Wednesday, July 04, 2007

• Au Revoir, Paris.

  Wow.  It's almost been a month since I posted anything!!!
  
  ****This entry is dedicated to my dear great-grandmother who just passed away in Taiwan at the age of 102.  I may not ever live as long, but I strive to live as full.****
  
  First of all,
  

  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! 
  

  In commemoration of our mother country's day of freedom, some friends and I felt that our patriotic devotion could only be demonstrated by going to McDonald's. 
  

  
  Fig 1. McDonald's in France.  Did you know you can get beer at the McDonald's here? 
  

  
  AHHHHHH!!!!! I can't believe that I have only 2 full days left in Paris!!!!  I apologize for not updating until now, but I realize that I stop writing about my days when the days are the fullest.  Ironic, isn't it?  Ok, I'll try to capture what happened in this last month...
  
  Group Trip to San Malo and Mont Saint-Michel
  I really liked the group trips that the school organized for us.  It really helped me to get to know some of my classmates better.  From living in a roomy hotel in a medieval town where ramparts still exist, to eating delicious giant crêpes; from making 11,40 € by playing my the Filipino Mandolin thing on the street corner, to playing soccer on the beach till sundown... this was by far one of the best class excursions we went on.
  

  
  
  
  

  Fig 2. Beach of San Malo, 2 minute walk from our hotel
  

   
  

  Fig 3. Mont Saint-Michel and my money-making madness
  

  
  Randomness from the following week
  

  
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                  (b)                                                      (c)
  Fig 4.a) Eiffel Tower at my fingertips, b) big lips unite, c) Venus and I are friends
  
  

  Trip to the French Riviera: Nice, Monaco, and Cannes
  This weekend trip began with a rough start.  The day before leaving, something unfortunate happened to me in Paris, so I was really glad to get away from the busy city.  The French Riviera was incredibly laid back and relaxing, in sharp contrast to the fast-paced life of Paris. My roommate Loni and I took a train there, and I felt like Harry Potter. It was my first time riding a high speed train!  We arrived at our hostel, which was actually really nice and clean, and there we met up with two of our other classmates, Kim and Ashley, and we hit up town.  Small perks about each of the cities we visited:
  - In Monaco, we saw the Monte Carlo Casino where we probably saw 11 Ferraris in a row.
  - In Cannes, we spent the day at the beach and I got a sunburn from laying on the beach too long.  It must be a fashionable thing there for women to be topless. 
  - In Nice, we happened to be there during the time of an inaugural opening of a public square in Nice, so we took part of a whole day celebration and found ourselves at a concert of this awesome singer, Hélène Segara.  She reminds me Celine Dion and Evanecense. 
  
  

   
  (a)                                                    (b)
  
  (c)                                 (d)                                    (e)

  Fig 5. a) Girls at the train station, b) telescopic view of Nice c) on the Harry Potter Train, d) waterfall in Nice, e) dancing behind the Monte Carlo
  

  
  Anna Grigoryan-Wang Flies Halfway Across the World to Visit Me:
  The most meaningful time of this entire trip was definitely during the two weeks when Anna was here.  Not only did she bring a refreshing sense of energy, but she brought me nice clothes to wear too. 
  
  Our time together consisted of having a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of a thunderstorm, watching our favorite dancer bust a move at the discotheque as he danced by himself in front of the mirror, eating baguettes and tuna nearly everyday, shopping because Europe basically went on sale starting the last week of June, talking into the wee hours of the morning about topics spanning from R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet to misconceptions of religion, and lots more.
  
  What I appreciate most about Anna is that she is honest with me.  If something bothers her, she lets me know, but more than that, she tries to understand why it bothers her.  Plus, she's just hilarious.  Our humor seems to feed off of each other.  And even though she plays it off sometimes, she is a very caring person.  She definitely arrived at the right time, and was there for me when I needed it.  Thanks, Anna for flying to Paris to hold my pinky. 
  
  

  
  (a)                                     (b)                                     (c)
  Fig 6. a) Pretending to be French (smokers) b) "Taking pictures with statues." c) Lost in Paris at 3am
  
  
  (a)                                        (b)                                         (c)
  
  (d)                                                (e)
  Fig 7. a) Conquering La Grande Arche, b) coolest shot ever - can you spot my camera? c) Montmartre, d) Anna dresses me up for the ballet, e) the Opera house that Phantom of the Opera is based off of
  
  
  

  
  

  Fig 8. La Tour Eiffel
  

  
  Interlaken, Switzerland
  Even though San Malo was pretty sweet, Interlaken was definitely the best weekend trip overall.  Loni and I randomly chose this town because it looked close to the Swiss Alps on the map.  Little did we know that Interlaken is a hub of young travellers who want to spend their time there doing extreme sports.  Bringing Anna and our friend Mark with us, we stayed at a really awesome hostel called Balmer's - this place was more American than America!
    Some of the things we did included hiking in the Alps, whizzing through the hills of Switzerland on rented mountain bikes, whizzing on scooters around the winding roads to climb a glacier, and.... PARAGLIDING!!! When you're done reading the entry, you can check out the video to see some of these adventures! 
  
  

   
  (a)                                    (b)                                      (c)
  Fig 9. a) River of Switzy, b) Arrival in Interlaken at the train station, c) Snowcapped peaks!!
  
  
  (a)                                  (b)
  
  (c)                                             (d)
      Fig 10. a) Sighting of a mountain goat (jk!), b) God's creation, c) Climbing to the Glaciers, d) Mountain Biking,
  
   
  (a)                                                      (b)
  Fig 11. a) "Discovering why birds sing", b) Me and my crazy paragliding pilot
  

  
  
  Closing Time...Transition to Ghana
  
  It's really hard to believe that I've been here for  7 weeks.  I think I'm still in denial that I'm leaving - I still have so much work to get done in the next day in terms of assignments, plus I want to do a couple more things while here in Paris, yet I feel like I should be preparing myself for going to Ghana.  I've also had a cough for a week and half now, and I really don't want to go to Africa as a disease-carrying vessel.  Everything's happening so quickly and...
  
  Oh my gosh!  Today was the last day of classes... FOREVER.  Guys -- I have officially graduated!!! AHHHH!!!! 
  
  Ok, obviously I need time to think about all the things that are/have been going around me...   I am just hoping for space to do that at some point... In the meantime, thank you to everyone for your emails, and especially the letters!  And even though I will probably only have access to internet twice during my stay in Ghana, please keep sending the emails because it makes me happy to read about your lives! I have a new address in Ghana... 
  
  Enjoy the video!
  
  
  
  

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