France Study Abroad

AAA: Go Away!

On my way back from a lovely multi-hour stroll in Paris this afternoon, I discovered there are three things that I should avoid putting together, and they all happen to begin with A, so my slogan is now AAA: Go Away! The three A's are Awake, Apartment, and Alone. So, the point of AAA: Go Away! (Just a clever way to say it!) is that I should try my best to limit the time I am Awake, in my Apartment, and Alone. It seems my overall enjoyment of the trip will be directly related to the time I spend AAA: Less AAA=More Enjoyment!

So, last night, as you could see from the pictures we went out for cocktails and dinner. It has become apparent to me that my distaste for alcohol, wine in particular, or my distaste for coffee will have to be sacrificed in order to have some semblance of a social life here. It seems not many get together around Pain au Chocolat or Croissants alone, and when I refuse coffee, or wine, it seems rude. We'll have to see which one wins out. Dinner was a bit awkward at first, particularly before we got to the restaurant because we were walking and I did not realize that the man from Ukraine only spoke Ukrainian and soon after realizing that did I find that the three people who I thought spoke just French were pretty fluent in Ukrainian as well. So, there were a few times when I found myself out of the loop (particularly around the time when they exchanged bad martini stories). We went into a small store that sold some pretty smelly food, and a lot of it too, and they said, "Oh yeah, they sell everything here, all kinds of food, even United States food." So, I looked around for a familiar brand or two, but the only one I found was Skippy peanut butter. Oh Well! But dinner was great albeit a bit awkward again around the topic of not really knowing what I was ordering but it turned out ok.

Today I woke up and moved out of the hotel in pretty good time. I brought by things down the street to the office and left them there as the guy wasn't quite ready for me yet. So, this was a perfect opportunity to go out and see Paris. I procrastinated a bit, fooling myself into thinking I could plan the trip via metro from just the map in front of me. I eventually left for the train station got my ticket and went off to Champs-Elysees, with an eventual hopeful destination of the Eiffel Tower. The metro was pretty packed for a Sunday afternoon but I made it just fine to the stop I wanted (even after making a connection). I continue to be amazed at how much of Paris I remember by just walking through it. I remembered running up and down Champs-Elysees two years ago for a reason that now escapes me. I also remembered and took a picture of the restaurant where I first experienced the French was of preparing anchovies: whole! I had ordered a Caesar salad at a very nice restaurant right on Champs-Elysees and it came with the fish looking right up at me, and I pushed it aside and didn't touch the 15 Euro salad for the rest of my meal. It was a horrifying experience for my mother (and our check at the end of the meal). I continued down Avenue George V to make it to the Seine River at which point the Eiffel Tower was in sight. I walked through some of the garden/park walkways to get there, and by God I'm not sure I have ever seen that many people. The lines under the tower were so long, so good thing I had already been up the tower multiple times before, because those lines would have been bad! So, I continued walking down under the tower and then down what I would compare to the Mall in Washington D.C. After that I navigated my way to Sacre Coeur with just a brief run on the Metro. I walked by the Montmartre cemetery which I vowed I would come back to because the tombs and sarcophagi looked very cool. I walked along the artists route where the sketch artists are, ready to pounce on you. I recognized the man who drew (or, tried to draw) some of the girls from our group 2 years ago and snapped a picture of him while a few people tried to get me to pay them to draw me. I wound my way around the basilica and, again, hundreds of people were on the steps, walking around, taking pictures etc.

After spending some time there I headed back to my apartment and moved my stuff into the room and organized it into the closets and such. I am now all moved in there. My day was full of exciting things to see, and I got a good grasp of the metro, so I'm going to go out shortly to find dinner, and then come back here and sleep. I'm going to try to find some place to go tomorrow, I don't want to go everywhere in Paris just yet so I may visit the countryside and see what that has to offer. It's nice to have options, as long as they don't involve the three A's. Goodnight, and enjoy the pictures:

First Set of Pictures

If it's too fast you can move your cursor over the pictures to pause it and read the comments.

Paris, Here I Come!

Much better day yesterday! I was given some work to do which kept me occupied which was nice. I was translating an explanation of their work which was actually cool because I was able to learn more about how they do what they do. On Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) I will be starting work on the website, which will be nice. I met my mom's friend's brother for lunch yesterday. He is a professor at DePaul University and brings groups over to Paris frequently. He took me to a nice French restaurant and gave me some suggestions on things to do here. After that I went back to work and continued translating for a little. After work I ventured out into the city. I didn't go too much into the touristy part, but stayed in the more business district. It was towards the end of the day so shops were closing and people were going home from work, but I got some food and began to feel comfortable with the city. Tonight we are having dinner with a man from Ukraine who, I guess, has worked with the team when they go over there. Tomorrow and Monday I have pretty much to myself, so I'm hoping to get on the metro and really explore the city. I'll be taking my camera so, hopefully if you check back tomorrow night, you can see some pictures.

