The flight was good, but very disorienting. We left the US at 6 pm CST and landed in Dublin at 1 am, or 7am Dublin time. It was really weird, since we were flying toward the sunrise we only had about two hours of darkness. We were only in Dublin for 4 hours, but that didn't stop the group from getting an 8am beer at the airport pub (because you have to go to a pub in Ireland, and we were on Milwaukee time and it was right about bar close there). From Ireland it was a short flight to Paris. Flying in over the city I could see the Eiffel Tower, and I freaked out a little bit. It was pretty exciting.
My friend Petronille met me at the airport which was nice. She also ended up being incredibly helpful, since I was so overwhelmed with everything. The new country, foreign language, and complete lack of a sense of time made everything so confusing.
Paris looks a lot like I imagined it to, which shouldn't be weird, but is. The whole city is picturesque and always busy. We stayed in a little hotel the first night. Based on that one hotel, Paris hotels are very different from American hotels. The room was tiny, just large enough for the beds with about 2 feet to walk around them and 3 feet where the door was. Also, the showers here don't have fixed heads, you have to use one hand to hold it. But, one thing I love about the buildings in Paris is that they all have tall skinny windows that open like doors. They let so much light into the room, and in the hotel there was a little ledge so you could step out and look up and down the street. Also, there are never screens on the windows in Paris, but bugs don't seem to be a problem.
After wandering a little bit and getting food, we went to bed early and slept through the night. I think staying awake through the flights and until the evening helped me skip jet lag, because I really didn't have any problem. Today I checked into my dorm. I'm at the Cite Universitaire, which is a collection of dorms for study abroad students. They are set up a lot like a typical American college campus, with large beautiful buildings and lots of green space. The dorms are pretty nice, and like the hotel, small. But who needs to stay inside when there is Paris to see?
I just can't get over how beautiful everything is. It feels like everything I've seen is gorgeous. I saw Notre Dame today, and it was more spectacular than I realized. So intricate and very very very big. I also saw Place des Vosges, which is also beautiful. It's so crazy to actually be in the places we've learned about!
I've been trying to use my French. There are a lot of gaps in my knowledge, but I've been doing ok for the most part. It's getting less intimidating as time goes on, and hopefully I'll get better.
I don't have any photos uploaded yet, but I'll work on it. Tomorrow we start classes!
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