New hobby...nerd alert!!!

Okay, so I will begin the post by making it clear that I in no way wish to dispute that I am totally nerdy about some things....geeky even. For example, when I lived in D.C. a friend came to visit and we spent the entire weekend in 100 degree + 100% humidity chasing around town to find and photograph the donkeys and elephants (50 of EACH)!! (No that's not me and D in the photos...ours are better!)

Needless to say, I am a big fan of street art.

So, here in Paris we have "Space Invaders"- basically little mosaics that look like they come straight out of a Nintendo game that pop up everywhere on the side of buildings. I have been seeing more and more of them lately so I have decided to take pictures and see how many I can find! Looks like someone has beaten me to it, but it will still be plenty of nerdy fun for me!!! Woohoo! Do I have too much time on my hands??? :)

Here are a few to start...

Gorgeous!

The weather has been totally amazing lately and I have been enjoying it by walking around a lot more and enjoying the scenery. Here are a few photos of my everyday surroundings...enjoy!!

Amazing!

A picture's worth 1,000 words....

"I bought a ticket to the world...."

"....and now I've come back again!"

I miss Boardwalk 11 and karaoke soooo much.

It's nearly been five months since I moved here and I still have yet to meet a karaoke partner.

Anyone....?

Trop malade!

Just when I thought I was getting better, I am awakened this morning with MORE of the heinous flu-like symptoms I have been battling for now nearly a week. I have pretty much exhausted the last hangers-on from my American "pharmacy" and now have only one packet of TheraFlu left. What I wouldn't give for some NyQuil....

In the meantime, I have been holed up in the aparment doing a whole lot of nothing. However, I am venturing out every so often to use my shiny new UNLIMITED MOVIE PASS! What an awesome idea- for the price of less than three movies a month, I can go as much as I want!

I've recently seen:

Bobby
Blood Diamond
The Holidays
Pursuit of HappyNess
The Last King of Scotland

I may go out again today to see either the Good German or the Hannibal Lecter flick (which may be too scary for me! Haha!) The weather is beyond gorgeous- I am so disappointed to be stuck inside!

Only on Al-Jazeera

101 East: An HOUR of televised broadcasts regarding American servicemen and their reputation overseas. Does the justice of another nation apply to an American servicemember while serving overseas? LOVE it.

Seeing as how I have only about 3-4 TV channels in English, and that sometimes I just don't feel like concentrating/don't want to work in French, I have developed an unhealthy obsession with Al-Jazeera English...sooo different from the news I'm used to from the U.S. and seriously has the greatest selection of topics....

Don't worry, I'm already convinced that my FBI file is so large that it will have to be delivered on a truck. I'm not scared. :)

I'm Johnny Knoxville, and this is Versailles.

I had a friend in town last week and had the most amazing time. Although much of the week itself was hilarious, perhaps the best time was the day trip we took to the Versailles castle. It was cold, rainy, and a bit dismal when we arrived....but we had no idea how fun it would be....

We first took a tour of the castle, which was so immense and gorgeous that I can't even describe it. Beautiful!

Anyway, after our tour, we went outside to look at the grounds, which went on and on forever. There was a little shack just outside the castle advertising golf cart rentals for 28euros an hour. We wondered if it was worth it, shrugged, and decided to go for it. What ensued was literally probably the funniest thing that has happened since I have been in Paris. There were a ton of potholes so my friend insisted on hitting them ALL at our highest speed. We were out of control and the shenanigans made me laugh so hard. For those of you who are Jackass fans, the afternoon was straight out of a Jackass episode. Seriously.

I highly recommend the golf cart rentals to all who may be going to Versailles. SO worth it.

I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness......years after visiting my sister in the Czech Republic, I've found an imitation of what I've been looking for!!! For the uninitiated, in Prague there is amazing "street food." The sister and I not only enjoyed traipsing but she also taught me to enjoy such food...and by far the BEST thing was the "Smazny Syr," which I tend to describe as fried cheese with mayonaise in a white bun. Nasty, but oh so great.

