A curiously American week so far

My week has felt so American thus far!  Today everyone in the program had our first and only paper of the semester due.  Since none of us have had to write anything since December, it was quite a challenge and even though it was nowhere near as difficult as some of the papers I've done, it took me forever!  For once I actually appreciated the awful weather because forcing myself to write would have been harder if it was beautiful out.

I wrote it on the introduction of coffee in Paris, the mass opening of cafes and coffee houses, and how cafes and coffee have been intertwined with Parisian history.  It was interesting, but lots of research.

Yesterday for lunch, a few of us went to a place called Breakfast in America.  We were all craving pancakes and wow- they were great!  There's a few other American-style places here but this is the first I've been to...

Tonight I'm going to a friend's apartment for dinner which should be nice.  My host mom isn't the best cook so I am REALLY looking forward to going home where my Mom will cook for me (when I am home) and I can actually cook for myself in D.C.  Having no control over what I have for dinner is getting kind of old.

So there you have it-- a week quite like a week in DC- writing papers and eating American food with friends!  Of course, I couldn't go a full four days without doing some exploring, so I spent some time reading in the Arenes de Lutece.  Lutecia was the name for Paris when it was first settled by the Roman empire.  The Arenes de Lutece are the remnants of the coliseum-style amphitheater, now it is a public park.