Bus

It’s always a thrill to ride the bus in France. The roads are so small. Holding my breath as the driver squeezes through some seemingly impossible situation is a regular occurrence. Drivers dress classy in France too. A lot of them wear ties and slacks.

The city bus drivers have a lot of friends. Despite the ban on cell phones while driving, I regularly see drivers talking on the phone, or even more impressive, texting. It’s always fun to watch a women get her flirt on with the male drivers for the entire duration of the ride. Flirting is in flagrant disregard for the sign that says it is prohibited to chat with the driver. Female drivers are less common and seem to be more professional.

The buses that travel on the highway and through different towns are stick shifts. I was in complete awe the first time I saw this. I took a picture incase my dear readers were in disbelief. This picture was taken while I was on a class field trip. Everyone in the bus knew me, so it wasn’t too weird that I was taking a picture of the driver. I want to take pictures of drivers flirting, or tinkering with their cell phones but I haven’t had a good opportunity.

Bars

I’m growing to love bars. The concept was lost on me prior to living in France. I thought, “Why pay double for a beer so that I can sit and talk? I can drink beer at home and talk.”

There was a time when I thought going out was pointless if there wasn’t a dance floor. I still feel this way about Friday and Saturday night. We can start the night in a bar, but I like to finish on the dance floor.

Going out is capitalist and bourgeoisie, but I for example am not allowed to have guests in my dorm past 11pm. Boy guests are absolutely forbidden. Thus, going out has moved up on the priority list. There are other benefits though. The person going out can control when they arrive and when they leave. This is particularly important on week nights. If you invite someone to your house, you open yourself to a longer night than expected.

Additionally the energy changes when one goes out. Maybe I’m too much of a busy body but home seems a little to normal, to comfortable. When I’m home I automatically slip into my quiet self. Inviting people over seems to go against the grain.

By contrast when I go out the environment is stimulating. My friends are their, and I might unexpectedly run into other acquaintances or I could meet new people. Crowed watching is always a highlight. I adore hellos, good-byes, and laughing. My absolute favorite thing to see is singing and dancing in bars not specifically designed for such activities. So, cheers to bars!

Cell Phone

I found a cell phone on the bus, so I took it home and called the number that said “Pappa”. We made arrangements for him to recuperate the cell phone, and I was thanked relentlessly. When the man came to get the cell phone he insisted on paying me. When politely refusing failed I resorted to shoving the money in his sweater pocket and running up stairs as fast as I could.

I was disappointed that he wanted to pay me. I tried to explain that it was normal to return something that wasn’t mine especially something as important as a cell phone. I hate the feeling that so much is motivated by money. It’s despicable to assign monetary value to life, the environment, and normal community interactions. Where is the humanity in that?

It’s necessary to understand money and basic economics in our society. I know that I have more to learn about economics. Economics isn’t just money, its cost benefit analysis and diminishing returns on all things. I highly recommend “Freakonomics” I don’t believe society nationally or internationally has reached a balance with money. Our relationship to money is skewed and it has poisoned things. Critiques of money are not new, and I’m not interested in offering something else on the topic.

I’m interested in learning economics, learning the critiques, and combining them with ideas of culture and socialization, to encourage a realignment of values.

Paris

Anna and I had a lovely breakfast Monday morning. Unfortunately she went off to work and we had to say goodbye, but we made plans to dance in Seattle this summer.

Paris is impressive, and the weather was perfect. I got into the city before the museums opened and I wandered. Two hours passed shockingly fast. Everywhere I looked I was experiencing things I had only heard about or read about. I had that feeling that I always get when I’m super happy. It’s the sensation that I’m a fluffy white cloud floating in a bright blue sky.
When I woke up to the fact that it was 10am I headed straight to the Orangerie for some Impressionism.

I spent nearly five hours in this little museum. I had an audio guide, I read every sign, and eavesdropped on every tour I could understand. One of the art guards teased me because I was there so long. He said I should leave because every time he saw me I was cold or crying.

Orangerie showed a movie on Monet’s Water Lilies. When I finally went upstairs to see them the impact was double because I knew a little history. I was so inspired. Monet had a dream to paint Water Lilies since hew was in his 20’s. He spent the last 30 years of his life working on that dream despite war, loss, and vision troubles. I’m going to visit his gardens in the near future.

