Santa Barbara

I got into UC Santa Barbara! Thanks to Kaitlyn reminding me to check up on things like that. At first I thought it would be annoying having to wait for each decision to come at a different time, but it really makes the waiting much easier. It is a bit more exciting because you still have surprises to open up rather than opening them all at once. Hanukkah must be nicer than Christmas. You get to fully appreciate each one without one school outshining the rest

Thought I would throw this in for good measure.

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Lazy Sundays.

A word of advice to those wanting to move to Europe. Avoid children and those coughing like the plague, because they probably do have the plague but are immune to it unlike us fortunate North Americans. I am sick again and don't really have anyone to complain to because the North Americans are asleep and my friends are out enjoying the sunshine. I am feeling the works, headache, joint aches, swore swollen throat and clogged sinuses.

I know you want to hear all about it. To top it all off, I just watched "Eat, Pray, Love" so it got me questioning life again. I have been feeling like I should be out enjoying my time here, but I just find myself looking forward to visiting my brother more than anything and wanting to be back in California where everything was marginally easier. 

I think I need a haircut.

A revival.

For the past few months I have been more or less used to the fact that I live in Paris. When I got home from Italy I wanted to post "Finally home," on my status on facebook but then it occurred to me that I would get in trouble by the people back in California and I would get called out for it. Facebook Politics. But while that sounds cool and everything, in reality it meant that I wasn't excited to see  the Eiffel Tower or anything else "parisien," because it was just everyday life. Thankfully this weekend I was able to relive some of the exciting feelings I had from my first month here. Friday night I met up with the gang and we headed to a Burlesque show in the Bastille Area with all of the bars. Burlesque is something everyone should see while in Paris, but au pairs can't exactly afford a night at the Moulin (apparently the show isn't even that good there). So our British friend told us about a cheap show for 15 euro which included drink, show and dancing afterwards and it turned out great.

We sat on the dance floor and watched men and women perform in a classy kind of way. The audience was half women, half men and although the idea was stripping, it was comfortable and enjoyable. They also had swing dancing and fun costumes. Definitely going back!

To top it all off, when I got home I noticed that the sky was finally clear enough for me to see the flashes from cameras from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, the white lights and even the orange colored flash meant to filter out red eye, something that I hadn't been able to see since last Autumn.

The Second School.

Just got back from taking my French as a Second language test, I will have the results next week, but in the mean time I got an acceptance letter from San Francisco State! Happy to be batting two for two at the moment.

:)

Summer Plans.

Listen up you guyz. (Maddy, Heather, Kristen, Julie). This is more of a planning letter to hear suggestions and ideas from everyone. It is also just to help me get my ideas out where they aren't mixed up in my head.

So my host mum has given me approximate dates and so I am drawing up approximate plans. I am working until July 8th, and my Visa for France/Europe expires July 29th. That leaves three weeks for traveling.  While I would like to see more than this, I am concerned about there not being enough time in three weeks. But I am going to do my best. My ideal backpacking trip would include all of you ladies and anyone else who wants an adventure and a stop in the following locations (I have added notes on just about everything):

London (to see "Much Ado About Nothing" on stage performed by Catherine Tate and David Tennant),
A bit of Ireland (Dublin perhaps),
Maybe a stop in Denmark (Maddy?),
Austria (I may be going sometime beforehand to Vienna),
Germany (Berlin, maybe Frankfurt),
The Czech Rep. (Prague),
Italy (just Venice because it is in the North and my sister has requested it).

I am looking at buying an Interrail pass, or a Eurail pass for the people back home. For ten days of unlimited train travel between most countries it is 575$ for those back home, a bit cheaper for me. I used this in Italy and it is great because you don't have to worry about making a specific train, you just hop on whichever train you like. I suppose the most reasonable thing to do would be to plan out a general itinerary, because hostels book up during the summer, although it is more enjoyable to just wing it. The only date that would be set would be the date of our ticket to see "Much Ado About Nothing." It would also be best for me to book a flight out of Paris on the 29th so that I could take my luggage directly from here back to the states, I can fit everything in the bags I have, but I can't carry them all around Europe.

If you want to come visit and enjoy Paris the best time would be before July, because July is going to be a huge transition period and pretty chaotic. In April I am heading to New York to visit Matthew for ten days, and if I get any time off in May I will be traveling to Spain. I have been wanting to go back there but it is always in the wrong direction. I am also looking into a weekend in Vienna to visit my friend Sara!

If you have any suggestions, please please advise! I know plenty of people have done this before and I don't want to miss this last opportunity.

An Update.

February is supposed to be the worst month. No real holidays, cold weather, New Year bliss wearing off, and the name just sounds like a tease because it sounds spring-y and light. But February brought some great things: Italy, museums, a lot of reading ( I finished Gulliver's Travels and The Picture of Dorian Gray ). But March is already shaping up to be that much better. The weather has been sunny but not warm, people have come out of hiding. I went to the park with Anatole and had to stay standing to watch him because the benches were full. The boys have been so great  and friendly, the sun is up when I wake up at 7:30 and still up when I pick up the boys at 16:00. It's only the seventh but I feel like I have been doing so much.

My First Strike

Last night was Siobhan's 23rd birthday party so we went bowling with a Grease 2 theme and had a lot of fun. After two games of bowling we went to a pub where the girls we were with had won a quiz bowl the previous week so we all had free Rum and Cokes, and their friend Phillip came over and gave us a short magic show complete with cards and quick hands.

The night before I went to 59 Rue de Rivoli to help set up a small concert and listened to a great Italian instrumental band, Guappecarto, Video Below.

Moving backwards to Friday night, ignoring the fact I had to babysit the next day from 9am-4pm (for two different families) I went out for drinks with the girls and then went out dancing. But about twenty minutes we arrived at the club someone/something happened and the whole club evacuated because we were gassed out. At first I thought I was having a coughing fit and embarrassed, I backed into a corner. It took me thirty seconds to realize everyone was running out in a panic. It was a way for people to steal things and my friend's coat was taken. In the confusion that followed we decided to just go home, but it took us at least an hour to find the night bus and another hour to get home so we weren't in bed until 4:30.

Things to look forward to in March: college decisions and a trip to Amsterdam on the bus. Cheers!