shots of Candice in Paris (instead of my homework)

It's 11:30 on Halloween night,
and I know the next sentences will give my loved ones a fright,
instead of partying and dancing and being merry with glee,
I am doing homework and gorging on candy.
Tomorrow at 6:30 am I leave for Bourgogne,
but I can't sleep until packing and homework are done,
I will not have time for my homework once I arrive back in Par-ee
for Julia will be here, and there is much she needs to see.
Alors, c'est dommage, but then again don't forget,
they don't celebrate Halloween in France-- so I'm just being more cultural, en fait.

(can you tell I don't write poetry very often?)

things I'd rather do than work on my assignment:
1. put on lipstick
2. watch music videos on youtube
3. clean my room
4. look at pictures of me and realize that I still look like I'm 17 (which is why the Bailey's lady at the Chocolate Festival asked me if I was "majeure"-- of age to drink alcohol, which is 16 in France...)
5. Make a quick video of Candice's 'weekend' (34 hours) in Paris, on the 18th of October.

Voila!

Louvre Treasure Hunt Video

I have just returned from a marvelous, incredible, fantastic afternoon spent at a giant Chocolate Festival. I know, I know, Orly, you have the world's weakest stomach-- what were you doing at a chocolate festival? I don't know, being happy?!?! When Auni called me up and suggested it, I thought, why not? Sure I had to pay 12 euros, but between the copious amounts of free samples of chocolate, tea, ice cream, wine (mmmm muscat), liquor (Bailey's was ehh but the lady with the boissons aperitifs wouldn't stop pouring! I got giggly and rouge-cheeked!), macarons (yes, I gave in and bought some), and coffee, I got my 12 euros worth. And what an experience!!

However, I will save more details for a future post, when I put up all the numerous videos and pictures I took (they're amazing, don't worry!). In the meantime, here is a video that I (finally) spent a good amount of time making, so I hope you watch it!

In early October, SBC organized a treasure hunt at the Louvre for us. Can you even imagine? 3 hours later, my group came in 2nd place, but it was kindof ridiculously crazy getting there. We were instucted to find a certain painting, and once we did, we would find the answer to a riddle that would lead us to the next painting, and so on, and so forth, for 3 hours, all over the Louvre.

Alors, regarde-ca, et profitez-en (enjoy) :) (edit: I royally screwed up and just realized that "Valerie" spells his name "Valery." with an accent, although for some reasons accents don't work for me on the internet..help anyone? Anyway-- WHOOPS!):

Morocco and my dad

This post has no video or interesting pictures-- I'm sorry, a video is forthcoming, I promise, I just have to finish my homework first-- BUT it contains VERY BIG NEWS for those of you who know me and know my history with my dad and my desire to go to Morocco.

For those of you who don't know me very well, quick update-- my dad is a Moroccan Jew, born and raised in Marrakesh, older than the average dad of a 20-year-old, and remembers how badly the Arabs in Morocco treated the Jews while he was growing up. France occupied Morocco until '56, I believe, and after that, the Moroccan government would not let Jews leave Morocco until... sometime in the mid-60s. In the early 60s, my dad joined an underground movement to help Jews escape their 'horrible' (according to my dad) lives in Morocco, by sending them on secret ships to Paris. One day, one of these large secret boats drowned, and many people (Jews) perished. Obviously this event did not go unnoticed, and an investigation followed. My dad was shortly tipped off by a friend that his name had been connected, and he had to flee or risk imprisonment and/or torture (which had happened to several of his friends in the group). Without a chance to say goodbye to his family or friends, he packed a suitcase and got on a tiny boat to Paris, which he said nearly drowned itself. Thus began his 11 years in Paris as a student, a teacher, and an artist.

