Lady Gaga? French Revolution? You Can Have Both!

I have recently discovered the new greatest thing. Lady Gaga + The French Revolution. What could make me happier? Please watch this video! Alicia and I have been watching it non-stop, and will continue to do so until we have all the lyrics and dance mastered. Apparently this youtube user named historyteacher has been putting all of these history lessons to modern day songs. It reminds me of the days when I memorized the James K. Polk song for American History junior year of high school, except that these are all stories from European History! This video is exceptionally well done and successfully includes many important and often-left-out details. Of course all the references to Art History make me super excited. Death of Marat, Liberty Guiding the People, Tennis Court Oath, the list goes on. They even included the change in calendar! SABRINA: learn this song and you'll ace the EHAP exam! In case you're wondering, yes, I have been downloading all of these songs (all the other ones too!) from youtube and listening all the time! In fact, I think I prefer listening to the "Bad Romance" French Revolution version better than the real one! Nothing gives me a high like art and european history.

I'm kvelling right now because not only did I just watch the French Revolution video yet again, but Clare is playing the Nutcracker music while we do our homework because it just started snowing!

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the last reason I am glowing is because I have been very worried about writing my paper on the Iconography of the Crucifixion in Byzantine Art for my class at the Sorbonne. The ways of writing essays are very different here, and the vocabulary is unlike anything I'm familiar with - its my hardest class by far to understand because I am ill-equipped in the subject matter even in English. Anyways, I booked it to the library this morning and spent all day there and I wrote 3/4 of it! 8 pages in and I think I have a good shot at finishing it tomorrow! I don't know when it happened that I could write serious research papers in French but its super exciting. On the topic of fluency, let me digress a little. My cab driver the other day asked me where in Switzerland I was from because I sounded like I had a Swiss accent - not an American one! LIFE COMPLETE!

In any case, I have more work right now that I can handle. Dare I say I actually miss my chemistry problem sets right now? Now you know how many papers I have to write....

Thank you to Pearsons for visiting me on Thanksgiving!!!! I had the best time with you :) Macaroon classes, letting me gush my way through the Opera Garnier, SO MUCH FOOD, best time! Nothing beat Sabrina staying with me for the week...if only EHAP wasn't giving her so much work. Oh the Fredericks of Prussia..

AH SWAN LAKE TOMORROW
Back to work!

Bisous!

Are the Rumors True or False? And Some Celebrity Tangents

1. I applied to stay for the entire year. TRUE (150%, believe me...but that's another story for another time)
2. I was accepted!! Also True. Then NYU told me I have to come home or I won't graduate in four years. So now I'm dreading my return. True. I wouldnt be able to come home if Ali wasn't coming with me, but she is, so looks like we'll return! Better beware!
3. It will be a triumphant return on many levels. Very. True. Indeed.
4. The French are currently vying for recognition and patrimonial awards (aka international copyright) by UNESCO for yep. You guessed it. Their gourmet meal. They really are that ridiculous.
5. In place of our likes, ums, and hmms while speaking, the French have chosen a variety of funny sounds.
TRUE
My conversation professor made us a list of options to choose from while speaking. They are as follows: Beh, Bah, Beh, Hein, Euh, Buh. DISCLAIMER: Please don't try these at home. Chances are, if you don't speak French, they will not sound the way they are supposed to (everyone knows the French don't pronounce most of their letters, even in 3-lettered words)

6. I re-dyed my hair the color I want it and am now officially a redhead! The best way I can describe it to you before pictures go on facebook is that its very similar to my favorite doctor on TV, Addison Montgomery (aka Kate Walsh). This is not how I chose the color, but in retrospect, I am very pleased with myself. To be honest, I needed to prove to myself that I have changed. Pathetic? Perhaps. But I prefer to call it boldly and obviously honest and comfortable with yourself. Actually, looking in the mirror now, this is pretty much almost identically colored. :)



Speaking of television, Layla has gotten me completely hooked on the TV series called Veronica Mars. It aired while I was a freshman in high school (i didn't realize how long ago that was....am I really going home to complete my junior year?) Its about a girl who works with her dad, a private investigator who used to be the sheriff, but he was outed when he accused "the wrong person" of a murder (of course, he's on to something and turns out to be the hero). No, its not a chick-flick series. No, its not stupid. Its surprisingly well done. Unpredictable plot (even I couldn't figure out! Which already makes it better than Inception) and very witty but suspenseful screenplay. Full of irony, cynicism, sarcasm, lots of fun.  Plenty of honest social commentary. Starring Kristen Bell, if you're interested.

Recently, far too often, Layla and I have been asking ourselves, "What would Veronica do???" She really is fabu


Tonight we all lay low...its been I while since I got to behave like a vegetable, and my body is paying for it dearly. I'm drowning in art history flash cards (yay!) so I essentially spent lots of time hanging with my best friends (don't judge....dead artists can make very good company and they never say anything back to you!)

I also had a lovely chat with Aunt Donna, who inspired me to return to blogging more frequently :)

Tomorrow my family is getting here so I am going to pick them up from the airport! Maybe if they're lucky, I'll bring some treats....
SO excited! Next blog will probably be by my sister, so keep reading for a different Pearson Post!
Bisous bisous!

