Day 30.

So! There is a lot to that I have yet to tell you about. Today in my jazz class we learned a dance to a cover of "Favorite Things" that Maria (Julie Andrews) sings in The Sound of Music. So I think I will let you know my current favorite things that I have found in Paris. Last weekend we explored Normandy, we saw the battle scenes, paid our respect but the thing we did the most was eat. The very first place we went to for lunch was by far the best. Hands down, everything from the bread to the fish dish to the cider to the DESSERT! I was full and very very happy after that meal. The dessert was by far the best that I have ever had, it was a apple tart with a carmel sauce drizzled on the bottom. It had cinnamon and sugar ice cream to accompany it and a sliver of a fig. Wow. I never wanted to finish it because then I wouldn't have anymore to eat! But I did.

Today I ventured out and took a belly dancing class at the studio. Now, I have never taken one before and I thought it was going to be just like zumba. Nothing like zumba, there are intricate ways to move your hips and belly and this girl was not the best at it. It was hard but I enjoyed the challenge. I might go back on mondays so that I will get better at it!

This week is also our last week of French, bittersweet because I feel like I still am not able to converse with people or even figure out what they are asking me. I have noticed a major improvement but hey I have been here for a month and that is the main language that I hear everyday so of course I am going to learn something. I will not miss waking up early to ride the metro for an hour to get to school or piling in the RER with seventy people over the maximum limit. There is just no personal space at eight am. I will miss my beautiful teacher that speaks the most gorgeous english I have ever heard in my life. The other day we were talking about laundry of all things and boy he said dryer and my heart skipped a beat. I'll get a picture with him on our last day.

Everything is now settling down and getting into a steady flow. But not for long! Spring Break is in two weekends and I am off to Copenhagen! Why there? Well that is a great question and I don't know the answer. Some of the people here suggested it, flights were cheap and hey who else can say that they have been there? Well hope all is well in the states! Keep me updated as well!

Several days in Paris

So nothing extreme and out of the ordinary has really happened. I have fallen into the schedule of everyday life in Paris. Getting up and going to a three hour French class followed by six hours of dance. For some reason when I get back home I am so tired and all I want to do is sleep. Now that I am used to the time difference I have no trouble sleeping, in a way thats good but I just have no energy to write about my days. But they really are not all that interesting, I mean I guess there are different smells that I experience on the metro rides. The mixture is between rotten eggs and pee. Not a very pleasant smell. Then you have the hour long rides from our school to the French school. People traffic happen at all times, some people walk in diagonals and then some of them just stop in the middle of the subway while others run you down when you dont walk fast enough. Gosh the French and their walking, I think every city is like that though in a way. Monday I took two jazz classes and one of them it was the first time I was taking the class. The class was pretty good and I think I'll take it every monday from now on. The class had a set warm-up and because it was my first time taking it I didn't know it the warm-up. The teacher also didn't really explain it much so I was a little lost but when it was time for the combo he slowed down and explained the combo in a way that was perfect. I picked it up and actually loved it. We continued to make the same book in book binding but we were not able to finish it. Then talked about the Venus de Milo in my Louvre class. All in all the week was good so far, just a regular college week but in Paris. Though seeing everyone's status' back home about the weather makes me a little upset, I swear cold weather is following me. It has been in the twenties the whole week and its like fifty in Pittsburgh, not okay. Well we are off to normandy this weekend, early Saturday morning. I will have lots of pictures and stories to tell Sunday when I get back. So until then I will enjoy myself in the city of lights! and cold apparently. Mom, don't tell Grandma.

