This semester is totally flying by. I cant believe that in 32 days I'll be back home with the California sun and my puppy by my side. School is immensely time consuming and trying to squeeze everything else in between is simply impossible. Here's a quick photo update of everything I've managed to do in the last couple of weeks.
A few weeks ago, my best friend from home, Tiff, and 7 other friends from high school traveled to Madrid to stay with a mutual friend. It was far too much of a hassle to travel to Madrid, or for them to come here, so I assumed that I would miss out on seeing them and just have to deal with waiting until I returned home to catch up with all of them. Flash forward to midterms week and a 9 hour day in the library times 7 turned in to a bit of delirium which resulted in me purchasing a ticket to Amsterdam to meet up with all of them for 12 hours. So in summary, I found myself on a 7pm train to Amsterdam with a return ticket for 9 am the next morning. It was so incredible to see Tiffany and we immediately turned in to wrecks when we saw each other for the first time. I had so much fun with them, and although got nothing accomplished but a rowdy night out, it was the perfect post-midterm break and resulted in dozens of fabulous memories.
The quick trip made me realize just how lucky I am to be here. To go to class in the 7eme, hop on a train to Amsterdam, snap a photo in Museumplein, make a pit stop in Brussels to grab a coffee and some yummy snacks, take a test on campus, and end the next evening tanning at the Eiffel Tower within 24 hours is so surreal. J'adore ma vie.
The next weekend Chantal had a few friends from home visiting so we played tour guide for a few days. We had a great picnic on the Pont Des Arts (Locks of Love bridge between the Louvre and College de Quatre Nations), the weather was beautiful, the Laduree was delicious, and the acoustic concert was a blast. I love showing people around the city, especially on an uncharacteristically hot weekend when there are thousands of people stopping at Berthillon to grab an ice cream cone and passing hours at a cafe with nothing to do but enjoy life. Weekends like this make me really appreciate the life I'm making here and enjoy it that much more.
The same weekend, HBHS Model United Nations was in town for their annual european conference. I made a few plans to meet up with them, but after many failed attempts, I finally grabbed a bottle of wine and a delicious croque monsieur with my French teacher from high school, Madame Gruwell. It was so incredibly amazing to be able to see her. She is the first person who showed me that it was possible to actually pick up and move here, and inspired me 100% to make it happen in the first place. After hours of catching up and swapping 20-year-old in Paris stories, she told me that she is deciding to retire this year and move back to Paris in the fall! Such exciting news and I cannot wait to share this life with her next semester. Everything happens for a reason, and I am so thankful that the plans to meet up with the whole group fell through so that I could properly see her in our favorite city.
Last weekend, Chantal and I spend the afternoon at Pere Lachaise, which is the cemetery that numerous people are buried at, such as Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Oscar Wilde etc. Here are a few photos.
Kissing Oscars grave! They recently cleaned off the precious kiss marks and put up this glass protector around it. Proud to say that I already kissed him two years ago though before the protector was put up.
The next day we perused through the Marc Jacobs/ Louis Vuitton exhibit. So fabulous. It had everything from the first trunk manufactured to every piece of the last runway show on display.
To my extremely pleasant surprise, I received a package from miss Linda Mirth a few days prior to Easter. So thoughtful of her to send it, and with such perfect timing!! Easter Sunday was filled with a great brunch with new and old friends, easter egg dying, and couch vegging. Cannot be grateful enough to Linda to be so thoughtful!
A few weeks ago a handful of my friends went to Doha, Qatar on a study abroad trip. One of the students from my school is the prince of Qatar, so they enjoyed camel rides, dinner with pet cheetas and servants, personal henna artists, interviews at the news station, and sand duning through the desert. Can you say jealous? After their trip, our school hosted a Qatar evening to celebrate the diversity we have at AUP. One building of our campus was transformed in to a huge Middle Eastern style tent, belly dancers, excellent food, ambassadors and henna artists. Needless to say, after feeling so left out I felt it necessary to get a tattoo, which two weeks later is now a large orange blob on my hand that make it look like I have been fondling ravioli sauce. Gross.
Tonight a friend and I were walking throughout her cute neighborhood and decided to stop in to a bar for a quick happy hour drink. Little did we know that it was drag night and we would be involved in a Lady Gaga impersonation. We had such a blast dancing on stage with Kegole La and partaking in all of her craziness that we completely forgot our Sunday Blues. Only in Paris right?? Well maybe New York too...
The great weather has brought about a million picnics at the Tuileries and Champ de Mars with dozens of kids from our school. Everyone sort of comes out of the woodworks and meets up in either spot, bringing guitars, wine, homework, and friends. Can't get enough of it!
With only two more weeks left of school I have no idea how I am going to balance free time with homework. All I can do is try to enjoy my last month here and update a few more times!
Until next time
xo
