Hi Everyone!
I'm actually feeling pretty sick right now, so I'm not going to write very much. I just thought that I would post some pics so that you could see what I did over the weekend.

This is a picture from a get-together we had on Thursday night. Leona, on the left, has an apartment, so we all gathered there to celebrate Daniel's 21 birthday. (L-R: Leona, Nola, Camille, Me).
On Saturday when I was out and about, I took pics of my neighborhood so that you could get a better feel for where I live. This first one is my view as I walk from the foyer to the metro stop. The bright neon cross sign is a pharmacy (all pharmacies in Paris have that sign). The second picture is of the light-rail tram that runs along blvd Massena, in front of my foyer.

This last picture I took at Camille's mother's apartment. Her mom is French and runs the study abroad program at Hamilton College. She has a group of students in Paris right now, and so the school lets them live in the apartment while they're here. It was a great evening. I got there early and together with Nola, Camille and Addie, went shopping for groceries to make dinner. We actually went to the Bon Marche, which was the first department store in the world. It's extremely beautiful, and also expensive. We did most of our shopping at a cheaper supermarket down the street.

Well, that's all for now. I'm going to go crawl back into bed. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Liza

I can't believe it's almost been a week!

Sorry for not writing in a few days. I didn’t get kidnapped or anything, it’s just been really crazy with classes and everything. We start at 9am and have lecture until 12:30pm. It’s a pretty long time to sit and take notes, but I manage to stay alert by drinking a lot of tea. Then we get an hour and a half for lunch. I have really been saving money just by buying cheese and veggies and keeping them in the fridge at IFE and then getting a baguette each day to make a sandwich. Then we have small group from 2-3:45. We have a ton of homework for that class! I have to give 3 different 15 minute oral presentations next week, one Tuesday, one Wednesday, and one Thursday. And I thought that I was going to get off easy this semester. Oh well. Then in the evenings, not everyday, but a couple times a week we have field trips or watch movies. So often, like it happened yesterday, I leave at 8:15 in the morning and don’t get back to the foyer until 6pm. It’s a long day! I’m used to maybe a couple hours of class and then being able to go back to my room.

Yesterday, for our afternoon field trip, we visited Hotel de Ville. It’s Paris City Hall and it is BEAUTIFUL! I took a bunch of pictures, because it’s not a museum so it’s fine to take as many pictures as you want. There are tons of sculptures and paintings that fill the place, including a Rodin sculpture. I can't believe that the mayor of Paris and all the city administrative staff actually work in this building!

The reception hall (they were getting ready for a cocktail reception)

View of the Courtyard and the tower

The incredible view of the Seine and the top of Notre Dame from one of the windows

Another hall, covered in paintings, chandeliers and gold plating

Marianne, by Rodin (in the room where foriegn heads of state are received)

Monday night, Daniel, Allegra and I were supposed to meet up with the rest of our class for dinner and a movie. Unfortunately we were late to the meeting spot, and because none of us had phones at that point, we couldn’t call anyone. So we decided to walk around the Montparnasse area. It’s full of shops and movie theaters. Daniel spotted the top of the Eiffel Tower and insisted that we try to walk to it. He’s like me, and has never been to Paris before, so we both were extremely excited about it. We didn’t get that close, but did get to see it sparkle, which was amazing.

We ended up right by Napoleon’s Tomb, so I took pictures of that too, because it looked so great all lit up in the dark.

Since we had set out to see a movie, we decided to go see one ourselves. It’s hard to find movies in the original version, with subtitles rather than dubbing, but we eventually found “Je suis une legende” (I’m sure you can guess what that was) which was fun, but made me all jumpy. I’ll have to go back, because they serve Hagendaaz ice cream, which I was too full to buy.

So yeah, that’s been my week. I don’t have a group photo yet, but don’t worry Dad, I’ll take one soon. I have a picture of a few of the girls, because we went out last night. That's below. I hope you enjoy.

Left to right: Leona, Whitney, Allegra, Me, Nola

I love you all and keep leaving me messages! It makes my day, really.

Liza

Today was the first day of the program, but instead of classes, we had a two hour orientation session and then wine and snacks. These French people…I mean it was just a little past noon, and they were bringing out the bottles. But it did the trick. Everyone mingled and introduced themselves and it was really nice to meet all the people on the program (even if we had to talk all in French). There will be 14 of us, but today there were only 13 because one girl is still stuck in the U.S., too sick to get on a plane. We’re all girls, except for Dani, the guy from Mac. There are a couple of girls who have French parents or who have lived in France for part of their life, so that’s a bit intimidating. But all in all, I fall somewhere in the middle of French speaking ability, so I think I’ll be ok.

