Nat-Nat Goes Global

Last day here

2005-05-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well I'm leaving Chile tomorrow, so this is my last post. It's been an interesting semester, but I can't say I'm sad to be leaving. I'm spending the weekend at my dad's (and no, I am not excited or even remotely happy about it), then I'll be back in DC on Tuesday. I got a new cellphone, but Cingular thought it would be fun to give me a 606 area code (which is middle-of-nowhere KY - no idea where that came from) so I need to yell at them and try to get a new number. I'll send out my number as soon as I get that taken care of. Thanks for reading the blog, hope it was somewhat interseting, and can't wait to catch up in person!

Winter is here

2005-05-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

... and it's cold and rains all the time. And there is no heating in my house, even though it's below freezing at night. And I only have 2 sweaters with me. Excellent. I'm done with classes, papers, and tests, so all I have left is my last day at my internship on Thursday and packing, which will be quite a challenge. Let's see how Nathalie can get pottery back to the States without breaking it, shall we?

Tear gas is NOT cool

2005-05-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Big student protests in Santiago yesterday against the government's plan to privatize the public university system. As democratic as Chile likes to think it is, the carabineros still felt it was necessary to bring in tanks and SWAT-like teams to monitor the protests. Apparently that wasn't enough, so they dumped tear gas (or something like it) all around downtown, and I got a nice lungfull. I felt really gross and kept sneezing for an hour or so, but I'm fine. Still, NOT cool. I guess democracy and freedom of speech/assembly is relative.

Faking journalism

2005-04-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I successfully faked being a journalist today. Armed with a letter from CEJA saying that I was covering the conference for our publications (a big stretch of the imagination), I showed up at the Hyatt this morning, got my press pass, and started walking around the lobby like I belonged there. Eventually I tagged on to a group of Chilean journalists, figuring that if something exciting happened they would know about it. sure enough, there were 2 or 3 Condi fake-outs where someone would shout "esta en la sala de prensa!" (or some other location) and we would all run there, mob-style. We had no assurance that the Secretary was actually going to make a public appearance, but I had recognized several U.S. Embassy ppl in the press room so I figured it might be worth it to hang around.
Around 12:30, the waiting paid off. Sec. Rice and 7 other foreign ministers (including Colombia and Chile) came out, and the entire press corps (including yours truly) fought to get the best shot of Condi, the conference's celebrity. My pics are pretty blurry since everyone kept shoving me, but a couple are decent. Anyway, the Colombian minister announced that Mexico was withdrawing Derbez's candidacy for OAS secretary general (if you don't know about this, it's a huge deal in latin america and especially Chile - at least among foreign policy nerds like me). Since Derbez is withdrawing, that means that Insulza (the Chilean interior minister) is going to be elected on Monday. This is a very big deal for many reasons, but I won't bore you with them here. Then Insulza spoke, we kept taking pictures (the secret service were super nice, they tried really hard to get out of the way), and eventually all the ministers left except Insulza and the Chilean foreign minister Ignacio Walker, who gave a separate press conference. It was really, really exciting - definitely a highight of the semester.

My internship just got cool

2005-04-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

So Condi (and a lot of other political celebrities) is going to be in Santiago for the 3rd ministerial conference of the community of democracies, and CEJA is sending me to cover it - I'm getting a press pass and everything! I'm super excited, and more than a little nervous. Expect an update on this later.

Yay for Mac'n'cheese

2005-04-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

The most exciting thing to happen to me yesterday - by far - was that my final Mommy care package came in the mail - and it was three packets of classic Kraft mac'n'cheese!!! Oh Tuesday was exciting though, I went to this awesome Peruvian restaurant with Meredith, the Fulbright from my office, and her friend Allie who works for Human Rights Watch and it was so much fun. Among the highlights was learning that when she was a freshman in college, Meredith got her ass grabbed by Strom Thurmond. I am so jealous. Last piece of news: Condi is doing her Latin American tour, as you may know, and I'm going to try to see her while she's in Santiago. No, I am not a stalker - but I am slightly obsessed with political celebrities. What can I say, I'm a Washington girl.

Adventures in dubbing

2005-04-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

Since I spent most of my sunday napping and reading John Grisham novels, I was completely unable to sleep last night and started channel flipping. To my great joy, I eventually found Sex and the City, and, even more exciting, it was one I'd never seen yet. Actually, it wasn't so much SATC as it was Sexo En La Ciudad, aka the dubbed version. Let's just say that I learned about a dozen new ways to use the verb "coger."

Wow, and I thought the old pope was bad

2005-04-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Kate, the American translator at my office, just walked in. "Did you hear the bad news?" she asked. I hadn't, and started wondering what kind of horror had befallen us. Another major terrorist attack? A coup in Chile? Another tsunami? Nope: Ratzinger was elected pope after a remarkably short conclave. Looks like the religion that claims me isn't going to realize that women are people, too, anytime soon, or that sex isn't intrinsically evil, or that AIDS isn't a punishment from God, or that stem-cell research saves lives, or that voting for Kerry doesn't make me a bad person, or a number of other things that most rational, educated humans have figured out by now. Like Kate said, it could have been worse - it could have been Cardinal Law.

text-messaging in antartica

2005-04-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

One of the big chilean cell phone companies, Entel (also happens to be my cell phone operator) is now airing ads about how their nationwide coverage includes Antartica... "porque alla es Chile, y hay chilenos." wasn't aware penguins had cell phones.

Carnivore Initiative vs. Baby Seals, Round One

2005-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

I really do not go to a normal school:
http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/2005/04/14/News/Meat-On.The.Menu.For.Republicans-924588.shtml

I miss AU.

So much for positive thinking

2005-04-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I was trying to cheer myself up this afternoon, so I made a mental list of things that are better in Chile than in the U.S., or that I would miss after this semester. So far, here's what I've got:
- my purchasing power (things are cheaper here)
- the abundance of palta (mmm, mashed up avocado with oil and salt)
- it's warmer and less humid
- having a big ass is considered sexy
- more frequent West Wing reruns

At this point I think I need to stop the list before I start being thankful for really trivial stuff. Now, Things That Are Bad In The States But Even Worse Here - in no particular order:
- women´s rights
- socially conservative people
- uber-conservative media conglomerates
- racism
- wage inequality
- Americans/Chileans without adequate health insurance
- public transportation trying to ruin my life
- Chevy Chase charging me way too much to keep my money
- police brutality

Argentina

2005-04-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent over 12 hours bussing across the Andes just so I could get a silly Argentine stamp in my passport and start a new 30-day period of legally being in Chile. Considering I spent less than 24 hours in Mendoza and really didn´t see much of anything, it sounds like a pointless trip, but it was actually cheaper to leave the country than to pay $100 to renew the visa here. Plus now I've technically been to Argentina twice (the other time i never left the duty-free at the Buenos Aires airport). Oh well, I saved 40 bucks.
Country count for 2005: 5 (6 if you count the pseudo US soil at the embassy)

And here's why Lauren is Lauren (and i love her for it)

2005-04-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

From my former roomie: "Good luck on the foreign service exam. I'm sure you'll pass it on the first try! OK, so I know you'll fail, but I can try to believe in you. I also thought you would appreciate this magazine (State mag with Condi on the cover), not least because it's in English. Plus, you can learn all about your new boss. Have fun and hug a llam for me! Lauren"

Yet another reason why I love Sarah

2005-04-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

"JUST WANTED TO REMIND YOU THAT MAY 24 IS MY BIRTHDAY!! hence, despite the jet lag u will be drinking bc i will be turning 21!!! can't wait to see you and i miss you so much. i will give you a better update later when my life is not so out of control!!
besos,
sarita"

I'm coming home!!!

