I really need to get better about writing in this thing, as now I have to write two entries to talk about everything that's happened in the past few weeks. My spring break was the week before last, and I headed over to London for that. But before that happened, my big sis in my sorority came to visit me. She only had circa 48 hours in Paris, and there was a lot she wanted to see so we did whirlwind sightseeing. It was really nice to see a friendly face, and it was good to see one of my friends from home. We had a lot to catch up on.
The first thing we when she got in was (after getting food of course) walk around on the Champs d'Elysees. Since I have been here I have realized, as have many other people, that there is a lot more to Paris than just the Champs and la Tour Eiffel, but I am still amazed at how pretty it can be in that area. The Eiffel Tower may be one of the cliche spots of Paris, but everytime it sparkles I get just as excited as I did the first time I saw it sparkle. Kari also got really excited the first time she saw it sparkle. We found a spot that I had found with a friend earlier up near some art gallery where you get an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower, with la Defense in the background, and a good view of the Sacre Coeur. After we took in the scenery from that view, we walked around and sat under the Eiffel Tower, and drank wine. We were under it to see it sparkle again before we headed home. The next day, we got a slightly later start than we would have liked since we were both exhausted from busy weeks. But once we got moving we headed straight to the Louvre. She wanted to see the Mona Lisa, and, as with most everyone else who sees it for the first time, found it quite dissapointing. We also walked around the 7th near where Sciences Po is and went to the longchamps store so she could get a bag.
That afternoon/evening, we actually went up the Eiffel Tower. I had been told that because I was afraid of heights, it would be a really bad idea to do it, but because both Kari and I are afraid of heights, we decided to brave it and go together. We were both surprised because our fear of heights didn't pose much of a problem. The elevator up to the second floor (the first floor is a restaurant) was easy, and the second floor didn't pose too much of an issue. However, once we got up there, we had to wait in a ridiculous line to get up to the third floor, and by this time it had gotten pretty cold and rainy. The elevator up to the third floor was the scariest part, because its glass and you can see all the way down. But once we were up on the top it was enclosed, and it was an excellent view for picture taking.
The next day, I put Kari on the train to CDG and I got on the eurostar to head to London. I had a week off of school last week, so I decided to go visit friends there. My best friend from England's parents still live there, and because they are like my second family, I stayed with them, even though Kirsten is in Virginia. It was a relatively relaxing week for the most part, got to go into London one day. The Wednesday of break there was a memorial service for a high school friend who died in a car accident recently. It was a difficult day, needless to say. That evening I also managed to pick up some sort of stomach virus, and so I was sick for the next 24 hours. Although stomach flus are never fun, it gave me an excuse to lay around and watch TV and movies. I watched quite a few documentaries on the history channel, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. It was a good visit though, I was glad I went and had some R&R. Much needed. On Friday night, I got to go into London and see my dad for the night as he was around on business. It was good to see him after such a long time.
When I got back to Paris on Saturday, I had to get ready for my sister to come on Sunday. It was definitely good to see her. Although I am having a blast here, it is really difficult to be away from my family, and since I probably won't see any of them until may it was good to have her around, particularly when I had just gotten to see my dad. I had class, and a lot of work I had to do before the weekend so it was difficult for us to get a lot of sightseeing done, but we walked around a lot and I showed her different areas of the city. She was only here until Thursday, when I had to head to Dublin.
Work is really beginning to pick up at Sciences Po, and its extremely difficult. I am extremely interested in all of my classes, so it isn't difficult for me to keep up but the assignments are difficult. Today, I had an expose (10-15 minute oral presentation) in French in my Religions and Societes class. I spent quite a lot of time going over the reading, and then when I got home from Dublin on Sunday I did the outline for my presentation, and filled it in afterwards. I practiced the night before, and it went very well, but this morning when I did it nerves got the better of me and I didn't present as well as I had hoped I would. It went alright, and I am definitely glad to have it over with. I remember a friend of mine who did this program last spring talking to me about exposes, and she said it was one of the most difficult things she had to do, but once you do that, things get a lot easier. I am hoping this is true. Even though all of my classes are pass/fail, I still want to do well.
I have a good friend from Atlanta visiting me this weekend, and I am hoping to be able to get some more sightseeing done. The weather is starting to get nice and the sun is starting to come out and the city is even more beautiful than it usually is. Its getting me really excited for actual springtime here.
That's all for this one, update on Dublin in another post of course.
Megan
No comments:
Post a Comment