The Moose, the best place in France since America

I apologize for the lack of a post on Sunday, but there was not too much exciting (or happy) news to report after all the Bastille Day activities. My roommate unfortunately got mugged around 6:30 Sunday morning as she was on her way to meet a friend. Some thug came up to her and stole her iPod right out of her hand as she was waiting for her train. I, for whatever reason, woke up around 7:00 that morning as she was coming back to our apartment just totally defeated and shaken. I felt so sorry because Emily, of all people, is the last person who needed an experience like this. She is a sweet girl from Orange, California who wants to be a novelist and works at Disney Land while she's in school. Maybe she was the perfect target for a city thug, but she is the last person you would ever want to see something bad happen to. Most of Sunday was devoted to trying to convince her to stay for the remaining two weeks of our program, and thankfully, whatever we said was enough to assure her she would be okay here. At least I will be without one less room mate.

Sunday was a little rough for me as well for different reasons. My anxiety was finally at its boiling point from the previous week, and I was starting to have little homesick-driven panic attacks myself. Emily and I were at least able to commiserate together. All of us spent the entire day in watching funny Youtube videos, listening to cheery music, and doing our best to concentrate on homework. We all had to eat at some point, and while Christine and I were the only ones who could pull ourselves together to get out of the house, we were still only able to go the McDonald's no more than 100 m from our apartment. This was more out of desperation than anything, but let me tell you it was fantastic! I got potato wedge fries and a wonderful salade to go along with my royale with cheese (fancy talk for a 1/4 pounder), and it at least made me feel like it wasn't an American MacDo.

Today however was much better for all of us! Emily got her situation figured out, and I had a wonderful class day. For photography, we went out to recreate an image taken by a famous 1920s photographer. He exclusively shot with a camera that is 3 times the size of a camera today and 6 times as more complicated (seemingly). Our professor had the same model of camera (see image at the left), but the trick to this device was that the image you saw in the view finder was backwards and upside down. Thankfully our professor had the address to where our particular picture was taken. But it was entirely up to us to set the correct angle, position, and scope to recapture the image. We spent maybe 30 minutes trying to decipher exactly where the camera may have been positioned. After spending that much time dedicated to precisely framing a picture, snapping it seemed so anticlimactic. However using this camera has really made me appreciate photography, and photographers who will meticulously wait for their photos to be just as photographers want them.


I had a lot of fun chatting with Hally today while we set us these intricate photos. I look forward to our next assignment!

After class we had tea with our ex-pat American neighbor who likes to familiarize herself with all the American students that live in this apartment through CEA. She is the sweetest lady who has lived in France for over 20 years now, but she will talk you ear off! It is nice and comforting to know that we have a mother figure just right across the hall.

After we finally were able to excuse ourselves from Carolyn's apartment 3 hours later (not kidding), Christine and I took Emily to the Moose Bar to make her feel a little more like home. One of the best nights yet! Monday nights are of course 2 for 1 of their Canadian beer Moosehead, but it is the closest thing to an American sports bar and grill. We came tonight while it was pretty dead and I got to know the owner a little better. He is a UT grad (hssss.....) but very genuine and nice. He and I were able to talk about our "unfortunate differences", and later we made a Texas toast to our beloved homeland (with Tequila shots). We went tonight for the cheap beer, but something tells me I'll be back sooner! It's always nice to find reminders of your hometown in foreign places.

That's all I have to report for now, but I will update again soon :)