things i forgot slash life back in paris.

first, things i forgot.

CANDY. madrid, barcelona, and london. ALL ABOUT THE CANDY. like i am not sure how it was left out of every single post. but like. candy. everywhere. always. bad news. oye.

so back in paris. chillin. we got back sunday at 6. flight got in circa 3:30. after everything. and the RER. and whatever. we got in to our apt around 6.

i showered stat. got in bed. made dinner. got back in bed. awoke for my double period french. oy.

madame thaib has gotten nicer. we walk into french class and she informs us that in 5 minutes we will partir. that is. we will leave.

ITS FIELD TRIP TIME.

we hop the 62 bus. and one bus trip later arrive in saint germain. yaya. we go to chocolate place that made chocolate for the king. we go to the eugene delacroix museum. we go to le procope cafe, one of the oldest cafes in paris. and we sit down to lunch.

me and hannah bail. est tres expensive. we go to a little cafe, cafe BB that dana and i have been to and enjoy a super tasty cheaper lunch. tres bon.

after lunch, hannah has class, i have drawing hdubbs to do and an architecture exam to study for. i head to the louvre to go sketch a sculpture for homework. after that is done i google "louvre starbucks" and find a starbucks eight minutes away. judge me. whatever. shh.

i head there. crack open my architecture notes. strategically place my oh-so-american-venti-coffee on one side of the notebook. and proceed to plug in blackberry and reconnect. read some nytimes. bbm some people. hit up whatsapp. check my email. peep my notes. sip my coffee. chill.

i head home around 8. kind of having studied. definitely having gotten my caffeine fix. make dinner. study some more. catch up on greek. off to bed.

cue tuesday. wake up. french class. back to the grind. the room has been rearranged. its disorienting. i deal. i can now sit in the back. yay. its normal french class. questions are being asked. i am confused, but more with it than most kids in the class. i am attempting to study for architecture while not being completely tuned out. we get our french tests back. turns out i can write in french despite what my blog implies. we have to sign up for our oral exams on next monday.

"hayley, you are always early, can you be the first slot?"

oy. fine. i am the first slot. bad news i have to be there at the normal 10:35, i arrive around 10:15 each day. good news i get to leave at 10:45. and then i am FREE. yeeeeeee.

after french class comes drawing. we met at musee branly today, a 15 minute walk from school. it is polynesian art (i believe, don't quote me. google it). and it is architecturally really cool. filled with tons of tiny children. not sure why. we sketched totem poles and masks. it was a break from "studying" so i enjoyed. then it was off to my test.

i am the first to arrive. gasp. wanklyn comes next (professor). we chat about vacay. i am nonchalantly studying. more students enter. questions begin to fly. terms are being tossed around. all i can think of is that i pray there is a word bank i cannot spell ANY of these terms. oy.

test comes. no word bank. 10 multiple choice based on slides. 10 multiple choice written out. four answers under each question. there may be more than one right answer, circle all that apply. wrong answers will be penalized. that is 50 points. the next 50 points. a sketch of an interior wall of notre dame.

tell me what you see. use terminology from class. 50 points. oy.

finish THAT. skype the madre. head back to my new fave sbucks. grab my american sized coffee and read/bbm/do french homework for 1.5 hrs.

here is where i begin to analyze some things that have happened thus far in france.

one. soy chai latte. that is the same. exact same in french and english. like even with an accent. the EXACT SAME. why. all i want is coffee. plain coffee. and it is SO difficult. wah.

two. headphones. my mom has always told me not to wear my headphones while i commute. she is always like: you are gonna be hit by a car, someone is going to jump you, YOU CANNOT HEAR WHAT IS AROUND YOU. like i know. okay. its a risk i take. oye. however. i have had several headphone situations. HPS if you will.

first HPS: meeting dana at the musee louvre metro stop i get out. and helplessly wandering. ipod in. staring at map, walking to all corners of the plaza. wandering aimlessly. someone attacks me. slash someone pokes me. dana. i jump. freak. scream. oops. haha. headphones. oye.

second HPS: on metro. headed downstairs on route i always take. here the headphone saved me. HAHAH MOM. man starts hootin' and hollerin' chatting me up and what not. yes. i can hear him. no. he doesn't know that. so i listen. pretending i cannot hear. and ignore him. count it.

