Challenges

Ok… so I am in bed ready to go to sleep before 10:30pm. And I don’t think that Jet lag really has anything to do with it. Today was an absolutely exhausting day. Class this morning was good, and I am glad that I am interested in history and things like that because otherwise the 3.5 hour class in the morning could possibly be very painful… but I find what we are studying to be very interesting which is very helpful. Then this afternoon I had class again with journalist Thomas which was fine, but he does not seem to be very nice or friendly or really like to teach at all… which I find to be a bit strange, but whatever I suppose.
However the really interesting thing that happened this afternoon was that I went and met the woman who is going to be the supervisor for my internship at L’institute du Monde Arabe. For some reason I thought that this meeting between the two of us and Thomas from IFE (not my prof) was supposed to happen on the 20th of Feb… But rather it was January instead. So I was a little surprised when this was what I was doing this afternoon, but I had worn nice clothes so that was a good thing. I was a little nervous but that is to be expected I guess. Needless to say it was a very taxing hour. I spent the entire meeting working harder than I think I have ever worked before to try to understand every word she was saying and what it might mean for me in the next few months. She told me that there is lots of work to be done; I just have to be approved by the administration of the museum. Thomas does not seem to think that this is a problem and everything should come together in the next few weeks.
However, as I rode the bus back to IFE today, and I watched the city go by, I began to feel very nervous/scared about my internship. I know that I am a hard worker and that I can be a real asset to the museum and to anyone that I work for… but that one hour of time that I spent there today was absolutely exhausting. The past days have been good for my French but I feel like I have also spent a good amount of time being frustrated because there are so many times where I want to say something but it just can’t come out right… Or I am trying to get someone to understand me properly and my pronunciation fails me completely. It is very difficult. Even class that would normally not be that hard is made ten times harder because I have to focus on each word that is said to glean the meaning of the sentences. It is really hard work, and it is far more exhausting for my brain to try to do that than I think it is for me to do hours and hours of homework.
So today riding back to IFE on the bus I felt scared and tired of being in an environment that is constantly challenging me… and I thought about how much longer I am going to spend in this difficult and challenging environment… and I felt homesick for the first time. I didn’t feel miserable at all or anything… but when you are tired and things are hard/challenging, nothing sounds better than going home. I know that things will get easier as I find my routine better and adjust to the French language and things like that, but today was very hard. I came home and cooked some pasta which was cheap and good… but now, before 11:00 I am ready for bed, which is very much unlike me. But that is ok…each day presents new challenges and I just keep thinking that each day I get a little better at French. My listening comprehension has def improved already… and my speaking will get there too I just know it. But it takes more than 5 days, and since I still have 5 months here I have every faith that it will get easier. J’espere.
Bonne Nuit.

exploring

Salut!

It is Tuesday and I have been here since Friday. Sometimes it feels like just minutes have passed since I stepped off the plane and other times it feels like years. On Saturday Marie helped me get a phone, which was great because she and I need to keep in touch about somethings... like the other random woman who lives here who appeared tonight and did not have a key so I had to let her in... ok weird, but whatever. Marie is wonderful. She is a comedienne... so I am not sure what she does all day, but she is also studying to become a theater professor which is cool. On Sunday (I slept forever! Jet lag is a really really weird thing!) and then she went to the library to study. That evening she and her mom and I went to see a movie (it was actually in English it was Bright Star a BBC movie about the life of John Keats I highly recommend it!)But then we walked back to her apartment most of the way and just talked about things and got to know each other a little better which was very nice. She is very patient with my french and corrects me when I need it, and tries very hard to understand me when I am making no sense. I couldn't have asked for a better situation. The majority of kids doing IFE live in foyers which are kind of like dorms. I could have done that but I am so glad to have Marie. I come and go as I please like the other students who live in the foyer but I have someone to talk to and help me learn faster, and to answer all my questions and to have dinner with and all of those things. It is really great. You have seen the pics of my room, which is really nice, and to top off all of my good luck I found a working straightener tonight on the rue de saite michel so I don't have to look like a crazy person at IFE tomorrow!

I mostly spent the weekend walking around the city and exploring and resting up for IFE. I took some random pics which I posted yesterday.

IFE is not at all far from where Marie lives (and me too now!) but she it is a 20 minute walk to the metro in the mornings so I have to leave about 45 minutes early so that I wont be late. But don't worry I plan on stopping at the boulangerie (bread and pastry shop) to buy a cheap and yummy breakfast everyday. The woman who owns it already recognizes me and calls me by a little pet name which is funny! But in the mornings I brave the rush hour traffic on the Metro (which is really easy to navigate and get around on... I only have gotten on a train going in the wrong direction once!) Which makes me feel very grown up (like I am going to work or something not at all like at DPU) and I ride a few stops down, get off and walk to IFE. There I have one class in the morning with a very nice, funny and very french professor about the history of the French state and French politics. Then I have an hour and a half for lunch (which I already packed my lunch for tomorrow, aren't you proud mom?) I am having a yogurt and bread and cheese and chips and an apple. maybe some nutella for dessert... we shall see. Then in the afternoon i have a class which has the homework... several presentations and a paper over the next 5 weeks. The professor for that class is a young journalist who writes for Le Monde (a french newspaper) but he is much more serious and talks a lot faster which makes him difficult to understand sometimes... but I guess I will just get better at french quicker if that is the case. At least I hope so.

