sometimes i wonder where i've been

You know you're not in the States anymore when you regularly see nuns on the metro. I've been hopping on and off those trains, switching from one to another, walking through the stations without having to think about where I'm headed anymore, which is cool. Makes me feel a part of the city.

I also found a deli where I'm definitely taking people when they visit; it's called Paul, and it's been open since 1889. There are some things in the States that have been around that long, but few and far between. And nothing over there has sandwiches like this place. Or pastries. They have a "menu" where you can get a sandwich, a pastry, and a drink for 7,50 euro.

Tomorrow I have a test in my cours practique, which consists of a written essay on a subject the professor gives us at the start of class. Then we have a dictée, wherein the professor reads us a text and we have to write it out. No fun at all, but I suppose necessary. Next Tuesday we have a test on grammar too. I'm in real school again.

I'm reading Man in the Iron Mask, appropriate for my weekend trip to Vaux-le-Vicomte, where the movie with Leo Decaprio was filmed and which Louis XIV's ill-fated finance minister Fouquet built as his dream home, lived in for a few weeks, then met his unfortunate (and mysterious) end. How I love history. And though Dumas was rarely ever historically accurate, I do so love his novels too.

Life is good.

nothing lasts
life goes on
full of surpries
you'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes
you're going to have to make a few compromises
for now
but only for now

don't stress
relax
let life roll of your back
except for death and paying taxes
everything in life is only for now

each time you smile
it'll only last awhile
life may be scary
but it's only temporary

everything in life is only for now . . .

-Avenue Q, For Now