Today, we woke up at 8:15 to get breakfast and plan our day off. We decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and have a picnic lunch right in one of the parks nearby. Today, not only was I the translator but I also played métro navigator, as it seemed I was the only one familiar enough with directions to navigate the train system. We ended up spending about five hours just roaming around that district of Paris, also finding the first model of the Statue of Liberty as well as taking several leisurely walks on and across the Seine.
When we got back to the FIAP, we had about 2 hours to kill before the one thing we had to do today. I ended up just going online and checking up on everything, making sure that I got the internet figured out and such. We had to go to a photo booth and get pictures taken for a couple of our passes, so I also cut the pictures to size and placed them accordingly. I tried to drink as much water as possible throughout the day to avoid dehydration, but around 4:00 pm I was getting too tired so I indulged in a "Coca-Light" (Diet Coke) to get my energy back up.
A lot of us weren't looking forward to the tour we had scheduled this evening because we were under the impression that it would be comparable to what we did the day before. Thankfully we didn't skip out because we saw a whole new side to the district, that's for sure. I had no idea we were so close to the catacombs! And the tour guide showed us a lot of useful stores and shops for our day-to-day usage as well as the "cheap food" district for meals. I know a bunch of us are planning to start exploring come tomorrow.
I am happy to say that my lunches so far have only been about 5-10 euros. If you convert it to dollars it seems terribly expensive, but considering what I budgeted, it makes me happy that it's actually that low.
After the tour, we went back to FIAP for dinner which was not my favorite. I'm really trying not to be picky about what I eat and try everything at least once, but I'm pretty sure tomorrow I'm going to play it safe with either quiche, chopped steak, or pizza.
After dinner we sat and talked for a bit. When the sun goes under buildings it actually gets quite cool outside, especially with the wind. It's hard to think about how I just got here when it feels like I'm already accustomed to everything. Highlight of the day was definitely booking tickets to see a ballet at the Paris Opera House!!!
Unfortunately, one cannot enjoy such a vacation without some negatives the balance out all the good. I don't want to sound like I'm not enjoying myself, because I am, but already there are some things that are starting to bug me:
-There is a clique already forming of "those" kind of Americans. Very stereotypical, very inappropriate, and very condescending. Hopefully being around the culture long enough will help take the edge off
-I have very little to no excitement to explore the city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was nice and I am very excited to go back to the Opera House, but when we were just exploring I felt no sense of adventure in me. Unfortunately it reminded me often why I wanted to go to Quebec instead of Paris in the first place.
-The vast majority of participants on this program are from Kentucky, and they have that VERY thick and strong accent. I have always been a fan of the accent, I think it sounds soothing. But I'm noticing it start to come in my English drawl, and I don't like that. It's harder to speak French with exaggerated diphthongs...
-I lost my room key today and had to get it replaced. Did not realize I was going to be THAT girl. Rawr...
However, I feel the need to spread the word about some really positive points I've already noticed:
-When I speak French in town, I'm not looked down at as some silly American. Last time I came to Paris I didn't like the fact that they recognized my accent and automatically thought we couldn't speak the language, even when all we spoke was French. Currently, if I speak French to them, they reply back in French with no hesitation or English. That's definitely something that makes me smile =D
-Along with that, word must be getting out that I'm the token French major because more and more people are asking me to either translate or just give random vocabulary out for usage. I definitely love using the language like this.
-I had made a joke that if I didn't speak French I wouldn't have made as many friends so quickly, and almost everyone came back and countered it with that we would still be friends no matter what language anyone spoke. Even though I try and be as extroverted as possible, that definitely helped me not be so shy towards others in the group that I hadn't gotten to know yet.
-Even though I wasn't enjoying exploring Paris myself, I was definitely enjoying seeing everyone else enjoy exploring. I loved taking pictures of everyone and seeing their faces when we happened upon something historical or monumental. Not to mention being surrounded by people I consider friends, no matter where we are, it's definitely a good time.
There see? The bads don't cancel anything out. The bottom line is I'm glad I'm here to take classes and meet new people and gain experience in the language and society. Tomorrow the only thing I have on my plate is class from 1-3, and then I think we're going to tour the neighborhood on our own just to make our own discoveries. Should definitely be fun!
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