MIXED in Paris: October 2009

After being here awhile, the excitement of a new, foreign place fades and with it goes the illusion of perfection. Paris is an amazing city, one I would much prefer living in than Dallas, and one I plan on returning to many times in my future. I love the people, the culture, the language, the food, and the rhythm of day to day life here. Paris is, in my opinion (keep your panties on, it's JUST MY OPINION EVERYONE, and hello, I'm the queen of hyperbole), pretty much the best place ever created in the history of the universe.

But that's not to say that there aren't things that TOTALLY FUCKING BLOW about this city. Let's go over some of them, shall we?

The mosquitoes. Listen, I don't really know if everyone in Paris has a problem with these insect monsters, or if I'm just extremely delicious or something (that's probably the case, let's be real here). But I live in TEXAS and I feel like we have a pretty decent strain of mosquito genetics - I mean, c'mon, it's mothereffing TEXAS. But no. These blood-thirsty demons in Paris are INSANE. The night before last, I was bitten THIRTY-ONE TIMES in the span of a few hours, IN MY BEDROOM. I have a kind of weird reaction to mosquito bites (IDK why, it's happened since I was little), and the bites always swell up gigantically (think a one inch diameter, on average) and are very hard to the touch. So, imagine 31 of those, all over my body. Including a few on my face. Several on my hands. Why would they be on these weird places? Oh, because I was wearing PANTS AND A SWEATSHIRT. So the 31 mosquito bites are in the places they could get to in that outfit. And get this, there were only TWO MOSQUITOS in my room. The next night I plugged in two repellants and the psycho bugs were still showing up for dinner. I basically lost my shit and went on a really insane rampage wherein I was hitting walls, slapping my hands together, standing on the bathroom sink, and prowling around my room for a few hours to kill every. single. one.
The smell. This city is big. It's home to over eleven million people. And boy are they packed tight. Needless to say, some neighborhoods get a little rank. I'd bet that the scent of a public restroom in this town is enough to render babies unconscious from a couple blocks away. Think of the amount of waste created by eleven million people. Just think about it. And try not to gag.
The metro. I know, I know, the metro is SO SUPER COOL AND URBAN. And it is. I get it. But I feel like everyone complains about their morning commute, and I don't see why I can't be one of them. The metro, when you take it every SINGLE day, MULTIPLE times, you're just over it after a while. Think of the weird physical sensation you have when you're riding in an airplane. The air is stuffy, there's this unsettling pressure feeling in your head, your stomach isn't *exactly* agreeing with the situation, and you're battling for the arm rest with some fatass who got the aisle seat. Okay, so the metro is like that, but add MILLIONS OF PEOPLE you're smashed up against (who DON'T WEAR DEODORANT), it smells like butthole (refer back to my second bullet if you've forgotten what that's like), you're underground and sweating, you gotta stand up because there aren't any seats, the driver (conductor? whatever) is a maniac slamming on the breaks at every stop so you're trying NOT to fall on the 3 year old (or 80 year old) in front of you, someone has decided that bringing their ladder and bags of cement on board was a good idea, you get crushed in the doors as they slam shut, annnnnnd there are 9482094829 BILLION BACTERIA EVERYWHERE WAITING TO ATTACK AND KILL YOU.
The cost. Everything in this city - I mean everything - is more expensive. Some things are the same price as things at home would be, like say, a generally cheap clothing store like H&M. A pair of jeans is like $40 there. Okay, so it's the same price...but it's in EUROS. So it's 40 euros which means those jeans of pretty shitty quality at the least expensive store around actually cost $60 USD. Sweet. Other shit, they don't even play around with acting like it's low price. Basic drugstore cosmetics? Pshhh, totally out of my budget. I refuse to spend 20 euros (that's THIRTY DOLLARS) on some powder foundation I buy at home from Walgreen's for less than ten bucks. Read my lips, L'Oreal Paris, you "generic brand", you...AIN'T. GONNA. DO IT. It doesn't even stay on after I sweat my ass off riding in your goddamn metro. Don't even get me started on the cost of food, school supplies, hygiene products, etc.
Xenophobia. Unfortunately, Paris isn't void of this fantastic human tendency. There is a major problem with racism here, and arguably in all of Europe, that most Americans know little about or don't realize. Western Europe has experienced skyrocketing levels of immigration in recent years from Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. And I guess that means some people have gotten defensive - and in turn, offensive. Questions of identity, citizenship, birthright, access to opportunity, and extension of rights across races carry with them a lot of tension and heated opinion in this country. I was asked today while in a restaurant with friends for lunch where I was from originally. I replied that I was American, and was born in Texas. "No, originally," was the response I got from the restaurant employee. Oh, okay, since my skin is like, half a shade darker than most people here, and because my hair is - *gasp* - curly, I can't just pass off as a regular old American. When presenting my student ID card for tickets to museums, movies, etc., I am often asked where I'm from when people read my (sorta) ethnic last name (OMG ITS NOT SMITH SO OBVI YOU'RE A DIFFERENT). I usually get a less than positive response (silence, curt nod, one of those stares like a person is inspecting you) when they hear that yes, one of my parents was born in a country where they don't speak a Romance/Germanic language and the people aren't Caucasian. Quelle horreur!