I have even made some new friends... Laura, Sarah, Ryan, Matt (my friends) and I all went out to lunch on Monday and had a glass of wine together after class on Tuesday... and we are all going to go on an adventure to a discotheque on Friday night... which I will be very interested to see how it goes. It is weird because starting this program is kinda like starting a DePauw 2 years ago... we all want to be friends cause all of us are pretty much alone here. It is funny and a little strange, but we all get along well and understand the french each one speaks so that is good. It is weird to think that my program has only been going for 2 days... and tomorrow it is back to the books. I know that the next 5 weeks are going to be a challenge and then my internship is probably going to be a different kind of a challenge after that... but I am doing well and hopefully going to continue to learn quickly. But I have to get up early tomorrow, which if you know me at all you know that is not going to be an easy thing to do... but I will! I'll write again soon!

Bonne Nuit!

more later...

So now I am very tired, and I will write more tomorrow about my first days in Paris... I have not officially visited anything too touristy... but I have some pictures that I have taken of some good city scenes... and the arc d'triomphe... so here are the pics and I will write more tomorrow.

A day of never have I evers

So, I have flown across the ocean, dragged two absurd suitcases, my back pack and a very shiny purse across Paris, flagged down five taxi’s (four of which were unable to pick me up… but I talked to all of the drivers… I speak French one thing is for sure) found the nicest taxi driver in the world who saved my very tired butt, and came into a lovely apartment. The point of that sentence simply is to say: I made it. The flights were fine, not a single hitch. Except our landing was really weird, it was so foggy that everyone thought we were still coming down through the clouds when in reality we were touching down on the ground. It was crazy.

Then I got hit on by the customs guy, found my suitcases, changed some money, and after already having been awake and traveling for almost 18 hours I set out on the across the city to venture to find 21bis rue de l’aoutte. It turned out to be one the most taxing three hours of my life… I thought I would arrive around 12:00pm but I didn’t make here until 2. As described before I dragged a ton of stuff through the RER and the metro, looking like a fool… but I did it without too much trouble… until I emerged from the subway and needed to hail a cab. I have never hailed a cab before in my life. So why not start in Paris right? I was told by the first driver that “ce n’est pas trop loin” (It’s not far at all!) so I tried to walk, asked a million people for directions (ok 4, but anyone who tries to tell you that Parisians are unfriendly and unhelpful simply has not been lost on the street corner with two bags and a bleeding thumb. Everyone I talked to was very nice and very helpful (even if their directions turned out to be completely wrong) and I finally stood on the same corner where I started, and found the nicest cab driver in the city, who promptly delivered me to Marie’s apartment. And for the record it was way too far to walk with 2 suitcases thank you very much Mr. It’s not that far.

One really cool thing though was that right when I came up from the Metro, and I had no idea where I was, or which way to go or how to hail a cab, was that right down the middle of the busy street I was on, I could see L’tour Effiel through all of the fog and mist. I knew then that I was here, and all of this is real, and I felt very good about having made it this far. I may not have known exactly where to go or what to do… but I knew I was in Paris, right where I have been wanting be since I was about seven years old. That was a very exhilarating feeling.

Marie was not here when I got here, but she left me so many notes and keys and candy that I felt right at home. And my life will be much easier now that I don’t have to drag 2 suitcases all over the world, just a very shiny purse. But I got all settled in, tried to battle with the internet (only to find out from Marie that it is getting fixed tonight) and got all unpacked. Then I took a little nap until Marie came home. She is absolutely wonderful. She is young and pretty and nice, and very excited to have me here. She is going to help me find a cell phone tomorrow, and then I am going to go exploring. So anyway, long story short: I made it with only a minor trauma to my thumb, and a tired back.

Marie and I are currently speaking a funny mix of English and French… mostly French unless I don’t understand, but sometimes she can’t help me in English either, so it will be interesting to see how my French improves! I can’t wait. I am feeling good at the moment… tired but hopefully a good night’s sleep tonight will get me on the fast track to being adjusted to the time difference and exploring tomorrow will be good.

I was feeling very emotional this afternoon when I was by myself and feeling very unconnected from the world, but now I am feeling relieved that Marie is so nice and sweet, and that I have a nice bed to sleep in (the pics are of my room) and that I made it here safely. I have talked to everyone in my family except my mom, but I am sure that I will get a hold of her soon. I had a decent journey today… although I realized afterwards that I did a lot of this that you are not supposed to do.