Here There and Everywhere!

I haven't blogged in ages...I'm sorry! I feel badly. Mostly for myself - my blog has become therapeutic and a kind of diary of my travels. I read my first post ever and my, oh my! How times, I, things, have changed....

The reason I haven't posted recently is because I've been galavanting around Prague and drowning in an absurd amount of research papers...done in French, of course. I'm loving my work, though, and am super interested in my topics so I'll be sure to blog about them soon.

Now I must finish planning my semester's travels...which are coming to a rapid close. I don't know when it got to be November 17. Or 2:00am...

Which means, forget planning. Until tomorrow! GOODNIGHT!

On top of Paris (where I being) on the Prague Airport's World Map!!!

Life in the WAR ZONE and Wishing I was a Princess

Last night, I saw La Princesse de Montpensieur, a movie about the princess in love with Henry Guise but forced to marry the Duke of Anjou, all amidst the French Wars of Religion. 1562 to be exact. Love triangles (or rhombuses rather), politics, fighting, religion, monarchies, deception... Basically, everything I could want in a movie. Cinema here is a form of art, and everything sounds more beautiful, more proufound, better, in French. I could go on and on about this movie (and probably will later) but for now, I have a zillion things to do.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mn6rMAJme8

I only have time for a very quick post because I need to finishing packing and finish all my work due for class at 2:30. Straight from class I am going to the airport and going to PRAGUE to see Ali and Emily :)

Needless to say, this morning is a little crazy.

The last thing I thought of before I fell asleep last night was "Wow. So this is life in a war zone!" My Sorbonne school, Paris I, has a hugely politically active campus. It was closed for a week and a half because the students barricaded themselves inside and rioted against the government. Between that, and the recent terrorist tapes released targeting Paris, the school is completely surrounded with Genderarmes and police, and the gates are closed! I've never been searched going to school before! Don't worry, its completely safe and just procedure.

More after Praha! Wish me a safe flight :)

Riots, Missing Trains, and a Great Night

...And I'm back!

Liz Alicia Clare and I went out dancing with some of our French friends last night. Its so much better here than in New York. The clubs play every kind of music - French techno, French folk, Vampire Weekend, French rap, American rap,  Louis Armstrong, Lady GaGa, The Beatles, Havah Negilah, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Shalom Alecham, the list goes on. The dancing is different too! Not nearly as much of the skeevy sketchiness. I got twirled around and actually danced! It was so much fun. I sang so much and so today I have no voice, not that I'm being particularly useful today anyways so its ok! 

Before we left Lille, we took a tour, but it was cold and dark so unfortunately, I'm not sure it was as informative as it could have been. I had gotten a text from my French friends asking us to go out dancing with them that night, so Alicia, Clare and I were very excited to get home. Getting home was a bit messy...

1. Boarding the bus, typical Hillary-style, I seemed to have missed the small random iron fence on the ground so my foot got wedged under it and I went flying into the bus. 

Bruised foot + loud bang into the bus = lots and lots of embarrassment. You can laugh now, its ok, It was funny and plus the bus was probably hurt more than I was.

2. Somehow, the train schedule changed and NYU did not know about it. There was a riot in Lille while we were there (I WALKED IN THE PROTEST!) and so everything was delayed and reorganized. Imagine 60 Americans sprinting across the city to the other train station in the hopes of catching a train. I would have done whatever I could have done to get home!

3. Once on the train, they told us to sit in the wrong seats so once we were all comfy, we had to move. 

4. Upon arrival, it was pouring. :( On the upside, I did get a picture with the Harry Potter ad. Police and Genderarme were everywhere in the train station and it was evident that something had been going on, but no news is good news so everything is fine.

All in all, life is great. I'm watching French movies today and having veg-out day because its raining. Perhaps I should get a head start on some of those papers....

Lille, Arras, Cambrai - Hooow Chahming...

I have not been home in days, which explains why it is 13:00 and I am still in bed, very reluctant to get up, not to mention that it is raining cats and dogs outside. Friday morning we left to go on an NYU organized trip to Lille, Arras and Cambrai, cities in very northern France - Lille is the northern most city on the tip of France, right on the border of Belgium. Truthfully, the trip probably could have been organized a little bit better because we spent so much time on the bus (we know how I love that), but all my friends and I were together so it was still a blast. 



First stop was Carriére Wellington in Arras, a complex of underground tunnels used by the British and French forces during World War I. The Germans didn't know about this at the time so the soldiers were safe here, but there were exits, like this one (Exit No. 10) where soldiers would leave the tunnels to fight. The network was like a little city! We took a tour along the way, seeing beds, food stations, letters, graffitis still remaining on the walls... The audio clips we heard, of course, were in French, but every once the narrator would say and English expression with British pronunciation but the heaviest of accents. The French pronounce every syllable, so all weekend we imitated him and his discussion of "cor-ned beef," and inserted "how chahming" and "of coouurse" into our conversations. Next stop was a candy factory in the town of Cambrai. Les  Bêtises are the candies native to Cambrai. They were made by mistake, and now they are somewhat of a national delicacy. We saw the factory and participated in a candy tasting. Don't worry, I'm bringing some home!

