What are we doin' in the middle of the Champs-Elysees?!

Sunday- Mom and Dad arrived and I made chocolate croissants and coffee while we caught up. Then we went to the Marche aux Puces where I got some much-needed leggings. I wanted to get more flats but they were out of my favorite kind. I'll go back before I leave, though. Then we went to L'As du Falafel- they'd never seen it or had it before and my Dad had never heard of it!
They really enjoyed it and I was glad I could teach them something new even though they'd been to Paris so many times. Then we walked through Ile St Louis and Ile de la Cite, and finally through my favorite little area next to St Michel. Which of course, they knew about. We were all really tired (Remember I suffer from sympathy jet lag.) so we went home and took a nap. When we woke up, it was time for dinner and I made my famous Irish Pepper Tart. Mom and Dad loved it! I thought I did a pretty good job, and it helps that they were hungry. We watched some TV, as Daddy is amazing and fixed it, then took a walk on the Promenade Plantee that is close to my apartment just to get some fresh air, played cards, and then went to bed.

Monday- We woke up and the repairman for the leaky wall showed up. Finally- I couldn't waittoget that fixed.I had basically let John take hold of the little project and didn't really keep up with what was going on, and then he left. So I had papers to go through, letters to read (that I didn't even know had come!), and insurance and repair companies to deal with. John had been waiting for the repairman to show up for 3 weeks, but then he left, so then I got the lovely task of asking where the repairman was- only to find out that the insurance never called a repairman- that was our job! Somewhere down the line it got lost in translation, so I wish I'd been more proactive about the whole thing. In less than a week I had everything running like it should have probably in May or June. Just another cultural experience that down the road I will be thankful for. The repairman was nice and helpful. He said he would tear the wall out where it was the worst, scrape off the paint, then cover the hole up, and paint the wall. Pretty big stuff. I was a little nervous, I had to admit, I mean, this isn't my apartment. It's not my fault, but still. Plus, they were coming at a pretty inconvenient time with my parents here, but it had to get done before August because they were shutting down their business for vacation. Anyway, he said it would take a week. I went to work and Mom and Dad had a nice breakfast that I'd left for them. I really wanted to stay and enjoy it but I had to go...I wondered why I didn't make myself such nice breakfasts in the morning- it wasn't hard! On the metro to work, John and I saw each other. I hadn't heard from him in weeks and had finally just let it go and chalked it up as his loss, so seeing him put my knickers in a twist. Work was okay but I would have much rather been frolickng with my 'rents, but they met me at the Embassy and we went to my favorite boulangerie for lunch- that was closed. So, I quick thought of another restaurant in the area that I liked and we went there. It's right across from SciencesPo and it has some of the best burgers so that's what we all got. Daddy had a 1664 (beer), a cheeseburger,and fries, so it looked like he was at a fancy MacDo. The burgers were quite good but a little raw. I guess that's how it's done in France. I didn't really mind- as long as it wasn't mooing. We walked back to work and then I spent the rest of the afternoon doing something important, I'm sure. After work I came home and lazed about for a bit. Then we decided to go out to the Bastille area for Happy Hour. We had a few drinks and good conversation and it was fun to be able to go out to a bar with my parents- a first! We grabbed a crepe for dinner at the creperie right next door to one of my favorite bars and were walking back to the metro when I saw John- again. Okay, wait- do y'all remember John? He was British, met him on the metro, blah-dy-blah, now he's a, um, well he's not on my Good List right now, let's say that. Okay, so I'd just been all excited about having a good time with my parents not thinking about him since I'd seen him that morning and it was just awkward and I just wanted to remember the Bastille as a fun place I'd been to my parents with instead of where John lived, but no, b!tch had to ruin that, too. I told my parents that he was there and they were like, go on, go talk to him. And since I was lookin' pretty cute, I pulled up my big girl panties, sashayed over there, and in my best drippin'-with-suga Southern belle accent said hello. Flabbergasted isn't even sufficient to describe his face. He asked me what I was doing there and I said stalking him, and for a second, I think he believed me. Haha. Come on! Gimme a break. Anyway, he eventually introduced me to his friends who promptly invited me to sit and have a drink with them, but I politely declined- even though it would have been delightful to have done so. I said good-bye and went back to my parents. My mom was shocked I returned. The whoooole way home it was all, "Go back there, go talk to him!" Haha, I tried to tell her that if the past was any indication of the future, the night wouldn't end up with me coming home. That didn't bother her as much as the fact that I actually was declining his invite. Haha. Sooo funny, my mom. I think my dad was just observing the whole thing from afar. Whatever makes me happy is his point of view. He's a good supporter. Needless to say, I was surprised to get a text from John later that night apologizing for his rude behavior with a string of sorry excuses and the possiblity of hanging out before I leave. Whatevs. There are tons more James McAvoy lookalikes in this world. I decided yet again to take the "his loss" standpoint. Overall, I had tons more fun with my parents than any dumb boy...so it was a good day.