1) I wandered around looking lost and forgotten trying to figure out my life, making me a good target for thieves, but I was lucky.

2) I also had my driver’s license and my passport ad all my money and credit cards in the same place, which was not a good life decision, simply because I was wandering around looking lost and forlorn and I could have lost everything. I should have at least put my passport in my backpack! I feel so stupid! But nothing bad came of it, and I guess now I will be more aware in the future.

3) I would not recommend to anyone to bring two suitcases. Unless someone is coming to collect you directly from the airport… travel lighter than I did! I am sure that I will be glad to have a lot of the things that I brought with me at one point or another, but good lord they almost pushed me down an escalator, made my thumb bleed profusely and made my travels across the city much more tiresome! Once again, I did it without any thing horrible happening, but if I were making recommendations to people for the future, I would not suggest this! Consolidate!

So yeah, the pics are of my room here, and I will post some more as they come. But I am alive and well, and looking forward to the future days of exploring and of IFE starting. So here I go. Bon Courage.

musing

So I am laying in my bed for the last time for a while... and it doesn't seem quite real that after tonight, I won't be back here until June. It won't even be like when I am at school, where I come home for a weekend here or there, and I could come home anytime I wanted to just because. For the next few months I will have to make my home in Paris with Marie, and learn to be flexible, and hope that my french improves quickly!

I am going to miss home... and my home at DPU. I will miss everyone at AXO and the CSL (Daryl, a shout out to you) and I will miss Ty, and my mom and mirandy and my Grandma, but probably not Skeeter Bug the devil Dog. It is just weird to think about how all the normal things in my life that I see everyday, won't be there for a while. I am so excited for all the fun things that I am going to do and see, and all my friends that I will meet up with, but now all of that seems sort of strangely surreal.

But I put a bunch of stuff into two suitcases (not going to lie, I am probably bringing WAY too many shoes. Good lord I have a lot of shoes.) But I just keep thinking... what if I need this, and what will I wear with that? I just don't know exactly what to expect, which I guess is kind of what makes everything a little scary. The off campus study people told us what to expect... kind of a U shaped experience (if you want to know more about that look it up on the dpu website) But it is good to know to expect ups and downs and to know before I leave that things will be fun, and hard all at the same time. When I was packing stuff I realized how many half filled journals I have... and I am really glad that I have decided to keep this blog. It will be a lot faster and easier for me to type my thoughts, and maybe it wont be half filled like my journals, and I can keep it nicely updated for myself and for anyone at home who might care at all. I will try to keep pics coming so everyone can see what I am up to (for !who don't use facebook MOM).

My flight out of Cincinnati leaves at 3:52 and my flight to Paris leaves at 9pm... Wish me luck, and safe travels, and no obnoxious delays! so Friday morning I will be in France... and next time I update this it will be from my room in Sainte-Mande!

A bientot!

still figuring out blogging...

ok well, while i figure out how to post pics, everyone can see some fun pics taken with my awesome new camera that my mom gave me for christmas of the fun we had at Christine's house on New Year's Eve.

the night before the night before

So the past few days have been filled errands, good byes and skype practice sessions (with my mom, where upstairs represents France and downstairs is home). The past few days have also been filled with strange but also good emotions. Am I nervous? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. Right now it is all a mix of nerves and excitement, and I am trying to keep straight in my head everything there is to do. Normally I am a big list maker... but so far I have only made one list, and it was far from complete and I forgot to do have the stuff on it anyway. I also forgot to go to my lunch date with Mark Fellows today... sorry Mark, I am glad dinner worked out though.

I heard from Marie yesterday, and she seems excited to meet me, which is comforting and it gives me a friendly face to look forward to! Right now I think the thing I am most worried about is lugging two huge suitcases across the city from the airport to where she lives! That could be quite the trek, but I simply think that a cab will be way too expensive. Plus that will be a good way to help myself get accustomed to living in the city right? Because let's face it. The move from rural Greencastle IN to Paris France could not be a bigger change- french culture shock or not, I am going to have urban life shock I think! That will be cool I know, but still a big change for me.

I think all of the laundry is done now, and most of my friends are either already abroad or back at school, so I will soon join them. I have had a wonderful break with my family. Mirandy and I have gotten along really well, and my mom too. We have had so many nice dinners together, just the three of us, and with family friends. I have missed getting to see Mamaw a lot, but know that mom and Mamaw might come visit is cool. It is also weird to think that our family will all be together at the same time less in the next year (especially if Mirandy spends the summer in TX) and so all the time we have now is really important to enjoy. I have really had an awesome break, and I am sad to see it pass by so quickly, but now on to bigger things, much farther away from home.

I have dreamed since I was 7 years old (and first became interested in things having to do with France and French) of studying abroad for a semester in college: and here it is. On thursday I will jump on a plane and go into the exciting (and borderline terrifying) unknown. I can do it, I know I can. Nerves or no nerves I am on my way!

(also I can't wait to look back in 6 months and think about how nervous I was...)