third HPS: this is indirect, but happened to a friend. she is riding the metro in barcelona. sitting there. chillin. looking all european and what not. cue douche-y american boy. sits directly in front of her. looks at her. once again. her headphones are in BUT SHE CAN HEAR SURROUNDINGS. his friend calls to him. in english. "hey man come here." "nah bro, i'm gonna sit here and watch the show." the show. gag. like ew. slash TG for headphones.

last analysis completed while sitting outside at sbucks. my free map of the arrondissements. like yes dana bought hers at monoprix. no. they are not really free and i should be happy. yes. i got mine for free the first week i was here from BNP so i shouldn't complain. HOWEVER. they gave it to me for free because they were sending poor american me to the MIDDLE OF NO WHERE to ask the bank for something they KNEW they would not do. so like. they had to give me something in return. they were basically just getting rid of me. the jury is still out on whether or not i am mad. but i have a map. so like. i am pretttttyy surree i won. right?

regardless. i am back. 11 more weeks of paris. let's go.

mind the gap.

'ello. we arrive in london via easy jet round deux. this time i know to check my luggage. whatever. haters. catching the airport shuttle from barca was an experience. but we make it with some minutes to spare. i grab a bag of crispy m and ms in the duty free shop. i am informed if i buy another 330 gram bag, i get a free mug. tempting. i have no room for the mug however.

in case you are wondering. slash doing a double take. yes. i did say crispy m and ms. no. the pretzel m and m has not made its way across the atlantic yet and you are able to purchase these vintage m and ms on the reg. i know. gasp.

we get to london. take a train similar to metro north into the city. michal (dana's friend from GW who now studies in london full-time meets us at the tube). wooo. the tube.

we ride the tube, buy our oyster (5 pound metro card that you can sell back and get your 5 pounds back. yeah i kept it. hi. memories). and we are offish in london.

michal lives in the equivalent of the BK in london. it was compared to williamsburg by some, however it is in the air whether we will call the neighborhood hipster. or ethnic. either way. it was great. shadwell stop on the DLR tube line. right near brick lane. right near a 24-hour walk through mcdonalds. so like. its all good.

we spend day one walking ALL over london. so fun, walk along the water, the london bridge, i snap photos of who knows what. we stop in like 80,000,000 boots. cause there is no such thing as CVS or Walgreens or Boots in france. so we are in heaven.

that night, michal has a promoter friend mo. we head to cielo for free three course dinner, then downstairs to the club Luxx where a table has been purchased for mo. we enjoy. the club is ultimately a catwalk. we catch the night-bus back. hit up mcdonalds. and call it a night.

friday we head to fashion week-end at the somerset house. lauren meets us there, she is also in london. designers from fashion week are selling clothes, accessories, shoes all at a discount. it is mostly cool to walk around. no major purchases but lots of looking.

we head to oxford crossing to hit up the flagship topshop. that takes hours within itself. i end up purchasing something from what i think is topshop but is actually a boutique inside. whatever. and walk all around oxford crossing. find a burger place for lunch. michal meets us. we walk more throughout the area and head home.

en route home we purchase 3 for 12 pounds white wine and head back to make some baked ziti.

i would like to take this time to note that while london is on the pound, rather than the euro. no one informed me that they had different outlets. and were an hour behind. like what. for real. whatever. we made it work. oy.

after dinner we head out to a house party of one of michal's friends. just our luck. it is majority french people. like we dont have enough of those where we are coming from. of course they tell me i can't speak french. i know. i told YOU that. then you INSISTED i say something. oy.

the party is fun. michal's friend james walks us back. he is from liverpool and therefore has a northern accent. dana asks him if people here "know he isn't from ireland". yes, yes theyd do know. good question though. we all hit up mcdonalds again. and we are in for the night.

the next day we head to portobello road. it is slightly misty-rainy, but it was so nice the days before we don't complain. we walk all around, google a fro-yo place. head to harrods to see the food court. duh. head to another department store i forget the name of. head to the victoria and albert museum. conclude the day by ordering in indian food. duh when in london. and head to brick lane for our final night.