I suppose it's not surprising, therefore, that my dad has absolutely no desire to return to Morocco. He still views Morocco as a Jew-hating Arabic country, and he knows that barely a fraction of the large Jewish population remains there (I believe I heard that there are far less than 1,000 Jews in Morocco... or maybe in was just in Marrakesh). Fine, it's his life. However, he has no right to tell my Mom and I that we can never go to Morocco, that it is a horrible country with nothing to see, when he fills our house with beautiful paintings about his childhood in Morocco and writes books about his childhood in Morocco and comes to my elementary school classes to teach my friends Moroccan games and throws me a Moroccan-Jewish style "mock wedding" for my 5th birthday that was on the front page of one section of the LA Times. He has no right to raise me up to be proud of my heritage and deny me the pleasure of going to this fascinating country where he passed the first twenty-something years of his life. We have argued bitterly and massively over this subject, and many, many, MANY tears have been shed and voices have been raised to deafening heights. I was finally accepting the fact that (as morbid as it is to say this), I would have to wait until after my dad's passing to go visit Morocco for myself.

And then recently... things started to change. When my dad was in Paris in September, we saw an advertisement in a travel agent window for a trip to Morocco for ridiculously cheap. "Wow, if it's really that cheap for you then maybe you should go" he commented. I couldn't believe my ears, so I didn't say anything. Just a remark. He then brought it up again at a dinner conversation with some of his friends. I, again, brushed it off. But tonight, at dinner at the house of one of his childhood friends, who moved from Marrakesh to Paris 10 years ago, he mentioned that his daughter and his wife passionately want to go to Marrakesh, and that we should all go together, and when does his friend think is the best time of the year to go?

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR TO GO?!?!?! wait... what. just. happened? when did my dad SUDDENLY change his mind?! did I mention the passionate arguments? did I mention the strong Arab dislike? did I mention the comment that 'there is nothing to see in Morocco because all the Jews are gone'? I mean, he was even offered a FREE trip to Morocco last year to give a lecture on his research into the Jewish community and he TURNED IT DOWN because he refused to go back to Morocco. SO again, WHAT. ON. EARTH. JUST. HAPPENED?!?!

I'm just going to leave it at that. I don't want to get any hopes up. But, after the little "horrible host room" and "indecent cafe" episode the night before I arrived in Paris (see my post "My overprotective dad"), I should have realized how quickly my dad is apt to changing his mind these days.

On verra (We'll see)... now back to homework

(in other news, I miss New England fall A LOT, and I miss Halloween. They only started celebrating Halloween about 10 years ago here in France, and since it's condemned by all the religious groups for being Pagan, and by all the French for being too commercial, it isn't a big hit. I want to see pumpkins and I want apple cider and pumpkin bread and I want to watch cute French children trick-or-treat. Is that too much to ask for?)

Passion for Fashion?

As many of you know (wait... are there even many of you who read this? whatever), I have never been interested in fashion. I normally throw on jeans and a t-shirt, and only try to put together something cute if I have an extra 10 minutes in my day. I buy basics and I only know if something is the latest trend because I don't understand anyone's motivation for wearing it (examples: ponchos, really really long cardigans, gladiator sandals). I love Project Runway and I see how the big labels can create art on the runway. "The Devil Wears Prada" was a great movie. But that's about where it stops...

...stopped, I mean. Then, I came to Paris, and I stuck out like a sore thumb. My Juicy jackets, the pride and joy of my second-hand shop finds, were completely unacceptable. My colorful wardrobe made Parisians automatically speak to me in English. Something had to change... and something was changing. I was noticing a growing lust-- not love, LUST-- for beautiful, incredible, precious clothing in Gallerie Lafayette, Au Printemps, and lots of cute boutiques scattered around Paris. Needing to educate myself about my new awareness of 'what looks good', I did some fashion research, and luckily for me, I didn't have to work very hard. Lo and behold, my research involved showing up outside of giant tents, watching gorgeous, well-dressed people walk and get their pictures taken, and receiving free fashion magazines. Yes, you guessed it, I stalked Paris Fashion Week. It was just like showing up to a movie premiere in LA, except you get free fashion mags and you're not forced to stand behind a railing far from the stars. I could've hopped into a picture with the latest French model, if I wanted to, but of course I'm not that crazy. Maybe in the spring... ;)

Here is a short video compilation of Fashion Week stalking (from early October. I'm really behind on everything). It's not much, but it was fun for me:

Point is: I'm gaining a greater sense of what is going on in the fashion world, at least in Paris. (Purple is the IT color--yay! Long sweaters/cardigans are in, as well as oil-slick black leggings and 70s prints, for example).