Day 14

So before I came to Paris I talked to a good friend who informed me that a good choreographer would be in town choreographing a show and that I should message him and see if he is teaching any master classes and when his show starts. So Thursday afternoon I messaged him, introduced myself and asked him what his schedule was going to be like in Paris. He quickly responded saying that he would love to get in touch and show me around Paris, he has been here for the past three months. He then explained that the show he was working on was doing a full dress rehearsal Friday night and that I should go. So I went, I met him at the show along with his assistant Ade, who was on So you think you can dance. They were both very nice and we chatted a bit before it was time for me to take my seat. The show was a little strange mainly because I wasn't really able to follow the story line, it was all in French. The dancing was pretty good though, it just wasn't up to par for a show in America. I could see where he was going with the movement but the dancers were just not performing it well. I kept my comments to myself though because the woman next to me looked like she was having the time of her life, she was loving the whole thing. After the three acts were over I waited for him to give a couple notes and then we were off to dinner. Now I am not good with names of places here so I can honestly say I don't know where we went, but I can say it was on the champs elysees and man was it nice. We were able to sit outside in there lounge area and eat dinner, inside there was a live musician and dancing but we didn't go in because it was a little loud. I got the hot shrimp dish which came with six shrimp cooked two different ways. The first was breaded and in a hot jammy sauce, the second was wrapped in bacon and there was a mustard dipping sauce, it was divine. Tokyo got the calamari and Ade got french fries, he had some of ours. We chatted for a couple hours and then decided to call it a night, we were all pretty tired. The check came and he paid! Ahh Rita, I can not thank you enough, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have had such a great time Friday night. I got a cab right outside the restaurant and went home. On the way home I rode down with the arc de triomphe in front of me and the effiel tower sparkling to my left, such a great way to end the best night in Paris.

How to make a book. Day I don't remember what day it is.

Tuesday night we started binding a Japanese style book. Now last week we did use the scalpel but it was in constant use Tuesday night. I was measuring and cutting and my brain was going a million miles per hour and before I knew it my left pointer finger had some of the exacto knife in it. whoopsies. I quickly removed it and there seemed to be no damage done at all, so I continued to work and cut. Well then a little droplet of red blood came out and as much as I tried to wipe it away with my tissue it kept coming back. So I finally asked for a band-aid. The two teachers who don't understand much English understood band-aid, so the got out their first aid kit and pulled out this huge band-aid about the size of an ace bandage. I was very confused as to what was going on. I just needed something to put on my finger to keep it from bleeding on my book. Well it then became clear that the whole thing was this huge bandage and you just cut off what you needed, it was a genius idea, how come they do not advertise this in the US? She cut off a little piece and put the rest back in the box. She applied some French anti-bacterial and slapped on the bandage and shoot I got back to work. It makes me wonder what other kind of everyday things they have that are either more advanced or less advanced. We should just raid their house one day and find out and then colorable on how we could make life a little bit easier. I think they should refrigerate their eggs and milk and have a freezer connected to their fridge, but I guess thats just me.

The first weekend

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, I have been busy and tired and just had a lot going on! Thats a good thing though, I would much rather that then me be writing to you about the tile that is on my floor because I have nothing to talk about. But boy do I have a lot to share. So I believe I left off Thursday night, so Ill skip the boring French class and Ballet class that I take everyday and I will begin with the fancy dinner that we were provided with. Now I don’t remember the name, but well just say it was a French restaurant. It was gorgeous, had lovely molding everywhere and mirrors and just wow took my breath away. I would provide you with a picture but my camera was dead when I went to turn it on. So sorry, I should have checked it before we left. Anyway we were promptly served with red and white wine once we sat down. I had a sip of both but my taste buds weren't budging, I did not like either one. So I drank water. They then served us appetizers which was a pate, wasn’t that big of a fan but there were some onions that were covered in a jam thing and they were really delicious so I put some on my plate and mashed around the pate to make it look like I ate it. Then it was sea bass time, I love all sorts of sea food but shrimp and sea bass are my absolute favorites. I could hardly wait long enough for them to give everyone their entrees before I dug right in. It was superb and oh the mashed potatoes that accompanied it, hats off to the chef. Well, I didn’t want to get too full, but it was a little hard, because for dessert was my all time favorite creme brulee. I could literally eat it anytime of the day no matter how full I was. They brought out full plate size portions and I was in heaven, the amount of times Paris has put me in heaven shoot if I had a dollar I would be rich! About three-fourths of the way through I had the devil and angel fighting on my shoulders. Finish it, it’s so good and then the you are way too full, if you keep eating you will through up. I took two more bites but I was not able to finish it all. I am having regrets. Ah that dinner was delicious. After we gathered our belongings a couple of us went over to my friend Audrey’s apartment and met her roommate and some of her roommate’s friends from her program. It was good to meet some people besides the thirteen that are in our group. Around eleven we gained enough energy to venture out into the Paris nightlife. I mean they stay awake until five so we needed an extra boost. We went out to a total of three bars that night, dancing to all American songs that you would find on any America top 40. We didn’t really stumble upon many people that spoke English but boy did they try to talk to us. The metro closes at one thirty on the weekend so my friend Julia and I were forced to brave the taxi transportation on the way home. We actually enjoyed it because we were able to see the scenery and it was only ten euros. I fell into bed around four realizing we had a walking tour the next morning at two. 

