provence

i'll be in provence for the weekend. i'll be in touch when i get back.

cheers, jhabra

the past few days

howdy. so i'm just now uploading more pictures to facebook. it's 2 albums (more paris and even more paris), one of which is a lot of the carnival festival, and a 5 photo addition to my first (paris 1).

anywho, life's been pretty swell. it was my friend robyn's birthday the other night. we went out to this restaurant near odean. i had chicken and lamb skewers with some veggies and some ravioli. it was delicious. the 8 of us then decided to head to bastille, to the hideout, for some dancing. it ended up being the most fun night any of us have had since we've been here. the hideout is the very thin bar in the middle of rue de lappe in bastille. upstairs there are a light couches lining the walls and a few tables. there's little room to dance. upstairs is also the big bar, which is always always always overcrowded and is manned by at most two bartenders. as a result, we really just enjoy each other's company. there's also a downstairs to which we went. the downstairs has a totally different vibe. it's almost like a cave, lined with cobblestone walls with a small bar towards the rear. what's much better about this room is the massive amount of dancing space. somehow we ended up at saint michele-notre dame, i don't really remember why. but to get to bastille from there, we had to transfer at chatelet. as we're going through the ticket counters there, the biggest station is paris is arguably the most empty at 10 pm on a saturday night. a little weird, no? at this point, people would be packing the station trying to get from one place to another for their saturday night plans. but no, all of a sudden my throat started to burn a little, will started to cough, and robyn's eyes started to water. we look at each other and realize what's happening and why the station's empty. we yell back at the 5 others to just cover their mouths and keep walking (we were heading toward a ventilated part of the station). meanwhile, people next to us were feeling the same effects of the tear gas. i'm just glad it wasn't a direct encounter. 

we got to the bar a little early and started the party, but within minutes the rest of our friends arrived, including my friend ali and some of her girl friends... and so did like the rest of paris. it made for a really fun night of dancing and celebrating robyn's 21st.

another great thing about that night is that i made buddy buddy with the giant black bouncer outside. i always tend to be the one to speak for the group for reasons i'm still not entirely sure on, but we talked for a little and he asked me where i was from. i told him i live in miami, florida and his eyes widened completely. he starts smiling and screaming in probably the worst english accent i have ever heard, "DO YOU KNOW BARAK OBAMA??? YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN!" i really didn't want to let the poor guy down, so all i could say was, "oui, je le connais." afterwards, we had a like 10 min french convo about how he's so proud of the united states for the strides forward in history they've been making and how something like that could never happen in france. he told me that i'm welcome back to the bar any time and if i ever have people waiting outside to just find him and he'll let us in. what good can come from a little white lie? i suppose a lot. ps, no pun on the white lie bit.

cheers, jhabra

pictures

sooo, i've been really busy... making new friends, hanging out with old ones, and being parisian.

the wedding celebration was unbelievable. elisheva makes a beautiful bride, and jean marc is a lucky man to have her. i met up with my friend ali, whom i know through my other friend katie, today. i showed her and her friends around chatelet and the notre-dame area.

in other news, classes have been fun and interesting. my teacher gets cooler by the day. i start my phonetics class tomorrow... bright and early at 830... i'm not looking forward to waking up.

life has been really... just chill. i absolutely adore the city, and i don't really want to leave. nothing huge has happened to me recently as if it were the first two weeks. but it's the little things that keep me interested: the pigeon that finds the morsel of food on the ground and shares it with another, the guy who is too cheep to pay for a single metro ticket and has to jump the turn-style to get to the train despite the fact he's wearing prada shoes or something similarly ridiculous, the couples in the metro that are so much in love they don't really care who's watching them slobber all over each other, the sound of the police sirens, the sounds of the city, the lights on the seine at night, the smells in a bakery, the women... oh how i do love the french women... i could go on for a while.

cheers, jhabra

by the way, i've put up pictures on facebook, randoms of just paris and non-randoms of the wedding. enjoy.

wedding!!!

