The Bleaching Powers of the Seine

Oh, France. Pays de la liberté, l’égalité, et la fraternité. But is it, really? Something struck me in the metro: The lines that go from north to south are full of diversity, from people’s heights, skin colours, accents, and odours, in the periphery of the city, and are more bleached-white around the Seine.

Why is this?

And why are the nicer metro lines, 1, 14, etc, all around the river?




We went to a session at the Assemblée Nationale and the vast majority of representatives are men. Maybe there are more who weren’t present, but out of at least 100 people I could only spot one black functionary. I didn’t anticipate it because this is not representative of what I could see in the metro, or around the city. Maybe it is the recent increase in immigration from ancient colonies, which would explain the delay in the assimilation, but it was still very astonishing.

Because Introductions Are Necessary

After two spectacular days in Calima I got home at 10 pm to pack my bags and leave my stuff in order to leave for Philadelphia. Like the December break, the January days in Philly were absolutely marvellous. My friends organized a surprise good-bye party for me the night before leaving, and I had an amazing time. The headache of the day after was not as amazing, but it was definitely worth the aspirin.

I arrived in Paris in the morning of the 12th of January and met with the owner of the apartment that I am renting. It was not exactly evident how to bring two suitcases, of at least 25 kilos each, up seven floors, but by personal experience I can tell you it’s not a walk around the park.

One headache, five back strains and two Motrins later, I felt installed in my apartment.



In my state of jet lag and sleepiness, I went to get a cell phone, to change the Traveller’s Checks (the most useless, expensive and inefficient method of travelling) and to see Carlos, a friend from Spain who has been abroad the entire year.

I have decided to make 'paris' a synonym of enchanting. For every possible reason. One day I had five hours between classes and I went to the Louvre to see a part of the Ancient Iran exhibit. I was leaving when I realized you can make a masterpiece with time in Paris- Where else in the world can you take time in between classes and turn it into two hours in the most visited museum of the world?



Art History students in France can enter national museums for free, and very conveniently my id says I am an Art History student. That lets me enter the Louvre as many times as I want without sseing my student budget suffer an 8-Euro loss (more like expense, really) everytime I want to visit the Venus de Milo.