburger patties with cheese, zucchini, and couscous with raisins in it. For dessert we had some mousse au chocolat. It was delicious.

After dinner I read for class a bit. I talked to my dad on Skype. He reminded me that I had a doctor’s appointment the next day. This would be the final step to getting my carte de séjour. I was angry with myself because I’d almost forgotten it. At least I remembered it before. I went to bed around 12:45am.

April 13th Sunday

I woke up at 11:30am. Today was going to be fun. Sarah Hutchison, the secretary of the TAM program was doing a site visit in Paris. She was taking us out to lunch at La Petite Chaise (as in UNC is paying!). The restaurant looked really fancy online. It claims to be the oldest restaurant in Paris. I called Karuna to see if she was coming. She said that she was too depressed to act cheerful at the lunch so she would stay at her friend’s place for now.

I showered and got dressed in my black skirt, a white blouse, and my pink scarf. I had a quick breakfast of scrambled egg and sausage.

We walked to lunch at 1:00pm. We got to see Sarah as well as other various TAM alums. You could tell that they had the same connections with each other in their years as we have in ours. The conversation was very lively. We were missing two other diners though. Amanda and Casey had been really excited to come to the lunch. Adrienne tried to send them a text message to see where they were. They didn’t respond. I kept saying “Oh they should turn up. They were the ones that sounded so incredibly excited.”

The restaurant was decorated in an interesting fashion. We had a private room decked in pink wallpaper. There were paintings on the walls as well as angels painted on the ceiling. The room next to ours had yellow wallpaper.

The food was as amazing as one could expect from the restaurant. We had two or three choices of dishes on each course. For the first course, there were two choices. One was salmon marinated in dill with a mustard cream. The other was duck foie gras with an apple chutney. I had the foie gras. It was absolutely delicious. It just melted in my mouth. It paired nicely with the apple.

The main course came next. We could choose between a filet of white fish with a Norman sauce and roasted duck breast in a sweet and sour sauce. I had the fish and Adrienne had the duck. We were both quite happy with our dishes. Then we had dessert. Our choices were: nougat ice cream in a red fruit sauce, soft spice cake with a red fruit sauce, and a chocolate cake in crème anglaise. I had the chocolate cake. It actually was like a slice of chocolate mousse. It was incredible.

Included in the meal were bottles of wine. We had a white: Sauvignon de Touraine “maison Plouzeau” and a red: 1ère Côtes de Blaye rouge “maison Eymas.” There were also bottles of mineral water.

It was a lot of fun talking to all the different alumni. It was also reassuring. If they were all able to become successful after the program, we could too. I was really sad Amanda and Casey were missing it. It was funny that only 2 out of 5 current TAM students came to the lunch.

After lunch, Adrienne and I walked around with some of the alumni. It started to rain so they decided to go into a café. We realized we should head back because we had to get ready for another appointment. Our landlord’s daughter had invited us to go see a movie. We stopped by the apartment and found Karuna there with her friend Paul. We said hello and then headed out. We took the metro to the Opéra stop. We met up with Capucine and her friends. The movie we were going to see was Penelope. I realized I had seen some commercials for it before. It seemed really interesting to me. It was an American film. Normally, Capucine and her friends go to see the movie in V.O. (version originale) which means that it is subtitled in French. We went in to watch it and discovered we were in a dubbed version. It was dubbed fairly well but I’m not a fan of dubs. I like to hear the original voices of the actors. Nevertheless, it was a fun movie. I thought it was a cute film to pass the time. In case you haven’t heard about it, it’s about a girl named Penelope who was born with a pig nose. In French you pronounce her name “Peh-neh-lop.”

It was fun to get out and actually hand out with French people. Actually, one of the friends was Spanish now that I think of it. After the movie, Adrienne and I thanked Capucine for taking us out. We left on the metro to go back home.

Arriving at the apartment, we found Karuna still there but with Virgile. He’d been doing a fairly good job talking to her and helping get her mind off of Stan. He stayed with us for dinner. We cooked up some of our Basque chicken mixture. We also cut up some apples and cooked them in butter. Karuna also came up with the idea to cook up some of the bowtie pasta and mix it with broccoli. It turned out to be a really good meal. Virgile had also brought a bottle of wine which he admitted had been very cheap. He wasn’t sure if it would be good but we would find out soon. We popped the cork and poured some. It tasted awful. I couldn’t even finish my glass. It was just really bad wine. He said “I’ll have to remember not to get this one again.” Its name was Gamay so I came up with the pneumonic device of “Gamay jamais” (never Gamay). It rhymes. After that, Adrienne saved our taste buds by pulling out a really nice chardonnay. It was very good.

While we ate we entertained ourselves with some videos on Youtube. We had an interesting cultural question as well. Virgile asked us if he could smoke in our apartment. Adrienne and I really wanted to say no but we didn’t want to offend him. Adrienne tried offering the excuse, “Oh well I don’t know how our landlord will feel about that.” But Karuna didn’t let us worm out of it by replying “Oh he doesn’t mind. I’ve had tons of people smoke in here.” Ah. Well we finally caved and let him smoke. I thought it would just be one cigarette but he smoked three. After he left I made the decision to just say no to the next person who asks. I just can’t stand smoke in my living space. It dispersed in a day or two at least.