The next day I got up around ten, got ready and went to see the lovely Notre Dame. We quickly looked around and snapped some pics because we needed to meet our group about four blocks away for our walking tour. We walked all around the sixth and seventh district and saw a lot of old houses, interesting architecture, some very unique boutiques, Victor Hugo’s house, Mozart’s house, a fantastic chocolate store, and many more things. The tour lasted about two hours, a little more, and I was ready for a nap afterwards. I stayed in the rest of the night, going home eating dinner taking a nap, catching up on some TV shows and then grocery shopping around ten at night, finally falling asleep around midnight. I woke up and tried to make the international mass at Notre Dame but I was too caught up on chatting with people that I was forced to wait. I had a sense of what was going on but I didn’t really realize how lost I would be at a French mass. Let’s just say I said the Our Father in English and I received some looks. Sunday was also my friend Audrey’s birthday. After church we went over to her apartment and had celebratory mimosas. We then ventured out to the ferris wheel but alas it was far too expensive for a chilly day like yesterday, so maybe another time. We could see the Eiffel tower so we took the challenge and walked three miles there, my feet hurt before we even arrived. The trek there was well worth it, it was so beautiful and even bigger than I remembered. Gosh, how does one build that or better yet think “lets have this huge tower and you can walk up to the top?” Well I am very grateful of whoever did because man I am very impressed. We stayed there about a half hour farting around and taking pictures. Then we remembered we had to walk three miles back. So we started, stopped to get cheese and bread and wine. Scarfed all of that down and went out for Audrey’s 21 Birthday dinner! It was delicious and fun times were had by all. I am so happy that I have found great friends here and I can’t wait for the rest of the exciting adventures that come next. 

six!

Well today was a lazy one! But much needed, I had two dance classes, jazz and ballet, and that was it! I woke up around noon and it felt wonderful to get that much sleep. Then after the classes I got dinner at the supermarket and went home and ate, found a wonderful website that has american tv shows and movies! So I caught up on Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives. Then I skyped with my mom and dad for a hour! Gah it was so good to see them and talk to them. I love you guys so much. Then I chatted with my grandma and grandpa for a hot second. Can't wait to talk with them more about everything. But I feel like just talking about my days will get boring, in cases like this one when I really didn't do much you might not want to hear about it. So I will tell you something that the French have that we do not. They have toilet closets. You walk in and its just as small or smaller (depending on the size of your closed). The only thing in there is a toilet and a sink and sometimes I wonder how the heck they got that sink in there. They different ways they position the toilet and sinks man its like well you can't get too big or you wont be able to pee. There is one right outside my room but it just has a toilet in it. Luckily I have a sink in my room and I have the corner room so it's nice and big. I had a nice day of from French class but I start again tomorrow at nine! So I am going to get some sleep. Tomorrow brings sea bass and creme brulee! Can't wait :)

Day five :)

Ah what a great day today was. In French class we learned all about family and that made me happy because it got me thinking how grateful I am for my family and how wonderful they are. I had lunch with everyone at the studio space that Wells College has, we are having lunch there every week to make sure that everyone knows where all of their classes are and that they are doing well. Today we had "king cake" which is like what we have on Fat Tuesday and there is a baby baked into it and who ever gets the baby has a year of good luck. Here they do it right after epiphany and its like a little puzzle piece instead of a baby. Well I got the prize! I was so excited and they had a crown for me and everything! Then I took my first dance class in Paris! It was a advance level ballet class with a teacher named Wayne, he is American so it was easier to understand him and when he gave me corrections he spoke in English. The class was the highest level they have to offer there and some of the people in the class were a little below my technique level but the class itself was great, good combinations that were somewhat challenging but they still allowed me to move and get my dance on.

