We arrived in Paris last night. It was kind of a blur, since all of us were completely exhausted. I remember going on a hunt for food and getting a yummy kebab. Not sure if it was really as good as I remember or if I was just so hungry anything would have tasted amazing. After that I simply went back to the hotel and went to bed. I was out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Today was used as an orientation day. It was too wet and rainy to take notes, so we lucked out and just got to enjoy the sites. While I know I am on an academic program, it really is a bit frustrating to have my head buried in my notebook, frantically jotting things down while in the museums. I really do not feel that I have been able to truly experience everything we have seen because there is that little bit of stress associated with taking notes. Oh well. Such is life :)

Anyway! We went and saw Notre Dame and I will be honest...I expected it to be a LOT bigger. Maybe I have seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame one too many times, but I really though Quasimodo had a larger area in which to leap from gargoyle to gargoyle...huh. It was still beautiful but I will admit that it certainly did not blow me away like some of the other cathedrals I have seen (ex. San Giovanni in Rome). We explored some other areas of Paris, were trained on how to use the metro and visited a museum outlining the history of the city. I was also introduced to falafel for the first time. it apparently is a pretty big thing here and Heather took us to the best shop in Paris (according to her). I thought it was okay...not the best thing I had ever had but it was super filling and the pita brea with the sauce was pretty tasty. I apparently ordered wrong though and didn't even get a true falafel because I got the chicken version as opposed to the one with the falafel balls in it. Oops! Maybe that would have made me fall in love with falafel, but I kind of doubt it ;) Other than that, not much to report. It was a really chill day, which I am grateful for because I am pretty beat.

I can feel how tired I have probably been this whole trip, but it all caught up with me at once on that long bus ride. You don't tend to notice your exhaustion until you have stopped to catch your breath. This whole trip has been a whirlwind. I wouldn't trade it for the world! But I won't deny that extended trips like this are draining. It has also been a huge growing experience as I have learned more about myself and how I handle certain situations. There are most definitely traits I would like to change and I am doing my best to use this opportunity to work on myself and hopefully improve. Today was a tough day in that regard as the exhaustion has rather affected my ability to hide my emotions and opinions ;) But...I will make sure to apologize to anyone I may have offended. It is also kind of entertaining because you can tell that almost everyone is on the same level in terms of exhaustion, lack of patience and irritability. Hopefully since today was so chill we will all be well-rested and refreshed in the morning...especially since tomorrow is going to be an intense 12+ hour day of straight museums...oh boy! Haha!

Not much to report from our little day-time strolls and explorations. After our group was released, must of us hit the laundry place a few blocks from our hotel. I was planning on doing all my laundry by hand (which I did successful do in Rome!) but the last few hotels have not had tubs and the sinks were too small and did not have a drain-stopper. Hence...everyone was starting to smell a little funky ;) But! Now I am back in my hotel room with my clothes finishing drying, all lined up on the bunk-bed I was selected to sleep in (apparently my roommates all had traumatic experiences as children with the top bunk and designated me to have it...but I was fine with that because that meant I got a bed to myself while they have to share the less-than-Queen-sized mattress below it :). The room smells great thanks to the freshly laundered clothes and I am excited to wear clean stuff for the next little bit ;)

I don't have much of a plan tonight...maybe get some dinner (maybe not, since laundry was WAY expressive)...probably take a long shower...go to bed early. That is sounding nice to me! Hahah! I wasn't expecting to have much of a night-life in Paris anyway but this really is kind of pathetic :P