My first “weekend” (if you can call it that...)

(Typed before I could post it....just FYI!)

Saturday (24th)

I went to bed around 11pm Friday and woke up at 2pm Saturday.  I thought by staying up late Friday it would help with the jetlag….false.  When I woke up I felt extremely sore (thank you, luggage) and still very sleepy so I decided to go back to bed….until 5pm…..oops? (That’s 15 hours of sleep for those of you keeping track at home haha) Lucky for me, Carmela invited me to another university event at 7pm.  I was tired and wanted to sleep more but I knew I should take advantage of this opportunity so I got up had some tea and “breakfast” and got ready to go out. 

Carmela picked me up and we went to the welcome night for the international students at the university.  Her daughter, Lorna, came too.  Lorna has down syndrome and is very sweet.  (Carmela and I bonded about Lorna and Joey so that was really cool.)  We went to the event mingled a little and I met a bunch of faculty/staff who work in the international relations department.  One of them wants to improve their English and I clearly want to improve my French so we are going to meet once or twice a week for coffee and we’ll do half of our time together in English, and half in French.  (Wahoo- day two and I’ve already made a legitimate contact with a French person.)  So, the event consisted of a dance performance by the university.  Before the performance there were French appetizers and an aperitif called Kir which is white wine and red liquor. (Here is a link for a brief history on the drink: http://www.food-worldwide.com/article/22/History-of-Kir-Appertif.html) The performance was awesome and the music was great- French rap and pop, etc….I’m going to try and find it on iTunes!  After there was a casual dinner where I chatted with some people again.  I was feeling a little tired so I walked home (my flat is only about 10 minutes from the university) and decided to write this post.  It’s a bit surreal to be sitting in my very own studio apartment in France!
I’m going to go to bed soon (still jetlagged), it’s 11pm here, and I plan on setting my alarm for not later than 10am tomorrow.  Although a lot of places aren’t open on Sundays I hope to explore the city a bit.

Sunday (25th)

I had trouble falling asleep between 11pm and 5am.  I called my family (Brain was home/it was only 11pm U.S. time) and after our chat I fell asleep sometime after 5am…..and woke up at 5pm….FAIL.  (So much for setting my alarm!)  I woke up feeling very discouraged as I essentially slept my first weekend away but I can’t be too hard on myself.  I did fly half way around the world (as Carmela said) so I should cut myself a little slack.  Since I was still feeling jetlagged I listened to some music and started to unpack/set up my studio.  I had my first meal at home tonight.  Carmela and her husband didn’t want me “to starve to death” so they bought a microwavable meal, sweet corn, tuna, pasta, and cookies to get me started. (There’s also 2 kinds of tea and hot chocolate!)  The microwavable meal was a “Claude Léger” brand and was called “Poulet Colombo”….essentially chicken, white rice, and créole inspired spices.  It was pretty good! The box advertised other meal options including: ”Lapin aux 2 Moutardes” or “Rabbit in two mustards”…you know you’re in France when you can have microwavable rabbit! Don’t plan to try that one but if I do I’ll be sure to post about it.  Called my parents as I needed contact with the outside world and it was nice to chat with them but a little bittersweet.  I know it’s only been a weekend with no internet (and I’ve only been awake for a small portion of it) but it is still really strange to feel so disconnected.

Monday I am getting up at 9am or 10am and going grocery shopping as well as trying to figure out the internet situation. For real…no more of this sleeping all day business- I start work on October 3rd so I need to be adjusted sooner rather than later!