food, fun, and politics

Laduree macarons and the eiffel tower - perfect day :)

These last few weeks have been crazy! I've been turning in paper after paper, finishing up oral presentations, and studying and taking exams. It's been hectic, but right now, I can say that I only have one day of class left - one more paper and two more exams!

the line for free cone day at ben and jerrys

Last weekend, two of my friends from Lyon, Bogi and Lizzie, came to Paris for a visit. It was so nice to have a little break out of the intense schoolwork that I'd been doing for the last few weeks. And the sun even made a nice appearance, so we had a picnic on the Champ de Mars next to the Eiffel Tower with baguettes, cheese, strawberries, and of course, my favorite - Ladurée macaroons. 

still in line for ice cream!

To add to the stress of this month, the part of my computer that connects to the charger decided to stop working. I thought it was my charger that had died, but after trying the charger of my friend, it was obviously my computer and not the charger :( It was such bad timing since I had two papers due the day after and the day after that.

My roommate was amazing and let me use her computer to finish up my papers. And after turning in my second paper, I went to the Apple store to see if I could get my computer fixed. According to the first guy that I talked to, the only way I'd be able to get an appointment was to go online and schedule one. The next one was in a week!! And since I'll be in Italy next week, that definitely wouldn't work. 

my friend Aly and i with our free ice cream! :D

I ended up going back and talking to another guy who was super nice and told me to wait around until he could see if there might be an opening. After waiting a bit, he said that there wasn't anything but to keep waiting and he would figure something out. So, I waited some more and finally he said that he could take my information and my computer! Maybe he thought I was going to cry and didn't wanna deal with that (cause I definitely wanted to cry)! But whatever the reason, I'm incredibly grateful to this Apple guy!!

interesting street performance - guy with a crystal ball 

Afterwards, I went and hung out with some friends for a bit and then headed home. When I got home, I got a call from the Apple store! I thought something bad had happened because it was only two hours after I had dropped it off. But the guy said that he'd finished fixing it and I could go pick it up in the morning! That was probably one of the happiest moments of my life :P I immediately called my friend to tell her and emailed my whole family! Seriously, God has definitely answered my prayers like crazy this year while I've been in France, and I'm constantly in awe :)

some amazing beef dish at a cute parisien café

Right now, I'm actually finishing up this blog post AT the Apple store. I came to pick up my laptop and the lady asked me if I also wanted to fix up the case where some little pieces had broken off - and for free too! She said it would take probably two hours or less! And since it's raining outside, and I'm not in a hurry to write my paper on this super happy day where I'm getting my laptop back, I said yes :D So, I'm passing the time by finishing up this blog post that I was going to finish before my laptop died..

best tiramisu ever!

If you've read this far, thank you :) I was just super happy about my laptop and needed to share the news ;)

my semi-croque madame

Another interesting part about the last couple weeks is everything that's been happening with the presidential elections here in France. I'm not sure if it's just cause I'm a political science student, but everything about the French presidential elections completely fascinates me! At our university, there was an interview panel thingy with most of the presidential candidates. It was a crazy day where we even had to show our ids just to get into the building to go to class!

for our director

But during that day, I got to see Marine Le Pen - the extreme right candidate, and Eva Joly - the green party candidate. I also waited for Nicolas Sarkozy (the president and moderate right candidate, in case you didn't know) with pretty much the whole uni (it felt like it with all the pushing...), but he didn't show up. 

another picture of the memorial

But this last Sunday, both Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande (the moderate left candidate) had political rallies. They're the two leading candidates right now with Marine Le Pen in third. After having to do a huge paper comparing speeches made by Sarkozy and Hollande, I was a lot more interested in going to Sarkozy's rally, even though I don't really agree with his politics. 

lunch time near uni

It was crazy! And I felt a little scared at times, being a minority in pretty much all white crowd that opposes immigration, etc.. but in the end, I got to shake hands with Sarkozy, Fillon (the prime minister), the president of the National Assembly, and a ton of other important French politicians! I felt super giddy afterwards :P Plus, I got to see Carla Bruni (the first lady - a well-known singer/actress) :D It was just an awesome day. :) 

tartare de boeuf 

Sorry for the really long update. I hope you enjoyed it though, and thank you again if you actually managed to read it all! There are less than two months left in my stay here in Paris, and I couldn't be more sad :( But I'm doing my best to make the most of it :) A la prochaine! 

news cameras outside the uni waiting for the presidential candidates

waiting for marine le pen outside the uni

she's here!

(she's the blonde lady)

and craziness ensues.. 

signs for people to hold whenever they see marine le pen

a girl next to me let me have her sign - it says stuff like hate, sexism, death penalty (basically, they want her to stop all these things)

marine le pen, the front national candidate - the students were shouting things like 'front national - f for fascism, n for nazism'

they were also saying - we are children of immigrants, the first, second, and third generations

and she said - no, you're not children (i got a pretty good view since she stopped right in front of me)

the crowd on the stairs waiting for sarkozy

eva joly - the green candidate

eva joly again

indian food on the street that has ll the good indian food

at the victor hugo house

painting of quasimodo and esmerelda in front of notre dame - victor hugo house

letters of charles dickens at the victor hugo house

my friend jamie and i at the victor hugo house

there were tons of mirrors in the house so we had fun :P

victor hugo by rodin

victor hugo's desk where he wrote some of his stuff.. it didn't say what works..

the crown of thorns at notre dame - i got to kiss it! :P

easter mass at notre dame 

the archbishop of paris at the easter mass

easter mass at notre dame

first time having french onion soup :)

tom yum at a thai restaurant

my homemade caprese salad :)

a random visit to the animal shops - i want this dog!!!

view of the eiffel tower from the jardin des tuileries

more french onion soup :p

yummy crepe - ham, cheese, and egg

street performer :)

dinner time - some duck dish

creme brûlée :D yummyy

visit to the comedie francaise :P

my friends bogi and lizzie :)

first try

second try

third try

fourth try - success!

laduree!

galeries lafayette :)

view from the terrace at galleries lafayette

opera garner from the top of galleries lafayette

someone wanna buy me this panda?? :P

or this AMAZING bear?!

at the gyoza bar

matt and meg!

aly and i :D

yummy gyoza - there are only four things on the menu - 8 gyoza, 12 gyoza, rice, and miso?

some crazy guys sign at the sarkozy rally

jamie and i at the sarkozy rally - place de la concorde

i wanted a flag!!! but didn't get one :(

fillon - prime minister

david douillet - minister of sport and former judo champion

jean françois copé - président of the ump in the national assembly - and thats my hand!!! :P

jean-pierre raffarin (merci, mariam :P) - former prime minister of france under jacques chirac

carla bruni in the purple coat :P

ahhhh i shook his hand!!!!!!!

awesome dinner with rachel and her grandma :))) (fun fact - i'm going to greece for two weeks with her!)