We all went out to lunch near IFE. I didn’t eat anything, because I just haven’t had much of an appetite since getting here and I had eaten fruit and granola for breakfast not too long before. IFE is very close to the Bastille (or rather, where the Bastille used to be, since it’s not there anymore), and because other people had their cameras out, I felt comfortable enough to take a picture of the statue that stands on the spot where the Bastille was. Here it is.

Now I’m going to take a nap. I think that either I’m still jet-lagged or else having to process French all the time is making me sleepy. Later this evening a bunch of us are going to meet up (one of the girls, Leona, has an apartment) and then go get something to eat and catch a movie. She’s promised that the movies will have subtitles rather than being dubbed, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

I can’t post this right now because I have lent out my Ethernet cord, but I will hopefully post this before I leave tonight so that you will all know what I’ve been up to. I think I’m going to survive, which is a nice realization. But I do miss you all, and it always makes my day to get notes from you. Thank you for posting!

Love

Liza

Another free day in Paris

(I actually wrote this yesterday, but the lounge with the modem for internet closes at midnight, and I ended up going out with Dani (the guy from Mac), Izra (a Mac girl that did my program last semester) and some of her friends. We didn't get in until after midnight, at which time I found out that not only do they not have wireless here, but they also won't let you access the modem between the hours of 12am and 8am. How frustrating!)

So today I braved the metro, with the help of Allegra, who is in my program and lives on the 6^th floor of my building. We decided to go to the Jewish quarter which is across the seine, close to La Place de la Bastille. It’s Sunday, and even the major supermarkets are closed here. Only cafes seem to be open on Sundays, except for the Jewish area, which is teeming with shoppers. It was nice to walk around and window shop (in French window shopping translates to window licking, which I think is pretty funny). Most the shops were small boutiques and outrageously expensive, which is strange because January is sale time and every store has huge 50% off signs in their windows. Maybe 85 euros for a small decorative pillow seems reasonable to these Parisians, who are used to paying double that price, I don’t know. We wandered around until it got dark and even stumbled upon La Place de la Bastille, which is strangely unimpressive. It’s like a huge roundabout with tons of traffic and a really huge statue in the middle called La Gloire (Glory).

I guess I learned some valuable things today, such as if you really need to buy something, don’t wait til Sunday to do it, and if you want to buy less expensive food from a café, find one that isn’t French, like a Greek or Chinese place.

Oh, and before I go, I want to share this picture, since I find it so amusing. This is a mannequin in the window of a maternity clothing store. I think that all pregnant women should really start wearing tube tops, it’s a great look. Especially if they have legs that look like those!

Well, that picture made me laugh, anyway, even if no one else finds it amusing. Here also is a picture of the smart car (the kind that I was trying to describe to you Mike). They’re all over the place here, and just so cute. But, even though they’re extremely tiny, the French still seem to have a hard time parking them. They don’t seem to care that if you parallel park right against someone else’s bumper, that person won’t be able to get out.

I miss you all and really like hearing from you. Thanks for all your comments and keep writing me! It keeps me sane knowing that you are not that far away. Love,

Liza

In Paris and just a little bit overwhelmed

So this is officially my first post in France. I've been here for a day and a half and still feel totally overwhelmed. I have never traveled by myself, let alone moved to a foreign country, so this experience is quite new, and a little scary.
I got into Charles de Gaulle airport yesterday around 11am and luckily had no mishaps finding my luggage or a taxi. A short ride, and almost 50 euros later, and I was at my foyer (which is what student housing is called here). I had to fill out about a million forms and then I was given a tour of the building and shown my room. Let's just say I was underwhelmed with the room, which is small and has stained and cracked linoleum floors. At least it has a sink, which I am very grateful for. I found a mall sort of thing in the afternoon (centre commercial) and bought some things to make the room more livelable. Here are some pictures:

my bed with my new yellow blanket instead of the really itchy gross one they gave me
the ugly itchy blanket that i replaced

my desk

the view out of my window (the grass is where the light rail goes)

I've been walking around quite a bit and was happy today to find some cute alley ways to stroll. Here are some row houses that I really loved. They're split down the middle and some are even two different colors on either side.

And here's a windmill that just popped up out of nowhere in the middle of all these apartment buildings

And the bocce ball court that was full today with men (mostly old) because it's Saturday. They saw my camera and waved, which I thought was pretty funny.

Well that is all for now. I will write again when things liven up. I'm looking forward to Monday, when I get to meet everyone from my program. Also, I should let everyone know that the name of my blog (heh hmmmm...Hannah) is misleading, because I am not anywhere near the Eiffel Tower or anything touristy for that matter. My neighborhood has a lot of Chinese grocery stores and restaurants and a ton of apartment buildings. I will take more pictures of the neighborhood when I go out walking tomorrow.
I miss you all and would love to hear from you,
Liza