Beaucoup des cours...

This week has been really busy - classes started at Marc Bloch University and the politics institute (IEP). Being the overachiever that I am, I created a spreadsheet of all politics and sociology classes that sounded remotely interesting and went to as many as I possibly could. Monday this pretty-much killed me - I had gone to bed after 1am and went to my first class at 8am. All told, I went to 4 2-hour classes that day, and fell asleep in every single one! I was so exhausted...

The rest of week wasn't quite as bad - I made sure to get plenty of sleep, and didn't go to as many classes. The nice thing was that most of the 2-hour classes had a break in the middle, so if I had already decided that I didn't want to take it, I just left. That happened a lot, because many of the classes were not at all what I expected them to be. At Marc Bloch they didn't even give course descriptions, so I was going solely on the titles. I was looking for pretty specific material, too - I don't want courses on theory; I want information on how French and European political institutions work and how their systems address the population's needs for healthcare, education, employment, criminal justice, poverty, etc.

I did find some courses that gave this kind of information - 2 on healthcare, 1 on the European Union, 1 on International Institutions. Also 2 history classes were interesting - 1 on political changes in Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism, and the other on conflicts in Latin America. And Thursday night I was really psyched after going to a class on Religion and Politics in the US. Granted, it's about the US and not Europe, but it's a topic very close to my heart, and it was in English which made it so much easier to follow! I've realized that it's definitely going to be a challenge taking these courses in French - I take notes and usually get the gist of what is being said, but I definitely miss some details. It also depends on the professor - some talk slower than others, and some write on the board which is very helpful. Our director recommended we make friends with someone in the class so that we can copy their notes. I think I'll need to do that to get a decent grade, but making friends is hard enough for me without a language barrier, so this will taking some doing...

What has added to the difficulty of this week is the disorganization of Marc Bloch's system, which is really frustrating. Nothing's online - you have to go to each department and read the posting of times and places. I did that at the end of last week, but then some of my classes changed rooms and others I had difficulty finding the rooms. To add to the confusion, some courses have the same course code and alternate every other week, so if you don't look carefully enough you can easily end up in the wrong one (which I did several times). Things at the IEP are much easier to navigate since it is much smaller, and I think I'll take the majority of my classes there.

I also have to decide whether I'm going to take the Grammar Block at the foreigner's institute - 12 hours of grammar and conversation instruction each week. I went the first week and really like the group of people, but I skipped most of the sessions this week to visit classes at Marc Bloch and the IEP. I went on Friday and was frustrated again by the grammar lesson - they're teaching us all of this complicated stuff that I will never use when what I really need is a good review of the basics. So I don't...so many things to figure out yet!

But the week ended well...yesterday morning the professor never showed up for my class, and when I went to check with the registar this girl who's been in several of my classes introduced herself to me. She goes to school near Philly and so we talked (in English!) for a few minutes. She's a Christian and is also studying poli sci, so it seems like we have a lot in common :) It was exciting to meet a new friend here...

Friday afternoon I ran some errands - I discovered that buying bread, apples, and yogert at the grocery store for my lunches is much cheaper than buying a sandwhich everyday, so I can save money for travel :) I also got my hair cut, which was an adventure in itself! I had asked around for the cheapest place and brought a picture of how I wanted it cut. I didn't understand what they were saying to me and I was really nervous, but they were very nice and did a great job. The shampoo they gave me first was really relaxing, and there was something comforting in the fact that they cut my hair the same way as at home. I finished out the day with a very relaxing evening - watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" in my PJ's in my room. All of my friends got drunk again, but I was very content to have some quality alone time and go to bed early :)

On a more sober note, I found this morning that the man from my church who had leukemia died yesterday. What his wife wrote made me cry - to lose the love of your life must be the worst thing that could happen to you. If it were me I would be so angry at God - I just can't imagine finally finding the person I was meant to be with only to have him taken away. But she was so eloquant, talking about her fond memories of him and how he will live on in her and in their sons. She said how thankful she is to God for allowing him to be in her life for the past 10 years. That attitude just blows me away - I wish I could have that level of faith and trust in God amidst difficulty and heartache. But He's not done with me yet...

Hope you all are well, and I'd love to hear from you! :)

~Peace~
Amanda