ooohhhh, i also forgot to add that yesterday was my cousin's wedding in Gagny! the actual marriage ceremony took place in the city hall with the mayor. apparently many jewish weddings happen in Gagny because the mayor is a jewish sympathizer... which i also suppose is a big deal in france. regardless, the bride to be was beautiful and her husband is a very nice guy. he has a good, steady job and the looks to back it up. his family is rather small though. i don't know if it was because they were all out of town or something, but the lamkyes side (our side) was full to the rafters, and his side only had two rows occupied.

getting to the city hall in the suburbs was an ordeal. i had just finished class and had to run to catch the RER E towards Chelles. so not only was i heading in an unfamiliar direction, i was not dressed appropriately for the occasion. i was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, my leather jacket, and chucks. my man bag added a nice little touch though... anywho, i run to catch the RER and make it just as the bells were chiming, signifying its departure. i move one car over to find a seat, and low and behold, i run into my uncle mony and aunt phoebe. they were noticeably out of breath because they had clearly done the same run as i to catch the train. 

after the jewish chants and a bombarding of camera flashes to the face, everyone returned to my uncle hanania's (sp?) house for some refreshments, absolutely delicious food, and celebrations. mommy dina looked beautiful for her old age, as usual. her reaction is always the same when she sees me... i don't think her eyes could open any wider if she tried. my cousin sarah is pregnant! i had no idea. she's definitely still one of the most beautiful people i have ever seen. i even told her that, and i'm not embarrassed about it. my other cousin moshe has a beautiful little boy named jonathan. we immediately warmed up to each other. he doesn't talk much now, but is probably the most observant and curious human being i have ever met. he doesn't cry at things that would make your average child cry, no matter what position you put him in. there was a poo poo platter of vegetables, sweets, fruits, breads, pastries, and undefinable edibles, and jonathan was intent on trying EVERYTHING. if he didn't like it, he would run over to me, open my mouth with his hand, then feed me his discarded food with the other. my OTHER cousin joshua, who used to be a chef, is now living in israel. he's my age and very very cool. we probably bonded the most yesterday. we're hopefully going out tonight (saturday) together.

oh yeah, i spoke french the whole time to my family. there was very little english going on in this room, except for mommy dina who insists on practicing her english with me. i was proud of myself. i can finally connect with my mom's side of the family in a way i haven't been able to before.

cheers, jhabra 

ballet is cool

i was pushed up levels... finally! it was starting to become embarrassing how simple the class is. but now i'm with students who are more at my level of french. i had to go to the main sorbonne to get my schedule switched. i ended up being an hour and a half late to class... it was mostly because i was completely awestruck by the sorbonne's main building. oh my freaking lord, talk about grandeur. it's absolutely beautiful. it reminded me of versailles with a hint of harry potter. i took some pictures of the courtyard and will post them in due time. 

but it was okay, the teacher was completely understanding. i really like my new professor. she's very knowledgeable and totally eccentric. she animates everything she teaches and encourages student involvement. i'm pretty excited for monday when i have a full two hours with her. the only downside to the arrangement is that her classroom is on the top floor of a very tall 6 story building. as i was climbing the stars to get to class, i broke a sweat and struggled to catch my breath. when i walked in and explained my situation in front of the class, i had to stop for a second to breath before i could talk. at least i introduced myself to the class with a collaborative laugh.

two nights ago i almost saw justice at club VIP on a street right across the street from the louvre. it was serendipitous almost... after coming back from class, this girl meliss from upstairs was walking back up to her room as i was just coming out of mine. we exchanged pleasantries and talked for a bit. she asked me what i was doing tonight, and i asked her. she asked me if i knew who the group justice is and that she was going to a free show of theirs tonight. i, flipped, out. she invited me to meet them at the club. fast forward a few hours, drew, robyn, philip, and i decide to go. we get there around 1030 and there's already a striking line out the door. the show is not supposed to start until 12... we wait outside, run into meliss and company, and just chat it up for a while. an hour and a half later, still nobody but the VIPs are let in and what used to be a line in front of the door turns into a mob in front of the door. fifteen minutes later, we decide to leave. there was no guarantee we were going to be let in and we wanted to catch the last metro and RER. the next morning i found out the club was so packed, they started charging 50 euros just to get in. sorry david, but i don't adore justice THAT much...

