Hi everyone! Thank you so very much for the emails and well wishes. We have made it here to Paris and have survived a week. At this time one week ago today, (Central Standard Time J) we were standing in the security line of the Ohare International Airport hoping we were going to make our flight. Well, we did and here is a summary of the last 6 days! Thanks again for thinking of us and I’m sorry I have not been a very good emailer. I hope to get better!

Monday/Tuesday!

Elise was fabulous on the flight and slept almost the whole way. Celia was less than fabulous and would not let me sit down in my seat without screaming on the plane. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in the back of the plane making friends. Fortunately, once we landed the customs process, luggage, and boarder police were fabulous and pain free. Then as we left the luggage area there was a little man standing with a sign that read our name and he whisked us away to our new home. That was fantastic! Even though we were all exhausted and on 2:00 AM time.

Our Place: we have a fabulous apartment in the Cite. It is composed of three rooms, a kitchen, and bath. It’s only downfall is that it is in a basement so we don’t have great windows and they open to the ground level. Otherwise I have grown quite found of the lime green hallway and spacious place. The bedrooms are very nice and although we have not worked out the sleeping arrangements yet, Elise loves having her own room and “sharing” with Celia. We have great storage space and the hallway-like kitchen is ten times bigger than I ever dreamed of having in Paris! We also have plenty of tables and chairs to accompany all our guests! Start making your plans now!

After a nap, a walk through the area, and Brian finished checking in at work, we all went off together. It was glourious to find a grocery store and buy some goods; including a frozen pizza to make for dinner. However once we got home and discovered we do not have an oven to cook the said pizza, we adventured off again to find food at the Main House of the Cite.

The Cite is a great place to live. We are in an international wonderland. Our place is part of the Deutsch de La Meurthe which basically means that we do not have a nation affiliation like the rest of the houses. (For example, we live right next to the Canada House). We basically live on a college campus in which everyone is a student, there is a great quad area, and a Main House where you can get food and take care of all the administrative things like paying rent and hopefully get a residency card. There is a great open area for kids to play and Brian has discovered multiple weight rooms and an indoor pool. We have really lucked out with this place and are excited to be here…even though we don’t have an oven!

Wednesday!

1. Spanish/French/English encounter: so I get stopped by this couple that want to live in the Cite and are asking me about space and availability. It was fantastic because they are Spanish with little English or French speaking abilities. I am American with little French and Spanish. Somehow we are able to communicate fabulously in English/Spainish/French and I help them figure out that the Cite is for Graduate and Post-Grad students only and there is an application process through their employer. As disappointed as they were, I was very helpful. It was pretty cool!
2. My new favorite people: Pedro is the student worker for th Deutsch de La Meurthe and he helped me get internet! Plus he speaks great English and walked me though a lot of the administrative things of the Cite. Ceasar is our maintance man and also speaks great English. He un-clogged our shower drain and also gave me the ins and outs of life at the Cite. It was very comforting to talk English and learn more about my new home!
3. I learned that you need to weigh your produce at most super markets before going to pay! Most don't have the fancy electronic weighers at the checkout and you need to take care of the pricing! This is good information to know when you’re 15 month old is screaming and needs to go home and there is a huge line at the store! But everyone patiently waited! Nice.
4. We ended the day with dinner with Paulette Geragos! It was so great to meet up with someone from home…especially someone as well versed with Paris as Paulette. She gave us a great tutorial of the city and treated us to a fabulous pizza dinner across the street from our home. It was so huge to have a friend and great food!

Thursday!

1. I bought toliet paper! Aweseome!
2. Discovered the Montsouris Park and played at the playground and in some flower beds. Great find!
3. Cooked our first dinner! Oh spices how I miss the! It's very difficult to shop for spices in French with two kids screaming in a grocery store! Especially when you've run out of snacks and strangers keep touching your babies. The French love to come up to us and say things. I wish I could elaborate more but I have no idea what they are saying! At least they say it with a smile. Elise is starting to get used to the shopping experience and having people smile, touch her head, and talk to her in this strange language. It's quite fun to watch her try to figure out what the heck is going on!
4. Explored some of Paris and found the treasured and most talked about MonoPrix!

Friday: speaking of strangers talking and smiling all the time...

When we left the MonoPrix (bought a coffee maker!!!!) today an older woman approached us and was fasinated with the stroller. She couldn't stop touching it and examining it. She gave it a little push and slowly walked around it a few times as if she were thinking of purchasing it. From the look on her face, I think she was impressed but you never know. I just smiled while Elise froze and Celia gave her baby death ray look at this strange old woman speaking crazily! It was great. When she was finished, I waited for her to make an offer but instead she just slowly walked away; never realizing that we had no idea what just happened!

Oh and coffee makers! I got one and just finished enjoying my first couple cups of coffee while I did some homework and the ladies slept. Today I got to translate our renters contract and it was a very good thing. I got to learn that we should not hang anything with nails! (a project I was thinking of for next week!) Thank goodness for Google Translator! I'm a HUGE fan! It will come in handy for you all once I'm fluent and you need to translate my blog!

This has been such a great experience. Even in the down times I remind myself that very few people get to do this and it's such an amazing experience to live life as a foreigner. It’s humbling and scary but so fabulous. The French really are amazing. Many people speak English and are so patient with me as I try out my own French. Our banker was so very patient with us as he tried to explain our benefits with Celia screaming on my lap and Elise spilling Cherrios all over his office. He stayed patient the whole time and said everything with a smile. Everything always seems to work out! It's fabulous!

The weekend was very uneventful. We caught up on sleep, played at the park, and discovered that Sunday really is family day! The park was so packed with people picnicking, playing, and relaxing. It has got to be my favorite thing about Paris: people love the park. We live across from this huge park that has three playgrounds, a nice little pond, a mini-basketball court, and lots of space to sit and relax and people always are. It’s great to see kids always playing and groups of people drinking, eating, and enjoying one another. I really love this aspect and lesson from the French People.

Well, I promise to be more diligent about this page. This was a terribly long entry and I appreciate all of you out there reading my stuff and wishing us well. I miss everyone very much and think of all my friends often. I also miss:

1. My dad’s custom made shower built for a King. My 2 x 2 cell of a shower with a stinking curtain just isn’t cutting it! J

2. Easy grocery shopping and knowing exactly what I’m buying! Why can’t spices come in one language? J

3. A grill, oven, and my slow cooker!

Take care everyone!