Although, really, I should've realized that here, being chic is actually very simple: black is always the new black. And if you want to be a little original chic, throw some gray in there too. Who knew it was so easy?

Techno Parade/ Normany video

Salut mes amis!
I know, I know, I'm really behind on these videos. So here is a quick one: Tecktonik/the Techno Parade/weekend in Normandy, all rolled into one. But it's short, I promise. These things happened last month, for crying out loud, so it was important that I get them up (so that's why they're really crappy). It would've taken me like 30 minutes to make this little video, but my computer has been going PSYCHO on me lately (in several ways), and Windows Movie Maker crashed 3 times on me last night. I hate you, windows movie maker. I also hate facebook, who only lets me upload photos 2 at a time. For the past month, it hasn't let me upload photos, so I've tried that simple upload thing... and that didn't work either. I figured out that I could only put about 2 photos on simple uploader for it to work.

Enough ranting: here's the video


now back to my piles of homework for Migration and Globalization class tomorrow!

and sorry I sound like I'm complaining so much here. I'm just stressed because I only discovered today that I had piles of homework. fun times. still, life is wonderful and I love you all :)

Ligne 96

Examples A and B of how the simple pleasures are the best ones in my life:

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I woke up and said to myself "WOW! I don't feel sick AT ALL!" So, to celebrate being cured, and also the fact that the euro is 1.30-something to the dollar, I decided to go buy a pair of boots I had wanted and a fake leather jacket (I ended up buying a ton of things... whoops). The boots, I knew, were sold by a cheap shoe vendor next to the Grand Magasins next to THE Opera (y'know, the beautiful one). According to Google Maps, it would only take me a half an hour to walk there, so I did.

On this path I stumbled across the cheapest creperie stand I've found yet in Paris. For two euros, I purchased an apricot jam crepe and ohmygoodness it was INCREDIBLE! This was the best sweet crepe I'd had yet in Paris, and I found it randomly on a main street in the 10th, for half the price it would have been in any touristy area. It's a good 20 minute walk from my place, but I must go back.

So that was my happy, simple pleasure of yesterday-- finding a delicious crepe while shopping and walking and getting out and enjoying Paris. My simple, happy pleasure of today was taking bus line 96 back home from the Sweet Briar office after my Literature and Cinema class ended at 5. By some sort of miracle, line 96 stops 3 minutes away from Sweet Briar, and takes me to a stop literally 1 minute from my house, maybe less if I walk quickly. Oh but here's the kicker-- the bus travels through some of the most beautiful, interesting places in Paris. No Eiffel Tower or Champs Elysees, but that's ok, they're tourist traps anyway.

It begins in the Latin Quarter, where SB's office is located, and winds through Saint-Germain-des-Pres, a chic, rich neighborhood famous for its cafes that nourished the famous intellectuals and artists of years gone by.
It travels up Boulevard Saint Michel, passing the Place Saint Michel,
which I absolutely love for no particular reason. As you pass over the Seine, Notre Dame is on your right,

and a moment later, the Palais de Justice on your left. Now, you're in the Marais-- where, just like West Hollywood, "the bagels meet the fagels," (translation: filled with Jews and gay men and women). Historically, the Marais was the Jewish quarter, but then German occupation of France and the deportation of French Jews to concentration camps basically reduced the Jewish community to an ittybitty portion of what it used to be. However, I still see religious men walking the streets, and can easily find bagels, challah, and falafel on Rue de Rosiers. I can also find beautiful men... and their boyfriends.


