Thursday, October 9
My theater class went to see Don Juan tonight (Dom Juan in French). The theater was in St. Denis, which is the absolute northernmost point in Paris, which meant it was nearly an hour away by metro from my house. Apparently, it is also a very run-down part of Paris. So we met up at the metro stop, and some girls had been on a history visit the same day, so they were running late. My professor asked if anyone had their numbers, and I did, so I called my friend Callie and she said they were four stops away. Ten minutes later, my professor was like, "Where are they? You said they were four stops away. We're going to be late. Can you call them again?" She was annoying me because obviously, calling them repeatedly would not make the metro move any faster and would only waste my minutes. Then we had to basically run to the theater only to wait around for about 15 minutes before it actually started. The play was a lot like the Shakespeare Theater in Chicago in that it was modern and the actors didn't wear period costumes, and they used the whole theater, not just the stage. They pulled two people out of the audience and at first I really thought these people were just random, but then you could tell they were actors too. This was clearly a low-budget production because there were very few props and scenery and only about 10 actors. There was one part where they ran offstage and "outside" and brought a camera with them like they were filming a documentary and we were watching it on a screen onstage. It was a cool idea and a good way to film the chase/fight scene, but it got really old after about 40 minutes of watching a "movie" when I came to see a play. In addition, I understood what was going on because I had read the play, but if I stopped to listen to the actual words, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what they were saying, I just knew what was happening.
Then during intermission, our professor left. She just walked away and no one knew where she was going, and we all got slightly paranoid because we were in a bad part of town and it was already 10:15 and the metro closed at midnight or so, and most of us lived on the Left Bank (we were on the top of the Right Bank) so like me, a lot of people had maybe 45 minutes to an hour travel time. Fortunately, she came back after intermission. The play was very funny for the first half, but the second was really boring me... it was just really long. And because of its low-budgeted-ness, the final act where Dom Juan descends into hell to pay for his hypocrisy and womanizing was kind of anti-climatic. A little boy (who was supposed to represent the angel of death or such) came onstage and took Dom Juan by the hand and just lead him behind the curtains, and it ended.
Friday, October 10
I went to the Musée Rodin today with my friends Stevie, Misa, and Sarah. It was really cool because it was actually a really beautiful park with Rodin's sculptures placed randomly in it. There was also an actual indoor museum too, but the outdoor part was very cool. Plus I have a "student of art history" card because of my History of France class, so I got in for free. Misa is actually an art history major back at her home college, and so she filled me in on some important art information about Rodin. For example, he was actually a huge womanizer who had affairs with lots of his students, like Camille Claudel (who had a ton of sculptures in the Musée Rodin). She was highly talented (according to Misa, more so than Rodin himself), and they worked together on lots of pieces, but he left her for another woman and she eventually went insane and died. I don't remember if Misa said she killed herself or not, but either way it was very sad. Her stuff was fantastic too, and there was lot of it.
Les trois ombres: The three shadows.... A sculpture by Rodin; it's the same guy in three different poses, I think
Clotho, one of the three sisters of Fate in Greek mythology. A sculpture by Camille Claudel.
Sarah, Stevie, and Misa at the café at the Musée Rodin
Le penseur: The thinker... Probably the most famous Rodin sculpture
After the museum we went shopping near the Champs-Elyseés, which is where Callie and Amy live, and Callie had told me there were all these 50% off sales. I didn't get anything but we had a good time just looking around at things we could actually afford as opposed to nearly everything else in Paris.
Saturday, October 11
Sarah and I had plans to go to Versailles today, but when we showed up at the RER (train station) to get tickets, the cashier informed me there were no trains to Versailles because of road work or something. Major letdown!
So instead we decided to go to Montmartre and the basilica at Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart). I'm pretty sure it's the highest point in Paris (excluding, obviously, like the Eiffel Tower and other monuments; I think it's highest in terms of sea level). Those steps are no joke! Plus, if you ever go there, watch out for the hustlers because there are SO many and they're really persistant. Just keep shoving your way through and don't make eye contact and you'll be fine. Sarah and I climbed to the top and went inside the basilica. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, but it is unbelievably gorgeous and I highly recommend it to everyone. The basilica and the view are totally worth the climb. And if you walk behind the basilica, you'll enter the artist quarter where there are tons of people just holding sketchpads or sitting by easels and you can get a picture of yourself (or whatever you want) drawn right there. That's also a prime spot to get cheap tourist stuff. Montmartre in general seemed very cheap, as Sarah and I did a fair bit of walking around browsing. 
So that night I went over to Misa's house, and let me tell you... she's got it rough. First of all, it took me probably 35 minutes by metro to get to her metro stop, then I had to cross the Seine (pretty cool, actually) and walk through an expressway-type area for about 5 minutes. Then you climb a hill. Then you make a right and climb another hill. These hills are so steep that they actually have barriers to block cyclists or people on their razor-scooters (there are a LOT of them here) because you would probably die if you tried going downhill on a bike or anything. And when I say "probably" I mean, "definitely." Now, where was I? Right, the turn and the second hill. So after you raise your heart rate by probably 20 beats per minute, then you get to climb three flights of very steep stairs. You're still not there, by the way. You have to walk up a slight incline to her gated community and punch in the code (they have a little pedestrian gate in addition to the car-sized gate). Then you walk up another smallish hill and veer left, then you unlock her front gate and hooray you've made it! It's only taken you two metro changes and 35 minutes and then another 20 minutes of steep uphill walking! And don't forget... if you're a real Parisian woman in the workforce, you've doubtlessly worn heels for this entire trip after a day of work. Pictures of the Quest to Find Misa's House are forthcoming; it was dark when I was there so I didn't take any.
Oh, and on the metro ride home, it was pretty empty (it was late at night), and so when I was waiting for it to go (we were sitting there for like 10 minutes because it was the end of the line), some shady-looking guy with a knit cap and a guitar case and a hobo-ish coat got on my car. I thought he looked like he was going to sit by me (even though there were like 20 open seats), so I just scowled very fiercely, like "Don't even think about sitting by me unless you want to lose a limb! I'm unstable! I come from a country where citizens can own guns! (even though there was no way he could know that)" And I think it worked! Either way, he didn't sit by me, and I just looked REALLY angry the whole time, even more so than usual (even though I am not usually angry; I just do this to discourage weirdos from approaching me). Plus, I've found it's even easier to look aloof, unapproachable, and pissed-off when listening to your iPod. I couldn't decide if listening to my iPod would make me look like a target, but then I decided it was like, "Don't even TRY to talk to me because then I will get even ANGRIER if you make me turn my iPod off to hear you." I actually did have a lot of angst built up from Montmartre because the crowds of slow-moving tourists were unreal... I was like, MOVE! Why are you standing around for no apparent reason? It was frustrating.
I have to go buy two new books for my classes, which I hate doing. My theater professor wants us to read the first act of a new play, which I have heard through gossip from fellow students that it's like 90 pages, plus we have to write a paper about the play. Don't these professors realize that classes are getting in the way of studying abroad?
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