Everywhere I Fro, People Wanna Know...: "This Cheese is definitely dog approved"

So today started gloriously as Christel and I slept in until about 8:45 (although my alarm probably went off every 10 minutes). We inadvertedly matched our outfits, not realizing we had each laid out our clothes the night before. But we both looked super cute, so it was fine.

Christel et moi!! evidamment colocataires

We took a quick detour to the Maison Internationale to take out some money, and then headed to ISEP. We actually got there right on time despite thinking we were going to be a bit late. Also there was a fire alarm going off. Or at least, I think so. We've noted that all of the french sirens and alarms are pretty mellow compared to the American ones. Like, when an american ambulance rolls down the street, its siren is basically telling you to move the eff out the way, ya know? But the french one, is like 'idk maybe move i'm trying to get through but I could totally try another route if its too uncomfortable for you.'

Anyway, today we learned about Cancer and how it is viewed in France. France has pretty similar statistics to the States in terms of the cancers with the most incidence (Prostate and Breast for men and women respectively), and some variation in the cancers with the highest mortalities. Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in France. We talked in general about the prevention of cancer, and measures that needed to be in place in order to reduce the mortality rate. These included sedentary lifestyles, dietary factors, obesity, infections, environmental pollution factors, radiation, carcinogens like asbestos. The two factors I found most interesting were the consumption of alcohol and smoking. With the alcohol, it is understandable to see why it might be strange to approach the problem, given the country's tradition of wine. Smoking is still very very common in France, and it is not just with the older generations. People have found that increasing the taxes on cigarettes has been an effective way to reduce smoking (aint nobody wanna pay for dat), but as our friend (I cannot for the life of me remember his name) at Hopital St. Louis told us, there is always a parallel or underground market that sells contraband cigarettes at a reduced price, and other reasons why it hasn't really been as effective. In my mind, I can't help but wonder whether some sort of early intervention/patient education program, starting at an early pediatric level would work to indoctrinate the dangers of smoking and cancer into young french minds.

We then took the bus to the metro and got off at Goncourt to get to the hopital St. Louis. St. Louis started out as an annex of Hotel Dieu to stop the spread of the plaque back in the jour, and was named after an old french king, St. Louis, who I believed died of the plague at Carthage again, loads and loads of years ago. There we met with Pascale, a fast talking french woman who gave us a bit of the history of hopital St. Louis, and the doctor friend who worked with Canceropole Ile-de-France. He basically explained Canceropole Ile-de-France's mission, elaborating on prevention, early detection, and treatment efforts that Canceropole feels are necessary. We then took a tour of the labs in one part of the hospital, and then went to the hospital museum, where we saw castings of a plethora of dermatological findings. Its just as well we were allowed to take pictures, because some of the things, even as moulds, were hard to stomach. The sadder part was that these were based on real people who probably suffered social and psychological issues along with the dermatological ones. trop triste.

Hotel de Ville, which we walked by on the way to the broken metro

un petit selfie a la miley

The Canal!

After the visite, Nancy and Laurence invited some of us to have some jambon and fromage sandwiches. Since I'd had a variation of one every day that I've been in Paris so far (and I really have no intention of stopping) and I was absolutely starving, I couldn't say no. I tried to order a glass of white wine ('un verre de vin blanc') and ended up with this

Turns out he must have heard 'menthe-a-l'eau' haha. But thank Dieu that he did, because this drink was dank as anything. Suh Good. After chatting with some classmates and Nancy and Laurence, I ventured home to Cite U to unwind a bit and maybe go grocery shopping (Because I was on a mission to get my own green mint syrup so I can make menthe a l'eau's at home). Of course the grocery shopping didnt happen, but I was able to rifle through my stuff and finally put it away properly. Then Sara, another girl from the MICEFA program suggested we go on a little picnic on the lawn in front of the Louvre around 8. I hadn't ventured out to the Louvre yet, so I was totally d to pick up some baguettes and head over. I eventually found them and we settled in a sunny spot on the beautiful grass. Seriously, France's grass game is fantastic, and all countries need to step up their game.

I'm going to have to find something green to eat eventually. But this was not the night

Rachel, Daniel, Sara and I ended up talking and eating for a solid twoish hours. The funniest moment occurred when I went to grab some more cheese to spread on my cracker. All of a sudden two dogs come barreling towards me, and my entire life flashes before my eyes (these are dogs that can fit in handbags, mind you). All of a sudden the dog, not spelling anything else, goes straight for the cheese, and stuffs the whole thing in its mouth. Its owner apologized to us profusely, but we all couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Daniel had just been telling us about all of the things and places that had been recommended to him about Paris, and this cheese had been one of those items. Needless to say, the dog agreed haha.

Daniel and I then ended up walking to Chatelet, the biggest metro stop probably on earth, and getting lost for about 2 minutes. Eventually we made our way back to our respective homes. Its been 3 days and I am pretty obsessed with this place. But I'm also kind of obsessed with the capacity in which I'm here. There is such an interesting and rich medical history (and present) in France, and I feel hashtag blessed to be able to learn about it all while profiter-ing de la vie Parisienne :)