From there I ran back to the dorm and quickly freshened up because it was time for INTRO TO THE LOUVRE!!! I was so excited for this class and no matter what I say or what pictures I post it will be nothing like the real thing. It is just stunning. I mean I got chills from looking at some of the paintings and there were just so many breath taking moments. Anyway the class started and we were instructed to get lost and just look at different kinds of paintings and sculptures. She gave us a half hour. I compared it to the 50lb limit I was given with my luggage. Did she think that was enough time to get lost? I mean once I got somewhere it was already time to go back, so I didn't really get lost but I saw a lot of beautiful artwork. Then we went to the Ancient Greek artifact section. Normally I thought that this really would not be a very interesting part but man was it. She would describe why things were a certain way and gosh I could have stayed in that spot for days looking at everything. Just beautiful. Well that continued for three hours and I was not mad. I was tired when it was over though so I ventured back home and had a lovely meal of mac and cheese. Surprisingly very tasty. I don't have French class or any academics on Thursday so I get to sleep in! I have ballet at two. So I stayed up skyping with some friends and chatting on facebook with others :) It was a very good day, and even though it is supposed to rain the next four days something tells me it is going to be hard to have a bad day. Good night all and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Day four already?!

Well last night I had a wonderful slumber! I think it was the pillow that did it in. I woke up and had my first pan de chocolate! Then went to French class where we starting learning some verbs, basic ones, we also learned random things like how accents effect the way a letter sounds. Then the language school actually had a party because today was the last day of the epiphany! It was the first time that I had every been to an epiphany party but hey I was not going to dis it. Then we went to the Wells studio to have a meeting and eat lunch together. From there we ventured to the dance studio! I was able to get a schedule and plan out when I want to dance. The way it works here is different than taking classes at a college. You have a swipe card and you just swipe it whenever you take class. Then say you want to take a Jazz class for one credit. You must complete twenty hours of dance before the end of the semester. So you can take a whole week off if you want to as long as you complete your allotted amount of hours before the semester is over. I LOVE this idea. There are some days when I don't want to do ballet but then I have those days when I just want to take it all day. I guess you just pick your battles. I didn't take class but I did observe the studio and some of the classes that were going on.

After that was finished I went with my friend Audrey back to her apartment. She is living in an apartment with another girl from her college that is in a different program. She lives in the first district and her apartment is so cute! We hung out and walked around the district seeing the Lourve for the first time, my class in there starts tomorrow!, and other beautiful sights. Lots of pictures are on facebook and more to come tomorrow night im sure. Then I ventured, by myself this time, onto the subway and to my bookbinding class. I LOVE IT! The two women that are teaching it don't really know much english and they are a hoot! It is their first time teaching it, but hey today we made a notebook! In the weeks to come we are making other different kinds of books and even a photo album. I can't wait, it was so much fun and I just had a blast. After class the seven of us went to this amazing pizza cafe and the two women went with us! We stayed there until eleven just talking and eating! I am having the time of my life here and so happy that I am able to tell you all about it! Tomorrow is ballet and Intro to the Lourve and of course French with Francois :) Bon Nuite everyone!

troix

Woke up this morning with a little sleep as you know because I was unable to fall asleep last night, I am only hoping that tonight is a different story, I guess we will find out soon. It was a great day even though I had little sleep. I had my first French lesson with Francois, he only speaks in French so I guess it makes it difficult in the beginning but somewhat easier because that is how you learn fast. The class is three hours long but everyone is fine with it because he is very nice looking and laughs with us when we say something stupid. We learned the alphabet, numbers, general questions and then some random things. I guess there really is no good way to learn a language because there are so many things that you need to cover and when you are constantly speaking the language there are many words that you need to learn even if it is not time to learn them. We played hang man and some other little fun games. So I am actually looking forward to French class, but gotta get that R sound down, along with the E, O, J, and G sounds. Tough right now but I am sure that will change by next week even. 

