Merlot is great.

Warning: I've had too much wine to post this. 

But I'm going to do it anyway. Please forgive any incoherence or grammatical errors. WEEEE!>@?#!!!

Last you heard I was sleeping... cool. 

Well, since then, I woke up. I know, right?! Weird. My roommate and I, Jeanna (pronounced Gina) went to "orientation" at our study center, or the place where our classes are. Turns out, she's awesome. We bonded last night after discussing how similar our lives are. She's also best friends with Drake Carden, my fellow AG-er as many of you know, and those of you who don't, it's the long-form improv troupe I was in this semester. So that helped to nurture our friendship even further. Cool things. The meeting was super boring. I met Shane and Tiffany. Also cool people. The first people I met (besides Jeanna) who aren't "nice." Perhaps friendly, but they have a level of bitterness that to me, makes them human. With the trip consisting of 90% females, the trip is far too "nice," - there is absolutely nothing to talk about with generically nice people. I appreciate a level of schadenfreude, or at least, multi-dimensionalism. Yes, they're exchangeable for me.

"Who cares?!" 

The meeting was just our AIFS guides being parents for those whose who weren't previously forewarned that, god forbid, life has people in it who know how to prey on obliviousness. After we finished there I had my first completely unsuccessful interaction with a French person. A few of us went to a cafeteria and a Frenchman asked if we wouldn't mind waiting two minutes, and I thought he asked how many people were in our party. Needless to say, when I replied with " no, five" he was a bit confused. My friend corrected me, fortunately. Yikes.

I ate what I believe to be fish pizza. I was too

 afraid to ask at this point. It was stomach-able.

 The dessert pie thingy was delicious!!!

Next was the bus tour of Paris!! It was absolutely stunning. I didn't really believe I was here until I did this. The stubborn, American inside of me fought, "Shit, you ain't seen the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, or the Arc de Triomphe? Sure enough hain't Paris, girl." When I finally got to lay my eyes on these landmarks, I believed where I was. Sure enough, in all of their indescribable splendor, they are here. Each took my breath away in way that can't be painted in words or ink. I was told how beautiful this city was, but nothing can prepare you for something this different. It baffles me how someone can just live here without stupor-ing to all of its history. I suppose the same way someone can live on the beach without wanting to be there everyday- an emotion I'm a bit more familiar with. While on the bus tour I realized something- I forgot to put my camera card back in my camera. Damn. Probably the best opportunity for photos I'll have... and there it goes. Well, I asked a couple people to take photos of me and I plan on stealing from others' facebook albums. Shamelessly.

While I have managed to make a few friends on this trip, I seem to have missed making a companion. My roommate is close, but she and I have been separated a lot. I noticed this on the bus tour when, after being one of the first people on the bus, finally a faculty member sat down next to me. There is something sad about being the lame kid on the journalism school's Paris tour. I talked to Tom, the advertising instructor. He reminds me a lot of my grandfather. He speaks in ultimatums and certainties. Great guy; probably too laid back with his students.

 Tour: saw a bunch of cool stuff I will post pictures of with witty (trying hard) comments.

Group dinner: All 90 or so of us ate on the Champs d'Elysee, the famous street that leads to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a fairly American dinner with mashed potatoes that made me tear

 with homesick joy. The creme brulee was nearly orgasmic. No elaboration. Burnt cream of the gods- Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, and all that stand for anything good in the world. After that.. 

Guess what I did?!?!?

Climbed the Eiffel Tower. Awwww yeaahhh.

Guess what I saw?!?!?!

A guy proposed to his girlfriend! I died. I was about to slap the bitch if she said no. Fortunately she said yes and then they made out for five minutes. It was great. Everyone watched and they went about their business.

Tangent thoughts-

Paris is the city of love. Right? Well hell, I don't know. What I do know- it is the city of shameless affection. People kiss and touch and make out everywhere you go. And the most surprising part of it- everyone else is totally okay with it. It's just another thing happening in the world as far as the public is concerned. It's awesome. I always want to high-five them, but realize my comfort limits too early to do so.

On the Eiffel Tower- The whole thing was lit, as per usual. But at eleven o'clock, a whole bunch of mini lights began to flicker rapidly, creating a wonderful light show. It was really quite magical. A couple of creepy German guys began following a couple of us around and trying to sniff our hair. It was weird. We escaped.

Off- There are men EVERYWHERE trying to sell you miniature

statues of the Eiffel Tower and scarves. If you acknowledge them for even one half a second, they begin to stalk you, trying to get you to buy something. While walking near the tower, a man approached us. He was pitching his product until he approached the girl next to me and said in her ear "I'm fucking you, I'm fucking you." She, naturally, was stunned, and we walked away quickly before bursting out with uncomfortable laughter. "Did he seriously?" "Yep, I think so." "Wow." I was just glad it wasn't me.

My favorite was the one who offered me, "Hey pretty lady, bling bling?"

HA. Awesome.

I'll report on today, tomorrow. I don't like compounding.

Bonsoir!

Listen  to "Belgium" by Bowling for Soup