Tuesday I woke up and went to work. The repairman was going to do his business again today, but he could already tell he wasn't going to finish early like he'd thought he might, so to Friday it was. Mom and Dad came to the Embassy for lunch and I showed them around, too. They seemed very impressed and basically got to meet everyone I interact with on a daily basis. Pizza and salad was on the menu that day so that's what Mom and I had and Daddy got this weird meat casserole/stew thing that he said he liked. It was really neat that they came to the Embassy. I got to show them my office and they met some interns and all that. They were as amazed as I was about all the American food that was imported, too. That night was a lazy one, we had esacrgots and mussels- probably more than we should have, but it was soooo good. I hadn't had escargots in a really long time! We played a few rounds of Cribbage and watched some of the Office and just had a nice time sitting about.

Wednesday was almost as uneventful. Mom and Dad came and we went out to lunch at this pretty cafe close to La Madeleine church. Mom and I had chicken and fries and Daddy had lasagne. Then we got cafe creme (thicker than cafe latte) and had our dessert. We had quite a long lunch, so it wasn't too much time before I got to go home. We stayed in again and watched TV, movies, and played games. For dinner we had the rest of the tarte I'd made on Sunday night.

Thursday was a big day. The hole in the wall was patched and he was going to finish everything tobe ready to paint on Friday. It was Tallie's last day so I said good-bye to her, too. She was the only intern I really felt I made some sort of connection with. I think that was because we had offices across the hall from each other, and I was always travelling in the weekends. It doesn't bother me so much, it just is kind of strange now with out her because I don't know anyone well enough, and usually they hang out after work and I'm not included in that so I can't. It's all good though. I've got plenty keeping me busy, and I had an excuse this week, what my parents and all. That afternoon I went to Eric Kayser Boulanger that I wanted to go to on Monday. I picked up sandwiches and met them at the Eiffel Tower. We planned to meet at 11 but it was more like 12:30 when I showed. I'd forgotten how hard it was to get to the Tower. You can get close but the metros don't go too too close so you have to walk quite a ways. Thankfully, Mom and Dad had a little fiasco so they didn't wait too too long. I felt bad about their drama though, because the line they took by my house is under construction. Well, I knew this, and I'd heard announcements about it and I knew about the bus that makes up for the stops that it blocks, but my parents didn't. I didn't think to tell them about it and they didn't call me asking for help, so poor things. Anyway, on the way back I filled them in and they had a breeze. For lunch we sat under the bridge and listened to the sax player. I like him. He plays oldies but goodies. Mom and Dad went on a bike ride after lunch and I went back to work. At a little after 6 we met up to go to Marie's parents house for drinks.

THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!

