Bonjour from Paris!

Yesterday afternoon I bid my hometown and family goodbye, and left for the first leg of my journey. 

I am writing this post from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and I've met up with the other MSID students. I can already tell it's going to be a good group!

I had to reset the time on my laptop – jumped forward a couple hours. I haven’t slept (sorry Mom, I still don’t sleep very well on planes) but the coffee should help. I know jet-lag can’t be completely beaten with a mind-over-matter attitude and caffeine, but I’m doing my best. I've spent the day kicking around the airport.

Overall, CDG is definitely a little more upscale that O’Hare – the seating & architecture are much more open and friendly. It may be a question of mood, as well – right now I’m relaxed and had to go through only a very short line through security, whereas in Chicago I spent a horrendously long time waiting to go through the body-scanner. But additionally, the kiosks here serve macarons (even more flavors than they sell at Pekara, the bakery I worked at this summer) and the vending machines have orangina – both of which I bought and enjoyed.

I found the newsstand and stood for several minutes looking at all of the books, because it had been a very long time since I saw so many French novels in one place. I’m sure I will be rejoicing for English bookshelves in no time, but the novelty hasn’t worn off yet! I had to convince myself that really, I already had enough books and should save my money for other things, but they are rather tempting – particularly the first up-to-date travel guide on Senegal I’ve found yet! I should never be left unaccompanied in bookstores.