back to school

hii, this week was my first week of school! this year, i'm in my second year of university (L2). i study art history and archaeology in Paris. (i will post some of my personal work soon, as well as some cool stuff i learn and find interesting from my point of view).

i started at 8:30am on monday, but i don't live in Paris, so i had to take the train at 7:30am.. i was soo tired on my way home that i fell asleep. sorry, but all summer i was in bed at like 1:00am sooo.. it's just a habit i have to get rid of.

my first class was about "les grandes questions de l'histoire de l'art". basically, it's historiography. not that fun. but the prof was pretty cool. and i'm so happy because we will only have one graded assignment! it will be a 45-minute oral presentation... HELP. at least, we can prepare it at home beforehand... and i'm not alone in doing it! (normally, i prefer working by myself, but having a friend isn't that bad). a girl asked to work with me and it's actually really cool!

my next lessons were geography and archaeology. normally, i don't really like geography, but this course was pretty interesting. it was more like geopolitics than just map analysis or demography... then i had African archaeology... but i'm a bit disappointed. it's the only course about Africa, and they are mixing too many subjects together at the same time. we will talk about the first civilizations, some contemporary art, and culture?? it's too much for only one semester, and i think it's necessary to take more time or just focus the course on archaeology. it's the only course we have about African art, and it's already goofy. the professor isn't even specialized in Africa... and on top of that, she's a substitute.

anyway, the rest of the week was good. i'm just sooo tireeed. and to stay motivated, i started my journeys with some Earth, Wind & Fire!! add to this, i ate my blueberry cake on my way to school hehe.

all week, my professors scared me with so much work, exams (yes, already), and also new methods, etc., that i forgot i had to buy new things for back to school:

first, i definitely need new joggers (a black pair and a grey pair), a notebook, maybe a bento box and a water bottle, and some candles. for a big part of this, i need to go to Muji.

since this year seems pretty complicated, i really want to romanticize it. i already did it last year, but to SURVIVE, i need more. first, coffee and coffee shops. it is really one of the big parts of my college student life. i just love drinking a good coffee or tea in a beautiful place. listening to good music and the autumn atmosphere help a lot too. it is just so cozy. and to finish, i think i will say Harry Potter. YES. it is very helpful to imagine being at Hogwarts and not at university lol.

and i started dance!! the courses are so cool. i'm so happy to try something new and to continue even if it's complicated.

i want to bring a cool vibe to this school year. i really want to be even more curious, enterprising, and spontaneous!

sorry this article is a bit busy, but i promise i will be more applied next time. i will do some updates even if the rhythm will be rapidly intense i promise! see you soon! .ೃ࿐

                                                                     my mood board :

dance training program

as i said, this year will be very difficult. i started a new dance course and the level is really high. so i have to exercise at home. that is why i do some exercises every day. stretching, improving my flexibility or even strength training.

so if you are looking for a type of ballet workout, here is the youtube channel i will use for this :

⤿ click here!

one of her video :

i will do an update !

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blueberry crumble cake

i wanted to make something that feels like the transition into autumn, but also something easy to eat in the morning before school or on the way there. so here is a little blueberry cake with a crumble topping!

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ingredients :

for the cake

- 2 eggs

- 70g melted butter

- 30g vegetable oil (i used hazelnut oil)

- 120g brown sugar

- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar

- 95g plain yogurt + milk to reach 120g in total

- 5g baking powder

- 180g flour

- a pinch of salt

- a little lemon juice

- a little vanilla extract

- 160g blueberries (i used frozen ones) + you guys can put more bluberries !

for the crumble

- 65g sugar

- 70g flour

- 50g melted butter

recipe :

preheat the oven to 160°C.

mix the eggs, melted butter, oil, brown sugar and vanilla sugar together.
add the yogurt, then add milk until you have 120g in total. mix again.
add the flour little by little while mixing (to avoid any lumps) baking powder and a pinch of salt. 

then add a little lemon juice and vanilla extract. coat the blueberries with a little flour before adding them to the batter. i used frozen blueberries because i wanted them to release some of their juice while baking. butter and flour your cake tin, then pour in the batter. 

for the crumble, mix the sugar, flour and melted butter together until you get a crumbly texture. sprinkle it all over the top of the cake.

bake the cake for about 60 minutes, or a little longer if needed, until it is fully cooked inside.

and that's it! a little autumn cake for slow mornings, early classes and eating something homemade on the way to school..

the negro swan

i still don't know what the category of this article is, because it is at the same time about classical dance (ballet) and also about that always same fact that i'm black.

so it is like a sociological analysis and at the same time just some update about this sport that i have practiced for a long, long time now.

this year i want to follow another dance class, exactly a technical class. it is not my principal class, it is only to improve technique and it is longer. i want to speak about this choice i made because i think it is part of a form of culpability. as the only black girl in my group, i feel like i have to be good, no right to make mistakes or anything. because i'm already the only black girl.

apart from that, i also just chose this class because i need improvement. all the other girls pursue other dance courses like contemporary or character. but the dance school is already far from my home, so it was so complicated for me. now that i'm taking driving lessons, it will be so much easier for me to go there. 

we will practice pointe shoes more and that's great because it's one of my failures.

i know the rhythm will be very complicated with university and work, but i know i can do that (i will cry sometimes haha but as i do every time already, and then it will go). and as i said, i have to..

it is something that i noticed when i was a kid. the first time was with my hair. for the end-of-year show, we need preparation. and when i was, i don't know, maybe 7, i was playing with other girls and we were running all around backstage. but i had the misfortune of meeting an older (white) girl who said "omg your hair! you need to fix it". i was wearing a bun.. and my hair was ok.. but i was a little girl and she just took my head and sprayed a LOT of hairspray. then after the show my mom asked me about my cartoned hair because the result was terrible and she had already done my hair before. that is the first time i noticed.. and it really was not the first and last time.

