guess who met Idan Raichel in Antwerp?

Yes, that would be me, and yes, I will continue to brag about it for as long as I can. The Idan Raichel Project is an Israeli world beat group that combines musical beats primarily from Israel and Etheopia, and here is my wonderful experience from last night:

After a day and a half in Brussels (which I liked, sure, but thought 1 day sufficed and really have no desire to run back there), Mo and I headed to Antwerp, which I really really liked, for the Idan Raichel concert. After spending a lovely afternoon walking around animated Antwerp, and then getting COMPLETELY lost (let's all give a big "up yours" to Google maps, and a big thank you to the family that owned the random bar that helped us pull up the website of the concert venue to find the actual address and called us a cab) en route to the concert, we take our seats in the FRONT ROW of this venue, the Zuidsomethingindutch, off on the left, just IN FRONT of where Idan himself sits and plays the piano and sings beautiful music. And then, the magic started. What a lovely, beautiful, concert full of music that reverberated deep into my bones. *sigh* I got about half of it on video, no joke. And, Idan winked at me twice-- I thought I imagined it but no, Mo confirmed it.

Afterwards, we stuck around, and met some other Jewish girls from the States, Europe, etc, who were working for a company that gets Jews all over Europe together to celebrate umm, Jewishness! Like European BBYO weekend get-togethers. Finally, Idan and the group came out. We shook hands, took pictures, talked, got autographs-- basically, things that made me very, very happy. I didn't know what to say so I just kept saying "thank you so much for your music." I really, truly meant it. As we were talking with Idan, one guy shook his hand and said "alright, so, we'll see you in Paris in February" (when the group's new album comes out) and Idan said "I hope so." Naturally I asked him "wait, really, you're going to Paris?" and he said "I think we are," to which I responded "I study there! I'll be there" and he smiled.

I should also put in a tiny bit of background here-- Antwerp, apparently, has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Literally not even 5 minutes after leaving the train station yesterday, we saw many orthodox/hasidic men in their fur hats and long black robes walking around. We saw Hebrew written everywhere around the diamond district, and stopped in Jewish bakeries and supermarkets. It was a really comforting feeling.

with that, I just want to say, if you don't know who Idan Raichel/his group is, one, how are we still friends? and two, just go here: http://www.myspace.com/theidanraichelproject

quick update and quick video

I'm really behind on making videos, but you can't blame me when it takes nearly two hours to compile a 3 minute little thing (like what you're-- hopefully-- about to see). I have to cut out worthless seconds, put in titles, find a font I like, choose music (always impossible), have windows movie maker crash on me at least once, yadda yadda blahdy blah. I'm working on it, I promise.

So what is this one? It's just some brief shots of the Catacombs (The Parisian cemeteries were getting overcrowded and so they dug up bodies and put all the skulls and bones underground. Gee, what a fantastic idea!), which we went to on Halloween (ooh spooky), and then my weekend trip to Bourgogne the 1st and 2nd of November. Bourgogne was cute, really, and it's interesting to see some small towns, and ancient sights that aren't Parisian for a change.

Alors, voila:

I'm also starting to really stress about how much I have to get done at the end of the semester (December)... but it's hard to take academics seriously when Mihiri (my good friend from high school and Harvard, who I attend Yule Ball with every year) is here, or when I have plans to go traveling (Belgium this weekend for an IDAN RAICHEL CONCERT !!!, and then London the weekend after), or when we finally see the sunlight in Paris... sigh. In addition, I've been sending lots of long texts back and forth with a young, Parisian, Adrien-Brody-look-alike, which also makes it hard to concentrate on other things...

And finally, my host mom has a new granddaughter, born in Tel-Aviv today. So she will be flying down to Israel any day now. Awwww. It'll be interesting to see how my host dad and I manage... he doesn't know how to cook or do laundry, and I'm no whiz at either of them myself. Fun times ahead, I'm sure.

Oh PS- even though I feel like the last to realize this, just want to say GO WELLESLEY! hillary clinton and desiree rogers in the white house! i love being proud of my school...:)

reflections on Aix-en-Provence

This weekend I said "au revoir" to the never ending gray skies of Paris and headed down South-- allllll the way South-- to Aix-en-Provence, the bright, happy provincale town where Wellesley bases its French study abroad program. Despite the crazy cold winds, I was very happy, surrounded by yellow and gold buildings, fountains, SUNLIGHT, and my good friends. It was just SO NICE to spend a weekend with close friends from Wellesley, who I've laughed with, cried with, stressed out with, partied with, had crazy/intellectual conversations with over the first two years of college. It just felt so comfortable with them, y'know? We drank incredible mint tea and ate Calissons (amazing pastry/candy thing. I have no idea how you make them but god I love them), had an EPIC night bar hopping and clubbing (we were "those girls" at the club that get all the boys to surround them. Apparently girls don't dance all up on each other in France like they do at Wellesley... ha ha ha. The French boys loved it), did lots of exploring, ate a delicious dinner cooked by Marion's parents (who were visiting for 3 weeks), explored Marseilles, and drank copious amounts of tea at Inci's apartment.

