Bienvenue!

Hello, soon-to-be faithful readers! I am writing from Paris, France. It is officially my 5th day in the City of Lights, and I already have tons of stories to tell you! I was hoping that I would be able to make more video responses, but as it is, I still feel a little uncomfortable talking to myself right inside of a room where my host family is talking amongst themselves. For now, I give you THE BLOG.

Since it's been awhile and I have a lot of things that I want to remember, this entry may be quite long. However, I'm going to try to update once a day from now on.

Chronological order time!

Thursday:
I spent the whole night on the plane! I left around 6:30. I saw the sun set over New York, and arrived during the sunrise over London. It was extraordinary. So extraordinary that I didn't get more than a wink of sleep.



Heathrow is a GINORMOUS airport. It took all of 45 minutes to take a bus to my gate and then walk/run the rest of the way, just in time for the boarding call to Paris. It was only a 40 minute flight, and there I was! Smack dab in the middle of Paris!

I took a bus to the hotel, which literally took longer than the flight. I sat next to a lady who was not too happy with my picture-taking and squeeing at things like street signs.

There were already 10 Smithies in the lobby, only two of which I actually knew their names. We hung out, grabbed a croque monsieur for lunch (like a grilled cheese but with a hot dog baked inside. Authentic French cuisine, I assure you), and I took a nap for a really long time. We went out for dinner later, and I had beef bourgignon served in a little cast iron pot. It was the most delicious beef stew I've ever tasted.




Saturday (since Friday happened when I landed in London):
We had a breakfast at the hotel where we were all staying, and then we had an informational meeting at Reid Hall, where our Smith classes are held. It was a lot of paperwork and boring, and we were all excited to leave to get to meet our parents!

I was a little nervous, since I brought a lot of bags with me, but my host parents seemed really nice. I have a host sister! She's 10 years old. I knew that we'd get along when she took my hand during our first meeting and kept talking to me.

We left in a car with the three of them and Abby, since her host mom wasn't here yet. On our way to the apartment, my host sister pointed out the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the American Embassy, le Grand Palais, and the Boulevard des Invalides. It was AWESOME.

We had dinner that night, prosciutto, ham, salad with tomatoes and mozzarella, and bread. We have bread literally at every meal. Bread with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, coffee with breakfast and lunch, and wine with lunch and dinner. C'est magnifique!




I think I've about given up on my day-to-day goings on for now. I smell good things outside my door, so I think it's about time for dinner! I set the table and help do the dishes. Also, it's my turn to do my laundry tonight.

A bientot! Talk to you later!