One Week Down!

I have made it through one week working in the Paris Archives! While it has not been nearly as hard as I thought it would be, there have been some bumps in the road along the way. I don't understand nearly as much French as I thought that I would, probably because everyone speaks so quickly. Yesterday, as I was handing in my microfilm in the exact same way that I've done all week, the microfilm guy starts talking to me about the way that I'm handing it in, sees my confusion since I don't understand one word he said, and says, without waiting for my reply of "Je ne comprends pas" he says (in French of course and this is the only part I did understand) "You don't understand, but it's okay" and proceeds to take my microfilm and wave me goodbye. I wish that when people at the archives see that I am having a hard time understanding them, that they would just try to speak slower and more simply. That is what I would do if I realized that someone I was talking to did not understand me. One of the guys who works there in the coatroom/locker room (yes, we historians have a locker room!) came in and started talking to me. I responded with my patented - I do not understand - he paused, came over to me, and asked very slowly, while pointing, if I had a problem with my locker. I said no, and he was on his way. That's all I'm asking! Help me out archivists! I try to just stay out of the way and keep to myself so I don't run into these situations.

Besides the 9-5 job of researching, on Thursday night there was an H-France get together for people doing research in Paris. H-France, for those who don't know, is a list-serve for French historians that sends out information like reviews, conference announcements, book announcements, and the like. An announcement for this tri-monthly rendez-vous was sent out right before I left and I was excited to go and meet some people from the US who were here doing the same thing. So, after our long day at the BNF, we went to the meeting spot, which was a cool cafe in the 10th. When we got there, the only people that I heard there speaking English and talking about H-France were these three old ladies (I'm talking grandmas here), so we got a little freaked at the thought of spending an evening with the old folks - nothing against them, but we wanted to meet people our age. Luckily, about 10 minutes later, after a funny exchange with the bartender that involved him telling the waiter that I asked for his number, which I didn't, more people showed for the meeting. This included a student from Johns Hopkins who works with David Bell, a guy named Joe from Florida State who works on Napoleon, and a British guy named Alex who works with Colin Jones (I told him about the infamous "Lady in the back" moment from the Freedman Lecture and he thought it was hilarious). There were some other folks there as well, mostly 18th and 19th century French historians, and most of them knew of Howard, which was cool, so we hung out for awhile, and then got some dinner with a few of the folks. It was really cool talking to people who are doing the same thing, many of whom have been here a few months and who know the ropes fairly well. There is another meeting on Tuesday night that I will be attending. It helps break the monotony of archive, home, sleep, do it again.

I'm spending today cleaning and lounging - I even figured out how to work the washing machine! I'm started with socks and towels, just to be safe in case I screwed it up. You never know with these French machines! Jaime and I played French Clue last night, but had to look up the directions online in English to figure out how to play - it has been YEARS since I played Clue, but it was fun. FYI - The Mr. Green character is a Reverend in the French version and Mrs. White is a maid. We also found a channel that was showing a movie in English, albeit with arabic subtitles, so we watched "Lucky Number Slevin" last night and thoroughly enjoyed hearing English. We get over 600 channels, but the only ones in English are news channels, music channels, or religious channels. We get a channel from Kuwait, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and so many others, but no US channel. WTF France? And, the US tv shows that they have here dubbed in French make no sense. They have new shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "How I Met Your Mother" and staples like "Friends" and the "Simpsons", but they also seem to have a love of Fran Drescher that I do not understand. Both "The Nanny" and some other show she did are on tv here all the time! Why? I don't know. I think watching shows on my computer will be the way to go because I am DYING without tv I can understand. I have the television on practically all the time at home, so this has been the hardest part.

In any event, I am glad to be missing the cold weather back home - it is about 40 degrees here and should stay that way through next week. I miss all my friends and family and DAN! and I hope everyone is keeping warm!