Sitting Seine Side

I grew up in a northern New Jersey suburban town. Minus the white picket fence and lawn gnome stereotypes, the town that I grew up in is everything one would imagine "'burbia" to be. Big homes, large green yards, kids riding their bicycles through the neighborhood streets, dogs barking, the smell of grilling barbecue filling the air on the weekends... the list goes on. Life back home became a routine; everything was so predictable. Friday night football games in the fall were a guarantee and the milkshake from the local diner was a promise. You would see the same families at church every Sunday and the same faces picking up breakfast sandwiches and a dozen or so bagels there after. Weekdays were all the same - school, sports practice, dinner, homework, repeat. That's not to say that I did not love growing up there. Of course by the time I was a senior in high school, the predictability of it all was old and mundane. I was eager to see the world and what different ci...

The weekdays at Loyola are predictable and I often found myself going through the motions at certain parts of the semesters that I have spent there. I have always had a routine at Loyola but that is how I work best to ensure I am on top of my work, job, and still finding time for myself and my friends. Abroad is different. Not one day is the same as another. I am constantly doing something different, trying different restaurants, or traveling someplace new. Despite the general unpredictability, there are two days every week that I can be relatively sure as to how my day will pan out – Monday and Thursday. These two days are the only days that I have class each week. Although that seems like the best gig ever, I am in class all day, without a single break between each one. Those days are inevitably long and my schedule forces me to strategically time manage my work in order to have everything done at once. That has been a challenge in itself seeing as I do not want to constantly be...

I live in the 16th arrondissement in Paris. It is a five stop metro ride or thirty minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. It is a residential area, just outside of the popular landmarks that this city is known for. At first, I was a little disappointed that I am would not be living directly inside of the Parisian action. However, since living here for almost two months now, I have come to appreciate my quaint and quiet neighborhood. My arrondissement compared to the 7th and 8th arrondissements, where the Eiffel Tower and other world-famous attractions are located, is strikingly different from each other. My neighborhood is filled with the traditional buildings that anyone would imagine Paris to have. No building is more than five stories high, they are constructed out of limestone with gorgeous detail, and each has black iron balconies that lead from tall French doors. You can hear birds chirping daily, you will always see a number of dogs, joggers, bikers, and people enjoying the greene...