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Published: September 29th 2006
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picnic
Bridge of Arts is like the coolest place to have a picnic - Camilla and I Great event of last week was that I found an apartment, which means I can cross that off my list of things that bother me. It is a little studio (very little, 14 sq. meters) but it has a mezzanine (kinda like second floor where my huge bed is), a cute little kitchen and a very spacious bathroom, which is rare in France. It is in the 13th arrondissement, which probably means nothing to most of you, not in a particularly pretty or historical part of Paris but that was simply out of my budget. It is on the first floor, so I don't have to climb any stairs, and it is very close to a metro station. I am happy. I already started decorating (the russian flag is up!) and soon I will be going to flea market to search for weird little things to add some ambiance to the place.
Another important thing I want to mention (kinda has to do with the apartment) is how amazing French people are, despite what everyone says. So, in France it is practically impossible to rent an appartment if you don't have a French guarantor (usually a parent). I saw about
picnic
View of Academie Francaise from the Pont des Arts 10 different places and that was always a problem. I was getting very discouraged, until I mentioned my problem to Aude (she studied at Tech last semester) and she suggested being my guarantor (which means she agrees to pay in case I can't) - a very big deal, as you can imagine. And it was no problem for her at all! I found an apartment the same day! And Heloise, my other French friend, she has been amazingly nice to me - she met me at the airport, let me stay with her for the night, helped me with anything else I needed. There is also Isabelle, who has offered her help several times and has been very helpful to my friend Annie. If that is not enough examples, last night, my friend Anya (another Anya) and I were carrying a little antique commode to the metro station (some rich guy just gave it to her, so I helped her carry it to my place) and this guy just helped us with it (he missed his train because of us) and there were lots of other people who offered help (they were all guys, but still). What I want to
say, is that I have not met a mean or nasty French person during my month here and I don't think that I will in the future. I met some weird people, but never mean.
About weird people, a relatively amusing story. I was trying to find a Carrefour (French version of Wal Mart), cause I needed to buy all this stuff for the studio. On my map it looked like it was not too far from where I live, so I decided to walk there, but I didn't realize that it was on the other side of Peripherique (kinda like 285 in atlanta) and it is very hard to cross. I realized that too late, as I was walking along the Seine (industrial Seine, not very romantic), and this guy on a bike (moped) stops me and asks me where something is. Of course, I don't know. He leaves, but then comes back, and asks again. I explain again, that I do not know. It is getting a bit weird. He leaves, but then comes back the third time, asking me where I am going. I explain, point in the direction of the store and he offers to
Night out
our cool group hanging out in a bar give me a ride. I am tired (I have been walking for an hour), so I agree (it is daylight so I felt safe for some reason). But then he goes past the little bridge and I start freaking out! I am already thinking of ways to escape and what should I do if he tries to do something. Luckily, he realizes that he missed the turn and turns around. At the same time, we chat a bit, and he asks me whether I have a boyfriend (oh, how much I hate that question!), to which I reply yes, of course. The funny thing is, after I say that, he stops, and instead of taking me all the way to the store, he explains how to get there. But I was so happy to be alive, that I didn't care that i had to walk another 20 minutes. I now realize how dangerous all that was, but at the moment it didn't seem like that horrible of an idea.
Since I already wrote a whole lot, here is the culture part of the weekend. I (and couple friends) visited the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, which is where a lot of
Night out
And the dancing has begun... famous people are buried, including Jim Morrison, whose I grave we did not get to see, since we got there too late, and just as we were walking towards his grave, the cemetery doors were getting close, of which we were informed by a very upset policeman. As we got to the doors, they were already locked and we could not get out - there was no one but dead people around! Kinda spooky. We walked along the wall trying to find another exit, but fruitless. After about 30 minutes a security guide found us and opened the door for us. That same night we went out to a pub, went to the movies (Science of Dreams - one crazy film), and also ate at very good Indian restaurant. I have been eating lots of ethnic food here! So that was a very good day/night.
The night before we went out with our French class (really cool international students). We started off in this bar in the Latin Quarter, where we corrupted the little Chinese girl - she had her first drink with us. Since she was not used to alcohol, she got drunk and started dancing with the
Italian girl, Federica. After that, we hung out in this cute little square, attracting a bit too much attention with our accents. We finished the night off in this Middle Eastern Cafe, with hookah and tea. It does not sound like we did anything crazy, but I had an amazing time, because everyone is so amazingly cool.
Sunday, Camilla and I went to a festival of Thai culture, but I forgot my camera, so I did not take any pictures of the cool traditional dances performed there. Oh, also some time during the week I went to an Erasmus party, for which I was way too tired (still, I came home around 4 and had to get up at 7 to register for classes). This weekend should be interesting in a cultural sense, since I will be going to Reims with Sciences Po and visiting whole lot of museums (free 1st Sunday of each month!) I hope I didn't forget to mention anything too important.
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mama
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Vot prochitala opyat' tvoi zapisi. Ti prava -byd' ostorojna. Ya ne volnyus' za tabya, no............Rada,chto ti provodish' nasicenno vremya,ne zabyd' i otdihat'. Celyu i vsegda s toboi.