The Final Stretch

Over the past week, I've experienced a wide range of French Culture streaming from Galarie Lafayette to even the graves of some of the greats like Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrisson. Living in the suburbs of New York for the majority of my life, with constant trips to New York City, the juxtaposition between these two substantial places is interesting. The streets are extremely crowded in both places, however, in Paris, even with a lack of guide lines in the streets, I have not even heard of a huge accident. Meanwhile, in New York, with all of the street signs in the world and there are multiple accidents per day. Luckily for me, in both places the McDonalds and Starbucks are on every street corner, but everyone seems to think a café glacé (iced coffee, as verified by my host sister) is a frappaccino, which certainly doesn't help the calorie count, but delicious nonetheless.

Last night, the group went to Le Louvre, which used to be a palace. We joked about having to plan departures between rooms, because God forbid you forgot something in one room and had to take a 30 minute one-way trip to retrieve said object. Everything seemed to live up to my standards, except the Mona Lisa. What I have a hard time understanding is why that small painting recieves an enormous amount of attention, when it is surrounded by paintings many times more magnificent. It's unfathomable, but something I guess I just have to accept.

One of the most beautiful sights I've seen in my time here is the grave of Oscar Wilde. It's a tradition to put on lipstick and kiss his beautifully sculpted grave, which is covered in engravings and, of course, kisses. It was also awesome to see the grave of Edith Piaf, because last year in French Class we watched La Vie en Rose, the both fabulous and tragic story of Edith Piaf. It's really great to be able to see the things which we have learned in past French classes. We even plan to make a trip to a Holocaust memorial -- Le Mémorial des Martyres de la Déportation Musée, just behind Notre Dame, and eventually watch or read various items on that subject in Independent French Study next year.

Last night, the group went to both L'Arc de Triomphe and La Tour Eiffel, which gave us a phenomenal view of the city. We could see everything from Le Sacré Coeur to La Défense. We even got to see the Eiffel Tower in lights as we departed at around 10 pm.

Today is the last day of internship and I've been learning so much about marketing and business, specifically in the makeup industry. I even got to attend a Bobbi Brown launching of her new makeup line which is open to the public this fall. Today, I organized a wide range of perfumes by Jo Malone, and unpacked loads of Crème de La Mer product. Additionally, I made my final translation on a Q and A with Bobbi Brown herself.

I look forward to this week to see Notre Dame and potentially Sacré Coeur, and do some final exploration of the city until we head home this Tuesday.

Long Day

Wednesday morning I woke up to the sound of rain. Again.
On the way to the metro in my hoodless raincoat, I stared at my soaking feet and swore that if I went another day without seeing the sun I was leaving Paris and never coming back. I got to the office and I must have looked even worse than I thought because the first thing my boss did when she saw me was hand me a hairdryer. I laughed but thanked her and began to dry off and cheer up.

Once presentable, I got to work. Sitting down at the conference table that has become my desk, I opened the folder of files that need to be translated into English. There's a form, some contracts, proposals, an invoice, as well as my favorite, the text to be put on the company's website. This is my favorite because it involves the most creativity; I can rephrase things, reconstruct sentences, and find just the right word each time. Just as long as I still convey the main points: NLB Conseil (The company I'm working for) is a consulting company for the recruitment and development of executives and leaders. It's a head hunting business. The founder (my boss, Nathalie Lambert) is well educated, successful, extremely kind, and one of the most persuasive woman I've ever met. Which is good, since all these qualities are very important to her work. Her job is, in essence, to know people, or at least to find people and get to know them. She goes out to lunch with CEOs or DRHs and is able to say that she's working, even if they don't talk about work as much as they do dessert or an after-meal cheeseplate. And she has to know tons of people. That's where I come in. And Marion, the french intern. We spend our time looking up names, qualifications, phone numbers, and the like from online, in newspapers, in alumni books, or anywhere we can find information. Then we plug our research into the database. It's tedious work, frustrating at times (I have trouble telling if a French name is a man or a woman), but it is satisfying to look back at that huge list of names and positions.


This Wednesday, I finished my work early. I read a little bit of the newspaper without scanning for names, and left the office just before five. My prayers had been answered: IL FAISAIT BEAU! (that means it was sunny) While on my way back to my host family's appartment I called Sadie and made plans to meet her in the Jardin Luxembourg so we could enjoy the nice weather. She and Heydi waited up for me near their work so we could do some shopping, but as it got later they each had to leave to make it to their families' dinners on time. I knew my family would leave food out for me even if I was late but I like eating with them so I found the nearest metro station. To my surprise the RER wasn't running, and it wouldn't be until 2100 (not the year the time). I had two hours to kill so I decided I would just start walking. Jardin Luxembourg is on rue Saint Michel, near Notre Dame. That means it's pretty much the center of downtown Paris. I'm staying in the 15th. Four miles.I stayed along the Seine so I wouldn't get lost and so I'd at least have a view. It was actually very pleasant. I got to my metro stop just around nine. Perfect. It had taken me just as long as it would have if I'd waited, and now I knew a whole lot more of the city. I was surprised to see that my host family was just about to start dinner. So French! I went to bed well fed and exhausted, only to realize the next morning that I could have taken the bus.