2005-04-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

YAY!! I finally got a ticket back to the States! I don't have to live at the Paris Airport for the rest of my life!!! The ticket was definitely more than I wanted to pay (but then again, $10 is more than I wanted to pay), but YAY, i have a ticket! Silly Air France has a zillion block-out dates so I could't get a flight until Tuesday, but that just means I get to chill at my uncle's house in Paris for a few days (well, I hope so at least). Then starting on Tuesday I get to bother Lauren for 10 days! YAY!

RIP, J-P II

2005-04-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

So the pope died (notice how most of my posts start with the words "so" or "well." I have really poor grammar, sorry Mom). Being in Chile, an allegedly super catholic country (even though most Chileans never go to Mass), at this time is fairly interesting. Every one seems to be in despair over it, including my host mom who hasn't gone to church in years and agres with me that the church is way too conservative on "issues of personal morality," like my buddy Christiane Amanpour (in case you live under a rock, that's the CNN head international correspondant with the funny accent). Claudia even went to church this morning and is now listening to another mass on the radio.
here's my thing about John Paul II. Yeah, he helped bring down communism, and that was great. i really admire his convictions about social justice and all the times that he took a stand for peace, as well as his efforts toward ecunenism (pardon my spelling). and it really was historic that he apologized for the Inquisition, the Church's silence during the Holocaust, and the Church's century-long oppression of women (if you deny that this last part happened, we really need to have a long talk). But in my opinion, that was really the least he could do.
What about ordaining women as priests? what about recognizing that birth control is essential to social and economic development? what about NOT telling Catholics in AIDS-infested countries that using condoms to prevent the spread of HIV is a sin? what about saying something when the Catholic bishops basically excommunicated those who voted for John Kery or any other pro-choice politician? what about not bringing back the sale of indulgences (charging people money to have their sins forgiven)? what about not being homophobe bigots? The Church may be better than it used to be, but it still does too much wrong to claim to be doing God's work. Nevertheless, may the pope rest in peace, and may the college of cardinals elect someone who actually understands how the world works - not that I realy have much hope that that's going to happen.

Things I will definitely not miss when I leave Chile

2005-03-31T06:02:00.000-08:00

- constant "piropos" (catcalls) every time I leave my house, no matter how conservatively I'm dressed or bad my hair/face look
- pseudo-IR and history classes that are mainly remedial macroeconomics
- actually, pretty much all my classes here
- corn at every meal
- the complete unavailability of change at restaurants and stores
- micros
- the smog
- getting checked out like a piece of meat by every male I run into, ever, no matter how old or young he is
- getting honked at - including by cop cars (do you see a pattern here?)
- having every Chilean woman I know try to set me up with their son/nephew/neighbor/trash collector
-said "eligible" bachelor being just as sketchy as the piropo sleazeballs
- the 15 year old Macs at the computer lab
- not being able to flush toilet paper
- needing a least 15 minutes every morning to get my shower to a decent temperature
- Nescafe
- the ambulances and their alarms outside my window at 6am
- my upstairs neighbors and what sounds a lot like tap-dancing until midnight

semi-icky news

2005-03-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

i got my assignment for the summer: Michigan June 4 to July 23. I think the program itself will be really good, and my friend Mary from GW will be there as well, but it means I'm not getting flown to DC for orientation in May... meaning I have no idea how i'll manage to get the stuff I need for the summer out of Lauren and Nicole's room, or take care of the apt, not to manage get a few weeks in at work. If anyone knows how I can get a cheap/free one-way ticket from Paris to DC as soon as possible after May 21, I'd appreciate any tips.

Spring/Fall break

2005-03-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well, for the second year in a row I've managed to spend spring break somewhere colder and wetter than where I was before. Chiloe is definitely a better idea than Montreal was, though. After landing in Puerto Montt we took a bus/ferry down to Castro, about 3 hours away. On the ferry ride over to the island, we had a big debate over whether it was salt or fresh water. Eventually we realized that since it was the Pacific, it was probably salt water. We really lucked out on the hostel, it was actually a tourist agency as well and they set us up with some really sweet excursions. Sunday we travelled around the east coast of Chiloe (by the interior sea, as they call it) and saw lots of traditional chilote churches and houses. Oh and by the way Tom somehow managed to punch me in the face with his camera. Freaking woman beater. On Monday we went West and did some soft-core hiking. Since I was making most of the travel arrangements, our guide asked me if I was the boss of the group. I said no, and he apparently decided that I was everyone else's mother. Ugh, if I ever have five boys I'm selling them to the circus. Alyssa I'd keep though. Over lunch one day our driver (who looked Scottish, by the way) started debating Mark over vegetarianism and used the fact that his spanish is much better than Mark's to bully him. I got annoyed and tried to help Mark out, and the driver snapped back at me that he was talking to Mark, not me, and that when I have kids I'm not going to let them talk. Then he commented that it was good that I was looking out for my "kid" (never mind that Mark and everyone else is older than me), and semi-accusatorily asked the guys who was looking out for me. Ben answered that God was. I can take care of myself, thank you very much.

Tuesday we got tired of Castro (and just in time - the water was cut off in the whole town) and bussed up to Ancud, where we cooked dinner and went to a gringo-themed bar. Wednesday morning we saw penguins!!! There werent very many because they're starting to head north to Peru for the winter, but it was still very cool. The guys headed back to Santiago this afternoon, and since it's raining and gross (and Ancud is really a nothing middle of nowhere town) the rest of us are staying in tonight before heading up to Puerto Montt and then home to Santiago tomorrow.

Back at the OAS

2005-03-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

I started my internship this a week, and while it wasn't nearly as bad as my last OAS internship (which consisted of making photocopies, playing phone tag with Colombians, and being spoken to in Portuguese), it wasn't nearly as fun as the French Embassy one. It also doesn't involve free wheels of brie or an on-site liquor store. Basically, I sit in front of a computer from 9 to 5 and look up stats on the American justice system, then compile them into a report. Eventually I have to do the same thing for Canada and the Anglophone Caribbean nations. At least I'm doing actual work, even if it's not the most interesting work.

Pomaire

2005-03-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

So this afternoon Alyssa, Mark and I went to Pomaire, this BFE little pueblo southwest of Santiago whose local economy consists entirely of pottery and a few other artesan crafts. many of the pots we saw were shaped like pigs for no reason whatsoever, as far as we could tell. It was really cool, I bought quite a bit of pottery to decorate the appartment next year (if I can figure out a way to get it back to US - oh well they were all less than a dollar). There were also some more than questionable items, including a number of garden gnomes, ceramic black children (I got my picture taken next to a life-sized one) and a pot shaped like male genitalia. I made Mark pose with that one. I was also shocked by the globalization of cheap tourist crap - so much of the stuff you see in artesan markets here is either made in Nepal, represents clearly non-local animals (such as giraffes), or is from an entirely different part of south africa - mainly andean flutes and woolen crafts.

