When it rains, it pours

I woke up to grey skies and rain, and they never let up for a single moment, figuratively and literally. Depending on public transportation is never easy, and today was just one of those days. The beginning line of my daily metro trip to school started off with a bang today. [In the daily French newspaper that I read on the train, they mentioned my Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who I interned with in DC last fall!] I only had to travel 4 stations before I make my line change to school, but it took me almost 20 minute to complete this leg due to a problem "technique." Luckily, I arrived at my school stop 2 minutes before class began, and I was able to run in the rain to be on time. Unluckily, my professor was 30 minutes late because of the metro problems as well. Even more less exciting news, we were given our first major assignment for our politics class. We each must prepare a 10 minute exposé (oral presentation) on a given news article for next week. Fun!


Today, our program director gave us an outline as to how our final oral project for the semester will work. We must give a 15 minute presentation in front of a board of our teachers and instructors. There is also an additional 5 minute question-and-answer time for the professors to test our comprehension skills. We are allowed to pick a topic or our choice, but it must be related to France and given entirely in French. Naturally, I am very nervous for this part of my study abroad experience, but luckily we will have plenty of time and help to prepare the "problematique" (or central question) for our presentation.


After class today we paid a visit to a French TV channel, ARTE. This was certainly at the list of most boring events in the history of mankind. After a long, delicious 5 course lunch at the school cafeteria, we were put into a conference room to listen to a network executive drone about Franco-German relationships and how this TV channel will fix them. As if the boring speaker wasn't bad enough, the room was not air conditioned, so it soon became a sweltering nightmare. Very few things in France are air conditioned, so I am starting to get used to it; but the experience is unpleasant nonetheless. It's supposed to rain for the next few days in Paris, but hopefully all days aren't as grey as today. I do have Amsterdam and then the French Riviera to look forward to soon! Also, I had a wonderful two boules (scoops) of coconut ice cream and 2 pints of 1664 (the French version of Bud Light) with my Louisiana friends tonight. It was nice to have a taste of home all the way here in France.


PS - I had McDonald's french fries last night at "McDo" as they call it, and they just weren't the same. You could tell they were cooked in some type of "healthier" oil, and I didn't get the taste of America I have so long craved here in Europe.