Today is the last day of Janaury and I feel somewhat accomplished having made it to another month, although I haven't quite been here a month yet. This past week was not very exciting, mostly because I have been sick since Tuesday - nothing serious, just a head cold that everyone here and apparently back home seem to be dealing with. I'm feeling much better today, so I think the worst is over. Needless to say, being sick meant that I didn't do much this week. Monday, we went to trivia at a bar called "The Lions". The place was packed and the trivia was in English - so we were at a slight advantage - especially when one of the questions involved naming the Great Lakes - I'm not sure how up on that sort of thing the French are. At the trivia, we met an American from California that was our age who is here for six months as an au pair for a French family. She was very nice and it was cool to meet someone outside of the history field to just speak normally to. She watches 4 children and lives in the servant's quarters in the building - makes me feel very fortunate to have my own apartment here! Half the people I hear about are living in places that sound less than ideal - small spaces, rented rooms, and the like.
After the excitement of Monday trivia came my feeling sick. I still went in on Tuesday and Wednesday, albeit for shorter stays, but decided to sit Thursday out as I wanted to recover AND there was a strike that affected a lot of things such as metros, planes, trains, stores, etc. I found out yesterday that the AN wasn't even open on Thursday, so I'm glad that I didn't bother to go in. I didn't really get to experience much of the strike since I was indoors all day, but Jaime went out and took pictures of some of the gatherings down at République. I'm hoping that there won't be many more strikes, at least not ones that will affect my work since I'm only here for a few months, but with the economy still down and people still upset at the lack of help from the government, who knows? The French love their strikes.
Last night we were craving some American steak dinners, so we found the "Texas Roadhouse/Outback" of Paris called the "Buffalo Grill" which is a chain restaurant in France. I should explain that most Europeans picture America in terms of the West, specifically the Wild West, and love things that have to do with that. But, we benefitted from their love of all of that last night for dinner. Although the meal was satisfying, I will say that the quality of steak is much better in America than here. The French know pastries, breads, hams, desserts, cheese and wine, but steak is best left to the Americans, I think. Tonight we are heading out to a place that is supposed to have the best burgers in Paris. I haven't ventured too far into French food yet because I don't know what half of the things on the menu are. I mean, I know how to spot the protein items like beef, chicken, duck, etc, but some of the titles of dishes make no sense to me and I'm hesitant to just order something, especially since we only eat out on the weekends and by that point I'm dying to eat something normal and good. Maybe I'll take more culinary risks as time goes on, but for now I'm good with steak, burgers, and chicken. We are also meeting some folks out including Jaime's new Aussie friend Abby and possibly Joe if he isn't sick.
I hope all is well with everyone back home. I still miss everyone and of course Dan and am looking forward to when I come home and can get back to normal life in New York. Until next time...
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