Life is picking up...

2005-03-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

... in the land of "no pasa nada." I've been going out a lot more recently, both with people from the AU program and some other Americans that we picked up on the metro. There are few enough Americans here that it's really ok to introduce yourself to anyone you hear speaking American. The city in general is starting to actually look populated - very much so, actually. The sidewalks are realy crowded and the traffic is just nuts. We had out first "final" on friday for the LIterature class. It was so easy, I felt bad. Plus it was open-book and open-note. Man, and this is supposed to be one of the "smart" AU Abroad programs. The Chilean students start class on Monday, it'll be weird to not have the entire campus to ourselves anymore. Well, that's about it. OOh, wait - last night I was at an outside bar and I saw my host brother with a girl who was not his polola. He didnt see me, but I wonder if there's anything going on there...

It's the end of the world as we know it

2005-03-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

and I really do feel fine. I'd like to preface this by saying that Liz Schnitter is totally awesome and that I am very supportive of her. Nevertheless...
NatNat9384: lauren, my world is falling apart
LoLo081384: why is that?
NatNat9384: liz is applying for an internship at the UN
NatNat9384: and its sponsored by cosmo
LoLo081384: oh dear lord
NatNat9384: exactly
NatNat9384: i feel responsible for this
NatNat9384: you should too, actually
NatNat9384: we're the ones who taught her who kofi annan is
LoLo081384: feel responsible or apply too?
NatNat9384: i mean that we're the cause of liz applying to the UN
LoLo081384: ah
NatNat9384: i'm at a loss
LoLo081384: dont be
NatNat9384: i don't think you understand
LoLo081384: i'd be more concerned that cosmo is supporting the UN along with whoring
NatNat9384: little lizzy schitter, who didnt know bush was a republican until we told her so, is applying for an internship at the UN
NatNat9384: hahaha

I got me an internship!!!

2005-02-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I finally had an internship interview. It was at.... the OAS. Yes, again. This time, though it's not drug prevention (bo-RING) but judicial reform (ok not a thriller either, but slightly more up my alley). The place is called the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Américas, or CEJA for short), and as far as I can tell it's a semi-independant OAS agency. Hopefully it won't have all the ridiculous internal politics of the OAS secretariat (as fun as that whole corruption/resignation scandal was).The funny thing here thing was that Ben and Tom had interviews there, too, and of course we all showed up wearing blue shirts. Plus, they were both wearing kakhis. Way to look like a team, guys.
Anyway, we all were offered the internship, and Ben and I are definitely going to do it. We're going to be responsible for writing (in English, fortunately) the USA, Canada and Caribbean sections of their annual report on the state of judicial affairs. I think the US and Canada ought to be pretty straightforward, since there's a lot of information out there, but the Caribbean might prove more challenging. I'm pretty happy about it, I think it should be interesting, especially since I don't know much (or anything) about law or justice, and it sounds like we'll be doing actual work (as opposed to my previous internships). I also like the idea of having other interns to hang out with during the day and to split the workload with - even though I find the fact that I'm going to be interning with Ben highly amusing.

Partying it up, Bellavista style

2005-02-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

I actually had a pretty good week end, thanks for asking. Friday afternoon Alyssa came over and we researched possible weekend trips to Argentina, only to realize that her guidebook is a big fat liar and is chock full of fake phone numbers and other random bogus info. Later, I went to dinner with John and we had.... Chinese food. At first I thought it might actually be good since the place had 1) a pagoda 2) an Asian man tending bar. Unfortunately, it was not so good. Like most food in Chile, as I am beginning to realize. On a related note, I am starting to really crave KFC (shut up, it's the food of my people). I think I might be able to talk tommy into going with me sometime. Hmm, chicken...

Saturday afternoon Alyssa and I went to the National History Museum, which was expensive by DC standards. By that I mean that it cost a dollar. Man do I leave the cheapness. Later that night I went out with Alyssa and her host sister, Carola (yes mom, someone else who stole your name). Carola and some of her friends are opening up a bar in Bellavista, and we just ahng out there all night, even tho it's really just a gutted house with an old couch, a few stools and quite a bit of pisco. The Chileans were really cool: very warm and welcoming. Most Chileans seem rather cold and reserved at first, but then they really open up. I learned how to salsa, tasted piscola (pisco with coke) and jote (red wine with coke - not bad tasting, but I'm pretty sure it's the trashiest drink I've ever had). As usual, everyone there tried to come up with random guys they knew that they could set up Alyssa and me up with. They seemed moderately insulted when I told them I didn't particularly want a Chilean pololo, but they seemed to get over it pretty quick. I finally made it home around 5, completely dead, and slept until 4 the following afternoon. All in all, a rather excellent weekend.

Typical Nicole conversation (on Liz's screenname)

2005-02-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

NatNat9384: btw i almost bought you a pet alpaca to keep Posh company
elisch29: HAHAHAH
NatNat9384: but the guy refused to barter, soo...
elisch29: i think lauren would kill me
elisch29: wait, a real one?
NatNat9384: dont worry it was fake
elisch29: or the stuffed one?
elisch29: oh man
elisch29: i was hoping for a real one
NatNat9384: i'll try
elisch29: then i could make coats out of its hair and sell them instead of getting a job
NatNat9384: jon berman wants to smuggle a street dog back to the states
elisch29: posh could have a pink alpaca coat
elisch29: that might be a little scary
NatNat9384: haha
elisch29: hahahah
NatNat9384: i might still come through on the alpaca
elisch29: hahahaha
NatNat9384: i might have to make that my mission, actually
NatNat9384: ben wants to open an alpaca farm upstate
elisch29: hahahah, he's so a hick
NatNat9384: he fell in love wiht one while we were up north
elisch29: HAHAHAHAH
elisch29: i got this great image of ben and an alpaca out on a date
NatNat9384: he also fell into a moat
NatNat9384: HAHAHAHA
elisch29: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
elisch29: that's phenomenal
elisch29: forgive me, i'm a little WAAAY cracked out right now

I heart my Jimela

Letter to The Economist

2005-02-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

I feel like I could have written this myself:
"Students need to drink. I anyone can successfully make it to their mid-20s without the soothing charm of alcohol there is, quite frankly, something wrong with them. University is a notoriously stessful place. This is especially true in America, where, I hear, they actually make you do some work."

2 months already!!

2005-02-24T03:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the two month anniversary of my leaving DC. Wow. I know I´ve left the country for longer times and for worse reasons before, but it´s still hard to believe I´ve been gone for so long. Well, at least I´ve made it through a third of my time abroad - and judging by everything that´s happened so far (my crazy road solo road trips through France, getting nationally profiled at Gatwick, that ridiculous night in Rome, spending a week in the freaking desert, taking a Pilates class...) there will be plenty of adventures left to come. Exciting, but also a bit overwhelming. I am definitely starting to feel culture shock pretty strongly, but I think I´m coping with it pretty well. I try not to pack too much in a day, and I´ve managed to transfer quite a few cues (like listening to CNN as I get ready in the morning or - yay- daily Friends reruns).
Nevertheless, I am pretty eager to meet people outside of the AU program and hang out with some Chileans. Hopefully I´ll be able to ward off all the weirdos my host mom seems determined to set me up with - not that I have anything against Chilean men, but the last one she wanted to introduce me to was her ex-husband´s 17-year-old son. Gaahh!!

