On U.S. Soil!

Unfortunately my first U.S. experience in four months is occurring in the Philly airport: luckily I have not spotted any mice yet, (you may remember that when my flight was delayed for 7 hours on the way here, I was in a mouse-infested area. eww).  Also luckily, they have free internet, so I can make use of my extra-long layover and recap my last few days in Paris.

I spent my last week revisiting some of my favorite places in Paris: the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, Luxembourg and Tuileries Gardens, and of course the Eiffel Tower.  I ate crepes, fondue, frog legs (!!!), and quiche.  I spent my last night sitting on the Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, drinking wine with friends and watching it sparkle.  

I sad goodbye to my friends (sad), and goodbye to Paris (worse).  I said goodbye to my host family (though they were great, this wasn't as hard).  I don't think I can put into words what an amazing experience my four months studying abroad were.  I showed up speaking basically no French, and now I can get by just fine on my own.  I still can't quite believe that I lived with a French family for four months and spoke only French to them!

I think what I am even more proud of beyond developing my language skills is that I have become much more independent and confident in my capabilities.  It certainly was not easy: I was the only one in my program who lived outside of the city, I got harassed more often because my red hair makes me look very, very not French and therefore a fun target for creepers, and the whole language barrier thing didn't help either!  This was the first time that I have lived without a roommate I was close with: that means I suffered through all of the 4am night bus rides followed by 8am classes all on my own.  Luckily...the negative things are few and far between in comparison to all of the positives.  I am so lucky that I was able to do something so enlightening and enriching at such a young age.  

I'm about to catch my flight home to Connecticut (I instinctively typed Paris first...), and I can't wait to spend the next week and a half catching up with family and friends (and also catching up on sleep..and American culture...and seeing Molly!)  Then, it's off to DC to intern   I'll report back soon on my reverse-culture-shock observations and also with my pictures from the past week, as the two I've put here are stolen from a friend!

Au Revoir, Paris

Any fleeting thoughts I had of a deep and meaningful last blog entry in Paris have dissipated: the internet at my apartment isn't working! My last week has been wonderful and I'm in utter shock that not any am I leaving Paris, but that as of Thursday, I'm a senior in college. Anyway, I'll be stateside Sunday evening, a bientot!

You know you've been in France for a while when..

A metro strike doesn't even phase you anymore! 

The first metro strike was a huge deal, and they've become subsequently less and less significant for me: I just leave half an hour earlier than normal and hope for the best, I don't have any other options!  Now that we all know what metro lines to avoid on strike days..they don't seem like a big deal at all.  I'm used to it by now: just like I'm used to showing up to the bus stop only to see that there won't be a bus at all that day because a demonstration is blocking the bus route.

Another confirmation of my being in France: during my four hour exam on Saturday, we weren't allowed to go to the bathroom, drink, or eat, but when the girl next to me raised her hand and begged to be let out of class to smoke a cigarette, the professor let her! 

On more personal terms.. I know I've been living with a host family for a while when I don't even blink an eye when my dinner consists of: a hard boiled egg, raw radishes, and cauliflower baked with bacon bits.  Only just now, an hour later, did I realize how bizarre of a meal that was.   

Parisian Hollywood

SO the most exciting thing that's happened to me since my last post was...

I saw Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen! 

(not my picture...), a few friends and I stopped into a FNAC, which is similar to a Best Buy, and as we were gathering by the door to go, we spotted them!  Just hoppin' on the escalator to do some shopping.  Since Cannes Film Festival just ended on Sunday, I guess a lot of celebrities will be in town: I am keeping my eyes open for them!

Other things I've done include mainly studying, babysitting, shopping, and lots of picnics!  Since I don't have my 8am course this week, it's been wonderful to sleep in a bit.  Tomorrow I have my oral exam: I'm still not exactly sure how I'll come up with enough French to talk about a picture for 12 minutes..but at least it will be over with.  Tomorrow night is our farewell dinner: sad but it will be fun to dress up and go to a nice restaurant with everyone (for free!)  We are going to Le Grand Colbert which is where part of Something's Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton was filmed!  

The film was also shot in Place des Vosges, which is quite near my student center and I walk through it all the time.  Mom--prepare the DVD so I can watch it when I return to chez nous!

Also...today is my friend AMANDA'S 21st birthday! I can't wait to see friends and family when I get home!

Paris When it Sizzles

I must say that studying isn't quite so bad when this is the view...I know I'm spoiled.  In front of the Eiffel Tower is the peace monument.

What a wonderful weekend!  Saturday's 4 hour long French exam was challenging, but I'm just relieved that it's over with.  My host family was gone for the weekend so I had a few friends over to celebrate the completion of our grammar classes...then we all went out together to continue the celebration.

Today I slept in and met friends for a great lunch.  We had a wonderful time and that's when it really hit me: I only have a week left in Paris.  Now that the weather's great and I've established an amazingly fun life here, the last thing I want to do is go!  I've gotten close with the people in my program, we've all become quite familiar with the city, we all have our favorite bars and other places to go.  Why leave NOW!?  (Note: Leaving will not be ALL bad because I am super excited to see family and friends and to be in DC for the summer.)

After lunch, we headed to the Hotel Carnavalet, a museum that showcases the history of the city of Paris.  I'm glad that I saved it until now because I know quite a bit about the history and geography now, and also because the information is posted only in French-- now that I'm more comfortable with the language, I could understand most of it.  

Coming up this week.. I'll be babysitting, prepping for Wednesday's oral exam and Thursday's civilization class exam, shopping, picnicking, and just being out and about as much as possible!  As for the not so nice things, I'll need to squeeze in some packing and probably a mental breakdown at some point because: I come home in seven days.