Henri Navarre, or Henri IV, is everywhere in Paris. For those of you who are not obsessive history nerds/did not take AP Euro with Dr. Ryan, Henri Navarre was a Protestant nobleman from the Basque region, or Navarra/Navarre (of ETA fame) who eventually became the most beloved king of France. During the Revolution when the people destroyed the statues on the pont (bridge) of the kings of France, Navarre’s was left untouched.
Henri's wife, La Reine Margot
Henri pragmatically switched religions as needed in order to be king, but stayed true to his Huguenot roots and eventually passed the Edict of Nantes, which ensured religious freedom for all in France.
Flowers laid at the site of Henri's assassination, on the 400th anniversary of his death
Henri’s name is now invoked for civil societies a la the rotary club, and there’s a large statue of him near Pont Neuf. If you have the time, I highly recommend watching La Reine Margot to learn more about Navarre and the St. Batholomew’s Day Massacre of the Huguenots.
Our kitchen. We also have a fridge, so we can cook our own food. I've been making my own breakfast and dinner. My bedroom. Les Citadines is located in the very heart of Paris, within walking distance of the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, la Seine, and Centre Pompidou. The view out my other bedroom window. Our classroom is a three minute walk from our door, and we're amidts a bustle of shops, creperies and street performers. The Salle de Bains! So Western! Yay!Our delicious potluck spread, prepared by Avi and his many sous-chefs.Part of our group at dinner. Look at all that Dialogue love!
After eight hours in Logan and another eight on a plane due to volcanic ash-related re-routing, I’m finally in Paris! Here’s a smattering of photos from our dinnertime stroll.
The view from my Apart'hotel (The Citadines) in 1ere Arrondissement, ParisSaint Michel, near where we ate dinner and a short walk from our place. The Seine at sunset. Notre Dame CatedralMy new fox friend that I made at our restaurant tonight. He was perhaps the most normal aspect of the entire experience.
I’ll be going to France on May 8, and after a week in Paris I’ll go to Benin until June 5.
Benny-what?
Benin. It’s a small country in West Africa. It’s mostly known in history for its sad part in the slave trade as a major departure port. I’ll be spending some time in Cotonou, as well as the capital of Porto-Novo
The Basics
Map courtesy of the UN website
I’m going through Northeastern University and the Dialogue of Civilizations program. Instead of taking summer classes, I’m doing this. I’ll get the normal summer credit for it (8 credits/two classes) and will be graded and such. It’s like what I did in Egypt, except entirely different. 🙂
French is the official language of Benin, so I’ll be taking some lessons while in Paris and practicing my rather dormant French skills while there. Many people also speak Fon, of which I know nothing, and Yoruba, a language that found its way to Cuba (and modern Cubañol) via the slave trade. The country is considered very safe, but is severely lacking when it comes to infrastructure.
For our safety/for the sake of NU’s lawyers, we aren’t allowed to ride on motorbikes and will only be eating from a select few restaurants. I have malaria pills and got my yellow fever vaccine, whose injection site still kinda hurts. Blast, yellow fever, you’ve done it again! I’m waiting with bated breath for my visa to come back (this seems to be a theme with me…) and already scoping out luggage and drawing up packing lists. Here we go again!
Service-Learning
While in Benin, we’ll be meeting up with local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to learn more about the country, such as development, culture and politics. We will each be working with a local NGO for a few weeks, ranging from health care to orphanages to micro-enterprise(!) and lending a hand any way we can. More on this later, since it’s most of the reason I chose this program.
Songhai Center
I’ll be living in the Songhai Center in Cotonou. There are several of these throughout the country, and they are used for training Beninese people about agriculture and such. It’s also thoroughly Green with a capital G, with each part of the center helping to fuel another. Which brings up another point: I’ll be taking chilly rain barrel showers for most of the summer. Basically, I’m going to refer you to the video contained in the link below, courtesy of BoingBoingTV, because it does a far better job of explaining than me.
Away She Goes 