A Sort of Homecoming...

It occurred to me yesterday on the plane, how odd it seemed that I was experiencing the familiar feelings of peaceful anticipation that accompany a return "home" from vacation. The oddness didn't come from the feelings themselves, though-- it came instead from the realization that I was experiencing them on my way to Paris, France. I had spent a wonderful week in Barcelona, but was by no means upset at the idea of settling back in to the familiar--my own bed, streets and a metro system I know, a language that I'm at least basically functional in (I thought my Spanish was bad--Català was an entirely different issue)--you get the idea. Here's the point: somehow I'm making Paris my home. Leaving it was one of the first real indications of that, and I find this both wonderful and...bizarre. Since when does Emilee Head call some town in Europe home?

That said, I think it's time to backtrack and discuss the trip itself. This is where I start wishing I had some pictures to post--I think having them would aid me in the recap/explanation. But alas, I wasn't able to recharge my camera batteries, and have to wait until a couple of kind friends share theirs with me. Or perhaps I will find some pictures online, just to make do.

I left home for the aeroport fairly early on Sunday morning, thankful for the clear, relatively warm weather that made getting places nearly hassle-less. Loaded myself and my backpack (light packer!) onto a garish orange plane (cheap tickets!), and arrived in the outskirts of Barcelona a little after lunchtime. I had flown in on my own, so read and listened to my ipod in baggage claim until my friends' plane arrived. (I spent the trip with three friends who are here with the same organization--David, Courtney, and Joanna.) By the time we found our hostel a few hours later, we were excited to throw down our bags and stretch out for a late-afternoon nap.

Around eight, we ventured out to see what kind of food we could scrounge up at such an early hour (most places in Barcelona don't serve dinner until at least nine in the evening). We walked a couple of blocks onto La Rambla (a wide avenue running north to south towards the sea, full of outdoor dining at night and street perfomers, flower and bird markets, and tourists during the day). For dinner: TAPAS. I had never had tapas before, so it was quite fun (and yummy) to do it with my friends. In case you don't know what tapas is, it's basically ordering lots and lots of appetizers to share around the table as the main meal. In Barcelona, this means patatas bravas, calamari, olives, cheese, prawns, etc. And yes, I ate seafood and liked it. Who'dve ever thunk it? After our late dinner, we met up with a friend of Joanna's from the States, who took us to a very cool jazz club, where we spent our time listening, screaming at each other over the music, and dancing until around 3h30.

Ok, I'm starting to realize a couple of things about this play-by-play I'm providing for you. Number one, it's probably not a very fun way to read about my trip. Number two, I'm not in the mood to post a six-thousand word entry. So. I'm going to start consolidating!

In addition to Barcelona's inherent coolness (and probably due, in part, to) is its location. In case you didn't know, that location is in the south east of Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. Barcelona has a very carefree, casual air about it. It seems to be more about fun than sophistication, and I attribute this, in part, to the fact that it's located at the Sea, and enjoys temperate weather all year. Yes, more than once, we went down to the beach (at the end of October!) and just enjoyed the sand (we also "enjoyed" the sand long after leaving the beach ;), breezes, and...what am I doing? You all know how cool the beach is. The water of the Mediterranean was a deep blue--not the opaque gray of the Atlantic. Beautiful. Did I mention all of this was within walking distance from our hostel?

I mentioned walking distance--and we did a lot of that. It was quite nice, though, to be able to get most places on foot, enjoying the beautiful weather, and having the opportunity to see the city from above ground. The buildings in Barcelona are nice, in general--many of them are quite ornate, with intricate cast-iron balconies, large shutters, and the like. Every once in a while on the Passeig de Gràcia, however, you stumble upon one of Gaudí's masterpieces--sinuous, organic façades both fantastic and strange. It's been said that he created architecture's version of Art Nouveau. His façades make up only a small part of Gaudí's extensive presence in the city, though. We also trekked up to the park he designed in the hills, Parc Guëll, and walked around the Sagrada Familia church, which he designed and began--but is still under construction. Maybe I'll get some pictures up eventually, but just in case I don't, and in case you don't know what all of this looks like--you should look up some pictures. I'm not even pretending to do a good job of describing this stuff to you, and even if I was--you'd need to see it, anyway.

