carbon copy

ok. so, my blog has been pretty picture/video heavy as of late. but, it seemed the easiest way to satisfy my guilt for lagging on updates. but, i have to write about some of my experiences and thougts here. images can only take one so far. instead of trying to pull out details and stories, i'll share one of my present thoughts...
over the weekend i was sitting in the cave of one of paris' infamous jazz clubs. this place was packed and just buzzing with life! after dancing, i sat down in the back with a friend and threw out a question to a stranger.
"what do you like the most about your life?"
"what?" he asks in a thick brazillian accent, surprised at my off beat inquiry.
"what do you like the most about you life?"
pause. thinks for a minute."that i have the freedom to do what i want....that is a strange question. but even stranger that i'm actually answering it."
i think it's important to ask yourself this question from time to time. whether it be in quiet solace, or heightened moments. for both gratitude and change. so what is it that i like the most about my life? that my days are not carbon copies. everyday is different. new. exciting. fresh. for so long i felt trapped. everyday seemed the same. i would always feel the sting of monotony at parties. same people. same conversations. it's one of the reasons why i became so antisocial. i just couldn't take it anymore! but enough of the past. just thinking about it makes me cringe. this is the present. and i am so grateful to be living in it. to actually be LIVING my life! this is what i like the most about it.

musical metro

my favorite part about taking the metro! don't forget to scroll down and pause the music below.

for natalie

obeying the sabbath

a couple sundays ago, i was wandering around the marais. it's the gay and jewish district of paris--where, ironically enough, church is. i had been exploring alone in paris for 2 weeks. and it was beginning to make me feel just that, alone.
to escape the chilly weather outside, i ducked into a vintage shop. at first, i was afraid to go inside. i KNEW if i found something, i wouldn't be able to buy it. and, low and behold, with in the first 5 mintues of browsing, i found a beautiful leather clutch for only 10 euros. the problem with vintage shops is this: you feel COMPELLED to immediately purchase anything you like. not only is it unique, it's cheap (the beauty and the danger.) also, everything disappears like samples at costco. so you've got to jump on it, quite literally. i swear my primitive need to gather comes out when i go to these shops.
but as i stood there staring at the leather clutch i thought, "am i really going to break the sabbath over a purse? come on alisha, you don't even like purses. you like your big obnoxious brown leather school bag that you for some reason carry around with you EVERYWHERE." so i bid it farewell. and whispered, "i'll come back for you."as i, not so skillfully, began to hide it, i see a girl laughing outside."is she laughing at me?" i think. she walks in and tells me she would have done the same thing. from there we began to talk, and instantly became friends. turns out her and her friend were au pairs too! we ended up spending the whole day together. wandered around the marais, took the metro up to monmarte, played around at sacre couer, and walked to the effiel tower. it was the first time i had seen this infamous spire. and it was FAN-TASTIC!! one of my favorite days.
p.s.-i went back the next day and bought that purse :)

here are a few snap shots from yesterday. so much has been going on here, and i've been worthless at updating about it. but in a nutshell: i've got good friends; i eat good food; and i get to walk around in beauty every single day. it's amazing.

flying solo {about a month ago}

First day alone. Disorented. I look down at my map as I try to figure out where I am, and where I want to go. No set plans, for my purpose was to familiarize myself with the city through aimless wandering. But hunger pangs were setting in, beckoning a directive for something sweet and cheap. I flip through my Rick Steves, but am completely clueless how to get around, even with his simple cartoon map. I slowly walk past the last fountain of the Tuileries Gardens, looking for someone to point me in the right direction. I see a small girl walking towards me. "Do you speak english?" she asks with a hopeful smile. "Yes," I reply, thinking to myself "well, if you're lost too, then we're both screwed." She pulls out a little sign which basically read, her "brother" has leukemia and she needs money, with a bunch of little smiley faces all over it. Gypsys. It caught me completely off guard. Struggling to politely excuse myself from the trap, a man walks past and says, "It's a scam just walk away," without breaking his stride. I look at him, and turned away. At first I thought, a seasoned tourist. But then I notice the book in his hand is his only possession. He's undoubtably a foreigner, but with the ease in which he walked, I could tell he was a local. "Good, he can help me" I think as I run up to him. Reeking of a lost tourist, I match his pace and ask for help. I could tell he was a little annoyed. But after explaining that I was more than just a tourist, he lightened up. This is what I found out within the first few minutes of talking to him: goes by the name of J.J.;South African bred; French native loved; retired author; and on one of his daily walks around Paris, which I was now joining him for. We walked around the Louvre, across the Seine, through the Latin Quarter, past Notre Dame, and parted at Hotel de Ville. It was both enjoyable and helpful.

laughing my pants off

Just a little tid bit from last night via a note my friend wrote about our experience:

"Probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

So the other night...we were walking around the Latin Quarter...it is around one in the morning...and we see this guy jogging. Strangely enough...it seems as though he is not wearing any pants.
Possible explanations... a) he is wearing extremely short shorts b) he is wearing underwear
c) he is not wearing a thing besides a baggy teal t shirt and his running shoes.

Naturally we died laughing not expecting to see him again.

We see him again. Jogging along the sidewalk..wearing shorts. Odd. We keep walking.

We see him again. He is way ahead of us on an extremely narrow street. He looks left. He looks right. We look ahead at him.

He takes off his shorts and HE IS IN FACT NOT WEARING ANYTHING ELSE UNDERNEATH. I MEAN LIKE A FULL MOON.

And he just continues jogging as if it is nothing to be running around in Paris at 2 in the morning half NAKED."

sitting, waiting, wishing

at the moment, i am patiently waiting in an apartment in the heart of paris, tucked away in the marais district, and a short walk from notre dame. oh how i wish i lived in this darling little studio apartment.
why am i here? i'm waiting to go clubbing with my friends. and luckily enough, a fellow coronadian (phil, who goes to berkley with one of MY best friends from home, dan schneider) is studying here at the sorbonne and invited me to stay at his place. yes, he's a boy. but! his roommate is a girl AND he has a girlfriend, so don't get any ideas people. if ever i want to go out in this glorious city, i have to stay IN it until at least 6am the next morning, because the last train home is at 11 pm. come on, like i'm going home that early. so he's given me an open invitation to come crash at his place whenever i want. Il est très gentile, non?
now if only my new girlfriends would text me back so i know where to meet them! that would be happy. given, it's early, i still want to know what the deal is, and if heals are a requirement.
p.s.-i'm using the girl's computer and snapped this photobooth shot on it. hope she doesn't check her trash! that would be awkward...
p.p.s.-i'll update what's been going on these past few weeks tomorrow!

behind

i am so behind it's ridiculous. why? the internet decided to die.
but i just wanted to let you all know, all six of you, that i will get the internet on my comuter very soon. attempting to type on this french key board is painful.
(qtten;^ting to zrite on this key fre,ch boqrd is pqinful:) thats what it is like typing on it.
anyway, i feel like im running out of time over here only é months but i think i might stay longer still dont know yet.
any thoughts?
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