Nothing here sounds like it is spelled. On the metro they will announce every stop and the names are NEVER what you think they are, but the announcer has served as a good tutor for me. Today I stumbled on Champs de Elysees. I was on the way to a Dr appointment and there I was. That is the fun thing about his city is that you will just be going about your life and OH! There is..... the 10,000th cool thing I've seen. So I have grown accustomed to carrying my camera in my purse because you cant leave the house without seeing something cool-- but today, I forgot it :-(. It was a beautiful spring day and all of the flowers were blooming. It was really pretty.
There is every store you could imagine there and some delightful restaurants that look very un-gluten free and expensive. There is a GAP and they are not having a sale (in case you were interested-- they are really expensive here!?). Any ways, I have a walking tour in my book for Champs de Elysees so I think I will go back one day early in the morning and have a coffee there, then go on my tour. ** I just realized that I have not seen a hill in over a month....WIERD.

We both create our own holidays. However, I understand when people don't close their place of business on my "Whitney Holidays" but France closes everything. May Day...have you ever heard of it? I have heard of it but it is an actual business holiday here. Grocery stores, banks etc will all be closed Friday May 1, many staying closed all weekend for the "holiday". According to Wikipedia it is similar to Labor Day. I really don't know how they do it, technically I mean--because the fridges were are SO small, if you have more than one mouth to feed, you cant stock enough food in your house and most restaurants are closed.
Another thing we have in common is we both stop everything for lunch. You cannot go to the bank and several other stores during lunch, because they close. I am just fascinated by this....it would never occur to anyone in the US to just close down an entire bank branch so that everyone could leave and go eat lunch....for an hour and a half. It sounds great! Easter closed everything down for about a week! So any ways I need to go prepair for May Day so I don't run out of food.

I realized today while I watched the news that I have sure heard a few funny things about America. The quote that made me think that was by an NBC news anchor in reference to the recent death of the 23 month old in Texas from Swine Flu. He said: "In Texas-- that HUGE state in America...towards the bottom of it".
The French love President Obama, and when they find out I am American they say-- "Oh Obama"...I'm not sure what I'm suppose to say...yes?? There was another quote on the news "I like Obama more than Bush, because he is better".

Those are two of my favorite :-)

During my last trip to the book store I bought a "walking tours of Paris" and attempted to go on my first tour. I only got half way through because I had an appointment and ran out of time. While on the tour I walked down the oldest street in Pairs (which I have walked down before and never would have known) and I saw the oldest house in Pairs, built in the 1300's (there is some controversy about if it is-- its also pictured above). I kept walking and also saw the Templar square (which isnt marked), this is where the Knights Templar had their church/ castle...place of residence (lol), when they came in and took over Paris during the Roman times. They basically drained the Parisians of money and were later over thrown, but it was a cool site to see. The funny thing is that it is about 4 blocks from my house and I have walked by about 20 times and if I hadn't had my book I never would have known that it was anything but a park (there is a park on the site now).
I remember when I was in Spain a few years ago and my tour guide showed us the steps that Christoper Columbus met the King and Queen to tell them he had discovered America. But if someone hadn't told you-- it would have just been a normal set of stairs. This is why I love going on tours instead of just going it alone, cause there is so much value added to a place when you can connect it to it's history and some REALLY cool things that have happened there. Now I know why my cross street is Rue de Temple-- because of the Knights Templar.

I started feeling a bit like I am getting a cold a few days ago. This isnt terribly abnormal for me, so now i probably have the swine flu too-- which is fine. I am really glad that I am not in America, because I WOULD definetly get swine flu there. It seems to be spreading pretty quickly! I only get the news on my television, so all i hear all day long is about thr recession (I know IT ALLLLL people), and now the swine flu. Although I just heard that several French tourists are feeling symptoms.
I have been eating garlic 3 times a day -- yes raw full cloves, to help detox my stomach (I have a staph infection in my stomach-- no im not making it up). In the middle ages prisoners were forced to burry the dead from the plauge. They ate raw garlic in large quanities and none of them died from the plague (just from smelling gross- lol). So I might actually be safe from the Swine Flu. I can only imagine the CRAZY amount of people reporting to hospitals with the sniffles- lol. Any who, no one die, eat your garlic.

