Padilla en Sevilla: Paris

Just came back from a weekend trip to Paris to visit Amanda who is studying there for the semester. We are doing a similar program, run in part by Cornell, living with a host family, speaking the language, and attending the local University. I got to stay with Amanda and her senora, which was such a great experience. I brought Amanda's lady (as she so affectionately calls her) a fan from Sevilla, which Mati said is the best gift, and some chocolates. The lady was really into the gift- she kept saying long phrases in French which I didn't understand a word of.

The best part of the whole weekend was spending it with Amanda, Jenna, and Katie, girls from my pledge class in AEPhi. It has been great to be in Sevilla, but I do miss my friends from school a whole lot. Thank god I have Menke here- I don't know how I could do this for 6 months without an AEPhi biddy by my side!

Amanda, Jenna, Katie and I really make a comical team. We ate so much this weekend- spent time in the Jewish quarter eating falafels, drinking a whole lotta wine, and going crazy over every french meal we tried. We visited the Louve, Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and my favorite, the Champs Elysees. I tried my first macaroon from Laduree- so good! (http://www.laduree.fr/). Katie's amazing friend from high school, Jade, was our tour guide on Sunday. She was born in Paris, went to school in the states, and is completely bilingual. We ended our day at this authentic french restaurant near where she lives, kind of off the beaten path, where we were the typical rowdy Americans, talking loudly and laughing so hard it hurt.

It was so revealing not to have to speak Spanish all weekend, but stressful not to be able to communicate a word in French. When I went to buy a metro ticket, I needed help figuring out which buttons to press and asked the man at the ticket booth if he spoke English. He said no. "Spanish?" I asked. Nope to that either. Even though he couldn't speak either, it was cool having a back up language. Even though Spanish is hard, its cool to have the language in your back pocket in case of emergencies.

I bought Luiqui and Mati a mini Eiffel tower and Belen a pen. She's been so stressed out recently with finals and she loves pens, so I figured it would make her happy. I love giving them gifts- they are so appreciative of them a notice every little detail. At dinner today, Luiqui and Mati told us all about their day- they went to a Dia de Andalucia event where they ate and danced for hours. They are too funny.

Uhy, class tomorrow. But London in two days? I can deal with that!