So it’s time I finally learn all the skills I need to run this blog! I’m so grateful for William’s help setting all this up (and the super cool domain name).

Incase you are Franco-phobic, “La Fille à Paris”  translates to the girl in Paris.  Also, this phrase rhymes, in rough pronunciation: “l-AH fEE AH par-EE”

As the title of this post states, I have one week left! On Friday I’ll be leaving Ithaca and after a short detour to Connecticut and NYC I’ll be on my way to Paris! I’m a little nervous for the flight. I’m flying with Icelandair.  So my agenda is JFK to Reykjavik, Iceland to Paris (CDG).   I’m hoping the transfer in Iceland goes smoothly, this could be a major problem but we’ll see.

As far as preparations are going, I’ve started getting ready.  I got some euros from the bank.  I was surprised about the multiple levels of security the bank uses to ensure the foreign currency request was valid.  Additionally I’ve started packing.  I started making a packing list at the beginning of the summer, but I finally got the courage to get the suitcase out start filling it.  I’m about halfway packed with sweaters, pants, etc., meanwhile I packed the majority of my other belongings into boxes for storage over the semester.  I also bought two dictionaries!   Dictionnaire des difficultés de la langue française  and Dictionnaire des synonymes.  I figured these could be helpful over my career of learning French and writing competently.

I don’t know my living conditions in Paris yet.  The program I’m participating in is called EDUCO and is intended for Cornell, Duke, Emory, and Tulane students (the EDUCO is not from E(mory) DU(ke) CO(rnell), but actually stands for Educational Consortium).  The international students from Emory/Duke/Cornell/Tulane will be staying in a hotel before we go to our long-term stay conditions.  I’m actually totally for this.  I can’t imagine getting off a red-eye flight, getting lost on the trains, and ending up at my host family exhausted and unable to even think of the polite way to say things in French.  I’m so grateful that EDUCO sets us up in a hotel first!  En même temps, I wish I could if I got a host family, who’s in the family, where they’re located, etc.

To wrap up, even though I’ve started preparing, I still don’t feel the reality that I will be leaving the country.  It’s weird being at Cornell and watching all my friends go to class and not taking part.  I actually spent the past two days shadowing a podiatrist, both in surgery and in his outpatient office.  I found this a  great experience! I’m hoping get some medical experience in France as well!