Thursday, June 3, 2010

Les Femmes Mechantes

Today we visited the Autres Maîtres de l’Inde exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly. This was of course after class (but I discovered there’s a coffee machine in the classroom building – whew!). I saw some interesting things that appealed to my narrow appreciation for art. Among these was an Indian painting depicting the 9/11 attacks and Hurrican Katrina. I never knew they’d depict American tragedy. I brought it up to my professor later since it tied in with the media and globalization aspect of our course (Media, Religion, and Globalization). No one in the group had seen it so I felt important for pointing it out. ;)

After, since most of the students had long since dispersed, the professor bought us a cup of coffee as we sat in the long overdue sunshine. We conversed (some more intellectual bits) and proceeded to get lunch: a gyro pita with frites (French fries)! After was some unglamorous printing at the computer lab (along with the dreaded realization of how much more reading to do), a Cherry Coke (yup, they have that here), and a walk back to the metro.

When transferring at the Opera station, somehow we got lost, despite the fact we’ve done this at least ten times before. I dropped my ticket on the ground and thought nothing of it since I was already in the subway system. We headed towards and exit and soon realized it and turned around. Alas, my bad luck never fails to lose me, no matter the country. Four French female security guards block the entrance (sounds like a children’s tale). They asked to see out scanned tickets. My and another girl explained we didn’t have ours. They didn’t care. They’re French. And authority. We argued, I volunteered to go back and look for my ticket. She said no. Finally, when she offered to call the police, we paid the 25 euro fee. Fuming, I got on the train home.

I felt the need to stay out of confinement for a while so two of us went to the graveyard at Père Lachaise. Among hundreds of others, I saw the graves of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. It’s strange how so many dead bodies now simply seem as peaceful as a park.

Finally, I came home, excited that I have my visitors coming tomorrow, and proceeded to do massive amounts of homework (as if 5 hours a night wasn’t enough, 3 more essays were assigned today). I had some tomatoe soup (so French), cheese (French, sans sarcasm), and red wine (which I’m still drinking). I managed to get all my work done and one essay. Successful night.

Now, it’s time to relax. Big day tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment