Lately, I've been busy, but also not at all. My sister's visit was wonderful for the most part. Everything was perfect until Venice when Josie and I got really sick with some flu/bug and ended up spending the rest of our time in Italy as well as when we got back to Paris in bed. We did get to experience a bit of Venice and Josie got to experience about 5 days of Paris before everything so it wasn't terrible but it was still a bit of a disappointment. We did a lot of sightseeing, a lot of shopping, a lot of eating, and a lot of aimlessly walking around. She got to see first hand how obnoxious French boys can be when two of them grabbed her face and made out with it at the club we went to Saturday night -- twice i had to rescue that poor little girl as she timidly squealed for help. All in all though, I was content just having her by my side all week. Her leaving made my time left here seem long and empty for a few days but I got back into the groove of things pretty quickly.
It has literally turned completely from winter to spring here in the past week and a half. It's completely gorgeous. Whenever I am in my room, I leave my windows wide open. It's perfect - they open up among freshly budding tree branches and the smell of summertime. Seriously though, it's beginning to have that summertime smell and it makes me ache for bonfires with friends and porch beers. But really, I've been in the summertime mindset since January. Last night while skyping my friend, I referred to something that happened last September as "last spring". This is like one long vacation. Even school for the most part doesn't feel like school to me. Which is why midterms has come as sort of a shock for all of us here in Paris. We're like "Wait, we actually have to take exams and write papers? WHAT IS THIS?"
Next fall when I go back to school, it's going to be a huge slap in the face. I'm worried that I'll have a hard time adjusting. I can barely remember what it feels like to be stressed/overwhelmed over school work. Monday was my first "exam" and my teacher's directions were something like this: "Okay, just sit down. You're going to have one question. You can take it in any direction you want. It can be answered very simply or not at all. Just write whatever you want - I don't care if it's a sentence or two pages. You can cheat if you want but you probably don't need too. Just don't use your notes. Actually, you know what, I don't want to be a stuffy teacher - use your notes if you want. When you're done writing, you can leave." Yep. That's what it's been like for me here. Not all teachers are as laid back as he is but they definitely give us a little bit of a break seeing that we're studying in Europe. It's so hard to concentrate on school - last night for example, a quick dinner with friends turned into walking around for awhile, getting gelato and judging each boy that walked past us, and then long conversations over several glasses of wine at the outdoor patio of a cafe. We could've stayed out all night, just taking in the spring air and people watching while musicians such as Bob Dylan, Harry Nilsson, and Elton John played on a tape deck behind the bar.
Besides that, I've spent a majority of my time lately reading in the parks and walking around. My favorite spot is finding a shady area to sit in the Tuilleries or by the Seine -- both are incredibly beautiful and within a ten minute walk from my apartment. I can't spend enough time outside now that the weather has warmed up a bit.
Anyway, here's to hoping the rest of midterms week goes smoothly for me -- and that i can get in a little bit of studying this morning before I have to go to class. I'm going to Loire valley this weekend to visit some castles and taste some wine ! Really excited for another road trip along the French countryside and a change of scenery for the weekend. As usual, feeling so lucky and full of life.
<3 <3 <3