I woke up at 8 just in time to get to work. I left Mom and Dad sleeping and stepped out just as the repairman was coming in. When I got to work, I realized I was the only one in my section of the office! Tallie and Mark left the day before, Anita was leaving that morning, and there was never any one in the 5th office! So for 2 weeks I'll have no one. :-( 2 weeks...le sigh. I worked on the PowerPoint Florence gave me to update but I was pretty tired from the night before, so not much got done. My parents called when they work up and asked what I wanted to do for lunch. Thankfully, I had decided that and we made plans to meet up at Cafe Les Deux Magots (probably one of the most famous ones in Paris) at 1pm. Finally it was 12h30 and I left to try to figure out some things with the bank. The insurance money is supposed to have been put in my account but it hadn't been and I was getting anxious to pay the repairman. The whole bank episode was quite an experience- for the first time in a long time I had absolutely no idea what was going on! I didn't understand the simplest French and made a complete fool of myself. I'll tell you though, because you'll enjoy it as much as I did. You see, when I looked at my bank accounct, I thought I was looking at a balance that said the insurance had paid me 800E and will pay me 300E in a few days. Ironically, this is how much the insurance was to have paid me: 1100E. It also said somethign about "plafond," which means ceiling in French- which I had redone. I took this to mean that for the repair of my ceiling, there would be 2 dispersements
of 800E and 300E. So when I went to the counter at the bank and did my whole explaining thing, the lady looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently, I was all mixed up. The "account" I'd been looking at was not an account at all. And I hadn't been dispersed any money. The sheet I'd glanced at said the maximum- or ceiling- I could withdraw from the ATM per day was 800E and the most I could take out per transaction was 300E. How silly of me! When I realized my blunder I tried to explain my faux ps to the teller, but she was not amused. At all. So, I chuckled to myself and went on my merry way. I needed that money, but I was just going to have to wait a bit longer. I got to the restaurant and didn't see my parents so I went inside the St. Germain des Pres church like I'd been meaning to for a while. It was beautiful and old and lovely. It was built during the Moorish times, making it the oldest church in Paris. Of course, it's been remodeled quite a bit. I called my parents after I was done thanking God I'd made it to my 21st year and found them and sat down at the restaurant. We looked over the menu and I was able to order in French, no matter how badly the waiter wanted to practice his English. I chose the house salad. In Paris (maybe France) this is more like the Club Salad in the States- egg, cheese, ham or chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, and carrots. The house dressing is usually a creamy mustard vinagrette of which I've become fond. When in doubt at a resto, I order this salad. You can't go wrong. So, I got my salad, my mom got a tomato/mozzarella/basil salad (I've found places that do tomato/mozzarella/proscuitto ham- it's so good! But I don't like basil, anyway.) and my dad got a Quiche Lorraine (ham and cheese). They were all delicious- and very French. We also got a bottle of Chardonnay and split that. At that moment I became useless to the Embassy for the rest of the day. Not that I was even buzzed, it was just the perfect amount to put me in that real sleepy disposition. And I'm prone to sleepiness as it is. The wine was certainly a treat, though! And it was good- perfect with a salad. Fresh and cold. We had an excellent lunch- well, except when the woman next to us got wine spilled on her white capris, then suddenly my mom was much more interested in her than the Birthday Girl. ;-) I'm kidding, but this lady was pretty sad. The waiter poured salt all over her, because that's what the French believe takes out red wine the best. He said the "salt drinks the wine." That day, the salt was not thirsty and the woman did her best at getting her meal comped... compt?...for free. But that's why you gotta think about those things! I know I do, but that's because I'm prone to as much clumsiness as sleepiness...probably because I'm sleepy. Aaaanyway, sitting at the cafe just a few blocks from my school brought back a lot of memories and made me realize I didn't have much time left. I was getting sad. After my internship, I didn't have any more excuses as to why I needed to stay in Paris. I do think, honestly, that traveling throughout Europe has made me love Paris more. If that's possible. Okay, no more talking about Paris. Lunch was good. Then we went to my favorite creperie and got Crepes aux nutella- which made my mother decide she needed crepe pan. From Paris. So we went to the Monoprix across the street and got her one. I also got some cheap sparkling juice for later that evening and my dad found some killer...placemats that he just had to have. We all left satisfied with our purchases. I went back to work and Mom and Dad went home. This trip has been nice for them because they just go home when they're tired and go out when they want. It's been very relaxing which is good because they don't do that very often. I went home after leaving work (early!) and was greeted by a clean apartment, escargots, baguettes, wine, and PURPLE FLOWERS!! My favorite. My parents are sooo sweet. We sat down and watched an episode of the Office while we enjoyed our snack. We also got to talk to Liz- cuz it was her birthday, too! Then, we showered up and went to our restaurant. Y'all, this place was amazing. It's at the top of the Pompidou Museum...well, just- here, look at the link:
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Communication.nsf/0/C802434866E91C8CC1256D9800513026?OpenDocument&sessionM=3.8&L=2
That was where we went. I'd been to the museum part before and taken pictures from the restaurant terrace, but never did I dream that I would eat there! I thought, oh museum food, gross. But no, this restaurant is quite highly acclaimed among the Parisiens and the chef is very good. It was recommended to me by a Parisienne and so I took her word for it. It has a great view, and it's probably one of the more reasonable places, all things considered. When we arrived the sun was down but it was still light out. We were were going to be able to see the lights of Paris come on. Ahhh. We got a bottle of wine and I did my best translating the menu. I got the duck, my mom got risotto and langoustines and my daddy got the Chateaubriand (steak). They were all excellent- especially my duck! I was really hankering for some, so of course it tasted delish. The lights of Paris slowly switched on and I continued to enjoy my meal. I know I drove my parents crazy with how slow I ate, but I can't help it! I'm trying harder to eat slower in hopes
that one day, I will need less food! Haha. But I do love savoring every little bite. Well, it doesn't help that I talk a lot. Dinner ended and we got coffee and dessert. I got a fraise feuilletee (basically strawberries in between the crispy part of French croissants with a little creme between to make it stick together like a sandwich), and an espresso. My parents each got a boule of ice cream (which I'm pretty sure my dad ate both of) and cafe cremes. That was their favorite. It's different than a cafe latte- made with creme instead of milk. The way they presented it though was neat- 2 little pitchers- one with coffee and one with creme so they could make it as strong as they wanted. We enjoyed our last bits of dessert, walked around the restaurant inside (which was actually really cool, but I'm glad we sat outside. I think my mom would have rathered indoors, but she was sweet to let me choose.) The inside of the restaurant was eccentric (As you can see in the pictures if you click on the link) and matched the uniqueness (?) of the museum. We stood outside on the terrace a bit longer and watched the Eiffel Tower light up and took some pictures. It was so beautiful. I'm so proud I'm able to name the buildings at night just as easily as when they're lit up, too. I loooove Paris. It was the perfect meal and everything. But the night wasn't over! Ohhh no. I dragged my parents to the end of Ile de la Cite and we opened that bottle of sparkling wine and sat on the Seine and drank it. It was the only thing I wanted to do for my birthday since I'd arrived. Sure, everything else was stupendous, but that was the thing I said I would do in 2007. So, to have remembered that and actually fulfilled it- with my parents, no less- was really cool for me. It really was the best 21st birthday I could have ever imagined- with the exception of the absence of my other half. I really did miss Liz a lot that day, even though *somehow* I was able to have some fun. I think she managed without, me, too. And now I've had my 13th, 16th, and 21st birthdays in Paris (among others, I'm sure, but those are the Big Ones). I wonder how many people can say that! At midnight we went home because we had a long day to get ready for- Mom was going back to the States and Daddy and I were on our way to Prague! Not to mention, none of us had packed for it and I had to pack a bag for my mom to take home to the States.

