Le quotidien.

Nearing the end of my second full day in Paris, I am still dealing with some terrible jetlag -- too tired to go out but too jetlagged to fall asleep. So far, the trip has been interesting and stressful in about equal parts. I had hardly any problems during my 24 hours of travel, except a shortish delay of my second flight, but since the minute I arrived I've been, as my program's leaders keep saying, "playing the game": packing and unpacking the puzzles of everyday existence here, rearranging the pieces and trying to make some kind of coherent picture.

It's more difficult than I thought it would be. I both under- and overestimated my French language abilities. Two years of writing papers about French literature have left me with a quite sophisticated vocabulary. That vocabulary, however, has been completely useless so far. Constructing a lovely sentence about teleology and transvaluations and the disenchantment of metaphor is all well and good, but at this point it would be better to be able to ask store clerks where the alarm clocks are.

Or, as it turns out, cell phones. Today I went with another girl from my program to buy phones, and I think I bought one too early. I didn't shop around, as the system and rates are really confusing, and now I have a phone plan (which I may be stuck with) utterly unsuited to my needs. Even if I do manage to get a better plan, making phone calls will still be extremely expensive, so I would suggest looking into a Skype account (www.skype.com) if anyone reading wants to contact me.

Orientation classes begin tomorrow and include grammar review, methodology, and visits to the various Parisian universities. Hopefully I'll know what I'm taking and where at the beginning of next week!

My neighborhood and host family are very nice. This evening I went and explored the quartier a little, and it's full of restaurants, brasseries, little shops, bigger shops, and what seems to be a mall/movie theater/elaborate swimming pool. Tomorrow I hope to begin looking around Paris more, and maybe I'll be able to put up some pictures of my travels in a few days.