This weekend was some what non-eventful. I was feeling pretty tired so I spent a lot of time at home trying to rest. On Friday I made my way over to the American library in preperation for my next paper. The library is really not impressive. It kind of looks like a prison, a very small prison. There are a lot of books smushed into a very small building and the ceiling is maybe 12 feet high (for 2 floors). I was really suprised, it looked like it was from 1970 and nothing had been updated since. VERY...UN-PARIS. Any who, when I make the Dolla Billz I will pay to update the janky library. So I checked out the only 2 books they had on supply chain managment. I also got over to the San Francisco bookstore, an American bookstore. It was cute, very crowded with books and I hadnt realized it was a used bookstore (nothing is wrong with used, but if you are looking for a particular book, they are unreliable with what is in stock). So I was a little disappointed. I did today manage to get over to an English bookstore "the red wheel barrow" which was realllllly cute! The owner is a lady in her mid 40's and she knew about every book they had. They didnt have the one I was looking for but she recommended another that I bought instead, as well as a "Paris walking tour" book so I can go on tours of neighborhoods. It looked like it should be Devon's bookstore :-) I started walking around the Marais, where the bookstore was, and it was really cool. It is one of the districts that is almost 100% preserved, so the buildings are all original. It is also the jewish quater so there were tons of Jewsih backeries and sandwhich shops (i wishhhed I could eat one). There seemed to be alot of people, I'm not sure if they were tourists or if because the Jewish quarter--people arent in church on Sunday. In any case, it was VERY cool, and I need to do more exploring there. My professor from my last class hasnt posted the paper topic yet, so I havent been able to work on it. I emailed him asking for it-- letting him know, that for personal reasons I wont be able to work on it later so I need the topic so I can get started (personal reasons being that I would like to get it done :-)).

Hello, I have been gone for a month today-- and no one is emailing me :-( I need emails people. I write my little blog and try to call all of you and keep you updated, now its your turn-- what is everyone doing!?? EMAIL ME--- GOSH-A.

A few weeks ago I shared my dilemma with dental floss-- yea its like a million dollars here. While heading out yesterday my little building manager let me know that I had a package waiting for me (in french....im getting better:-)). So I got the package and there was this little gold mind of Glide (my favorite) dental floss-- ENOUGH, to last me the entire trip:-) My wonderful Brother in-law is single handedly responsible for the my dental hygiene. THANK YOU!

I love coffee, and I have for along time. It was outlawed by my track coach while I was running, but I did sneak it in occasionally in college when it was very much needed. Since I have stopped running I have begun an emotional relationship with coffee-- with soy milk and 2 sugars please.

2 months ago I started the Specific Carbohydrate Diet-- prescribed for those with chronic digestive diseases--I have Celiac. The diet cuts out all grains, most starches, all sugar and lactose. SO basically I can eat some fruits veggies, meat and home made yogurt (which removes the lactose). Anyone who knows me knows that the no sugar was the kicker. I actually looked at the diet several months ago and read the "no sugar" part, and said "no, absolutely not, there is no way in Gods name" (side note: this includes chocolate, or coco in ANY form). Any ways going on this diet drastically changed my relationship with coffee. My creamy, slightly sweet cup was now brown bitter water- ewe. It took several months of training before I could enjoy it.

Yesterday while out on the town I stopped at Starbucks to get a coffee. It is the only place I knew would have coffee to go. I will also add that it will be my last time to Starbucks Paris, as I paid 2.60 Euros for normal coffee (about $3.00). I took my first sip and thought....this is soooo weak! I have been in Paris for a month now and I have become so accustomed to drinking black strong coffee that my previously favorite coffee now tastes like brown water (still bitter, but nothing I can do about that). It is possible (business school is teaching me to examine both sides of a situation) that it was just that pot of coffee, or that location so I will reserve TOTAL conclusion. BUT I am going to integrate coconut milk into my repertoire of food so there may be a resurrection of my sweet coffee, and then the world can go back to normal.

