Week 3

So, I woke up on Monday the 17th with a full-fledged cold :( Headache, constantly running nose, cough, watery eyes, and even a fever. I couldn't bring myself to get to class, so I stayed in bed all morning and slept. I would have stayed there all day, but I actually had to go visit Dauphine, the university I'm going to be attending. I had to meet at the MICEFA center in the 5th and go with the others also going with one of the MICEFA staff members. Dauphine is on the exact opposite side of the city compared to where I live, but it's the only school that I can get credit to transfer to the Robins School. Each university in Paris is numbered, and has its own subjects that it specializes in. For example Paris 8 specializes in more "artsy" courses like dance and cinema. Dauphine, or Paris 9, is the business university. Once at Dauphine, I was able to fill out a form to receive a student ID, which I picked up later that week on Friday.

This whole week I was sick, so I didn't really do much after class. I usually went home right after class and relaxed, so I could be better by the weekend.

Flash forward to Saturday the 23--I went to "Paradis tzigane," a gypsy circus in the 17th with MICEFA. I didn't know what to expect, but it was great. As I was walking there, I saw the tent in the distance and knew I was in the right place. However, when I rounded the corner and went into the courtyard where the tent was, I was confused, because it was amongst what seemed to be a junkyard or trailer park, full of old trailers and debris. Despite this, I heard music coming from the tent and knew I had to be in the right place, I mean, how many gypsy circuses on boulevard de Reims in the 17th could there be? I slipped through the tent flaps, and sure enough, there were tons of families with their kids, and a tightrope walker in the middle of a performance. It was an experience that was totally non-touristy, and I was so glad that I went.

The next day I was supposed to meet my "Dauphine buddy," someone who goes to Dauphine who was assigned to me through Dauphine to be a contact and friend while I'm here. His name is Cyril, and he's really nice. We ended up meeting at les Halles metro, where there are actually tons of stores and even a movie theater. However, all the movies were sold out by the time we got there, so we went to the Bibliothèque Mitterrand stop where there is a GIANT movie theater. We ended up having to wait an hour anyway to see a movie there, but it was good because we had some time to get to know one another, and I practiced my French a little, and he practiced his English, which he is very good at. We saw Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, in VO, or version orginale, meaning it was in English with French subtitles.