Parislog 92
February 3, 2007

Last weekend, I was not able to go on a fun photoshoot with a group I belong to because I had caught a bug. It was a sad day for me because I love any reason to go out and take pictures. And I really enjoy hanging out with this crowd. On the lucky side, this was the first sickness that I have had since I came to Paris. I was a little worried the first day because it started with a fever and then went to a sore throat and chest discomfort but then the fever went away and it just turned into a regular head cold so no worries. No fun, but no worries.So anyway, today I was feeling for the most part better and wanted desperately to get out of the house. I looked up what the photoshoot had been about and where, then took myself. This month’s meeting was in the Chinatown of Paris in the 13th arrondisement. It does not have the same sort of look that you expect from the downtown area. The buildings are not all old and in fact many seem to be from a horrible cement block period. The street was a little run down but not unsafe feeling so that was good. Of course there were the unknown foods in the windows and the writing that means nothing to my Occidental eyes. It also isn’t very big.I must say that the thing that struck my eye as the oddest were the huge groups of people surrounding 5 people. They were set in front of the “mall” and were writing people’s names in letters that were designed from pictures like a snake for an s. They are very common in all the tourist areas but I didn’t expect them here where there really did seem to be much of a tourist thing going on. I guess I must have been wrong though and there were many tourists in the neighborhood.

Parislog 91
January 28, 2007

Well, it finally happened after all this time. I actually got sick. I caught a nasty little flu thingy with fever and sore throat. I have been trying to treat myself really nicely and take expectorant to keep my chest clear.
I must say however that I am happy to say that in the entire year that I have been here and all the stress that I have been under that this is the first. I am rather proud of that. Germs and sick people, including my roommate, have surrounded me. On the metro, it is a breeding ground of germs. I must have a really strong constitution.
I am hoping within a couple of more days to be back to one hundred percent. I already feel better and it has only been 2 and ½ days.
This morning when I woke up I heard the strange sound of a bullhorn and quickly ran to my balcony to see what might be going on. I saw a few runners on the street. I quickly snatched up my camera in case something more interesting was going to happen. Sure enough, more and more runners started to come down the street. Soon the road was packed. After the excitement was over I trolled around the internet trying to find what it was. Eventually, I found that it was a 10km-jogging run that was part of a nationwide program. Cool.