The past week and a half have been ones that brought several tastes of the USA to me here in Paris, which has been particularly nice considering that two weeks from when I'm writing this, my program will be done and I'll be in Rome, Italy. (!!)
Last Friday we had a wine tasting with the program at a wine shop and cellar near the Centre Pompidou. I learned so much about wine -- how it's made, it's history, the multi-step process of properly tasting it, and the differences between different kinds of wine. And getting to actually taste it was a huge bonus too.
After the wine tasting, a group of us went back to the Louvre. That's been one of the nicest things about this experience; living here, there isn't pressure to cram in everything that there is to see and do in Paris. We are able to do two hours at the Louvre on a Friday night for free with our student card, able to leisurely look at the exhibits and return if there was something we didn't get to see the first time. This time around, we saw the original foundations of the louvre, dating back to the thirteenth century, as well as more Greek statues, which I adored.
After our excursion to the Louvre, we met up with our first American: Naomi's boyfriend who was in Paris visiting her for the week. The two of them, Madeline, Annalee, and myself went back towards the Centre Pompidou and found a restaurant for dinner that overlooked the square of the art museum. The area was bustling with life, the atmosphere as eclectic as the museum that stood over us.
On Sunday, a group of 5 of us went to the Parc des Princes for the US vs Chile Women's World Cup game. It was the first time I've experienced culture shock from my own culture. As we were waiting for our metro to come, a horde of US fans came down the steps of the metro decked out in red whit and blue with American flags chanting "USA,! USA! USA!" After five weeks of Parisians who don't make eye contact with each other, don't talk to one another, and live in virtual silence in public places, it was very jarring to hear so much noise in a metro station. Something else that was funny to me was that while on the metro itself, I felt someone staring at me, and determined it to be an American girl right next to me. I don't know if she was necessarily staring at me, so much as just looking, but after so long with no Parisians looking at me, it felt like she was inspecting me. It was so strange.
The game itself was so cool. Aside from the US winning, I loved getting to see the national pride that US citizens have for their country, even on the other side of the world. I didn't expect there to be so many Americans, but the pure number of young female soccer teams that were there with their families was so cool. When we were leaving the game, I heard from behind me someone yell "OH" so, of course, I had to respond with "IO". That's something that is always amazing to me: you can find Ohio State fans and alumni everywhere you go, even in Paris France, and they bring a piece of home with them.
On Monday night, I met up with my first every French teacher and a very good friend of me and my Mom, Louise. She was here with her french students and I got to join them for their last meal in Paris before heading back to the United States! It's so nice to get to see familiar faces from home, even if just for a moment.
On Wednesday, I went with my history class to the Musée d'Orsay, which I have to admit I like more than the Louvre. I'm a huge impressionism fan, and the collection of impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay is stunning. I can't wait to go back with Mom. It's the one museum she requested we go to, because she didn't get to go when she was last in Europe.
On Thursday afternoon I got another bit of home. Our long time family friends the Brzozowskis were in Paris for the week and I got to get lunch with them near the Musée d'Orsay just before the end of their trip. It was so wonderful to get to sit and chat with them, hear about their trip so far, talk about my experiences, and once more have home brought to me while I'm abroad.
A week filled with so much people from home made me both miss home but also reminded me how little time I have left here and that I need to enjoy it as much as I can. This was also the week that I began to get emotional about my program ending. This is something that I've looked so forward to for such a long time. As much as I've loved it, despite the hard and challenging times, I'm so sad that it's coming to and end. But that just makes me more eager to get as much out of it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, " I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
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