Les cours commencent!

Monday morning was the start of my official study-abroad program, which I’m doing with an organization called IFE (Internships in Francophone Europe). I’ll have 5 weeks of intensive courses on contemporary French political institutions, society, and culture, and France’s ever-evolving role in Europe and throughout the world. Then after one-week of "spring" break (it won't really be spring by then), I'm doing a full-time internship for 12 weeks at a think tank called the Centre d'Analyse Strategique du Premier Ministre, which roughly translates to "Center for Strategic Analysis." It's a governmental think tank that serves the Prime Minister, Francois Fillon.

My morning routine from now on:  I wake up and eat breakfast, which is usually bread with butter and jam (& sometimes Nutella), cereal, sometimes yogurt if I’m lucky, orange juice and your choice of strong coffee, hot chocolate or tea. The IFE program center is only a 20 minute walk from my foyer, so I’ve been walking there and back with Jen, Sydney, Daniel, and Eliza, the other IFE students living in the same foyer as me. It’s really refreshing. Then classes begin at 9 am.

Anyway, Monday was an orientation to the expectations and particularities of the program. We signed a contract stating that on the premise of IFE, as well as on all programs, courses, and excursions organized by IFE, that we would speak only French, and also were given our student identity cards which will give us discounts in various museums and perhaps theatres. All of this was finished around 12:30 and was followed by something not atypical for the French: raising a verre, or glass, referring of course to the glasses of white wine and small plates of snack foods that were brought out. We had white wine with sirop de cassis, or blueberry syrup, which flavors and sweetens the glass. Delicious!

This little celebration of our first gathering as a group was followed by an afternoon stroll in the Jardin de Luxembourg, which was beautiful on that sunny day. 

Pony rides for children in Luxembourg Gardens!

Les Soldes (Sale!!)

Strolling along the Boulevard Saint-Michelle, a beautiful area with expensive shops and cafes, we saw signs in almost every store window declaring Soldes! In France, the government dictates when shops are allowed to have sales, so they take place only two times a year. This winter, they began Jan. 12 and end Feb. 15^th, and the other huge period of Soldes is in June.  As everyone says, you must “profitez-en!”  (Take advantage of them!).  So far I haven’t, but I’ve still got time!

Today was the first day of real classes.  From 9 am- 12:30, except for our 15-minute break, called a pause, I had the opportunity to be lectured-to by a Professor of Contemporary History at SciencesPo. 3 1/2 hours is a VERY long time for a class, especially for someone more accustomed to courses that last a maximum of an hour and 20 minutes, but I believe my morning espresso helped a bit. He discussed the role of the State, material with which I'm very familiar from my IR classes, and I happily raised my hand to answer when he asked if anyone knew what the sociologist Max Weber's theory stated. Maybe I did learn something in that Politics in Africa class last semester, after all!

Lunch break lasts until 2, and most afternoons from 2-3:30 we have a small-group class called Travaux Pratiques with a different Professor, this one a journalist as well as Professor. In this class we're seated around a table instead of lecture-style, and it's discussion-based. The subject: French media! I'll have three, 10-minute oral presentations over the next couple weeks on various issues in the media and French politicians. What a long day!