That afternoon, I worked at unpacking my few bags. I was so shocked at how many things I brought and at the same time how much I had left behind. I feel like I have just what I need and not too much extra. Jonathan and Karen Finley's son, Samuel, helped me unpack and was delighted at the little candies that kept jumping out of my bags. He is just over 2 years and the cutest half French kiddo. When they dress him up to go out, he wears a huge puffy coat and little hat like all the other french children. :)


I tried to stay up as long as I could that first day. I started to fall asleep during the "journals" on TV and had to drag myself up to my apartment. Everything had changed so fast. I slept pretty well waking only once for a momentary millenium. I roused at 7:30am to watch the sun rise over the small town of Lognes where I now life.



That second day I savored a shower that helped wash the airplane scum from me and dressed only slightly warmer for a cloudy Paris day. J and I worked on the errands that legalize me in France. We tried to withdraw the funds that I had received for my first month here but the ATM wouldn't render what I requested. We took the Metro/RER into town to the language school where I'll study come March. Its located just a little NE of the Arc de Triomph in a nice area of town and a chick building. I'm still working on turning my body clock over so I had begun to tire but feeling pretty alert, I attempted my entrance exam. I surprised myself and finished the entire 4 page questionarie which progressively got more difficult until I was guessing at subjonctif conjugations. I realized how tired I was when I reviewed a few of my answers and found stupid mistakes and corrected them. The prof who reviewed my work and slashed violent lines through my mistakes, looked at me curiously when I said I hadn't studied in 4 years. He put me in an intermediate level in both grammar and conversation. I'll get total review and and a notch higher class in conversation: Moyen 1 for Grammar and Moyen 2 for conversation. J was pleased with my results saying it was a truer evaluation than if I had studied and then I had a bit of cushion too instead of drowning in a upper level course.


We tried to get into the Embassy to get a birth certificate but we were 3 minutes too late. J and I strolled into the Jardin de Tuilleries for tea and coffee and sat under the heat lamps in the park. We discussed the internship, OIKOS and dreamed. It is a bit rough starting off a new project like this, so we pioneer ahead. The money is short and the team is only in its infancy but the potential is exciting. We continued our walk up through the Louvre courtyard and down into the Metro to ride home. It was so crazy to walk through areas I know and think "this is my new home for the next 2 years." I felt comfortable like I know this giant city and it knows me. I also see that I have so much adapting to do. Hearing fullspeed french again is a shock and I am overwhelmed. I find my legs hurting from the clipped walk that everyone seems to use. (I guess I'll lose the pounds and convert to muscle.) The women are tiny here. I was cold and mostly my face hurt from the cold so I purposed to get my hands on a warmer coat ASAP.


We began the hunt by visiting a new mall down the freeway a few kilometers. K and I took Sammy and started hunting in the stores. We finally found one jacket that was semi winter weight/semi spring and styling. I just couldn't feel good buying something too expensive but I knew I needed it and would use it the next 2 years so I went for it.


I guess one of the craziest feelings is being displaced so quickly leaving behind the old schedule and suddenly having a new one to discover. Everything I used to do like clockwork is now obsolete.


My favorite smell here is the laundry detergent. I'm going to send a little bit to a friend who loves doing laundry! Think they'll let me mail an envelope with laundry detergent in it?