Alas...I am still alive!

Absolutely shamelessly, let me apologize for so utterly ignoring this here blog. I guess I'm just not of the blogging inclination, but alas don't worry I am indeed still alive and well.

Cliffs:

Currently doing: Trying to work on Vie Politique paper. The prompt? It's Is France homogenic? ...I'll talk more about why this is a problem later on

Current track: What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield from iTunes radio. All New Jammin' 101 check it out. Also gotta mention a typical track that plays in bars in Paris,Walking Away by The Egg. If you know me at all you can see why I like the song, but I actually do like it.

Currently reading: Does Technology Drive History? ...okay not currently but I felt the need to share that I had to read this book for a book report (yes a book report) for my University class. 10 pages single spaced in french.... tough stuff

Currently thinking: well past the half-way point with only a month left of classes. May will suck. Still procrastination trumps all

It has been well over two months since I've updated my blog and in that time I guess not too much has gone down. But I have traveled a bit. I've been to Barcelona, London, Belgium, and most recently Rome for spring break. I never thought I'd be so lucky to hop around Europe like this, but lo and behold thanks to God I have. Now all those places deserve a post in their own rite but suffice it to say for now that each one was so different and unique and all places I'd love to visit again. For now enjoy a little something from Barcelona:

Cheesy video I put together for a Reid Hall host-family/student gathering...

Other than my trips I've just been enjoying Paris. For the last two weeks we've been on Spring Break and my host-mother has been in the south of France. It's been nice but at times weird to have the house to myself. I've been making attempts at cooking, with mostly successful but unvaried results. Spring has really given new life to this city, which everyone always told me is so damn gray. This is true, but since spring has rolled in we've been enjoying some sun, which is apparently rare. The best place to be in spring is les Jardins de Luxembourg--it's like a curtain of green is all around you. I'll try and put some pics of of that soon.

I've also been lucky enough to see a couple friends from back home, Justin and Joey. I saw Justin literally the night before I flew out to Rome. I was actually supposed to be in Florence but I got shafted on the ticket so I didn't end up going--but I got to show Justin a chill night in Paris. A few days after coming back from Rome I got to see Joey who had a couple-hour layover in Paris before continuing on to Israel. He had gone back to NYC for his spring break, something I actually would have done too had I the money for a ticket back home. That seems to surprise people, the fact I'd actually go back home for a bit--being abroad will do that to you. It was good to see that Joey had some of the same thoughts about being abroad, it's definitely an experience but most of all you get to appreciate home so much more--meaning Columbia and the States. It was great to hear some updates from stuff going on back home from these guys.

So about that school situation. Reason we appreciate home so much more is because quite frankly the school system here sucks. Obvioulsy this is biased and unfair, but when your school is on strike and you only have 1/2 the class you're supposed to (some none at all) and are still expected to hand in the work crakiness is only to be expected. But all joking aside, the system here is weird and unfortunately even the Columbia classes are less than stellar. Unfortunately this translates to uber procrastination. As my good friend Reb Salls pointed out, it is a disease and I'm most certainly infected. You can see from my essay prompt, though, why I'm less than enthused to write these papers. But don't worry, they always get done.

So I think I've gone on long enough again without any visual breaks by way of pictures or anything. Whatever, I still want to share this one anecdote. Well it's not really an anecdote I guess, but something interesting at least to me. So when I first got here I had been looking for a place to go to church, specifically in Spanish--it's just what I'm used to. I had found a mass funnily enough at St. Germain des Prés, a famous church (maybe I mentioned this already, sorry if I did. I hate when people retell stories) Anyways, it turned out that that mass wasn't right for me. The people were kind of cold so I just stopped going for a while. When Easter rolled around, though, I felt I should find a new church to visit.

I found a Latin American church and thought it would be perfect so I went there for mass. At that mass there was a girl who was getting baptized, confirmed, and having her first communion. Now what made this so interesting was that the girl was half Pakistani and half Peruvian. She got up in front of the congregation to present her petition to be baptized into the community. She said that since her parents were of different religions they had decided to let her choose her own path, and she decided to be Christian. Now this just blew me away. It was just so amazing to be in France listening to mass in Spanish/French seeing this Pakistani-Peruvian girl choose her religion. Mindfuck. The people were nice there, and I was even invited to the small celebration they were having in the girl's honor after mass. I didn't go so as to not impose, but it was nice of them.

It's those random experiences that make this whole study abroad thing so cool. Hopefully I'll have more and different ones. For now, I've bored you long enough and I should get back to my "work."

Shout outs to those of you who remind me ever so often to update this, specially Vincent. Hope you like and I promise to try and update more often (on your prodding). But no, I will at least post more pics from my trips.

Take care, Em.