Excesses of feminism

2005-02-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Just received this from Nicole:
I just wanted you to know that this is a direct quote from one of my readings:
"What wisdom can there be in the menses? What source of knowledge inthe milk-filled breast? What food for abstraction in the dailyroutine of feeding and cleansing?"
I just thought you might enjoy that. I know I am.
Jimela

Yay for candy and Pilates

2005-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

Yay for my Mommy sending me candy for Valentine´s Day! Double yay for Chilean postal service NOT stealing it and "only" taking 3 weeks to deliver it!

I just found out that there´s a Pilates studio just accross the street from my apartment, so I went over there to check it out, and it´s actually pretty cheap and seems really cool, so I´m going to a free demo class tonight. I figure that taking Pilates classes will be a good way to broaden my horizons beyond TV-watching and hanging out with other AU people. Yay for getting in shape!

I´ve had more thrilling weekends

2005-02-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

Just got back from 48 hours at my host sister´s house outside of santiago - and by house I mean ginormous mansion in a gated communitee. I´m starting to understand what they mean when they say that Chile has the biggest wealth inequality of Latin America. The host sister who lives was actually on vacation in argentina with her biochemical engineer hubby and 3 kids, but the other two sisters, brother max, 1 brother-in-law, 1 nephew, and 4 neighbors were all there. Since there were about 10 Chileans all talking at break-neck speed at the same time, I only understood about a third of what was going on. What little I did understand seemed to be in-depth discussions of the latest teleserie (= soap opera that actually ends, eventually) and something called La Granja, which as far as I can tell is a reality TV show that involves killing hens with one´s bare hands and turning them into casseroles. Thrilling, I´m sure. However, I did manage to read two back issues of The Economist (purchased for 10 dollars - I´m sure I got ripped off) and take about 3 naps. Oh and I also watched Hollow Man, which was seriously bad.

And classes finally begin

2005-02-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

So I started classes the day before yesterday. So far it seems the perfect balance of challenging and study-abroad worthy easy. It´s all in Spanish, but the two professors weve had thus far (ínternational relations and literature) are really good about enunciating and keeping the chilenismos to a minimum. We have a few papers to write at the end of the semester, but def much less than it would be at AU, AND we have the option to write them in English if we want to. I might end up writing them in Spanish anyway, but it´s nice to have the option. The university itself is still closed for the summer, so it´s basically just us and the construction workers in the school. I am looking forward to meeting some Chileans (and hopefully making friends with them), but it is nice to get to know my way around the building before its super crowded.

I think I´m starting to get culture shock. Sometimes I feel so sick of hearing spanish that I could scream, and last night I started to feel really anxious for no reason. So I turned on the Sony Entertainment Channel and watched Gilmore Girls, Desperate Housewives and ER (by the way, anyone know what happened to Abby? I was really confused), and I felt much better. I seriously wonder whether I could survive without TV. And yes, I do realize that I´m pathetic, but so what. I´m just trying to transfer cues in order to minimize culture shock. Thank you Dr. Weaver.

I survived the desert...

2005-02-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

... despite the fact that Nicole and Lauren seemed pretty convinced that I was going to die. I won´t bore you with the full story of my 10 days in el norte, but there are a few highlights that deserve to be known. By the way, AU put us up in 3 and 4 star hotels. Now I know what my program fee is for. In no particular order, I...
- went to a karaoke bar in Iquique with Ben, Jon, Tom, Mark, Ryan and Jen. Despite the fact that chileans seem to actually take it seriously and try to sing well, Jon Berman and I sang a god-awful duet of "I´ve had the time of my life." Ben also sang, except he´s actually good and got a bunch of teenage chilean groupies.
- played asshole at 4 pm with julie, ben, tommy and rebecca. by 7 pm we were so ridiculously trashed we had to hide from carole (the program director) during dinner.
- saw a lot of sand, rocks, and geysers
- shocked everyone by saying that I thought half the people in San Pedro (hippie/druggie capital of South America) needed to take showers and find a real job. I guess the desert brings out the angry reaganite in me.
- realized that hiking the inca trail to macchu picchu over spring break was really suicide, considering that my idea of roughing it is wearing sneakers outside of a gym and that I seem to be insanely prone to altitude sickness.
- got screwed over by chevy chase once more - I still haven´t received my new bank card
- our entire group got Atahualpa´s Curse (commonly known as diarrhea) at pretty much the same time. Looking for bathrooms became our favorite pastime. It´s amazing how close you get talking about poop all the time.
- saw a drunk girl get picked up by the paddywagon (spelling?) in San Pedro. Laughed at how dumb you have to be to get arrested in Chile´s substance-abuse capital.
- organized a "foreign service exam" study group with Tommy, Ben, Jon and possibly Geneva. We´re going to read The Economist and discuss the US Constitution together once a week. Dorkiness like this can only happen at AU.
- took over 140 pictures in less than a week. I can only imagine how many I´ll have after a semester. I´m thinking I might beat Liz´s 9000 spain pics. Don´t worry, I won´t make you look at all of them (unless I´m feeling particularly sadistic).

Well, I´m finally starting classes tomorrow after my 6 week winter/summer break. As much as I like not doing things, it´ll be nice to learn stuff. Plus getting up early should somewhat keep me out of bars, which will be most beneficial to my pocketbook (especially since I have pretty much no money.)

Still no news on my internship, since all of Chile is still on vacation at the beach. According to Carole we probably won´t start working until the middle or end of march, meaning that my 4 credit internship will only be about 2 months long, 2 days a week. I´m really loving this "college light" thing.

Pickpockets are just not cool

2005-02-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

So I managed to be the first person on my program to get my wallet stolen on the bus. To top it off, I had been too lazy to take out all my important documents (aka driver´s license, social security card, birth certificate...), from my wallet, so that´s all gone. Not to mention about 80 dollars in cash and two credit cards. Fortunately the program director is going to lend me money until my new debit card gets here - which chevy chase is charing me 50 bucks for, by the way. That bank really is the devil incarnate. Plus, the woman whom i spoke to to cancel my card was the stupidest person ever. She made me spell Chile twice, and I had to specify that it´s in South America. I swear...
Meanwhile, both Valparaiso and Viña del Mar are both beautiful cities (albeit pickpocket infested), and we had the best salmon ever for dinner (or so I hear, I was completely drunk - thanks Tommy for buying me a bottle of Escudo to make me feel better). Saturday we went to the beach, and even tho it was only 75 or so and the water was frigid, it was lovely to bask in the sun thinking of you poor souls stateside freezing your asses off.

