After a very long day of traveling, I arrived in Paris, France this morning at 8:10 am ( 1:10am Memphis time.) I was not freaking out going through Immigration and customs because my flight mate was a 26-year old American woman who lived in Paris this past year and was returning to Paris to reside here permanently. She walked me through the exit and told me what I would need to be allowed to enter the country (my Visa, which, thanks to my mother and my good friend Lexi, I was able to acquire without much fuss.) Then, due to my last minute boarding (my connecting flight almost caused me to miss my flight to Paris) my luggage was one of the first to be dropped so I was able to get out to my shuttle very quickly. The shuttle driver was very nice and he made sure all the passengers were settled at their hotels before he left. *Quick note: What a small world after all, a young woman and her mother were traveling with me on most of the same flights and it turns out the young woman is a dancer with one of my friends who is in my Paris group and will be arriving tomorrow, it was cool that we made that connection.*
So After I settled in and showered, I fell asleep for five hours and woke up refreshed and ready to venture outside, well a short distance anyway. I made my way to the super market (supermarche) and bought some dinner for myself, conversing entirely in French (minus the time I asked a woman, in French of course, if there was another department to the store which sold food items, it turns out there were two levels to the store and I needed to be downstairs!)
That pretty much sums up my day, tomorrow I meet my friends at the hotel across the street that was reserved for us by my school and the day after next the real fun begins! I meet my host family and discover my new home for the next 8 months.
I am very excited about my upcoming adventures and I am glad to be sharing it with all of you.
Love you lots, M and S!
