Observations:

Casual Observations I've Noticed About Daily Parisian Life:

-ALL the eggs here are brown. Try finding a white egg! Go ahead, try!

-Girls frequently wear fur coats, high heels, and designer purses to class and don't look particularly overdressed.

-A chocolate bar at the supermarket can cost upwards of 8 euros. That's, what, 10 American dollars??!

-They serve beer at McDonalds.

-Dogs seem to be welcome everywhere, even in chic department stores like Le Galleries Lafayette.

-When things go on sale, it gets cutthroat. Think of the day after Thanksgiving in America and how hard it is to go shopping then. That's what it feels like when I approach the 3 euro rack at H&M.

-I don't feel like a minority being white. UCR is such an ethnically diverse school, but at AUP most of the other students (not visiting students like me, but actual students who go there) seem to be white. But I love that so many students there are from other countries around Europe. There seem to be quite a few people from Switzerland and Belgium. I've also met several fellow Brazilians.

-Everyone seems to think I'm English!! "I can tell by your face...You look like an English girl...Are you from London?..." Non, je suis americainne.

-The toilet (aka water closet) is in a separate room from the bathroom! Whoever heard of such a ridiculous thing?? There is this thing in the bathroom and I have no idea what it is. It looks like a sink, but very close to the floor. I am scared to go near it in case it's something gross.

-A spoonful of nutella can be a delicious snack in a hurry.

-Children don't have school on Wednesday. Why couldn't we have that in America?

-Evian is no more expensive than any other bottled water. In America, Evian is, like, twice the price.

-I feel naked walking out of the house without a scarf. They're such a prevalent part of one's wardrobe here, men and women wear them everywhere.

-Beware of color. A little bit in your outfit is okay, but you'd better have some black and neutrals in there to even things out. It sort of seems like my hair is already the color I'm adding to my outfit...

-They think Ratatouille is a French film? HA! It's American! You just can't tell it's dubbed because it's animated.

On another note, I fell down the stairs at the metro station today. It was pretty embarassing because there were a ton of people around and now I have a couple of bruises on my legs. It was bound to happen sooner or later with all those annoying stairs!

Also, I have been trying to find a babysitting job. Nothing too time consuming or demanding, just a laid-back way to make some pocket money. I've already met 3 women looking for babysitters, but I think I'll only take one of the jobs. One of the women lives really close to school and only needs me 2 or 3 days a week, so I think I'll do that one.

You know, I think that all the warnings we've been given about staying safe in Paris have been a little...superfluous. I have not had anyone try to steal from me or attack me, even though I've done some of the things they warned us not to do. I have approached random strangers on the metro, I have walked home alone at night. I think using common sense and adapting to each unique situation is more important than abiding by a strict set of guidelines. I am so glad I decided to study abroad! I definitely want to do this more in the future.

Also, I started painting class on Tuesday. It's going great, it really looks like it's going to be a fun class! Our first assignment is due in class next week: a still life. I decided to paint the table at the Angelina cafe with the macaroons. It's not done yet but this is what I've done so far: