closing in

It is Saturday morning here, and everyone has just about moved out of the dorm. I am here until Tuesday. I was originally planning on going to Italy by myself at the end of the program for four days. Now sometimes my independence gets the best of me, and I am not always the most rational person. This was the case when I booked my plane ticket. After realizing that a) I shouldn’t probably travel alone for safety’s sake (my parents would have gone into cardiac arrest) and b) Italy is a place that I really want to share with my family, I tried to push up my departure date from Paris. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do so, so I will be in Paris at a hostel until my flight on Tuesday. I must say, I am a bit ashamed of not making it to ANY of the countries of my ancestry – Italy, Scotland, or Ireland – while I was over here. Then again it gives me all the more excuse to make another trip over here.

All my presentations and tests this week went well. I went to Les Deux Magots – an old café in Paris where authors like Ernest Hemingway used to write their classics – to study for my French professor’s test:

Our UT professor, Raj, had a picnic with us during the week on a bridge crossing the Seine before he left:

The end of the trip concluded with a great night of dancing and a few more trips to the Eiffel. It will be lit blue at night for the next six months. French President Sarkozy is the European Union (EU) President for the next six months. The Eiffel is lit in the colors of the EU flag.

Our group in front of the sparkling, blue Eiffel (sorry for bad picture quality). We convinced Chase to bring is guitar.

Joy and I in front of the tower:

Paris has been wonderful. It is a great city, and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend six weeks here.

I will post again and will send the link to all my online photo albums once I am back in Houston.

I’m homeward bound.