End of the First Week of School

On Thursday, we had our first day of Structures class (basically Statics & Dynamics for architects).  I was surprised to learn that our professor is Jeff Kansler, this young guy from U of I's engineering school who I had actually talked to last year when he gave us a guest lecture.  He had just arrived in Paris a few hours earlier, so he was really tired and let us go after about 20 minutes.  I'm excited for that class, not just because our teacher seems like a cool guy, but because I love doing math and physics problems.  So much better than the never-ending process of architectural design!

In the afternoon we had a lecture about our "Independent Study" sketching class.  We didn't actually sketch anything, but the director (Alejandro) showed us some cool examples from last year.  Then went to get cell phones from a big company called Orange.  It was really funny, because 9 of the U of I kids ended up at the same store at the same time.  So this guy was practicing his English on us, and teaching us how to work the cell phones, saying, "Ok class, be quiet! Everyone, type in this number..."  He must have thought that Americans hug each other all the time, because after we bought our phones, he wanted  hugs.  So random.  Later that night we just chilled out, made some dinner, and did our first homework assignment:  drawing plans and sections of our apartment.

On Friday, we had our second French class.  We ALREADY had a substitute teacher (oh, French people), but she was cool too.  We learned a lot of banking terms, which came in handy when we tried to get money the next day.  In the afternoon we had our first real sketch trip, and there were a lot of options to choose from.

I chose to go by myself to draw the Pantheon in Paris.  I don't know why, but I feel even more comfortable wandering around in Paris than I do in Chicago.  I'm getting pretty good at directions.  Anyway, I chose to dress up like a real Parisian: I had a flowery tank top tucked into a black pencil skirt, dark tights, and purple heels.  People seriously thought I was a native: so many asked me for directions!  I was happy to help this American lady who came up to me and asked (with a terrible accent), "Parlez-vous français?"  It's funny: we all love bonding with fellow Americans, or even English-speakers, while in France.  It's nice to know that there are other people struggling there too.

Anyway, the Pantheon was really beautiful.  It was hard to sketch because it's just so big.  I enjoyed going inside, especially into the crypt beneath the church.  I didn't realize it, but tons of awesome people are buried there: Voltaire and Rousseau (the philosophers), Alexandre Dumas (who wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo), Louis Pasteur (like pasteurization), Louis Braille, Marie and Pierre Curie, and best of all, Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables).

After I sketched a lot, I called up my friends who were nearby and we walked throughout the Latin Quarter to find some cheap food.  We ended up buying some wine and baguette sandwiches.  We then did the most French thing we could have possibly done:  we found a nice spot along the Seine River, sat down with our wine and food, and watched the boats pass by as the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower!!!  It was a perfect evening.  People in the boats probably thought we were French, and we tried to wave hello to all of them.

After about an hour and a half of just chilling out there, we hopped on the train for 3 stops and got off at the Eiffel Tower.  Even though my feet were killing at this point (never wearing heels again!), it was great to see it sparkle every 15 minutes or so.  It doesn't get much better than that.