La fin.

Upon us, is the final week in Paris, France...
4 weeks have passed...
1/3 of my Eurotrip is over...
September is coming to a close...
This is absolutely bananas! Where did time go? I feel like I just arrived here, starry-eyed and scared and with all these resolutions. I don't know how well I've done at keeping them, but I've got 2 more countries to go to find out how much better I can get at doing so. Everyone and their mom knows I am unequivocally excited for Salamanca and Spain in general. How convenient that we happen to spend 6, instead of 5, weeks there! Living in dorms with actual Spanish collegiates! In a college town! With reasonable prices! Paris has indeed been incredible... but quite different from my expectations. I dreamt of coming here and perhaps having some sort of French romance in addition to studying and going out with my friends... drinking wine at the Eiffel Tower, sipping coffee at cafes, puffing cigarettes in bed at dawn in some familiar stranger's bed... but finding L'Amour in Paris is surely a common misconception and expectation. It is indeed the city of love... but not when you are a tourist... and as unmistakeably awkward/shy as I am. I guess that's why I have all my girlfriends to enjoy the non-romantic yet still unreal side of Paris. Still I wish a particular person had come through for me, and surely it is clearly too late and unlikely now for him to come strolling in on a white horse. I should have known better. But just as expected, I was quite relentless with my wishing and hoping and apparently, talking.
Today, there was a group trip to first, The Catacombs, and then the top of Montparnasse. The Catacombs were eery, I swear you could feel the aura of death surrounding you. It's strange to think that this massive ossuary is a tourist attraction, but there are few ethical boundaries that are not crossed in this world for the sake of profit. However, I can't fail to admit that it was beautiful it its own morbid way. The skulls and bones were arranged so intricately and methodically that you had to wonder what kind of individual would ever take on a job like that. After the Catacombs, we walked to Montparnasse, which is the tallest building in Paris. I realized it has become a theme of this trip to climb tall buildings and see the Parisian skyline, not that I can complain about this. It's interesting that this building is such a huge attraction in Paris because although it is tall, it can't compare to New York. But I suppose that is part of the charm of NYC, as there is no other city that is so littered with skyscrapers. At the top of Montparnasse, all the buildings paled in height... and literally, because I notice most buildings in Paris are this milky-white hue... I wonder why this is. Perhaps because everything is older, and this material preserves better? Anyhow, I'll leave the architectural musings to someone more educated... once back on campus, I slept so hard that I missed dinner and anything productive I had hoped to achieve for the day. Napping has also become a common theme for me in this last week... probably due to a mixture how often we go out and how early we have class.
More or less, I've got a rough agenda for the rest of the week...
Tomorrow, as part of my Religions of the World class, we are going to a mosque. I've got some mixed feelings, not on the visit, but in terms of the guidelines. I can understand that in any religious house, the attendees must wear modest, proper attire. Done, okay. But to be told that should I expect to shake hands with a man in this mosque, I should quickly forget it because I am a woman... well... Not that I was wishing for this occurrence, but how ancient is this shit? Religion makes me sick, particularly the inequalities in Islam. At the same time, as Voltaire was once wrongfully quoted, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." My philosophy teacher made an excellent point in discussing the French government's decision to ban the burqa: he did not enjoy anything that may objectify women (despite what the practice claims), but at the same time, he did not think the government had the right to pass a law on the custom of a religious practice. Amen to that but regardless, I've got ardent mixed feelings on religion as a whole (I'm surprised no one is outraged at categorizing all beliefs under this term "religion", since people tend to protest anything that gets in the way of or contradicts their imaginary thinking)... The more I learn about religion, particularly this year, the more I learn to ridicule it. We really believe in magic, don't we? And so brutally and blindly at that. My threshold of belief is deep... at the same time, I know I am not certain of anything, and I think that is the downfall of our society, we don't recognize doubt in our holy hypothesis... when really that is the most reasonable way to feel.
Ongoing, Thursday is our school's Global Service Day. After class, we are going to be making sandwiches, going to a particular zone in Paris, and hanging them out to people that may need them. This seems like an awkward thing to do, but alas, I am on the Pink Team, and I'm gonna be participating. In the evening, as I said before, we are going to Le Mix, possibly Le Globo, or possibly Le Saint... most likely Le Mix, but since it is our last weekend, I would not be surprised if we agreed to go to all 3 in a drunken, money-blowing haze.
On Friday, we are going to picnic at the Eiffel Tower, and perhaps climb L'Arc de Triomphe in the evening to look at the city illuminated. There is an event at a club called Wagg this night as well, but it seems a bit out of our age barrier. I'm certain we will find something awesome to do regardless.
On Saturday, there is the Techno Parade, and an ongoing night of debauchery apres.
On Sunday, Stephanie and I are due to go to one of Ricardo's soccer games, since we keep blowing them off because our laziness. At some point during the day, we might partake in a hot air balloon ride over Paris, since we found a company that provides them for about 10 Euros/person.
Next week, we have 3 days of class... and at some point, I'll have to go to Versailles... As a final hurrah, I was hoping we would all go to the Eiffel Tower in the evening on Wednesday, have some wine, and reminisce on a month gone entirely too quickly. Now let's see how these carefully drafted plans play out.
Every now and then I have to wonder, when will be the next time that I have the opportunity to see Paris again? Probably sometime in the long distant future... Though I could never live here for an extensive period of time, I can't imagine a life that doesn't allow me to explore the world and spend these moments, pretending to a local in the great cities of the world...