La Tour de France - À Bequilles

Paris! Where to start? I guess by saying that I undoubtedly stick out. No, not because I'm American, not because I have troubles communicating with people, but because I am a cripple. So, this is not necessarily a bad thing. People are much nicer to you when you have obvious signs of an injury.

Advantages:

1) people scurry to move out of your way

2) cars stop more often for cripples

3)you get to skip long security lines in airports (and take the rest of the group with you)

4) people give you their seat on the metro

5) people have patience when you ask them for directions (can't let the cripple crutch around aimlessly)

6)great conversation starter ("Ça? Je me suis cassé la jambe..." Yeah, I did have to practice that phrase.)

7) you are an attraction

Disadvantages:

1)stairs (pretty much the only access to the metro)

2)you can't crutch and look at your map at the same time when you get lost

3)you can't eat ice cream and crutch (ok, so you can't really do anything with your hands while you crutch)

4) you are an attraction

(Oh, also: apparently my crutches (aka bequilles) are an attraction in their own right. Here my model of crutches is ANCIENT. Everyone on crutches looks like they're from the future (see picture)

Although I am slightly less ambulatory than most, I do keep up and have managed to do some sight-seeing and un peu de shopping aussi!

I've also been having a great time at the Curie Institute. Our lab unit's focus is on Notch Signaling and how it affects tumorigenesis in the intestine of specific genetically engineered mice. (Don't worry, I have yet to completely understand everything either.) Right now, we are focused on creating and maintaining organoids (or mini organs), especially crypts, which are essentially a small and very specific section of the small intestine. These crypts are grown ex vivo (or in culture, outside of a whole organism) in small culture plates. I have been doing some techniques that I learned of (and some that I even practiced) in Biology class. I got to do PCR, which is a technique that amplifies the amount of DNA you have available, as well as gel electrophoresis, which is a process used to separate DNA by size. I've gotten to see how research is done, the problems that may arise, and the kind of ingenuity, skill, and patience it takes to solve them.

Also, FOOD! I've ventured outside of my comfort zone and have tried things like, steak du thon or tuna steak (which I figured out later is only mildly cooked...), ratatouille (not like the movie but like the food the movie is named after; I also learned that), quiche, creme brûlée (SO good), tiramisu (possibly even better), and last but not least...les ESCARGOTS (which are surprisingly really not that bad).

Looking forward to more sight-seeing, shopping, experiments, and new foods,

-Heydi Malavé

Week one coming to a close!

Here we are already at the end of the first week! The internships are all going great -- Sadie, Heydi, Casey and Bethany are all working hard and learning on the job. I went to the Curie Institute today and saw Sadie at work in the lab. I was impressed with her ability to explain all that she's doing with proteins. I was equally impressed by her lab mentor, Charles, who allowed her to do many of the steps required for the particular task. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for Sadie to post a more scientific explanation!! At any rate, it was impressive to see her in action and able to do it all both in French and English!

I then spent the afternoon with Bethany at NLB Conseil. Bethany has been working hard on translating the website as well as a number of documents, ranging from contracts to invoices to general questionnaires. All her work was just in time for a new contract that came in and will be done in English.

At the end of the day we all met at NLB Conseil so that Heydi and Sadie could have a Skype session with their biology teacher, Tom Evans. This was such a dynamic conversation to hear as they explained to Tom all that they have been doing at the Curie Institute!

After the Skype session, we were headed to the 15th arrondissement to a crêpe restaurant. However, everyone was quite hungry at that point and we decided to try a different restaurant, Le Relais de Venise. It's a famous restaurant that serves only one meal : steak-frites. I must admit, it was the best steak-frites I've ever had, and I think the girls would agree with me!

Following dinner, we went to the Arc de Triomphe hoping the lines weren't too long and we could go to the top and admire the view of Paris from above. Alas, the lines were too long and we decided to purchase tickets in advance and return Tuesday night.

We'll spend all day Saturday together beginning at the Musée Rodin, followed by lunch and exploration of the rue du Commerce which is a charming street that I discovered by accident when I got myself off track going to the métro the other day! And then we have a list of other visits and areas to explore, too. Stay tuned for specifics!

It's been a great first week on all fronts and I'm proud of all that the girls are doing. I can't wait to see what next week brings!

