Volleyball in Paris...or not

     After I dabbled in fencing here at ESCP, and found out that it wasn't for me, I decided to join a team sport. Because I can't lose and then not have anyone to blame it on right? Well anyways, I joined volleyball and today we had practice, well at least my roommate and I thought that we did. We went way out of our way to get to the practice and pretty much rushed all the way there through the metro. 

     When we finally reached the arena where practice was, we tried to find a changing room and bathroom. Pretty standard stuff for a gymnasium I thought. We had to rent a changing room and then finally ask where a bathroom was. We found it after a 20 minute scavenger hunt. We walked into the ladies room and looked around in astonishment, there were no toilets in site. There were stalls, but no porcelain. They had pads where you put your feet and then a hole about five inches around pretty small if you ask me. We couldn't hold it any longer so we decided to just go for it. All I have to say is-- I hate wet shoes. Also, no more French bathrooms.

      When practice time came we were warmed up and ready to get our vball on. After 20 minutes of waiting for the team to show up we decided maybe we had the wrong time and should run around the gym until they got there. Ten laps around the gym later we decided they probably weren't coming. Being this relaxed about everything, like not telling us that practice was canceled, is beginning to get a little annoying

Trésor de la famille des Médicis

     After saying goodbye to my good friend, Jessica Anderson, currently residing in Roma, I ventured out through the metro system on my own for the first time. That might not sound thrilling, but I barely speak any French so getting lost would probably be terrifying. I went to the Medici museum and rented an audio speaker so that I could catch up on some history while touring the family's ornate jewelry, furniture, and art.
    During my walk through the temporary museum I was yelled at for some reason that I still do not know. I'm not embarrassed, but more impressed that the man yelled at me in French. Maybe I fit in better than I thought :). Didn't know how to respond though, so I just laughed in embarrassment.
     When I finally finished drooling over the collection I decided that food and rest were imperative. I got onto the metro and made it all the way home safely. On my journey home,  I came to the conclusion that my only life goal is to have a museum named after my family. I better start those self-portraits now I guess...

  

Sporocco!

     Since our Spring Break is only 3 weeks away, we decided it was finally time to start planning what we should do. Our initial reaction was to go to Italy, but that would have been too easy. We can go to Italy at any time in our lives. We needed something that would sound incredibly unappealing to us at an old age, and be dangerous at the same time. We came up with this: Fly to Marrakech, Morocco and then work our way back up through Morocco, take a ferry across the Straight of Gibralter, and then hostel our way back from Sevilla to Valencia to Barca, and then take an overnight train to Paris just in time for classes to start.
      This will essentially be a rages to riches story because we will be going from Paris, where we feel poor 24/7, to a country where the exchange rate is in our favor. Three hour bus rides cost about $10, a feat that would not be possible in the U.S. and hostels that rival 4 star hotels cost only a measly $8.
     I'm excited for the trip, but also understand the potential for trouble. Maybe that's what makes it so appealing, or maybe its just that I crave adventure at this time in my life. I want a story to tell and I think that this trip is exactly what I need.
     So there you have it: (Spain+Morocco=) SPOROCCO, the craziest spring break I will probably ever have.

Revelations

   When I was packing my overly large bags (both over 50lbs) to come to Paris, I made a joke to my mom that she should go grab my Razer scooter from the garage because it was imperative that I have it here. She wasn't incredibly sure if I was joking or not, probably because I do a lot of stupid things. On the way to school today and yesterday though, people wizzed by me on their scooters every few minutes. I chuckled to myself when I realized that the joke was on me.

      On an entirely different note, I have realized that during three hour classes you need to 1. caffeine up beforehand and 2. if you're having an off day, buck up or you're going to miss an equivalent of three lectures. Its not that three straight hour classes are going to be hell but they will be, and don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but it is just an adjustment that will have to be made here, like missing my scooter.

(Window) Shopping in the Marais

    Yesterday we went on a little shopping field trip to take advantage of the month long sales here in Paris. We went to this area near the ice skating rink that we played at the other day and split up, trying to find the best sales. Every store was packed with people and clothes sat in unkempt piles after sifters had had their way with them. While most of the sales in the Marais were an astounding 50% off, it only made clothes that I couldn't afford before, a lower price that I still can't afford.
     After dinner at a small restaurant, we went to an American bar to watch the Packers game for the second time since being here. The bar is ironically named the WOS bar, which stands for Wide Open Spaces, but the actual area is probably smaller than most pantries in the U.S. We had to leave a few minutes before the game was over thank god in order to catch the metro before it closed down for the night, but found out that the Packers won from the five billion statuses on FB. Although I'm not a Packers fan by anymeans, I was happy that they won so that my roommates wouldn't start a riot were content.

First Parisian House Party Ayyyyy!

   Ever since I discovered the bars in Madison Freshman year, I thought that I had left the life of house parties behind me. Oh how wrong I was. Three nights ago we were invited over to a school mate's apartment for a get together to meet fellow study abroaders. After 30 bottles of wine and champagne (for a large amount of people mind you), conversation was flowing and the language gap became only a minor irritation. Hand gestures and sound effects became place holders for words lost in translation.
    We've ended up going out to the bars for the last few nights and have discovered how expensive the bars are. For example a gin fizz cost 9 Euros (like $11), which is just not feasible living on a budget. My roommates and I have come to the conclusion that 1. we drink less and give up all of our Madison heritage or 2. pregame before hand at our apartment or a house party. Obviously the former was ruled out with less than one or two seconds of thought so we have decided on the latter. While I would love to continue on the night life of Paris, I truly can't because I don't want to sound like an alcoholic we haven't actually gone out that much here because we are so tired from our site seeing and wild excursions.

