Wednesday, October 7, 2009

the cite U

I know you've all been dying to see- this is where I live: The Cite Universitaire. 

This is the main entrance to the Cite U. Behind the arches you can kind of see the Maison Internationale- that's where the bank, cafe, dining hall, theater, library, etc. are. The Cite U is like an enclosed park with 38 dormitory buildings bordering it, all for students and themed after a country. Ours is pretty ordinary looking, but the Japan building has a porch like a pagoda, Morocco has a beautiful mosaic-ed entry, Mexico has cactus in the lobby and is painted to look like adobe inside, etc. 

the front of the building 

The back faces a huge park with 37 other "Maisons"- other international houses like Japan, Spain, Mexico, Morocco, etc.- bordering it. I'm in the Maison Des Etats Unis, or the United States building. Most of the students here are graduate students, some are with abroad programs, like me, and most are American. There is a rule that at least 20% of the inhabitants need to be foreign, so there is still a little bit of a mix. I'm still trying to figure out what language the girl next to me speaks (the walls aren't very thick). 

My desk, window, and fridge. 

Luckily, my room faces onto the back of the building, to the nice park. Some of the girls in the program face the front, and the noise is horrible at all hours of the night because we're right across from the metro/tram stop and huge road. I'm on the second floor near a huge stairwell, and since we have such high ceilings and stone/marble staircases, you can always hear people coming and going. 

My sink, towel rack, and part of my closet. 
I'd take a picture, but its not as presentable as Mel's 
(see her facebook photos of her closet at her new place in SF.)

my bed 
not made, but I figured I should take a photo before I forget. 
(Plus, I usually leave my bed half-turned because I don't trust sitting on the blankets they give us.)

I'm hoping that it doesnt get too cold here in the winter- although I hear our building is like an icebox. I'm not surprised though, since it was constructed in the 1920s, and it has high ceilings and tile floors. Yikes. 

I'll take some pictures of the other buildings around the campus, and the library downstairs,  and post them later.

2 comments:

Michelle Schraudner said...

Oh my gosh, you're living my dream life! I've been wanting to study in Paris for as long as I can remember, I can't wait to get the chance to do it. Definitely adding your blog to my list of ones to read often!

wilson said...

wow - i wish i went too =(

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