This one time I went to Paris and got to speak French

I've gotten to a point now where I am in France but no longer feel like a tourist. AND IT'S WEIRD. This weekend I went to Paris and met up with some of my best friends from Berkeley, and walking around the most beautiful city in the world felt strangely normal...I recognized the food (even the weird organs!), could listen to people's conversations and know what they were talking about, and was able to ask for directions and have people respond to me in French. I even got a library card to the STUNNINGLY AMAZING Bibliothèque St. Genviève at the Place de Panthéon. This may all seem mundane but for me it was absolutely blissful! These were all things that I took for granted in California, but the minute I landed in France I realized that I would no longer be surrounded by all the comforts of home, which definitely includes knowing what I'm eating, what people are saying around me, and knowing where I am going. A highlight of the weekend was going to an Irish pub with Bryanna on St Patricks day, where a mec tellement bourré (man dutifully celebrating the drinking holiday) held his pint up to my face and yelled "santé!" (cheers!)....however, I heard "sentez!" (smell this!!). You can probably imagine the confusion that ensued. In sum, I spent a weekend in a completely foreign city without feeling totally like a foreigner...which leaves me with a bit of an identity crisis but I am willing to go with it for the next couple of months!

Back in Bordeaux things couldn't be better (well, actually if someone wanted to send me a vegetarian burrito from oscars I would be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL). The weather is getting warmer and sunnier everyday, I am doing relatively well in my classes (french grades don't really equal american grades though so I'm not terribly stressed), and the time spent with my friends (american and French) and host family continue to be lovely and lots of fun. I have been on the phone lots with my mom and dad planning our respective vacations and I am willing to say that my study abroad cup is definitely half-full: I am literally giddy (en francais: passionée!) thinking about all of the traveling and eating and exploring yet to come!

I officially like escargots

I can check out books here!!

This big tower thing kept on getting in the way of our pictures