C'est la vie.

Yesterday I went to the Louvre with a class group and mega free-loaded off of the free admission and VIP student entrance. The museum is huuuge and people walk around, open-mouthed, staring into the air as though they are in a labyrinth. I made it into the Renaissance hall and wanted to take a nap. I saw the Mona Lisa, which was 2X3 feet, encased in bulletproof glass, guarded by 2 security men, and guard-railed off. It was a frenzy getting to the front, but oh, I made it. I stared at her, she stared at me... I think she won the staring contest because I took a picture and walked back through the zoo of people pushing to get to the front. Then I walked outside and it was raining, and I made the all familiar trek to campus. An hour later, Steph and I headed out to La Mie de Pain to volunteer. I had the utmost honor of serving the salt and pepper while Steph took over the milk-pouring department. It was a nice experience helping at the soup kitchen, and it definitely warmed my heart to see happy, polite people so thankful to have a meal. At the same time, and I don't want to be crucified for saying this, but I don't believe in vast homelessness in countries such as the US, and coincidentally, France. Western European countries offer such a well-developed, let's call it, life-curriculum, to their citizens. Higher education is government-funded, they've got socialized health care... pretty much the basics to lead a self-sufficient lifestyle. It would be nice to have such an organized, government-funded soup kitchen in struggling, destroyed countries. But I suppose that because this perk that I am criticizing is provided, people do enjoy a higher standard of living in Europe, as EVERYONE is in fact, taken care of. Disclaimer: I do believe in the fact that a lot of people are born into homelessness and the climb out of poverty is extremely difficult, if not impossible. But let's just say, the people I saw yesterday seemed to be generally well-off, going as far as having their own cell phones. It is simply difficult to gauge the compassion I feel because I've seen far more severe poverty, and the acceptance of what boundaries border "homelessness" depends on the abundance of vital resources (or more lack-there-of) you've witnessed. REGARDLESS... in summary, I felt good about myself and what I did, all skepticism aside. Once back at school, I worked on a Spiritism project avec Stephanie.

OH LA LA IT IS NOW TIME FOR ZE WEEKEND OUIS!