Thursday, March 10, 2011

battle wounds.

i think i have a curse upon me here in france.
it is called the curse of tripping up the stairs.

tripping is never fun.
tripping is most often embarrassing.
tripping brings to the forefront of my mind many particular images: watching people trip daily up that awful, snowy hill freshman year, witnessing the trip of all trips that spanned at least four large sidewalk squares in downtown palo alto, that one time disco skating when the love train turned into the ultimate crash central and at least five people tripped over me... the list goes on.

tripping can be funny,
when you aren't the one tripping.
when you are the one tripping,
tripping can hurt.

i try to avoid embarrassing moments here. no reason to call unnecessary attention to yourself. and yet, three times now i have tripped, quite ungracefully, quite loudly, calling all kinds of attention to myself, and causing most around to laugh. unfortunate.

though tripping up the stairs in the middle of an impossibly quiet museum that we had barely managed to negotiate our way into was bad enough, today, trip #3, was probably the worst. we were late for class, and i was in a bit of a hurry, and i slipped and ate it so hard on the ESCALATOR. i literally fell all the way down and was riding the escalator basically laying down flat on my face for a few seconds. awkward. in the process i somehow managed to bang my shin. not only did i have a fabulous limp the rest of the afternoon, but it actually cut open my skin through my boots and two layers of socks/tights. ouch! it was totally embarrassing. and probably really hilarious to watch, jamie and emily got a nice view - they were right behind me.

i have a swollen bump and a nice little battle wound, i'm hoping i'll have a quality bruise at least. if you are going to take a hard, embarrassing fall you might as well have something to show for it, right? other than that, the day was great. enjoy my one euro thrift store dress.

today we met up for a field trip at les invalides.
kind of ironic huh?
this is the very place where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried.
professor hancock, allison, and james paying appropriate tribute.
julie and emily having a serious conversation
gorgeous ceiling
boots and an emperor
napoleon, the man himself
or at least the tomb itself.
don't worry. nappy B and i matched today!
we coordinated robes.
crazy cool granite
it was a bit windy outside
so we had to take sexy windblown hair pictures.
jamie was looking fab
thats what i am talking about
i don't even know about this strange thing
wouldn't it be neat to play one of these?
an invalid at les invalides. ouch!
katrina and i in the sunshine
quick museum trip. gotta love wearing classy headphones
no one can actually hear anything in this picture,
(the headphones weren't working)
and yet everyone was watching one very small screen with no sound.
and they all look pretty into it
funny.
my battle wound. and the crusty crust blood on my tights. yuck
friends at the golden dome
grateful i have james to laugh at me when i trip up the escalator and go into temporary shock
and to hold me up when we walk up about a million stairs after said incident
baguette in backpack? check.
baguette dust all over backpack? check.
only in france? check.
emily and i had raclette for dinner tonight.
it is basically glorified fondue.
and it was so good.
an adventure, sometimes embarrassing, everyday.

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