"Can you still count" - blood orange

now i do my hair alone, never again will someone touch it like that. but for the last gala of the year (always at this time), the same problem repeated. we have to do the same makeup, do you see what happened? so we use the same blush, etc., and it is every time too light for me. but it's normal, why use a colour adapted for me if i'm a minority!?

in the blood orange - charcoal baby lyrics, he asks "Can you break sometimes?". and i definitely break sometimes, but sadly i can't say if i can..

but what i love about this song is that it's not a fatality and even more! we can have our own family beyond the only fact that we are definitely different from some. we don't have to pretend and we can do whatever we want, to break or fail for example in this context. even if society tells us to do the exact opposite.

i also wanted to add some cultural black icons that succeeded in getting past all those prejudices.

Guillaume Diop is a French dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. He has held the rank of danseur étoile since 2023. On March 11, 2023, he was named danseur étoile of the Paris Opera, making him the first Black dancer in the company to achieve this title.

Misty Copeland is an American ballet dancer born on September 10, 1982, in Kansas City, Missouri. Copeland joined the corps de ballet of the American Ballet Theatre in 2001. She was named a soloist in 2007, and subsequently a principal dancer in 2015.

Michaela DePrince, born Mabinty Bangura on January 6, 1995, in Kenema, Sierra Leone, and who sadly passed away on September 10, 2024, was an American ballet dancer of Sierra Leonean origin. In 2011, following her performance at the Youth America Grand Prix, Michaela received a scholarship to study at the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance.

anyways, i think we can all say that this strange impostor feeling is universal for some. the negro swan is not only about ballet.

now i think i need to watch: Flight of the Swan directed by Ngozi Onwurah

i heard so many good things about it and it is just about all we speak about before. so i also invite you to log it on letterboxd!

end of summer

summer is officially over and i think it is the perfect time to start this new adventure (it is not that incredible but i post about myself so it is very big for me lol). yes i don't post that much.. i think any of my instagram followers have seen my face since 2024. anyways this isn't the subject.

my summer was strange. it was my first ever 19's summer and i spent this time at work.. from june to september (yes my last days are only the 9..). but it was an experience i suppose, i mean yes it was the first time of my life i worked. the other big adult thing i did was starting driving lessons. what a thing..

but it is not the most important during those months ! the only time i had, i did all the hobbies possible ! (i mean i try my best).

first, i watched movies !! 17 exactly. it is very little in comparison to last summer but still pretty cool.

xmen !!

i also started a new media form : radio (not completely new, cause i used to listen to it when i was a kid). i was looking for something i could listen to live. i know it is strange but i like the idea of listening to something at the same time as other people. it feels like i'm not alone and i share this session with some people. so i searched for a radio with good songs and interesting content like interviews and other. and i found it : radio nova. it's french and they propose a large catalogue of music, soul, rnb, house, etc. and i just love it.

it was also important to listen to an ethical platform with political opinions in cohesion with mine. they like to make fun of our president and other crazy people.

https://www.nova.fr/

and a part of radio i listened to a lot of music !! some of my most listened songs in august :

 

i took the opportunity to hang out with my friends even if because of my work i didn't have that much time.

and sometimes i was alone, for the cinema or museum. but i like to have time with only myself. it's a precious time, even if i can rapidly go insane alone with my thoughts MDR.

i also traveled for a weekend with my family to Lille, and it was my first time here. it was really cool. we packed for one of the only times i had 2 days with no work.. we also took the time to go hiking.

concerning some of my buys i started a new skincare routine this summer hoping that the effects will be visible for back to school ! moreover, i drank carrot juice and coconut water. i don't know if it will work but we never know.

anyways, my summer wasn't the best of my life but i had good times and i've done so many things actually soo i'm pretty happy. and now september is approaching just like school omg. then, thank you for reading and see you soon !!

introduction :

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my name is not maria lol, it's like my pseudo and it brings some mystery, and I just love this name. I'm 19 years old and i'm french.

I started this blog to force myself to explore new things like expressing and speaking about myself. you will have complete access to my mind and my life.         ☆ ° ✧

I want to deal with at the same time some personal stuff and some pretty serious things like maybe essays (only about what I like, so the importance of that will depend on the perception). at this time, you probably think "what is it about?" and that is a good answer because this blog will be about anything and everything at the same time.

if this looks confusing, just read it.

i promise it's worth reading. ★ *

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(english is not my first language, i want to improve my writing, so my sentences can be a little strange sometimes haha)

the debut..

ok.. it’s a very first test LOL. I just want to understand how the platform works and try to customize my page.