Super-Duper Wacky n' Tacky Euro Adventure

and that means I've just finished writing my 20th page. I hate how I always leave the most difficult papers to write last. The right to death in France anyone?

So Johnny leaves here in about 15 hours. Very sad. First to go and then Zoe will follow shortly after by heading back to Italy for the summer. Side note: must live in Italy at some point and drink coffee, learn the language, and be too fashionable; when in Rome afterall. Last night we tried to give Johnny a nice send off on rue Oberkampf and I think he had a good time. Save the random flying candle wax that one must avoid when hanging out with friends from Berkeley.
Tonight a proper Parisian dinner will send Johnny off to New York and his very chic job working for Macy's. Hopefully a frisbee or two can be tossed on the lawn in front of the hotel Invalides so as not to make the night too hectic. But then again, last night was not supposed to be late either, but getting home at 4am, I discovered otherwise.

The weather still hasn't decided what season it is, but it is opting for a nice late-spring for today and tomorrow. I will try to catch the most amount of rays I can while studying the effects of EU/US economic relations tomorrow.

The friendlies are winding down and the cup is almost upon us. Get ready Berlin. I'm coming.

Blinding me from this work is the thought of finally getting back to Moscow. I simply can't wait. But then again, I can. The job front has mysteriously stalled, but the rent will always be due. My fingers could use a little relief from the constant crossing, but they must remain, cause I need a bit of luck at this point.

Speaking of looking forward, beyond Moscow, everyone I have talked to has just had a great feeling in their gut about senior year. Something tells me it will be truly epic. EBF isn't the most amazing housing, but for the lower 1400s in the draw, I really can't complain.

and in no time we'll be outta here. On any other Thursday I'd be out enjoying a drink with friends, but tomorrow I'm draggin my tired ass back to the office because I had to miss my internship on Monday. I missed for what I thought would be a great reason - a class trip to Strasbourg to visit a session of the European Court of Human Rights. Not that I'm ungrateful (I kinda am), but the trip sucked. The van ride over was cramped, the food was terrible, and we arrived in town about too late to do anything but sleep. The next morning my stomach decided it didn't like the food from the previous night either and decided to eject it accordingly. Our scedule prevented us from doing any sight seeing of the relatively small town. The hearing we were gonna see was cancelled. We got some talks from European lawyers which were interesting, but seemed a little hasty. Then the wind and rain started. Get this: Didn't get above 50 degrees that entire day in Strasbourg. brr. Then van ride back was equally cramped and we stopped at the exact same cafeteria on the way back. Not amused. Then the expert scheduling returned to drop us off in Paris at 11:30pm when me and three others had interships the next morning at nine. Of course we were all busy with papers and finals, so we weren't in the partying mood in the first place, but the great planning really got us moving in that nerdy dullness only Stanford students can truly pull off come finals time. Speaking of which, even though it's late, I have my own papers to work on. I'm trying to get this econ paper out of the way. But can a ten pager in French really just be put out of the way? Not really. Gonna do the best I can for the night.

Today Parisians old and young welcomed back the return of the soleil that has so menacingly been absent for at least the past two weeks. It's not pariticularly hot. And the clouds don't always let him come through. But it's enough to send this melatonin-deprived Mexican to the tiny outside section of his favorite Parisian cafe: Malongo. I can barely see my computer screen, but it's worth it. Gives me more time to kick back, sip on my espresso, and soak in the occasional rays.
Yesterday the weather wasn't cooperating nearly as much, but Johnny, Devin, and I decided to head to the northern outskirts of the city to see if we could grab some cheap scalped tickets to the France v. Mexico friendly. A quick chat with the not-so-friendly scalpers here in Paris revealed that the tickets weren't exactly in our price range. So we decided to accompany a group of about 50 similarly financially-challenged fans at a bar outside the Stade de France to watch the game on a big screen. The game winner was scored by France in the one minute of stoppage time after the first half and the rest was a defensive clinic on how to hold on to a tight lead. Naturally me and all the other Mexicans who hopped the continent just to see the game (yeah right!) were a little bit dissapointed, but those Frenchies really know how to guard that goal. Luckily most of the French fans were very respectful and I had a chance to chat with a few after the game as I was walking around town with one of the loudest shirts ever created: the Mexican jersey from the 2002 world cup. We all agreed that it was a typical friendly and the real action would come world cup time. The only sore-winners seemed to be this group of drunken revelers who invaded our bar and seemed to have very non-French accents. Trying to be as least racist here as possible, but those trying to be real French hooligans should really have a proper grasp on the language before they start trying to pick fights. Even the French guys we were sitting with (obviously recent immigrants themselves but much more respectful) agreed that those kids were simply "culeros," and joined in our chants appropriately.
After the game I joined various groups of Irish, Mexican, Venezuelan, and American kids for bar-hopping around the city. The birds greeted me and the sun as I came home this morning to my sweet bed which seems to only get more comfortable the later I return home.
Mucho working today except for this quick entry. But I thought I should record the memories before they leave. World Cup coming soooooon!