Je ne veux pas partir...

I didn't get much of my essay written today, and I'm afraid tomorrow will be just as unproductive. I'm going to try to wake up early and crank out a page or two tomorrow morning before I leave to meet my friend Lu for a goodbye lunch. Who knows how long that could take, then we're having a CUPA picnic at Versailles at 5:30. Good thing the essay isn't due until Tuesday, but I really wanted to have it finished this weekend. It could still happen, but it's probably not very likely.

This morning, I wrote a little, then headed off to Les Deux Magots to have lunch with Paola, her old host mom, and her granddaughter, Elise. Mme De La Taille told me that Les Deux Magots is just as chic as Le Procope, which I love so much. Afterward, I taught Olivier English, got some ice cream on Rue du Bac (this time, I just got a cone instead of a gigantic sundae), then went to an actual French person's birthday party (her name is Nathalie, by the way). She's a friend of Jerome and Olivier, so I went with them. It was so much fun - talking to tons of French people in a group like that. Jerome's girlfriend speaks five languages! I told her she's my new hero. Sorry, George Steiner. So what if I'm fickle? In fact, as we were leaving, she started having a conversation in Portuguese with some random people who were walking out at the same time. Anyway, back to the dinner - it was at a French cafe-version of an American restaurant. It was called "Indiana". I got a Caesar salad, which wasn't very good, and I'm not just saying that because they put avocados in it. I considered getting a cheesecake for dessert, but thought better of it and just got a coke. Basically, the whole dinner everyone just kept telling me how well I spoke French. I don't see why people think the French are rude - everyone was so polite, I kissed more cheeks tonight than I've kissed in my whole life (you need to give everyone the "bise" when you walk in and when  you leave), it was basically just chill. And the best part was that I didn't speak English at all! My new favorite sentence, though, is: "Je ne veux pas partir." I said it basically to everyone there, because the conversation was always the same: "Where are you from? How long have you been here? When are you leaving? Oh, that's so soon - are you sad?" to which I'd respond: "Je ne veux pas partir." Especially since the weather is getting so nice. It's been getting up to about 80 degrees every day!

Well, I'm going to go to bed so I can wake up early and do some work before meeting Lu at Belleville. We're going to try to figure out what's there and why il faut y aller.