I'm 21!!!!!!

Happy birthday to my FAVORITE younger twin sister named Liz!!!!!!

I'll be home in a few weeks!!!!

biz

21 in a week!

My parents are on their way to Paris (via Business Class, no less!!) right this second. I'm so excited I can hardly sit still! I've not seen them in about 3 months. I cleaned the apartment like crazy getting ready for them! I turned John's room into my room so my parents could have the master, moved EVERY piece of furniture in the place, some just a few feet, others to the other side of the apartment, and just basically made it look like a completely different place. I love it. I took tons of pictures just so I could remember how it looked.

Anyway, I'm still just crazy busy with work during the day, not to mention the fact that all I do is sit at a computer, that the last thing I want to do when I get home is get back on one. So sorry. I'll do my best to get back on track.

Hope all is well!!!! I'm turning 21 on Friday and have 3 weeks left in Paris!! :-)

biz

Happy Bastille Day, Tout Le Monde!

Life's been pretty awesome recently. I've spent time with friends, been to Nice, Monte Carlo, and Lisbon, seen Jack Johnson in concert, and gone to work. I'll definitely be expanding on all that, though! It's just been so fun I've barely had time to think!

I am also now the only one from Georgia Tech over here from the study abroad. 2 people, one including John, left today. :-( And in less than 30 days I'll be back in les Etats-Unis. I'm still trying to figure how I feel about that because I really don't want to go back, but that sounds, I don't know, ungrateful? Selfish? Snobby? Just plain mean? I just really am having fun here and every time I talk about going home I don't get as excited as I feel like I should. And then there's the fact that America is full of Americans. It's been a weird week at work, that's for sure. I think once I get back in the South my faith will be restored in the American people. I don't understand Yanks....or people from CA. More on all that later.

Anyway, I had about 3 days done for the blog but then I accidentally x-ed out and didn't save, so I'm working on it.

xoxo

3-day weekend...heck yes!

Monday I woke up bright and early. It was only a 4-day week! Which means 3-day weekend! That day was good...I did some work on the EU presidency and then after work I went to Cafe Flore, had an espresso and did the soduko in DirectSoir and finished a book. It was wonderful and relaxing and the perfect thing to do that afternoon. Then I went across the street and checked out the St-Germain-des-Pres cathedral- it's the oldest church in Paris! There was a service going on so I couldn't play tourist but I did take a little look. I'll have to research it more properly later. More properly? That just sounds weird. I went to the store on my way home and grabbed dinner fixins. Hal and Paul came over later that night because it was their last night in Paris!! How sad is that?! I told them that they should go see the Eiffel Tower as a last good-bye and expecially because it is blue (for the EU Presidency...it has 13 stars on it, too). Well, they liked that idea so we actually went! We went there, saw it, and then caught the last trains back. It was nice. The tower is carolina blue so it's bright and pretty. I bet it's really neat every hour when the other lights sparkle. We said our good-byes to Paul, but he said he would visit next year. I sure hope so! Sometimes I can't believe I haven't always known the people I met this year. It's going to be so strange without them around. We got home around one and I was exhausted so I went to bed. John fell asleep packing (he was getting ready to go to London for a week) but then his girlfriend's mom called at 2:30am to get a password for his internet so she could turn in some homework. I felt really bad that Christina had to go through all that trouble just to turn in homework but I was surprised (and maybe a little relieved) that no one was dead. I mean, nothing good happens after midnight, right? So, after that little episode of having to wake John so Christina's mom would stop calling I finally got some good sleep.

