In just under 20 hours, Middle America will wake up to the Macy’s Day Parade, turkey and football. In just under 20 hours, I will be sitting in my “EU as an International Actor” tutorial going over the guidelines for our six-page research paper due in 2 weeks. Tomorrow night I will have to forego the tryptophan-induced coma and study for a presentation the next day on Marie Antoinette.

Actually, Thanksgiving came much more quickly then I expected and besides the awesome display in the clothing shop next to my school (portraying two mannequins sitting down to enjoy a gold, sparkling, rayon/cotton/other synthetic fabric-turkey), there haven’t been many reminders to make me think of the holiday I will be missing. In truth, I LOVE Thanksgiving though maybe not as much as Christmas and New Year’s (the latter which I regard as the most perfect day of the year), and will definitely be thinking of my family and cousins celebrating in CO tomorrow. No doubt they will be enjoying a turkey- compliment of my dad’s favorite obsession: his Weber Smoker-- which he bought the weekend I went to college 2 years ago—.I’m pretty sure it was meant to fill the huge vacancy I left behind! :) When we moved to CO 7 years ago, I had to learn to accept a Thanksgiving without the grandparents and aunts and uncles (who I will be thinking about on Saturday!) I had grown up with. We made up our own tradition with Ham (not Turkey), Breckenridge, and our second family: The Bennett’s. This Thanksgiving is going to come and go without any of that but it will all be back in 12 months—so I think I’ll be ok this year in Paris. So today I am sending love back home!---

The strikes have continued this week hitting a climax yesterday with all fonctionnaires (civil servants) going on strike too. They called it “Black Tuesday”. I managed to make it home on Saturday morning (after a VERY squished metro ride) only to return to the city 4 hours later to meet my friend Caitlin from high school (who was visiting Paris for the day) and learn that my line (9) had closed for the night. I spent the night at Lyndsey’s to finally make it home on Sunday night to sleep in my bed for the first time in 6 days. There was talk that the strike would continue this week but after a week of living out of a bag I had convinced myself it wouldn’t happen and was caught off guard Monday night with the need to call L to ask if I could sleep in her bed, use her shower, and live in her apartment YET again the next night. I’ve told her to let me know when she is sick of me and wants her life back—but she’s been more then welcoming…I’ve been making dinner and washing dishes to try to be helpful…though now on my 7th night here out of 9 days, I owe her BIG. On Tuesday morning, metros were basically at a standstill, so Carly and I made the two hour trek from Sèvres to school (lugging a book bag and duffel of clothes)—it is not a journey I want to repeat again. Tonight (Wednesday) I am at L’s for what I think is think is the last night (the metros are starting to run again in better intervals). A week of sleepovers has been great girly fun though (forcing me to do my work during the day) and has included cooking experiments, Gilmore Girls, and even a night at the ‘Grand Prix Figure Skating Championships’! Tonight we’re paying tribute to home with a few reruns of “Friends’ Thanksgivings.” I’ve started to get used to the idea of living IN Paris—maybe I am going to miss these strikes? But only a bit.

On Sunday, I experienced human nature in its truest form on my packed metro ride home. An African man who had been standing next to me, sat in one of the 4 permanent seats when another person got up to leave. Upon sitting down, the woman next to him (about 35-yrs old) made a snide racist comment which I didn’t hear. The whole crowd within hearing distance (and because it was squished there were about 20 at least) immediately started to jeer at the woman. A “Nelson Mandela”esque man spoke up and started talking to her very calmly (it was all in French so I didn’t catch it all) saying “You can’t think like that, you can’t be like that.” He then started telling her that “it wasn’t the fault of anyone, not of the government, not of the man, it was just because of the strike”. From what I interpreted, she must have said something blaming the man for the current situation. The man left got up immediately after she said had insulted him and so she put her feet up on the empty seat, put an unlit cigar in her mouth, and started to cry, and cry and cry. 30-seconds later, a family got on and 2 little kids started telling jokes to their parents…everyone around me had smiles on their faces… It was amazing to see the extremes in that kind of environment.

I finally climbed the Eiffel tower on Saturday night with Caitlin and L. I was pretty cool to finally see the full layout of the city and realize how huge it really is. I only climbed to the 2 floor though, you have to take an elevator to the top—I’m waiting to do that with my mom: who is coming in just under a month!!

With the holidays in full swing, the swarms of tourists are here. I missed the summer season arriving on September 1st but now I understand why Parisians say the fall is the best time to visit—when it is not too hot and there aren’t lines everywhere. Even the grocery stores have been affected. Today I saw an American tour group on Le Rue de l’Opera and had to take a double take—I understand now why there is an American stereotype of being big. After 3 months surrounded by skinny, short people—a group of largely overweight and tall Americans came as a shock. I couldn’t stop staring. :)

Well, don’t let this stop you from enjoying our yummy holiday—Happy Thanksgiving!!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Dad! Only 2 more years until the big 5-0!