Mes Premières Impressions (My First Impressions)

Bonjour tout le monde!

A lot has happened since my last entry… including me moving in with my host family!

When we arrived in Paris we made our way to the center of the city and to the Accent Center. The Accent Center is responsible for organizing our program and teaching some of the classes we are taking. It’s nice to have a central meeting place for everyone and nice to have all of the resources they offer. We all ate together the first night (excluding the one girl who got stuck in Heathrow for 30 hours because it shut down after it snowed in London for the first time in over 10 years) which was REALLY great. I sat at a table that had one of the program directors at Accent and we spoke French most of the time. The food was incredible as well.

The first night a group of 7 of us went to a nearby café/bar and ordered 2 bottles of wine. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of the café and sat around talking/complaining about AU. So far I really really like most of the people doing my program. I can tell I am going to be good friends with most of them. (Oh yes, and there are 3 Laurens doing my program…)

Yesterday was hectic. We had orientation in the morning where they quickly shoved a lot of information at us. We were all just thankful to have some idea of what we are doing this semester since AU did a terrible job of preparing us for this program. We got a quasi-schedule of the semester and an orientation of the transportation and health systems in Paris. In the afternoon we talked about our homestays and met with the woman who organized who was staying with what family. It was really nerve-racking because we went in individually and everyone was nervous about where they would be living and with whom. Then we went back to the hotel where our families picked us up.

I’m living in a très chic neighborhood in Paris VERY close to the Arc de Triumph. I am living with Madame et(and) Monsieur Ferry… they are an older couple who have had study abroad students live with them for many years. She is originally from Germany but has lived all over and he is originally from Russia. They both know several languages, including English, but speak to me only in French (unless I need help or something is really important). It’s great because she corrects me and helps me figure out what I am trying to say. We have dinner together four nights a week at 8PM and last night she cooked me something American – spaghetti! I am a little disappointed that they don’t have any kids in the house but it was more important to me that they cook vegetarian and I couldn’t have both. So far I am doing ok understanding what they are saying. I’m doing a little more smiling and nodding than I would like but of course I will get better over time. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is understanding what they are saying, but not being able to respond with something intelligent.

The apartment is very nice. I have my own spacious room with 2 armoires, a desk and a vanity. I also have my own bathroom which isn’t common. The apartment is decorated in an older style which is cool. She likes to match everything so there is one periwinkle flowered pattern that is on my walls, my bed, my vanity and my curtains. My room and bathroom are on the other side of the apartment than their bedroom, which is nice, but right next to the kitchen. They also have a guestroom with its own bathroom, a study, a living room and a big dining room.

Nobody in my program lives that close to me which is also another down side. Although, everyone is pretty spread out in general. I am happy not to be living in a suburb.

My trip to the Accent center from my apartment isn’t bad because it is on the same metro line, but it will take at least 30 minutes every day. I’m not sure how long it will take to get to the Sorbonne yet. We start classes on Tuesday.

Speaking of the Sorbonne... we took our placement exam today for where we will be placed in the grammar classes. Not that it matters but I think it went ok. I just don’t want to be placed in a level that is too easy for me since I have been studying French for so long. The test included a written and an oral part so they have a lot to gauge from. We will also take a phonetics class at the Sorbonne which I am very excited about because my accent is soooo terrible.

Tonight we took a boat trip along the Seine. The boat ride is very touristy but was perfect for one of our first nights in Paris because we got to see all of the major buildings/monuments including the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower and some government buildings. So far I am in love with Paris! The city was built around the river and the buildings are fantastic.

Maybe culture shock hasn't hit me yet, but I think I'm going to like it here ;-)

This is a creepy stalker picture but my dad got this off of google... this is the front of my apartment building. We live on the first floor (which in the US is the second floor).

Le Tour d'Eiffel from the boat ride we took along the Seine!!

Some of the girls from my program.

Not a great picture of Notre Dame... I hope to get better ones in the future :-)

Pictures from Spain

Here are some pictures from the rest of my time in Spain...

These are some of the Roman ruins we saw at Santiponce. Some of the tile work is still left which is incredible. I believe this structure was called the House of the Birds.

This is the large amphitheater I was talking about. The center was used to house the animals and equipment needed for games. It's surprising how much is intact still. I have better pictures of the amphitheater but I wanted to put one up with the three of us :-)

Now to Cadiz... this is the Cathedral. Pretty awesome with the palm tree, huh?

I love this picture. It is taken in the Plaza of Flowers (I don't want to attempt my Spanish...). The restaurant we bought our fried fish at was in this plaza.

This is me on top of the tower I attempted to describe to you. It had incredible views of the city. You can see the Atlantic Ocean in the background!

The beach. Jackie is in the background putting her feet in the water.

The view from our Hostel in Granada. Our room was on the top floor and in the summer would have been awesome because the doors and windows opened up to this.

Jackie in the teteria we ate in. It was dark so my camera didn't get a great shot but you can see how cool it was inside.

The Alhambra! This is my favorite courtyard inside the main palace that we toured.

This isn't a great picture but it was the best for showing the architecture of the palaces. The detail in the archways is incredible and there are hundreds of columns used.

This is the courtyard of another palace on the grounds of the Alhambra. We studied this in Humanities my senior year of high school.

A view of the city from the Alhambra.

