Without Fanfare or Frippery

So, for all of the NYU students out there, I am sure that you are either up to your necks in registration business, celebrating the fact that you've been enrolled in all of the classes you wanted or biting your nails while being strung out on a few waiting lists. For those with registration issues who are currently damning our beloved Albert, you have my greatest sympathy. I know the heartache of an imperfect schedule but rest assured that it usually works out to your advantage.

I registered for my courses Tuesday afternoon. Not to boast, but let me tell you, studying abroad makes life and registration ten thousand times easier! There were no access codes, wait lists or filled classes. It was academic heaven. I was so pleased I could have kissed Albert if he really existed. Although I have no idea when or where my classes meet (well I suppose they'll meet in Paris...obviously) this is the first time that I can honestly say that the registration process was stress free for me.

If you're interested, in Paris I will be studying
1. INTENSIVE ELEM FRENCH
2. WORKSHOP IN FRENCH LANG & CULTURE
3. TPCS IN FREN CULT: MYTH OF PARIS,1830-PRES
4. TPCS FRCH CULT: EUROPEAN SOCIETY & CINEMA
5. TPCS IN FRENCH LIT: THEATER WORKSHOP

Okay, so perhaps I lied about the perfection of my schedule. Yes, as it is right now my course load is completely acceptable but I'm frustrated by my decision to do Program I (the English speaking program). I was an IB diploma student in High School so I continued to take IB French right up until my senior year. Unfortunately, we did not take the AP exam that is required for Program II and other French courses in Paris such as Intermediate French. We were IB students. We took the standard level IB French examination we were offered. As I said, my schedule is fine (and probably easy) as it is now. I just worry that I'll get to Paris and be frustrated by the fact that I'm taking elementary French classes when I already know the language. I desperately wanted to take Program II's Acting French class...we'll see what I can do. I'll keep you posted on any improvement. Enjoy!
xox
-Erin

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I'd imagine many of you are still scattered all over the country at this point, spending time with (or avoiding) family members and probably still working on digesting your turkey day meal.

I'm currently propped up on my huge green couch in Northport loving the feeling of being home. However instead of sitting next to my mom or girl friends watching a movie...I've covered the couch and myself with text books, plays and various syllabi, all of which need to be dealt with before I go back to the city monday morning. There is so much work to be done over this break! Yesterday, I couldn't quite tell if the pain in my chest was heartburn from the inhuman amount of stuffing I ate the day before or pure anxiety of not finishing all of this work in time. The good news is, final papers will start being handed in pretty much the week we get back meaning that this semester (however lovely) is coming to an end and christmas break/peru/paris/amazingness will be soon to follow. The bad news is, final papers will start being handed in pretty much the week we get back and I actually have to write them.

At the moment I think I'm on top of it, however the anticipation of having to craft "the perfect first sentence" (not to mention the rest of the text) for all of these different assignments is getting me worked up. Anyway, enough gloominess... it is post thanksgiving weekend for goodness sake! I'd like to share some positive things that are going on in the Ed Theater/Drama Lit academic world these past two weeks.

1. Brain + Behavior is amazing. Although there was only a sprinkling of us in lecture on Wednesday, Glimcher videotaped his lesson and posted it on the internet for those who left NY early. His already animated persona reached new heights as our TA's recorded his every zany move with a video camera.

2. We had our Resource Roundup a few weeks back in Dramatic Activities in the Elementary School Classroom. I walked out with about 25 different lessons, lists upon lists of great books to use with students and for my own reference, a packet of Cultural Institutions in and around NYC to use, not to mention a packet on classroom management (heaven)! Desiree uses Processfolios as an assessment piece for our class and mine at the moment is looking a bit like my self actually... stuffed to the brim.

3. Education as a Social Institution has wrapped up our countries projects. We spent a few weeks presenting lessons on the educational systems of different places around the world. Unfortunately that section came to an end and we're back to normal lectures again. The readings have been really interesting now that I'm focusing in on the effectiveness of private schools. Most of us are terrified about our final paper though as we don't really get much guidance when it comes to assignments. I hate "winging" it on my own.

4. Human Development. We're past our second exam and on the home stretch. For a class that follows the development of humans from conception to death, we're on young adulthood so I guess it's all down hill from here (ha).

5. Beginner's Playwriting is really moving along at this point. Our next class meets tuesday night and the first group will present their final 10 minute plays. Equity actors are coming in to do a staged reading of our work. The class has a large number of grad. students in it so the level of professionalism as well as sheer talent in the group is immeasurable. I cannot wait to see what genius they're able to sew together. I love listening to their pieces simply because it gives me hope that my work will sound like that once I'm in their position as well.

6. Scholars is in full swing as well. We're still getting ready for our trip to Peru, which is one of the major thoughts getting me through this hellish finals period. The Health & Wellness group is interviewing our contact at God's Love We Deliver early next week and thankfully we'll be able to complete our protocol and papers before the due date. Yeah scholars!