The First Night in Paris: Hosted by the BBC

So yesterday was a bit less exciting than I thought it might be. I met most of the people in the office, they were all very kind and welcoming. I then brought my stuff over to the hotel where I will be staying until my room is ready and could no longer resist the temptation to sleep. So, I took a nap and then returned to the office to see if I was needed. I was not, so I returned to my room and lay down again. In trying to find something to watch on TV I came across BBC which like almost all news stations just looped its stories so within a few hours of tossing and turning I had almost memorized most of the stories. Anything you need to know about the European effect of GM's probable bankruptcy I could probably tell you. I'm hoping that later on today I can get out into the city to see some sites, but that involves navigating the metro, so we'll have to see.

Overall, my first day was pretty uneventful. I do feel a bit homesick, but I'm hoping that passes soon and I can start to really enjoy this wonderful city.

My Flight and Arrival

So, I have safely made it to Paris. The 7 hour flight was great, I had no one in the seat next to me so I was able to stretch out and sleep most of the way. I was picked up at the airport by a very nice gentleman and brought to the office in Paris. My apartment is in the office so my bedroom is right next door to Fr. Desbois' office. It seems that there is a bit of overlap in the occupation of the bedroom so until May 31^st I will be elsewhere I suppose. I showered and got dressed for the day in just a few short minutes and am now waiting for Marco, the executive director of Yahad-In Unum to come and show me around.

 

My French has been used twice now. A woman at the airport in Boston (so even before I got to France) was having trouble at the security checkpoint so I translated for her. The man that drove me from Charles De Gaulle airport (which claims it's in Paris, but it actually took us about an hour to get from the airport to the office) to the office was showing me landmarks along the way and we talked a bit. I realize I am a bit rusty and stumbling a few times but overall I am handling myself pretty well.

 

I expect today to be an exciting day. I will be seeing the operation first hand and meeting a lot of me people. I look forward to updating you later on tonight!

Introduction

Hello Everyone and welcome to the blog for my internship in Paris.

The internship starts next week but my flight is tomorrow night and I am very excited. Once I get there I will probably be too excited and have too much to say to tell all of you how I got this opportunity. So, now is probably the best time to do it.

Way back in December I was asked to film an event for the Center for Christian Jewish Understanding(CCJU) at Sacred Heart. They had many speakers who are well known in the world of Christian Jewish Understanding come and talk. I filmed a few of the lectures and was intrigued by the topic. I went to the director of the center and asked what I could do to help bring the message to the students. One of my favorite things about Sacred Heart University is that everyone is very willing to accommodate you and willing to work with you on many things. The director, Dr. Heekin, told me about a speaker they had coming in March for the Human Journey Colloquia Series, Fr. Patrick Desbois. Father Desbois had just published a book about work he, and his organization, Yahad-In Unum(Together), has been doing in Ukraine studying the holocaust and excavating mass graves to give the Jews a proper burial. Dr. Heekin asked me to help promote the event. I designed a YouTube videowhich was sent out to the University and different local organizations to promote the event. In return they invited me to lunch with Fr. Desbois when he came to speak. I was able to have a conversation with Fr. Desbois in French when he came, as I learned French all throughout my years in school from Kindergarten on. He must have been impressed because when the thought of me working with him the summer came up he was very receptive and along with his assistants, within the next few months we had come up with an internship for me.

So, when I get to Paris I will be working with the organization at their office in the business district of Paris. I will be working on some document translation, some website work, and anything else they need. I will have the weekends off and so I am in the process of planning trips to England (a priest that worked at Sacred Heart is in Southampton now), Belgium (one of our President’s assistants is a Sister of St. Maryof Namur, whose mother house is in Namur, Belgium), Rome (the mosaic artist that did the mosaics for our new Chapel has a center called Centro Aletti near Rome), and the Vatican (Fr. Desbois is an advisor to the Vatican on Catholic Jewish Relations so I’m hoping to get an inside look at some of the landmarks there). I will also be visiting the office of the International Federation of Catholic Universities of which Sacred Heart is a member.

So, needless to say I am very excited for this. I am there for 6 weeks, so I will be back in mid-July. Please feel free to leave comments, ask questions etc. I look forward to keeping you informed on my activities in Paris.

NEW SUMMER 2009 BLOGGER!

Please check back soon to read the blogs of our Summer 2009 France Study Abroad/Intern student, Samuel!