Beautiful París

What is Paris? The city of romance? The capital of France? That one place where they have that cool tower? The international city? Or all of the above? My experiences fit into all of these categories and more.
I’m guessing the first thing that pops into your head is, “The city of romance? What hot French guy did Jocelyn run into this week?!?!” Well, to tell you the truth Caitlin, I did run into Pierre! However, he was a middle-aged college professor with an excellent English accent who helped us get around the city and in no way created a romantic atmosphere! The crepe man, on the other hand, was workin’ it! So, a few friends and I were in dire need of some crepes on our last night in Paris and, so, stopped at one of the many crepe stands to splurge. One of the other girls ordered first, and the first sign of our evening’s entertainment came when the man spreading out the batter for her crepe asked her if she would like extra chocolate. The next question, however, had us doubled over laughing. The seemingly sensitive crepe man looked at her in all seriousness and asked: “Have you ever had a French kiss?” She turned bright red, looked at the crepe she has just bitten into and says, “This is a really good crepe!” Him: “But have you?” Her (to me): “Isn’t this a really good crepe?” Him (in all exasperation): “You haven’t answered my question!” Her (to the only boy in the group, under her breath): “Will, will you pretend to be my boyfriend please?!” Meanwhile, the rest of us just gasped for air mid-laughter. :-D In the end, she gave him a kiss on the cheek goodbye and we made off with the best crepes ever!
Aside from its ever-romantic air, Paris is certainly diverse. It has a huge black population and many Asians, which contrasts notably with the comparably homogenous population of Spain. But the tourists also make for a diverse, interesting city. Friday night, Martha, Maurício, and I –two Americans and a Brazilian- find ourselves accompanying a group of Mexican guys around the city and comparing the Spanish and Mexican eating schedules, among other things. An hour later, I find an Indian family, strike up a conversation, and discover that I was just in their hometown of Bangalore this Christmas! The Korean artisan cut out my profile in paper, the French man served us dinner, and the rest of the exchange students from the Philippines, Australia, and America joined us shortly thereafter. Can you imagine the amazingly interesting conversation that springs from such a varied group?! Over dinner on the first night, we got to hear all about Veggymite –the Australian equivalent of our peanut butter which is immensely popular, eaten on bread, apparently made up of vitamins, and of an unappealing grey appearance! Needless to say, peanut butter sounded better to most of us compared to that unidentifiable grey substance. Note to self: taste Veggymite when in Australia.
So what did I do while I was in Paris? Well, I certainly walked a lot, so that might have worked off the calories from the crepes and French pastries, but I doubt it! I ate this delicious raspberry tart on the second day which was indescribable, but lets not get too far off topic here! We were talking about the walking. Walking and the metro made up our major means of transportation and got us everywhere from the Louvre, the Picasso museum, the Rodin museum, the Arco de Triunfo, the Notre Dame, and, of course, the Eiffle Tower. The highlights were, of course, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Eiffle Tower, although I only went to the second platform of the tower and not the top. Incredibly enough, we spent less than two hours in the Louvre, which is a great treachery in my opinion. We saw the Venus de Milo and Monalisa as a group before we were set loose in that immense museum to more or less fend for ourselves. I had just enough time to seek out a favorite statue of mine called Eros and Psyche before I hit up the gift shop for a minute and met the group again. *sigh* I think I’ll need to go back for longer with my dad over the summer. The Notre Dame is most interesting from the outside and when admiring its splendid stained-glass windows. And just in case everyone is wondering, I have an affinity for Renoir and Van Gogh out of all the impressionist and post-impressionist painters. I´m not a huge fan of the painting from the Renaissance, but I love Michael Angelo´s sculptures –the most perfect being his David- and Tiziano uses some beautiful colors. How about you guys? Who do you prefer?
Our first introduction to the French people was our waiter on the first night. A loose, handsome man with flourishy mannerisms and aloof posture, an eruption of giggles sprung from our table of girls shortly after he walked away for the first time. When I get back, ask for my impression of him because it is beautiful. Everyone else was admiring his blonde hair, jaw line, or forearms, but I was just amused by the way he carelessly organized the straws in the used cups. When a friend pulled out a camera so that she could show some of us pictures, he even said, “Oh, you want a picture? I can pose nude!” I dunno; all these Paris guys certainly have their one-liners!
All in all, I really enjoyed spending time with the other exchange students and sharing our experiences. Some of them have not been as lucky as me and others seem to be even better off. For example, one girl feels isolated from her haughty classmates and has no one to go out with on the weekends. She feels that her entire opinion of the Spanish and their culture has been ruined by this experience. On the other hand, another guy went on a trip to Scotland with his family, has a great group of friends, and gets along well with his host brothers. The reasons why everybody decided to come to Spain was as equally varied as what they got out of their experience. Everyone comes to learn Spanish, but some come for a change of scenery while others come to escape bad situations at home. Others come to find themselves and still others just want to have fun or discover the culture. Most everyone loves travel, but that is the extent of our shared interests. Some like theater, others do sports. A couple girls realized their shared interest in Arabic whereas another few recounted experiences from their rock bands. You just can’t categorize exchange students. Ultimately, all of us end up being outgoing, but we don’t all start out that way. The need for survival quickly draws out a more forthcoming person in each of us. Everyone is friendly and no one went home without a new list of emails or myspace names. Yes, we do speak English among ourselves, but it was refreshing to whip out those classy vocabulary words after a few months of sitting there collecting dust on the back shelves of my mind. All of us were tripping over our English for the first few days, and I kept on saying Gracias to the French store clerks. Worse still, I almost used Merci on the panadería woman this morning! Oy ve!
At any rate, Paris is a beautiful city, just as everyone has told you before. The river bridged by ancient stone majesties, the avenues lined by lovely tall trees, and the French baroque style buildings standing strong in proud symmetry all blend into one astounding landscape peaked by far-off sky-scrapers and towers. It is one of the most beautiful cityscapes I have ever seen, second only to Granada with its alit Alhambra at night. Paris is reminiscent of Barcelona, but the people and the ambiance is very different; Barcelona is more relaxed. But compared to New York, Paris is as relaxed as peaches! New York certainly symbolizes the work, work, work mindset of Americans. The French have flair and fashion, the Spanish feel laid-back, and the Americans have their progress. Well, that and our reputation of being big in every respect –big buildings, big cars, big country, big everything! Paris is great and all, but Granada takes the prize in my opinion, and Barcelona, New York City, and San Francisco all stand out along side Paris. I guess I should also see Paris when there isn’t so much rain and cold weather.
At any rate, I could go on and on about the daily schedules, which included getting up way too early, getting back to the hotel rather late, sleeping very little, and playing the “hurry and wait” game since it is so difficult to travel with such a large group. Let me know what you want to hear more about and I´ll be sure to rant about it to the saturation point.

Well, much love and thanks for reading! You have no idea how much you increase my feelings of self worth by taking the time to catch up on my life!

Besos,

Jocelyn