Business school has taught me that I do not want to work as: a Conflict negotiator, or in Supply Chain Management. Who would like to guess which classes I have taken so far....RIGHT! Conflict negotiation and Supply Chain management!
Its not that the subjects are not interesting-- they are. I think it is the way that my school is set up that makes you feel dizzy. We study one subject for 2 weeks straight, all day, at a very intense level. So the three days that you are in seminar there is #1 a lot to learn VERY quickly, and #2 a lot to apply VERY quickly. If you skip one beat, one step you will be in a fog--which will stress you out when you have to apply a months worth of knowledge (which will be in about 2 hours after your introduction to the topic). Mix that with a very competitive atmosphere, add two people to your group that dont speak English well....and you get to do it all on your own! YAY! This has driven me to become very acquainted with the French culture of coffee and wine in excess. Coffee to wake up all day, wine to go to sleep all night. BUT I have always been a person of excess, so really I am having the time of my life. PS- I DID FIND THE STARBUCKS!

This is a public request. There is this girl in my class from Turkey who is a lawyer and is now getting her MBA. I have always thought that people that are lawyers and dont...practice (is that the word?) are sooo cool. Any ways I really enjoy being in school, something that I have realized after sitting in a cubicle for 2 years, so I am making a formal request to my Father: can I go to law school too. Just think of the benefits this will bring you. You will have a CPA, Lawyer, MBA and Drug connection--from just your 3 daughters. Most celebrities dont even have that many employees on retainer. I have always found law to be fascinating and that would have been my direction had I not decided on business school. So let me know what you think and I will figure out what country I'll be moving to for that, America is so yesterday.
**As my back up-- Terry Sheldon DID say he would pay for me to go to Law school- please remind him of this, perhaps there can be a deal stuck (see I'm already thinking like "Whitney Schmucker, Attorney at Law, MBA, Hello Kitty Collector")

Last night I stayed up late and finished my paper. I decided that my reward today would be a trip to sephora to buy a face wash-- I currently do not have one, and its not pretty people. If you have spoken to me lately I have told you about this plan, because I was very excited! Now-- I know that almost everything is closed on Sundays, with the exception of some grocery stores and some restaurants, but I thought that in the super touristy areas that things would be open. Wellllll-- they arent! These people are missing out big time on some dollar bills! Every store is closed!
So after going to 2 different sephoras I just walked around, visited Notre Dame, Hotel D'ville and some other things that were in walking distance. It wasnt a very nice day, drizzling. But it was nice to get out and see some things I hadnt had a chance to see sense I arrived.
Tomorrow i have class again, so I am working on the readings for the class right now and still need to finish up my paper (proof reading etc). Then on Thursday I will finally make my way to sephora.

I know because I look in their windows. My building has a small court yard in the middle of it so you can see right into other people's windows. When I was looking for apartments they were all some what similar, small, half sized stove tops, etc. I had gathered that thats what apartments were like in Paris, what do you need 6 rings on your stove for? Well-- after being a peeping tom I realized that there are some really cool, normal people apartments here too-- and my neighbors have them. One neighbor has a full sized kitchen sink, stove AND fridge! This is unheard of! There is a full on dining room table with Chandler! Then when I was leaving the other day I saw the unthinkable....an elevator!!!!! right across my building! I dont have access to that side, so I cant use it. But I think the nice apartments are on one side of the building and the ....nice, but really small and non-American apartments are on the other side. I would like to also include that today while laying on the sofa I reached behind my head to the dining room table to get my cup of coffee...without moving my body an inch. I also blew a fuse--4 times while cooking this weekend, because you cannot have the lights on while the stove and oven are on at the same time :-) 4 times!

And now, to aviod working on my paper-- I will tell you about it! YAY

Last weekend I bought some chestnut puree. I dont know if you know but chestnuts are not like other nuts they are more like a fruit. So Chestnut butter-- not oily like peanut butter or almond butter. I decided that it was good...but not what i wanted. So today I played chemist-- adding melted butter, salt and honey and now it is delicious! I have put it on everything I have eaten today and tomorrow I will probably be sick of it and throw it away. :-) Ok im writting my paper now. "No" guy is singing a song.

