La vie

So, it does seem to keep reoccurring that Thursday afternoons at the IMA are a little bit slow… but I guess that means I should update my blog since I haven’t done it since Sunday and I could write about the past couple days and what I am so looking forward to in the next few days and in the next few weeks!

So last weekend I came home from Bayeux… and I did not make it to the Salon du Tourisme as I was hoping to, mostly because I ended up sleeping in since all of the excitement from the day before had been very tiring. But between March 21-23 Paris was having what they call le printemps du cinema… which means that all movies at all theatres at all time are showing for only 3.50 euro, and since I was not about to miss out on an opportunity to go and see a cheap movie! So on Sunday afternoon I went over to les halles where there is a rather large theatre with lots of choices. It turns into a drug dealer haven at night, but during the day it is fine, so I went and picked a movie called Le reve Italien (the Italian dream) which was an Italian film with French subtitles. It was the story of what was going on in Italy int the late 1960’s, whith many socialist and communist movements that were led by students. The same kinds of things were happening France at the time (have you heard of Mai ’68?) and in the United States too, on a different scale, but anti-war protests and all of that were in full swing. It was a good movie, based on a true narrative… but what I was really thrilled about was the fact that I could watch a movie in Italian with French subtitles (not English subtitles!) and I understood the entire thing! There was only one scene in the movie that was sort of a nuanced interaction between some of the characters, and I didn’t quite understand what was going on. I knew what they were saying, but I didn’t really understand the meaning… but other than that I got the whole movie! I was thrilled. Then on Sunday night I caught up with a lot of people from home… which is always really nice, and Sundays seem to be good for that kind of thing.

Monday started the fourth week of my internship at the IMA… the time is going so quickly! I can’t believe it! But Monday night after I left work I trekked down to Bastille, and walked around for a while. Then Matt and I went to see another movie since they are so cheap! But this time it was an American movie, that you might have heard of or not… Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges plays a 57 year old country music star whose life is falling apart because of his alcoholism etc. It is based off of the personal lives of many of the classic country music stars of the 1970’s, a mix of Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr. It was also good, and the female lead was Maggie Gyllenhaal, who I like and Collin Farrell. It was a good story, although it made me realize a big difference between French and English. Now if there is a bilingual person out there reading this who can prove me wrong (anne) please do. But it appears to me that in French they just don’t have as many varied, colourful and multi-use swear words as we do in English. During a lot of the movie I listened in English, but watched the French subtitles to see how things were being translated… and so many times when Jeff Bridges was swearing up a storm, I thought… merde just doesn’t capture the meaning of that statement. I will spare the colourful details of some of the language used… this blog is supposed to be rated PG, but if you see the movie, you will know what I mean! I would recommend it… but don’t pay 10 dollars to see it… rent it on netflix or something.

Tuesday is always a good but extremely exhausting day. I go to work for almost 7 hours, then I have my class on the European Union, which I love, but everything is still harder in French, and by the time that Tati and Laura and Jack and I and usually some others head out to get a drink and dinner afterwards, my mind is reeling! This week was extra intense because I had a Revue de Presse to give, which is a ten minute presentation summarizing the news from the past week in Europe as it relates to the Union. The past few weeks all the talk has been about the financial crisis in Greece, and whether or not Germany will get its way and have Greece kicked out of the Euro zone, and thus out of the Union. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen, but the IMF might get involved, which will make Europe look really bad in my opinion… which will be great for the strength of the dollar… we shall see. Tuesday was also “Anit-Sarcozy Day” and the left front was marching through the streets all day to celebrate their sweeping victory in the regional elections this past weekend, and to remind Sarcozy (the president of France) that his approval rating currently stands at around 36 percent… not good.

The French are also watching closely how the Americans are dealing with the passing of the healthcare bill… since medicine in France has been socialized since the end of World War II. I think they watch with an approving eye, but they are also bemused at all the controversy it has stirred up, and how people are claiming it is the “death of liberty” since there is plenty of liberty in France, but I don’t want to get too political here… and I don’t want to get in a political argument with my mom… since she and my grandma will be here in 26 days! I can’t wait!

This morning I had my meeting with Tim (from IFE) and Mme Findakly, my directrice du stage. They come and meet with you near the fourth or fifth week, just to make sure that all is going well, and you are started on your memoire and everything… and I felt really good, because Mme Findakly had nothing but nice things to say about me, and my work which I really appreciated. She also said that she is looking for a program like IFE that is based in the US to send her daughter to (she has a 21 year old daughter; my age) because she wants her daughter to have the same sort of experience! I am looking into things for her, and if anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Now on to what I am so very looking forward to… Alana will be here so soon! In like three hours! I am going to meet her at Chatelet at 7pm tonight and we are going to go exploring and have dinner, and make plans for her visit this weekend, which already include crepes, the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d’orsay, the Louvre, the French version of Rocky Horror Picture show on Saturday (!!!!!!!) and lots more! Then the next weekend I am on an overnight train to Berlin for my three day weekend! The Monday after Easter in France is a National Holiday, meaning a perfect three day weekend in Berlin… and an overnight train back on Monday, and arriving at work on Tuesday morning… that will be interesting! So like I said before, look for fun posts with pics from our adventures this weekend… and I hope all is well for people out there!

Bisous!