oh, you know, just an update from paris

i don't even know where to begin!
there is so much to write about..

oh well. might as well jump right into it. i've got some wine at my side, and some nat king cole on vinyl playing in the background, so this is about to be a very pleasant evening spent writing, relaying my adventures.

i suppose i should start with the flights over here to la belle france. the plane from cleveland to chicago was the tiniest contraption i have ever seen, but somehow it flew and got me to o'hare. i was sitting next to a very blonde german girl (whose boyfriend is from ravenna, weird) and we spent the 50 minute flight talking about europe, and languages, and exchange rates, and schools, and i have an invitation to munich which i might just have to take up. o'hare has starbucks around every corner, and is actually a very cool airport. i enjoyed my two hour layover there immensely. especially all the artworks. and, before i knew it, it was time to board the plane for france!

when i found my seat, i was very excited to see that i was sitting next to a pretty cute french guy. he had his ipod headphones in, though, so i just figured we'd exchange our life stories and fall in love later. but he never took them out. in fact, he may have been the weirdest seatmate i have ever encountered. he was either listening to french house music very loudly, or watching movies. i'm pretty sure he didn't sleep during the entire flight. when the flight attendants came by with drink #1, dinner, drink #2, breakfast, and drink #3, he simply waved his hand and shook his head no. he didn't eat a thing. oh except drink #3, i suppose. the flight attendant was ready to move on after i had (very nicely) asked for an orange juice, but mr. crabby french guy yelled "JUS D'ORANGE!" right in my ear, and after the flight attendant had recovered from his shock, gave him his sole nourishment during the eight hour flight. weird, right?

i exited the plane and i was in FRANCE. but of course i couldn't really think about that because my body was in full-on survival mode, and before i knew it i had made it through customs, through baggage claim, through the AirFrance bus, and was at the gare de lyon, frantically calling jess to see if she was in her studio apartment to help me with my luggage. when i couldn't get through to her, i sat down on a bench and was immediately accosted by some very friendly pigeons. i hate pigeons. but i dealt with it because i had made it all the way there all by myself. the gare de lyon (a train station) is beautiful (i really just love all of the architecture here). as i was looking around, i couldn't stop smiling. i'm here. i made it.

what have i done since then?

i haven't been here a full week yet, and yet i feel like so much has been going on. after that first night at jess's (so many s-es. s's? geez. i'm done trying) i moved into the FIAP, a youth hostel, for a couple of nights with the rest of NYU in Paris! i've been meeting so many people and i can't really get the names straight. it's a little overwhelming. but so far, everyone seems really cool. okay, not everyone. but there are a lot of people that i would like to become great friends with, which is always good. it's always good to be surrounded by intelligent, inspiring folk.

i got a 'Navigo,' which is basically a high-tech version of a re-fillable weekly/monthly metro card. it has a nifty little smart chip on it that is scanned at the subway entrances. i can even put it at the bottom of my purse and set my purse on the scanner. that's how cool these french people are. so anyway, this Navigo is rather pricey for my liking, which just means that i will have to get out and explore this city from top to bottom and all around too. (side note: everything here is rather pricey for my liking. think new york prices, and then convert that to euros. i feel like i'm spending so much here. and on what? i'm really going to have to start babysitting like a fiend. or find some other means of cash flow).

anyway, i guess where i was going with all that Navigo speak was that i became very familiar with the 6 train, as i had to take it about three or four times a day, from to FIAP to the NYU center, and back again. the NYU center is in the very ritzy 16th arrondissement, at 56 rue de Passy, which is actually an entire complex hidden behind a great big set of blue double doors. i feel strange describing it as "charming," and "quaint," but that's really what it is. a very Parisian mansion, plus a converted stable, and an apartment make for about 6 or 7 classrooms for the 150 of us. i'll put pictures up soon! we've met all the directors, and student life leaders, and all of that, and it's really just like being in one big family. with lots of matriarchs. i really think it's going to be a great semester. now i just need to decide what classes i'm taking....

so that's the school part. what about everything else?

it really just hit me today that i'm actually living here, instead of just on vacation. and that is probably because i moved into my apartment this afternoon. yes, apartment. i am living all by my lonesome in an enormous apartment literally a 10-minute walk from school. apparently the demand for homestays exceeded the supply, so i am in an apartment. which just means that i am going to have to try harder in order to put myself in real, live, french-speaking situations. but that's totally okay, because one of my overall goals for this semester was to get out of my comfort zone. this just maximizes the need. NYU has this exchange thing with students from other universities in paris (real French ones) where you meet with someone for an hour or two each week, and spend half the time speaking in french and half the time speaking in english, to improve language skills. i think i'll probably do that. maybe take some dance classes. who knows. the opportunities are endless!!

okay i'll stop sounding like a motivational poster.

the apartment is huge. too big for little old me. 52 square meters....let's convert that. 559.723 square feet. that's a lot of square footage for faustyna. a family room, a dining room, a bedroom, a tiny tiny kitchen, a toilet, and a bathroom. plus a complicated hallway network. pictures of that coming soon too. although maybe i'll just post those on facebook. i'll think about it. the apartment is full of antiques, and vinyl records, and i really think that it will be a good place to be (although i will mostly be out exploring all the time anyway). the only bad thing is that it's on the rez-de-chaussé (the ground floor) which means that my windows open out right onto the street. that's what shutters are for, but it's kind of awkward when they're open and people are walking by. oh well. if that's my only qualm.. oh and also since i'm on the ground floor, the musée de l'homme is my view. if i was one floor up (or if the museum wasn't there) i would have a perfect view of the eiffel tower. i'll post photos of my morning commute as well, so everyone can feast his/her eyes.

i'm not really sure what else to write about.
it will come to me later. and i will write later.
now it is time for bed.

bonsoir, paris. bonsoir, tout le monde!