Earlier this week I got an email from one of my classmates Guianluca -- yes that is his name, he is from Italy. He is one of the "class presidents" --there are like 15 people in our class, we dont need a president (and we have 2!). It was about concerns with the program. There was along letter about a meeting with the Dean and how we need to be prepaired etc etc...I'm like yup whhhatever your talking about. At the end he said "Whitney, you probably have no idea what I am talking about, I will fill you in Monday at class". LOL. All of these students have been in the program much longer than I have so aparently there are "issues". This is how sad my paper writting, dr going, no sugar eating life has become; I get my thrills out of the "no" guy and "issues" about people I dont even know yet. Any ways the meeting is this Friday at 6pm (I know its scheduled at that time so no one comes). That is the night I wanted to go to the Louve-- its free if your under 26 (sorry Geoff), on Friday nights :-( But its too early for me to isolate myself already--and not go....or issssss ittttt?

Yesterday I went to get my Visa trip #4 at 10:45am and was asked to come back tomorrow (a Friday). I said..in French :-) I came last Friday and was told no visas on Fridays. She said tomorrow there will be visas come back at and then held up a paper that said 8:30.

SO I went home and worked on my paper ALLLL day long (For those of you who think that because I am in Paris and am completing an MBA in a year, that this is a joke...I have a 12 page paper due every 10 days-- that paper will be 75% of my grade for that class).

I have just started laughing now at the "no" guy because the situation is just completely ridiculous. I CANNOT wait for someone to visit so they can hear what I am talking about. He is always home...and I hear his "no"-ing at least 6 times a day (and thats just when I'm here). I want to know what this joker and his dog look like!

I am afraid I am getting off topic-- I get up this morning make my way over to the Visa office, that I no longer need a map to find and have almost completed a book I've read exclusively while on the metro to the visa office. The man lets me in the door! I am behind the magical cubical that blocks my way into the entrance. I am finally next in line, I have all my documents ready when she informs me I need to go retake my picture because there is a bobby pin pulling my hair back (you know, where my bangs are growing out on the side). RIDICULOUS. I take the FLIPPIIN picture (that I have to pay for again), but am magically sent onto stage 2 where I fill out a crazy paper (which takes 30 min, with my electronic translator, my writing the equivalent of a down-syndrome 6 year old) and the lady says all of this stuff to me. I sit there and she says-- "Alor....Avior" which means "okkkk.....bye...". I asked about the medical exam and she re-repeated slowly for me what I had missing "they would send me my medical appointment in the mail and take these papers with you, then you will be issued your visa". I swear not knowing the language would be hysterical if i had someone here to laugh with me, so instead I just feel very (insert euphemism). SO THAT WAS THE HARD PART OF THE VISA THING. I am told that after this its a breeze, if you don't mind tons of random people looking at you naked, which literally is what the medical exam is.

I havent written for a few days for a few reasons. I have been pretty tired due to my noisy neighbors. I don't understand the hours these people keep. I live in an big old building with the center cut out where there is a court yard, so everything echos; if windows are open you can  hear whats going on etc. Also when you get in the building there is no carpet, all hard wood and a spiral stair case up 6 flights (I'm #4), so again with the echoing. For some reason people just aren't concerned with holding conversations in the halls, or court yard at any hour. You would think people would need to sleep to get up for work in the morning, it is the strangest thing. Additionally someone in my building has this little barking dog. The barking is annoying, even more annoying is the man who is trying to train the dog, who repeatedly says ....."no".  But then I swear they have training sessions at like 11pm where the dog repeatedly barks and then you hear the ...."no".  SOOOO ANNOYYYING-- SHUUUT UP!!! I can also hear the man upstairs on the phone late at night. There is no way that they don't know people can hear them, because they can hear everyone else too. SO I haven't slept well the last few nights and finally had the idea to turn on the fan to help drown out the noise. That went well...but then I was cold. 

