Street Music

I took this video a few weeks ago. This is so Paris to me. You can find street performers everywhere you go and I love it!

Wait...really?

Okay if you read my last post about being grateful for public transportation but even more grateful for my own car, I had another experience on the bus today that just reaffirmed it.

I was on the bus on my way to the mall and the lady sitting next to me received a phone call. After a few minutes of her talking on her cell phone, a man turns around and starts YELLING at her to end her conversation because it's a public space and all he hears is "blahblahblah" and can't hear his music. She sat there while he continued to yell at her for a few moments until she began yelling back. A girl at the front of the bus started yelling at him to move to a different seat if he is so bothered. He moved but decides that the yelling should continue. Other passengers join in too. Awesome. The lady that was on the phone gets up out of her seat and gets in the guy's face. Because that helps the situation? They continue to YELL at each other until she finally gets off the bus saying "goodbye crazy!!" After all of that, the guy gets on HIS cell phone! What?! At this point the young girl who joined in gets off the bus but then runs back, jumps back on and started screaming at the phone guy. I'm sitting there thinking, I just wanted to go to the mall. She was yelling "erase it now! ERASE IT NOW!" Apparently he took a picture of her on his phone. Geez. Then someone yelled about the police and most of the bus joined in, once again. The young girl gets in the guy's face yelling that he needs to erase it and that he is out of his mind. He chose not to erase it so she starts hitting him. Ah. He takes it for a minute until he starts hitting her back!!! I couldn't believe it. The bus driver stopped the bus and we just sat on the side of the road, with onlookers, waiting for everyone to chill out. People jumped on the older guy and they were finally pulled apart. Somehow the young girl got a hold of the guy's phone but coudln't figure it out so she started to freak out again and once again the hitting commenced. FINALLY he erased it and a younger guy barricaded the old guy in a corner and talks him down.

After all of that, as we're getting off the bus two girls start getting into it with a woman, her teenage daughter and a baby.

Merry Christmas everyone?

In happier news I'll be home in 16 days and I can't wait!

-M

B-I-N-G-O

Today I taught my first, real lesson! The students at Champignol are learning numbers so we played Bingo. They do very well with numbers 1-10 but it's quite difficult for them to discern between the "teens" and the "tys." Thirty and thirteen sound the same to them so as I was calling out the numbers I had to be very precise. I felt so proper. "Thir-ty!" as opposed to "thirdy." It was a lot of fun and went very well. Next week I am teaching the "Old MacDonald" song, which probably requires singing. In front of everyone. Lovely.

It is funny to see that children are the same wherever you may be in the world. They are just as competitive and worried about their neighbor's work as students in America. They were sure to tell me when someone else was wrong, or to voice their disappointment when someone shouted bingo before they did. Oh how I love children.

It "snowed" again today. Mainly the world looks like it has been dusted with a soft layer of powdered sugar. Nothing like that of Utah, and I'm grateful for it!

I'm also grateful for public transportation, but more grateful for a car at home. Yesterday on my way to church I was waiting at the bus stop after taking the RER to Nogent. If you picture a murder scene from any scary movie you've seen, this is what the bus stop is like. It's down two flights of stairs in this poorly lit {flickering lights included}, cold, concrete, tunnel-like depot. I hate waiting for this bus because I literally fear that that will be the last place I see alive. Seriously. I had to wait for twenty minutes yesterday and I was freaking out the whole time. This guy with 4 teeth walks up to me, gets up close in my face, looks me deep in the eyes and says "bonjour." Ah. I say hello back to him and slowly back up while he is still intensely staring into my eyes. I kind of turn around looking behind me to see if I was missing something but his creepy stare follows me. He says hello again and I say, "um hi?" This happened again, the whole time I'm just praying that he won't try to kill me while I'm waiting for the bus. Luckily he didn't kill me but it was weird and he just kept staring at me. I didn't like it! I truly am grateful that I don't have to walk everywhere, but I just can't wait to have my own form of transportation again. Yikes!

Until next time,

-M

Pompidou?

It snowed!

Today Emily and I went to the Pompidou. It's a museum focused mainly on modern art, like that of Picasso. There were some interesting things, and some really, really bizarre pieces. I am still trying to process a lot of what I saw.

Extreme Tension

Pieces of wood painted red, leaning up against the wall. Art.

Picasso

This was pretty much my face the whole time. Huh?

Love that tower

This was one of the more normal movies playing. It was so much like The Ring. We didn't like it.

I don't know what this is a movie of but there was a heart beat to accompany it. I just don't understand!

I'm Thankful For...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

You would be here a very long time reading about all of the things that I am thankful for so I will just name a few.

Family, Jenna, friends, phone calls with Jordan, MC, skype, my cousins, France, the teachers I work with, Emily, the church, all of the adventures I've had so far, all of the adventures I've yet to have, living in France, being able to come home for Christmas, emails from my Gma B, the radiator that keeps my room nice and warm and of course, chocolate.

I'm also grateful for the study abroad group that is currently here from BYU. Emily invited me to have Thanksgiving dinner with them and they were all so welcoming and I had a wonderful evening.

We ate turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, all sorts of bread, cranberry sauce, chestnuts, stuffing, green beans, home-made pumpkin pie, a raspberry tarte {that wasn't even good but I can say that because I purchased for it. For 27 euro. Ah.}, caramel ice cream and wassail!

After dinner I spoke with my family for a moment and then Emily and I went to the Christmas market that lines the Champs Élysées. Jenna and I were there 2 years ago give or take a few days and I am so grateful that I was able to be there once again. It was bitter cold tonight but it put us in the Christmas spirit. As I type this, I am snuggled up in my little French bed listening to Christmas music. It's just the perfect ending to a perfect Thanksgiving day.

Our Thanksgiving feast!

I feel like every other picture is of what I'm about to eat.

Outside the skating rink

Ferris Wheel at the end of the Champs Élysées

Free caviar? Yes.

Free caviar and vodka? Done. Minus the vodka.

Candy!

I've been watching a lot of America's Next Top Model

We got some chocolate chaud that was parfait for our cold little hands!

You probably can't tell, but this building was decorated for Christmas. And I liked it.

The family in the van definitely makes this picture. And the green light in the distance is SO Great Gatsby!

We found condoms for 2 euro in the metro. Convenience at it's finest.

I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-M

Disney Day

Oh I just had a marvelous day today! I met up with Emily in Paris and enjoyed some rare sunny weather. It was a magical day and half the time I felt like I was in a Disney movie. We visited Notre Dame, ate at a creperie and went to a park in Paris.

This was near the Pompidou. Christmas art?

KFC!

Hôtel de Ville. Hello, perfect sun.

La belle Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame. Can you see the light from the stained glass windows? It's just. Wow.

Atop Notre Dame. Gargoyles!

Sacre Coeur, je l'adore!

Oh Paris, nothing is more beautiful!

The bells of Notre Dame!

The Pantheon

The first clock in Paris. I think.

Yeah, I probably will take a picture every time I eat a crepe, or three.

The Seine

Carousal at Hôtel de Ville

Notre Dame!

The park was so quaint! Just like out of a Disney movie!