February 20th

So, this is a day late and a dollar short, but I have another one coming tomorrow for this last weekend, where you'll hear about crazy adventures in Valencia. Good times. In the meantime, this was written on Feb 20th, last Wednesday. I really haven't had internet access since then... And it's been a red day every day since then, so there's been a lot more cooking over the propane stove...


Today it rained. Who would have imagined that the Italian hippy on the steps of the Sacre Coeur (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart) yesterday would be right? Luckily I brought my umbrella today just in case. We had all decided he must be Spanish, so when he walked around after his guitar concert and I congratulated him in Spanish, he didn’t understand a word and we were dumbstruck. He did understand the money we gave him, thought, and repeated “Gracias!” several times. So we concluded that he must have been Italian. (We may never know, though). The concert is displayed in the first photo above (which shows up third, however, because I upload them in the order I talk about them in, and they get sent to the end… It’s a great example of FIFO for you accounting majors out there).

Also impressive was the artist who sat on the steps, painting to the rhythm of the music, making strong strokes on the downbeats and lighter strokes on the other beats. I had never seen anything like it before. I tried to get a video of it, but I don’t know how well it turned out, or how well it will post. I’ll give it a go, though.

It’s been a red day again every day this week. The second picture is of me warming my food over the propane stove, to save electricity. I’m not sure I fully understand this “red day” concept, because it wasn’t that cold today to warrant a severe strain on the system. If there isn’t a strain on the system and they call a red day, then they must think that they’ll make more money off of the higher rates, despite decreased usage. If that’s true, though, then it’s in no one’s best interest to sign up for the red days, because you only follow the program and pay higher rates if you sign up. It’s baffling to me. All that I’m sure about is that my hands are cold, and there’s no warming my food in the microwave.

I’ve got a few movies on my iPod that I’ve started watching. I thought that watching them in French would be a brilliant plan, because then I could watch movies on the train and still feel like I was practicing/learning French. Foolishly, though, the only two movies I have in French are “The Testaments” (a good movie, but not a super thriller. I’ve already seen it a number of times, and it’s a lot less touching in another language) and Groundhog Day. You may be aware of Groundhog Day’s existential leanings (which seems appropriate seeing that I’m in France), which I actually really appreciate. It’s an important moral that each person must create their personal meaning for life before they can continue living it. Turns out, though, that watching Groundhog Day over and over again may not have been the best thought out plan I’ve come up with in my day…

I just finished having dinner with my host family (my roommate, Mike, it out at a play for one of his classes), and I actually had a good conversation with them. The father speaks Spanish, so we talk about Spain (and sometimes we even talk Spanish). We’re going to Valencia tomorrow for a few days, so we had even more reason to talk about it, and we had a good time chuckling about how Spanish women have deep voices and always wear the pants in their relationships. He mentioned that American men are willing to move here to France or to Europe for a girl, but that the American women are never willing to leave America for a guy (they always make the guy go to America with them). That really doesn’t surprise me much.

Today I did a walk for my class, and we went by Napoleon’s tomb. I took some pictures, but they didn’t turn out very well, so they’re not worth posting. We also saw Rodin’s Thinker, which is world famous. I mention that because I think I’ve seen it in a picture somewhere before, but I’ve never known he made it or just how famous it really was, and I feel like something that I don’t know is famous might not be as famous as I’m meant to believe it is…

So, it’s been a great few days. It’s been a happy change of pace to go from the crazy insanity I was living in last semester to something that even a Hawaiian high school would be ashamed to claim for its lackadaisical nature (I’ve done about two hours of homework a week, and I’m about 5 or 6 weeks aheard). I am glad we’re going to Valencia tomorrow, though. I’ll get to eat napolitanas, drink mosto, and speak Spanish. It’s too early for Fallas (although it would have been hilarious if the Welches inadvertently let us go during the craziest week of the year there), so we’ll just be seeing architecture and museums, I think.

I also want to give Sass a special shout out. Although I’ll be keeping these blog posts for posterity, it’s nice to know that someone consistently reads them and is entertained. For what it’s worth, I really enjoy writing. It’s fun to play around with language, and to see the deeper meanings. I liked Wicked because not only was it entertaining, fun and lively, but it also begs an important question about what is good and evil? Similarly, I love to embed deeper meanings into language, and to find it. I think the Lord is the same way (and I mean that in the non-sacrilegious sense); we learn as much as we are ready for in our scripture study. What a beautiful thing! That way He doesn’t have to give us beginning, intermediate and advanced scriptures. They’re all in the same place.

I tried to put the movie with the painter on, but I can’t get it to go with the sound, so I’m tagging on another random picture we took today in front of the Eiffel Tower. I did finally run out my battery on my camera today, but it took me 345 pictures to do it. At this rate I’ll have over a thousand before I come home… alright! Props to digital cameras!