On est arrivé!

We have, in fact, arrived in France. But this is the first access I've had to internet/my computer. My computer didn't have an adapter until tonight, so it couldn't be charged, and the family's wireless hadn't let me on yet. So the only way to use the internet was with the special French keyboard. It takes a lot of getting used to.

We're in Paris now, but for the sake of continuity, let me back up.

I got to the airport in Greenville Tuesday after saying goodbye to people at Furman. My first brush with disaster came at check-in. My new suitcase came with a lock, which of course I used on my luggage. But come check-in that suitcase was two pounds overweight and I needed to move things around. The only problem was, I couldn't find the key. After looking three times through my purse, twice through my bookbag, and once in my other suitcase and in the car with no luck at all, I went to the TSA man to get him to break the lock. As they are searching through their keys for the correct one, I find the key to the suitcase in the one purse pocket I had not yet checked. Go figure. I try to protect my luggage from others and lock myself out instead.

All travel involved was fairly eventless. We met up with the rest of the group in Dulles and sat through the 2-hour layover -- not bad at all. To our surprise, our flight to Paris was shared by a friend -- a guy that was my conversation leader for French at Furman when I was a freshman, then went to UVA for his doctorate in French and was heading to Lyon to be a teaching assistant. Small world, right? After taking off half an hour late, we landed at Charles de Gaulle-Roissy half an hour early. So early (6:15 AM in Paris, ugh) that our coordinator hadn't even made it to the airport yet.

After meeting some of our professors (Sally, I'm already in love with Mme. Chauchat!), our families came to get us. My French mom, Anne de la Monneraye, is wonderful to me and very welcoming/motherly, especially compared to what others in the group have told me about their families. She took me home and introduced me around the house and to her family. Her daughter, Agathe, is 17 and a sweetheart, even though she does talk a LOT and very quickly. Too fast for me to keep up yet. Paul is 9 and in the sixth grade. He's absolutely adorable and has been so much fun so far. He loves to tease, and since he's the only one whose speech I can actually keep up with, we'll be good friends I think. :)

The first day with the family was low-key. Anne made lunch for all of us, and we ate outside in the backyard. I took a 20-minute nap to keep me going until bedtime (having slept 3 hours in the past 26!) to help stave off the worst of the jetlag. I unpacked and gave them their presents (pralines for all, and an afghan with the SC flag on it, plus a promise to make a Southern dinner soon -- and now I've found crab meat in Monoprix for the soup, that can happen!). They love the pralines, so I think that was a good idea. Anne then took me to Parly II (the mall) where I was able to get a new SimCard for the phone she's letting me use. Her eldest daughter is actually in San Francisco for a year, having left the same day I did, and I get her phone for while I'm here. We also got me a hairdryer with the European current, so no worries about blowing power to the hotel while I'm here. We went back to the house, had dinner, and after watching a little French TV, I crashed in bed around 10 so I could leave with the group for Paris the next day, which is where I am now.

Phew...I still need to update on Paris, but that can wait for a while since this was pretty long. and now that I have an adapter and the WiFi code for the hotel, everything seems a little easier. So, a demain!

Mallory