Tuesday morning was hectic. I got on the metro around the time I usually do, but it took me half an hour to get about 5 stops! I was going to be extra-super-duper late for work. And there was a staff meeting that morning. Blast. There was a big problem on our line with technical difficulties, passenger problems, and who knows what all. So, at Hotel de Ville, our conductor advised everyone who could get off to do so. I was 5 stops away from work, about a mile and a half, but I was not going to stand in that sweaty train any longer. Plus, I had my flats on and my heels in a bag, my iPod was on, so I just enjoyed a walk down Rue du Rivoli at 9:30am. Some things were opening up, people were already shopping, and Paris was getting busy. If I had time to just lounge around it would have been lovely, but I had things to do. It was still nice, though. I was going to take a bus, but as I found out later, the RER A had an unexpected strike so everyone was taking the bus, too. Something was going on underground. It was madness. I got to work a little after 9:45 and was so embarrassed that I'd missed the meeting. Then, I ran into Tallie who informed me the meeting was moved back to 10am! Praise the Lord!! I was EARLY! Haha. John came in and I apologized profusely for being late, but he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Phew! It was all good. The meeting went off without a hitch and then I went back to work. That evening I walked to Hotel des Invalides and saw Napoleon's Tomb. It was free that night so that was good, too. The Dome de l'Eglise is covered in gold and visible pretty much everywhere. I loved it. Everything was so old and ornate and like, yay Napoleon. I don't know, it was just neat. Alexandre Dumas is entombed there, too. I went to the military museum at the Ecole Militaire which is right next to the church and there is a great (What looks) new museum on Charles de Gualle. I really didn't know that much about him, but he was an amazing fellow. He took France through a lot- WWII, the Algerian War of Independence, the 5th republic, just a lot of really influential yet recent things that have happened in France. It was a good thing to see. I recommend it. It's not really the typical tourist thing, but it is neat. I went home, cooked dinner and enjoyed having the apartment all to myself. Glorious silence. Not that John is loud at all (sometimes I don't even know he's home and he just pops out of his room like magic!) but there's a certain vacant aura that only occurs when it's just me, the projector screen, and a good bottle of wine. :-) I talked to my parents and then went to bed.

Wednesday morning I got up ready for the day. I was to be involved in a meeting of all the heads of each department of the Embassy- including L'Ambassadeur- so I had to look good. I got this cute shirt that reminds me of a cross between Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn so I wore that. And it's a corally-pink color so I was feeling pretty. And as my mom always says, "Look good, feel good." (Right Liz?) I got on the metro and don't you know I'm standing right next to a boy reading a book in English. It intruiged me and I was feeling social so I asked him if he was American. He wasn't. It was better: English. We had a nice conversation and he asked for my name so he could look me up on Facebook. (Ohh technology) He seemed nice and he worked at a law firm right next to the Eiffel Tower aaaand he spoke English (With an accent!) so I decided that seeing him again wouldn't kill me. I got to work, had my meeting (John introduced me and said 3 things about me: went to Sciences Po, going to GT next year, and daughter of 2 Navy pilots, to which Stapes (that's the Ambassador) replied "More on that later!" which we all chuckled about.) It was an interesting enough meeting. Everyone basically updated the Ambassador on what he or she was doing. One department in charge of security told a story about a Russian who had been arrested in Monaco the other day. He was Wanted in New York for a bunch of murders and all this stuff that basically just showed he was not a good guy. So the arrest went down as follows: Man's bank account gets frozen so he leaves town for a few days. USEMB Paris asks Monaco police to keep an eye on his local hangouts, apartment, etc. Monaco police do so, but then one day (I think it was Friday) decide they don't want to have to do surveillance all weekend so they decided to knock on man's door. Man answers door. Monaco police ask if he is the man they are looking for and he says yes, his name is such-and-such. Monaco police arrest him. Haha! Isn't that awesome?! We all had a good laugh about that. We're just glad that man is caught now. The meeting ended and I worked on the EU Presidency calendar (translated it from French to English) and other random things. After work I went to the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie to see Annie Liebovitz's expostion "A Photographer's Life." It was really neat and I got to see a lot of famous pictures that I'd seen in magazines and stuff- even the Demi Moore pregnant one. There was one of Bush and his cabinet members. That struck me a bit. It was strange seeing that man that I'd met in this gallery. Of course, he looked completely different now because that was just when he'd taken Office, but still. The exposition was interesting and I'm glad I saw it. There wasn't much thinking involved, just looking at pictures. She's very talented. She was the one who took those controversial photos of Miley Cyrus a few months back. So that was neat. I grabbed food at the Franprix close by and went home and ate dinner. I checked my e-mail and Facebook and found a message from John the Brit! He asked me to drinks that night so I went, of course. We had a great time and talked about so much stuff. He asked me about American politics and I asked him to say certain British words so I could hear his cute accent. Basically tit-for-tat, right? A little after midnight we still wanted to hang out but I couldn't go too far because I needed to get home for work in the morning, so we went to his apartment and watched "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (man after my own heart- please, that's like one of my favorite movies!) and I ended up falling asleep there. He knew I was tired so just let me stay, as if I was one of his "mates" or something. I couldn't believe I'd just spoken to him that morning. Haha. He said I was very brave to just speak randomly to him like that. I said I am my mother's daughter. :-D And thank goodness for that!!!

