An American in Paris

Paris, my camera loves you.


...And so do I

Last night I was poised and motivated (okay maybe not so much the latter) to finish my paper on La Casa de Bernarda Alba. But I am in Paris. Could I have managed to give myself any more of a distraction? I don't think so. Nonetheless, around 11pm my friend Phil (a friend I met through another friend) texted me to see if I wanted to get a drink. Of course I did. So we headed toward the city center to this very cozy, hole-in-wall bar. Strictly locals. We were the only ones speaking English. Anyway, we talked about what it's like being a poor American student in Europe, him telling me how he bought his refrigerator for his Paris apartment (and the dolly that he used to transport it) off Craig's List and then how had to take it on the metro to get it home. I told him about how I never eat out and basically live on vegetables and the occasional slice of jamón ibérico. You know you're a poor student when your dinner consists of bananas, yogurt, and beer....and you're okay with that. We talked about what it's like for him to study saxophone in Paris, the difficulty and the fun of learning new languages, studying abroad in general, rude Europeans, the Parisian girl whose ass was fighting with my own for space (it was basically WWIII, The Battle of the Buttocks)...

Today I went to Versailles with my roommate here in the hostel. Her name is Lana and she is studying in Frankfurt, Germany but is originally from Ukraine. We had such a fun time hanging out together and were very compatible travel partners. Versailles was so majestic with the massive palace looming over us, the gold trim challenging the ominous cloudy sky. It was as though the palace was saying, "Even if you decide to rain on me, I will still shine." We should all have such self-esteem.

I will put up more pictures later. Right now I am going to work on my paper. For real. No distractions. But geez, Paris, you really could not knock my focus any more than you do...
Oh how I want to be on the Pont Alexandre III right now, looking out over the Siene and at the Eiffel Tower. Tomorrow...