Oh what a crazy journey these last 48 hours have been! Definitely went through a lot to get to where we are now, and I have to say I am glad to be here!
It is currently 10:22 pm in Paris, making it 4:22 pm back in Plainfield. I have probably accumulated about 7 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours...awesome!
So my journey started yesterday (Wednesday) making our journey to the Cincinnati airport, experiencing no bad traffic, but some bizarre fog. Once arriving, we stood around for an hour and a half waiting for our faculty escort to take us through as previously arranged. We ended up going through without him because of his tardiness, only to find out that our flight to Dallas (where we would be flying from to France) had been cancelled and we had to go on the next one scheduled an hour and fifteen minutes later.
This flight was actually not the most enjoyable. Although surrounded by friends and other trip members, the plane was fun-sized. Everything was so tiny...I had no idea how it could stay on course without the wind whipping it away! Maybe it didn't, because several of us experienced pressure headaches and nausea directly following the flight. Our original three hour layover had been reduced even though our next flight was delayed. I spent my time nibbling on pretzels praying for my Excedrin and Pepto Bismol to kick in. The flight to Paris could probably not have been more enjoyable unless moved to first class, because I had an aisle seat AND there was no one sitting in the seat directly next to me. Lots of leg room and ability to stretch without getting in someone else's space. And the actual flying of the plane was superb, we didn't experience too bad turbulence or tilting. Overall it was an enjoyable flight. The food was nice, they kept us hydrated, and I was even allowed a complimentary glass of wine with dinner. I could get used to that ;)
I tried dozing a couple of times. I believe overall I obtained about four hours of sleep, which compared to my comrades was a lot. Landing was fine and the next thing we know we're getting our bags and are in a bus heading to the south of Paris!
After a slow and uneventful bus ride, we get to the FIAP where we dropped off our bags and went in search for lunch. Then we had a series of meetings talking about our rooms, our meals, our classes, and the FIAP building itself. I actually have class starting on Saturday so we can get into the swing of things as quickly as possible. After our last meeting we went on a mini-tour of the neighborhood so if we needed to buy anything in particular we would know where to go. I then went with two friends to the mall so they could purchase cheap travel cell phones so they could communicate while abroad.
And thus my job as translator commenced.
Which I have always enjoyed, but it just got more amusing each time I was asked to translate. There are a couple of people who know limited French, but no one in our group with fluent enough or confident enough to interact with the store venders to ask questions. I ended up doing a lot of the talking for ordering lunch, obtaining cell phones, and searching for watches throughout the neighborhood. It was with this that I realized how much I enjoy being surrounded by the language and all that it entails! It's really nice to be able to reply in French and actually be understood, and a really cool feeling to be admired for speaking the language. Can't say that happens often.
So I have connected with a lot of people here just by being able to communicate with the necessary parties, and also a lot of people are just really fun to be around.
So after our adventures we went back to FIAP for dinner, showers, unpacking, and just relaxing trying to stay awake as long as possible in order to not wake up at 5 in the morning with nothing to do. Tomorrow is a free day except we have another tour at 5:45 pm. Until then, who knows what tomorrow will bring?
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