After that we had lunch at Wells and the professors talked about their courses and introduced them self. I am taking Intro to the Louvre and the professor is great! Sounds like a super fun class and can’t wait for Wednesday night. I am going to shadow the bookbinding class, which is Tuesday nights, and see if I like it. It sounds interesting, learning how to make different types of books from all over the world. After that a group of us went to the phone store and got a pay as you go phone for 15 euros and then I put 15 dollars of minutes on it for emergencies. It makes me feel safe incase I get lost somewhere I put everyone’s number in my phone. Then we got a pillow! Ah I was super excited about this, it is very comfortable but their pillows are a square shape so they are a little different but it is full and fluffy and that is all I care about. Then we went back to the dorm and I finally figured out my WiFi! So now I can skype with everyone! and upload my blog every night! Then we had dinner in the cafe, which is five euros, it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. There are limited choices so I guess it’s not that great in that sense but we had steak, french fries, green beans and lettuce haha there was no salad fixings, just lettuce. I got a coca-cola lite which is diet and the cans are a little smaller here but that was fine because it was just what I needed and it hit the spot. We then explored the main building, found the gym which is just weights, there are no tredmils or anything like that so I won’t be going to there. We tried finding the library but no such luck. We went back to the dorm and hung out a little but I was anxious to get back to my room to see if anyone was on skype that I could chat with. I was able to talk to three good friends! Caitlin, Maddy and Will, they made my day and I was so happy to catch up with them and know that they are available to chat with me. It was good to have some home in my day. Well that’s about it, nothing to exciting, but tomorrow I start dance and maybe bookbinding! So I’ll let you know how that goes tomorrow and maybe some more exciting stories from Francois! Bon Nuite :)

Day two and a half

So I understand that its the second day and my sleep schedule is a little out of wack but I am starting to get nervous that its two in the morning and every time I am close to falling asleep I wake up for some reason. It’s like you feel your self drifting to sleep and then you have a thought so it causes your brain to wake up and for you to not to fall asleep. Back home its eight so hopefully that will tell my body okay you can go to bed now. I just hope that this schedule gets better quickly because I have French class bright and early. I also think it has something to do with the bed and the pillow that I have. As you already know I am in need of a pillow. My current one is lumpy like one that has much of the stuffing out of it. We passed a store that looked like they had pillows today, it was closed when we passed but I will be going back tomorrow and retrieving one. The bed isn’t that bad but because its not what I am used to that might be something that is not allowing me to fall asleep. I am also a light sleeper, even though I can fall asleep to the TV or music when I am napping for a good night sleep I need silence and darkness. We got the whole darkness down but the guy across the hall skyping his friend I have some words for him. Noise carries. No matter where you are in this hallway it sounds like you are right outside my door if you are being a little loud and when you are skyping someone I feel like you tend to be louder because you want to make sure that they are hearing you. We all know that we do it, but at two in the morning its a little excessive. I would put in earplugs but I am afraid that I wouldn’t wake up to my alarm. Oh well. One thought that kept popping into my mind was the weather, I then remembered yay I have rain boots incase it rains, but wait I don’t have a jacket with a hood or an umbrella. Great. Another thing on that list. 

Cellphone is another thing I have added to this list, I wasn’t planning to getting one but everyone said you can get the cheapest one and then the pay as you go plan. It is something that would be good to have for emergencies and incase you needed to get a hold of someone. I feel like all I am doing is spending money, but when else am I going to have a chance like this to explore Europe? Thanks mom and dad for financially supporting me when I am over here, you two gosh what great parents I was blessed with.

Well, gonna try to go to sleep again, I think that guy stopped skyping. 

Day two

The day started out with little sleep. Last night was a Saturday night which I guess is the only night that most people go out, unlike America where many college students go out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night if not more nights. Here its just Saturday night so most of the other students living in this dorm were up until two or three loudly chatting. I would have been right with them if I had not been without sleep for more than twenty-four hours, but they caused me to stay up rather late causing me not to get much sleep. We then met in the lobby for a quick tour around the campus of dorms that we live at. From there we took the subway to the PERL school which is where all French classes are held and we have our first lesson tomorrow (Monday)! From there we walked about ten minutes to this lovely restaurant where we had couscous with some chicken and veggies. Best meal I have had since being here! I have only been here two days now so I guess that is really not saying much. From there we went to the studio that Wells College is housed in. We had a meeting about Academic things and partying and getting mugged and other things like that. After that huge life lesson we ventured to Momontrea which I still have no idea how to spell. It is this beautiful hill that over looks Paris and on it is this church that is gorgeous inside and out. We ventured inside there and over looked Paris for a good hour. Then our guide informed us that she was leaving and we were to get back home ourselves. Well we didn’t even remember which steps we had gone up to get there. So we found some steps and ventured down, some girls were hungry while others just wanted to get a glass of wine or a beer. So we walked around looking for a cafe or a bar but we always found some excuse to look for another once we found one. So after we walked around for about two hours still food and drinkless we decided to just go back and eat closer to the dorm. We found the subway and the people that were homestay went in one direction and we went in the other. We made it back by ourselves! I was so proud haha but I hope that we find the PERL school in the morning. We found this cute french cafe called Rouge Pomme meaning red apple. They had crepes and salads and other good food. I got a popeye crepe that had ham spinach egg and cheese inside, it hit the spot! The other thing that I loved about it was they spoke english and had english menus! Oh my i was spoiled and in heaven. Lets just say I am going to be eating there a lot. When we went back to the room I met some new friends from chicago that were also studying here but had already been here for two months. We talked for a bit and then I was able to chat via facebook with my mom, dad, sister and some of my friends. Was a very good way to end the day. Tomorrow brings new adventures and hopefully wifi! I’ll let you know how it goes. Je’teime and Bon Nuite  :)