After the Orangerie I was intellectually and emotionally drained. I wanted to see the Picasso Museum and Pompidou but I didn’t have the courage. So I ate and rented a bike.
Renting a bike was awesome! In Bellingham I rode everyday, in Metz I haven’t ridden in months. I’ve really missed my bike. Ridding in Paris traffic was thrilling. I’ve never ridden in so much traffic. Paris has wide streets and the drivers were really respectful. The drivers must be accustomed to bikes because Paris has a huge and popular bike renting program.

I got to see much more of the city because I was on bike. The world is more magical on a bike too. I was aimlessly riding around looking at pretty things and I found myself getting closer and closer to the Eiffel Tower. I’m sure the Eiffel Tower has the power to lure. I wasn’t planning on going up to the Eiffel tower. You can see it from many places in the city. I thought, “Oh, the Eiffel Tower isn’t anywhere close to the most interesting thing in Paris. I’m not going to waste my time on it.” Yet when I got there, I was genuinely excited.

Breakfast in Rome Diner in Paris

Sunday morning I stumbled out of bed in time to hug Brandon goodbye. While he was on his way to Spain at 6am I slept the morning away. The hostel was deserted when I woke up at 9ish. I leisurely got ready, walked around the neighborhood, and then headed off to the airport.

I found my friend Anna in the heart of Paris at 6pm. Anna and I met in my last French class spring quarter. We were both eager to graduate and impatient to see if we would be offered a teaching position in France. I regret that I didn’t meet Anna sooner. I really admire her creativity and the way she thinks. That evening Anna and I went to diner at Jim Haynes apartment.

Having diner at Jim Hayne’s place was a dream come true. Jim hosts a diner every Sunday with the goal of bringing people together. It was neat to be in an environment where so many people were willing introduce themselves and have conversation.

Jim has been bringing people together and sharing his vision of community since the late fifties. He’s started bookstores, theaters, papers, festivals, and written books. My couchsurfing host in Oslo introduced me to Jim. I read his books, “Thanks for Coming.” And “Workers of the World Unite and Stop Working.” His other books are on my never-ending reading list.

Unexpected Invitations

Saturday night we went to the Pantheon so that we could see the home of the gods and goddesses lit up. The Pantheon is the oldest functional building in Rome.

Everyone was hanging out and chatting in front of the Pantheon and some of us were trying to figure out how to take pictures in the dark. Then we wandered over to the gelato stand because small talk and old buildings are always better with gelato in hand.

After mastering lighting issues, I tried to find the best angels to take pictures. Capturing the Pantheon is challenging because it is a huge building in a small square with an obelisque (stolen from Egypt) in the center. As I was pretending to be an amazing photographer my comrades were debating the merits of various illuminated ruins and the desirability of bar-hopping.

Suddenly, Brandon, and our six new friends, were led toward an apartment. Someone quickly whispered to me in the stairwell that we were invited to the private apartment of the Peruvian ambassador to Italy.

It turns out one of the two Argentinean women in our group met these 4 young men on the train. After the formality of hand shakes and kisses we were led through the beautiful apartment and onto a balcony which had a perfect view of the Pantheon.

We did the best we could to get to know each other. One of the four men who welcomed us spoke basic/intermediate English. Two out of our eight spoke Spanish as their first language and three out of our group spoke very basic Spanish. Unfortunately I don’t speak any Spanish and neither did two others in our group. When talking failed me I resorted to dancing.

Vatican

Saturday Brandon and I struck out early to explore the Vatican. The weather was so nice we didn’t wear coats! At St. Peters Cathedral we huffed it up more steps than Rocky. The view was absolutely outstanding! Rome is colorful, it has palm trees, and a river. Seeing it all from above was really special.

After we saw St. Peters we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed over to the Vatican Museum which contains the Sistine Chapel. I would love to go back to the Vatican museum because we didn’t have time or energy to see it all. We spent a lot of time in the Sistine Chapel, but it is so intricate that I didn’t feel like I had enough time to adequately burn the images on my retinas.

As I was touring the Vatican I kept thinking “My Grandparents have been here!” This made me feel really connected to the place. I also couldn’t help thinking of my Dad and how meaningful a trip to the Vatican would be for him.

I’m pretty sure Brandon and I borrowed energy from Saturday to pull off Friday. We were both sound asleep in our hostel beds by 5pm. I Felt like I could have slept right through to Sunday, but Brandon prodding me, and the promise of free diner lured me into the common room at 8:30 pm. Diner, conversation, and guitar music put the life back into everyone. We set out with our hostel mates again and what ensued is so exciting it requires its own blog entry.