I set my alarm just in case I did end up falling asleep chez lui and I got up at 7, went home (with all my neighbors, vegetable/fruit vendors, butchers thinking I'd been up to something naughty the night before...great, as if they need more to talk about) showered, and got to work right on time! I didn't run into any cute British guys on the way in, but I figure everyday can't be a party. I know I always say this and nothing ever does, but "we'll see what happens with him." He's here a little longer than I am so we could potentially see each other quite a bit before I leave, but since I only have a few more weeks here...I don't know. What I do know is that it's "Friday" and it's a 3-day weekend this weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to be doing lots of touristy things and then going to a July 4th Cook-Out (Barbeque) at the Residence. I'm really excited! July 4th just kinda snuck up on me, but it's one of my favorite holidays. I love America. The rest of my day was all right. I wrote a mini-report on digital dividends and the switch over from analog to digital in the coming months/years and then got assigned a project to do a summary of the whole Intellectual Property Rights subject, of which I was involved at the very beginning of my internship. So that's cool. I went to the Tuileries gardens and read for a bit but it was chilly. Who knows what's in store for tonight. :-)

Ich bin ein Berliner- Part Zwei

The only weird thing about my hostel was that there was only one key per room. So you didn't want to be the first one asleep because then you had to keep the door unlocked so others could get in and, like me, when I thought I was the last so I locked the door, I wasn't. But it was silly of the hostel to think that I was going to fall asleep with all my possessions in an unlocked cupboard. Not to mention I didn't know there was someone else that was going to come in after me (she check in at like 2am or something). So that poor girl had to bang on the door until someone woke up- which, of course, wasn't me. I was so surprised to see someone else in the room. I set my alarm for the last possible second to have enough time to get dressed, pack up, eat breakfast, and check out. I texted Brendan to see if he wanted to hang out, had a cup of coffee (there was no food) and he called me about 20 minutes later. We decided to meet at the Potsdam Platz where the Sony Center is. I'd read somewhere that the Platz was like Berlin's Times Square, but I guess that had to be at night because I didn't really get that sense. The Sony Center is really cool, though- it's a big dome but open, so on the inside are like restaurants and a movie theater and stuff. Really neat. Potsdam Platz, Brendan taught me, was part of "No Man's Land" so it wasn't even built on until the 90s, so everthing looks new and modern. I could tell. It's amazing the difference between East and West Berlin. I didn't expect it to be so visible. We grabbed a drink and he took me to all the things I hadn't seen yet: the Berlin Wall, the Topography of Terror (where the SS Headquarters used to be), the East Side Gallery (where a really long strip of the Wall is still up and has pretty graffiti on it), and finally the Charlottenburg Chateau. We didn't go inside but we walked all the way around, sort of through the gardens and around to the cafe were I enjoyed my last bockwurst and ice cream, courtesy of Brendan. We got back on the S-bahn and I went to my hostel and he went to meet his friends by the Bradenburg Gate to watch the game. I checked out, went to the airport, and got to the gate. I flew easyJet which is actually a UK airline but I didn't hear any passengers speaking English- and very few were German. Lots and lots of French. I always love flying in Europe because when they see my American passport they sort of do a double take. And the passengers are soooo curious. Sometimes I'll have my visa and my passport out- England has always been very adamant about that. Anyway, I got chatted up by a few people who would just say "United States? America?" and I would say yes and explain my whole situation. And then, usually, they will tell me when they went to the States, what they did, and in some cases, ask if I know such-and-such person, you know, because if they meet one person in Florida, I'm going to know them. ONe guy I was talking to was actually quite interesting. He flew into LA on 8/9/01. He said he that getting back to France after the Towers fell was really difficult and that for a while, they weren't sure when they would be able to.

I still find it amazing, just the whole September 11th thing. It affected everyone! Anyway, that's enough digression...the plane ride was fine- the captain kept updating us on the match, which reminded me of something my daddy probably would do. Spain won, 1-0!! :-) I knew that Liz was going to have something to celebrate that night. When I got off the plane, I thought I would be able to take the metro, but nooooo, it was "closed." Aka- the girl working behind the counter didn't want to have to print tickets. It was only a bit past 11! It stopped running at midnight! So, we had to get on a bus that would take us to a metro/RER station. I didn't particularly mind that, though, because it meant I could just get on and wouldn't have to make any transfers- and I would be going to the even closer metro station to me! After a long sweaty-hot bus ride (standing), we arrived at Denfert-Rochereau and then I got on the 6 to Picpus. It also reminded me that I would no longer be able to ride that metro because they were closing down 3 stations. Seriously closing them. I think they're laying new tracks or something. So ligne 6 will be actually 2 lines for a while. Boo. Not that I use it that much, but it was convienent when I wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower or something around there.

