These past two days have been amazing. I moved into my dorm Friday and decorated my room. I have pictures lining my shelves and on my wall of my friends and family. I love waking up in the morning and seeing my friends. It is so comforting to know that I have people to come home to. I was going to have a lazy day when I ran into some people from the program. They invited me to go on a late night run to the Eiffel Tower with them, and of course I couldn't turn that down. The Eiffel Tower is so incredibly gorgeous at night when it is lit up, and then when it sparkles. We walked around the area and enjoyed some champagne as we took in the spectacular view. Also, we experience the Eiffel Tower in an Audrey Hepburn circa Sabrina fashion. When Sabrina is telling Linus all about Paris she says "This is what you do on your very first day in Paris. You get yourself, not a drizzle,but some honest-to-goodness rain". We did get some rain, and following more of Audrey's advice i didn't bring an umbrella. I just enjoyed some French rain. After the Eiffel Tower we went to Planet Food, which has American cuisine. I had a cheeseburger and fries. It is this dingy hole in the wall that is really tiny but the people who work there were really nice. The man asked me "Ca va?" and I didn't know what that meant at first, so he told me to say "ca va" or "bien".
The next day we were with the programs all day. We went to the center where we met the professors and had a tour of it. Then some of us went to Starbucks, and even though I didn't want to do anything too American in France, it was nice to have a non-fat vanilla latte. There are some comforts that I want to have every now and again. Some of us also went to Kayser's which is a place I have a feeling I will be frequenting since there is a 2 hour break between my civilization and French class. After that our group went to the History of Paris museum. The museum is the former Hotel Carnavelet which was built in 1548. Our guide said "Every step is drenched in history". I loved that line. Everywhere I go in Paris, amazing history surrounds me and I need/want to always be conscious of that fact. Inside the museum we were given a mini-explanation of the French Revolution, and then after we went for crepes and drinks. I had a crepe chocolat maison and a cafe creme. They were delicious, but I ran for an hour today to work off all those calories. The program also took us out to dinner, where we had this salmon dish (Yes mom and dad I tried salmon), chicken and mashed potatoes, and then some creme brulee and coffee. It was a delicious dinner.
Later that night we went out to Nuit Blanche, which is just a night in Paris when things are open late and there are a ton of people on the streets. Me and three people from the program went to a bar where we enjoyed some wine and then we went to a different bar where we met three Frenchmen. They were nice to talk to, but I think they were disappointed when we didn't invite them back to our place. I am not going to be the stereotypical American girl in France. I am not here to meet someone. If it happens, great, but if not then I can't be disappointed because I am in Paris! They were fun to talk to though and it is nice to be complimented all the time. French men are great for the self-esteem. I am glad that I have met some people who I can hang out with and be myself. One of the hardest things about Uchicago is that I had a hard time meeting people who were more like me, so the fact that this program has more "normal" people and less quintessential "UChicago" people is comforting.
I start classes tomorrow. I am excited and nervous about this. I always get nervous with new professors and new classes, but I am more looking forward to class because we are studying Europe and France. I don't have to do any science or math, thank god. Also, the workload is considerably less than my thousand pages a week I am used to.
Until next time. Cheers.
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