I heart TV

2005-02-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

So last night I tried to watch the state of the union on CNN, but I fell asleep during the "pre-game coverage" (yes I am adapting sports terminology to politics). However, I did manage to watch Dawson´s Creek, Alias and Jack and Bobby (episodes from this fall - boo), and in English, too! If even Chile can manage to show American TV shows in English (with castellano subtitles), then France has no excuse for submitting its viewers to bad, bad dubbing. I bet it´s a ploy to get people to spend ludicrous amounts of money on DVD box sets. Ok, I´m aware that I´ve spent over $250 on Friends DVDs, but that´s different. Anyway, more television good news: Desperate Housewives is on tonight! I am so sad.
Lauren and Nicole, you will be so proud of me: I am actually watching the superbowl this year, for the first time in my life. Ok, I seriously doubt I´ll actually pay any attention to the game (it´s football, right?) but I will be attending a superbowl party with the rest ofthe AU group. Unless I´m dead from la playa...

I keep meaning to discuss a very important part of my life here in Chile: the calefón. Basically it´s a metal box in the back hallway that´s connected to the gas and serves as a water heater. The only catch is that you turn it off every night to save gas (and prevent explosions) and use a match (!) to turn it on in the mornings. I tried to do it and nearly burned my face off, so I am now scared to death of it. Fortunately Claudia doesn´t mind turning it on for me in the mornings.

Schlepping all over Santiago

2005-02-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Very busy last 24 hours: last night we had drinks at La Casa en el Aire en the Bella Vista quarter, which is the bohemian/hippie/drunk/otherwise inebriated part of town. It was fun, but would have been better if there had been other people there. Since it´s the middle of summer (haha, in your face!) the city is completely dead as everyone is at the beach.Then today we had a super easy spanish placement test (even though most of us aren´t even taking spanish, but whatever) we took a bus tour of the city, including the Plaza de Armas, Palacio de la Moneda, Barrio Civico, Cemetario General, and one of Pablo Neruda´s houses. I took lots of pictures but don´t currently have the appropriate software to post them. We´ll see whether I eventually do or not.

Friday we have a day trip to Valparaiso, the Santiago port city on the coast (I´ll see the Pacific for the first time... yay!), and then we´re all taking a bus to Viña del Mar, spending at least one night in a hostel there, and partying (carrete en chileno) and playing on the beach. Sunday wé come back to Santiago, just in time to pack for our week-long trip to El Norte... so I´ll be pretty much incommunicada until the 14th or 15th.

2005-02-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

Hola chicos!
Here I am at the computer room of Universidad Diego Portales... I just had a meeting with the program director to discuss my internship possibility, and it looks like the US Embassy might actually happen! That would be ideal, otherwise I´m also applying to the Chilean Foreign Ministry, the Diplomatic Academy (where they train chilean diplomats - lots of research opportunities for my capstone), and a couple feminist NGOs - yay for being a feminazi.

I suppose I should try to get out some astute observations about Chile. So far it seems like a fairly developed country. There are lots of brand new American and European cars in the street, and my family (which describes itself as middle-middle class) has cable (including CNN, the BBC and TV5 - yay), 3 TVs, and high-speed internet. The metro is also super clean, modern and efficient - much better than either DC or NYC. However, quite a few things are rather sketchy.

Santiago Sketchiness:
- the toilet in my bathroom is very old, so I can´t flush toilet paper because it would clog the pipes. Instead, I am supposed to dispose of it in a special trash can, which Claudia empties daily.
- buses, or "micros," are like bats out of hell. they don´t stop unless they feel like it, and everyday on the news they show the body of some poor old person who got hit by it. My host mom has told me horror stories of falling off the micro and has made me swear not to take it alone. I swore, but I´m sure I´ll get drunk and stupid at some point.
- packs of stray dogs roam the streets. Apparently they´re harmless, but I´m still terrified.
- a sandwich "vegetariano" includes eggs and ham. fortunately i´ve resumed eating flesh.

Alright, apparently it´s time for class. More news later. Un abrazo!

I´m in south america... no seriously I am

2005-01-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

damn, i can´t believe I´m here. after a super awful end of break - complete with the stepmonster refusing to even say good bye to me, among other evilness - I am in sunny - SO sunny - Santiago. Claudia, my host mom, is really sweet, fortunately she also talks non-stop which means that i don´t have to say too much and it´s def beyond total immersion. her son max - 26, i think - is also muy simpatico, as is his gf, susana. actually they invited me to go to a concert with them tonight, which i gladly accepted even though i am dead tired from my 24 hours of traveling (but that´s what chugging diet coke is for). i have a very cute little room and private bathroom, and they actually have high-speed internet!!! I don´t do anything AU-related until Monday, so until then I guess I´m supposed to try to get my bearings and learn about all sorts of stuff from Claudia (the dictatorship trials are going on and it´s awesome to have someone explain all the details to me, even if it is in chilean which i only sort of understand). I´m going to try to take a power nap before i head out, i´ll try to post pictures of stuff sometime next week.
PS: reading this does not count as communication... yes, Dear, that means you :-P

Nat-Nat Takes Europe

2005-01-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back from an insane week. First off, I went to Rome to visit Debbie, with a five-hour stop in London.

Things Of Note that Happened in Gatwick:
- customs lady smiled at me when I presented my French ID, then growled when I wished her a good day in "Yankee" - my language, apparently
- I tried to pay for my McChicken Deluxe Value Meal (3 £ = $6) with a credit card. Street urchin working at McD's glared at me, said "we don't take plastic, only real money - have you got... dollars?" Clearly, I was American. I paid in Euros, and the punk gave me 14£ back in change, while I was forced to spend (Sex and the City - the book and Dan Brown's Digital Fortress; i almost got Posh Spice's autobiography, but I was too embarrassed. Lauren, if you feel like ordering it on amazon...)
- that's about it, gatwick's pretty boring.

The Mad Hunt for Debbie Royal:
-8:30 pm, i arrive in Rome Ciampino (= far-out ghetto airport). i have no idea where the hell debbie's apt is. neither does she. my french cell is roaming = costs me a euro a minute. My italian has shrunk to non-existent. by the way, it's poaring down way. after several expensive phone calls to debbie, taking the roman metro the wrong way, and getting drenched, i finally find debbie and her roommates in front of the Spanish Steps. We have pizza (real pizza, in a pizzeria), i am relieved, we go home to sleep. I develop a strong disliking for Debbie's roommate (reasons can't be detailed here, but will provide upon request).

Wednesday Day: Exploring Rome
So we get up at 8 b/c Debbie and her flatmates have orientation at school, and debie and i start trying to figure out the bus map to get there. the 5 flatmates declare that they're scared of buses (ok... freaks) and that they'd rather walk, even though it's about an hour away. Debbie and I set off, get lost a bit, but eventually make it there - by Italian standards, at least, since we're two hours late. While she does orientation stuff, I take a walk around Trastevere, which is beautiful, then go back to meet Debbie for lunch. I run into Blair Bryant. Enough said.

