Salut mes amis! The last three days have seemed like three weeks. It’s hard to believe that I haven’t even been here one week yet! Although my sleep schedule is just barely adjusted—this morning was the first day my alarm woke me up at 7:15. Sunday and Monday I woke up around 4 again (but stayed in my room away from the creaky stairs) and yesterday I only woke up maybe a half hour before my alarm—now I just need to work on actually being able to stay up past 10… Sunday I went to Catholic mass with the family, in a huge Cathedral that was beautiful! The service was held downstairs, in the crypt for St. Martin (of Tours). I guess the service is held in the crypt because it’s slightly smaller (and while there ... read more

This morning I woke up at 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep, and I had no idea when my family gets up in general, but I didn’t want them to be up and doing things and me secluding myself in my room. I decided that 8 would probably be a good time to go downstairs with a book and then I could wait in the living room or dining room reading. So I quietly opened my door and started down the staircase. However, quietly is NOT an adjective that can be used with this particular set of stairs. With each step I felt like I was waking up the dead, so I tried to walk slower, but that just made the noises last longer. I finally got down to the second floor—which is where ... read more

Hello friends! I survived my first day and it is absolutely FABULOUS here. I sadly didn’t get to sleep on the plane from Newark to Paris, but the Bucknell professor here (Professor Westbook) picked us up from the airport in a large bus and I slept for the entirety of the three hour drive to Tours. Tours is beautiful, although for a European it probably looks like any other town. There is a trace of snow on the ground from some crazy weather they’ve had over the past week. (It’s usually Oregon weather here—lots of rain, but not usually cold enough for snow.) The bus pulled off to the side of the road next to La Loire river, and we waited for our French families to come pick us up. It was a Friday, so just ... read more

Greetings! I’m sitting in the Newark airport right now waiting to meet up with the rest of my group. Nothing super exciting has happened yet—I rolled out of bed around 5:30 and the parents took me to good ol’ PDX. On our way out, my mom convinced me that it was indeed a good idea to take the sweet blanket that my grandparents gave me for Christmas. (I was debating earlier about taking it and had decided not to because it’s large.) But in the end, we decided to throw it in, which resulted in my bag weighing in at 53.0 pounds, and therefore the loss of a sweater and an extra sweatshirt to wear on the plane. But all is well! I also sat next to a really interesting woman on the flight. I would ... read more

So today was my last day at home...for five months! I can't believe that the semester that I've dreamed about since high school is finally here! Today was filled with packing...weighing the suitcase...repacking, reweighing, and repeat. Luckily good ol' St. Nick was good to me this year and brought me a sweet suitcase weigh-er thing that I just hook onto my suitcase and pick up, and it tells me exactly how much stuff needs to be taken out of my suitcase...much better than coal. I took a break from the packing for a fabulous steak dinner with crab salad that my mom made for me (apparently the family I'm staying with doesn't eat meat for dinner very often). She also made a three layer chocolate cake with marshmallow-ish frosting in honor of my departure, which was ... read more