Today I took a go at washing some clothes. I don't have many to be washed but my washer is very small so I thought it best to do it now before I have a lot. The owners left me some directions...which were inaccurate. I loaded the clothes, added soap, then it said in her directions -- push the "marche" button to start. There is no button that says that. And so I pressed every button at least once. Some did things, others did not, but none of them started it. I got out the translator to try to translate the manual, that wasn't very easy. You have to press a series of buttons in order for a light to go to "start"-- no button, just a light. Then you hit the "debut" button....debut. Lol, my laundry had its debut. OK that was the easy part. I did this one load of wash 4 times today. Not because it was really dirty, but because I couldn't get the clothes out of the machine. The door locks when you wash it, then after a VERY long cycle (about an hour) the light next to "STOP" lights up...but the door is still locked. If you look at the picture there is a metal casket you close inside the machine, that clamps locked. I tried pushing a bunch of buttons and it would just restart, and i couldn't get it to stop. So I did the laundry 4 times and finally got it out.  Now it is drying in my living room on a drying rack next to a fan. PS the washer machine is made by a company named: "Candy". 

This afternoon on my way out I carried with me a grocery sized brown bag with my trash in it. Since everything is so small here (kitchen, fridge, etc) my trash is very small, so I take it out often. I got outside and walked to the court yard where there is a row of several trash bins, one small plastic dumpster and what looks like recycling for bottles. Now, a week ago this older lady in my building helped me take out the trash (please refer to "things I did wrong today"), showing me that I cant just put the trash any where.
Sooo....I still dont know where to put it. I think some are recycling for specific things: plastic, glass, cardboard (in seperate containers) etc, and only one is for trash. Well there are no labels and they are usually pretty empty so I cant tell by what is already in there. Going back to my story--I walked through the court yard and the same older lady was out there with her child/ grand child...somone's child. I paniced. I couldn't put it in the wrong place in front of her-- like I have done every other time, she would know I was the guilty party.
So I kept walking...with my trash...towards the exit. I'm thinking to myself "what are you going to do with all of your trash when you get outside!??". Luckily at that moment another couple came out and started talking to the older lady providing a distraction. I stopped pretending to check my mail and quickly went back to the trash cans and put my trash in....which ever one I'm sure isnt the "right" one and rushed out of the building. Theres gotta be something on Google about French trash. (PS-- mine are all the same color)

Today was pretty unproductive. I got in bed last night at 9pm (wasnt feeling well), then woke up around 8:30. Made a trip to the gorcery store--which I have learned is a much better idea on a Saturday than on a Sunday. Much less crowded, so I could preruse and check all of the food labels etc. You do need to go to about 3 grocery stores to get everything you need because the stores are so small. So I hit up the 3rd store later in the afternoon. One thing I did discover today on my way home was...pigeon. Yes at the butchers. You can buy it to eat, as if it were a miniature turkey. I have been fascinated with food taboos ever since my American food class at Berkeley. Why would it be wierd to eat a pigeon? It a bird, and we eat birds. No, I didnt buy one, but I think it would be interesting to maybe try it out (who ever visits first, gets to try the pigeon with me!). They also have a bunch of other animals that look like they might fit in the same taboo category so i will make it a point to go back with my electronic translator.
I came home and wasnt feeling well still so I sat on the sofa for most of the day, which was a shame because it looked really nice out. I also need to get going on my school work, but when im not feeling well it is impossible for me to function. I did manage later to make may butternut squash loaf. Its kinda like pumpkin pie, but with no crust, and with whatever squash is available. I found a nice looking butternut squash at the farmers market, and its delicious! Hopefully tomorrow I can get some school work done so I dont fall behind so soon! Stay tunned....I have to do laundry too, with my 4x4 washer and no dryer.

I bought new shoes :-) they are just white Adidas stan smiths  (their normal white tennis shoes), but I havent had tennis shoes for 2 weeks so I was really excited about getting them. 

Did you know there is red champagne (or sparking wine I should say)?? Well there is, it is from Spain and I have a bottle of it. Its with the red wines and looks like a red wine. So one might buy this sparkling red wine and mistake it for a red wine. Much was my surprise when I went to try my new bottle of wine and there was a loud pop when I took the cork out. Its not very delicious and will now be used to marinade my meat for tomorrows dinner. No bueno, or should I say-- pas bien.

