I havent written in forever!

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't written in a while, I've been too busy being in Paris I suppose...haha. There's so much to write about, so I suppose I will divide it into memorable events and go from there. That way, as a reader you can pick and choose which one(s) you'd like to read about. :)

1. Paris-Saint Germain football (soccer) match
2. Paris clubbing
3. Red light district

1. Ok, so Parisians are crazy. I went to this match with every expectation of French madness, and they truly exceeded my expectations. I had to write about it for a class I'm in, so I'll insert part of what I wrote here.

"There are two main fan sections at Parc des Princes, behind each of the goals on the field. We were in the section just below and to the left of one of them…and what an amazing experience. No one there sits down, there are sheet-sized banners hanging off of the balcony, lit flares, people wave flags the size of a small apartment, and every once in a while it rains phonebook confetti. But what was most incredible to me was the organized cheers/chants/songs.

It seemed as though the fans were taking part in a stadium-sized dance routine, choreographed, not by anyone specific, but by culture and history and love of the game. At one moment I looked across the field and everyone on the far side had lifted their hands above their heads with their PSG scarves stretched between. No one moved, no one made a sound, just stood with hands and scarves outstretched. A few minutes later, the same crowd was yelling and chanting and looking like ocean waves as each line of spectators linked arms and jumped sideways first one direction, then the other. After the opposing team’s keeper got penalized for side-tackling a PSG forward, whenever the keeper had the ball the entire stadium started whistling. The whistling grew higher and higher in pitch until he released the ball (either with a kick or a punt) at which point the fans shouted in unison something unintelligible but undoubtedly frenchly derisive. This happened honestly every time this player touched the ball until the game ended. There were easily at least fifteen or more different cheers, and I only managed to figure out one of them (aller Paris!). Apparently the PSG fans have gotten so out of hand in the past that it was necessary to surround the section for the opposing team’s fans with high spiked walls and a net that hung down from the very top of the stadium."

Yeah, I love Paris. Just one more reason for me to move here. Although it is worthy of note that there were very very few women at the game...my friends and I (also women) definitely stood out. But its all good, I started my soccer career just playing with boys, so I'm pretty much used to it. I can't wait to go to the next game.

2. So, first thing to note about Paris clubbing is that the majority of clubs here are big into techno. And, as most of you know, techno is not exactly my cup of tea. So for our first night out in Paris (myself and the other students) we chose a club known for playing Latin music and reggaeton stuff, called Barrio Latino. We were hoping to do some salsa, but as it turned out it was more pop latin music than anything you could salsa to. General good times were had by all, it was a 20euro cover charge, but that included one free drink...and my friend Ali and I were shocked to find that our one free drink we chose (tequila sunrise) was 14.50euros. Absolutely ridiculously expensive alcohol. Anyway, we felt like at least with the entrance ticket, we got our money's worth. Around 1:30, most of the group (everyone but Peter and myself) got tired and decided to take the metro home. Peter and I stayed until the club closed around 3am, and then went with some new Canadian friends to a different club near the Louvre that stayed open til 6am. We called it a night around 4:30am because a) it was a techno club and I'm very meh about techno. Peter wasn't overly fond of it either and b) my feet HURT. I mean really HURT. I've since gotten over the whole feet thing, since if you're gonna be truly Parisian and stay out all night, you gotta just let some things go, but yea it was definitely a new level of foot-pain.

Saturday night clubbing was far more successful. Everyone else that had come out for dinner etc got tired/too drunk around 1am, and after the last metro train pulled out, only Thierry and I were left. We walked around the red light district for a while and randomly ran into this club on the corner...I still don't remember the name. But it was sporting a poster that said "Saturday nights, hiphop/rnb/dancehall" so we went for it. Oh man, awesomeness. Awesomeness til we took the metro home at 6am. So far, #1 thing I love about Paris - people dance. No, not grind, dance. Boys and girls, everyone just moves. Ahhhhh so happy. We danced to amazing music for 4 hours and didn't have to or want to push up on anyone else. I'm pretty much going back to this club as much as possible. Anyone who comes to visit me, you're coming too.

3. Red light districtttttt haha. So on Saturday night the group had a reservation for dinner at this crazy little place that serves wine out of baby bottles. Kiiind of weird but cool-sounding so we all showed up at the appointed time (8pm). We were told to wait, there was no room (which was true). However, instead of clearing tables for us, the old man who ran the place kept seating more smaller groups in front of us as the tables emptied. This I could put up with. But when he began, through the window, to bow and make kung-fu moves and pull the outsides of his eyes at my friend Natalia (who is Asian) thats when my line was crossed. I said fuck this and Natalia, Scott, Kerstin and I just left and got Indian food next door. The food was delicious and we laughed so much we cried and mango lassis came in pitcher form (!!!). The french couple sitting next to us judged us a little, but they weren't talking about anything so boo on then haha. Anyway after dinner, we found that the rest of the group had gotten fed up with the old baby bottle man's antics as well and had gone just next door to us and indulged in crepes and carafes of wine. They headed to a bar, but Kerstin and I wanted to go looking for hookers so the four of us (Natalia and Scott too) headed off in a different direction. We didn't find any hookers, but we did explore all the various and sundry things to be had at a store called "Supermarche Erotique," and took pictures of Moulin Rouge. We also found a bar with a very interesting cocktail, so we decided to try it. We're led inside and upstairs and we describe, with lots of pantomiming and hand motions, the drink we want, which is more or less the size of a fishbowl with fruit (see fb pictures). When it arrives, we see on the receipt that we have commandeered 4 "cock soirs" (aka cocktail du soir) which resulted in more hilarity and more being judged by French people. At any rate, a good time was had by all, they headed home around 1:30, after which I met up with Thierry and found the club and etc etc see above entry :)

Anyway I think thats all for now, plus I have a class in 5 minutes haha.

Send me a facebook message or something if you read this so I know if I'm actually writing for anyone or just for myself :)

peace