while we weren't looking to do anything crazy, so we mostly just observed. brick lane is a culture of its own. super fun. glad i saw it. sat outside and drank beers. laur joined us. then we headed home for toast and some always sunny. clutch.

everything seemed normal. we got a suprise visit from a blacked-out james. as we lay in bed the buzzer rings. we figure it is not for michal's apt. it rings again. then there is an extreme attack on the door. i am talking non-stop banging. michal gets up. its james.

oy. coming from a rugby something or other. most definitely wearing a stolen jersey covered in signatures. he is hopping in and out of the bed. crying "me hand". his hand is bleeding. his takes of his pants. he takes of his shirt. he puts on michal's boxers. he shows us his cuts. he is ridiculous.

finally he falls asleep on the floor. we wake up for the airport, he is passed out. michal later informs us he woke up with no idea how he got there. and he buys her breakfast. silly brits.

barca.

barca. barcelona. woo. stop two. so warm. so yay.

basically i stepped of the renfe into every-man-is-gonna-steal-my-bag terror. oops. like i had legit been warned by everyone and their mom. so like. i held onto that thing like my child. and success. i have everything. or whatever they took--i have yet to notice. both good in my opinion.

we stayed in lauren's apt while in barca. straight out of ikea. love it. night one is monday night. aka lunes. aka loco lunes. we walk around laur's neighborhood. see sagrada familia. laur recites facts like wikipedia. we grab dinner at a tapas bar (when in spain) and siesta it up before the night.

while in barcelona we acted like americans studying abroad in barcelona, aka we followed promoters to where the american kids were going. we leave lauren's apt at 1:30 am. yes. you are reading that correctly. we get home at 4 something. we sleep. we rise. we tourist it up. no time for significant rest. this is vacay.

the day starts rough. i have breakfast at mcdonalds. the grease is a must. oye. then we shop around, walk up and down main street. walk down las ramblas. go to the boqueria. head down to the water. like. its great.

side note. spain has these AMAZING food markets. both in madrid and barcelona. needless to say... i'm jealous. wah.

tuesday night is more lax. we head to dinner with laur and another girl from cornell. we go to carpe diem. a restuarant/lounge on the beach. legit feels like we are in miami when we step of metro. apparently that area is supah sketch but we walk around all of us. all these clubs have like little doors along the beach and you enter and go downstairs to the full restaurant. tres chic. it was expensive (spanish standards. oy) but so worth it. so yum.

wednesday night, dana and i embrace our american-side. laur has to "study" for a midterm. aka skype. aka sit in front of computer. we head over to the hard rock. a poppin' spot. letmetellyou. like its craycray. packed solid. 1 hour 20 min wait. we accept. head to bar. grab drink. chill. time passes. i check our buzzer. 10 to 20. time passes. dana checks our buzzer. 32 minutes. yes. thirty TWO. exactly. come again? i go right back. i ask to check. here is the woman's response:

i just told your friend... it was 32 minutes.

i know i was just double checking because before the woman said 10 to 20--

NO. i JUST told your FRIEND. 32 minutes.

like i know lady. i heard you. i am sorry that such an OBSCURE estimate made me come back to double check. MY BAD. oye.

whatever. totes worth it. food was yum. drinks were yum. all around good stuff.

as for sites. park guell was unreal. gaudi's architecture throughout the city is amazing. sagrada familia, while unfinished was spectacular. all around success and phase two was officially completey.

on to london.

YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE FROM LONDON.

welcome to espana. madrid.

madrid. okay, so this vacation got off to a good start. dana and i set out at a lovely 4:15 am for CDG. we called a cab, hustled over to the airport, and were on our way a lovely 1.5 hours early. we sat, chilled, sat, read, sat, dozed. then they called our flight. joy. we get in line, all ready to board. i need to check my bag.

i have been sitting here for over an hour, and now i realize i need to check one of my bags.

the woman looks at me.