And a view of the Alhambra from the city. This is what the entire Alhambra looks like. We took this from the plaza on the hill across from the Alhambra. On the right is the military building called the Alcazaba. In the center you can see the main building. And in the background, the Sierra Nevada.

A Spanish woman at the plaza took this good picture of me and Jackie so I had to share.

In the words of Jackie... someone doesn’t want us to get to Paris

I’m writing this post while sitting on the plane waiting to leave for Paris. Right now we are almost two hours delayed because of congestion and weather in Paris – no flights are landing.

The rest of my week in Spain was incredible and consisted of several trips. On Thursday we traveled 30 minutes outside of the city to a town called Santiponce to see some Roman ruins. The ruins at Santiponce are the site where Emperor Hadrian was born. There were remains of several private and public houses, a theater, baths and a huge amphitheater. The amphitheater is the third largest Roman amphitheater in the world and was incredible to stand in. We were some of the only people there so it was also a little eerie.

On Thursday night a bunch of kids from “Semester at Sea” swarmed our hostel. Semester at Sea is a large cruise ship of 700 Americans who take classes at sea and get to travel wherever they make port. After interacting with some of the people on the program I am very glad I am going abroad the way I am doing it. These students aren’t able to immerse themselves in culture whatsoever and each stop for them is essentially just another chance to stay out all night and party. In fact... we ran into a group of girls who got back to the hostel from a night out at 7AM when we woke up to leave on Friday. Just a different take on studying abroad... and I’m glad I’m not doing it.

Friday we were lucky enough to get to tag along with a trip Emma’s program was taking. We traveled two hours south by bus to Cadiz (pronounced KA-DEEZ). Cadiz is on the Atlantic Ocean and is really popular for its beaches when it is warmer. We went on a tour of the historical part of the city (Emma did a great job of translating) which included the Cathedral and a tower. The tower is famous because they used a black light camera to transfer the images from the video camera on top of the tower to a canvas so you can see what is going on in the entire city. It’s hard to describe but really really cool. We went to the beach but didn’t go swimming. I got some sand for my collection and Jackie stuck her feet in the water. It was comforting to know home was just across the ocean…

Saturday Jackie and I headed to Granada. Granada is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains so it was much colder. On the train ride there I was watching the degrees drop from 15... 14...13...12 and eventually down to 10. We got to Granada around 4pm and found our hostel. It was difficult not knowing any Spanish and not having Emma to translate. We found that less people know English in Granada than Sevilla. It was rainy so we toured the Cathedral and the Capilla Real. The Capilla Real (or Royal Cathedral) is connected to the Cathedral and was commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella. It houses some of their relics and paintings as well as their remains. It was actually really creepy to go in the crypt and see their caskets. For dinner we went to a teteria (or Arab tea house). Granada has a lot of Moroccan influence so it has a more hippie feel to it. We sat on the bottom floor on cushions with people smoking hookah all around and Arabic music playing. We ate hummus and vegetable couscous and tried some Arab tea called bagdag.

Since we didn’t know the city that well we hung out at the hostel on Saturday night. I was happy we did because it allowed us to talk to a bunch of people who were staying there. First, we talked to an English boy who right away asked if we watched “24” (that makes TWO foreigners who I’ve talked to about “24”!!). Then we ended up talking to a kid from Denmark. It’s hard to comprehend the European way of traveling. There is no way as Americans we would decide to work a crappy job for 6 months after high school to save up money to go blow on traveling around a country (or state) of our choice like he did. This kid from Denmark described how he just pays for hostels by every 2 nights and then decides if he wants to stay longer. He had plans to be in Barcelona for a few days and ended up there for 2 weeks. He also just wonders around the cities he visits with no plans in mind. Not exactly my way of traveling…

Sunday we visited the Alhambra. Wow. That is one word to describe it. I studied architecture in the Alhambra in high school and it is even more fantastic in person. The Alhambra is essentially a large fortress built on the hill overlooking Granada. Apparently there has been some sort of establishment on the site since the 9^th century; however, most of the palaces were built in the 13^th or 14^th centuries. There are several palaces and a military structure. The main palace is incredible... the Arabic design of the archways and the walls can’t really be described in words. I’ll have to put a few pictures up for you. We bought one of those audio guides which was useful for learning what certain rooms and buildings were used for. It was really windy and cold but we made sure to do everything possible and were there for four hours. Afterwards, (as Emma recommended) we walked into the neighborhood on the hill across from the Alhambra for the best full view of the Alhambra. We both said the same thing when we got up the hill onto the Plaza de San Nicolas… “Whoa”.

We had a little bit of a travel scare last night. Jackie had to take a different train back from Granada than me that got in three hours later. However, when Emma and I got to the train station we did not see Jackie get off of the train. It was really scary. I thought of two scenarios… either she could not find the train station in Granada and missed the train or she got confused and had gotten off at the stop before ours that was also in Sevilla. I went back to the hostel to check my email and call the hostel in Granada but THANK GOD she showed up 20 minutes later. She had gotten off at the wrong stop and it took her awhile to find a taxi back. We had NO way of communicating so if she hadn’t have showed up I don’t know what I would’ve done or how she would have gotten to Paris. Moral of the story/trip… always make a backup plan in case you get separated!

The switch from Spanish to French will be interesting... I was just getting the hang of getting around on the few Spanish phrases I know. Hopefully it will be even easier now since I somewhat know the language. I’m also excited to finally learn more about my program – including who I’m living with!