We went to have lunch in this little whole-in-the-wall place near Debbie's school. It was really cute, really cheap, and really good, with two drawbacks: the menu was hand-written and in italian, so we had no idea what to order (we played it safe and both got spaghetti and salad), and the owners utilized every square foot of the tiny space, so we were tsuck in the back and literally could not leave until the other patrons were done. still, it was interesting. after lunch, debbie went back to school and I went off to the Vatican. i walked all around the Castel Sant'Angelo (around which a lot of homeless ppl live, apparently - how sad) and then started to walk in the direction of St Peter's. As I'm crossing the street, I spot a familiar face in the crowed. I peer at the guy, thinking, "if that is fucking scott eshom... i don't know about the world." the guy was also looking at me weird, and when he's about 5 meters away goes "oh my god, Nathalie!" and gives me a hug.

Sure enough, I had just run into Scott Eshom, with whom I had watched World Cup Soccer during freshman orientation. I had no reason to be in Rome, and neither did he. I really don't know about the world.

2005-01-25T15:59:00.000-08:00

Oh, Italy...

2005-01-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

Oh, Italy... (2)

2005-01-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

Italian graffitti... beats the hell out of "fuck the police"

2005-01-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

One of the bridges over the Tiber... by the way this is as bad as Roman weather ever gets. Rome 1, London 0.

2005-01-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

The Castel di Sant'Angelo... my favorite Roman monument (I'll have to go back and visit the inside some day)

2005-01-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

Random run-in with Scott Eshom... who am I kidding, that's the Capitol in the background!!!

Wednesday night

2005-01-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

... def the craziest night of 2005. When I ran into Scott at St Peter's, he said that he and his friends were going out and that Debbie and I were welcome to join. So we met up with them around 6, but not before getting completely lost and walking 30 min in the wrong direction and back again. We started the night with more walking and getting lost (and nearly hit by various Vespas and Smart cars). Debbie and I started thinking of all the ways we could get killed in Rome (falling down stairs, being mistaken for terrorists and killed by Swiss Guard Snipers... you get the drift). We eventually got to the guys' flat, where we hung out and drank wine for a bit before walking (this was the theme of the evening) to La Scala, this cute little place I saw in a guide book. The food was awesome, and we happily worked on getting plastered - mixed drinks, wines, Jager shots at the table... we certainly didn't mess around. Lauren would have been proud of how good I was: I didn't debate politics with any Republicans, not even when Scott tried to high-5 me over "Fahrenhype 9/11" (and you know how much I can't stand it when Republicans try to high-5 me).
After dinner we, erm, walked to Campo de' Fiori, this piazza where all the Americans hang out. Oh man, that was insane. Let's just say that Scott had chosen that night to get hammered for the first time ever, and Debbie and I kept goading him to do dumb shit like drunk-dial his best friend in Seattle on a US cell phone roaming in Italy. Various other members of the crew kept hitting on girls who were sooo not interested (including us) and getting belligerently drunk. After a long while, everyone disappeared except Debbie, Scott, this gay kid named Brett who's friends with Liza and them, and me. Scott was so trashed we had to carry his ROTC ass home, and we got insanely lost (obviously) and walked for hours until we got to the guys' place around 3. debbie and i were scared to walk alone at night, so we crashed on the kitchen floor until 5 when the busses started running again. We somehow dragged our poor sore selves home on our poor bleeding feet, and went to bed about 7. We'd been up for over 23 hours, and walking on uneven pavement for most of it. THe next day, my entire lower body (abs included) ached so bad i could barely go to the bathroom. Neither could Debbie, so we stayed in bed all day and ached and moaned together. Later, I made my dad's famous carbonara, which was super excellent (ask debbie).

2005-01-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

Debbie, our 9 dates, and me. I had a Long Island and Debbie had a White Russian. And that was only dinner...

2005-01-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

Scott loses his drunk-dialing virginity

2005-01-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Nat-Nat, Debbidoo, and a pair of Mojitos

Friday etc.

2005-01-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Friday was tame and tourist-esque... In the morning we went to St Peter's and the Vatican Museum, which I won't bore you with except to say that when our tour guide mentioned that Michaelangelo had died of syphillis, this little kid asked in a super loud voice what syphillis was, prompting a huge group of elderly nuns to turn around and frown disapprovingly at us retarded Americans. The tour guide turned bright red and stammered that it was a very bad cold. Debbie and I were laughing so hard we had to hold each other up. By the way this was inside the freaking basilica. In the afternoon we went to the Coliseum, the Forum, and the Trevi Fountain, and played with out digital cameras (a lot). On Saturday I came home and started freaking out about Chile and the 24-hour trip that gets me there. Coming up next: Nat-Nat Takes South America.

2005-01-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

Requirements to be a Swiss guard: must be a Swiss citizen, male, aged 18-34, be a Roman Catholic, speak four or five laguages, trained in martial arts, pass rigorous psych testing, be attractive and remain celibate for the duration of employment. Debbie asks (and I couldn't agree more), What's the point of being such a good catch if you're going to be celibate?

2005-01-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Not sleeping beauty but a dead pope (mummified and covered in wax)... John XXIII, I think. How delighfully creepy.

2005-01-23T16:09:00.000-08:00

Inside the biggest church on earth

2005-01-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

the view from the top of St Peter's... amazing

2005-01-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Um, dumbass Vatican put the Capitol and Washington Monument too close together

2005-01-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

I'm scared shitless of THIS Holy Family... they're frigging giants

2005-01-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ginormous nativity scene... Jesus was born 4 feet tall, apparently. Crazy Popists.

2005-01-22T15:54:00.001-08:00

Debbie Jean, pre-crucifixion/being fed to the lions

2005-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Yeah, John Kerry sticker!!!

2005-01-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'm rather impressed with myself for taking this one... I think it's another shot of the Forum

2005-01-22T15:51:00.001-08:00

Roman "sidewalks"... no wonder I couldn't walk on thursday (Nicole, get your mind out of the gutter)

2005-01-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

The Forum... I'll have to go back and actually make it in

2005-01-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

Oh my god!!! the lions are going to eat us!!!

2005-01-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

These sleezy Romans dress up as gladiators as charge you money to take their picture. I took one, and clearly didn't pay. Get a real job, suckers.

2005-01-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

The Coliseum as seen through the gates

2005-01-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

My camera has a "rose-colored lenses" mode... cool, huh?

2005-01-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

Just for you, Liz...

Welcome to the new blog

2005-01-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome indeed! I decided it was stupid to have a digital camera and not be able to pollute the internet with pics of people I know doing dumb stuff (as well as pics of cool places I go). So I had to move to a new blog. For my own convenience (hey, it's my blog, I do what I want), I'm copying the old posts to this blog. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that you can only post comments if you have a blogger account. It's give and take, I guess.

Fun and games in France's 2nd largest city

2005-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings! My weekend in Lyon was a definite success, and since it's my first trip since I got my digital camera, it's also the first trip that will be properly documented. The weather on the way there was fantastic, and southern France (at least the part of it you can see from the highway) is possibly more beautiful in winter than in summer. Obviously there wasn't any snow, but I did glimpse the Mediterranean at Narbonne and had a wonderful view of several medieval castles, including the famous 11th century city of Carcassonne (if you've never been to a medieval castle, definitely hit up this one).The visit itself was great, Ludo and Emilie are too of my very favorite people (and i'm not only saying that because they read this blog), very low-key and stereotypically French (see pictures).

