Paris

So, i have been in Paris for about six weeks now and i thought it was time for a blog post about it all.

I have moved into a new flat which is mine until the end of the year. It is in the 14th arrondissement which is great for me. I take a ten minute walk to the metro, a ten minute metro ride and i am at my university- so very convient. There are lots of shops, movie theatre and starbucks within walking distance, and the flat is nice too. I am sharing it with a woman now, who will be leaving for London next weekend and her brother is moving in. Apparently he is quiet and keeps long hours and goes home most weekends, so I think it will work out. It is only four months so it is chilled with me!

I have started orientation at Science Po and this runs all this week and then my class start the next week. I am taking four classes and a french language class. I am taking a class on Africa, one on the MIddle East, one of Sustainable Development and one on humanitarian intervention. I am very excited for them! I hope the lecturers are amazing! The university so far looks great. It is sponsored by Apple, so everything Mac; it has giant TV screens in all the classrooms and lecture theaters so that the visually impaired, like myself, can always see. It is very french and in the heart of Paris. It is not a big campus but more a couple of buildings on a few streets and a giant library in between. I am excited to see it in full action!

The people are from all over the world. I seem to be befriending a lot of Americans and Canadians more than anyone else, but that is not to say there are not other people around here. There are people from Australia, South Africa, all over Europe, not many from Africa, but i think at least seven or something. It is really nice to meet all these people!

Otherwise, Paris is not as exotic as everyone thinks and i tend to forget it is Paris until the Eiffel Tower is right infront of me. It is beautiful with erratic weather and dirty metros and bagettes everywhere. The fashion is too much and i look like a hobo most of the time. The coffee is average, the cheese is good and the wine is cheap!

I think that is all i can think of for now about Paris; please come visit me soon all of you :-)

Roma!!

Rome to me is what Paris is to basically the rest of the world....the most amazing city that exists.

I have always wanted to go to Rome. Maybe it was a 'Eat Pray Love' thing or just because I love Italian food more than life itself; whatever the reason...I have always wanted to go. So i decided, why not? I am in Paris...it is close enough and I have time, so lets do it. So i booked some cheap flights, a semi-decent hostel and off i went, and it was amazing.

I had four days in Rome where i ate pizza, pasta and gelato everyday. It was one of those situations where i wish were a cow who has seven stomachs because boy that would have been useful! I am not sure what makes the food so good but something just makes the pasta and pizza amazing. I don't think i will be able to eat pizza and pasta anywhere else every again!

Besides the food, the city is amazing. It is not very big which means you can walk almost anywhere and every concern you turn there is another amazing building, church or monument. Besides the big ones like the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Vatican, there are so many smaller buildings that are just beautiful to sit in or stare at. What i found the most incredible point was the fact that these buildings haver real history to them! The Colosseum, for example, is where they had the gladiator matches and where people were publicly hung and i really feel like you can imagine these events when you see the buildings. The Circus Maximos is where the chariot races use to take place; the Mouth of Truth is where people were told if they were innocent of guilty in terms of a crime. It is just really mind-blowing to take it all in!

So aside from the food and the city, the people are really nice and friendly. Even though everyone speaks Italian, they are still great and friendly (and unlike the french, will actually speak English to you). At the hostel i met some wonderful Argentinan girls who i went out with and learnt some key spanish phrases :-)

Also..the fashion! Key point! Even though i did not go to Italy for shopping, lots of people do and apparently it is the only place to get your genuine or not-so-geniune Gucci, Versace and Louis Vuitton.

So, my little adventure in Rome has definitely given me a taste for Italian life and I will definitely be going back there to see more places, eat more pizza and live in the past!