"i am not sure if you'll have time". she is not sure if i'll have time. what does that mean? like time for what. cause i am getting on the plane. like. no questions. so the sprint begins.

run. run. one desk. run. second desk. run. pay at third desk. jump to front of line. she tells me to cut security, i just look at her. she takes me to front of security. i go through security round deux. this time they do not speculate in my voltage converter is a bomb. round one they did. i run, hustle, run. meet dana at line. miraculously we find two seats together. TG for dana. and we are off. phase one. madrid.

we get to madrid, hope an airport bus. arrive at atocha-renfe, take a cab to our hotel. the hotel is feet away. l'oops. bigger l'oops. we are called putas, and charged 9 euros. interesting. welcome to madrid. best part, he asks us if we understand. yes. we entiendo. no apology. we are still putas. that's just rude.

anyway. moving forward. the hotel was ama. like so nice. so great. so wow. also cheap. thanks expedia (plug. no i am not being paid by expedia or special k. yes. i think i should be as well).

view is great, sun is shining, people are speaking a language i understand.

we move out post-dropping bags. its breakfast time.

we stumble upon a hole in the wall, order some tortilla espanola (eggs and potatos. aka YUM). it was 2 euros. did i mention i love spain. my coffee cost more than 2 euros in paris. rude.

anna acts as our tour guide, our live in tour guide. our share-a-twin-bed-with-me tour guide. but an excellent tour guide. so like. whatevah.

the next few days are full of sunshine followed by rain followed by more sunshine. temps are in the 60s. we walk around. get tapas, get paella. get our culture on via the reina sophia, prado, and the palace. spend some time soaking up rays in the plaza de orient. like good time all around.

of course we locate an sbucks. chill there. meet a canadian woman. we chit chat. she is from ottowa. shout out to the padre. she studied in both madrid and paris. she is super nice. she is waiting for the bathroom. no judgment .i take english where i can get it.

the next day is slightly rainy, we museum it up, during our siesta i go back to anna's with her to grabs some belongings, here is where ish gets freaky. we walk into her homestay. NO POWER. and i see anna is nervous. so internally freak, externally remain calm. i know. so smart slash great of me. i bbm and whatsapp up the wazoo telling loved ones this may be the end. but on the exterior i am cool calm and collected. needless to say we grab ish and go, back to the hotel... aka safety. that night we (and by we i mean dana) find this great japanese place to go for dinner on saturday night. its in a business area, so it looks very diffrent from sol, but we eat a late dinner and relax and enjoy. so yum. and so much more affordable than paris. (see a trend?)

the next night anna has hdubbs. i know. homework abroad. gasp. but she's legit so we let her do her thang. dana, once again, finds us some food. we go to this cute italian place, teatriz, also in a business-y area, but also with shopping. and its in an old theater, hence name. and was ALSO so good. i approve of food in spain. please note, teatriz was discovered post-going to hard rock to find out it was closed for a private event. l'oops.

the next day we walk around, check-out, grab quick lunch at sbucks and board the renfe. shout out to 7th and 8th grade spanish with colombo. def researched the renfe and AVE trains. alto velocidad. or whatever.

next stop barca. wooooo.

vacay.

hola.

i am on vacayyyy. will post as soon as i am back at my maison.

madrid. barcelona. london.

thursday, friday, saturday. woo.

so unfortunately. running into madame thaib on the metro was not a one-time-thing.

for the rest of the week i rode the metro with her. including thursday. why am i emphasizing thursday, jeudi, if you will? well on thursday ines teaches our class. our ta. not thaib. so WHY WAS SHE STILL ON THE METRO. oye.

thursday was fairly uneventful. i went to class, came home. freaked out because our wifi didn't work ANYWHERE. not just in my servant's quarters but like anywhere. TG for my 407 #1B living experience, i knew how to restart the wifi. count it.

thursday night we went to Rice and Beans. a mexican place in the 2nd arrondissement. it was yummy we got tacos et burritos. one flaw. no tequila. no corona. they had wine (duh.) and some beer. oye. they call themselves a mexican restaurant. whatever. it was yummy. satisfied craving. so cross that of muh list.

friday was BEAUTIFUL. like 60s. sunny. amazing. dana and i went to saint germain de pres. walked around. soaked up some rays. i took several touristy photos of the street. dana continued to walk. whoops. we stumbled upon a great cafe as well as a great little shop i'll make the madre go to upon her visit. (notice how thoughtful i am, thinking of the parental units while abroad).

