Can you say, JETLAG! I swear I got very little to no sleep last night. I'm like a zombie, walking around Paris with my head cut off haha. So, I am just now able to get my computer up and running, because it turns out my adaptor would not work for my computer. Anyway...

Bienvenue a Paris! It was not easy to get here. You would think a direct flight from Paris to Dallas would be fairly simple. No stops, no problem! WRONG! Weather delayed my flight for hours. I was supposed to take off at 5:30...yeah no, try 9:00. Absolutely awful...I was really worried as well, because a girl, Josselyn, who I had found out was suppossed to be connecting into Dallas, never showed up. Finally she got on about 10 minutes before we took off. They had to hold the plane for a couple of people who were late due to connecting flights. The flight was very uneventful, I passed some time conversing with a French family that I had actually met through the YMCA. The only other even remotely interesting event that took place on the plane, was not even really an event--reguardless--watching the moon and the clouds was actually very fun. I don't know if it had to do with a storm having just passed, but it was really pretty. The clouds just kind of dazed around the moon. I wanted to get a picture of it, but i one did not have my camera and two it would not have actually captured on the dinky camera I have.

Arrivee en Paris!!! So we finally got to Paris and Josselyn and I met up with two other girls at the baggage claim, Kate and Alex. Sadly, it turns out Josselyns bags had gotten lost somewhere back in Dallas so she had to go to the counter and file for her bags which she still has not gotten (and it's the next day at 5:00pm). After that, we spent a good 15 minutes trying to find the meeting place for the students. My lord did we look retarded. The stereotypical dumb american girls haha! The maps that we were given just did not match up with the airports. So we finally found them and met Crystal, one of the ISA assisstants. She is really cool and funny, as are all the directors (Natalie, Annamaire, and Gabriel). We then got in a shuttle and just chatted until we were all dropped off at our homestay. Can I just say...I am living in Parisian Paradise! The house I am staying in is beautiful! It's in a cute little area known as Malakof in And. 15. It is three stories, 2 windows wide and about 6 windows deep. The house, I would guess, is from around the 17th century (maybe 18th century). It is kind of hard to say, but it has the feel to it. My roommate and I have the entire third floor to ourselves. And our view is breathtaking! We look down into a sweet little garden and out at the little town which looks very old.

OH, OF COURSE! Our hose mother, Madame Lefur (that is what I call her because the rest of her name is hard to say). Is a very cute sweet little lady. She only speaks French to us, which is very confusing but at the same time forces me the practice the language, which is the entire benefit of this trip and a homestay. It was interesting giving her the gift I bought her because I am not sure if she will be able to read it--it's a Texas cook book and yes it's in English so...hopefully she can figure it out (if she ever decides to acctually use it). So back to the house, I must say the cultural differences became immediately apparent to me. The tub and sink is in completely different rooms than the toilet. I call our toilet the blue throne because literally it is. The toilet itself is blue with blue walls and tile floor with a red brick path leading up to it and gold statuary around it--I kid you not---PRICELESS!

So, after moving all of our stuff into our great room, Kyra, my roommate, and I went for a walk around Malakof. We found the metro station closest to us and had a little bite to eat. We stopped into a grocery story to see the differnt stuff inside. LOTS OF CHEESE AND BREAD--mais oui! C'est Francias! The wine and other adult bevs were extremely cheap as well. I did not see one go over 31 Euros ( I do not have the Euro symbol on m computer as I am using my laptop so spelling it out or using a capital E will have to do). We came back for dinner which actually was relaly good--ham in tomato soup and potatoes--extremely simple but very good. I didnt have wine, but I am anxious to try some here very soon. I soon went to bed after dinner because I was so tired after a long day of traveling.

This morning we got up around 7:30 and had breakfast with the other American student staying here, Howard (There is a chinese student here also, but she is never really here). Madame Lefur took us the the tram station Didot which we took to Metro Porte d'Oleans and took it to Saint-Placide which is very close to the Catho (The Catholic University of Paris). We met up in the courtyard of the Catho-which is extremely cute. The entire group met and went over Paris life and traveling here and getting used to the Parisian way of life. It was very helpful but because of jetlag it was hard to keep myself from dozing off. Our directors are very nice and extremely funny so they kept it somewhat entertaining. Gabriel made a really funny joke about one of the students who came along soley because his girlfriend did too--Gabriel said "you know in Paris we say, you never take your sandwich to the store." If you dont get that, let me just tell you--it's funny.

We had a two hour break for lunch and we spent it having a little sandwich picnic in the Luxemburg Garden--TRES BELLE!! I took a lot of pictures, but words cannot describe what it looked like. It was just beautiful. I want to eat there pretty much everyday for lunch between my classes because it is really only two blocks or so away from the Catho. I met a lot of really nice girls today that I went with and took a bunch of pictures with them. Then we returned to the Catho and got a lot of information about our trips and classes. After a quick trip to the electoronic store with Alex to get a new convertor we headed back to our home where I currently am. I have about an hour before we are all meeting up for a sort of welcome dinner. I am starving and excited, love getting to know new people. This is a great group of people from what I can tell so far!

The day has finally arrived! In approximately four hours, I will be leaving my house for DFW airport. Around 9:45 am tomorrow morning (Paris time, mind you) I will have arrived in CDG airport in Paris where my adventure awaits. Back at home it will be around 3:00 am, so needless to say jetlag will have taken it's tole by then. I cannot even begin to describe my excitement, but I'm sure you can imagine.

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..." Sorry, momentary lyric interuption :)

Well I shall miss all of you! A few reminders, my phone is set to international; however, phone calls and texts are very expensive. So, facebook me and e-mail me, sil-vous plait!

Off to the airport I go! The next time I shall write, I will be in the beautiful city of PARIS!

Bonjour mes amies!

I am very excited to be leaving for Paris in less than 24 hours time! I am keeping this blog as a sort of journal. I want to share my wonderful experiences with my friends and family as well as be able to look back and remember the amazing adventure that awaits me. I regret to say my ability to maintain a journal is faulty at best, but I will do my best to keep this blog as updated as possible. Well, as of right now, there is really not all that much to say except that I am extremely excited; so for now...A bientot!