Flash

Using the flash with a camera can be really difficult. It's good for a lot of things - taking pictures at night, getting rid of ugly shadows in the day time, creating interesting effects...but some people (like myself) really don't like flash. Personally, i find that when used like most people use flash (like i use flash) it creates this bleached, non-even, and strange effect. I don't care for it personally. My father (hey dad!) is infinitely more skilled at using a flash than i am. Right up there with learning about lenses, flash is on my list to learn all about.

Flash tends to take away the secrets, take away the shadows from a picture (usually portraits). When you look at a person, they have all these contours, and different light hits them different ways, and that creates these really interesting and beautiful shadows. More often than not, flash takes these shadows away. really makes everything just look like what it is.

*flash*
wake up, it's pitch black in my room, but my alarm is going off. take off the covers, shiver a little, open the shutters. it's cold outside today, and it's still dark at 7:00 AM. close the window, grab my bath stuff (shampoo etc) and take a shower, turning off the water when i'm not rinsing out my hair or washing. 10 minutes later, i'm out of the "salle de bain" and getting dressed.

*flash*
i either walk or hop on the bus to school, depending on how much i have to carry. the bus usually only knocks off 15 minutes of travel, and i want to walk usually to try and loose a little weight since everyone here seems to be stick thin with no butt or chest. talk to andrew for 15 minutes on my way there.

*flash*
in class, depending on the day i either have 1, 2, or 3 to get through. I like painting, but the other classes, especially french culture, are difficult for me to get through. I don't understand what i've read, and analysis without reviewing what the reading was about doesn't help much since everything's in french. maybe i should make a study group for that class, as well as grammar.

*flash*
buy lunch. yummy sandwhich. trying to get out of the habit of buying something sweet for dessert. why does france have so many patisseries? (pastry shops)

*flash*
I take the bus or walk home. do a little HW. wait until 7 to eat, and after that do a little more HW if i have any. watch TV with marie-claire. go to bed around 10:30.

shadows...what's been taken away here? the nuances of the french language? the difficulty of wanting to say "i'm really excited about this" but not being able to because there's not really a word for "excited" in french that doesn't have a sexual connotation? spending lots and lots of money gathering supplies, looking for travel opportunities? I don't really know.

going to services again tonight...it's really strange here. there are only orthodox synagoges. everyone, regardless of intensity of religion, goes to these services. last night was shockingly non-inclusive, but the jared's (a friends) host family was really sweet. I enjoyed spending time with them. I'm one of 3 jewish kids in the program, jared and zac are the other two. tonight is more services and then dinner at jared's parents house...the only jewish host family. I'm looking forward to it. Jared has a mother, father, 2 host sisters close to my age, and a younger host sister who's adorable. His host father is really funny and a friendly guy, the host mother is just wonderfully sweet and understanding, and the sisters are really friendly.

Last night at temple was hard...i miss b'nai israel and not really knowing anyone at shul. even though all temples are supposed to be for all jews, i felt excluded from the community because i didn't know anyone there really. it was such a releif when i saw jared and zac because hey, at least i knew some one to say "shana tova" to. it's nice to reconnect, even briefly, with all the old hebrew school crowd. I guess i never realized exactly how much a congregation is like a family.

the security at this shul is RIDICULOUS almost. i had to answer questions about where i was from, who i was with, what i was doing, have my tiny purse searched, and once i entered, i couldn't leave the building. i guess in the US there hasn't really been issues with things like that...I was shocked at the level of security. happy it was there i guess, but not really sure why. i mean, i know why, but not really.

in funny news...there's a musical here. "Rabbi Jacob" my host mother tells me it's hilarious!