Unexpected

Of all the places I imagined myself going while in Paris, the Apple store was definitely not one of them. Monday night I opened my computer to find that the screen would not turn on; oddly a dorm-mate of mine, Erica, found herself in a similar situation later that night. So after class yesterday instead of exploring the city, we headed for the mall under the Louvre. Navigating the Genius Bar in French was a little flustering at first; luckily the geniuses spoke English (my French was not ready for computer problems). Four and half hours later, one graphic card replaced (mine), one hard drive replaced (Erica's), one camera fixed (Erica's), and one battery ordered (mine), we were finally free.

And to think we were hoping to go to happy hour.

Il fait neige

 

Snow lightly coats a statue outside of the Hôtel de Ville

As a Los Angeles native, winter is new to me. Snow is something I'm used to visiting, not living in. Luckily it's not too heavy of a storm, more like a light drift...and it does make for quite an atmosphere.

Masked Magic

Went to Italy this weekend to visit friends from school and to go to Carnival in Venice on Saturday. I love love love Venice, what an incredible city, it's magical. Carnival is something I've always wanted to photograph so I was even more excited to be there. I'll definitely have to go back though, one afternoon of shooting wasn't enough, I need more time to get into the groove. I did manage to get a dish of Seppie Nere Alla Veneziana for lunch...mmm...so delicious, got to love authentic Italian food. The weekend was wonderful, save for the minor detail that both my credit and debit cards were stolen while I was out at a bar on Friday night (sorry dad for all the hassle, lesson learned). Although I really couldn't be brought down, I was in Italy!

 

 

A Long Time Coming

So I was planning on doing a post before leaving about all my preparations etc but it seems that didn't happen.

I've been in Paris since Monday and am in love. I love this city. And I haven't even really done much except get lost a lot. I cannot wait for what the next months have in store, it's going to be amazing.

I'm writing from my dorm room in AEPP (Association des étudiants protestants de Paris...there's no religious connection though). It's an interesting place: I have 3 roommates and live in the loft portion of the room, there's not a lot of storage space (where all of my clothes will go still remains to be seen), the showers turn off every 20 seconds (it's taking some getting used to), and there's a lot of other international students, which is really cool. I chose the dorms because I figured it would be a good way to meet people. All of the CEA students are housed right next to each other so it's nice to see familiar faces in the hallway.

Classes start Monday so this week we've just been doing a lot of orientation type things. Right now I'm planning on taking Intermediate French 2, History of Modern Art, History of Haute-Couture, and Film & Development (a darkroom photography class). I'm pretty excited about my classes, they all sound really interesting and will have a lot of excursions out in the city which will be cool.

Right now the biggest obstacle seems to be getting used to the metro and the Euro conversion (which sucks). It's amazing how you can get around in this city, everything's pretty walkable and there's always a metro station a few blocks away. It's very different from hopping in my car at home to get anywhere.

Sadly I have no photos really to post. I've been focusing on getting my bearings and meeting people on my program so hopefully I'll have some things to show by next week. My fingers are getting a little restless from not moving those dials around so I'm thinking sooner rather than later.

I still cannot believe I am actually here, it's crazy. This has been such an end goal for me that it feels unreal; I'm worried someone is going to tell me it's actually time to go home in a few days, that I'm really not studying abroad... But I am and I plan to take advantage of every second of it. As cliche as it sounds, words cannot describe how happy and excited I am. What a time in my life, what a time.

Until next time, À bientôt!

Another Fresh Start

Here I am again - proclaiming a "fresh start" on my blog. There is one difference, however, this time I write on a brand new blog. Out with the old, in with the new.

I decided to create a new blog so that I could have something to update: I'm living in Paris for the next four months and my never-ending website building project remains just that, unfinished.

So, to take the plunge then...

It's coming up on the fifth week of what has proven to be my best break from school yet. And while I cannot deny it's nice not having any responsibility and doing as I please, I find myself anxious to board that plane next Sunday. It still hasn't really hit me that I am actually leaving, that I will be living a dream I have had since I first took French class in middle school. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true, this is something I have wanted to do for a long, long time. I'll save my expectations for later though.

In my attempt to keep myself busy, I decided I would pick up my camera from a long hiatus. Of course, today was the first day in what is supposed to be a week-long storm. I came away with this, kind of eerie, but I like it: a house illuminated by fog seen from a lookout point on Mullholland Drive.