arrival.

i am in paris, writing this from the room in my temporary student housing.

i arrived earlier today, after one cancelled flight and another delayed. i arrived two hours after i was scheduled to, then spent another two hours trying to track down my checked baggage. turns out it was lost, as were almost twenty other bags belonging to other passengers. so, i cannot post my pictures until tomorrow, when the bag holding my camera cord is likely to be delivered to me. after that, i spent another forty minutes outside the airport, trying to reserve a shuttle to get me to my student housing. a boy spoke to me, failing miserably at coercing my phone number out of me. while he was speaking french to me, all i could think of was the movie "taken" and the boy who approaches the main characters at the airport, and sells them into slavery and prostitution. my dad is no liam neeson, so i knew it was best to just discourage his advances. which is, sadly, easier said in english than done in french.

but i am here, have already made friends, and am absolutely loving it.

the city is dusted in snow, and my boots crunch and slip when i walk. my breath fans out in front of me in huge puffs, and the world seems much smaller and tighter than it does in phoenix. whenever it has snowed around me before, everything has gotten silent and still. in paris, that does not seem to be the case. the sounds of traffic are endless, sirens split the air, and voices filter up through my window from the street below. the world is close, but nowhere near quiet. the sun is setting now, and the sky is a pink haze which fades into the bright blue that only winter snow can create. the buildings are tall and narrow, old and quaint with their chimneys and the long floor-to-ceiling windows boast shutters, romeo and juliet gates, and contrasting trim. arches adorn the narrow streets, tiny cars with round headlights weave their way in and out of each other, and the city simply feels old. i am looking forward to seeing the other arrondissements, there is so much more to discover.

earlier, a few girls who live in my building and i went exploring our neighborhood. we walked aimlessly in either direction, lost in conversation and the beauty of the architecture. i half listened to what they were saying, hoping to memorize and file away the images of the curve of the streets, the color of the buildings, and the font of the signs. i devoured every word hungrily, trying to decipher their english meaning, saying each syllable in my head to practice later. i have been speaking french all day now, peppered by english curses and random phrases said on accident, when my frustration outgrew the speed at which i can speak in french. i have encountered many people who dont speak english, but sincerely listen to my broken french and respond in kind, trying to help. i have also met others who refuse to listen to my attempts at cohesive sentences and simply speak to me in english, deciding that will hurry the process along. although it is hard now, and im finding my tendency is just to be silent and speak softly, i feel i will become fluent in no time. i feel no shame not knowing the language perfectly, they expect me not to. i am much more comfortable speaking french on the streets of paris than i ever have been in a classroom in america, or even london for that matter. however, this is all my first brief impressions. it may very well change, as time goes on.

we ended up at a boulangerie, where i ate a toasted panini and eyed the crepes and "croissants amands" and "pain du chocolate" hungrily. i did not succumb, knowing a sugar rush was not what i needed when my shoulders were beginning to hunch from the 24 hours spent awake, sitting motion sick on a plane. it was the first time i had felt sick while flying, the unsettled feeling and slight dizziness has still not left me since that first set of plane wheels left the runaway, even though i am now bundled up in the few hand-knits i packed in my carry-on, switching between typing sporadically and staring out my window onto a courtyard from my cozy heated room, even though the heating is somewhat sub-standard. there is, however, a heated towel rack, so i am using that warm towel as a blanket/heating pad to ease the tension in my shoulders caused by excessive knitting and chase away the chill caused by not having socks. i am hoping a good nights sleep will cure me, settle my nerves, and i will awake refreshed in time for orientation tomorrow.

years of planning have finally culminated; i am in france. i cannot believe it. i get to spend the next seven months of my life here. i am truly blessed.