The first day!

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  Paris, France
Friday, June 27, 2008

Bonjour tout le monde! I am now in beautiful Paris. I was finally able to settle down and feel less stressed once I got on the airplane at Newark. Unfortunately after two hours of being on the plane we still had not left the airport. There were mysterious delays because of supposed thunderstorms in the area. Once we were in the air I settled down some. One tip for flying internationally: always order one of their 'special' meals. I ordered their low-calorie meal the day before we left and my meal came out first and had much more fruits and veggies than did the regular meals. As usual I was able to sleep for most of the flight.
Despite the two hour delay and long lines through passport control I made it to the meeting place in plenty of time. Everyone on the trip seems pretty nice though almost none of them speak any French at all. This means I get to speak a lot! We had a shuttle to the hotel and once we dropped off our bags.
The group of us (about 8) wandered to a nearby café. The waiter was probably one of the most enthusiastic waiters I've ever had (in or out of the U.S) He was extremely nice and helped us order in French and did not over charge us or anything of the sort that the Parisians are famous for.
Next we wandered through the neighborhood (we are in the 1st arrondissement). We found the Cathedral de St. Euthene - a large, imposing cathedral not unlike Notre Dame. Inside I read that, among others, Moliere was baptized here and Mozart's mother had her funeral at this cathedral.
Some of the group wanted to do some shopping (already!) and so we split up. A couple other girls and I wandered around and ended up walking along the Seine.
I feel totally comfortable here. I'm having no problem communicating and getting what I want. And! Everyone is responding to me in French which means that my English accent isn't unbearably strong.
            For the remainder of the day we have orientation and dinner later tonight.

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