Undergrad Goes Abroad

Bonjour!

It is my first night in Paris, everyone. Unfortunately I've got a tiny bit of a stomach ache (I think the time adjustment and new food need to settle in), so I'm lying in my hotel, blogging. I hate to think I'll spend my first night here in bed, but I've got a great day ahead of me tomorrow to make up for it!
                                     

My plane landed here at 7:30am, France time. All of my flights were excellent! First, I went from Grand Rapids to Chicago on a 1/2 hour flight, on which I ran into my co worker and his new wife! It was a nice surprise to have familiar travel companions. :) After a brief layover in Chicago, I had a two hour flight to NYC with no issues whatsoever. The New York airport was also easy to navigate, and I was on my big international flight in no time!

My travelling companions were a young born-french man who recently quit his job out of monotony and had become a bit of a nomad. He helped my practice my french pronunciation, although it's quite a task. On the other side of him was another young man, headed to France to teach English for seven months! We slept most of the way, but what brief conversations we had were interesting.

After the crazy task of navigating the Charles De Gaulle airport, I met my program director and a couple of other students from my program. We each received a green packet of information about our stay, including maps of Paris and museum pass. After that, we were stuffed into a tiny van and had a wild ride to the hotel. (Parisians may know how to cook, but they cannot drive).
                              
My hotel is absolutely lovely! I share a room with three other girls, two of which are students just out of high school, and one who is two years older than me from Alaska. They are fantastic companions, as are the rest of the API students I've met. (There are fourteen of us altogether).

After taking a nice shower, one of my roommates and I walked down the street and purchased some sandwiches for lunch. Fresh baguette, chicken, mayo, tomato, and lettuce. Mmmmm. We at together in a nearby park and took a walk around the block. After returning to the hotel room, I just crashed. 

Top left: Eiffel Tower, Top right: lock bridge, Middle right: Notre Dame, Bottom: Metro

At 3:00pm we had a meeting to introduce ourselves too all of the students who are here in Paris this week, and discuss basic safety measures. Then, we took the metro to the Seine and rode a boat down the river, seeing all of Paris from the water.

After the boat trip is when I started feeling under the weather, so I excused myself from dinner and came back to the hotel. That being said, I think I'll get some shut-eye. <3