Sacre Coeur & the Broken Camera

      Today began on a promising note when we all woke up at 3pm. While that may be normal behavior for some of us, there was actually a reason we were so sleepy: the dreaded packers. Because I have traveled here with Wisconsinites, I have unawarely subjected myself to torture watching the games. It wasn't all bad though, we got to drink beer and wine and then travel to a far away (American) bar when the game was on here at 2am. The game was finally over at around 530 am and on our way out the bartender, dressed in Packers scrub, asked us where we were from. When we responded with "Wisconsin" he gave us all free shots. My kind of guy.
        Finally, we got to the metro so that we could finally go home and all of my tickets had been deactivated somehow. I tried to double up with someone else and go through the gates, but the police saw somehow from in the distance. They walked over as I frantically tried to get through. They had these huge drug dogs and started laughing when they finally got to me. They kept telling the other girls that I was going to have to stay with them (kidding of course). Eventually they let me through and then proceeded to follow us through the metro until we finally got on a train. They blew kisses at us when our train began to pull away. We got home at around 6 30 and all passed out promptly.
        When we woke up today (at 3 mind you) we tried to make up for missing most of the daytime so we walked to the Sacre Coeur. After getting lost a few times we finally arrived at our destination. It ended up being the most perfect time because the sun was setting right as we were climbing the stairs. We got crepes with bananas and nutella at the top for 'lunch'.
        On our way back I tried to take another picture of the amazing church. My screen was black and wouldnt function when I tried to take some pictures. This had happened to another girl the other day so I began to think that it was happening to me too. I was incredibly nervous that I would have to buy a new camera and I would be even more poor than I am now. Another girl that I was traveling with asked to look at my camera to try and fix it. She barely moved one switch and the screen turned back on easily. Thankfully my camera is fine, my pride not so much.
         On the metro, back to our apartment, I was standing in the middle of the aisle holding onto the metal pole for balance. A man behind me reaches over my head and positions his body right behind mine. The car is incredibly full so there is no way that I can move away from him. When the metro begins to move, he pulls tighter to my back and I can definitely feel ALL of him. Finally people got out at the next stop and I promptly moved away to safety. Thank you creepy French man for this beautiful story. The End.
      

Jour Trois

      Its day three in Paris and I'm drinking a glass of wine and relaxing for the first time (relaxing, not wine because we have had plenty of that since most bottles are under 5 euros) since flying here. I've probably slept a total of 10 hours in the past 4 days, but can't complain because I've found a city so full of life and lights that the pure adrenaline and endorphins I'm running on is worth it. We (my roommates and I) have had only a few excursions over the past few days, but they have all been story worthy in their own rights.
        On our first day in Paris, we walked around our neighborhood (which is a heavy mixture of immigrants from China and Africa) and sat down for our first meal. It consisted of sicilian ham on a baguette smothered in mozzarella, pesto sauce, and fresh tomatoes. We also split two bottles of vin between the 6 of us, because for those of considered under the legal drinking age, we became 21. Then we came home to our beautiful apartment and fell asleep promptly for a few hours. When dinner time came we were famished and decided on finding a Monoprix ( a grocery store) and making a family dinner. Then we all picked out our own wines and had a wine tasting to pick the best one, obviously I won. We then proceeded to finish every bottle and take a stumble walk up the main street by our apartment. We found a KFC (classy as always) and managed to make it home without getting hit by a car or vespa somehow.
       On day two, one of my compadres and I woke up at 5 because of the time change and decided to go for a walk and do some exploring. We found the most amazing little farmers market where we were convinced to buy green olives (didn't even like them before this) and this tomato shmear. We continued on our journey and found a cute cafe where we indulged in espresso and croissonts. We made a fool of ourselves walking into the cafe because we couldnt find the door and just creeped around the building for a minutes where all the patrons stared at us through the windows. When we finally figured out where the door was, we tried to order in French and the waitress just told us to stop and speak in English. A valiant effort nonetheless. We vegged the rest of the day and walked around our arrondisement once again.
       Today we all slept until noon and finally mustered up the energy and courage to venture out and use the metro. It wasn't an easy task, but we got to where we needed to without too much trouble. We found the phone store and all purchased pay as you go phones. I'm sure at some point we will have some confusion because they are literally identical. We passed many prostitutes and at one point on our walk by their corrider (200 yards from our front door) one man reached out and pulled out a few strands of my hair. I wont be surprised when I see a little Ali running around Paris after he has cloned me with those strands. Later on, our landlord threw us a party where we were able to meet everyone else who lives in our apartment building. We had King cake and champagne as we tried to make small talk in French with our new neighbors. We have come home and circled around the kitchen table with our computers. We kind of look like a bunch of hackers because we are all clearly entranced with our screens.
      All in all I feel comfortable in adjusting to this new lifestyle, but will need a few more days to really get the lay of the land. I'm excited to see how myself, and my new friends, will change over the next few months in this foreign land.