Well, I am delighted to report that the French fast food chain Quick is carrying an imitation syr. No, it's not the same as the fried delicacies that I may or may not have enjoyed with the sister at 3 in the morning while finding our way home from a 25 cent beer paradise.... BUT, it's pretty darn close. I have to be careful to not devour them all the time!

Yessss!

Bobby

The movie "Bobby" about Bobby Kennedy just came out here yesterday and I am dying to go see it. I think that's going to be my outing for today because tomorrow (Saturday) I have an all-day trip to Angers planned for school. Literally- I have to meet at the train station at 7:00am (!!) and won't get back until 10pm. Ugh.

Anyway, I am having the hardest time finding the movie in VO (Version Original)/English and the thought of watching a dramatic story about Bobby Kennedy's assasination dubbed in French seems really odd to me...I may just have to try though??

I've been inspired...

So, you all are probably shocked- two posts in two days? Is she okay? What's wrong with KEF?

Well, after some great conversation with my most recent visitor Britt last week, I have been inspired to really put in an effort to write more here. Why? Because as my wise friend put it,(she spent a year overseas as well) a blog actually turns into a GREAT diary that I will be able to look back upon in the future. I really got to thinking about how pitifully I have been keeping track of my time here....I mean, who gets to a foreign country the day before her classes start???

I have been running around like a crazy woman since then and am just now finally feeling like I have my "sea legs" and beginning to have a sense of permanency. Also, my new school is a bit on the SLOW side compared to last semester so I am finding myself with more free time (which is SOOO much better than the NO free time I had last semester...believe me!)

So, all that is just to say that you will all hopefully be reading lots more from my end in the near future! It's my New Years Resolution- 25 days late....look at me- I'm turning FRENCH! :)

Check it out!

Wow....check out page eight!!

They really NEVER get new photos...do they?

For some reason I look photoshopped...either that or I look WAY different than I remember.

Funny!

Cool Merry-Go-Round Scenes from the Eiffel Tower

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! This is just a little taste of what I saw on New Years Eve...we went to the Eiffel Tower which was gorgeously sparkling, and I really enjoyed seeing everything there was to see. There were a TON of people out and about, and it was a great time.

In other news, I FINALLY have internet at home (after three months of waiting!! haha) so hopefully the emails and updates will become a bit easier and a bit more regular. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a great 2007 so far. The time is FLYING!
 

On rough days....

When I am having a rough day, miss home, or just feel down for any reason, it's things like the view exiting the Alma Marceau metro station that make my day and remind me why I am here.

Enjoy!

Long time, no update...ENCORE UNE FOIS

This is how I feel about all the schoolwork I have to do in the next four days, the fact that we STILL cannot get internet/phone/cable at home after TEN weeks of trying, the fact that my knee is STILL messed up significantly, AND that I have yet to do one IOTA of Christmas shopping.....

If you can't vent on your own blog, where can you??? :)

Miss you guys!

Thanksgiving in Paris

I had SOOO much fun on Thanksgiving. I had been so scared that I would be lonely and sad, but not only did my school friends come to the rescue, but I was also able to meet up with folks from college as well. We had a BIG, traditional American dinner together and had an awesome time.

Thanks SO much you guys!!

Frustrating day....

Today was especially frustrating bureaucracy-wise....so I went straight to my favorite American place here, http://www.breakfast-in-america.com/ and am sitting here enjoying some awfully unhealthy but amazingly delicious American food....instead of yelling or crying!

I have to keep taking deep breaths and remember that it is Paris, things are like this here, and that of COURSE it's different from the US- that's why I moved here!!! No more furstration!

Look familiar???

So, I finally got around to taking photos of (and posting) the outdoor artwork of Niki Saint Phalle that is in the middle of Centre Georges Pompidou here in downtown Paris. It may look familiar to some of you as there is a replica on campus at UCSD! Pretty cool, isn't it? Or maybe pretty cool just for me because I am a nerd like that......

Check it out here, if you don't know it already: http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/StuartCollection/Phalle.htm

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

I miss you guys....

Do you see a resemblance?

Okay, am I the only one who is FRIGHTENED by the resemblance I see between a poster that is plastered ALL OVER the metro and someone I knew in a past life????

Anyone? RL? MB? MDV? You guys out there?