Paris: Up Close and Personal

I finally have managed to post on the blog! I made it to Paris safe and sound (and not without some adventure)! There is so much that has happened within the last four days. My mind is still reeling from actually being across the sea in another country. Here are a few things that have happened:

After seeing my mom boo hoo and her co-workers send me off with some unexpected spending money, I was on my way on a British Airways flight across the Atlantic. I loved the crew's accents (and i think one of the pilots was Irish). I didn't realize being up 38000 feet would be so cold feeling. It was like Siberia outside the plane. I arrived in Heathrow by 7 in the morning. I got a great view of London! I even got to see some of the buildings that have popped up in preparation for next year's Olympic Summer Games. Once I landed, I had to go through immigration just to get my bag (somehow I had two separate flights from Houston to London and then London to Paris). The second flight wasn't too bad; the English Channel was so small that I was seeing the French coast before I knew it! Laying my eyes on Paris made me so excited! After eight years of wondering and wishing, I was finally in France!

Adventure number 2 started when I arrived in the area by the hotel. I took a special bus that picks up at Charles de Gaulle and drops off at L'Opera. I was walking around trying to find the hotel, but come to find out Jesus was leading me straight there. But I kid you not, pulling a heavy suitcase was NOT fun. I was afraid of asking someone for directions because although I've taken 4 1/2 years of French, I never really practiced speaking it. I eventually asked someone running a newsstand (which there are a lot of here) and voila! I made it! I was tired and sweating and in pain, but praise God for His guidance and protection! I got to meet up with the other students and the professor's family, and we were off to dinner. Unfortunately, I discovered that the plane conditions didn't make my stomach very happy, and it began to hurt. I was better after some time though :)

I have had the opportunity to see some things up close and personal: Le tour Eiffle, Le Louvre, and Versalles. Learning the history and seeing these great markers of France was wonderful, and it would have been awesome if it wasn't swamped with a bajillion tourists (many from south Asian countries). There were cameras, backpacks, and foreign languages galore! Nevertheless, I go to see these things, and it has given me great joy.

Tomorrow is our last day in Paris; we will heading out to Montpellier to meet our host families and start the study portion of the study abroad program! I will be creating another post about some of the adventures of my days in Paris, including seeing all the black people, shopping, and Le Metro! Au revior!

The world? Ending today? I don't think so.

So apparently the world is supposed to end at 6pm today, and it should already be in that process since its by time zones. To that I say "Sit down you old coot! You ain't even a believer! Ain't said a thing about Jesus coming back or nothing! Just talking about those who believe in God being taken up in the rapture. You don't even believe the whole bible! Besides, I have somewhere to be next week, which will be the focus of this blog." Pray for him though. When his time really does come, he's gonna have some 'splaining to do.