Pat's and Geno's of Paris

Philadelphia is known for many things: Rocky, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, our lovely sports fans, and Cheesesteaks.

One of the first questions you ask a native Philadelphian is: Pat's or Geno's?
The two biggest cheesesteak rivals in Philadelphia sit across the street from each other, and almost every Philadelphian prefers one or another (I personally am not a cheesesteak fan, so I have no preference, sorry!) For those wondering, cheesesteaks are basically cut up steak on a long bread roll with melted cheese on top.

Here is a link to a summary of the rivalry, for anyone who may not be familiar with it:
http://www.real-philly-cheese-steak.com/pats-genos.html

Recently, I have discovered in Paris a similar rivalry. Two food stands, across from each other, both claiming to be the best in Paris.

Paris is known for many of its food items: crepes, baguettes, escargot, etc.

But falafel? Paris is not known for its falafel, but in the heart of Paris is two delicious falafel restaurants that both claim to be the best in Paris.

Falafel Numero Un

Falafel Numero Deux

You may be wondering: what's falafel happen to be doing in Paris?

Well, in Paris there is this area called the Marais. It is one of the biggest upcoming fashion hubs of Paris, with a ton of vintage, boutique, and regular clothing, jewelry, and handbag stores. However, it also happens to be the place where a lot of Jews live, so theres a big Middle Eastern food influence. 

Hence, two delicious falafel places.

My verdict? I have eaten at both places, and I can't decide. Falafel Numero Un gives you a lot of veggies in your pita, whereas Falafel Numero Deux gives you more falafel in your pita. There are pros and cons of both. I like them both. Lenny Kravitz has apparently been to Numero Deux, and he claims its the best falafel in the world. But Numero Un is slightly bigger than Deux, and was a bit friendly service (I thought). So, if you happen to be going to Paris, these two rivals are in the heart of one of the best areas in Paris, and you should go and decide for yourself :)

4 more wonderful days left in Paris!

Bonne Nuit,

Feldy 

FINALS

Finals. One thing is for sure, no matter what part of the world you are in, Finals are never fun and always dreaded.

But with such different university systems, finals here are definitely a bit different than finals back home.

Differences:

1. No Club Hagz. Literally, my school in France does not have a library. Instead, it has "media centers" which are just rooms with tables and not enough practical chairs. Just lounging chairs.

Are there even finals? 

Also, no one comes to the media center except study abroad students (only place we can get wifi) and French students maximum an hour before the exam. Club Hagz (the Drexel library's nickname) is ALWAYS crowded during finals week. If you can get a chair next to an outlet, you are golden. 

2. Exam Proctors: Usually, at Drexel, an exam is proctored by the professor, sometimes with a few TA's. Here, the exams are proctored by old French women who speak no English. So, even if the entire class is a study abroad class, there is a lot of "I think thats what she said" going on. 

3. Grades: Forget about A B C, finals here are out of 20 POINTS. 20. Every single grade here is given out of 20, or if they aren't, if you add a few grades together they end up being out of 20. Nevertheless, the teachers do some math, and the finals still are worth about 60% of your course grade. Also, no grades are given until ONE MONTH after exams. And we think one week is bad at Drexel.

4. Finals here are about two and a half weeks long. None of the Drexel cram into one week business. I had three this week, including Saturday, and one next week. 

5. They give you graph paper for finals.  No lined paper. Therefore, my handwriting looks something like hieroglyphics.

Similarities

1. Studying still sucks, and most of our days and nights are still spent studying, with the usual Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Buzzfeed, distractions. There are often "I should have paid attention in class" moments. 

2. Finals are about the same level of difficulty, with some finals being easier as others, which is the same back home. 

That is about it for similarities. 

Et maintenant, j’écris dans français un peu. Je n’utilise pas  « Google Translate ». Donc, j’ai mes examens dans cette semaine, mais je suis très heureux être dans Paris. Demain, j’ai mon examen de mon cours de français. Maintenant, il pleut beaucoup, mais il ne fait pas froid, il est onze degrés Celsius. Je n’ai pas vu le neige dans Paris, seul beaucoup du pleut. Lundi, mes examens sont arrêtent et j’ai une semaine liberté ! Lundi prochain, je retourne aux Etats-Unis. 

Bonne journée, 

Feldy 

Happy Week 11

Week 11. In Drexel terms, its the last week before finals. In Paris, its the last week before finals too.

Three of my four classes here finished this week, with one finishing next week, the day before its own final, how convenient. My two Drexel online classes finish this weekend too. I am beginning co-op interviews.

What does this mean?? 18 days til I am back in the United States, 18 days left in one of the best countries in the world.

TIME FLIES. I need one more year here. Or six months. I'll take that too. Four months. ANYTHING. (sorry, friends and family from home!)

Just when I am super adjusted, I have to pack and go back to Philly again. Seriously, my feet know the route from school back home on their own. I know the grocery store aisles by heart. I thought it was weird hearing English in London.

Now it is time to go around Paris and see everything I haven't yet (yes, there are parts I still need to see) and go back to my favorite places one more time. That is, in between finals and studying :)

17 years old Feldy in France

20 years old Feldy in France

....

Soon to be Feldy in France again??

The other day, I went over to Canal St Martin because I heard it was a beautiful area of Paris and I hadn't seen it yet. First off, it was supa cool seeing a canal working (nerd Feldy) and the shops along the Canal were sooo nice. Wish I had discovered the area earlier!

Pretty Canal St-Martin

So that's how a canal works...

Also, I had to see the other half of the Louvre that I hadn't seen yet.

CONCLUSION: I am not a very big Louvre fan (sorry arts). I much prefer the Centre Pompidou. Its cool to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, but all the old Roman/French/Greek/Mediaval paintings get a little similar. The Egyptian section is pretty cool, and Napolean's Apartments and Louis's crown jewels are really neat to see. But the museum is hugeeeee, and I think maybe only if we had DPhiE formal there would it be fun to get lost in the museum. 

I think these would look nice on me.

I do however, really appreciate the fact that I am in Paris, and whenever I want to go to the Louvre I can. Seriously, its free if you're under 25. That is one major thing I will miss about Paris- getting to see super famous monuments just while I am walking around the city. 

Hopefully I will have one more blog post before I leave Paris, but for now, back to finals studying!!

Bon soir,

Feldy