Detour

So, the Metro just wasn't happy with me or something today. Usually, to get to school, I have to take line 9 two stops (Jasmin to Michel-Ange Molitor), change to line 10 (and take that to Duroc), then change to line 13 (which I take to my school's stop, Gaîté). Today, though, when I got to Michel-Ange Molitor, I discovered that all the signals were out on line 10...so, I had to go back to line 9, take it WAY out of the way to Miromesnil, switch to line 13, and then take that all the way to school. It was a LONG commute this morning...but it made me realize that I'm pretty much a Metro expert by now! I had left for school early like I usually do (cause I like to do my homework in the morning instead of at night), so that was lucky...lots of people were late to classes today because of the line closing. On my way home tonight, the train I was on on line 9 stalled for like 5-10 minutes (and, of course, I was running late for dinner with my host family) while it was completely jam packed with people.

I'm in the process of planning my first weekend away from Paris. I'm going with some people to Nice, in the south of France, in two weekends...we booked TGV tickets tonight! We just have to figure out the hotel situation (I say let's go for the cheapest...other people want a more expensive option...but I'd rather spend the extra money on something else). I found out that Monte Carlo is only a twenty-minute, five euro train ride from Nice, too, so I'm definitely going to make a trip there. I mean, I can't be twenty minutes away from Monaco and not go!! It is, after all, the only principalty in the world. And it'll up my obscure tiny country visit count (since I've already been to Liechtenstein).

Tomorrow is my first exam in France...French grammar. Eek! Prayer would be appreciated, because this grammar section that we've done is definitely NOT my strong suit... In more exciting news, though, my oral presentation at Notre Dame de Paris (yeah, the big cathedral with the hunchback...I had to give an oral presentation on its history in French) went very well!

Riley =)

At School

Bonjour! I am sitting at IES, my school, right now, enjoying the wireless Internet. I just got done talking with the IES Housing Coordinator and it looks like I may be getting moved to a new homestay on Monday. I talked to her for awhile and she asked me to describe my perfect host family...and after describing it, she said she thought she had a better match for me and wanted me to reflect until Monday, but on Monday she can do something if I still want to move. This makes me very excited because 1.) I will actually be able to sleep at night because I won't be having allergy issues and 2.) I will have Internet!

Besides talking about homestay issues, I had my first day of real classes. I am in French 301, which I think will be pretty nice. The professor seems cool and he speaks at like the perfect speed. I was afraid I'd end up with someone who spoke way too fast to understand! I am also excited that I tested into 301 because I was afraid I might not test into it, even though that's the level I should be at. I also had French Lit today, but I'm going to switch out that class for History of Paris (most likely) because the French Lit professor expects us to already know some stuff about French Lit...and I know absolutely nothing about French literature.

I know I've said it a couple of times already...but Skype is awesome. I have been videochatting and it works great! Granted, most of you probably aren't going to be up at the hours I have been videochatting (9am my time...3am in Indiana), but maybe if my new homestay has Internet, I'll be able to chat at better hours of the day!

I only have classes Monday through Thursday...so it's the weekend now! I'm eating lunch at the Eiffel Tower tomorrow!

Bon week-end!
Riley =)