happy 3 months!

Oh, hello there December 11, 2010! Have you arrived already? It's official! I have been in France for 3 months, with only 11 more days to go! (But I really only count it as 10 days, thanks to a relatively early-morning flight.)

Last week was a bit tough, with a paper and a major project due at the beginning of this past week, but this coming week, there are only 3 tests that are keeping me from being free in Paris. (Art History - Wednesday, French Language - Thursday, Phonetics - Friday)

What have I been up to lately? Well . . . with the realization that my time is here in Paris is coming to a close, I have been going through the Luxembourg Garden as much as possible - even when it's misting/"raining", even when it's snowing, and especially when it's sunny! Going to the Louvre (for my Art History class, but also just to look around. Jenna actually had a presentation last Friday night, and a few of us went to see her and cheer her on!) I have been spending time with more friends from my program, and have also been catching up on sleep. But okay, let's get to the most exciting thing that has happened this past week - EURODISNEY!

Last Saturday, the 4th, I had the opportunity to go to Eurodisney with some friends from Hillsong Paris! I was so excited the night before, that I hardly got any sleep!! We met up in the morning at 8am and arrived at the park by 9:30am. It had snowed the night before and the trainride out there was just beautiful! Much to our surprise, despite the frigid temperature and occasional snow flurries, there was still plenty of people. Thankfully, Eurodisney is smart: you have the option of obtaining a "fast pass" though it's not quite what you think - you can scan your ticket at a little machine, and it will print a ticket for the ride with a time period in which you can get in a super short "fast pass" line. The wait for the fast pass ranged from a half hour to an hour and a half - but it sure did beat waiting in line in the cold! One other thing that Eurodisney did was offer a promotion on their hot drinks! If you bought one in the morning, (or sometime before 3pm) you could redeem your coupon on your receipt for another hot drink - for free! Needless to say, once we found that out, we each promptly bought our own hot drinks!

Though we arrived in a group of about 15 people, four of us, Grace, Gabriella, Kevin, and I ended up in a little group. We ended up staying at the park the latest (we left around 6:30pm) and rode the most rides! Interested in what they were? Haha, well I will tell you anyway. The rides that we rode were: Crush's Coaster, Les Tapis Volants, Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Space Mountain: Mission 2. Needless to say, we were super tired the next day, and my toes had frozen at least twice while at the park, but it was well worth it!

The rest of this week has gone by pretty quickly. On Tuesday, my professor was sick, so Caroline and I spent our class time watching episodes of Modern Family in her foyer! Wednesday Dustin, Emily and I ventured out to Belleville and had Tapioca! Because of really heavy snow, the metrolines were all crazy! Instead of taking the usual 30-40 minutes to get home, it took almost an hour, with lots of line changes and more walking! Caroline and Jenna even encountered a fire on line 6, stopping traffic for over 45 minutes!

Thursday, I went for a run in the beautifully white Luxembourg Garden (though it was really sunny at the same time!) and then volunteered at the Centre SocialBelleville. Afterward, I met up with Caroline and the two of us had dinner with Dustin and Martin in their foyer! Friday after class I went to the Louvre to study for my Art History exam on Tuesday. And Today, Saturday, my brother comes home from Tulsa! I also will be heading out to the Louvre to study a bit more, but will also relax and have some fun with friends!

Oh, Paris. How the time has flown by. I can't believe it! Look at how much you've changed (me).

Jenna's presentation Friday night at the Louvre

My fellow Houstonian, Kara, and I at Eurodisney!

Teacups!

Guido, my favorite character from CARS

Kevin, me, Gabriella, and Grace!

Back in the garden - look at that snow!!

Caroline loves snow!

Taro tapioca from Belleville