That is Enough France!

The time is passing by so quickly and every week is full of new things to do!
Last Sunday after I posted, Gabi, Lauren, Shannon and me went for a run. Besides all of the stares it was pretty cool going for a run in Paris! When we returned home, we headed to the Laundromat to do our first rounds of laundry. After making fools of ourselves trying to talk to the Parisian man that worked there, we realized there actually was a sign of directions in English…oops. Despite some of my clothes being dyed that I will now have to bleach, it wasn’t that hard and worked out pretty well. Sunday night we went out to dinner to an Indian restaurant; I can’t believe I am trying all of these new foods! I got a rice and chicken dish with the bread called, “nan”.

We woke up Monday morning to a rainy day and headed to our art class. We walked around for a bit and then headed to the Louvre. Following class, Lauren, Shannon, Ashley and I went to lunch at a delicious café right next to “Hotel Regina”! A doorman was sitting at the bar having lunch with a “Regina” trench coat on so I decided to creepily take a picture of him from my table. Who knew I was so famous? After lunch we headed to the Place de la Concorde! I picked up a few presents and enjoyed seeing all of the different shops. Paris has so many areas to shop; it is absolutely great!! We hung in Monday night due to our class time change that was rescheduled for 9:30 Tuesday morning!

After class Tuesday, we came back to the hotel and watched “Dead Poet’s Society.” Analyzing the movie and presenting a presentation to our management professor regarding the topic of leadership will be our final project for his term of the class.

I thought Tuesday I would be saving myself some money by making dinner. I picked up some minestrone soup at the market and went to go get a baguette to have with the soup. However, I got completely ripped off! The cashier charged me 6.15 euro for a baguette that is actually .90 euro to every other customer in Paris. When I looked at the amount on the cash register (since I clearly didn’t understand the amount in French) I was confused but looked at the large size of the baguette and figured it was the correct price. I was discriminated against. Currently I am looking up curse words in my French dictionary in hopes I can put them to use to the man who took advantage of the dumb American with blonde hair! How rude!

Tuesday continued to get worse. As I was getting ready to go out for Tuesday night to The Frog and Princess, my curling iron broke. The wattage must have been too strong and blew out. This nearly brought me to tears since my curling iron is so vital to my life. Now my hair will be dull and boring. In France, demonstrations (sort of like strikes or protests) happen often. So I decided I would start a demonstration after Tuesday protesting my baguette and curling iron titled, “That is enough out of you, France!”

Wednesday we were scheduled to meet our art teacher at the Louvre and spent most of our class time there. After the Louvre, we went to the Catacombes. Basically it is underground with piles and piles of bones and skulls that have been stored there. It was pretty weird; thankfully it was only 4 Euros! Wednesday night we went to a bar and for the majority it was people our age! Our friend, Billy, recommended the place and it is one of the cheapest bars so we were all happy about that!

Thursday morning we were finally able to sleep in and headed to Breakfast in America before class! We were all so excited to have some American food. I got eggs, home fries and toast. It was pretty good but the service was not so good. After breakfast we hopped on the metro to get to class. Class was pretty interesting on Thursday. We were doing a case study on the Ford Pinto Fires and discussing organizational learning and knowledge, corporate social responsibility and ethical decision-making. After a long discussion our professor, Denny Gioia, had revealed to us that he was the recall coordinator. Following our break, he allowed us to ask him whatever questions we had. It was pretty interesting that he was involved in such a big case and we had the ability to hear what had happened. After class some of us went shopping at the Champs Elysees. The H & M was huge and I could have probably spent a weekend in there. I picked up two blazers and a shirt!

Friday some of the girls went to go see, “Midnight in Paris.” It was a pretty good movie despite my quick nap I took in the middle of it! After the movie we went to the Galeries Lafayette, which is a mall right by the theatre. With all of the rainy days we just had to continue shopping! I got a pair of camel colored boots and have already worn them twice! Friday night some of us headed to The Lizard Lounge. It was a smaller group and we had a good time!

Saturday we went to a festival, which is similar to a craft show. There are many vendors set up selling paintings, jewelry, etc. We then went to purchase tickets to see a ballet for June 29th! It was only 10 Euros so we figured why not! We strolled around in Bastille and then hopped on the metro to get some ice cream in Berthillon. The ice cream was amazing but wasn’t ideal timing since the weather was very chilly and some people had their winter jackets on! We went to a café for dinner and then headed home.

Last night we went to a club. It was interesting. Clubs don’t get crowded until around 1 or 2 so we decided we would experience it. We left for the metro around 12:30 and the night began. It was a little expensive, the cover was 15 Euros and the drinks were somewhat usual. Some people at the club were a bit strange or were dancing as if something had taken over their body. My personal favorite was seeing men dancing alone as if no one was watching. I got a few good laughs. We stayed out until 5:30 and took the first metro back. It was funny getting off the metro and the sun being out.

Now I am headed to work with my group on our project…I don’t understand why we have to do all this work!