I've arrived safely and am now in the FIAP hotel. I haven't really slept in 30 or so hours so I'm really tired, but the hotel is having open mic night so there is a party going on here. The Wifi is only free for 30 minutes so I don't have too much time. We went to the Louvre today and I saw the Mona Lisa plus a lot of medevil artwork . Unfortunately we left for the Louvre 5 minutes after we arrived in the FIAP so I didn't even have time to change before we went. I was falling asleep on my feet but the tour and the art was still fantastic. I miss you guys already! Most of the people here speak some English so that's what people mostly speak, and there are an overwhelming amount of Canadians here. There are at least 10 of us that I know of.
Well that's what's happened today, the flight was awful. The food was gross and I didn't sleep at all. The people sitting next to me were interesting though, there was a lady from Toronto who is going to Moscow and a man who moved to Canada 4 years ago from Nigeria and is returning there to visit family and friends. I watched 2 movies, "When Harry met Sally" and the french dub of "Big Fish". We had our own little personal screens with movies and games. It was a poor substitute for real sleep though.
I'll be in touch again when I get to Laronde and my host family (the maple syrup arrived intact).
Day one in Paris:
So since the first day is described in the email above, I'll just fill in some blanks. I have a roommate, she is from Germany and her name is Sarah. There are a lot of people from Germany and Canada, but at least 10 different countries are represented here. There are 80 exchange students at the orientation, and almost all of them speak more English than French. I haven't had to speak much French, but I know more French than most of the exchange students here. Some of them know none at all. It is interesting to note that there are only 10 boys here, the rest are girls.
Day two in Paris:
Breakfast today was cereal and bread. I couldn't find the milk at first, so I ate my cereal dry. Then I was thirsty, so I found the milk after someone else asked where it was, but I didn't realize that there were two different dispensers for it, so I drank a full glass of hot milk that I later realized was for hot chocolate which they served alongside the coffee. This meal was not the greatest, but it beat shat I had this afternoon: a "pain oriental" , which tasted alright but was full of salt and fat. For desert I had a crepe with honey, which for some reason I thought was going to taste like baklava but ended up tasting gross because the lady undercooked it. My dinner today was very tasty and healthy. I think that once I understand the language a bit better I'll be able to find food I'll actually enjoy.
After breakfast, we took a boat ride down the Seine River. We saw the Eiffel tower, and the Pont Alexandre III (a bridge), and we passed bridges that were covered in locks. Couples travel to the Seine river to attach the locks to the bridges and throw the key into the river. This is to say you don't need the key because you always want to be together. It's so romantic, but I wonder how many of those lock couples stayed together. Also, I saw a few combination locks. How does that work?
This picture is only one small section of the bridge rail, the rest is like this too.
After the boat ride, we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very beautiful and intricate, with lots of candles burning.
Later tonight is the talent show. I don't have to participate, but I'm going to watch. It's mainly for the 40 exchange students that have been here for a week.
Tomorrow I am meeting my host family in Laronde, my home town for the next 3 months. I will be updating this blog again in two or three days, so until then, goodnight.