Anyway, that's life in a nutshell pretty much. Any questions, comments or rants...you know how to reach me :)

Enjoy!

So clearly I've fallen a bit behind. Again, I apologize for my absence. So many things have transpired in the past few weeks, but the good news is I have a lot to share.

First thing on the agenda: Peru. I'm not quite sure how much I wrote about the NYU Steinhardt Scholars trip over winter break in previous posts. The Scholars Program travels every year to a different location (switching between domestic and international destinations) to do research for the year's theme through cultural activities, community service, etc. This year, we're focusing on the idea of "Evolving Cultures: Who and what makes change." I'm fairly certain that's how we've worded it. Regardless, as Peru is a country of such rich cultural integration it was only fitting that we chose it for our destination.

Okay, so lets see if I can give you what my family likes to call the "Murphy Tour" or Peru. (Poppy Murphy doesn't exactly tour slowly on vacation. He's not a details man. We're talking big picture, big events, big buildings...you'll see)

Where:Cusco, Peru.
Who: Scholars
When: January 5th-January 16th
What: Indeed. What did we do...

Arriving at the airport in Cusco

This trip was made possible by the helpful folks of Pro Peru, a branch of the global organization Pro World. Once we had arrived in Cusco we were whisked away to an orientation and introduced to our host families. (Or driven to the hostel for those students who chose not to brave the two weeks with a local family) My friend and fellow Steinhardt Scholar, Katie Clement, was my roommate. We were assigned to live with a family in the neighborhood of Santa Monica. Neither one of us speaks fluent Spanish. Thankfully, our host brother Bruno and his sister Luc were completely proficient in English. They were able to understand our "spanglish" while helping us learn the language a bit better. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't remember their last name. Our family was switched at the last minute. The day we met Bruno and Luc, we had been traveling for about 26 hours, we were overwhelmed by our inability to communicate and so nervous about meeting our family that I never caught their last name. Later on, I was too ashamed to ask them. Anyway, we lived with Bruno, Luc, their mother and uncle for the duration of the trip.

My bedroom at the home stay.

Here's Katie with Bruno and Luc in the dining room. This is where we ate all of our meals and a lot of toast.

Lunch is the largest meal in Peru. This was our very first lunch with the family. They eat eggs quite often. This egg-dish resembled a quiche with a piece of chicken on the side.

For the first five or six days of the trip all of the scholars were separated into three different projects: Health, Ovens and Construction. I opted for the health group. (The thought that maybe one day I'd pursue a career as a Neonatologist or OBGYN has never escaped my mind) We worked on Pro Peru's latest health campaign in the villages surrounding Cusco up in the mountains. The first day of work we spent at an orientation at the Pro Peru office. Since we were performing some rather important tasks at the health clinics, we needed to be trained before hand. Learning to take each other's blood for example was quite a treat...

We had to practice taking each other's blood before we could test the children for anemia. Clearly Oren's thrilled that he was my test subject.

After our initial orientation, our health group was then divided further into separate jobs. Someone worked with the dentist, others in triage, urine and feces testing, anemia, general medicine and OBGYN. I requested a position with the Peruvian OBGYN. What an experience. I worked hands on with all of the patients, learned some wonderful new vocabulary and was able to do exams all by myself! Oren was the master blood taker at the Amenia station and Patricia was the favorite of the dentists. We all had our different roles, which made for interesting conversation at lunch.

Here we are with the Gardia bug outside of one of the clinics. This is what we tested the stool samples for!

Riding to the clinic in an ambulance...

Health clinic with a view! Standing outside one morning before the patients came.

Alex and myself directly after one of our first exams. We look pretty convincing right?

Teaching the little kids how to use their new toothbrushes and not eat the toothpaste.

One day, all of the different groups joined together to work on a tree planting project. In peru, people started to grow Eucalyptus trees instead of planting the native breeds. The problem with Eucalyptus trees is that they ruin the balance of the soil and all other forms of vegetation become difficult to maintain. We worked with Pro Peru planting the native trees in a few different locations in the one town. Each scholar was paired up with a community member. I was assigned to a wonderful father and son team who found it hilarious how long it took me to dig a 40cm x 40cm hole. They had double the man power! What did they expect?

Here's the infamous Mr. Bob Butler hard at work, planting his army of trees.

Apart from the work we completed in our group we explored a vast number of cultural and historical sites together. Most people were surprised by the amount of hiking we did and the amount of stairs one must climb to see most of the ruins in the villages. It actually was a tremendous and refreshing experience to be able to scale those temples and look out into the valleys. There was something completely invigorating about it. Here are some photos from our many different excursions.