I'm getting quite tired of typing this entry, to be honest. I hope I've managed to give some slight idea of my trip to Barcelona, even though I've done a bit of a shoddy job with my writing. Forgive me? I'm just finding it very frustrating to put my experience of this trip into writing at the moment. So. Bona Noche! (That's Catalàn.)

Just in from Barcelona

Just arrived back home from Barcelona this morning! Due to crazy plane schedules and such, I haven't really slept in a while, and am getting ready to go to bed. But I did want to leave a quick "anouncement" of my whereabouts earlier this week. Until I have more energy/time, suffice it to say that Barcelona was an amazing place, full of incredible experiences enjoyed with friends! Five days of lazing, eating, sight-seeing, walking, beach-bumming (on the MEDITERRANEAN), and other choice activities. This vacation from school (which stretches until this coming Wednesday) was probably the least-deserved break I've ever had, and I've been relishing every moment of it! So... à très bientôt...

Bonne nuit!

Les titres m'embête...

I've had some trouble lately, trying to edit the old entries by adding pictures. So. I've given up on my prefered system of organizing photos on this site, and have decided simply to make a new entry, with lots of pictures from all over. So...Enjoy!

Musée d'Orsay: This clock is a working clock on the top floor of this old train station-turned-art museum. From the street, you can't really tell that it also functions as a fancy "window." It looked very cool from the dim indoors, especially since it was so bright outside--lots of light and contrast. Oh, and those are my friends in front of it!

A view of the Musée d'Orsay from a top floor. You can see very well in this picture that this building was originally purposed as a train station--like a much cleaner, less confusing Milano Centrale, without the trains.

Le Grand Palais. This is its roof, as seen from the Seine (we went on one of those touristy Bateaux Mouches). Le Grand Palais is an exhibition building (steel and glass structure) built, I think, around the beginning of the 20th century. It's been closed for restoration since 1993, and won't be finished until 2007. They did, however, open it up for a week or so in September, the first time people could go in since I was 7. We thought it quite nice that things were timed that way, since the next time it's open to the public will be in a couple of years!

Inside the Grand Palais at night. this is the ceiling, and amazing and graceful structure. Entering this place was worth the long line--a very surreal atmosphere. The lights changing every so often, mirrors, and eerie arrangements of classical music echoing around us...Very cool.

Looking out over the gardens at Versailles. Probably the most manicured, cultivated area not inside a building that I've ever seen. Ridiculously expansive, too. Actually, all of Versailles seems that way. It's the gaudiest, most extravagant place I've ever been. The castle goes on forever, every doorway and every inch of wall covering, each painting and bedspread the result of gross amounts of money, and intricate artwork/craftsmanship. You wonder about the man who had it all commissioned...

All right, I've got to go to class, believe it or not. So I'll stop posting pictures here, and hopefully pick it back up soon!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

The subject translates roughly to "Go Blue!" in English. It is the subject of my entry, because that is what I heard shouted almost manaically from the thousands of French soccer fans at the France v. Cyprus qualifying match last night. ISA got us cheaper tickets, and so I passed the evening caught up in the excitement of an international sporting event...So much fun! And I'm not even really a soccer fan. Sometimes it's fun to get involved in something like that just for the sake of having an excuse to scream your lungs out and be part of such a huge herd of loyal fans.