On Saturday we all went downtown and Emilie and I decided that, being girls, we HAD to go shopping. Ludo, disgusted, went to a music store for two hours. After a couple, er, "interesting" finds (see photo), Emilie and I felt bad for poor Ludo and bought him a present. He did not like the present, so we were stuck dragging Nestor (as we named the present) around Lyon during our sightseeing.

After we got home, we realized that since Nestor was made of helium, we could inhale him and make our voices go all funny. So we did, and it was awesome.

2005-01-17T02:59:00.000-08:00

My cousin, the walking stereotype

2005-01-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

"My name is Ludo and I am French, I like to eat petits oignons, hon hon hon!"

2005-01-17T02:57:00.000-08:00

Emilie tastes her creation

2005-01-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

Yummy!

2005-01-17T02:55:00.000-08:00

More cooking...

2005-01-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

Furr is weird

2005-01-17T02:49:00.000-08:00

I dont' think this fits right...

2005-01-17T02:48:00.000-08:00

Emilie and Nestor are the bestest of friends

2005-01-17T02:47:00.000-08:00

Ludo does not love Nestor. Nestor is sad.

2005-01-17T02:46:00.000-08:00

A nice view of La Croix-Rousse (a neighborhood of Lyon)

Damn it I wish I had a column

2005-01-13T02:33:00.000-08:00

So I was trying to be informed this morning, and I was browsing The New York Times online, and I stumbled onto these articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/opinion/13dowd.html?oref=login&hp

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/14/health/14men.html?ex=1105765200&en=592d713535b09742&ei=5070

Anyone who knows me at all can surele imagine how pissed off I am. First off, I'd love to see the experimental conditions and the set-up, cause I bet they weren't kosher in any way. Moreover, I'm fucking pissed at Maureen Dowd and the Times in general for failing to criticize these findings or analyze them in any meaningful way. I feel that the articles implied that I should either dumb myself down to catch a guy (not going to happen - I tried and it didn't work anyway) or resign myself to spinsterhood (i'm not the resigned type). I wouldn't be surprised in the least if these "studies" were commandeered by the far right in an 80s-like anti-feminist backlash. Finally, if these ghastly figures are true, then men better wake up and smell the 21st century.

This reminds me of something a very dumb-looking woman on a French talk show said. The discussion was about the proposed French law about pay equality, and the bitch had the nerve to say that she preferred having a husband who made more money than she did because it allowed him to be more chivalrous (= buy her stuff) and she felt that men whose partners made more money were all neurotic freaks who lived at their shrink's office. Another guest on the show, a famous old lady who rocks, said, "dear, i may be an old whore, but i think it's pitiful to hear a young person like you say such outdated things." Yay for the old lady, and that other woman ought to be shot.

On the move again (almost)

2005-01-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

That's right, folks: Random Road trip n° 2 starts Friday, when I drive to Lyon (that's about 6hours - eesh) to go visit cousin Ludo and his girlfriend Emilie for the weekend. Since they're hands-dow two of my favorite French people (to narrow the selection pool a bit) as well as partiers extraordinaires, it should be loads of fun. Then I'm coming home on Sunday/Monday, only to head out again on Tuesday for Rome to see Debbie, with a five-hour layover in... London Gatwick. Sounds pretty horrid to me, but that's Easy Jet for you. I doubt I'll be able to get into the city at all (sorry, London peeps - see you stateside), but I'm incredibly excited about Rome, Italy is definitely my favorite foreign country so far (foreign = not US or France) and I've never been to Rome. Plus, I love art and pizza and panini... And maybe the Pope will die while I'm there! Just kidding.So yay, I'm excited... expected detailed posts about those trips.

dilemmas

2005-01-10T02:30:00.000-08:00

I just don"t know what to do... I was reviewing my travel plans with my dad, and he astutely pointed out that if i go out of town every weekend as planned, I won't be able to see much of my brother (he lives at school and comes home on the weekends). And I feel bad about not hanging out with my brother, but at the same time I haven't had a chance to travel in so long (well, minus NYC for Thanksgiving) and I REALLY want to go on my crazy European vacation! I guess I'll have to figure it out soon...In other news I got a really nice email from my chilean host mom, she seems really nice! now i just have to come up with a grammatically correct response in spanish... ay de mi, joder!And to answer your question, Chris, the American language isn't better that Euro-British in any measurable way, except that it's my own language and I tend to get blue if I go too long without hearing it spoken. And I don't even have my Friends DVDs to console me!One last ghastly update: not only might I be spending my summer taking way too many classes in Michigan, apparently I might be going to Princeton, as well! I don't care if it's an Ivy, it's still in New Jersey and I'm none too pleased by the idea. C'mon, Maryland...

Homesickness, my old friend

2005-01-08T02:29:00.000-08:00

Back to School D-2 for most of everyone I know, and believe it or not I'm missing AU. Some of the things I miss most are...
- the American language (as distinct from Euro-British)
- heating that makes me warm (Lauren Elizabeth Richards notwithstanding)
- the abundance of shitty TV shows for me to mock
- people to mock things with- junk food
- the absence of German shepards in my life
- the gym (amazing, i know)
- having stuff to do
- the Daily ShowSome things

I don't miss...
- handwashing my dishes in the bathroom sink
- the drinking age
- having stuff to do
- the Republican Party
- the word "God" ruining on all my money
- Tucker Carlson (aka King of Douches)

As much as I like being a world traveler for 6 months (and I like the idea of it even more than the actuality of it), I do sure like being a homebody int he good ole district of columbia. The rest of the country I'm still not so sure about, but any place that goes to Kerry by 90% can only be home to me. See you in June, kiddoes.

Dental jewelry? Is this for real?

2005-01-05T02:28:00.000-08:00

Sadly, it is. I went to the dentist today (thrilling, isn't it?), and in the waiting room there was a giant poster for dental jewelry. It's like piercings for your teeth. I think it needs a subtitle: "how to make anyone look like cheap white trash." Considering that this is France, I'm impressed.

Yes, Liz, Paris clubs can suck too

2005-01-04T02:27:00.000-08:00

And when they do, it's big time. So I was staying with Julie (Europe's premier party girl), and her friend Olivia (Nicole, think "Bergdorf Blondes") told us that her good friend Jacques was having a private party at Le Plaza, a "ritzy" (the parentheses are crucial) club near Madeleine in the uber-chic 6e arrondissement of Paris. So we show up at the club way early, figuring that we'll get drinks at a local bar/cafe before we go in to avoid club drink prices. But first, we have to walk past the club itself. The first bad sign was the large lettering on the side of the building that read "The Dansant" (= tea room wherein one might dance). A queue had already formed out front - population 100% skank, 90% stoned-looking, and 50% underage (the non-skirt-wearing girls). So we hid in the cafe, only to be followed in by more semi-nude 16-year olds and their Yankees regalia-wearing menfolk. Yes, my friend, the Yankees are cool in France. Feel free to draw your own conclusions (about the Yankees or about France).Around midnight we finally pay our tab and head over to the club. I was under the impression that this Jacques character had put us on the guestlist, but apparently it'sa list he keeps in his head - and he was nowhere to be found. By the time he showed up 30 min later, there were about 30 of his "close friends" lined up to be let into the club for free. Oddly enough, he seemed to vaguely remember Olivia, but called her "Caroline" or something equally inappropriate. Anyway we fianlly got in, but only after I had been trampled, groped and leered at by frankly unappealing guys.The club itself was horrible. I asked my stepmother about it later, and apparently it's been awful since the 70s. The whole place was upholstered in cheap red velvet (think bad 70s porno, not royalty), and the music was obscure French rap/R&B (you can imagine what I thought of THAT). The only drink offering was screwdrivers, which you purchased in the form of a 2L of Absolut (so far, so good) and a pitcher of orange juice... all for the mind-numbing sum of 150€. I laughed at the bartender's face when she told me that. Needless to say, I didn't have anything to drink in that club.I think by now you get a general idea of the overall sketchiness of the place, but what annoyed me the most was the general attitude of the people there. They weren't there to have fun, they were there to be seen having fun (which excludes having fun, naturally) and to be seen spending money they (and their parents) didn't have. So Julie and I left after 45 minutes, rented a movie (Taking Lives w/ Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke - I highly recommend), and fell asleep. Boo for show-off nobodys in clubs, and yay for douching around with a girlfriend.