Sacsaywaman: the highest point in all of Cusco. To this day festivals are held on this holy ground. The scholars favorite feature was a gigantic rock slide clearly smoothed out by thousands upon thousands of derrieres. Our tour guide Jesus, or Little John, was phenomenal...

Alpaca Farm: There are so many different kinds of Alpaca, who knew. It was definitely a touristy site but we ate it up! You walked through their cages as if you were a zoo and little kids dressed in traditional garb handed out grass for your to feed them with. Later that night when we had raw Alpaca with dinner, the guilt began to sink in...

Ruins at Pisco: the largest hike of them all! It took quite some time to wind up the side of the mountain before reaching the temples above. The view was beautiful, especially as we watched a giant rain cloud come in over the mountain peak. Before you knew it we were wet. It was well worth it.

As you can see, we did have some brilliant sunshine for a while too. Mountain weather is unpredictable. It's pouring one minute, sunscreen central five minutes later and then back to the monsoon again.

Ollantaytambo: another set of beautiful ruins. This is the city where we picked up the train to go to Manchu Pichu. A bunch of us actually stopped in an espresso cafe while we had some down time. It was a quality beverage I must admit. We were very impressed and quite invigorated after our long hike.

Just to give you an idea of how classy we all looked in our ponchos. Shelby, Tiffany and yours truly.

Manchu Pichu: Need I say more? This was perhaps the most magical place I have ever seen in my entire life. Picture's certainly do not do it any justice, however I tried my best for you.

You're so high up, you're actually in and above the clouds

Getting to know the Alpaca we followed up the mountain

Peru was an unforgettable experience that broke us out of our previous understanding of how communities change and form. It is unbelievable to be standing on such ancient and traditional Peruvian ruins and yet at the same time recognize the huge Chinese, Spanish and African influence on what is now their "traditional" foods. For a country who's history goes back father than one can fathom, it's amazing how much of the original cultural has survived even during periods of rapid integration. We truly loved the trip, the work we did and the wonderful people we had the chance to meet. Thank you Scholars, and thank you NYU Steinhardt for giving us the opportunity to be thrown into a different world for a few weeks of our lives.

56, rue de Passy. This academic nook tucked away in the shade of an old courtyard in the 16th, is home for the students at NYU Paris in more than one way. The beautiful maison has an air of comfort to it that coaxes students to stay beyond the hours of their normal courses. Often you can see friends sharing a sandwich in what was likely the old dining room downstairs, checking their mailboxes in the front entranceway or congregating around the bistro tables outside. Job postings, cultural events and other news is posted on the walls so that at times one can go days without seeing the paint in certain areas. The small staff and close quarters create an intimate atmosphere in which students develop a comfortable base. Although it certainly is the exact opposite of our metropolis of a campus back in New York, the NYU Paris building is as close to home as it gets for some students.

This monday, the regular class schedule commenced. My day began with Theater Workshop at 14:00. Professor Cecile Cotte leads the Theater Workshop and Acting French courses, both of which come together at the end of the semester for a final performance of "Simone de Beauvoir". Her genuine love of theater radiates whenever she speaks of the stage. Actually, the piece that we're performing was created by Cecile. The play is a montage of Beauvoir's memoirs as well as many love letter written over the course of her life.

The Theater Workshop is held in Salle 6, the largest room in the NYU Paris center. The eight of us who registered to take the course come from all different backgrounds, not all dramatic. From the few morsels of information Cecile was able to divulged about the show, it appears she'll be able to put all of our different talents to use. Percussion, hula-hooping, acting, dancing, singing, piano...no gift will go unused! As I'm sure you could understand, there are mixed feelings of excitement and fear regarding our future stardom. I will certainly keep you updated on the development of our production as the weeks pass.

At 16:00, it was time for Intensive Intermediate French. The spirited Nadine Airut directs this language course as well as another class entitled "French Through Song". Nadine was my grammar professor during the preliminary course. I'm so glad to have her as an instructor for the rest of the semester. She focuses heavily on the practicality of what we learn. The grammar and vocabulary that we study relates directly to our current lives in Paris instead of resting stagnantly on the pages of an outdated textbook. In fact, our vocabulary list is rather makeshift. As we speak about our weekends, our friends, places we've visited and foods we've tried, Nadine writes down the words she feels are imperative for us to remember. A secretary in the class copies down Nadine's notes and the following day we review the list as a whole. It's our responsibility as a class to choose what words we feel will be beneficial and the rest we discard. In my opinion, it's a very democratic process.

Today, Fat Tuesday, we attended French class again. Intensive Intermediate French is named such for a reason. It's intense! My classmates and I must be in language class four times a week for a total of six hours. To be honest, it doesn't seem too tedious having French class that frequently. I suppose it might be a bit too early to make that judgment though.

Let's see, tomorrow is Intensive Intermediate French and European Cinema. More updates to follow...enjoy!