My Host Family, Home, et Plus...

I woke up in my small room at the etap hotel at 6:20- 10:20 pm Utah time. Jamie's new alarm clock didn't go off so I decided to sleep in and let her shower first because my hair dries straight. The showers and bathrooms are so small and there is nothing that divides the shower and the toilet so there is water spread across the whole 3 square feet.
Turns out that we both aren't typical Mormons. No Mormon Standard Time here! We were both at the buffet for breakfast 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet the others. Thus Fred (one of the students who helps the professor with a lot of things) asked me to get the concierge to open up the room where we would all keep our bags for the day. I went to speak with the concierge and two girls, who wanted to put their bags in the room before breakfast, were just giving up convincing the concierge of what they needed. Apparently the concierge didn't want to open the door till everyone was there. They told me that she wouldn't budge. Of course, I had to try! I politely explained to her that I had already collected 10 of the 26 students on the second floor who were waiting for her. I said that the hallway was too crowded for all of the students and their bags and also that a bunch of the students needed to leave early to run some errands. As soon as she felt that she was "needed" she was the most helpful concierge you'd ever ask for. Yet still after all that work, only 4 of us girls were at class on time.

Once we had all arrived (except two girls who NEVER found class that day) the professor started giving us our bus passes and family assignments! Ahh! I immediately looked at the zipcode on the address for my family and found that it wasn't directly in Paris (all the Paris zipcodes are 75001-75017). Thus I was in the "Banlieue" which is exactly what I wanted. In the Banlieue the students often have bigger families, more bedroom space, and its much safer to jog in a little subarb than on the small sidewalks of Paris. The room got quiet for a minute as we all turned to hear footsteps in the back. There we saw a large man in a raggedy trench coat. He had black and white hair that stuck straight up on the left side, and I'm sure that he hadn't shaved in a Very long time. It was quiet as he said in perfect English "Can I join your class?" Our professor quickly pulled him outside of the room (I think some of the girls were scared for their safety) and explained to him that he couldn't and that this was a selective group. I felt bad and thought that we should have referred him to another class that he could attend--> the missionaries! They have an "open-door" in the same courtyard as our class!

After class we had a small break to get lunch:
(not all mine, we shared so we could try more things)At the top was our baguette with meat, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, nothing too dangereuse but in a french baguette nonetheless. To the left is a croissant like pastrie but it was a bit more dense with creamy chocolate, powdered sugar, and an almond creme inside of it. The last one (on the right) was a delightful cake type crust, but a bit harder, with a creamy white substance on top and lots of strawberries. Ummm.. french food.

After lunch we went on a walk as a class. We went to saint-michel, un beau jardin, le saint-etienne de mont, the wall that used to surround Paris like the great wall of china (but is now almost completely torn down), to sorbonne, and some other miniscule things that I don't remember the name of.

Saint Michel

This is a view from Saint-Etienne. In the far distance is Luxembourg where the senate of France lives but we didn't have time to go there yesterday.


Jamie and me

Our whole study abroad group sauf the professor


I told you I don't have jet lag!

After our little excursion we ran to the nearest metro and got back to our hotel as soon as possible. We took sometime to squeeze all of our bags out of the little water closet but eventually we got down stairs where our bus (for those in the banlieue) awaited. Jamie and I were the first ones dropped off in Croissy sur Seine. Our host family picked us up and le madame immediately gave us bisoux. The professor was beaming as monsieur NDF helped us get our bags. Madame NDF was amazed at how little we had brought, even though we each have two bags: one carry on and a large other one.

I was so excited when I realized we would be in a house and not an apartment like all of the students in Paris.

The road to the house
La maison
The back of the house. My window is the second from the left.

My room is so chic and very yellow! I realized today that I've never had my own room before. I don't think I like it very much, to be really honest. But the rooms would be a little too crowded with two beds in them I think.

Ma chambre
The view from my room