It was strange for me, because in my mind I was trying to make a connection between Aix and something... and I kept coming up with SoCal. Why? France is nothing like SoCal-- San Francisco, sure, a bit, but not LA/Irvine/SB/SD. what was I thinking? When Inci and I took the bus into Marseilles this morning, and I got to see the Mediterranean Sea, so sparkly, and gorgeous, and bright, and calming, I gave up trying to convince myself that SoFra (as Inci called it) is not like SoCal. If my mind wants to make me feel better by associating the two, then so be it. SoFra is SoMuch better though...:)

The most interesting thing to me was to see first hand exactly how different the Aix program and my Paris program are. I could rattle off the differences in a heartbeat (Paris vs. small town, host families vs. apartments, orientation in a small town vs. orientation in Paris, etc), but it was quite fascinating to live the differences for a weekend. It was really nice to live in an apartment only inhabited by Inci and her roommate, where two good Wellesley friends (the lively Natasha and the sweet Stephanie Buhle) lived just above them, and almost everyone else lived within 10 minute walking distance. I was a bit jealous of how easy it was to see friends all the time, and how nice it was to have a truly independent living space. But at the same time, by living with a host family, I'm forced to speak French every day, I can easily have all my language, culture, and geographic questions answered, and I don't have to cook for myself. Yes it's harder to see friends when they live on the other side of Paris, or even a 15 minute metro-ride away, but at the same time it's nice to have privacy and independence by not being with friends all the time. Although I liked all the aspects of Aix's program, I feel like the Paris program works better with who I am as a person, and what I personally wanted out of a year abroad-- but it was so nice to see the green grass on the other side.

I fear that I'm no longer making sense, because I am completement epuisee (completely exhausted), so, goodnight. A bientot, Aix-en-Provence-- can't wait to go back.

PS- a million and one thank yous to Inci Atrek, the best hostess I could have ever asked for!

blah, boys...

I think it's time to invent an American boyfriend for myself.

I don't care if I consider myself one of the least romantic people ever-- of course I secretly would love to go on a romantic date with one of those good-looking French boys with the intelligent demeanor, those gorgeous big eyes, that amazing hair, and that chic fashion sense. Those guys seem to have gone into hiding, or they all have girlfriends (and unfortunately, display their love for all of Paris to see...). Instead, I continue to attract attention from the same category of men, despite the different culture, language, and continent: sketchy, strange, and way too forward.

Friday night, on my way out to meet up with Natalia, I hear "excusez-moi, mademoiselle" literally not even one minute after leaving my door. This guy strides alongside me and, because I am wearing my high-heeled boots, I can't run off. Well, he's actually very sweet and he tells me he plays basketball for his university, and asks me if I'd like to see a game sometime, and what's my number? Initially alarms started ringing in my head-- don't do it Orly! Don't give in! See, this happens all the time back in Boston, where I'd give these sweet guys the benefit of the doubt, and then regret it as soon as they call 1 hour or so later asking me on a date. But I thought, naw, I'm in Paris, why not, he seems sweet.

Yeah, Jean-Marc is sweet, but he's just like every way too forward American guy who asked for my number, except worse: he's French. And therefore, he's even MORE forward. He has already called and texted a few times, and recently texted me inviting me to dinner Monday night. I am a horrible person-- I have not yet responded. Like I said, sweet guy, I'd like to be his friend, I just am not interested and I don't want to hurt him. So, comme d'habitude, I don't know what to do. So I haven't done anything yet.

Point is: there are some things that don't change, no matter how far you are from home. In my case, it's the strange men I attract...

Salon du Chocolat video (do not watch if hungry)

I'm serious... Making this video made me CRAVE chocolate like no other. So I hope you've got some handy. Enjoy ;)


This past weekend I went to Amsterdam and Utrecht with Mo and we had SUCH an incredible time it's not even funny. The weather was gorgeous (cold, but brisk), we ran into a ton of his friends and had a lot of fun with them, we went biking (only almost got hit by two cars. not bad. maybe I'll tackle the streets of Paris with the Velib, now...), we ate traditional Dutch food like poffertjes (AMAZING) and frites with fritesauce (yummy) and... banana pizza (ok, not traditional Dutch food but it was unique and yummy nonetheless), and bagels (ha). We didn't exactly hit the cultural sights-- I'll save museums for my next trip, when the weather will likely be worse--but we got in a LOT of traveling and walking around and enjoying ourselves. And his friends in Utrecht were really nice as well. Utrecht is a sweet, happy, beautiful town-- I highly recommend it to anyone traveling around Benelux.

I'll get up more videos eventually.

