Two more weeks of preparations

People keep asking me how my preparations for Paris are going. I don't have a very exciting answer to offer. Most of the really important arrangements (travel plans, host family, course assignments) have been in place for several weeks, and it's still too soon for me to begin packing. However, I do have a couple of updates to share:

1. Last weekend, I found out that I was accepted to the Georgetown summer program in Ifrane, Morocco! Once I finish my exams in Paris, I will fly to Fez, then take a bus to the mountain resort town of Ifrane about an hour away. I will spend four weeks studying "development in theory and practice", "Islam and democracy", and Moroccan Arabic at Al-Akhawayn University. I've been nervously awaiting the admissions decision for weeks, and I'm thrilled that I was accepted! This is a truly unique opportunity, and I'm sure I will benefit from it academically, in addition to having a chance to explore another country and culture.

2. Along those same lines, traveling in a place like Morocco is slightly more complicated than France, for example. I have already been vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, but the State Department also recommends a typhoid vaccine. There is a relatively new oral (pill) version of the vaccine that lasts twice as long and has fewer side effects than the traditional injection -- which is great for me, since I hate needles! After I managed to convince my doctor that this does indeed exist (side-note: since when is the patient responsible for bringing the drug information to an appointment? It was pretty bizarre), all I had to do was take one pill every other day for a week. Now I am protected from typhoid fever for five years, not bad.

3. Back to my primary study abroad location, I got in touch with my host mother last weekend. I wasn't sure how many personal questions would be considered rude, so all I know at this point is the information that the housing agency provided: she is a 60 year-old woman who was born in Fez and has three of her seven children still living at home. However, her response to my email was incredibly warm and friendly, so I continue to be (cautiously) optimistic about the home stay experience. She asked me to send her a "petit coucou", a "little hello", from the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. She knows that I'm a student at Georgetown, but I don't think she realized that I am currently at home in Chicago!

Speaking of which, I was certainly disappointed that I was unable to attend the inauguration in person -- especially given that I have lived in D.C. for most of the past 2.5 years! After giving it some thought, though, I realized once again that I am incredibly blessed to have this extra time at home, and I wouldn't change the situation if I could. The significance of the occasion was certainly not diminished because of my location. I still felt as though I was a part of history, even though I was watching everything from the couch in our family room. In fact, I think the most meaningful part of the ceremony for me was not the inaugural address or the slightly fumbled oath of office -- it was a brief moment when the NBC camera captured both President Obama and Congressman John Lewis in the same frame. If I hadn't been huddled on our couch, hanging on every word and image, I might not have noticed it.

History is an interesting thing. We can trace a direct line from Abraham Lincoln to John Lewis, James Foreman, Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman (and countless others), to Barack Obama. He stands on the shoulders of their work and sacrifices, as do we all.

Sorry for that digression -- just some things I've been thinking about during my "preparations". To tie it back to the topic at hand, I will be very interested to see how other countries and cultures perceive not just our recent election and inauguration, but also the history that led up to it.

Countdown: 4 weeks

This time, four weeks from now, I will be settling into my host family's apartment in Paris. It's still a little surreal at this point, but I have plenty of things to keep me busy until then. I think I have learned a lot already from this process, and I haven't even left home yet! Here are a few of the things that I have checked off my "to-do" list:

-I have applied for and received my French visa. (My first bureaucratic victory!)
-I have (after a bit of negotiation) registered for a full courseload at Sciences Po. (The second victory.)
-I have received my host family assignment.
-I have obtained (with quite a bit of help from Mom and Dad) my airline tickets and a train pass, good for six days worth of European adventuring.
-I have compiled quite a collection of Parisian guidebooks, good for the 2 days per week that I will have barely any classes.

Still on my "to-do" list:
-Contact my host family to introduce myself. This could take a while, since I don't have an email address for them. Snail mail, anyone?
-Preregister for my student ID card. This is made rather difficult by the fact that the necessary form is not available in my "espace etudiant" (my online student account). But what's life without a little excitement?
-Pack. On second thought, let's not think about that yet!

Even though I'm beginning to get very excited (ravie, as the French would say) for the upcoming semester, I am still so glad that I have this extra time at home. If you would like to keep tabs on my various (mis)adventures over the course of the next 6 months, be sure to check this blog! I will try to update it regularly with fun anecdotes, new discoveries, and of course, lots of pictures.

A bientot!
Allison