friday night was cafe oz round deux. bahaha. eesh. carmen is away for le week-end (yes. that is how you say it in french. no. i am not being obnoxious). so the house is quite empty and dark. but we are managing.

we prepared ourselves for the evening and headed over to ian's for a GW-packed pre-game. ian and ava live right near the tour eiffel (cue touristy shots round deux). one i took was just plain pretty, the tower at nuit. the other fab shot i got was the crazy light-up show it does.... on the hour.

ian and ava also live near, and by near i mean across the street from the AUP libe. but i have never been to the AUP libe. so that doesn't really help me with a frame of reference. perhaps it will help you?

anyway we depart from ian and ava's post a quick run to a bodega for some additional drank. we cab it to cafe oz. get out. line again. totes worth it. moves fast. all of us are in. once again super fun. once again we meet craycray french people when getting breathers outside.

circa 3 AM dana and i decide we need some food, duh, and then we need to find the night bus. so we find a food stand. word. directly across the street from cafe oz slash supah packed. so why not. we get in line.

THIS IS WHEN STUFF GETS WEIRD.

dana is wearing an uber fashionable crop top compliments of H & M. and this french man strokes her stomach. strokes. i look at him, slightly wastey-faced and go. RUDE.

we leave, walk right outside food stand, and wait for creeper mccreepstein to leave. 10 mins pass (most likely 3, but it felt like an eternity). get back in line. THERE HE IS AGAIN. strokes it again. this prompts me to say, once again. YOU'RE RUDE. dana tweets that her stomach has been caressed. and i push to the OTHER side of the line. girls on a mission, duh.

we chat, pick what we want, chat. people exclaim "you're from america" i respond. yes. yadda yadda. and we're up. i order: un sandwich poulet sans fromage. dana gets a nutella crepe. clutch.

my sandwich comes out. pita wrap thingy, poulet, fries, i am not complaining. i bite into it. I AM COMPLAINING. there is hot sauce on my poulet. like i am a fan of hot sauce. but not right now. wah. what an awful slash miserable slash unwanted surprise.

i give the sandwich to some boy we are standing with and am left holding a cone of a few fries and some shreds of poulet. l'epic fail.

onward. we march on to the bus stop. i ask these girls sitting there if they are waiting for the neuf deux. the nine two. yes in french that means nothing. AND. we were looking for the n16, the night bus #16. the bus #92 is the regular bus dana and i take. l'oops.

the girls understood. dana sits. i stand. we wait. the bus comes eventually. we hop on. home. i bbm everyone i know asking for water. ely tells me she'll order me some. jean says she'll send me some. i have such accommodating friends. don't worry guys. i got some. and some special k. obvs.

we get home circa 4:30. sleep til 12. it was rainy today in paris. GASP.

special note: i would like to take this time to admit to an addiction i have. i will attempt to stop purchasing special k as of this week. (that's a lie.) but i am aware that i have a problem. first step. id the issue: special k.

additionally. tonight is a jam-packed night of. drumroll please. hdubbs and the departed. joys. while i basically don't go to school here. this week i have two tests. not. fair.

OH EM GEE.

how did i forget.

this news is not just a quick edit to a previous post or tack-on.

carmen made a crumble aux pommes et framboises. for all you ne parlez pas francais. that is a CRUMBLE with APPLES and RASPBERRIES.

so at first. i was peeking at it. as it cooled on the balcony outside the kitchen. then i admired the huge bowl of sugar and cherries just chillin' becoming jam. then i ate my dinner. still admiring both.

then carmen came in. i asked what the occasion was. she replied. no occasion. she just made it.

i like her, duh.

then she asked if i wanted any. no, merci. i'm fine. okay, she replied. and took the crumble with her. time passes, i come down to book my tickets to amsterdam. read emails. catch up on FB.

carmen comes back with the crumble. i keep working. i look up. there she is. a little bowl of crumble in hand and a spoon.

if you don't like it. si je ne aime pas. you don't have to eat it.

what a great homestay mommy. shout out to carmen. you're the bomb.com.

ps. i loved it. duh. SO GOOD. gahhh.