But anyway-- through the Marais, we pass the Hotel de Ville, whose incredible beauty and detail and massive presence never fails to astound me.
Mmm just writing about it makes me want to go there right now. Eventually, we continue through the Marais along some small street covered in cafes, boulangeres, and tiny, unique boutiques, selling antique books, asian-themed children's wear, Belgian chocolates, and the likes. I keep making a mental note to walk along the street. Eventually we break free of the tiny streets of the Marais and end up in Place de la Bastille, a hip hang out filled with restaurants, cafes, bars, large chains, small boutiques, everything, including a new Opera. Back in the day, Bastille used to be a fortress. Now it's a large pillar.
We wind up Boulevard Filles de Calvaire, and 5 minutes later, I am home, content with the beautiful view I've enjoyed for the past 45 minutes. I don't care if the metro is faster-- at 5 pm on a Tuesday, there is nowhere I'd rather be than on line 96.

busy fun exhausting weekend (+ silly video)

Despite the double noisette I had at Indiana Cafe (yes, Indiana...) this afternoon, I am ex-haus-ted. But I feel the need to communicate with all of you friends back home, who I, sadly, rarely communicate with...

Exciting Thing #1: I'm going to be a babysitter!!! Every monday afternoon and wednesday all day (...!), I get the job of playing with Lola, an absolutely ADORABLE 5 1/2 year old. I get to take her to the pool and read to her and watch movies with her and take her to visit her cousins and I get MONEY for this! I am not going to be poor in Paris! Yes, I am taking care of her at least 11 hours a week, which does suck up a lot of time, butttttt oh well. If it's really a problem, I'll figure something out.

Exciting Thing #2: I have a French friend. His name is Jason (oh yes, soooooo French), and he is the nephew of my host mom. Today we had coffee and ended up talking for 3 hours. Ok, I messed up, I let the conversation be in English (his English is really good, actually), but I promise, next time in French! He studies computer science but writes and creates hip-hop music in his free time. He's pretty awesome.

Exciting Thing #3: Nuit blanche!!! Last night, all of Paris was alive from 7 pm to 7 am, with art shows, concerts, performances, installations, videos, etc alllllllll over the city. The most fascinating thing I saw, by far, was a video on 6 blind people touching an elephant, and their reactions. Absofreakinglutely FASCINATING!!! And it was projected in this large, beautiful church (too tired to remember the name, sorry guys) that is famous for its enormous organ. While waiting for the movie to start, the organ played for a good 10 minutes and it was incredible.

Exciting Thing #4: You get to see a short, silly video I made. Voila:

Also Friday was our Sweet Briar group's Treasure Hunt at the Louvre, which I took lots of video of. So eventually, expect a video on that, in addition to the 5 million other videos I'm really behind on. But now, on to homework...

ps happy birthday megan!!!

It's only taken me 3 weeks, but...

...here is my first real PARIS video, which I only finished last night because my coughing was so bad that I couldn't sleep, and I had to do something while I waited for the medicine to kick in.

Just kidding (sort of), I did it because I feel bad that I've been here three weeks and haven't shown a single clip of Paris. And don't worry, there's a lot more to come-- Techno Parade, Fashion Week stalking, Normandy excursion, fun things, I promise. In fact, I'm working on another short, silly one, which should be up soon. hehe...

I did say 'sort of' above, however, because I am actually quite sick. I've been sick for a week and a half now (I think I might have strep...uhoh...), so I'm finally going to go see a doctor tomorrow. A French doctor, arranged by my host family. I have a funny feeling that when I'm sick, I'm supposed to tell Sweet Briar, and they're supposed to find me a doctor (?), but oh well, too late for that now.

One more word before I put the video here: Comments. Guys, I really want to know what I can do to improve these videos, or what you're interested in seeing (French people? Moulin Rouge? A guy in a beret? what?)-- I just really hope I'm not boring or annoying people. So thank you :).

eh voila:

(music by Edith Piaf, ofc)