Being McKinley: It has already been three weeks in the City of Lights!

I can’t believe that I have already been in Paris for three weeks, and I also can’t believe that I haven’t posted anything since I was in Italy. But to sum up the past few weeks all I can say is that it has been incredible. I can proudly say that I have had enough crepes and croissants for my whole life, but when in Paris right?

I have the cutest apartment. Our kitchen is the size of a large closet, but we make do. I am living with 2 of my sorority sisters Taylor and Mia. They have been the best part of my trip. They have been the biggest blessing in my life for these past few weeks and part of my familiar life back at home. The best thing is that we are always having a great time together. We are constantly laughing… not just little chuckles… So hard that our abs hurt (it’s like I’ve been working out every day Its great!).

We live in the 11th arrondissements, which is how they differentiate the districts from each other within the big city. Everyone in our program is scattered around the city, and loves to brag about their district... But to be honest we have it all. We even have a Starbucks and Chipotle. What more can you need? We live on the second floor in our apartment building. Below us are a restaurant and a magazine shop, at first we were worried that it was going to be super loud at night, but luckily there are rarely any people eating at the restaurant, so it has been great.

Our Mondays-Thursdays are all pretty similar. We wake up a few minutes to late, hurry around the house and pretend that we are eating cereal or a piece of fruit when we all know that we are going to the boulangeries (bakery) at the end of the block. After we grab a croissant or two or three we walk across the street to the metro stop. Remember how I said earlier that we have the best locations? Well, most people have to walk a few minutes to get to their metro, we only have to walk about 30 feet to get to ours. After we ride two different metros, we get off and walk to our school. Right now it is under construction, so it does not look attractive from the outside, but without construction I think it might be fun courtyard to hang out in after class. We have class every day from 9-12 and then on Monday/Wednesday we have a one-hour French class afterward.

After our classes, we have free time. Some days we go home and get stuff done. We do homework, watch Netflix, take naps… important thing. Other days we go out and explore. We have been all over Paris. Sometimes we go out without having a destination, other days we go to a museum/church/historic site.

Highs

+ I get to explore Paris with 2 of my favorite people

+ I know how to order food in French

+ The shopping in Paris is AMAZING

+ My bed is so comfortable

+ I am walking everywhere and becoming a Parisian

Lows

- I had to get a French phone number

- The pho place by my house has bubble tea (YAYY my fav), but it is so watery and gross

- We don’t have a laundry machine in the house, so we have to lug all of our dirty clothes a few blocks away to a dirty, gross laundry mat (first world problems)