    Last night after a beautiful day, I sat on my sofa with the widow open, candles lit and wrote my blog post. I got into bed and was a little wrest less. I havent slept well the past few nights, probably the anxiety of starting a new school. All of a sudden there was this huge cloud burst and it started pouring rain! Outside of my window is a tin roof and it was soooo loud! It was really nice, especially because it stopped by the morning leaving everything crisp and clean but didn't get me wet. Which was even better because I don't have an umbrella yet (its suppose to rain the next 3 days).  It made the walk from school to the metro so nice. You walk along this garden right by Invalides with flowers and trees every where.

I wanted to make sure that everyone was included in my troubles abroad. Dental Floss is one of them. I have spent the past week looking for dental floss. They do not have it in the grocery store, next to the tooth brushes (they do have Veet hair removal...go figure). I have been using thread. Yes--thread. And before you judge..what would you do?? Just not floss. Ewe, yea now who is gross. So tonight while out on an after dinner walk I passed the pharmacy who had a nice little display of dental floss. I was so excited! Then looked at the price. 6 Euros. That is like 8 dollars people! With tax $8.50. OMG. I kept walking. Could not believe it! I am going to have to bargain shop for floss!! This is added to my list of things when i go to London...who knows when (next to LaraBars, and possibly Farmers cheese if they have it).  Outrageous! OK off to bed!

    Today was my first day of school and I enjoyed it. It was from 9-6...so a long day. I should say it was a seminar not a class because of the way the school is set up. We have 2 seminars a month each are 3 days long. During this seminar we are assigned a case study and a group in to work with and we solve the case or make a recommendation to the class after deliberating and researching for 3 days. Then we are given a new case study and 2 weeks to basically become an expert in the field (on our own) and write a 6 page paper-- then we start again. So its a lot of do it on your own. But it really is nice to be back in school. Loves it!

Since today was Saturday I couldn't go to the prefecture to try to get my visa again so I thought I would do a little site seeing, since I have not done anything but try to get settled.  So, I decided to go on over to Muse d'Orsay, which is one of the most admired museums in Paris. It is in an old train station and is really pretty. I took the long way, getting off of the metro by Invalides and walked around a bit before I arrived-- noticing just how heavy my bag was (since i have to carry any food i will need throughout the day). I got there and it was a bit crowded. I had planned on going in but decided otherwise, and that I would return on a weekday when it might be less crowded. I was also feeling a little brain foggy because i ate some cheese last night that I wasn't suppose to-- its so hard to stick to my crazy diet when I cant understand WHAT the labels say!!!  A true testament to my diet's effectiveness was that the moment i ate the cheese I immediately felt like i was drunk and still a little fuzzy this morning. SO bottom line-- I didn't go in and will return at another date.

Or should I say 4?? I tried today again to get my visa. First I needed to make photo copies of my documents, where on earth do you make photo copies in Paris? So i went to my school to make the copies. The seminar building was in a really pretty area, just across the street from Invalides-- which is gorgeous, very old Paris. The class room is tiny, out class sizes are for about 15 people. So then I made my way to the visa office and finally get there. There is a nice little sign saying a bunch of stuff in French and then underneath reads in English "no new visas today". Let me remind you that the nice man yesterday said "yes" when I asked "I come back here tomorrow for my visa". SO i sat outside and ate my lunch on a bench. This seems to be the way that things work here...it takes about 3-4 times of going places before you actually get done what you had set out to do. Ce la vie!

Its funny too all of the little things that are different that I dont know how to do yet. I took the trash out to the wrong place-- a little french woman stood there watching me, said something in French and I told her I didnt speak french very well. Basically I was putting my trash in the recycling-- which needs to be sorted out, and the trash is out in front of the building. I have yet to figure out if it is always out front, or where I find the trash during the day??? And at the grocery store you are supose to weigh your own produce and apply a sticker that prints out telling you how much you owe. The nice lady at the store was thrilled when I came to pay (with a long line behind me) and had not applied any of my stickers.

Also for the love of God can someone send me DVDs. I can only watch the news so many times in one day and you cannot get websites like Hulu here to watch moveis/ tvs shows online. BORING-- yes i am in Paris, but everyone needs some down time PEOPLE!

Hello there!