I realize I have truly been missing out on enjoying Paris and that I should be aprovechando esta oportunidad, and I'm sure there's so much I'm missing simply because French history and culture is something quite unknown to me--way too many small peeks into history thanks to cultural references and nuances are lost on me. But I have to say that today was one day well-enjoyed. :D
Just to debrief on the day: Today being Wednesday, it was "Theater" day in school, which basically just meant that we actually got be to actively involved with making and creating the language, playing with it. Heh, fancy that--communicating orally with a language. Anyways, it was bunches of fun, and we got to learn that les singes and les anges, and la paix, un pays, and le pet are very close phonetically and grammatically, but they are very different. We discovered this when a poor guy tried to talk about everyone being dead and all the countries being controlled by angels, but in fact ended up talking about monkeys controlling all the farts in the world. Ah, isn't language learning swell?!
As well as enjoying class and not falling asleep today, I also finished early because I didn't have a workshop today. I made it back to my metro stop just in time to buy some drops (pain au chocolat et lait) and pain avec les raisins secs for 2 euros! I later leisurely walked around trying to find this grocery store that supposedly is a bit farther away but has better prices than the Carrefour that I went to last week. I found it and love the prices! Basically, the most expensive items I bought were a tortilla española and some jambon (ham). Woot woot! I even splurged and bought some gauffres avec chocolat (chocolate-topped Belgian waffles). It's no wonder these people love their crepes and waffles! But the question is, how do they stay so skinny when they eat baguettes, brioche, crepes, gauffres, and creamy milk??? Perhaps one day I can be more like them in that respect. Until then, I will simply continue to eat up the culture--literally.
While at the store, Leader Price, I waited for a woman and her child so I could get by, and because we went to the same ares of the store, I waited a couple of times. Then, as I walked home, we crossed paths again! The little girl hadn't quite obeyed the woman at first, but we smiled when we made eye contact. I realized that, although the French reserve smiles largely for intimate, friend-related interactions while Americans will at least force a small smile at strangers, children have no fear and sometimes are the ones who instigate smile exchanges. I love it! Something else I loved was that when I encountered the two while walking back, I saw a poor, hunched over, frail woman slowly make here way across the sidewalk to her apartment, literally inching forward by just barely getting one foot in front of the other. I thought to help, but apparently the woman and the young girl saw as well, and I was grateful to see that people here are compassionate, too, even to the point that this woman offered help. This gives me hope for the world. Sadly, I'm not sure that I would've had the guts to talk to the elderly woman. I didn't even strike up a conversation with the woman and child. Lame, je sais...
Well, after I put my stuff away and finished stuffing my face for lunch, I went over to the church building to see about hanging out with the Study Abroad students. Success! They invited me to go to the Arc de Triomphe, followed by seeing Minuit à Paris (Midnight in Paris) with them. I thought of not going up to the top of the Arc, but I'm glad to have taken the opportunity and joined the group. I made more friends, enjoyed the fresh air without cigarettes and with a slight breeze and sunshine, and enjoyed the vista. Funny note of something I saw while in line to pay:
Basically, the Spanish translation was off by one letter, changing the meaning from what the English and French say to instead mean "I stop your comfort and security..."
Sadly, my camera died soon after I took a couple of pics from the top, but I asked a friend to take a pic of me with the Eiffel Tower in the background, so that should be up on FB soon.
On our way down the stairs, I had a bit of a discussion about history, and I made a comment about how it's weird to realize that Joseph Smith was born around the time of Napolean. Little did I know but that there were LDS Utahns behind me, who spoke up after hearing my comment! Turns out they just arrived today from Salt Lake, so maybe that was to help them feel more welcome/confident in being here. It made us excited!
Next, we walked down the Champs Elysees and hunted down some food, which was followed by much conversing as we waited to enter the theater for the movie. Apparently the movies in the cinemas all cost 3,5 euros this week, and today is the premiere of the movie "Midnight in Paris," kicking off the Cannes Film Festival. I was worried about how clean it'd be--I hadn't even heard about it before today, much less knew about what to expect--but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there weren't any bad scenes. Plenty of innuendo, but the many art and cultural references helped make it humorous for me. They even mentioned srrealism and the movie makes a small use of this in the end, reminding me of La continuidad de los parques! One of my new friends, Paul, pointed out on his blog that the French view film as more of an art than we do, noting that they even had carpeting under the screen and people clapped at the end. Yeah, it was definitely a step up from the cine back home and the Movies 8 in Provo!
The beginning would be considered slow by most Americans, I think, but I was happy to sit, watch, and listen because it opens with scenes from all over Paris, including many places I've seen in person! I don't approve of all the affairs that go on between engaged or married people, but the overall message was something I've come to realize and I could relate with the protagonist because I am also a romantic. The basic moral of the story is that we may idealize another time period as much as we'd like, but we need to be content with our own present and time period we have been sent to (by God), or else we'll never be satisfied.
Most of the movie is in English, with a bit of French and a lesser bit of Spanish. And even though I know I'm in Paris, there are moments in which I forget, and being with other American peers watching a movie mostly in English made it a bit stunning to realize as I headed out the door and heard French behind me that, oh yeah, French is a real language used in everyday life, and I am right here in the heart of it! As we walked to the metro, I could just hear the movie's theme music playing, including us in the magical film realm. It made reality more enchanting. The best part? My life isn't a fictional movie, but it's the real deal, and it's mine to live and experience!
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