I will now be the lazy bum that I am, and copy what I wrote about the game yesterday.

~~~~~

A group of us all met at Fontaine St. Michel before heading out to Stade de France along with the rest of the city. Walking through the corridors of the metro felt more like swimming through brimming channels of tangible, drinkable excitement. Everyone was going the same way, for the same reason. There was a feeling of unity in that section of the RER--no matter how superficial. Unlike all the other trips one takes on the Paris underground, where no one knows another's business or destination, this trip simply had the feel of a herd of like-minded individuals. Last night, when I found myself pressed up against the bodies of strangers, enveloped by the intense heat of the train car, I felt not claustrophobic, but rather like a part of a huge celebration. I love the atmosphere created by spontaneous festivity. It's a similiar feeling to the one I have when I watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle on a warm evening. Everything around you seems unburdened somehow by the simple fact that something beautiful or exciting exists for no other reason than to bring pleasure, and it's happening on such a grand scale. The bigness of the event thus plays a major part in my enjoyment of it.

If the metro ride was a massive pool of festivity, it was ten times more so as we reached the top of the stadium (from outside) and saw the field, the thousands of spectators laid out before us. The lights were glaring, the last words of the French national anthem being shouted from every loyal fan and every recreating spectator. It was all just so big. I found myself caught up in the oscillations of emotion as France scored, as they lost the ball.. I'm not even a fan of many spectator sports, but something about the crowd was irresistable. It's a funny thing, how a crowd can impact one's experiences and reactions so profoundly.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all. It didn't hurt that France won, and that immediately following the game there was celebratory, driving American music projected throughout the stadium, accompanied by fireworks! I did, however, find it bizarre and entertaining when they began to play "Born in the USA." Regardless of how strange we found this (everyone knows the French as a whole love the USA), we American students sang along, unabashedly relishing a brief hiatus from the stresses of adapting to French life, and indulging fully in a bit of patriotism--while furiously waving our little French flags. Ah, the paradoxes of being an "American in Paris." Sometimes I think we're all just a little bit more homesick than we let ourselves believe...

~~~~~

Well, that's probably it for now. Maybe I'll grace you with some pictures later. If you're lucky. Muahahaha...

some pictures for ya

posted some new pictures--check out the entries titled "home sweet home?" and "pictures pictures!"

After a weekend in the Loire...

:::edit:::

Somehow I managed to not mention that while in the Loire, I also went to a wine tasting. Don't know how I skipped over that. Anyway, it was quite fun--standing around drinking wine and eating cheese in the actual cave where the wine was made. So, yeah. Life is good here. Yay for wine and cheese and caves!

:::

After being thwarted in my pre-class missions today (making a doctor's appointment for my residency card and changing my schedule), I have found myself with an unexpected window of time to occupy. I thought it a good use of this time before my Oral French class to give a quick update of my life in the past week or so.

I'm now beginning my second week of class, and find it...surprisingly normal. I have Monday off every week, and who could complain about that? Classes are going well, and I'm slowly adjusting to the three-hour long sessions, which are probably the hardest part of it all. I've decided I'm quite a fan of my old system, where to meet the requirements for a three hour class, one attends class two or three times a week for a shorter length of time. The students in my classes are quite diverse, as I mentioned briefly last week. This is because the part of the school I attend is a university specifically geared to international students. Lots of Americans and Japanese, quite a few Chinese, South-East Asians, other Europeans, people from the Middle-East, South America...Pretty much covering the spectrum. One thing that's funny to me is the fact that I am now part of the Diversity, rather than an observer of it. I am as much of a "foreigner" here as the next student--no matter how much more "exotic" they may seem to me. I think I like it.

This weekend was an excursion planned through the study abroad organization to the Loire Valley. For those of you who don't know, this area of France (about three hours southwest of Paris by bus) is known for its chateaux and its wines. We left early Saturday morning, and visited two of the chateaux, Chambord and Chenonceau. While the castles were beautiful, my favorite aspect of being there was the outside. After more than a week of chilly temperatures, rain, fog, and just general drear in the middle of the city, we got our first glimpse of the sun on the way out of town. It turned out to be a brilliant, breezy, crisp weekend. I don't think I need to explain the drastic effect that a change in weather like that can have on the spirits. And as if that wasn't enough, we were outside the city, walking around in the open, in wooded areas, in the sun with new friends and no cares. It's still beautiful here in Paris--walking to school from the metro this morning, I realized I was grinning to myself for no reason but that autumn is coming, and I could see the sun. Praise the Lord for beautiful weather!

Sunday, we spent the day in Tours, an old French city with lots of history. Thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful weather that day as we walked around, stopping into St. Martin's Cathedral, and meandering through the Sunday flea market. Have I ever mentioned that I love cathedrals? I'll have to expand on that at some point. Suffice it to say that though I was never really enthralled by them (that is to say, pictures of them) before I came here, I have found that being inside one far surpasses any picture. The spaces are simply amazing--vaults, stained glass, columns. And the acoustics. I think that's really why I love them so much. Every time I've wandered into Notre Dame, or any other cathedral here, there has been music. Listening to the sounds of old worship, of harmony and reverence echoing in a cathedral takes some deeper part of me captive, and I have no choice but to be awed, to be quiet.

