Ma Première Journée

So today was my first whole day, and it wasn't that exciting. We (Nicté and I) got up and ate toast with Nutella and drank chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) and jus d'orange (orange juice). I don't know if it's because I'm in France or what, but somehow everything tastes really really good! Then our host father, Jean-Pierre, took us to the IES Paris Centre which is about 40 minutes away by métro. He's not going to do this every day, but he went with us today because we would not have had any clue about where to go! I was actually scheduled to be in the second orientation group, but I wanted in on the chaufeurage.

The métro in Paris is really strange because absolutely no one talks, and you get to see all kinds of people. I even saw a French person reading Tom Sawyer (America is moving back up in the world standings?) Also, it was really cold today (upper 30s/low 40s I think), but the métro was soooo hot, especially with the coats and scarves everyone (including myself) was wearing. Nicté, being from Chicago, is really used to riding mass transit, but I am from Texas, which could really rank dead last in mass transit. It's going to be neat making that a part of my everyday life.

At the orientation, we were told that we must speak only French inside the IES Paris Centre, which is good because I came here to learn French. In fact, our host family is really impressed that Nicté and I mainly speak in French to each other, even when our host family is not around. Apparently, we're their first (out of 10+) to do so. I think that it's not only beneficial for our French, but it's also the polite thing to do. I know that I like it when my bilingual friends switch to languages I know around me, so I feel like I should do the same thing here. It might mean that I look like a fool sometimes (a pharmacist responded to me in English today, the jerk!) or that people may use vocabulary that I don't know, but the point is I'm going to get better all the time. I will say that it's nice to talk on Skype to my family and Taylor because that's just about the only English I have gotten to speak so far.

Let's see, food-wise I had a baguette with oeufs (eggs), gruyère, tomates (tomatoes) and beaucoup de mayonnaise (that's the same thing in English and I'm not a big fan of it in either language!). For dinner, we had zucchini soup, a fluffy quiche-y thing, salad (with "French dressing," as Fanou put it last night with a laugh), cheese, bread and fruit. Fanou just keeps bringing food out, which is fine by me! Don't worry, Dad, I'm going to get some of these recipes.

At dinner, we talked about all kinds of things. According to Jean-Pierre and Fanou, the Académie Française, which I've always held in such high esteem, is just a bunch of old writers that come out with an unseen dictionary every year. We also spent awhile talking about Mont Saint Michel, a community in Normandie that becomes an island when the tide comes in. Jean-Pierre and Fanou absolutely adore it, and they said they love the hike up the rocky hill to the church as well as the cloisters inside it. Jean-Pierre said that while you hike up to the church, all of the little problems of life seem to go away. It's a good four hour trip from here, and it's necessary to rent a car, so my family probably won't get to go this time. But IES offers a trip in late April to Mont Saint Michel, and there is an essay contest to decide who gets to go. I'll definitely enter it, so hopefully I'll get to go.

In the morning, Nicté and I are meeting up with some other girls at the Eiffel Tour to go on an open bus tour of Paris. Quite touristy, yes, but it's a great way to see the city quickly, and it's free because IES got us the tickets. After looking at French cell phone plans all evening, free is really cool :)

Bonsoirée!
Ellie