I am alive!

This entry is dedicated to my mother, who, bless her heart, was terribly worried that I didn't put in a blog entry asap.

Yesterday I went to eat at resto U (CROUS) and loved it. Truly fabulous. They are on "points" system there so you can choose whatever items you want so long as they add up to 6 points, and if you go over 6 the extra point costs you a mere ,55 EUR. Staying within 6 points is very easy. For example, a plate from the salad bar is 1 point, fruit is one point, tarts are 2 points, a piece of ham is 1 point, yogurt is 1 point, the "plat du jour" is four points, the regular plat is 3 points, bread is complimentary, and the water is plentiful. I want to take a moment to assure my mother that I even ate my veggies. The plat du jour was a big plate of ratatouille, rice with corn, and salmon to which I also added a salad and fruit. See mom, not just bread!

After Resto U, I had a meeting with the director of the SLC program about what classes I'm going to take etc... Then I bought some draino (called desTop here) and laundry detergent, returned home for a brief bite, lost my keys, found my keys, and went to a concert at Sainte Chapelle. Sainte Chapelle is really interesting because it is surrounded by la prefecture de la police so that you can't actually get in the church unless you pass through security (even just to visit). After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, we were finally in. Sainte Chapelle was absolutely beautiful (even though it was very much under restorations). We listened to a string group followed by a children's chorus that sent chills down my spine (it was very much like les choristes). I very much enjoyed both the location and the music.

I finished the night up by hanging out at Sam's new apt. in the 9th. She has a truly beautiful place and had a couple of girlfriends over to catch up, eat some snacks, and listen to some music. It was really nice to see Sam again, meet her friends/ coworkers, and learn a lot about Paris. It was well worth the $2.oo I probably spent in phone calls trying to figure out which way to turn once I got off the metro (thanks for putting up with me, Sam). :)

Total Damages:

Lunch at CROUS: 2,90 EUR
Draino + Detergent: 5,52 EUR

1st Day of Orientation!

I'm EXHAUSTED but a lot of good things happened today.

1. I got a cell phone that I pay for in DOLLARS for -- yes, dollars! Instead of a regular pre-paid card, the phone is basically a "short-term" plan that only charges you for the minutes you use during the time you indicate that you need to use the phone. All incoming calls (while I'm in France) are free, and all outgoing calls to other students who have the same plan (pretty much everyone on the Sarah Lawrence program buys this phone) are also free. Local calls are also cheaper than they would be on pre-paid cards and the whole phone plus sim cost me a mere 25 dollars. That's right, folks, DOLLARS.
I set it up so that it charges my Wells Fargo account and converts all Euros into dollars prices -- and since the telephone company is an American company, there are not extra fees for international charges! I'm glad there's one company out there who's target is poor study abroad students.
How can they do this for so cheap you ask? Well the sim cards are used, so you're really only paying for the service and not the hardware (you don't get to keep the sim). But since the company is based in the US, when I leave Paris, all I have to do is ship off the sim card from Los Angeles.

2. I may have worked out the issue with the bank. I wrote the "Conseiller des particuliers" a quick email regarding my lack of a boite de lettres offing an alternative that the people at Sarah Lawrence suggested to me. I hope this works out :: crosses fingers ::

3. Free breakfast! Yes, I ate 2 croissants because really how can you waste them?

4. I ate French macaroons! Pistache (wow) and nutella (oh my god). Pia (another French student from Scripps) arrived last night and today we stopped by a cute little patisserie by the school for lunch. The macaroons just asked to be eaten, so we split a box of 4.

5. The director of the SLC program, Monique, is quite possibly the cutest person in Paris.

6. Free samples of wine and meats and cheeses at Monoprix = win!

Total Damage today:

2 Macaroons and 1 can of Orangina at the patisserie: 3,80 EUR
1 pair of ballet flats (I swear I had no idea it would still be summer here): 7,50 EUR

Now all I need is a pair of sandals for the côte d'azur and I'll be set for every season (I really should have listened to my mother and tucked along an extra pair).