That day we also saw the chateau at Amboise, where Kings of France lived during the transition from the Gothic age to the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci's grave was there. Sometimes you are arrested by how big the history is in these places. There's almost no category for me to process the significance/antiquity of the places I see here, because I've grown up in such a young country. The fact that the place I attend school at was built in the 16th century? Things like that are mind-boggling to me. Who knows how I'd react to seeing Greece or Israel or Egypt.

Well, I suppose this has been a bit of a spastic entry, but at least you're somewhat caught up now! I've got to run to class...let that dang French challenge and drain me. Did I mention speaking this language is hard?

On that note, I will make my customary promise of pictures, and bid you all good day!

em

Back to school!

Well, today was a milestone, I suppose. My first day of class at "La Catho." Even though it wasn't very eventful, and seemed quite normal, I feel that it warrants at least a line or two in the blog. Since I did technically come here to study...

The class was three hours long--as are all my classes. Which is why they only meet once per week. Very diverse class, nationality-wise, age-wise, etc.

I really feel like there isn't much more worth saying. A rainy chilly school day, interrupted by a nutella crepe with coconut! I really MUST control myself with these crepes. They are just so yummy...and hot...and who doesn't love nutella?

Check out...

...the entry from September entitled "Looking up!" It now has some pictures!

Killing time before dinner...

Did you read that title? I've always thought that it was such a violent phrase. I mean, who really feels the need to "kill" time, in addition to being idle in it? Anyway, I have digressed even before I have begun.

It is a rainy fall evening in Paris. (It was, incidentally, a rainy, cold morning in Paris, and a brilliant, sunny afternoon.) I woke up not too long ago from a nap underneath the raindrops plopping on my skylight. Quite cozy, and worth it I would say--even if it has made me a bit groggy. Hey! Perhaps this is a good opportunity to post a couple of pictures of my room...

This is my bed. It's in one corner of our attic-turned-bedroom. It's under a gigantic skylight, which means that I don't even need to roll over to see what the weather is like when I wake up. The plant you see hanging darkly from the ceiling is José. I am already quite attached to my little corner of the room, as it is mine, the bed is comfy, and the whole atmosphere is just cozy. Especially at night! The only misleading thing about this picture is the television. It doesn't actually work, which I like.

This is our teeny little bathroom. It's hard to turn around without runningn into something, but it's really quite rare that D'yon (my roommate) and I would have our own. The toilet paper is pink, by the way. Like most toilet paper I've seen here. Oh, and that's the shower coming in on the right side. I know you all probably don't need to see my bathroom, but I thought it would be fun to show it to you anyway!


And lastly, the final piece of my living space: D'yon, the roommate. Don't worry--she's not always like this, and she doesn't have a green face. I took this one evening when we were all having fun, and she had found this mask on the ledge above her bed. Yes, what IS a room without a roommate?

Would you like to know some things that have happened in the last few days to make life pleasant? I thought as much.

1. I purchased some basic school supplies. Getting new school supplies (or any paper product, for that matter) is one of my favorite things to do--especially when they are new, exciting, French school supplies!

2. I also purchased a phone! It was fairly inexpensive, it's a phone that I really like using, and it just makes me feel a bit more secure in the middle of such a big city, living so disconnectedly from people. Yay for a phone! This is my phone number (not because I expect you to use it, just for fun. Because it's a French number!): 06.19.94.23.62.

2. Spent the late morning/early afternoon meandering about Versailles. What a ridiculously oppulant, grandiose palace! I did enjoy the gardens very much, in the surprise weather--the sky cleared up and turned into a magnificent, breezy, clear fall day! I knowI say this all the time, but pictures are coming--it's just quite a hassle to get them onto the right computer.

3. Tonight is "Nuit Blanche" for all of Paris. This translates to English as "White Night." Basically, most of the city stays up all night long, one night per year. The museums, theaters, bars, metros, etc. stay open, and everyone who can stay awake can do as they please. I think it's a very fun idea--though I have no inkling as to what I'll end up doing! I take that back--I do at least know that I'll meet a big group of ISA kids at Notre Dame, have a little wine by the Seine, and then see where we end up. I for one am hoping this involves crêpes or pastries!

Alright--off to dinner! Bon soir tout le monde!