last night our group went to the grand opera, the old opera house near the gallerie lafayette. i've been inside the most beautiful building in paris, in my opinion, before. but i have never seen a show. it was a three movement ballet, and i just have to say... it was freaking awesome. admittedly i was a little bored towards the middle, but i was completely mesmerized for the most part. the pit was great, the dancing was great, the roof and ornate sculptures are great, the seats, on the other hand, were very uncomfortable. i never thought i'd say this, but i really did enjoy the ballet. the first movement was a classical ballet piece. it wasn't very story-orientated, but the coolest part was how all the dancers ended in the same position that they had started. the middle piece was more ethnically orientated (a touch of spanish flamenco). it featured a male dancer who had fallen in love with the main female dancer. at the end, he had 15 minute-or-so solo, which was just insanely beautiful. after sharing a kiss with the female dancer, he commits suicide by jumping out a window for a reason that i'm still not entirely sure about. i couldn't help but chuckle at its relative absurdity.

the third piece was my favorite. based on syncopation and repetitive rhythm, this modern dance featured a very manly female centerpiece who soloed for the ENTIRE 45 minute section. she was unbelievable. surrounding her, there were probably upwards of 30/35 male dancers who, in succession, slowly became part of the dance. the female was elevated on a red platform in the middle of the stage, and the males started sitting off to the side on red chairs. the final minute featured some pretty pretty intense music and many, what i would consider, unnatural body movements. all in all, i loved the experience. the only other ballet i had ever been to is the nutcracker, which was dwarfed in comparison to this night.

cheers, jhabra

first day of class

today was our first day of class. it was pretty standard: hi, who are you, interests, why are you in paris, etc. we did some grammar exercises as well. it's pretty easy stuff. i'm going to ask tomorrow if i can be switched to a higher level. i'm here to learn stuff, not recapitulate things i can look up if i am ever indecisive.

i went with will and amanda to get lunch at the crous building. it was absolutely packed. we waited for an hour in line only to be served almost inedible food.

after we took the RER to a bookstore where we had to purchase our extra grammar workbooks. as we were exiting, a student protest broke out down the street. we stood and watched for a while. i just remember thinking, "they're striking so they don't have to go to school, right? sounds like a plan!" i'm not ignorant (at least i think i'm not), i know they're not doing it for said reason, but rather for teachers' rights and a recent reform bill that few politicians are trying to pass.

the rest of the afternoon was lazy. i went to the franprix down the street for some groceries and did my laundry. for dinner i went to the crous with drew and robyn. back at the dorms, we just hung out in brendan's room for a while drinking some wine and playing jenga. i never knew this, but i'm really good at jenga. it's an unfounded skill that i have yet to exploit... hopefully for money.

a certain someone complained to me today about not posting any pictures on facebook. that's because i haven't really taken any. i've had other peoples' pictures to look at. i'll start carrying around my camera now. promise.

cheers, jhabra

le neuf

today was mighty fun. we received the results of our placement exam, which i did well in! woot! then after getting lost on our way to finding a metro, we took the yellow line #1 to the stop, St. Paul. this is the central metro stop for the marais (the swamp). this is arguably the most vibrant place in paris, and it is where my family used to have an apartment. we met our walking-tour guide in front of the metro stop. we started with an eglise. i don't remember the name, but apparently it's one of the oldest churches in paris and has been renovated like a bigillion times. the marais was once a forgotten part of paris, the home of almsmen and almswomen along with the rest of the city's destitute population. but thanks to the many fundraisers and the awareness stirred by a local puppeteer, the area was eventually saved and renovated... so the tour guide's story goes.

we then walked the place des vogues. it's pretty much a giant square with a small park in the middle. the building surrounding the park are built as continuous archways, connecting to form an enclosure. four streets enter the square at each of the four corners, creating one way traffic. the center park has a giant statue of louis the 13th, whose wives used to live in the area. he also used to visit and stay at his home-away-from-home in one of the buildings behind the square. besides a motley of mansions and fancy cars, the place houses a 4 star michelin restaurant, the old house of victor hugo, and a variety of shops, art galleries, and restaurants/cafes.

