So I've been in France for over two months now. As I predicted, my frequency for posting on here has dropped off. I am going to try to not let that happen. It's going to be kind of hard though, because I have a lot of people visiting me. Anni came, and then it was Nick and Carolyn. They got here Friday night and left this morning really early.
I had a lot of fun seeing them. Friday we didn't do much. I had to go tutor my students, so while I was there, they went over to the Louvre. Most of the museums in Paris have this deal where if you show then your visa, you can get into the museum for free. So they were able to go into the Louvre without paying a dime. I've actually been three times because of that. After I met them, we headed up to my house and went to a really good French restaurant. I decided that I am going to take any and everyone who comes to visit me to that restaurant. It is really traditionally French, and their food is out of this world.
On Saturday, the weather was really crappy. But, we met up with a lot of my SciencesPo friends and went to the catacombs. The catacombs are really weird/creepy/awesome. Literally walls of bones stacked about five feet high and in some spots they are three or four feet thick. Someone told me there were over six million bodies down there. I would believe that. The bodies dated from the late 1700's to the early 1800's. The meticulous care that went into organizing the catacombs was eerily beautiful. Skulls in the bone walls were put in formations, sometimes crosses, others just designs.
The catacombs kind of made me a little reflexive. I know I said before how I want to make a lasting impression the earth. I wonder if any of the nameless people down there thought the same. It was bizarre seeing skulls of actual humans that history had long forgotten. People used to live within those skulls. And now they are nothing but decorations in a tourist attraction. It made me start thinking about what I really want to do with my life. Yeah, I know cliché. But then again we all know how much I'm a fan of cliché.
After the catacombs, Nick and Carolyn went to the Eiffel Tower. I headed out to get lunch with some of my friends and then up to my house. I stopped at Picard to get some frozen food for the faux thanksgiving dinner my roommate is cooking today. I really like Picard.
Last night, we went out to go see the Moulin Rouge and Sacré Cœur. It was still raining so we were only out long enough to see the sights and get a crepe. God bless crepes. That is going to be a big part of what I'll miss about this country. That and the ability to speak French to the people on the street.
I've been having trouble sleeping lately. I have had to take some advil PM so I can fall asleep before 2:00AM. And since taking those, I've been dreaming a lot. I have had a few dreams in French, or at least partially in French. I've also had some dreams about Santa Barbara. I had one last night. Every time I have a dream about Santa Barbara, I have that incomplete feeling when I wake up. It isn't quite homesick, but it definitely feels like something is missing. Hopefully once I shower and get going here I'll remember what I have going for me here and it will go away.
I'm going to my first class in over a week tomorrow morning at 8:00AM. I don't want to go.
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