Virgile left and I got to talk to my parents for a little bit. I went to bed around 1:30am.

April 12th Saturday
I got up a little bit after 9:30am. I had some chocolate cereal with milk for breakfast. While I munched on it I checked my emails. I got ready for the day and then set to uploading some pictures on Facebook. I had about three albums worth saved up.

After that, Adrienne and I went to a tabac. They’re little stores where you can buy stamps, phone credit, and other things like that. They often have a bar in them as well. Adrienne and I needed to go because we’d received letters from the prefecture saying that we had medical exams scheduled so that we could get our cartes de séjour. They also told us that we needed to buy a €55 OMI stamp and stick it to the form. This would be the payment that we needed for it. It was a strange idea to me. Anyway, Karuna stayed home while Adrienne and I went to the tabac. The nearest one to us was by Saint Germain des Près. We got our stamps. Adrienne headed into the Monoprix to get some things and I headed home.

When I got back, Karuna hopped in the shower. Adrienne came home in the meantime and then I showered. Karuna left to go to a friend’s house. I made some lunch for myself. I made a hamburger patty with cheese on top and some peas.

After I’d eaten, M. Choupin brought over an extra mattress. His daughter wasn’t staying with him at the time and he let us borrow the mattress while Karuna was here. Once he’d left, I was on my computer. I uploaded more pictures as well as some videos on Youtube.

Adrienne and I discussed dinner. There were some things we needed so we went to our grocery store Franprix. We got some chicken, frozen Asian vegetable mix, soup, toothpaste, and body wash. I used my caddy to take it home. I also stopped by 8 à Huit. I didn’t see what I was looking for so I just got a can of cranberry raspberry syrup to make drinks with.

Once home we made dinner. I had chicken with the new frozen mix. It had peas, mushrooms, peppers, eggplant, and an oily sauce. I finished the strawberry sorbet for dessert.

Around midnight I got to talk to my parents on Skype. Then after that, Karuna called. Her boyfriend Stan had just broken up with her. She was really upset and decided to stay at a friend’s place that night. Adrienne and I felt pretty bad for her. One of the sad things was that we had a feeling this was going to happen. It just happened much sooner than we’d expected.

I went to bed around 2:00am.

April 11th Friday

I woke up around noon to our buzzer sounding. It turned out it was Amanda S. She was back in town from the states and was in the area. She came in and we talked for a while. It was nice catching up on the past weeks. I recounted my narrow success on writing the papers. Amanda was curious to hear if Heidi made it because she had seemed worse off than me. Her mom was visiting near the end of the module and that mean that Heidi didn’t have much time to entertain and to write papers.

Amanda invited us to come out to Boulogne with her. Adrienne and I got ready and we headed out on the metro. Once in Boulogne, we walked around for a while. It was time for lunch so we found a Lina’s Sandwiches. I had a sandwich with mozzarella, tomato, and arugula. I had a Pepsi light to drink.
After lunch, the three of us went around to what we called the “cheap stores.” These stores are a little slice of heaven for me. Living in the 7th arrondissement means that it’s a really nice area but insanely expensive. In these cheap stores we were able to go on a shopping spree. This was the most excited I’d felt about shopping since I’d arrived in France. The stores were full of random practical things that once we saw, we knew we couldn’t live without. There were random kitchen items, home decorations, cleaning supplies and some entertainment options. In the first store, Adrienne bought a new non-stick frying pan for pretty cheap. The one we had was being scratched up pretty bad. I also got a wooden spatula to use with the new pan. I bought three CDs for myself that were very cheap. One was Edith Piaf’s Ma Vie en Rose. Another was a 2 disc set of Sinatra songs. The final was a CD of Luis Mariano who sang French songs. We also saw some shopping caddies there. They’re basically large tote bags on wheels that allow people who walk to the store to bring home groceries. They seemed a bit expensive here so we decided to look at some other stores.

We looked in many different stores. We had a few options on the caddies. They were 20€ and up for ones with metal frames. I didn’t want to spend that much on it. In one store, I found one that I liked. It was red and had different foreign words written on the outside as a design. It collapsed into a handy briefcase shape so that you could easily carry it with you when it was empty. This one was €10.90. I went ahead and settled on that one. Adrienne had already bought one for around €6 at another store, but hers had a strange plaid design that I wasn’t fond of and it didn’t collapse into a briefcase.

We made our way back up the street and saw some cute trash cans for sale. We decided to go get one because we didn’t have a trash can in our apartment. We just had plastic bags floating around. It was really hard to throw something away with one hand.

Laden with our little treasures, we made our way to the metro and took it home. Once home, we unpacked our items a bit and tucked them away. I heated up some frozen ham and cheese crêpes for myself as a snack.

Karuna arrived at our apartment then. She had just gotten back from her trip to the States. We made ratatouille and couscous for dinner. Afterward I just played around online. I went to bed around 12:30am.