from there and passing a museum that chronicles the entire history of france, we walked to the picasso museum. we only remained outside for a moment... not much to say about it. robyn loves picasso, so i'm sure we'll be back sometime.

finally, we walked toward the area for which le marais is famous: the jewish and gay quarters. la rue des rosiers is the best street in all of paris, in my opinion. it's reminiscent of the middle east/israel/an open air market somewhere in the developed portion of africa. but it's located in the greatest city on earth. as we approached the street, i had told our program director that i had stayed in an apartment on la rue. as the group and i were walking through, i had ridiculous deja vu. i finally found our apartment: 17, rue des rosiers, paris, france 75004. sarah took a picture of me next to the front door. i peaked into the boulangerie on the corner; it's the same salesman from five years ago. l'as du falafel is still there as well. will and i went in to grab a falafel. it was just as delicious as i remember.

we ended the tour in front of one of the synagogues. the architect is the same person who built another famous building in paris. i don't remember which one, which is kind of weird, but i remember being shocked when i heard they were derived from the same brain. regardless, he built it in the shape of the ten commandment slabs. it's pretty impressive.

the rest of the day was spent running all around paris looking for two notebooks and some pens only to get back to my dorm and have my neighbor inform me of a student-based store located only 4 RER stops away. i eventually went there. it has everything imaginable for school needs. i have my first day of school tomorrow. i be excited.

after a nice dinner at the crous with will and some hanging out with les neighbors. it's time for bed. bonne nuit et beaux reves.

cheers, jhabra

the past few days

the past few days have been very busy. but because of my absolute lethargic state, i will not be detailing. on the 5th, we visited the musee rodin. it's probably the least striking of all the museums in paris, but it's secludedness actually adds to its charm. my favorites in the museum were "le penseur" and "the gates of hell". the gates are probably the coolest sculpture i have ever seen. it's immense, and black. rodin sculpted each figure separately and physically positioned all of them onto this giant bronze... block. if i were you, i'd look up a pic of this thang. it's mighty impressive.

the next day katie came to town from barcelona!!!... and brought five of her friends with her. we had a very fun first day visiting the most morbid sight in the world... the catacombes. located off the denfer metro stop, this expansive underground series of connecting tunnels houses the remains of upwards of six million... yeah, count em... six million people. each section has a sign denoting the year in which it was assembled. in short, some of these bones have been preserved for about 300 years. i touched one of the femurs; i thought it would have been disgusting, but it just felt like a rock. that evening, we went out to eat on the island adjacent to that of notre dame. there is quite a night life there with excellent restaurants and great views. one of the boys said it was "the greatest meal i have ever had." yeah... the food in paris is pretty much awesome.

the next day we were supposed to visit the eiffel tower, but it was snowing heavily outside. it closed before we could even get into the elevator. in addition, i locked myself out of my room with no coat or anything... i didn't even have my glasses so i was pretty blind. on the upside, i chatted with this girl who was lounging in the lobby of our building. she had been locked out in the same manner i was, leaving our windows open, effectively creating a vacuum and the perfect opportunity for our doors to deceive us. i'm pretty sure her name is bianca. 

later that day, the girls dragged me shopping to the gallerie lafayette. i had nothing better to do, and plus i figured i could go up to the top and revel in the view. but no... today was just not my day. we get there, and the roof access is closed because of the weather. i bought a scarf to ease my pain. it's a beautiful one, and it was on sale. i really needed it too, it has been freezing the past few days.

umkkk, what else (sorry, but this is not in order, the entire weekend has just kind of blended into one giant day). friday night we all went to the louvre again because it's free. after we went for drinks at odeon, an area with many bars and a vibrant night life.

today, sunday, i spent the afternoon with my uncle, aunt, and grandmere. it's very nice to see them, even though the language barrier can be rather frustrating. dina's face absolutely lit up when she saw how much i have grown. i don't think i've ever seen her eyes open that big before. i also see a lot of my mother in her, it's uncanny.

