Bonjour!

Hello family, friends and creepy people who possibly stumbled upon this on the world wide web!

I am writing to you from Paris. I'm sitting in my bed, in my new Parisian home. My stomach is full of tasty French food (lots of cheese!) and I'm feeling quite sleepy and tres contente.

I decided that a blog would be the best way to keep everyone updated on my adventures abroad. I would love to hear from all of you as well. So, if you want to tell me how much you miss me and how you wish you were here with me you can leave a comment, or better yet e-mail me at ROmer1104@aol.com.

I arrived in Paris around 8:30am on Thursday the 27th. I didn't sleep at all on the plane, but I think I avoided any serious jet lag by staying awake until about 9pm the first night. The first two nights I stayed with other DePaul students in a hotel near the school I will be attending. I was very thankful to have other English speakers around me! I came to France and forgot all my French.... I'm hoping I'll remember some of it when class starts on Monday. For now, all I say is "D'accord" (okay), "oui", and "Je ne comprend pas" (I don't understand).


The first day involved lots of waiting around to check into the hotel. I made friends with the other DePaul students on the trip. There's about 15 of us... and everyone seems pretty nice. I think we'll have fun together. The first day we went out for food together. I had some of the best hot chocolate of my life. I swear they melted the chocolate right there in the restaurant and added a little cream and served it to us. Delicious.

Yesterday (the second day), we had orientation at l'Alliance Francais (the school where we'll be taking French classes). It was very short and not very helpful. I did receive my student ID and class schedule. I'll be taking 20 hours of French a week. I'm a little bummed about this. Especially since the DePaul credit I'll receive is the same as if I were taking 6 hours of French a week. Most other students are in the same position as me. If I was in a more advanced level then I would only have to take 9 hours a week, but still just receive credit for 6. It's a little bizarre and I just wish that I had Fridays off... but I'll have most of my afternoons free, and if I learn French it will be worth it.

Yesterday afternoon I came back to the hotel and fell asleep from 2pm-8pm. I woke up and my roommate was home and just waking up from a nap also. We decided to go explore the city a little. We got food at a grocery store and walked to the Eiffel Tower to eat it. The weather wasn't that great though. It was very windy and very cold. I didn't leave Chicago to come to another cold and windy city! The walk was nice though, and I felt like I saw a good portion of Paris. We decided to take the Metro back.

Today I got a French cellphone, ate a delicious quiche Lorraine and met my host family. There is much to tell about them, so I think I'll save it for tomorrow.

I love and miss you all! Grosses bises! xoxo

-Rebba