Aaaanyway, I got home, unpacked, and went to bed.

Ich bin ein Berliner- Part Ein

So, Saturday morning I went to the airport. I had to take a bus there because the metros weren't open yet. I took one bus to Gare de Lyon and then had to find another to Orly.

Unfortunately, there were no really descriptive signs anywhere telling me whree to go. I had to rely on instinct and other people's help to get me there. But finally, I did find it.

Thank goodness I alloted an hour to get there because that's how long it took! I kept dozing off in the bus but I was so afraid to miss the stop I never fully fell asleep. We got to the airport and I went right through security. I didn't have to stand in line and check in because I did that at home the day before. That was nice because I didn't have any bags to check. I got to my gate and then the plane came where I promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in Berlin. And it was raining. And cold. Now, why did I bring my umbrella, but nothing more than a short sleeve shirt and cardigan? At least I was dry. I would much rather be dry and cold than wet and have lots of layers- they're going to get wet eventually. I was a little confused as to how to get to my hostel as the directions weren't very good. I asked the information desk and they told me to take the express train, sold me a ticket and a map, and I was on my way. I never found the express train, but I just hopped on the first one I found and made it to the center of the city safely. I was going through East Berlin and it looked like it. Some places just looked really run down or vacant. Sort of like going through bad parts of Atlanta. On the train, my friend Brendan called and asked where I was. I told him I was on my way and asked if he wanted to meet up for a drink later. He said he was waiting for me at the airport, but sure, would meet me wherever and take me out to breakfast.

No, seriously, the guy went to the airport to pick me up. And I didn't even know! How sweet is that?! I got off the S-Bahn and then walked to my hostel. It looked okay. I checked in, got a coffee, and waited for Brendan to call and say he was at my stop. Then we met up at the station and went to the KaDeVe- the largest department store in the WORLD! It had so many levels, and on the top was a food court. Not an American food court, though. A really nice one. It had all these different sections and people behind the counters asking you how you wanted something cooked or with what or whatever. Then of course salad, fruit, coffee, etc.

I had a roll, a plate of fruit (allll my favorites- even dragonfruit!) and an espresso (for 10E!!!).

Brendan had a piece of cake and custard with glazed fruit on top. And probably, I still absorbed more calories than him. Boys make me wanna puke. Anyway, we had wonderful conversation (With me talking most of the time...surprise) and caught up and it was just very nice. We looked out over the city and he told me what certain things were that we could see. Even though it was still rainy, it was clearing up. Then, because Brendan had nothing to do and my schedule was free, he took me around Berlin, showing me Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral, the French and Berlin Churches, the Opera, Kaiser Wilhelm Church, the TV Tower, Alexanderplatz, Bebelplatz, Reichstag, the Red City Hall, Bradenburg Gate, the Victory Column, and all that stuff. He knew so much about everything because he is German and loves history. It was so awesome! I was able to ask him pretty much everything- even who was who on certain statues and he just knew! Pretty neat. The weather turned out to be beautiful by the end of the day and we stopped for coffee (his treat) to rest and we did a little catch up of where people he knew from middle/high school are. He couldn't believe how many engaged/married classmates we have. I still can't, either. It was fun, though, becaues he was testing my stalking skills on Facebook- which are up to par. I knew just about where everyone was. we went to Checkpoint Charlie afterwards where I got my passport stamped. :-) Am I a tourist, or what?! Haha. But I had to- they didn't do it at the airport. We walked around a bit more. That day was very special for many reasons: 1) It was the day before the Germany- Spain Euro 2008 game, so the Bradenburg Gate area was filled with people already celebrating.

2) It was Gay Pride Day- and there was a huge parage on the Unter den Linden! Brendan wanted to join but I didn't let him. (Kidding.) 3) It was "Carriage Day" which meant all these horses and buggies were out. Brendan swore he'd never seen a horse-and-buggy in Berlin, but I have reason to believe otherwise. They were everywhere! And they acted as if they'd been there forever. So, this was a pretty good weekend to go, I think. We grabbed a wurst- mine was bock, his was the famous currywurst (finally! he let me buy- all of 3 euro!) and sat down and talked to Liz for a little bit. Brendan's friends were going out to dinner in a bit and they invited me to go with! We got ice cream (just guess who bought....and I'm only emphasizing this because a) I don't know Brendan that well and I really was just expecting to see him for a beer *maybe* b) even when I told his friends about how sweet he was, they seemed surprised and c) some boys need to take lessons from him.) and went to the river to see this building where it's said to look like Jimmy Carter's smile. I don't know...it looked more like their second nickname to me: the pregnant oyster. The sun was setting and it was time to get to the Greek restaurant for dinner. I met a bunch of his friends (Lars-Norway, Andrej-East Europe,