un

We’ll start on the plane, its a huge plane, I am in row 40 seat J. Before my friend Shannon and I boarded we were able to find some other students that were in our group. There were about seven of us that were on the group flight. The most exciting part was listening to the man announce everything in French first and then English. It gave me a goal to try to understand most of what he was saying the first time when we came back. When we were waiting we exchanged names and majors and things like that. I honestly do not remember one person’s name or where they are from. I was on my phone until they said to turn it off. That has, for the past 24 hours, been the hardest part. Not being able to text a friend or my momma or even just look at the time. It was then that I realized I am on my own for the next three and a half months or until my mom comes to visit, please come visit! On the flight we had an option of shepards pie or pasta, I had the pasta, it also came with chocolate pudding and some other questionable food and cheese of course! The lovely couple next to me had red wine, I had sprite. Then I watched “The Lion King”, “Bad Teacher”, an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”, “The Big Bang Theory”, and “Friends”. I did not get much sleep on the plane, maybe an hour all together, I am a very picky sleeper. The next thing I know they are feeding us again, a muffin with yogurt is for breakfast and orange juice to drink. Not long after that we were on the ground. The flight over all was good I thought, we then took a bus over to get our baggage. Before we were able to do that we had to go through customs which was a success! I greeted him with a Bonjour!, he stamped my passport and I said Merci! and THAT WAS IT. Let me tell you I was freaking out because I thought it was this extravagant process and they were going to ask me all these questions in French. Not looking forward to it, but went smoothly! We then got our baggage and went to meet Amy Staples who is in charge of the Wells College Study Abroad program and Charlotte who is a French student that speaks English and was helping Amy. We said goodbye to the students who were staying in home stay and went on our way into the city. 

At the Cite University there are about forty different houses or dorms that house International students and local French students that are studying. I am staying in the United States house, thankfully, second floor room 149! There is one kitchen on each floor with a microwave and a refrigerator and a sink. Also on each floor is one shower. For the whole floor there is one shower. One shower for the whole floor and about twenty-five to thirty people on each floor. There are two other toilets besides the one in the shower room, but there is just one shower for each floor. Later we found out that some people have their own bathrooms in their rooms, I was not fortunate to get a room like that. My room is a corner room though, so it is nice and big. I have three windows where most people only have one or two. In every room there is a sink and a medicine cabinet. Also a wardrobe that makes the fifty pounds of clothes that I brought look empty, a desk, a bed complete with sheets and a thin comforter and a night stand. I wouldn’t say its homey but I guess it is better than nothing. After we finished packing three of us were starving so we went on an adventure to find some food. We are not really in a tourist part of the city so the cafes are not really as open to English language as the ones are that are located in the heart of the city. We went into one that we found called Cafe Gallerite, don’t know what that means. We were immediately overwhelmed when we walked in and none of us knew what the waitress was saying. We pointed to a table, she nodded and brought us menus. Well shoot I can’t read French either, I saw the prices and knew this is not what we wanted. She came back and we were just like ehhhh ummmmmm. She mummered the word snack I think and I said oui, so she took my menu and slammed it down on the table. I wanted to get up and leave but she then returned with a smaller menu that had salads and small things like that. I picked the cheapest salad and je vou jraded my way through the ordering process. We managed to get water with no fizz to coffees and three salads. I felt accomplished even though it was clear she was not having us. We ate and asked for the check, it was around thirty pounds and not separated, realizing we didn’t know how to ask for it that way we just paid and would figure out who owed who what later. First one down and like hundreds to go. Then we tried to find a super market so we walked down the street thinking maybe we would run into one. We did run into some friendly people that tried to help but  they did not know how to give directions. We ended up going back to our dorm and asked the guy at the front desk where one was. He gave us the lovely direction of take a left out of the building and walk for seven minutes and then take a left. So how fast does he walk? We took a left and came upon many little shops and cafes and a super market! Nothing like Kroger or Giant Eagle or Whole Foods. It was about the size of maybe the bathroom in Kroger? Very small but we got many groceries and some bathing supplies. The one thing they did not have was a pillow. I went through this huge hassle to bring my own pillow from home because you never know what the pillow is going to be like and I would some good sleep for the next three and a half months. So I brought it and left it on the plane when we arrived in France. I am regretting that so much because as I am writing this my head is on this lumpy pillow with my north face stuffed underneath it for some support. We walked back with our groceries and put them away in the kitchen but we still had about an hour until dinner with the group. I tried figuring out the wifi for my room but it still didn’t work. I have to get my password changed to a non French word. I am able to get on in the computer lab but there is no skype there. There is also no netflix in all of Europe! That was very mind blowing because I never even thought about it. I was planning on watching whatever when I was bored but guess not. We had a meeting about what was going to happen tomorrow during Day 2 and then dinner catered by a local cafe. I then realized I don’t think I like French food so much, I guess I will learn. Dinner was over around eight local time and it was then bed time for this tired girl. I was out before nine but then woke up around one due to people coming in from going out and then stayed up because of the fact that it’s only nine at home and I usually am not in bed now. So I wrote my post and am now going to try and get some more sleep. I love you all, missing you loads but I am sure that part gets easier as the days go on, at least I hope it does. Hopefully I will have wifi and I’ll post pictures when I can. Night! 

