J'aime courir

Before I post about my day today, I just want to give a shout out to my gorgeous sister, Alison. Happy Sweet 16, beautiful!!!! You’re the bestest and I love you moon and back! Sisters rock!!!!J

Well today was another school day, so it was a little bit low key. A bunch of people woke up early to do a walk, but we went to bed too late last night to wake up early. The alarm went off at 9:00am, we ate breakfast (the usual), I showered, we did some homework, we packed up our stuff, and then it was off to school. I just had my photography class today so that was nice! My photos got critiqued and they all got pretty good comments, so that was fun. It gave me the confidence to do better photos for the rest of my trip. I’m seriously in love with that class!!!!

After our photography class, I had an interview for French 311 with Dr. Olivier to assess where I’m at with my speaking. It was pretty casual and not super terrifying. He asked me questions about my family, where I’m from, what I want to do when I’m done at the Y, and what not. I think I did pretty well! He said that my comprehension level is good and my accent is great, but that I should practice being more descriptive when I speak. He wants me to be able to elaborate more. I can do that!

Thankfully, I have lovely friends here in Paris so they waited for me to be done with my interview before leaving. A few people wanted to go and get tickets for the Russian ballet at the Paris Opera House, but the cheap seats were sold out. The cheapest tickets were 45 euro and as much as I would LOVE to see the ballet (and inside the opera house), I’d rather save my money to travel around a little bit (the plan so far is Brussels and Rome but we’ll see how much that’ll cost!)

Although we didn’t buy tickets to the show, we thought it would be fun to go and see the opera house anyway. Such a BEAUTIFUL building!!!! Hopefully I can go inside while I’m here but we’ll see.

We were waiting to cross the street to get a closer look at the building when out of NOWHERE, this guy dressed in a chicken suit snuck up behind me and kissed me on the cheek. I have a few problems with this:

1. He smelled like he hadn’t showered in a month. Seriously.

2. I have this personal bubble and when it’s popped without notice, I freak.

3. He expected me to pay him for kissing me. I don’t think so!

It was just a terrifying experience all together, so watch out for creepy men in chicken suits!!!! (See him in the picture below?? He's just looking for another victim...)

Everyone was tired after walking around the opera, so we decided to head back to Croissy. I don’t get dinner tonight, but I picked up a little “tarte aux framboises” (raspberry tart) for dinner. It was tiny and probably not very healthy, but it was delicious!

The RER ride tonight was faster than usual. I don’t know if it was because I was tired or if it was because I enjoyed people watching. It’s interesting - in France, everyone watches everyone all the time. Its just part of the culture. Remember my post about not smiling when you make eye contact with someone in France? If not, go look at my entry called “The Six Codes.” IT’S SO TRUE! They seriously freak out and sometimes they move to a seat where you can’t make eye contact again. Even the kids here get weirded out if you smile at them. I’m getting good at my “visage Français” (French face). I try super hard not to smile at anyone and if I make eye contact, I look away. That’s what everyone else does too. It’s so bizarre to me! But that’s French culture, and I want to blend in.

Upon arriving back at Croissy, I made a fool of myself. What’s new, right? Well here’s what happened:

Every time you enter or exit the RER, you have to scan your Navigo pass (train pass). When it gets late, there are a lot of commuters traveling home from the city, so there are a lot of people trying to go through a small number of gates. To pass the crowds, lots of people just hop over the gates that face the opposite direction. I’d done it twice this week and felt pretty confident in my ability to jump over it...

But today I failed miserably.

I TOTALLY smacked my shins and fell flat on my butt in front of 50 people. It was horrible. You know it's bad when a huge group of French people start laughing at you...it takes a lot of effort. Then, I attempted to crawl under it and instead hit my head on the little turning gate. Utter humiliation. But, minus some bruised shins and bruised pride, I survived.

When I got home, Madame was just getting ready to go to a church thing (she’s Catholic and volunteers at a lot of events). I started talking to her about my day and she asked me if I wanted to go running (she’s asked me every day since I’ve been here, but I’ve been SO busy!). I said “Bien sur!” (of course!) and she proceeded to pull out a map of the area so that she could show me a trail. I went upstairs, changed my clothes, put on my runnin’ shoes, and I was off!

The weather today was magnificent! I ran about 5 kilometers around the neighborhood, along the Seine, and onto a little island close by. I’m such a lucky girl! Running in Paris is amazing (minus all of the bugs I swallowed...gross) and I look forward to doing it again! Madame keeps saying that she wants to go with me but I’m slightly terrified...she’s a very fit French woman!

Well, tomorrow is our first excursion! YAY! We leave for Chartres a little after 8:00am, so we have to be at the station here in Croissy by like 6:45am. Yuck...super early. But it’ll be worth it! I’ll be sure and take lots of pictures and tomorrow’s entry will be super exciting! Until then!