but nothing could top our saturday night. we took a bateau parisienes tour along the seine. it was an absolutely pristine and romantic night. i was outside with everyone, leaning over the railing, and had one of those i-don't-think-i'd-rather-be-anywhere-else-in-the-world-right-now moments. i ultimately decided i want to live here when i'm a real person. i love this city more than any other city i have ever been to in my entire life. it is imperfect and dirty and coarse and sometimes smelly and sometimes rather snobbish, but i call it home for the next 5 months. hopefully it can be so for longer.

cheers, jhabra

sorryyy

i'll write on what i remember about the past few days tomorrow. my friend has been in town, and i haven't really had time to post. stay tuned.

cheers

yesterday and today

it snowed in the morning; a white paris is divine. but because the weather was rather drab, we didn't do much. we have these meal plan cards that recharge, so we had to put the first installment of monies on them. the rest of the day was spent inside watching planet earth and drinking wine. a pretty boring day. i went out to dinner with amanda, suzy, cathleen, and robyn to this hidden restaurant. it's run by a family i think, and it was pretty delicious. we then all came back to my room to watch corpse bride.

today was much more eventful. this morning we had a tour of musee d'orsay. i have one thing to say about that museum: edgar degas is fucking awesome. i did a research paper on him in high school, so to see all the famous works of art that i wrote about was rather mesmerizing. the tour lasted about an hour and a half. i, of course, made our group get there late because i hadn't woken up in time... typical jona fashion. we saw a bunch of impressionist paintings and sculptures, and learnt about parisian orgies and how they were depicted in impressionist art.

after the museum, a few of us had to go to the API center for a mandatory meeting for information on our teaching internship. i really like our advisor. she's the epitome of a parisian woman, really smart, talks 100 mph, and just overall gives off a very cool vibe. i will hopefully be teaching english to middle school or high school kids. it's pretty exciting.

afterwards, we went ice skating in front of l'hotel de ville right on the seine river! it was so cool! they pretty much opened this large outdoor rink in the middle of the plaza to the public. it's located right in front of this beautifully ornate castle; it had a pretty romantic backdrop. i was one of three who knew how to skate well, and i surprised myself even when i had the rentals on. so i ended up guiding the girls, holding their hands making sure none of them did a faceplant. after a while, this random guy started skating up behind the girls and grabbing their waists, forcing them to pretty much fall over. he was a mad creeper, and the girls became very uncomfortable. when we were inside taking off our skates, the guy got up and sat down next to the girls. our program director approached him assertively and asked him to leave us alone. after he started being rather forceful, the security guards came and physically removed the guy. as they lifted him, he spit on gaby and kicked her with his skate. so much for a fun afternoon of skating...

we stopped at a cafe for some coffee and snacks, then just returned home. drew and i went to one of the crous-card (our meal plan) places, which are scattered all over paris. it was actually decent food, much more appetizing than that of american cafeterias. now i'm sitting in my room waiting for people to come over and start drinking; we're going out tonight.

cheers, jhabra

ichat is being dumb

ichat doesn't really connect well in europe. i try to go on it from time to time when it allows me. but the most reliable way to talk with me is through facebook or skype (sixstringskater4).

cheers

morning of the 2nd

there's snow on the ground... and i'm in paris. this is awesome.

yesterday and today

lots to talk about... so here... we... go...!

yesterday the 31st was the, if not, one of the weirdest days of my life. it began with an excursion to the cirque d'hiver bouglione dans la rue amelot. we took the metro to the oberkampf stop, which is right in the middle of a vibrant downtown scene. the circus was unbelievable. it was nothing like i expected, which only made the experience much more enjoyable. from the outside, it looks just like any other parisian building. once inside thought, it's very novelty circusy. red, blue, flashy but in that exotic tacky fashion. the audience sits in a circle that ranges 3 floors, encircling the circus floor. there is a live band that plays just on top of the main circus floor. it began with an audience countdown. immediately, all the house lights were dimmed, and the children in the audience were all given these rainbow-colored flashing magic wand looking sticks. so all around the crowd were these flashing colorful lights; it was pretty exciting. marge was sitting next to me and we started clapping along to the music and tried to get the rest of our group pumped. we were obviously successful. the circus lasted about 2 hours, but it seemed like an eternity. among the performers were a few tigers, some cats, a blowup elephant, trapeze artists, a hula-hoop expert, a sick juggler, and half-naked dancers. i kept thinking, there are kids in the audience three feet from the half-naked women. you could clearly see the contours of their breasts and butt cheeks. the french are awesome.

