Snippets

Today I went to the catacombs of Paris.  They had walls of bones.  I mean, any medical student would have been thrilled by the number of femurs and ulnae and skulls and scapulae and so many other bones that were there!  And the tops of the bones, where the joint is, were the walls, stacked on top of each other so that they looked like bricks, with skulls interspersed throughout them and sometimes placed in such a way to create a picture, such as a heart or a cross.  Wow.  So many bones.  And tunnel upon tunnel.  Who ever knew that 350 km of grave existed underneath Paris.  Now you do.

In the morning, when I wake up, I get out of bed and open up the shudders on my window.  It's one of my favorite things to do in the morning because, first of all, I get to smell the crisp, cool air.  Secondly, and more importantly, I can hear the birds singing.  And I mean, it's cold outside, and there are songbirds singing.  It's a weird feeling to hear songbirds in January.  Especially coming from Idaho and Nebraska where songbirds don't start singing until April, when it's actually springtime.  The birds are lovely, and they are screwing up my idea of what season it is.

Sheep cheese exists in France.  And we have it in our fridge at home.  Could my life be any sweeter?  Nine.  I love sheep cheese.  Seriously.  Ever since eating it in Albania, I have looked and looked for it in the States, but I have never found it.  But, of course, the French being the lovers of cheese that they are, have sheep cheese.  I think I just died and went to heaven.

Not everyone is fashionable in France.  Yeah, I know, you're thinking, what?  Nope, not everyone is.  Actually, I think it's just more that Europeans buy clothes that are of better quality so they look better.  This is what I have decided.  Because they get their clothes from within Europe, typically, they have better quality clothes, rather than what we get from China.  Sorry, China, you just don't really make that great of quality clothes.  Anyway, I feel better about my lack of chicness when what I see in Paris, or I should say on the outskirts of Paris, isn't so insanely chic.  Oh the things we learn when we people watch.

When Maggi (said Maggie) leaves, I will be working a lot more than I thought.  But that's okay, I still have time to study and hang out during the day and on the weekends.  Of course, I get to study lots when I am with the girls because all we do is speak Deutsch.  Speaking of studying Deutsch, Demet has found a German teacher for me to take private lessons with four hours a week for these first couple of months so the girls and I will be able to communicate.  Once I am done with those lessons then I will start with my French courses.  I am quiet excited to be learning German, it could be French and I would still be excited, I am just happy to be learning more languages! 

Life is gut, and I am very happy and slowly getting into the time zone, although I am still waking up and feeling like I can actually go to sleep.  Wake up time here is bed time at home, ya, annoying.  Oh well, 25 more days and my body will have an official new time clock. Well, time for bed, gute nacht!