Subject: a week without travel, what could be happening!?

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006

In T-minus 4.5 hours, a winged contraption of glistening white metal will depart for Stockholm Sweden, and I will be on it. Looks like this trip will be a solo one for me - my fault for jumping at the 0.01 Euro fare when I saw it without consulting others. No surgeon general’s warning to red flag me on that one, but at least voyaging solo shouldn’t be detrimental to my health. Travelling alone. So it goes. I can take things at my own pace, maybe meet some kiddos at the hostel - on verra "we'll see".

This past week marked my first-ever classes at French universities! Yes, that's right
folks, don't go leaping out of your chairs now. The first was Sociologie des Media at
L'Institut Catholique. I thus far find the course material to be a product of many men who should wear the nametag of ‘Captain Obvious’. (That is to say, their theories seem pretty self-evident). It's not boring though; I have enough to think about just concentrating on the language. Plus, trying to switch classes equals hassle in my mind, so I'll march on through this course and see how it goes. The prof is Italian (something everyone else seemed to pick up on immediately from his accent. Me? I just was concentrating on the French) and he speaks slowly which is good. I understood the second class a lot better than the first, even to the point were I was even happy with the notes I took. The other two classes are art history - one the lecture class and one the smaller review group-type thing. Both were pretty overwhelming and subsequently, I have visited the bibliotheque twice already to try to get a better idea of what the hell went on in class. Not to say I didn't understand anything, but it was a lot to take in at once and a French person reading over my notes would probably find them as amusing due to their incoherent nature.

Last night I went to a bar called Le Piano Vache (literally the piano cow). Nice little funky joint with posters and pictures plastered to the walls as though they forgot that recycling existed.

Last Saturday night - Sunday morning was "La Nuit Blanche". Artists set up little exhibits all over Paris and "tout le monde" (the whole world), as the French would say, was out pounding the uneven pavement of the Parisian sidewalks until who knows what hour in the morning taking in the odd expositions. Evidently free breakfast is served if you make it all night. I, personally, fell into bed, a log crashing down into a forest of blankets, at 4:30 AM. The exhibits ranged from pretty and interesting to just plain eerie. I'll post a few pictures upon return from Stockholm. An exhibit, for example, might be: a stream of images projected on a screen outside a church with a haunting, lilting Bjork song playing in accompanyment, or two men standing on the shoulders of two other men on the edge of a five-story apartment building.

In general, things are good. I miss things here and there as the initial excitement of being abroad fades into a dazzling haze of the past. For example, I also often ride the sine curve of missing in a cart called tofu. Vegetarians beware - soy protein seems to be a thing yet to hit Europe. At least they have nice meats and fish and cheeses readily available. More importantly though in my world of miss are people. Naturally, however, I'm not generally gorging in self-pity - that has never seemed to be a part of my genetic make-up. And, often, I don't even have time think about what's going on inside my mind - it's too busy accumulating information, but somewhere in there... Anyhow, I keep having a good time despite such notions and going abroad is definitely something that should grace everyone's lives.

Now I've got to run and buy a mouth-watering fresh baguette for the sandwich that I will bring along to the airport.

Til next time, take it easy my friends.
Je vous embrasse,
Hannah