The beginning

When I first arrived in Paris I was forced to face my biggest fear-- trying new foods. Personally, I'm used to eating strictly fried or processed foods. Anything that comes from the ground is certainly not my friend, and I rarely venture into trying anything green, or rather, anything with any nutritional value. Each day, I start off correctly with some toast either smoothered with butter or smeared with Nutella. That was definitely OK for me. Then came lunch. As I leave my intership where I have just completed translating an entire French website into English using their tricky keyboards, I decided it was feeding time at the zoo. I leave TG Communications and enter a promising looking restaurant called Nicholas, which came highly recommended by all the people I work with. My first alarm should have been that they are all stick thin and beautiful, but at the moment that thought didn't cross my mind. I proceed to enter the restaurant and browse the rows of sandwiches. "Thon" Tuna. That is promising, because I love Tuna. I made the three minute walk back to the office to eat my beloved Tuna sandwich before finishing my translations. (Side note: just learned yesterday that Bobbi Brown was a girl. I guess you do learn something new everyday..) Anyway, as I bit into my sandwich my mouth received a horrible ill as a combination of tuna, cucumbers, salmon, and cream cheese entered into my sacred temple of the unhealthy abyss that is my body! Trying not to make a scene, I managed to swallow said bite and throw the rest away. After work I ran to the metro to grab some peanut M&M's. However, back at home, Chantal is actually a fabulous cook. I have ventured out of my comfort zone and tried things such as quiche, various cheeses, ham, and even artichokes. At Le Marais, I even had some falafels. Of course, I had to get a nutella crepe and some ice cream, just to balance everything out.


So far, my experience has been pretty eye opening. It's great to try new things, and I now know everything one can possibly know about Bobbi Brown.


- Casey DeLuca

Première journée de travail!

Early morning rain drops pounded furiously on my window, serving as an alarm to get me out of bed for my first day of work at the Curie Institute. Despite nature's rather rude awakening, I placed my feet on the floor and a smile on my face, encouraged by the knowledge that in two hours I would be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the field of biomedical research. But first: breakfast. My host, Nadia, had stopped by the boulangerie for a baguette and croissants moments before I descended the stairs for my "petit dejeuner," so I savored the fresh bread and some juice while going over the bus route in my head.
After getting ever so slightly lost, I managed to meet up with Allison and Heydi outside a café and we entered the Curie Institute for the first time together. On the fourth floor (troisième étage) we found the Houdusse research laboratory where I will work for the next two weeks. After a brief tour, Allison and Heydi departed, and I was instructed to follow Charles, one of the younger researchers in the lab. He bears a striking resemblance to an acquaintance of my sister's who, oddly enough, has plans to study in France next fall. As I trailed Charles around to various equipment and supply rooms, I tried my best understand what exactly he was doing. As he explained in detail later in the morning, his task for the day was to purify two proteins that had been produced by genetically modified E. coli bacteria the night before. The material is complicated enough, but it was even more challenging to grasp when explained in a combination of French and heavily accented English. Of course, i can't possibly imagine how difficult it must be for Charles and the others to try to explain such complex ideas in a foreign language such that a high school student can follow them. Thus, for the most part, I learned best by watching, but I was allowed to pipet all of the substances to create a buffer for the proteins--providing proof that my hours spent poring over my AP Chemistry textbook have some practical application.
Overall, my first day in a research lab was thoroughly enjoyable, even if I felt my presence to be entirely foreign in an otherwise efficient and francophone environment. As a relaxing end to an intellectually stimulating day, Heydi and I met up after work to explore the neighborhood. We were drawn to the first store sign that hinted at vintage apparel, and it turned out to be a treasure trove of beautiful European designer labels from the past century. Had it not been for the exorbitant exchange rate between euros and dollars, Heydi and I would have quickly become the proud owners of several pairs of 1960s sunglasses. Instead, we chatted briefly with the shop owner in French, then moved on to find gelato, a European fare generally quite appealing to the traveler's wallet (and tastebuds).

-SM

GCIP-PARIS 2011

We have an exciting program lined up for our students! This summer, Heydi Malavé and Sadie McQuilkin will be interning at the Institut Curie with noted researchers Anne Houdusse (Structural Motility) and Silvia Fre (Notch Signaling). Casey Deluca will be interning at Tg Communication, a PR Firm that specializes in the luxury cosmetic sector (Crème de la mer, Bobbi Brown, OPI). Bethany Fowler will be interning at NLB Conseil, an executive search firm specializing in the luxury and cosmetic sector. Each will have the opportunity to learn about their respective mentor's research or business. They will also have the opportunity to bring their expertise of English to the table to help translate websites and documents. It will be an incredible exchange and experience. Stay tuned for more posts!