which takes 30 minutes. Grammer from 10 - 12, then I have to RUN by the Pantheon to my lectures.I had my Current Events lecture this week (Thursday). It was definitely hard to have a lecture in French, especially when you have been in class since 8:30 and went out the night before. But I got the gist of what was going on and I think it will improve. I am really excited for the art lecture that starts next week. It's very funny sitting in class (at rue de Fouarre for my Grammar class) and hearing the Bells of Notre Dame every half hour. That's how I count down the minutes. My phonetics class is funny. For 30 minutes, we learn grammer rules from my very peppy teacher. Then we sit in un labo with headphones and repeat phrases that she says. We can then listen to how we said them and do it again. La viande est cuite. Ils arrivent en deux heures. You have to connect the words in certain places...Ils arrivent is pronounced "il za reeve".
I went to L'as du Falafel again for lunch this week...délicieux! Let's see, what else did I do:
- Cooked dinner with my roommate on Wednesday. I bought chicken, broccoli, apples, onions and garlic from a market nearby...I didn't have trouble telling them what I needed, but it's pretty easy. We're slowly but surely getting into the cooking mode...although the other night, we looked at the clock and it was already 10 pm so we decided that instead of cooking, the McDonald's around the corner from our apartment would be a fine substitute. That's the only time I've had American food!
- Cleaned by apartment! We bought a bunch of cleaning supplies and actually cleaned up! We keep the place pretty neat...but we this anti-baceterial cleansing was long overdue. Laundry is my next big task...maybe I'll do it Sunday...or Monday.
- Made a list of all the place I need to go in Paris. I want to try and check one or two things off a week...but I'm happy I made the actual list. I'm sure it will grow pretty quickly as I keep hearing of more things to add.
- Knocked the first thing off my list and went to the Pantheon. Notable things about the Pantheon: 1) It's FREEZING! I was so cold inside, colder than I would have been outside. I think it's because there are so many tombs in there? 2) It was a church but then it was changed into a place to honor great men in France (and now women too, Marie Curie was the first). 3) There was a really cool monument to all Frenchmen who helped save Jews from deportation in WWII, some Jewish, some non-Jewish. 4) The tombs of Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Louis Braille, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Alexandre Dumas. 4) It's an amazing, classically designed structure that really stands out in Paris. It's architect is buried there too and he is widely celebrated in France. The architecture of the whole place is unbelievable. 5) Foucault built an unbelievable pendulum that swings in the middle of the Pantheon to prove that the earth is rotating.
- Finally met our upstairs neighbors. There are 4 girls from Colgate who live in our apartment building and so on Wednesday, we finally went up and hung out with them. We'd met them before, just hadn't hung out. So that was fun, they were all very nice. Some of our other friends came over and we all went out to a bar in Place Contrascape...on Rue Moufftard. It was a lot of fun, and it's great because it's just a 10 minute walk home so we dont' have to pay for cabs or anything.
- The landlord came by. I was taking a nap today and the landlord knocked on my door. He's a little French man named Claude. He lived in Paris for a long time and then moved back to his hometown in Bretagne. He moved back in 2007 and now he's the Mayor! He talked a lot to me in French, which was fun, while he fixed our overhead lights and ventilator. When I got to the apartment, we had 2 lamps total. Now we have 5 lamps and the overhead lights work in the bedroom and living room. I can see! I'm sure my Mom will be very happy...she always yells at me for not having the lights on when I read. The landlord invited me to call him if I'm ever in Bretagne! Maybe he'll give me a key to the city!
- Dinner with the Fishers. I went out to dinner with Marcy and Rob Fisher, from Detroit, on Thursday. Marcy met my parents at a bat-mitzvah in Tuscon. She and Rob live in Paris a few months a year and they were very nice and took me out to dinner. I went to their apartment in the Marais (Jewish and gay area) for hors d'oeurves and then we went to a great new Italian restaurant. It was really thin pizza and the most amazing ball of mozzerella cheese I've ever tasted! The waitress spoke Italian and fortunately, Marcy knew Italian so we had a great time with the waitress. The Fishers were very nice and welcoming and I was glad I got to meet them.
- "Homework". Well I've definitely been doing my fair share of homework. Every night, I have grammer exercises and this weekend I have a small essay. Classes are tough but I'm getting much more comfortable in them. This week we've had to learn a lot of French idioms which will be very helpful. My initial notebook that I bought at the BHV completely fell apart. All the pages are ripping off...so I bought a new one today at a papeterie, a stationary shop.
The "homework" I'm referring to though is for my friends at CEA. I was there doing my homework this Thursday and a few of my friends came out of their Oenology class (wine). They asked if I wanted to help them with their homework after class...to go drink wine and eat cheese. Why not!? We walked to the Bastille area, found 2 Alsatian wines, paired them with some amazing chèvre and comté (cheeses), bought some warm bread, and had a great hour at my friend's apartment identifying the smells in the wines and arguing over which cheese went with which wine.
- Top Chef - Finale Part 1. I found a great site to watch TV shows on. I've really just been watching Top Chef and The Office. But I watched the first part of the Top Chef season finale...it was good. It's nice to watch American TV every once in a while. I'll also have to stop by a place in the 3rd called "American Breakfast in Paris" that is supposed to be a fun American diner. And there are delis in the Jewish section!
Tomorrow I leave for Chateau Chantilly for the day with CEA. It's only 20 miles outside of Paris. I skyped with my parents today...they FINALLY got a camera. They're skiing in Vail right now. Picturing them skiing makes me laugh. Shabbat Shalom. Miss everyone and hope you're all enjoying your winters!
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