In local news...

I do apologize for the lapse since I took time to share the everyday, "keep the world spinning", happenings around Paris...hmm, where to start...well it is evident that I have recently had a lot of visitors. My bedroom is officially suitcase free for the first time in over a month! Though it has been crazy, it was great to spend time with Micah, Mom & Dad, Josh, Katie, and Jacki (who is actually still here, just not sleeping at my house). It was fun to do a few tourist things I had not made time to do yet, I seem to have forgotten or have just gotten used to how romantic and picturesque the city is...and I enjoyed seeing it through fresh eyes...but as of now I will be okay if I don't see any more sites until I get to Italy!

Last night was the "Fete de la Musique" in Paris. It is one day, conveniently the longest day of the year, where there are bands set up all over the city and people can just walk from place to place, dancing and drinking, enjoying the summer weather...also a few metro lines stay open all night so you can get around. I realized when I first heard about this event that I am "old" because my first thought was that there was no way I could stay up all night and that I would hate to be stuck in the city and with all the crazies and drunks...but then my adventurous "this would make a fun story to tell someday about when I lived in Europe" side kicked in and I decided this was a worthy adventure...which proved to be true! We ended up doing a lot more walking and standing than seeing as many bands as I thought, but the company was good and I will share a few pics. Apparently "Play that Funky music white boy" is not a well known song here...and when we heard it we failed to notice that we were the only ones dancing and singing along...therefore attracting quite a crowd of men who wanted to dance in our circle, and one who even kissed two of my friends on the cheek :)

The summer heat comes and goes but this weekend it got up to 91F...which may not sound that hot to those of you who live in Texas, but when you don't have air conditioning, a breeze, you live on the 5th floor of a building, and you visit friends who serve you hot coffee and stew...it gets pretty toasty! I have been waking up every morning in a sweat, yummy. At least I am doing my part by still shaving my armpits and wearing deodorant...which is more than I can say for a lot of people on the public transit.

Friday is an important day for two reasons...1) I will be done with school!!!! Praise God for His grace to get through the foundations of French, now comes the discipline to speak and expand my vocabulary! 2) The semi-annual sales in Paris begin! Yes, here they have a government regulated times for the stores to run sales...which makes it hard to buy anything most of the year because nothing is ever a good deal, but is fun during this time because literally every store you go in has tons of stuff you need on sale...time to stock up since this won't happen again until January!!