1. You can't check out books. Apparently some of the documents and books are really old and they don't want you to ever take anything out of the library. Some libraries do let you check out certain books for very short periods of time (less than 3 weeks), but you have to pay a membership or be enrolled in the institution that supports that specific library. And since the public libraries are extremely well stocked, the alternative libraries often do not have such depth.
2. When you leave the library, you have to tell them how long you'll be gone. 20 minutes? 1 hour? permanently? Apparently you only get one 1 hour break per day, after that, you have to permanently exit the library. Scary, huh?
3. You can't search for the books yourself. You have to tell the librarian, via computers in the library, what book you want. Then you wait 20 minutes, walk up to the counter where the books are waiting for you, and bring them to where ever you can sit. When you're done with the books, you have to bring them to a different counter.
4. They open at 10 am. Seriously? What if I want to work at night? Or in the morning?
I feel like I've been spoiled with the Honnald-Mudd library. I will try out this library and hope for the best, but this is one of the first things that I haven't liked about "the French way of doing things."
After getting my library card, swinging into French class for some more Jaques Brel and fun times with Mme. R-G, and a delicious (though expensive) 3 fromages sandwich, I got to hear a presentation on 2 of the courses that really interested me. I absolutely loved the second professor, who's course ("La France multiculturelle") will cover not only franco-africain and franco-arabe cultures (which the French typically concentrate on), but other multicultural communities in Paris (such as the franco-chinois and franco-portugeuse communities). He was so enthusiastic and seems to be very passionate about this subject.
After listening to his presentation, I went down the rue saint michel to Gibert Joseph to pick up some books for the lit. class that I'm going to take this semester. The class focuses on 2 "grands romans": La peau de chargrin (Balzac) and Madame Bovary (Flaubert). I snagged used copies of both for 2,40 EUR a piece and realized this was probably the least amount of money I've ever spent on the reading materials for a French class. In the US, the import fees jack the books up to 14 bucks a piece (at minimum). Here, a new copy of a classic is about 5 EUR (7.50 USD) and the used ones run under 3 EUR a pop.
I finished my day with a trip to CROUS, where I got a pizza, salad, watermelon, and an overly full belly for 2,90. I met a Taiwanese boy who was studying French and Photography at the universities here and we talked briefly (in French) about learning French as a second language.My walk home was as beautiful as ever. The Seine is a beast of beauty, Hotel de Ville glows like nothing else, and the smell of nutella crepes fills the air.
Total Damages:
3 Fromages sandwich: 3,90 EUR
2 books for class: 3,80 EUR
dinner at CROUS: 2,90 EUR
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