Let's play a game!

So in French there are these words known as "faux amis" which look and sound a lot like English words but most certainly aren't. Most of them are pretty harmless, but some are more amusing. Here are my two favorites from my stay thus far. What do you think these mean? (No cheating!)

"La culte," which meets every week.

"Traiteur Asiatique"

Favorite pictures from the week

This is a photograph of the absolute best "new" thing I've discovered in Paris. A little sign on the side of the building says it's called "The Isolated Giant."


This is my friend Allegra and the totally classy meal we cooked ourselves at her place on Friday night. You can't see it very well, but she's eating out of a measuring cup because we had no plates. We also added about 5 times more water than necessary to our pre-heated meal and ended up with stew...



The Parisian take on American culture. Check out those outfits! What you see below is a giant square dancing ring in the middle of a Parisian park.

Ca fait une semaine

I've been here a week. Wow. What a whirlwind-week it's been. Everything goes by so quickly but looking back it seems like I've been here a long time, because so much has happened. The funny thing is, though, that when I go to write about it, I can't remember much at all.

We have this language partner program here where Stanford students meet up with ISEP students (ISEP is an electrical engineering college in Paris where our program is centered) to speak French and English with each other. My language partner seems very nice, but I haven't had much of a chance to get to know him yet. I did spend a fair amount of time this week hanging out with some of the other girls' language partners. My favorite moment from hanging out with them one evening was trying to translate jokes into French. The only joke I knew (and could translate) that they thought was funny was "Pourquoi le poulet a-t-il traverse la rue?" or "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Apparently they've never heard that one before...

This afternoon I walked over to the Champs de Mars, which is this very pretty park area right next to the Eiffel Tower. When I first got there, I ran across the end of a dance exhibit. It was a big group of dolled-up Parisians doing American square dancing. They had on these ridiculous, shiny outfits meant to imitate American country western outfits, I think? It made my day. It was so funny. I took pictures of it, but my camera batteries died so I can't upload them quite yet. Hopefully you'll get to see them soon...

I'm also feeling a bit under the weather...hopefully that gets better.

Appelle-moi!

Today, I purchased une carte SIM for an old cell phone of my grandmother's which gives me a French phone number. You may now call or text me from Europe at:

06 98 87 94 11

To dial this number from the states, you'll dial:
0 11 33 6 98 87 94 11

Note: Text messages to Europe are much cheaper than phone calls, as is using Skype instead of real phones.

Initial impressions, photographed

I had forgotten how beautiful Paris is. Look at the way the apartment buildings look!


And then there's the neighborhood cathedral about 5 blocks from the building I'm staying in. It only dates back to the 1330s though, so no one's ever heard of it...


This is the view from the balcony outside by bedroom. It's really hard to see in this picture, but on the horizon about a fourth of the way in from the left is Sacre Coeur.


And this is Wenqi, the girl who's staying in the room next door to mine.

Arrival in Paris

I am here. I am safe and sound. I am not particularly tired, and definitely not hungry. Definitely not hungry. Additionally, I have WiFi in my room. Which is a very beautiful room, by the by. The apartment I'm staying in is pretty incredible. They have a huge porch on the first floor (2 floor apartment) with a vegetable garden, a patio table, and a view of the Eiffel Tower. And then another balcony that runs outside all the bedrooms, including mine. From that balcony you can see the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre, but you have to walk a bit away from my room for that view. And now for a summary of my trip:

Allie's Voyage to Paris, in Numbers:
Security checkpoints cleared - 3
Security alarms sounded - 1 (the last one too...Frankfurt's alarm must be jumpy)
Delayed take-0ffs - 2
Delayed landings - 1
Minutes traveling between gates in Frankfurt - 45
Seat changes made after storing my luggage in overhead compartment - 2
Bags checked in at SFO - 2
Bags claimed at CDG - 0
Customs check-points - 0 (because in CDG airport, apparently customs is optional)

My bags should be arriving tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. I had very low expectations for my bags, though, so I'm not at all surprised they're running late.

Il ne me reste que huit jours...

I have eight days remaining until I board a plane (and then another plane...and then another plane...) to go to Paris for 10 weeks, followed by nearly 4 weeks traveling around Europe. I don't know how the summer managed to fly by so quickly, but here I am nearing the end of it. Today's my last day of work, so tomorrow I'll be kicking into major get-ready-to-leave gear. There's so much that still needs to be done! Ah!

At any rate, this (as you can see) is a blog. I'm going to attempt to update it on a semi-regular basis while I'm overseas. I don't actually know how often I'll be able to since I don't know yet whether or not my host family has internet. That's only one of many unknowns about going to live in someone else's home. Honestly, I'm a bit anxious. Mais Dieu me garde.

Anyway, here are some ways you may be able to reach me while I'm overseas.

NOTICE! Do not mail me ANYTHING of value. No checks, no money, no gifts, nothing. If it's more than just a card or a letter or a postcard, please send it to my parents instead and I will get it when I get back to the states.

The best place to mail things is the Stanford Center:
Stanford University Program in Paris (Note: You must write Stanford underneath my name)
28, rue Notre-Dame des Champs
75006 Paris, FRANCE
Phone number: +33 01 49 54 65 72

The home I'll be staying at is:
Monsieur et Madame MALAUD
12, rue de la Belle Feuille
92100 Boulogne, FRANCE

My host family's phone number is:
+33 01 41 31 49 79
(+33 is the country code)
I will also have a cell phone, and I'll post that number as soon as I know it.

Ooh, and my newest communication toy is Skype. My very creative username is allie.dunworth

And then, of course, there's always e-mail. I love e-mail. :-)