Time check

I'm afraid I don't have much to talk about this week other than midterms, which have been occupying my every waking moment since I got back from Geneva. This week, I have about a zillion things to do -- by the time you're reading this column, I will hopefully have turned in one of two massive papers and made some significant progress on a presentation I am giving, as well as have attended a meeting with a tutor about my second paper. It's a shame that I'll be inside so much this week, since for the first time all semester, there is no rain in the forecast. Truly a spring miracle! If only I had more opportunity to enjoy it.

Actually, I did go to a local park last week to try to work and enjoy the sun at the same time. This was a great idea in theory, but not so much in practice, as Parisian parks tend to fill up with families when it's warm, their adorable children and dogs running roughshod over the freshly sprouted grass. It's wonderful to hang out with friends (and maybe a bottle of wine -- we are in France, after all) on a grassy hill like that, but getting any work done is unfortunately difficult. Suffice it to say that I haven't been very productive there.

In fact, that's a problem I've been having lately -- I've been here for three months, and I still haven't found a decent study spot. I prefer not to work in my room, as I find I get easily distracted with no one there to hold me accountable. Normally, I'd head to a cafe, but Parisian cafes are much less geared toward over-caffeinated students and much more toward elderly, be-hatted and bespectacled men and women sharing espresso and discussing the news. The library, too, is out; I still haven't figured out how to log into the wifi, and anyway, it closes at 8:00 p.m. I'm even kind of missing the reading room's late-night study hours (now that's something I never thought I'd hear myself say).

The good news is that I recently found a nice spot for studying during the day, so that's half my problem solved. Not too far from my apartment, there are two museums overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. They are connected by an outdoor terrace, technically belonging to a cafe but practically open to anyone who wants to sit and can find a table. The cafe itself is quite good, serving your typical French fare of quiches, salads and various tarts, as well as the all-important tiny glasses of espresso. It's a lovely spot, but again, it only works during the day -- the absence of electric lighting at night makes studying a bit more difficult.

But after this week is over, I won't really have this struggle anymore. Next week is the beginning of our April break, and I'm traveling (to Brussels, then Berlin, Prague and Salzburg). After that, there are only a few short weeks left before my semester in Paris is over, and I'll be on my way home before I know it. Now, two whole months before my flight home, I feel like I have all the time in the world, but I also know that time will pass faster than I think. I need to see and do so many more things before I come home -- can you believe I still haven't gone up the Eiffel Tower or visited Versailles? I don't want to leave anything out, but at the same time, I know it's impossible to take advantage of everything this city has to offer, especially given my limited time frame.

That can wait until this week is over, though. For now, I still have papers and exams to worry about. It's still called study abroad, after all.