First Day at Marymount International School in Paris!

Today was our first day at the school. The 16 of us were guided to the school by Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson. It only takes about 25 minutes to get there.

We found out that the school bought a huge mansion and turned it into a school. You can completely tell it is a mansion, which is awesome! I was originally supposed to teach in a Kindergarten class, however one of the girls on the trip, Govinda, has just started a job teaching Kindergarten. So i decided to switch with her because I actually am starting to become interested in second grade. We had no idea what we were getting our selfs into. After the tour of the school, we got dropped off one by one at our classrooms. I was the first to get dropped off! Which was super nerve racking.

Once I got in I found that my teacher Madame Garnier, was super nice! She was telling me about different things and just trying to get to know me. I was absolutely amazed at how well behaved the students were in this class. I have never seen a class like it, especially coming from a Title 1 school. All of the students literally started the class with their hands crossed over there desks, it was like a dream. Marymount is Catholic based however not all the students are catholic. They start the day out with a morning prayer. Eventually, they do reading. I really liked how they had all the different ability students switch classrooms and go to the class that best meets their needs. My class was the highest readers of second grade. I was absolutely amazed at how well these students could read. They were reading chapter books, when my title 1 school students hadn't even started chapter books. The rest of the day went smoothly and I learned that there are students from the USA, Italy, Africa, Korea, Sweden, and so many other places in my one class. This school represents 70 different countries.

The last part of my day, I sat and watched my second graders practice for their First Holy Communion. Overall,  I was super exhausted but had a great experience. The way these classrooms work are so different than in the US. They are more relaxed and have to deal with less behavior issues.

Tomorrow we have the day off because it is labor day here, so I am going to nap now. Tonight we are going out to a restaurant with fondu and that serves you wine in a baby bottle? this should be interesting.

First Two days!

So yesterday was our official first day in Paris! After everyone arrived, Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson took all 16 of us to learn how to use the metro. Obviously, I have no idea what is going on because it is so hard to catch on to things when they are in another language. We took the metro to go and see the Eiffel Tower! It is soooooo tall in person, but really pretty. Unfortunately, yesterday the weather was super nasty and so foggy, so it was kind of miserable. After looking around for like two hours, we decided to go and find a restaurant to eat dinner. This was our first experience having to attempt to order in FRENCH! So hard. Colleen and I just starred at our waiter, and pointed to what we wanted. Thank goodness he was nice and understanding and spoke to us in english. After dinner we were all SUPER exhausted from flying in, that we decided that we were going to stay up till 8 pm so we can get on Paris time. Let me tell you, that was a huge struggle!! So there are two showers in our apartment. Both showers don't have doors. One is a bath with a little piece of glass covering it and the other is just a shower with out a door. Colleen and I were confused by it, but we thought...hmmm maybe it is European or something? We both took showers in it, trying to not splash out side the shower. It was awkward because there was a mirror right in front of the shower.... Anyways, I thought this was really weird so I went next door to check our neighbors shower. AND THEY HAD A DOOR!!! lol So our idea of it being European was just wrong...the hotel never gave us a door to our shower. When 8 rolled around, we all passed out!

Today- Sunday 5:10 pm

We woke up and got ready for our bus tour today of the city. The weather was still so gross out when we started, but we decided to go anyway. Even though it was wet out and the top was cold, Colleen and I sat on top to get the experience. I really enjoyed the open top bus. We took tons of pictures! Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson brought a huge banner that said University of Florida. We took so many group pictures with it. Today has already been a long day. There was a lot of walking and picture taking today, but by 1 pm it started to clear up and it was sooo nice! For lunch, the 18 of us went to a cute cafe. I had the some popular sandwich and had a glass of chardonnay, yummy (first legal drink...). We are resting up after this long day, then gonna get ready to go out to dinner!

<3

Arrived in Paris!!!!

Paris Time: 10:48 am.

We arrived safely in Paris. The flight was fun. Colleen switched with the person next to me, so we were together. We started out with a movie, then got fed dinner. That was interesting! it was like a microwavable meal...I ate it though! (surprising right?!). I tried to sleep for a while, but I am not exactly sure if I fell asleep or not? Other than that just watched movies!

There was eight of us on our plane from Charlotte, North Carolina. Good News---All eight of us got our luggage! That was a big concern for all of us. After getting all of our luggage we have to find out where our taxi was. Jennie went around attempting to speak french and find out where we had to go! Being here has already gave me first hand experience on what it is like being an ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER in one of my classrooms. This will give me new appreciation for there needs because it is not fun, not knowing what anyone is saying! My favorite part about the airport was going through customs! The guy looked at my passport and said, "PALERMO...Italiano!" love it! :)

Anyways, the driving was crazy to get to our hotel! But we are finally here and it is awesome!! There are 2 bedrooms, living room, 2 showers, one bathroom, kitchen and a huge balcony where we can see the Eiffel Tower from! Absolutely amazing! The closet space is a little tight so Jennie and Dana are putting their clothes in the kitchen cabinets, hahaha.

Well, we just unpacked and now we are waiting for the last 4 people to arrive. Dr. Robinson is going to take us to the market next door and show us some places! Otherwise, for today we are on our own. We don't know exactly what we are going to do, but we will probably just explore.

Au Revoir <3

✈✈ Delayed

Our flight has been delayed an hour. We are already on the plane! And thank goodness Colleen could switch seats with someone cause now we are next to each other for this 8 and a half hour flight. We are listening to all the French people around us and not comprehending anything, definitely in for a rude awakening when we get to Paris! I am hoping that my luggage makes it on the plane! Since there was a delay I feel like that gives me a better chance :) cause that would suck, right? Well next time I post I will be waking up in Paris!!!! Ahh Until then... K bye ! ✈✈✈

Landed in charolette

Currently getting off the plane in Charolette, North Carolina. Now it is time to get to our other plane to catch up with Colleen and the others! We board in an hour! I still can't believe I am about to go to Paris! It hasn't hit me yet.

Three Days till Departure

Tomorrow will be Wednesday, April 25, and I have one more exam left! I should be done with my exam by 10 am. Then the two days of packing up my room and my bags for Paris begin. I am super excited to see my parents on Friday. They are traveling up here to help me move out of my room and take me to the airport. I truthfully should probably be studying for my exam right now instead of making this blog. Oh well...


Three days to go!

Let the packing begin.