The day is here!

Well mother and I are about to head up to Indy so that I can catch a flight to JFK where I will meet up with the group. I feel like all my nerves have gone away, I don't know if it is because I don't care anymore or what but excitement is really the only emotion I am feeling. The first real snow has fallen in Louisville and I am heading to 50 and sunny! Not upset. My checked bag is right at 50 pounds, so cross your fingers that it passes the weight check. I have my other two carry on bags, plus my pillow and two coats. I left my room as though I was coming back tomorrow. Bed made but still enough things in there that it's not empty. There are plenty of things that I would have loved to take, like my electrical kettle, but limit me to fifty pounds and cuts are made. I woke up around 5:30 with that I'm six and about to go to Disney for the first time feeling. That smile that won't go away even though I haven't eaten anything and I am starving! Okay I'll go eat. If I have wifi I'll try and post one last thing on US soil. If not then I'll see everyone in Paris! Hope I make it through customs okay. Much love to mom and dad for letting me go and making it possible. You are the best parents ever and I don't know what I would do with out you! Thanks so much again :)

Seriously, five days?!

There are only five days until I depart this country for three and a half months. There is still so much that I need to do! Most of my friends know that I am the exception when it comes to packing. I love it! I love packing because it means that I am going somewhere. I tend to pack far in advance and then I over pack. I am very prepared for the trip to come. In this case I have yet to start. I know, but listen you put a twenty year old GIRL with restrictions such as; one checked bag under 50 pounds and two carryon bags. For three and a half months and they are not in the same season I might add. We have winter and spring and maybe even summer, I don't know. There are so many things to pack that I don't even know where to begin. Anyway, that is, if you can believe it, kind of the least of my procrastination problems. For some reason that I am unaware of, I might have put off reviewing/learning some what of the beautiful French language. I know, they are a little bit snuedy about that kind of stuff and I am making it a point to spend at least a half hour on my Rosetta Stone. But believe me when I say that I do not know French. I can say hello, goodbye, thank you and please. Thats it. I guess they will just have to deal with it.

Come Saturday I will be posting exciting French stories or just stories and some pictures! My last week in the states begins in twenty minutes and right now I am just trying to take it all in. If there is one thing that I have realized over this break it is that life goes by way to fast. I was talking to mom today about how Michelle and I used to eat breakfast in the kitchen when we were young and we both started tearing up just thinking about it. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family that supports me and only wants the best for me. It truly makes me the happiest person in the world. They give me so much and I will never be able to thank them enough. I wish you could all come with me. I will miss you so much, but with every picture I take and post that I write I won't forget about you. See you April 29th America.