Central Bumblefuck, France (and Paris too)

2005-01-04T02:26:00.000-08:00

Actually, it was lots of fun. Last Wednesday I had a rather uneventful drive up from Toulouse to Palisse, a teeny village in the middle of Correze where my cousin's relatives have a house. My cousin Francois had managed to borrow the house for a week, and he was there with his girlfriend, some friends of theirs, my other cousin Ludo and his girlfriend. It was really great, we basically spent the whole time talking about everything and nothing, eating crepes (very thin French pancakes) at every meal and drinking a lot of wine (for the very few people who disapprove, keep in mind that it's me, it's France, and it was New Year's).

Saturday I followed my cousin and his gang back up to Paris, and I spent the evening at my Aunt Francoise and Uncle Pierre's place visiting wth them, my cousins Cecile and Claire, and their boyfriends. Francois was a big loser and went straight to bed b/c he was too tired from the drive. Please note that he doesn't have a license, so all he really did was man the radio while his girlfriend drove.Later that night I went to my friend Julie's (my best friend from 9th grade), and we spent all night talking, so of course the next day we stayed in bed until 4pm. At night we went to see Ocean's 12 (dubbed in French - in case you're wondering, Matt Damon is just as doable in French as in English. Of course, he could be a deaf-mute for all I care). Then we went to a Japanese restaurant with some friends of hers, and finally ended up at a club called Le Plaza. It was possibly the worst club I've been to in my life. It was so bad that it's going to need its own blog entry (right now i'm in my aunt and uncle's freezing attic/office where they keep the computer.I'll post again tomorrow,but I'm dead tired and I have a 7-hour drive home by myself tomorrow. Bisous!

Road Trip One begins

2004-12-29T02:26:00.000-08:00

Strange Foreign Trip One starts today, folks. It'll also be my first solo road trip. The plan: drive 250 km NE to my cousin's country house in the middle of nowhere, celebrate the new year with my two cousins, their girlfriends, and a bunch of other people I don't know, then on Saturday drive another 300 km north to paris and hang out with Julie (my bff from middle school), Tiffany (my bff from elementary school), and possibly see more of my cousin. By the way all this will be accomplished with a rather oldish Renault Clio with a stick shift. For those of you not familiar with European cars, that's a pretty crappy vehicle. Other PS, it will be snowing during this whole thing. Hopefully be back tues or wed of next week with a detailed report.

I heart CNN International

2004-12-26T02:25:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you how much I love CNN international? Well, it's a lot. Since I don't get any decent newspapers here (I'm not talking NYTimes of Washington Post, all I'm asking for is a little Le Monde or something - but no, all they have here is crappy local papers), CNNi is my connection to the real world ( aka not French, rural, or guarded by three very scary German shepards). Please, they speak English on CNN. Yay for transferring cues. It's also much better than American CNN. Not having to compete with Fox News gets rid of a lot of the crappiness. Their only real competitor is BBC World, and that actually brings the level up quite a bit. Finally, they have this wonderful show called "Diplomatic License" where they talk about snobby issues affecting diplomats (like the UN's 60th birthday) and riveting new publications from the State Dept. historians. I wasn't being sarcastic, I'm one of about 12 people under 60 who actually care how the telegraph changed diplomacy.All this talk about television reminds me that I need to get ahold of the BBC Prime "shhediool." Last time I was hear they showed What Not To Wear and Changing Rooms almost constantly. If I'm going to make it through the next month I better get organized.By the way, in case you're wondering how I'm managing to be online and watch satellite TV while skiiing, I'm not. Apparently the day before I got here my stepmother suddenly realized that skiiing was expensive and cancelled the trip. Bummer.

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Terminal 2F

2004-12-24T02:24:00.000-08:00

I’ve always loved airports. Especially large, bustling international airports like Paris Charles de Gaulle. Most of it is pretty crappy, but Terminal 2 F (the luxury one with all the international flights to rich places like Washington) feels almost like home. They’ve even set up workstations with (gasp) power outlets and high-speed internet access. I finished my Bioethics final at one of them around 8 am this morning. That was super hot.

But about airports: for some reason, I like being in transit. The distance traveled, the journey yet to come, and the intermingling of countless strangers with unknown yet fascinating life stories come together to make me feel uniquely one with the universe. At times like this, the world feels so small that I can put my arms around it and give it a hug. Paris is also the point between the two legs of my journey between school and home. By the time I get to 2F, I’m done leaving and I can start arriving – a much more pleasant experience. Finally, I’ve spent so much time here that it’s become a stable point of reference in my chaotic life. Dulles is getting to be like that, too: AF 39 will always leave from gate B41, directly across from Sam’s Brewery (oh, to be 21…wait, what do I care, I’m abroad for the next 6 months) and one of the only remaining smoking lounges on the East Coast. It’s a nasty, filthy place, but it has a special place in my heart.

Panic Time

2004-12-21T02:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Greco-Roman God/dess of Procrastination (I'm sure there is one),
Things to do:
- read about 35 intercultural articles and 4 rather mediocre papers in preparation for exam- get at least 100 on said exam to make up for horrid gay monks paper
- write 1 brilliant bioethics paper
- odds that it will actually be mediocre: .92
-do 4 loads of laundry
- pack for 2 continents and 3 seasons (using only 2 bags)
- cram rest of life into absurdly small number of boxes, bags, and suitcases
- somehow recover long-lost ability to ski
- worry about how to get stepbrother's stupid Christmukkah present (rain stick from american indian museum) onto plane without DHS mistaking it for a bomb
- time to do all this: 48 hours

I think panicking is in order

Countdown: D-3

2004-12-20T02:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa Claus,I've been putting this off as long as possible, but as the contents of my closet, drawers and various cabinets have vomited my stuff all over my room, I think it's time to accept that I really am going to Chile. It's been a crazy year back at AU since my last study abroad experience, full of tough decisions, hard work, big rewards, and awesome people. Let's just hope that this time around studying abroad won't be a giant nightmare. I'm sure everything will be fine. Besides, it's 18 degrees outside, which means it's time for me to head somewhere warm.