That said, I am having the absolute time of my life here in Paris and absolutely LOVE this city. Show me a place that's perfect, and I'll show you the photo album documenting the time in my life when Ryan Reynolds and I were "going steady" (ScarJo has nothin on me). Paris is a city different than any other in the world...full of culture, art, rich history, amazing sites, a unique and beautiful way of life, and yea, it's own problems too.

Let's get down to music shall we? I've been listening to a lot of A Perfect Circle while I've been here; I think it's just one of those weird situations where you revert back to something that is very familiar to you when you're in a new situation. I listened to every album from A Perfect Circle basically on repeat for like two years in high school, and really haven't listened to them much since then. This is "The Noose." Please be aware that some language in the following songs may be offensive to some readers. [:

Next up, this is "Homecoming" by Kanye West, featuring Chris Martin (the lead singer of Coldplay). This is one of my favorite Kanye songs, and I LOVE what Martin's input on piano/vocals gives to the whole thing:

Annnd here is Mariah Carey, performing "We Belong Together" live. I love Mariah, I love this song. Say what you want about her, the woman is a DIVA who can SING. I respect the fact that she does whatever the fuck she wants every single day and doesn't give a shit what anyone says. She is, if you will recall, the most successful female artist in history, with more #1 singles than any artist ever, except the Beatles. Even if you don't like the song, watch her break it DOWN around 3:03.

And just for funzies, in case you thought she was a huge joke, here is THE queen, Aretha Franklin, singing "Touch My Body" by Mariah. HA! HATERS TO THE LEFT.

Everything about that was WIN.

Peace, love, and Paris,

Rhiannon

I've been in Paris over a month. Wow. One down, three to go. I don't want this to end.

This past week definitely had its ups and downs, and there were times that I missed home a lot. Isabelle (our program director) has an interesting take on homesickness: that it's the manifestation of your heart and mind getting closer and more adapted to another culture, and therefore your heart and mind start missing being as close as they were to your previous home culture. It's a good way of looking at things, I think.

