January 7, 2019

The goal here is not to be too mushy. But saying goodbye is hard. We’ve all heard it: “It’s not the place, it’s the people.” And that could not have been a more true statement for the end of my semester abroad. That and the color yellow. And 80s pop... Read More

December 11, 2018

Under the red and gold holiday decorations, the barista keeps his eyes glued to the tv screen above the booths where a group is sipping coffee, necks craned to hear the news on l’Assemblée Nationale. In the 14th, life outside the café windows proceeds as normal, afternoon... Read More

December 3, 2018

Now, I’m no cook, baker, food blogger, culinary expert…but I do love food. To be honest, baking/cooking kind of stresses me out. Even if I put on some good music, have a recipe prepared, and feel confident, something always ends up getting burned. I suppose I’m... Read More

November 20, 2018

There are only so many more times I am going to be able to look out of the train window and watch the Paris streets come alive below, so I put down my book. It’s kind of like I don’t want to take any moment for granted at this point, and I’ve found that just... Read More

November 13, 2018

So it’s Novemeber, huh? No idea how that happened. It’s been rainy and…humid (?) here in Paris as October melded away and the colors of the leaves really arrived and I had to start thinking about my winter coat situatuation. This past week was jam-packed with... Read More

November 5, 2018

In my list of reasons to study abroad in Paris, “getting anywhere from there” was very near the top. I’ve been trying not to treat these four months like my last time ever in Europe, but I also want to take advantage of the time, the place, the motion (ahem). I have taken... Read More

October 22, 2018

One morning, I was sat at the dining room table across from my host mom. We both had out laptops out, typing furiously. She had her café, I had an empty tasse du thé. It was quiet in the house, with warm sunlight just beginning to stream through the front windows, and... Read More

October 15, 2018

It was very late. Too late for dinner, but I’d stuffed myself with a gas station sandwich, compote de pomme, and about a thousand Bugle chips, so I’m doing pretty okay as I stepped inside of the apartment on Sunday night. I felt like I’d spent all day on a bus (I had) and... Read More

October 8, 2018

A little over a month here in Paris and the idea of “schedule” is still baffling to me. I like to think that I’m fairly organized, however, after almost missing a class, not thinking about what I’m going to eat for lunch on any given day of the week, not being able to... Read More

October 1, 2018

While tying my shoes in the hallway of the apartment, I was distracted by a sudden burst of chatter coming from outside the door. Thinking that, maybe, my host mom had returned and was speaking on the phone, I waited for the door to open so that I might say hello/goodbye and be... Read More