The Euro is Killing Me!

After one week in Paris, I am starting to realize how broke I am going to be by June. Everything is so expensive! At first it doesn't seem so pricey because I am looking at the price in Euros, but after I multiply it by 1.5 it is not so cheap.

The government requires by law that no sales happen in any month other than January or July (that includes clearance racks!). So, I have justified shopping in January because I have to soak up all of the sales before everything gets more expensive. Even with sales, the clothes are so expensive. Brianna and I have tried to examine the style of the Parisian girls so we can imitate it, but I don't think I can pull any of it off! We'll see..

I tried grocery shopping yesterday, and it took me 1 hour to find less than 10 things. Our freezer is small so I can't buy a lot because it will go bad, so I have to buy a little at a time. The grocery store was very confusing and made no sense at all to me. I was looking for Mayonnaise so I found a shelf with this Mayo-Mustard sauce, but no Mayo was there. Of course, it was on the other side of the grocery store because the French don't believe in convenience! Speaking of which- I have come to realize that the French just do whatever they feel like it no matter how inconvenient it is for other people. For example, they don't pick up their dog poop. Every side walk is covered in it. They park their cars in the middle of the sidewalk (literally, the middle of it). They will just cut in line or shove you to the side to get onto the metro. I think this is something I'll have to get used to. Besides that, the French can actually be very nice (despite their reputation). They are putting up with my horrible French (usually with one word out of my mouth they know that I am American and they start speaking English). They are very amused by Americans - we get asked a lot about Beer Pong...

This week, I have been going to Orientation activities and exploring Paris. Today, I tried to go to a market, Fallafel place, and the Picasso Museum but of course, all were closed! (Things in Paris are closed a lot- particularly on Sundays and Mondays). I found a yummy Jewish deli though and I ate extremely overpriced food ( I didn't realize until after I had ordered). I wandered around Le Marais, which is the Jewish Gay part of town. It is a fun part of town because there are a bunch of cobblestone streets and chic vintage shops.

School starts on Monday, but I am kind of excited to get into a routine and to see if I like my classes.