Welcome to College

In my first class on Monday, my professor opened with the classic line "welcome to college." And that's when it hit me...not only am I in Paris, but whoa, I'm in college!!!

It's crazy how smoothly the transition into my classes has gone. I'm sure it's helpful that I'm studying all subjects that interest me (i.e. no math and science) and that I'm super intrigued and impressed by my professors. Here's a brief description of each:

Eugene Ostashevsky, Cultural Foundations
He is a published poet with a Ph.D from Stanford and an eastern European that I can't quite place but I'm thinking Russian. His class focuses on the roots and development of French literature, art, language, food, etc. Tomorrow for class we're meeting at the Louvre!

Mary Lou Longworth, Writing
Again, a published author. She writes mystery novels set in the south of France, which is incidentally where she also lives for half of every week. She commutes to Paris on Monday, teaches Monday through Wednesday, then returns home to her husband and daughter and their home overlooking a vineyard. She's worn funky jewelry and glasses to both of our classes so far, so I already like her.

Isabelle Coydon, French
Even though she teaches only in French so some of it goes totally over our heads, she is so expressive that we can get the gist of the jokes she makes, which are frequent and hilarious. Her elegant French and soft voice disguises her sarcastic and borderline raunchy wit. When we can't decipher her words, she resorts to charades...also quite amusing. An hour and a half of French every day should feel much longer than it does with her!

Romi Mukherjee, Social Foundations
I tend to be a fan of any professor who often has to stop himself and say, "wait where was I? Ah yes, back to my main point..." mostly because I can relate. I've only had this class once, but his energy was absolutely infectious. It was like he had so much he wanted to share with us that he could barely keep track of the words as they were tumbling out of his mouth and bubbling up from the back of his head as we moved deeper and deeper into our discussion. I have a feeling this may be my favorite course. We had an interesting debate spanning from what society is really grounded in, to pros and cons of globalization, to how the current situation with ISIS in the Middle East should be approached. Professor Mukherjee also works writing reports for UNESCO, which is sort of one of my current dream jobs.

Speaking of UNESCO, on September 26 we're attending a panel Professor Mukherjee organized that will include discussions on religious freedom/religious discrimination. As you may or may not recall, this is the weekend we were planning on checking out Oktoberfest. So unfortunately, we must cancel/postpone our trip to Munich, but Oktoberfest will be there next year...and the year after that when I'm studying in Europe again! This is an incredible and unique opportunity I'll probably never have again to see UNESCO in action and network with members of the organization.

Even though Munich won't be happening in the near future, this weekend we do have our first trip! Our entire group is going on a class retreat to a small village to the north of Paris, the name of which remains undisclosed to us to preserve an element of surprise. All we know is that there is a beautiful chateau we will be touring on Saturday, so stay tuned for pictures of said mystery village/chateau!

Whew, this has been a pretty long-winded post, and no pictures so far! If you've made it to this point, you're a trooper. I realized yesterday that I haven't posted many pictures of my neighborhood, or even described it very much, so this seemed like a good time to fill you all in.

Our residence hall is in the Rue Oberkampf/Republiqué area of the 11th arrondisment. It's a really lively area and reminds me of the loop in some ways. There are tons of bars, cafés, shops, and young people everywhere at all hours of the night!

The café we went to before heading to the Eiffel Tower our first night out

The perspective from our metro stop w/guest appearance by Lance Armstrong

Our lovely little entryway 

A restaurant just across the street from our building

This one's for my mom...French cosmos definitely beat American ones! :)

Having a shop selling fresh pastries steps away from my door may prove to be dangerous.

As for the school building, NYU Paris is in the Latin Quarter in the 5th arrondissment with neighbors like the Sorbonne and Notre Dame. I prefer this area over where we live...both are fantastic, but it is a bit quieter here and there are more parks close by to sit and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having lately! 

The Square André Le Févré

The view of the Boulevard St. Germaine from my French classroom

Annie, Melanie and I are quickly becoming regulars here

An important pastry update: I think I have upgraded from the pave chocolat, which until today I did not believe was possible. Behold the chocolat aux almonde in all its buttery glory.

Enjoying my breakfast at the Medieval Gardens of the Musée de Cluny, which has only been around a few years (since 1334)

My alone time with this beautiful creation was rudely interrupted by yet another young man, requesting my phone number so he could invite me to the "coolest club in Paris" where his best friend just happened to be a DJ. I didn't even try to lie this time. I just said no. My mom gave me several rings for my 18th birthday in June with the idea that I could wear them on my left ring finger to fool people into thinking I was married/engaged. Mom, I know I laughed at you then, but I'm thanking you now.