Victoria- can't remember, Amy-Aussi,Warren-Aussi, Gavin-Greek, and John-American, I think) and had good conversation with most of them. Andrej (pronounced Ahn-dray) is a twin and so we basically just talked twin stuff the whole night. It was nice to have that kind of thing in common with someone because it meant there was never any awkward silence. I talked to Lars, Brendan, and Andrej most of the night. The food was great, too! I had like a chicken kabob (American kind, with the stick), and potatoes with a raspberry flavored beer that Brendan suggested (thankfully he let me pay for my meal). Their Ouzo (the Greek licorice drink) was free all night so some people got pretty polluted. I don't like licorice, so I was safe. I was exhausted at 10pm, but we didn't end up leaving until midnight. It took forever for people to decide where to go, but before we left, Brendan again offered to take me around the next day. He'd had a bit to drink so I didn't know if he was just being nice, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to just text him to see if he was up the next day to say good-bye. Anyway, Bredan went with most everyone else, but John and Andrej took me about halfway home on their way to another bar. I was kind of uncomfortable going home alone because I didn't know the city that well but I was glad to have at least some company. Andrej offered to take me the whole way back but it wasn't neccesary. Such nice boys in Berlin. Haha. I got on my transfer line with no problem- the driver saw me coming down the steps so he opened the door for me!

The wait for the next train was 25 minutes! That was totally answered prayer, because I didn't want to wait too long by myself. I got off and got to my hostel safe and fell sound asleep.

One month down!

Thursday I got up, went to work and did some data research. At 2:30pm, we went to the Residence for a Global Entrepreneurship Week kick off. There, I got a little tour of the bottom floor of the place. It was built a long time ago and then the Rothchilds came in and raised the roof (literally, not like the dancing you kids take part in nowadays). It looks completely different now. They also took the old walls from their other houses and put them in the residence. There's even one room that is really square, but the way the wall panels are, it turned the room into an octagon! Pretty cool. There's also a ballroom which has some John Singer Seargant originals. The discours was pretty interesting, on increasing entrepreneurship amongst the younger generations. It was sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation so the head guy was there. The Ambassador introduced it and so I got to stand pretty close to him. I think I'll probably introduce myself at the July 4th picnic.

After the presentation was over, there was a reception which we were invited to take part in and enjoy the Ambassador's chef's specials. The brownies are famous. They were good, I'll admit. And I hadn't had a brownie in a while. They also had French pastries, thankfully.

After that was over, I went to the Madeleine church, becauese it was close by. I took a few pictures and then went over to the H&M to tackle the downstairs of the store, as I'd only perused the top one the day before. I got tons of cute stuff. I was supposed to meet Ciara for her going-away dinner, but it turned out that she was going with a bunch of Irish people and not really any international students, so we decided that doing lunch the next day would be better. I went home, made dinner, watched some tv and just vegged. It was awesome.

Friday I, of course, did not want to get up. But it was the last day of my first full-time week so I felt a little more excited about that. It was also the ending of my first month as an intern. I couldn't believe a month had already gone by. There was a cook out (NOT a barbeque as they like to call it, because there was no barbeque to be had! Only hot dogs and hamburgers. I would even be okay with them calling it a barbeque if they had bbq sauce to put on the burgers or something! But no, what they had, was a cook-out, on the grill...

I'm very particular. But I do come from Texas where we know our bbq.) Anyway, because I had never heard from Ciara about lunch I had that and it was really good. It's sad we weren't able to meet up, though, because now she's gone back to Castleblaney and I don't know when I'll see her again. I'm hoping to make a trip next year but we'll see. Ranna, one of the interns, heard I was going to Nice (in the South of France) July 5-6 and offered to give me some advice about where to go because her family owns a house there and they summer there every year. (She's from California.) I'll be excited to go to the beach. But this

weekend: Berlin! I already looked up tons of things to do and I may do a free walking tour.

I think I'm also meeting up with a friend from middle school who is studying abroad there.

I'm thinking about my final trips before I go: July 26-7 Prague, August 2-3 2 of the 4 following choices: Bordeaux, Chantilly, Champagne, and Giverny (probably will end up being Champagne and Bordeaux), and August 9-10 Barcelona where hopefully Liz will meet up with me.

Work ended and I went to the Louvre to finish the museum. I saw some really cool paintings and even something from an exhibition that was in Brussels a few weeks ago- this really modern artist makes things out of these beetles that are multi-colored, sort of like the colors of male peacock feathers. You know, how they change. Anyway, it was neat. I stayed until I finished the Dutch paintings and saw Napoleon III's apartments and then went home.

It was a successful day. I had a great meal for dinner, did some laundry, showered, talked to my family and then had time for just a little nap before I had to leave for the airport.

Again, I was going to Orly, but this time it was even more complicated to get there.