Tendonitis, cha-cha-cha!

A lot has happened.

I have not blogged.

This silence is partially due to the fact that I have a ton of B.A. work ahead, am writing a photo essay for class, and, oh yes, am sick.

Sickness in Paris? SACRE BLEU! I'd just like to point out that I managed to spend 2 months in Beijing and NOT get sick (well, until the very end... when I was 99% sure that I'd contracted SARS). However, one month of Paris and my body has begun to give out. Yeeesh.

To be more precise, I managed to irritate a tendon in my left foot while I was IN BRUGES (God, that's never going to get old), so I've been limping around Paris like the suave temptress I am. My newly acquired nicknames from the weekend are "hop-along" and "gimpy." On top of that, I started coming down with something in the middle of class today, which seems to consist of a fever, chills, aching muscles, a sore throat, and nonstop hunger. To counter my bodily breakdown, I made a massive vat of napa cabbage/mushroom/spinach/egg soup and am consuming said vat as I type. With any luck, I'll be up and running tomorrow... so I can walk to the center on account of a massive transit strike!

As much as it sounds like Paris is sucking right now, it really isn't. My faith in humanity has been more or less restored in the past few days - I think there is something about being in Paris that brings out the best in people. Rather, something about not being super-stressed out in Chicago that brings out the best in people. I mean, people have been really, really awesome about helping me carry things, finding an English speaking foot doctor, locating a foot/ankle brace, giving me drugs (of the anti-inflammatory kind!), buying me hot chocolate, offering to help me get home... I've only known most of these people for a month, but I'm really touched that I've been offered this much help. That said, I hate being dependent on people (or, rather, feeling dependent), so I guess I've learned that I'm still made of the tough stuff that got me through some really brutal times (e.g. fencing bouts with a bum knee, a messed up ankle, a couple of arm slashes, and 3 hours of sleep).

Time to turn my current verbosity into something more productive... and finish up that photo essay. I might end up posting my essay on this blog - it's been a while since I've written something creative, and I think my final product will best demonstrate how I feel about Paris. Maybe. Perhaps. At least it will have pretty pictures!

xoxo,
D