With nothing inticing to do at this early Parisian hour, I decided to come give an update.
This morning when I woke up (unfortunately at 5:30 Paris time) I went to turn on the lights in my hostel room, only to experience a loud pop and a crack of light. I’m not sure what that means in France, but in America it usually means a blown fuse.
So, the only light I have in my room is the glow of my laptop. Oddly symbolic if you think about it. I opened the curtain hoping the sun would bring in some light, forgetting that a) the sun doesn’t usually rise here until 8 or 9 and b) it’s supposed to rain here today, so it might not get sunny at all.
Today the rest of my group arrives. Thank GOODNESS. I’ve been so bored, mainly because I had to sit with my luggage most of the day yesterday and when I checked in the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. When I woke up, I didn’t want to go out by myself and opted to just stay in my room and go back to sleep–exciting first day, right?
The weird thing about this is I don’t get homesick. I just don’t. When I was little I had separation anxiety, but by the time I left for college I could not have left faster. Maybe it’s a combination of seeing my parents cry at the airport (were they worried, sad, or jealous? Probably jealous.) and having seen Hostel and Taken. Talking to people I’ve been tongue-tied, which I attribute to my working knowledge of French being much closer to literature than real life.
Luckily technology has allowed me to talk to my friends and parents. Talking to my mom for 15 minutes on my phone may not have been the most economical thing to do, but honestly I don’t really care. Also, my close friend from home has a cousin who lives outside Paris, so I hope to get together with him soon.
Things should improve today when the rest of my group arrives. Maybe they’ll all need to go out and buy hairdryers, too.
I loved your travelog so much I kept going until I had read everything you’ve posted. Except for the Bullet stories, I hadn’t seen much of your writing and I’m really impressed. When I was in the newspaper game, one of my most useful abilities was finding gifted writers. I’ve found another one. You have a marvelous way of bringing routine experiences to life. I really look forward to reading about your adventures in France. Don’t forget the Louvre. You could spend then rest of the year there and never get bored.