the funniest part, for no particular reason, was when a group of six horses came out to do tricks. at one point, one of the horses took three consecutive projectile... poops, for lack of a better, more passe word. it was really hilarious. as the band continued to play, three poop-cleaners rushed out onto the blood red carpet ring and began the most professional sweep of fecal matter i have ever seen in my life. it was truly an A+ performance. five minutes later, another horse had to use the bathroom as well.

after a more than enjoyable time at the circus, a few of us remembered that Of Montreal was playing a show at the Bataclan, a famous historic club that is also a concert venue. it was right around the corner from the circus, so the few of us decided to go see if we could get tickets. a nice little walk later we arrive at the venue. it's this beautiful three story red building with almost asian like qualities. it had a few minute minarets as well with white ball tips that decorated its facade. we peeped our head inside and were watching them set up only to realize the box office was closed.

we stop at a restaurant to get some lunch. during our meal, but before our plats were delivered, i'm looking out the cafe window to see this group of three guys walking down the street. they looked rather odd, so i didn't think much of them... until i saw the guy in the white pants. at this point he was looking at me through the window as well, and i was just staring back at him like the creepiest person in the world. eventually, i grab robyn's arm and say, "is that who i think it is?" she then proceeded to have a female star-struck moment; it's her favorite band.

it was kevin barnes, the lead singer of of montreal, and bp helium. we immediately burst out of the restaurant acting like the worst americans ever and started running down the street to catch up with them. we get a picture with them and small talk for a little. they're really nice guys, bp much more so than kevin, but who gives a damn... we met of montreal on the streets of paris.

now is when the day took a turn for the worst. on the way back, we had to take the metro and transfer at a station one stop closer to our last stop. at this stop, we all passed through the ticket counter and doors, not allowing us to return through. all of a sudden, we hear an explosion... and then another. we all look at each other as if nothing were wrong. then a mob of people start screaming and running towards us in this underground tunnel. we immediately started running towards the exit, hurling over and under the ticket doors. things kind of went black at this point and i think the adrenaline took hold, but i do remember all the exits were sealed with riot police. so we descended to another metro which took us to another stop. at this point i turned around, and realized we were missing drew. apparently he had gotten caught up in the fray and had been tear gassed. there was a protest at the metro and the police had set off the gas to disperse the crowd. after asking for directions, being told the wrong way, and walking all the way back to our dorms, which took an excess of an hour and a half, the rest of us were safe in addition to drew. we unfortunately missed the concert because of the fiasco.

that evening, we went out to dinner in this really quaint restaurant on the island next to that of notre-dame's. it was an enjoyable evening to a rather eventful day.

fast-forward a few hours... and a new day! the first sunday of the month is free entry to the louvre. so guess what drew, robyn, and i did all day today??? we made a pact that we're going to try and see EVERY ROOM in the ENTIRE museum. we have a map with a check off system. it's going to happen and it's going to be epic. it was also drew's birthday! after getting some food at the louvre cafeteria and starting our gloriously impossibly journey, we head home and take a stroll in the park in front of our dorms. it's a really nice park, very green with two playgrounds and beautiful walking paths. 

we then decided to watch some planet earth before dinner. for dinner, we found this quintessential parisian street near notre-dame that was just perfect. two course meal each and a bottle of wine for three people: 70 euros, which is an amazing deal. the rest of our group was meeting up at a sports bar to watch the bruins-canadiens game and the superbowl. we did, and it was mucho fun. some of us left early to catch the metro back home, others are waiting until they reopen at 530.

cheers and sorry for a lack of intimate details about today... i'm exhausted, jhabra