Natasha Boulé is a senior in the Huntsman Program hailing from Paris, France. Her parents sent her to Penn so she could soak up the American culture for four years, hoping she might get exposed to new ways of life. As a freshman, she thrived in the program, enjoyed living in her single in the quad and even branched out a little by rushing. After joining Kappa Alpha Theta, however, she only befriended about 50 percent of the sorority, though it is unclear why only half appealed to her. From sophomore year to senior year, she spent most of her time in Huntsman, Castle/Owls/Zete or hanging out in her room in Domus. It was not until senior year, when she accidentally waved to someone on Locust (who was evidently not her friend Isa), that she met a real live human American. Street caught up with Natasha to find out more about her experience.


Street: So Natasha, can you tell us a little bit more about meeting an American for the first time.

Natasha Boulé: Yes, of course. It was not as frightening as I had heard it was back at home. My friends from Paris have met American students going abroad in some of the clubs in Paris, and the image they painted for me was not pretty. I was shocked by how 'normal' this American girl was.

Street: Did you interact with her at all?

NB: I was scared of the language barrier at first. It’s not that my English isn’t good, I was just more worried that her English would be too nasal, but I could understand her perfectly.

Street: Can you tell us a little bit about her?

NB: Sure. She is very nice. She is from New York City, which I respect, because it’s sort of like dirtier, trashier Paris.

Street: Would you ever be interested in meeting a non–New Yorker?

NB: [laughs] Nice trick question! You can’t fool me. I know that only animals occupy the rest of the states. America is weird.

Street: Yes. How is it that you are a senior and you have never met an American at Penn before?

NB: You know, I wonder the same thing every day. I guess I always knew they existed at Penn, but it seemed so foreign to me.


After the interview, Natasha proceeded to take out a cigarette and light it in the Street office. She kindly invited us to accompany her to Dolphin Tavern later.