Je suis arrivée!

I have arrived! I am finally in Nantes. I am so happy to finally be here because the past 48 hours were an absolute nightmare. Thanks to our fabulous snow storm, my first flight was delayed which would have caused me to miss my connecting flight out of Chicago so I was put on a flight through Dulles in Washington D.C. Well that flight was delayed as well which caused me to miss my other connection so I was put on a flight which had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany. This flight was ALSO delayed and I almost missed my connection into Paris but I made it by a hair thank goodness. I lost my luggage but I can deal without it for a few days.... But I had missed my train and had to get another ticket. Imagine yourself in the middle of Paris alone trying to figure out a railway system that is in a completely different language. It is difficult, believe me. Well this train had a layover in Le Mans, then I finally went to Nantes. Upon my arrival at the train station in Nantes. I had to figure out how to catch a taxi and tell them (in French) where I needed to go. Once I arrived at 7, rue des Candeniers, (The IES abroad center) I started to walk up multiple pitch black stairwells (electricity is very expensive in France so lights are always kept off when they aren't being used). My cellphone was dead, I was in the middle of France by myself and walking up pitch black stairwells. Absolutely terrifying. I found the floor where I needed to go and I thought the door was locked. I started banging on the door and yelling "Hello?" "Bonjour?" and finally Mme Rouchet (the asst program director) came to the door and let me in. She was incredibly nice and called my host family, Famille de Joigny, and they came and picked me up. As soon as I got back to their house I fell asleep. What a journey.

On another note, this is going to take some getting used to... my host parents do not speak any English and I am a little rusty on my French so communication is difficult. Fortunately, my host brother speaks some English so when he is around, he can help translate. Something that I find interesting here is that the French listen to English music all of the time. In the taxi last night the driver was listening to "Jump" by Van Halen and my host siblings are listening to English music right now as I write this....

Today, we leave for Tours, France for orientation. I am hoping my luggage has arrived at the IES center because I didn't pack too many clothes in my carry on. I am just happy to be here. Je t'aime!!