Oh la la. I have been very busy and can only take a couple of minutes to update on my recent events. I know May has produced lousy entries -- my apologies.

Last night Rodrigo and I went to la cinématheque to see Joaquim Pedro de Andrade's "Macunaíma". It was amazing! I was surprised that it is so funny - the novel has a pretty serious tone. Really, how great.

Yesterday afternoon our class climbed the Eiffel Tour (I believe it's 700 steps). It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, but now lactic acid has found a cozy home on the inside of my calves.


Tuesday was my French final. It went well -- I didn't get the grade I was expecting, but it was an improvement on my last two tests. To celebrate, we tried to picnic at the cemetery in Montmartre. After walking nearly halfway there, we found out it was closed. We had a beer instead and walked all the way back to Bastille.


Sunday (a hot, hot day) we went to see the last performance of "Da Gelo a Gelo" at the Opéra Garnier. It was an Italian theatrical adaptation of 11th-century Japanese love poetry by Izumi Shikibu. I liked the performance (and the venue) a lot, but it dragged in parts and the end was disappointing: there were no suicides. How can it be Japanese without the deaths of the two lovers?

Afterward we dined at a Japanese restaurant not too far from the opera house. I had my first bowl of (real) ramen! Yum yum yum.

Friday (or was it Saturday?) evening, Rodrigo and I tried Showcase, the club underneath Pont Alexandre III. It is a beautiful, large space with windows that face the street and the Seine. The cover and drinks were too expensive, the crowd was boring, but the music was great -- a real mix of electro, rock, Serge and Greek wedding marches.

Attempted to watch Godard's "Une femme est une femme" the other day, but I didn't have the energy to follow (it was in French with no subtitles). I'll have to try again another day.