        

We spent the night at a chateau in Cambrai. Dinner was pretty good and when you put 40 hungry NYU students in  a dining room with good food after being on a bus all day, things can get a little bizarre. Dinner was tons of fun but we were all a bit delirious...pictures speak a thousand words. Except my rendition of Tevya's dream scene from Fiddler on the Roof isn't videoed so I'll just give you that one. We ran around the fields behind the chateau after dinner and sang Pocahontas songs under the willow tree. All in all, a relaxing evening.


Yesterday, we drove to Lille, and then I wished we had spent the entire weekend there. Before arriving, we stopped to do a beer tasting. CH'TI beer is fine beer is produced by Brasserie Castelain and has won tons and tons of awards for its Amber beer and Christmas beer. NYU should have known better than to make a beer tasting as 10:30 in the morning, but I learned all about different malts, and hops, and yeasts! Its interesting going to these tastings and such. Our French friends think its very uncultured to not know how to distinguish between wines, but they have been learning about it for years! Its incomprehensible to them that we can vote and defend our country but that drinking is illegal. There is no line between French culture and wines. Even the beers taste classy. 

Lille was adorable. The architecture was as if a dollhouse had been blown up! Julie, Kate, and I hd the greatest lunch and.....BEST DESSERT! We had been on the prowl from chocolate moulleux cake (aka chocolate fondant) and finally found it! Just trust me, cake with molten chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the best in the world. All the food is Belgian because Lille is so close to the border, so we also had mussels and great french fries (GREAT fries) and of course, treated ourselves to Belgian chocolate.

The ride home and last night will have to wait for a post in a few hours because I want to go wander around the D'Orsay, and I need to finish my laundry. I'll finish this soon!

IAMSTERDAM

FINALLY! I'm FREE! Midterms are finally over. I just got back the art history one I took last week and and I am very happy with the results :) I hope today's was ok...

Amsterdam was good. Just good. But I was homesick for Paris! Even though we only went for 2 nights, we got a great feel for the city. It's really small so we walked everywhere. By the end of the weekend we had covered the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, a walking tour, the Anne Frank House, and successfully found the letters I AMSTERDAM. Yes, it's true. Amsterdam has huge lifesize letters spelling IAMSTERDAM that move all over the city for people try to track down and climb all over! Waffles, muffins, pancakes, baked-goods galore. That's all they eat there, and it's wonderful! We went to the best pancake house, called Pancake! and let me tell you. It was fab.
                           

I think would have liked it better had I not seen the Red-Light District. During a walking tour, the guide tried to explain to us how prostitution is working in Amsterdam, and how all prostitutes are self-employed and allowed to turn down any man they want. I don't think there is any justification at all for prostitution. There is no reason in the would a woman should have to sell herself, and especially if she's self-employed, there must be something wrong. We walked through at night, and the street was lined with floor-to-ceiling windows illuminated with black lights so everything the girls wore glowed (and they didn't wear much). To their credit though, I was surprised at their cleanliness. They didn't look dirty as I perhaps unfairly imagined.The area is under constant surveillance and no photographs are allowed. As if that makes it any better. The women are like animals, standing in these window-boxes on display. The worst was when the curtains of the window were closed. We were told that the youngest is 18 (age limit) and the oldest is 82 with a 2 week waiting list! I mean, whatever floats your boat....The city just felt dirty after that. I thought I knew what to expect but, I am in fact, surprised at how upsetting it seemed. Don't get me wrong though - its a beautiful city and the waffles are reason enough to go there. There are pictures online. You can look, but I'm not posting them.

The Anne Frank house was not at all what I expected. I thought it would be a small room on display but it was a warehouse preserved exactly how it was left during the war, with quotes from her diary all over the walls. Her diary was on display. It was like a scrapbook of her life! She always intended on writing a book after the war about her time in hiding called "The Annex," so knowing that, her diary as a novel has even more meaning. After we walked through the the hidden rooms, the exhibit continues into testimony from Otto Frank. Deeply profound, he expressed that although he maintained a close relationship with his daughter, he found that reading her diary proved he didn't really know her at all. His conclusion? "A parent never truly knows their child. No matter how close," he said. I wonder if this is true. Part of me hopes its not, part of me thinks that to an extent, thats inevitable. But not just between parent and child, but between anyone. Do we every really know someone? Know what someone might be capable of?
                                         
On that dark note, I'm going to watch a French movie with Layla!
Ciao ciao

"Studying in Paris" Should be an Oxymoron.

Back from Amsterdam.
Moliere play tonight.
Obviously thats a lot to update on.
But right now:
life story = midtermsmidtermsmidtermsmidtermsmidtermsmidtermsmidtermsmidterms




So tomorrow when I'm done.....I'll be back in action.
In the meantime, help me procrastinate and  join me in a snack!

            
On toast with raspberry jelly? mmm.....