Un Gros Grève.... Encore

The government decided yesterday morning that they will NOT negotiate with the train and metro unions about the retirement age... donc, il y aura un grève qui commencera à 20h le 13 novembre. This time, the strike is indefinite... meaning it will last as long as it can last. I have an exam in French class on the 14th! ...my best option right now is to WALK for two hours to get to class =(. my professor decided this date knowing that we will have the strike. he said, well if we canceled things every time we had a strike in France, we'd get nothing done.. plus, it'll be a nice morning walk in cold gray Paris =D (i wish you could've heard his sarcasm.)

My other professor said that the trains and metro forces hope to be so strong that they can make the strike last from the 13th until the 20th, the day when the entire public sector goes on strike....

oh la la.

I have a feeling that I will be experiencing something quite extraordinary in the coming couple of weeks... i just HOPE it will only last a couple of weeks. =\

So here's a quick low-down:

The trains and metro unions are striking because the government wants to raise their age of retirement. Of course, they don't want that. Also, Sarkozy (he was at the White House yesterday actually, eating with Bush) made a new law in the summer that forbids the metro strikes to completely shut down the city... so starting from January 2008, if they ever go on strike, they must be running at least 30% of the trains.. He's trying to make them less strong. And so.. since this will be the last time they can have a full blown strike, I'm quite sure they'll show Paris how strong they can be.

The public sector (teachers, nurses, post office, telephone company, etc) are striking because Sarkozy wants to cut down the deficit by replacing only 1 out of every 2 civil servants who retire... that's cutting the sector by HALF... so they're upset, naturally (but most of them are useless anyways). This reminds me, I'm going to send the rest of my postcards by tomorrow! Otherwise, mail will definitely get lost---not even just put on hold... but completely lost.

Just last week, the fishermen went on strike because the soaring oil prices make it impossible to make enough money to pay for fuel and the boats and still earn a living. Actually, they got what they wanted... Sarkozy is using government money to help them pay for fuel and they will be taxed less for their employees.

Now, the agriculture sector wants to strike too (and I am sure they will set a date soon)... because they have to pay for oil too. And they want a break as well.

Some university students are striking (the really left wing ones) because the government wants to give universities more autonomy--which I think is a good thing. This is a really really small reform though compared to the rest.

Lawyers were on strike today... because one of the ministries (i forget the exact name) wants to close down the small courts like in the rural areas of France. Both privately employed and public ones are striking.

c'est très incroyable... sigh. i want to see what 20th will be like.

Mais, c'est normal... it's a new government, the people want changes, want new reforms, the economy is not doing so great and if they don't keep it at a certain level, France can be kicked out of the European Union... and Sarkozy made all these promises in his campaign.

Normally, the president will try to propose a lot of reforms in July and August... (heh, everyone's on vacation for the month of August)... and then Sept, Oct, Nov, when everyone comes back... the people go on strike. =)

I will be sure to update you on my two hour walks to class.... two hour walks back home... next week.

OH! and we're supposed to be going to Geneva, Switzerland on the 17th until the 20th... We're supposed to be coming BACK to Paris on a train on the 20th..... hah, we'll see how it all goes.... on verra... on verra.

on a side note... but not off-topic. Writer's are striking in Manhattan (more of books and magazines) and Los Angeles (more screenwriters). They want a bigger percentage of their sales. I think especially for writers of TV shows because a lot of the episodes are streamed online and the sales of their DVDs are low. A lot of talk shows were taken off air, as well as 24 and Lost. Heroes, in its second season (REALLY GOOD).... is going to stop their second season on the 11th episode (currently just finished 7th episode).

I agree that they deserve their money and credit for their work. but there are also lots of other people who could definitely be paid better...like teachers. i guess if they went on strike, it might not be as effective(?)

Barcelona

I spent last week in Barcelona... I loved the city! I visited the infamous Sagrada Familia designed by Antonio Gaudi. It's still being constructed so when you walk inside the cathedral, you see construction workers and huge cranes--something not expected. There's supposed to be four facades but only two of them are complete right now. I got to see the Passion facade and the Nativity facade.

Passion facade -- was actually finished by another architect, so the style is a bit different than Gaudi. Gaudi died in an accident before he completely finished his plans, so no one really knows what the finished cathedral is supposed to look like exactly, only approximately. The statues are very different than the gothic style that i've been used to in Paris.
Here, you see the rooster (crowing) on the bottom left, and Peter on the right.
And this one, Satan (with the serpent tail) is tempting Jesus. And on the left, the rows of numbers will add up to 33 (the age of Jesus when he died) in anyway combination. Below are some of the combinations.... supposedly there's 310 combos. (I think that's so cool!)
On the Nativity facade, it's Gaudi.
So on each side (facade), there's four bell towers. When the cathedral is complete, there'll be sixteen bell towers plus one tallest in the middle.
On the inside of the cathedral. Nothing in the cathedral is straight because Gaudi liked to mimick nature. So you see the columns near the top branches (like tree trunks). His staircases are mostly spiral mimicking seashells... like this:
And his crosses are 3 dimensional. He says that the traditional crosses, if looked at from the front will look like a flat cross, but when looked at from the side will only look like a line. So 3 dimensional crosses will look like a cross from any angle, any side, any altitude. Thus his crosses look like this:
I walked up and down La Rambla (most famous street in the city) that leads to Placa Catalunya (the center of town that connects all major streets of the city) a few times during my stay. There's lots of the same stands you find in Paris that sells papers, postcards, books, etc. Instead of saying "Relay!", they say "Hola!" =D
Yea so behind me is La Rambla and a stand. I had really good foood in Barcelona.... went to Les Quinze Nitz, Origens 99.9%, Meson David, Colors, Restaurant Elche, and Trobador. I also had the BEST hot chocolate with Amy. It was soooo thick! you had to "drink" it with a spoon. Also had really gooooood gelato.
most amazing duck ever! it was made in a tangy sauce from oranges.
mmm... amy's rabit, you can see it's head! the dish was "1/4 of rabbit" and amy was thinking... i wonder which 1/4 it'll be...
baked apple dessert stuffed with nuts.... suuuuper warm and yummy
dinner at Alejandra's house.

hmmm so my visit to Barcelona was mostly Gaudi designs (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo), Montjuic, Tibidabo, La Rambla, Diagonal + Passeig de Gracia, Placa Catalunya, and FOOD. Today was only pictures from Sagrada Familia and Food. I'll add more tomorrow.