This past week in Paris has been amazing, for lack of a better word. So far, I’ve gone to about half of the touristy things that I’ve intended to visit — Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Sacre-Coeur — and I’ve got a couple to go. Other than that, I’ve been trying to just live a ridiculously good everyday life, with the added fact that it’s here in Paris. Like, how in the world does our hostel have that long and rich of a historical context behind it? And, dang, we could’ve seen the Notre Dame in all its glory if we’d visited just sometime before the tragedy that struck 4 years ago? I’ll get more into that later, but first, I’ll recall some of our work for the project at hand.
First of all, I’ve been happy to start prototyping here, especially since I haven’t actually taken any ENGI courses yet at Rice. Because of this, I think it’s definitely been a challenge to discern what exactly is the best path to a successful product, because coming up with solutions to needs, collaborating with teammates, and revising our design time and time again takes a lot of thought, conversation, and collective effort all at once. Even so, I’m happy that our persistence has kept us more or less on the same page. Our objective in the project is to essentially build a contraption that can slice different types of charcuterie meat, given that the customer is a stroke survivor who can’t use one of their hands. So far, we’re planning on modifying a prebuilt “meat guillotine” with a secured holder and a slice thickness adjuster in order to allow the user to use it by pushing it forward with one hand. I’m looking forward to seeing the project come together; we’ve already identified what to do with each of the materials and products that we’ve purchased today. One thing that I’m especially curious about is how we’re going to implement the mechanical elements of the design.
Outside of the project, I’ve been quite happy with our daily life with the amazing food, comfortable living situation, and walking around everywhere. Especially the bakeries and the creperies and lots of the other food options here. A couple days ago, we went to this Japanese restaurant and I had tsukemen for the first time — and it was nothing short of delicious. A little bit overpriced, but still really good. Before that we had dinner at a really nice Italian place, where I had some pasta for what I believe was the first time on this trip. I made sure to get some lime sorbet and tried some baba Napoletano, a rum-soaked cake, as well. Last night was time for a shawarma sandwich in the Jewish quarter, where we live — Le Marais. Or, just today, we’d gotten some ridiculously cheap Banh mi and drink combos for lunch, just a short walk from the Learning Planet Institute, where we had class. And of course I made sure to get a Vietnamese spring roll, too (one of my favorite dishes of all time). Other than the food, there’s been just so much to take in. The Fete de la Musique, models walking around in time for Fashion Week, Paris Pride… it’s all been so exciting to enjoy the city’s breadth of culture and savor my slice of the city. I honestly can’t wait to experience even more of this life with the upcoming week.