Day 1

I apologize for the late update! I feel like it had been non-stop since we got here, which is fine with me!
       I'm sure you are all wondering what happened with my luggage. Well luckily since I was waiting for Allyson (the other OSU student) and since her flight was suspiciously late I was walking around our baggage claim to make sure I was at the right one and my bag magically appeared! It was just sitting with a group next to the baggage desk. Lucky me! That was the last lucky thing that happened to me that day.
       After Allyson got there we spend about 30 minutes trying to find a mode of transportation that we felt like we could navigate and that was not too expensive since we were told a taxi would be 50-60 Euros from the Airport. We had instructions that were given to us for the RER (Which is different than the famous Europe metro) so we finally decided on that since it was only 8 Euros.
      This turned out to be a really bad idea. First there was something wrong with the one we were on and we had to wait about 30 minutes before it even left the airport. Then the stop before the one that  our instructions told us to get off at and switch lines, it back towards the airport!! So at that point we decided to get off at the next stop and find a Taxi. We had the small problem of having too much luggage and too many people between us and the doors so we couldnt get off before the doors closed. The next stop this was a success but my cell phone was dead and we couldnt get the pay phones to work. (We figured out yesterday this is because you have to buy a prepaid card to use them. We are so American). We finally found someone in a shop nearby that spoke enough english to get him to call us a Taxi and our driver was very nice. The ride from there to our program office was only $30.
      However, our program office is behind a "gate" or really huge doors that is controlled by a keypad that you have to have the code for on the weekends and after certain times at night. Allyson and I both forgot this important bit of information and didnt write down the code or print out the e-mail. We then attempted to find another person that spoke english and Allyson attempted to call the office but no one answered! After sitting around feeling defeated I remembered that it was on my saved e-mails on my phone that could be accessed without e-mail so we charged it, on the sidewalk, on Allysons lap top (since my lap top was also dead), and we finally got in!
       We then got directions to our apartment building that is about 3-4 blocks away from the office. This was also very difficult because the directions they gave us were wrong and the courtyard to our building was on the left and it told us it was on the right so we spent about 30 minutes lost, again. When we finally got in it was 3PM and we had left the airport at 11AM. We had time for a MUCH needed shower and change of clothes and then met our chaperone and the rest of our group downstairs for a walk around the neighborhood at 5PM. We walked around the Bastille area which is in the 11th arrondissement while we are in the 12th. For those who dont know, arrondissements are how they break up the different areas of France and they radiate out from the island where the first people of Paris settled, 3 centuries before Christ. We ate dinner there and then walked around an explored on our own until 8. Needless to say we were all extremely tired after that day and our travels but not too tired to walk back to an amazing bakery a block from our apartments for some of us to pick up some breakfast items. I will try to remember to take a picture of the sign so I can post the name because I will never remember. If any of you come to this area of Paris you must try it, it is delicious!
I slept like a baby that night!

 

Here is a picture of the western countryside of france, somewhere outside of Paris.

 

This is where I updated my first post from. Supper boring to get a picture of the airport but since that was the first and only place in France I had been so far, it seemed significant at that time.

 

Booth at the art festival that was going on in the Bastille area.

 

I was shocked at the amount of African items there

 

Fresh fruit shop next door to the amazing bakery that has yet to be named.

 

A cool road we found wandering around and my program-mate Sarah who is from Colorado.

 

My attempt at photography with my iPhone. I also just wanted a picture of the stone road.