Teacher's Duties at the Mosque of Paris

June 18

Today, Monday, the students in my class turned in their first papers. However, I ended up sick, so the day was gone. Once I felt a little better I still had to finish planning my lecture for tomorrow, so I didn't do anything fun today.


June 19

I lectured today on the European Union's common foreign and security policies and how they relate to human rights. It was my second lecture of the class, but one I knew far less about than my first on human rights NGOs. I think it went less well than the first, but it still felt fairly successful. Lecturing is so much more difficult than running a discussion section, but I still love to do it. I'm once again grateful that I have found that I do love the thing I've chosen to do as a career.

In the afternoon, I set off to find a place to grade papers. I first went to the Jardins des Plantes, which is the equivalent of the botanical gardens, one might say. There are labyrinths and rose gardens, with an evolution museum as well. It was pleasant until a guy joined me on my bench and played mp3s out of his phone while I attempted to read. I bailed out of there and crossed the street to the Mosquee of Paris. While this may seem a strange place to try and work, there's a perfect little cafe attached to it. It's an open air patio enclosed from the street by white walls and perfectly shaded by fig trees. I sat at a little mosaic-topped table while a waiter walked around with little perfect cups of perfect mint tea for a mere 2 euros apiece. It was perfectly brewed at the perfect temperature with the perfect amount of sweetness. I couldn't have found a more wonderful place to work and drink tea than this.

That evening I went out with the students for the first time. We went to a British pub, Frog and Princess, in the Latin Quarter. A program assistant meeting I attended before the trip recommended I go out with the students a lot to keep an eye out for potential problems. I was only doing my duty.