Wait. I have to go to class while I'm here too??

Let's talk about the "study" part of study abroad. I think I lucked out in regards to my schedule. First of all, I don't have any classes on Tuesdays or Fridays. So I still have plenty of free time to explore the city. Secondly, I got all the classes that I wanted and they turned out to be just as great as I had hoped.

Anthropology of Cities:

I signed up for this class because it was the only one offered that was even slightly related to my major. (AUP isn't known for its archaeology program.) But it turned out to be a really good choice! The professor is really into discussion during class, which is nice. We're learning all about different aspects of city life and how it affects people socially. The coolest thing is that for our final project, we have to do our own ethnography. So basically, we have to pick a spot in the city of Paris where we can take notes on the area - the people, the layout, the activities, etc. I'm looking forward to it.

Paris through its Architecture:

This is a wonderful class. It's all about learning the history of Paris by looking at its architecture. I like the history part of it a lot, obviously. The professor is so knowledgeable though! She knows so many little obscure, interesting facts. It's amazing. We have class twice a week, but on Mondays instead of a lecture we usually have a visit. We meet somewhere in Paris and visit a famous building or neighborhood so we can see for ourselves things we've discussed in class. It's a lot of fun.

Creative Writing:

I took this class because I've always dabbled in writing ever since I was little so I thought it might be fun. I like it so far. The professor is very laid-back and not over critical, which is nice. We have an assignment due each week based on one aspect of writing. Then we all read our work out loud in class and give critiques. Some weeks I'm proud of my work, others not so much. I guess it depends on what I'm writing about.

Introduction to Painting:

I LOVE this class! I have always wanted to try painting, and what better place to learn than Paris? The professor is really helpful - he knows that we're all beginners. He doesn't expect masterpieces but just wants us to have fun and make some progress during the semester. We're using oil paints, which is really cool and I feel more like a real painter because of it. We've started out simple, just doing monochrome still-life. We'll eventually work our way towards colors and other more-complicated objects. He's even going to have models come in for us to paint. Like I said, this class is legit. We only have class once a week, but we have access to the art studio all the time, so we can go in and paint on our own time as well. Here's a photo of my very first painting:

I'll be posting all of my paintings on a separate portfolio page that you can get to here: http://sarasblogabroad.blogspot.fr/p/portfolio.html
So check it out!

A bientot!