Otherwise, I got to see Inci, Alyssa, and Natasha recently and that made me really happy. Also, things are getting REALLY busy and hectic, but that's how I love it! Everything will work out eventually. C'est la vie.

One more thing: my good friend Aiala Levy was lucky enough to be in Chicago, AT THE OBAMA RALLY ON THE NIGHT OF NOVEMBER 4th, and took video. Watch it, get really jealous, and then tear up just a little bit: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3727840293850273406 . It's brilliant (if Candice is reading this... ha ha ha).

(I hope you watched that chocolate video! You know you want to ;) )

L'election a Paris

Tonight, I decided to join thousands of other liberal American students and expats at an inexpensive, all night Barack Obama Campaign Party, which promised to serve "Barack O-bagels" at 3 am. I told my friends about it, I sent in my RSVP, I pre-gamed at a bar, and I got pumped.

That's when things started to go downhill. First, I received a call from Lola's parents-- it's been over a month and they still haven't started up my regular schedule. But, could I come over tomorrow morning to babysit Lola? Ok, it'll be a little tough, but sure, what time? Oh not too early, just 9 am-- we need to leave by then. Merde. What world do they live in when 9 am isn't early? So I already realized that I couldn't stay out all night and watch the results, I'd have to get back eventually. *sigh*

When my friends and I finally got to the Palais de Congres (just past the Arc de Triomph) at a little before 12:30, thinking we were fashionably late, we were SHOCKED by the enormous amount of people there. Soon, we were told that the entire GIANT location was full, and we had to line up in alphabetical order and wait to get in. Right... ok, like any 'S' people would get in before 4 am... that wasn't going to work for me. The people running this shindig were completely disorganized, and their idea to alphabetically organize people didn't work, obviously. They kept trying in vain, and we kept refusing, and they continued to yell at us for not cooperating. Finally, we had enough, and our large group peaced out and waited a good 15 minutes for the night bus to pick us up.

While the rest of them decided to get off around the Louvre and try and find a bar, I headed back to my house (only had to use "Laissez-moi tranquille" aka "leave me alone" once. not bad). I have a cute, hyper 5 year old to look after tomorrow for 6 hours-- I need some rest. The night failed, and there's nothing I can do about that.

My only comfort rests in the fact that I returned home to find that, as of 3 am Parisian time, Obama has 174 votes, and McCain only 49. I'm trying not to be too optimistic, because I don't want to have a literally rude awakening...

edit: no, I have had a FABULOUS awakening!!!!!!!!! Words cannot express how I'm feeling. Too bad it's pouring rain here right now, though... But even if my host dad thinks that Obama's win is not a good thing for the States and not a good thing for Israel (don't worry, he's a nice man, we'll still get along), I'm curious to see how the rest of Paris treats me today. Should I try and make my Americanism really obvious in hopes of the rare Parisian smile? Should I shout "gobama!!!" in the streets? Je ne sais pas. First, I have to play with a child though, and that makes me happy too :)

PS- Watching clips of black men and women crying and singing and hugging on the news here nearly made me cry... when we get a woman in the white house, I bet I'll be like that as well...hmm, unless it's Sarah Palin. then I'll be crying for a different reason.

reflections on Bourgogne (Burgandy)

I got back from Bourgogne around 10 pm tonight, and, after eating dinner and watching the end of "The World is Not Enough" in French ("Le monde ne suffit pas") with my host mom, I was exhausted, and instead of sleeping, bien sur, I went online for 2 hours.

So now that it's 1 am and I should actually go to sleep because I have so much to do tomorrow (inclduing seeing Julia!!!), I feel like I need to get something out about the Bourgogne excursion:

It was nice to get out of Paris.

There. I admit it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOVE Paris with all my everything, but as soon as we hit the French countryside and I saw the leaves changing colors just like New England (ok, not AS beautiful but not too far, really), I just felt really happy. It's good to leave the city from time to time, and I had not left Paris since our Normandie excursion at the end of September. The thing is, sometimes I get so caught up in Parisian life that it's easy to forget that there is a whole beautiful country outside of Paris. All of France exists outside of Paris, and much of it is incredibly different. I feel very fortunate that Sweet Briar started off this Parisian study abroad experience in a smaller town, Tours, and that we spent a significant amount of time there and got to experience French life and French culture, not just Parisian. See, now I understand why our program is called Junior Year in France...

Yes I got a little more Boston-"home"-sick watching those abovementioned beautiful colors in the trees, but it was alright. I was often distracted by the pouring rain and the cold in my feet and the pretty villages and cracking mustard-related jokes in Dijon (which is actually a lovely town).

But then we got back to Paris and the bus dropped us off in front of the Opera Garnier, which is absolutely gorgeous both day and night, and, well, y'know, I remembered that Paris isn't so bad at all. Ha :-P.

I would write more, but I'm exhausted. A short video will be forthcoming, eventually. Night.