Il commence!

Today was the first day of orientation at Reid Hall. It's SO great to live only a 10 minute walk from the building, which is adorable and has a really great courtyard. Unfortunately, since vacation just ended, the heat wasn't exactly working... hoping for better results tomorrow!

We learned about the basics, Reid hall courses, bank cards, housing, and language classes. I met a bunch of people today, including a girl named Michelle whose birthday is next week (the day before mine!) and who lives around the corner, a few girls I had taken class with at Barnard, and a girl named Katie who goes to Hamilton and lives in Greenwich. After lunch, we broke into groups for our "Parcours Parisiens", essentially introducing us to neighborhoods in Paris. Today, my group went to the Louvre (very briefly...) and then a café called Le Procope, which was founded in 1686 and was a popular hang-out for Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and all sorts of other revolutionaries! It is the rumored writing-place of both the Declaration of Independence and La Déclaration des Droits de L'Homme (true? I don't know...).



After, Katie, Paige, Antonia, and myself went on a cell-phone quest. We found a Boutique Orange, and overwhelmed a very helpful guy working there. So now I've got mon portable and people to call/text! After, Katie and I went to Danty (kind of like Best Buy) to buy blowdryers that wouldn't catch on fire due to the use of converters. We parted ways at the Odéon Metro stop, and now I'm back in my apartment. I might be meeting up with Michelle tonight, but her mom is in town for a few more days, so we'll see. Either way, I'm sure we'll find something to do this weekend! And maybe Buddha Bar for our collective birthdays???

Gros Bisous,
Jaimie