FFWD Mode, Only Long

Alright! I should do this NOW so I don't forget to do it this week, and then I'll have more than a week to get back on track about:
Monday - My parents came in to visit me for the week! They were exhausted when I met up with them after my classes. We ended up catching a fast dinner at Léon's before my next class.
I then went to José-Louis' with Liisa for a dinner party. The rule was: in his place, we HAVE to only speak French (which wasn't hard for him and his 2 other friends, they ARE French...). It was one of the hardest rules to abide by all night. But I trucked along, kind of...
José made us this really great French dish for our main meal, and 3 other courses to boot! I supplemented the brownies for the dessert....His friend, Nicolas, is a winemaker, and brought us 3 bottles of wine for us to taste; one in every color! It wa splendid! Liisa and I were giggling the entire time about the sheer ridiculousness of our lives and the situations at hand.
And a note about José-Louis' place.....IT WAS MASSIVE!! He says that he's staying with a friend's family, which would make the children's toys everywhere, and the 2-story monstrosity of a flat that we were exposed. A billiard table in the main room, full kitchen, stereo system, and a huge outside patio with a view of the Eiffel Tower?! You've got to be kidding, Kim, right? Nay, my friends, no kidding here.
After we had a really nice (and late) dinner, José and Nicolas pulled out the dancing skills! Which was a shock! Those boy can dance! They were swing dancing with Liisa and I, and José even swung Liisa over his shoulder! José's female friend just watched, which was odd, but she seemed to be content regardless. But alas! A good night always has to end, so Liisa and I hailed a cab in the wee hours of the night/morning, and went to bed swiftly, after a night of perfection.

Tuesday - Class was a waste. Except that Eugene informed me about the VaTech news. All I'll say about it is that I luckily knew no one involved or affected, I have little (if any) respect for journalists and publicists, and that Bush's arms policies are worth shit.
Afterwards, I met up with parents to go out, but didn't make it very far; I crashed on their bed for a few hours. I finally woke up to eat some lunch with the parents, and then to go see my apartment. Lazy day, and ended it early.

Wednesday - The day started with Mom, Dad, and I meeting up at the Catacombs, which are these cave-tunnels underground all over Paris. You could probably get into any section of Paris through these caves! We were only let into a very small section of the catacombs, but it was simply amazing, nevertheless! Miles and miles of caves that we saw ALONE! And what's more, but there's roughly 6 million dead people buried down there, from the 1700s plague and the 1800s riots! They have organized the bones and skulls in a hasty decorative system, and they strategically embellished with somber French/Latin quotes all throughout the darkened caves. It was quite a site! And we saw the alter where All Saint's Day used to be performed, and everthing!
Afterwards, we ate at this place called Indiana Café; this sad French attempt at making American food. The quesadillas were made with mozzarella and crêpe-like layers, and the fries were pretty dinky. The food was good, but it wasn't American. Granted, I'm not complaining; it was just an interesting portrayal of American culture. The parents were nice and let me go for my normal jog afterwards before we head out for dinner at this nearby Lebanese resto. The food was really good (they even did the grape leaves correctly!). I went back to the hotel with them, where we had a debate about American values, education, and spirituality. Just another night with the family, right?

Mind you, the whole week I was very proud of myself because I was doing all of the talking and the ordering and explaining for the parents. I felt like my French was actually subpar!

Thursday - I grabbed lunch with them before they walked me to my classes. One of my classes was cancelled, so I ran into Rahul and I talked and walked with him for a while. I then went to Sciences Po to do homework. Joris, bless the child, walked me through my French homework, despite that he's French and has his own homework and club to run. I owe that kid my life.
Class trudged by. I then met up with Pierre for dinner with the parents at Café Lipp. The parents didn't inform me that we were to match (they were in black blazers over green shirts and black slacks), so I felt very awkward and clashing at first. But we had a very intriguing dinner. Dad really let his hair down for Pierre, and Mom and I did our girly gossip on the other side of the table. Pierre wow-ed them with his French knowledge, and we ate a long (and slightly pricey) dinner discussing cultures (but of course).
Pierre and I ended the night with a few videos about military training, so I could see just exactly what he'll be put through this summer. Yes, I admitt, it looks hard, but I'm still excited to see how he turns out after it, even if I am in the US (which is a sad thought).

Friday - My marketing professor is a tool. We had presentations about Benetton, and the first 4 groups took roughly 20 minutes a pop, leaving us last 2 groups 6 minutes to do a 12-minute presentation. Nice.
Paz and I grabbed a few sandwiches and chit chatted before I met up with the parents. We did some walking. Mom and I went to Galerie Lafayette and shopped for a few hours. I came out with a new purse and a shirt.
We had to RUN to my flat for a pizza dinner with the parents and my friends. Dad and I went out to get pizza, and my friends came over. We talked all night, joked, Dad said some not-so-appropriate-Kim things. It was great.

Saturday - I went for an extra long run, it was great.
Afterwards, I went on a wild goose hunt to find all of the materials needed to make the Indian dishes requested the night before.
Then I cooked for 6 hours. Alone.
I'm never cooking Indian food from scratch alone ever again. That is all.
The food was good, don't get me wrong, but it was far too much to do alone. And 10 kids?! What was I thinking?!
José-Louis joined us for dinner, which meant it was French for Kim. That was frustrating, alright. But we had a good night, and everything went well in the end.

Today - Bump on a log. I have gorged on left overs. Been reading a bit for my midterm on Tuesday. Met up with Paz for an hour to eat dinner. Walked for half an hour, then back here to do chores, procrastinate with my blog, and read some more. I'm a winner.