settling in

I'm getting used to living in someone else's home pretty quickly since it seems pretty easy to do so here. We have our own corner of the apartment, by the kitchen, and our own bathroom. To be honest I don't know where her bedroom is. Friday night she cooked Julia, Martin (? I think that's his name...he looks 13 or so), and me dinner, a really good quiche avec jambon, and we had some conversation. I'm getting used to speaking to her in franglais, and through it I'm learning new words that I've probably already learned but never needed to remember in the classroom. Like plate. Assiette. I never really knew that word until yesterday morning, when I had to ask where I could find one to put my croissant on. And coucou, just a fun way to say hi. She said that to me when she saw me up this morning. Haha, and I've been practicing my French on Edgar (try pronouncing it French: Edgahhr), one of the two dogs that live here. Edgar's no Winnie--he's definitely ten times dirtier--but he's a little puppy.

One thing I'm starting to miss (but will force myself to get used to--no wimping out and paying 6 euro for a tall Starbucks latte and getting dirty looks from everyone on the street): to-go coffee. I don't even care about the Starbucks brand, I just miss being able to walk around with it, drink it on the subway, etc. But that's just a small inconvenience.

One thing I'm going to have to get used to: hand-held showers.

I surprisingly haven't taken any pictures. I think it's just because while I am admiring the beauty of it all, I'm mainly trying to get used to living here and getting settled and speaking a different language. But I will start taking some soon.

But I definitely have been taking advantage of the food and wine here. A couple of us went to this really good restaurant in the 9th last night, which was SO GOOD, called Fuxia. And then Beatrice (that's what Julia and I have been calling our landlady...but not to her face yet) is making us dinner tonight. I could get used to this.