Jour 3-- Perdu dans le metro! oh no!

I am not kidding you, the metro in Paris is very confusing. So confusing, it leads to stress, which leads to frustration, which leads to you wanting to never take it!

We woke up in the morning, packed our bags quickly, and moved out of the Hotel Citadines. The stay was great. Jordan and I had many a good night in our closet-style room, and our beds somehow managed to inch closer and closer to each other each night.

We spread up into groups- those going to live in the Cite Universitate (the dorms) in the Foundation des Etats-Unis building were to go in one car; and the others living in Vivaldi (another dorm) and homestays went in another. We took a short ride up north were we stopped infront of the FEU. Now the Cite is really like a mini city. There are 27 "houses" or dorms and each has a different country's name. Students of those countries usually stay in them as well as other nationalities.

We got our room keys, and I moved into my dorm room on the first floor. The room is quite large, with a big closet, a sink, a twin bed, an Anne Frank era furniture. It's old, but it will do. A negative about the dorms is that the toilettes and showers are down the hall. You must constantly push a button every 30 seconds in the shower to keep the water hot and flowing...I dont think I can try this just yet!

After we were settled, we had another meeting about schools. I am going to be at the Universite Paris Dauphine. I start January 25th and dont know what to expect!

After our meeting, Jordan and I wanted to head back to the FEU to shop for some much needed things for our dorm. This when confusion occurred. We weren't really paying attention in the beginning when we first took the metro from the FEU to the API center int the centre of Paris. Soooo we were in for a big one. We walked down the Forum Les Halles metro entrance and were instantly lost in the masses of people using the metro. Mind you, that today was the first day of SOLDES- the mandatory month-long sales mandated by the government. EVERYONE was out!

Jordan and I were standing in the middle of the metro talking and trying to figure out which line to take back, when a man tried to pick-pocket me! Jordan slapped my bag and the guy just casually walked away. No big deal, not scary at all?!! From then on, we freaked out and eventually found the line. Thank god!

When we returned we went to Monoprix (a massive superstore) and got food. We came back and went out for the evening with some study-abroaders from U of CHicago living on our floor. I discovered that one of my best guy friends from grade school was in the group and living directly above me! It had been 4 years since I had last seen him! We had a blast going out to bars in Bastille!

More to come! Au revoir!