I was sick this week. Not the whole time, and feeling shitty came and went, so I was still functional. At first sign of sniffles/sore throat, I headed to the pharmacy and got some good stuff that really helped, along with Vitamin C and (finally!) hand sanitizer. Wednesday was not a good day - I woke up feverish and feeling TERRIBLE, then realized that the company I had purchased a plane ticket to Copenhagen (I'm visiting Jessica later this month!) from had charged me twice on accident (or not). I had to deal with that situation immediately and it was really stressful, seeing as my bank is in America and the travel company is in Spain. Note: Bank of America has an amazing 24-hour online service where you can IM with a bank representative who can help you with everything, just like over the phone. Later that day, after forcing myself to go to my evening French class (it's my hardest class and only once a week, so I can't afford to miss any days due to illness), I got home and realized I had forgotten my keys inside the apartment, and my host family was at the opera. I sat outside in the dark for almost three hours waiting on them to get back. It was miserable. To top everything off, I had a paper due the next day that was hanging over my head, and after getting inside the apartment and eating dinner with the fam, it was close to midnight before I ever sat down at the computer to start work. BLAH. A few hours later and not so much as an introduction to my paper written, I texted my best friend Amy and asked her to get online if she could. Amazing lady that she is, she was immediately on and we had a great talk wherein I got to vent and let everything out, and go to bed feeling not so preoccupied and burdened by everything. I woke up in the morning and wrote my paper easily before class.

The rest of the week was great, and last night was awesomesauce. It was Nuit Blanche (White Night), a city-wide event where lots of museums, parks, cafes, etc. stay open all night. We went to the Buttes Chaumont park, which had a bunch of cool abstract art stuff like a thousand red umbrellas all over the grass (whatever that means/represents) and stuff. Here is me and Chelsea (fellow curlyhead) at the park:

After walking around a bit, seeing some street performers and artists, we got on the metro and headed to Rex Club, the most famous techno club in Paris. Mathieu, my host family's son (remember? writing his doctoral thesis on techno music), had invited me and got me in for free, which was nice considering that getting into clubs here usually costs 15-20 euros. It was a really cool place, and a techno group (band? DJ? partnership of two guys wearing masks at the front of the club?) called Dopplereffekt (really famous apparently and from Detroit) was playing. Erika, Shelley, Carolyn, Alexia and I sorta got a feel for the music, which was a more mellow (not a techno expert here, don't kill me for using normal dumb people language) sound than what you think of if you're thinking techno rave house music stuff. Here's what they sound like:

After about an hour, Alexia, Shelley, and Erika decided to head out to another club, while Carolyn and I stayed. Here's Carolyn and I in the club, me sweating like crazy:

About ten minutes after the other girls left Rex, Dopplereffekt finished their set and a Parisian guy came on. It was exactly the type of music we were looking for, and it was a shame that the other girls had missed it. It was awesome, and Carolyn and I danced for awhile and enjoyed the different vibe since the crowd loved it and everyone was dancing and basically going crazy. Here's some shaky video I took of that:

So cool, right? It was an awesome experience, and I can't wait to go back. Around 2:30 or 3 in the morning, Carolyn and I had had just about all we could take of the bass booming in our ears, and we headed out of the club. Originally we were gonna split a cab home, but then after a little communicating with Chelsea, decided we would meet up with her, the other Chelsea, and Maddie at the Champs-Elysées. So, we walked. Yup. We walked from Rex Club to the Champs-Elysées. Carolyn has a map of Paris, and we figured the stroll was about 3-4 miles maybe. It was so surreal walking across the city of PARIS, in the middle of the night. You see some pretty cool things walking around this town. Like this:

That's the Ministry of Justice building. And this:

That's a large spire that I don't know the name or significance of. But the moon's in the pic! Oh, and then this:

That's the Madeleine, a really big Greek temple-style church. Pretty sweet huh? Especially at three in the morning, you just come around a corner from some random street in the middle of Paris, and it's like, oh, hey, huge world-famous building. How you doin?

We met up with the other girls on the Champs and walked all the way down hoping the McDo would be open. It wasn't. We settled for QuickBurger, and by the time we had ordered and eaten, it was 5 am. Which is about the time the metro lines open, so we headed to the nearest station and caught our respective lines shortly thereafter. I got home a little past six this morning, and immediately crashed. I woke up at 3 this afternoon. My host family thinks I'm crazy.

The graffiti keeps changing on my street! Recently this was put up: