So, I owe you all an apology

So for those of you who have been reading my blog I owe a HUGE apology!! So I wanted to be posting blog entries a lot more than I have been and keep you more up to date on life here in Paris so it wouldn't be weeks until I was posting again.  I didn't want to be one of those people that studies abroad and says that they will keep a blog and only write a few entries.  I have been trying to post entries but my internet at my foyer is so unreliable and I am only at the Central office when I have orientation so I don't have much time to write.  However, the reason for my lack of blog entries and pictures is because the internet at my foyer rarely works and when it does and I decide to post a blog entry the internet then decides to stop working and I then can't post it or do anything on the internet.  Please be patient with me,  I really do want to share with you all what I have been up to and my adventures thus far but I can't change the internet in my foyer sadly. Hopefully when I go home today after orientation it will work and I will be able to update you on everything that has happened since the 11th! Thanks again for being understanding!

La Vie Parisienne

Well I made it to Paris on Wednesday and life has been super hectic since I step foot into the city.  Françoise and Manu drove me to Paris on Wednesday and dropped me off at my foyer.  I was so thankful that I had them there to drop me off.  My foyer is a co-ed foyer and I have to cook all my food because no meals are provided.  I was super bummed when I found out that my foyer does not provide food because now that means I have to go grocery shopping and everything is expensive around here.  My foyer does have wifi but it is the worst internet connection I have ever experienced!  That is something I do not like at all.  However, it does keep me from being on my computer all day which is good because I need to go out and explore the city.  Here is a recap of my week thus far:

Wednesday, September 7th:
Got up and got ready to head to Paris with Françoise and Manu.  I had to say goodbye to Gilberte and we dropped off Calline and Gilberte's place.  We then drove into the city and the traffic was horrible!  The mopeds and motorcycles just zoom right between the cars, it is a little frightening witnessing all this!  On the way there I was so nervous, my stomach was full of butterflies.  Living in the city is a lot different than living in the country with my cousins!  I met Lily, the other girl from the Central Study Abroad program in my foyer, she seems really nice and lives on the floor above me. Françoise and Manu had to say goodbye but I know that I will be seeing them again throughout the year because I can easily take a train.  I got a tour of the foyer and then got to go to my room and arrange my stuff.  I do have a roommate but at this point I had not met her yet, however all of her stuff was set up on one side of the room.  I then moved around my furniture and started unpacking and making this my home.  Once I was done I went to Lily's room and hung out with her for a while before we took the métro to our meeting at Shelley's office.  When we got there we ran into some other students from our program and we couldn't find the building!  I even asked a lady in French where it was and while she was helping us out pops Shelley from a building!  We had our meeting and then Lily and I were going to meet up the rest of the group at le Jardin de Luxembourg because it is right down the street from Shelley's office and it was closed when we got there!  We then couldn't find them so we just walked around before heading back to the foyer.

Thursday, September 8th:
We had another meeting at Shelley's office and that is when we got our French bank accounts and cell phones!  So that is good that I now have those to necessary items!  We then took the bus to l'Ecole des Etoiles for our written and oral placement exam.  We took the written part first and I did not think it was that hard.  I know I had some mistakes but I recognized everything on there.  I then had to go and take my oral exam.  That was rather easy and the lady that was assessing my speaking/listening abilities said that I speak French rather well and have very good comprehension.  She said that I am already at a rather high level.  That was a major confidence booster and made my day!  Eventually Lily and I went home and we had dinner at a crêperie which is right around the corner, I had a crêpe with an egg and ham in it. It was very good!  We then went to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up and meet up with other students from our program.  It was fun and pretty.  That is until my stomach started hurting!  I had gotten sick and had to take the métro all the way home which was a 30min ride with changing lines and everything!  It was horrible!  I will spare you the details but it wasn't fun being sick!  The internet did work briefly so that I could facetime with my mom but then it didn't work so I went to bed.

Friday, September 9th:
Had class this morning and it went quite well!  I am in the advanced class with some other Central students and a bunch of international people.  There are people from Mexico, Spain, Canada, Poland, China, Japan, Italy and other places!  It is really neat!  The professor is super nice and the class seemed to go by quickly even though it is from 10am to 1pm and we get a 5min break in the middle.  We already have homework, of course!  Then the whole group went to a falafel place but I didn't want to push things since I was sick the night before so I just ate my PB&J.  Lily and I then headed back to the Central office for a meeting and decided to walk some of the way instead of being on the métro all the time so that we could see some of the city.  It was fun just walking around and seeing stuff like the Seine and the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame.  We made it to our meeting and 2 people from the U.S. Emabassy came to talk to us about safety and the U.S. Embassay in Paris.  It was nice and very informative.  Lily and I then headed back to our foyer because I thought we would have time before the concert at La Sainte Chapelle that our program was attending (but man was I wrong!).  But when we were at our foyer I met my roomie, Perrine, she is French but studied in the States for 4 years and earned her bachelor's so she also speaks perfect English with a perfect American accent.  However, when we talk it is in French.  We had to be at Sainte Chapelle at the very latest 7pm.  Lily and I were running late and we ran the entire way there when we took the métro. I was praying the whole way that we would make it on time because once they closed the doors that was it!  Thankfully, we got there just in time and they let us in.  It was a beautiful location for a concert!  Afterwards, I hung out with people from the group in the area and had a yummy crêpe au jambon for dinner!  I eventually found Lily who went off elsewhere with some other people from the program and we took the métro home together.

Saturday, September 10th:
Well I got up kind of late and just hung out around the foyer in the morning.  Then Lily and I did some much needed shopping.  There is a whole road that has shops along it and a Monoprix (kinda like a Target with grocery store).  I picked up some stuff.  We then went to Montmartre.  It is not that far from where I live.  We visited the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur.  It was really pretty but Sacre Coeur was crowded with tourists!  I finally went inside Sacre Coeur (I have visited it several times before but never went inside) but couldn't take any pictures since it is not allowed.  It is a beautiful church.  We then just walked around and ran across a little park that a lot of the locals go to with their children.  It was so cute seeing all the kids running around and just having fun!  That is something I miss from home, getting to interact with little kids!  We did some more walking and picture taking and then headed home for dinner.  I stayed at the foyer last night and tried skyping with my family but it didn't really work so my mom just called my cell phone.  It was so great to talk to my family back home because I have been feeling super homesick and alone lately.  I guess I am going through culture shock.  I am slowly adjusting to life here.  Most people in the group right now are loving Paris and I am at the moment not completely in love with Paris.  I feel very much like a tourist and just want to fit in with the Parisians.  But maybe it is because I have been in France a little bit longer than everyone else in the group so my culture shock is starting before theirs.  When I go and see the monuments I think wow that is cool but I have already seen it.  I don't know, I am just kinda in this weird funk. I know it will get better as the year goes on. Hopefully I will become friends with people in my foyer and won't feel so out of place anymore. 

Sunday, September 11th:
Today I got up and got ready.  I then went to the bakery right around the corner by myself and got a baguette.  When I was walking back to my foyer I felt very French because I was walking down the street with a baguette in hand and I didn't have a map in the other like a tourist.  I ate some bread and jelly for breakfast and then went to the lounge to work on my homework.  I am not completely done with it but will finish it later today (I just wanted to take this opportunity since the internet is working at the moment to post an entry since I haven't in a while). It was raining earlier but for now it has stopped. I think once I am done with my homework I will walk over to a nice park that is not too far away and explore.  Hopefully that will help with my homesickness and getting out and exploring should help me with my culture shock.

Too much bread?

In France we eat bread for breakfast, we have it with lunch, and we have it with dinner.  One could say that we eat a lot of bread in France!  But I don't mind one bit because their baguettes are so good!  It has been one week since I left for France!  It is crazy how quickly my week in the countryside has gone!  I was so nervous before I left for France but now looking back it was kinda silly for me to be so nervous.  I made it here just fine and have been enjoying France just like all my previous experiences.  However, I do understand why I was nervous because I will be away from my family for an entire year and I had never traveled alone before.  Before I got here I thought I would just be sitting around the house most of the time with not much to do but man was I wrong!  It has been go, go, go, a majority of the time!  We have been busy with shopping, visiting people and eating!  I am excited to go to Paris and I know that I can take the train out to my cousin's house in the countryside to visit for a weekend and get some free food!  I will be having to provide my own meals while living in my foyer in Paris.  We will see how that one goes!  The other day I emailed the program director the classes that I would like to take this semester and hopefully I will get to take them.  If I do I will only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!  That would mean 4 day weekends!! I would not mind that one bit!  The days that I have classes will be filled from beginning to end but we will see if I get into these classes or not.  Tonight is my last night at the cousins, we will drive to Paris tomorrow morning so I can get there with lots of time to unpack since my foyer will be my home for the next year.  Hopefully all will go well and I will have a nice roommate and nice neighbors in my foyer!

Le Premier Weekend

My first weekend in France has been very busy! For starters, on Friday I went to Troyes with Françoise and two of her friends and her one friend's daughter, Manon, to go shopping.  It was a lot of fun to walk around Troyes and go into a lot of the little shops. The shopping in France is not like what it is in the States.  Unlike in the States where there are shopping malls and lots of big box stores in France there are little boutiques. We had a lot of fun just exploring Troyes and the weather was beautiful so that made it even nicer. One thing I did realize while I was on this little outing was how much I don't understand when they are speaking French. The French speak so quickly and they all talk at the same time and there are a lot of words I don't know which makes it more difficult. I really need to beef up my vocabulary! Hopefully I will get better at French but at the moment I feel as if I am never going to understand what they are saying. I feel very much like a little toddler than can only respond in short sentences and needs them to talk slowly and not use big words. I truly wish I was born in France and grew up here so that I could speak the language fluently. I am hoping that once I am back in classes my French will improve and once I pluck up the courage to speak more despite how horrible my French sounds that my speaking abilities will improve. We had lunch at a café and I had a croque monsieur with a limonade and my oh my was it delicious! For those of you that don't know what a croque monsieur is it is kinda like a grilled cheese with ham in it, it is so good! After lunch and trying to get somewhat of a grasp of what they were talking about we did some more shopping. I did not buy anything because I didn't have a lot of money on me and clothes tend to be expensive here. Around 5pm we left and dropped the friends off before heading home. Once we were home and rested for a little bit some neighbors came over for an apéritif. During which my Mom called to talk to me. It was really nice being able to talk to her for a little while and see how life is across the big blue ocean. We had dinner at 10pm after the neighbors had left and then went to bed.

Saturday I slept in but not too late because we had to leave at noon to go to an anniversary party. It was super hot on Saturday and I was wearing long pants because I thought I should dress up for this party but I could have gotten away with just wearing shorts. We left around noon to drop off Calline at Gilberte's and to meet up with some friends at their house before heading over to the party at 1pm. Françoise, Manu and I went to the party and there were a lot of people there! It was in the backyard and there were several tables put together to make one long table. There were apéritifs of course which were really good.  There was some kind of homemade punch with alcohol in it that I tried and it wasn't too bad but it was so hot that all I really wanted was water. I met a lot of people and couldn't remember most of the names because it was overwhelming but one thing that I always noticed was I was introduced as the American cousin.  People just stood around and talked and it was cool to see what parties are like in France.  There is a lot of talking, eating, and drinking. We then had lunch and there were so many delicious things to eat like some kind of rice salad and a vegetable salad and a ton of different meats.  There was also lots of bread of course.  Then after eating all that we had salad and cheese which was really good too! Then after that we had cake and it had raspberries on it and my goodness was it delicious! We also had champagne and there is some tradition that they have where they say certain things and then you touch the glass of champagne to your forehead, then your nose, then your chin, and your stomach (I think that is all of them) and then you drink some of it.  It was rather funny because I had no idea what I was doing so I pry looked like the rather ridiculous American.  Then they played some music and I danced a bit which was fun but there were motions that one has to do and I had no idea what I was doing! After dancing for a bit we had fresh fruit and that was really good too! We did a lot of eating and talking! I then tried talking to this one guy but when I start talking I get nervous that I am saying things wrong.  They also talk so fast and everyone is talking at once so it is even hard to hear and have to concentrate on what the person next to you is saying because someone across the way is trying to get your attention at the same time and tell you something. It is very overwhelming! I then just hung out a little while longer before Françoise took me home so I could spend the night at Gilberte's. We got back to their house and I packed a bag to stay the night and we headed over to Gilberte's. Calline was very excited to see us and was jumping all over the place.  I brought my laptop hoping that I would be able to skype with my Mom and Dad but for some reason my laptop would not connect up to Gilberte's internet.  I was super bummed about that but there was nothing I could do about it.  Françoise left to go back to the party and I had dinner with Gilberte which was really good and we talked about my family and her travels around the world.  It was somewhat difficult because I am not that good at speaking French and there were things that she would say that I wouldn't understand but over all it was a nice time.  We then went to bed at 10pm.  I am still adjusting to this time zone and way of life and it took me a while to fall asleep.  I hope I adjust quickly and get a good nights' rest soon. I forgot to close my door all the way and I one point I woke up in the middle of the night with the dog, Calline, sitting next my bed whining at me. It was rather funny.

Sunday I woke up and got ready and had some breakfast with Gilberte. I thought it was going to be hot today so I was wearing shorts but it was rather chilly so I changed into some jeans. Françosie then came and picked up me, Calline, and Gilberte and we went to her house.  I then joined Françoise and Manu to the town of Villeneuve l'Archêveque for the inauguration of the mayor.  We stopped at a café where some friends were sitting and talked for a while.  We then went into the cathedral at the end of mass and walked around.  It was a beautiful church.  We then finally went to the inauguration where we had to stand and I couldn't see it happening or really hear what was going on but oh well.  Afterwards there were drinks and things to snack on which were all very good!  Françoise and Manu talked to some friends and then we headed back to the house.  Fred, Françoise and Manu's younger son, came to lunch with his girlfriend, Anne Sophie. It was a very nice lunch and they talked about all different types of things while I tried to concentrate on what they were discussing. After lunch Fred and Anne Sophie left.  Gilberte stayed for a little while longer before Françoise drove her home.  But before Gilberte left I got a gift from her which is a really pretty bracelet.  I also got a 2012 calendar and a notepad from Manu and Françoise. It was very sweet of them to do so. Now we are just hanging out and I am hoping to skype with my parents back home later today! To say the least "C'était un weekend très chargé!"

Je suis arrivée!

For those of you that don't speak French the title means: I arrived! I have arrived in France and it is just as wonderful as the last time I was here.  I left from Chicago on Tuesday at 4:25pm heading towards Stockholm.  I was super nervous about traveling by myself and just going to France in general. I sat in the center isle of the plane next to a nice older couple, Pam and Larry, from St. Louis.  They were very sweet and this was their first time heading over to Europe.  They also happened to be Christians and it was just a nice way to spend 7 hours on a plane.  Unfortunately I did not sleep at all on that flight.  However, on my flight from Stockholm to Paris I spent quite a bit of time sleeping.  When we were landing in Paris I got to see an aerial view of the city and saw the Eiffel Tower.  It was very cool, to say the least.  Then my relatives Manu and Françoise picked me up at the airport.  It was really great to see some familiar faces.  When we were driving to their house we made a stop at a friends' house for un café.  To say the least, I can very much get used to this life style of sitting around and enjoying the company of others.  My relatives do not speak any English so this whole week that I have before I have to head over to Paris is really forcing me to use my French and really listen it will be all French all the time.  I am amazed at how much I understand when they are talking and I haven't even been here for a whole day.  My Mom called Françoise's cell phone right as we were pulling into my other relative's house, Gilberte.  It was quite nice to hear from my Mom and talk to her briefly before I headed into Gilberte's house.  We then finally made it to Françoise and Manu's house and I got to put my stuff up in a room, the whole second floor of their house is free for me to use this week since both of their sons have grown up and moved out.  The big drama for the week is that le boulangère (the baker) is on vacation which means that there won't be fresh bread and that is just sacrilege in France.  But all will be well.  It sounds as if I will be busy shopping and parties this week but I don't mind one bit.  Also I have made a new friend in France, Calline, Manu et Françoise's dog.  I am remembering how much I like France and I think that this year will be filled with many fun adventures.

Saying Goodbye

My time here in the States is coming to a swift end.  I leave in 11 days.  It is mind boggling that I am going to be living in Paris!  Something that I have dreamt about for so long is finally coming true!  It is exciting but on the flip side of that it is nerve racking!  Summer is coming to an end and people are going back to school which means that it is time for me to start saying goodbye.  It has been such a weird experience saying goodbye to my friends and family because I don't feel as if I won't see them for a year. I haven't really been that sad when saying goodbye.  Yes, I will miss people but I just don't feel sad.  My head understands that I won't see them for a long while but my heart hasn't quite caught on yet (I think it is in denial for the time being.)  I had to say goodbye to my younger sister, Maissie, the other day because I helped her move into college for her freshmen year.  I miss her horribly already but I know that she is just going to love college life and have a wonderful year.  I also had to say goodbye to some of my cousins, we went camping which was a lot of fun but saying goodbye was just strange.  Just like when I said goodbye to my very dear friends Becky and Jacquie.  Thankfully I still have a few more days before I have to say goodbye to my parents which will pry be the hardest because they will be the ones dropping me off at the airport.

I am now at the point where I am ready to go but at the same time I am not ready to go.  I am afraid of all that I will miss back in the States.  It is rather funny, the other day I had a dream that when I came back to Central I was living way out in the goonies and nobody really even noticed that I was there, it was if they didn't care that I was back.  I know that is not true but one always wonders how coming back will be since things will be different.  But for right now I am not going to concern myself with my senior year of college because I have an amazing year in Paris right around the corner!

Whoa, Summer Where are You Going?

I cannot believe that it is already July 19th! I promise I will get better at blogging once I get into France because I will acutally have things to blog about that will be more interesting than discussing power outages in my neighborhood. It is amazing how quickly this summer is going! I have been so busy with tutoring and babysitting that the weeks just seem to fly by. It boggles my mind that I am leaving for France at the end of next month!  I have not even started packing or preparing at all in that respect.

I went to the French Consulate to apply for my visa in order to live/study/have a year long vacation in France. It was fun going downtown with my Mom and being amongst the hustle and bustle. My appointment was early in the morning so we had to be there even earlier and it was really pretty seeing the sunshine reflect off of the buildings. I could very much get used to city life (which I will have to seeing as I will be in Paris!). But boy did my feet hurt afterwards! I decided to wear a new pair of shoes that I will be taking with me to France and let me just say that they need to be broken in or my feet will fall off in France! Anyways, being at the Consulate was fine because I had all of my paperwork (I even had copies of my copies, that was how prepared I was for this!).  Amazingly, a few days later I got my visa in the mail, so it is official I am going to be in France for a whole year!!

Anyways, last night I was laying on the couch watching some tv show with my Mom and I started talking about how nervous I am concerning going to France all by myself and that I just can't believe that it is actually happening!  I have been dreaming about going to Paris to study for so long that it almost seems surreal.  In my typical fashion I started worrying about everything and my Mom knew exactly how to brighten up my spirits.  She went to the huge bookshelves in our family room and pulled off this book that was gray and had an outline of France on the front cover.  Well, this was not just some travel book or history book about France this was my Mom's journal from when she studied in Paris for a year during her college years!  She started reading it to me and let me just say it was hilarious hearing her read her experiences in France.  I was laughing so hard I started to cry!  It made me realize that if my Mom could go to France and live to tell the tale then I can do it too.  Now don't get me wrong I am super excited about living in a city that I fell in love with those many years ago when my Mom and Dad showed me and my sister the wonders of Paris.  However, I think everyone gets a little nervous about the unknown especially when it is right around the corner. But for the time being I think my Mom and I will continue reading her journal and enjoying a good laugh before I have to say goodbye and board a plane.