Love with your heart, not your head (quote from the ONE Dove chocolate I had-hehe)

I just received a package from the best parents on the entire planet!! It means the world to me to have family who care that much about me! They sent me Dove chocolate and each one that I unwrap (only one (not)) there is a precious little saying that is quickly bringing my mood from mediocre, to out of this world! And perhaps it gave me the inspiration I need to write my blog post:

This first part is for my lady friends: The men here dress weird. I don’t mean the sciences-po men, but the French men (actually and boys too) who live around here permanently. There is this little fashion trend that is huge right now. So the males look like they are always about to work out. They wear white sweatpants tucked into their Nike high tops and matching zip up jackets with Addidas shoulder bags. It’s quite interesting and highly unattractive. I saw an 8 year old wearing it the other day- c’est interessant!

Now onto real topics. I was walking along the boardwalk today with my friend Claire and I was telling her that I haven’t had a good inspiration to write a blog post and she told me to sit down and just start writing and whatever came out was what my blog post should be on. So this is it:

Being an exchange student is hard. It’s hard on your character to move to a new place where you know no one and attempt to make friends while also trying to understand a new place, a new language, and new cultural norms. Every day is an excursion from when you wake up to different sounds until when you go to sleep and realize your sheets aren’t necessarily the texture that you’re used to  (and then there’s the fact the toilets are in a different room than the sinks). And then you have to factor in that maybe you miss Mexican food…A LOT and it’s hard to find chips and salsa here, or anything spicy for that matter. Enchiladas, burritos, yum, craving them-HARD! And then there’s the ever boding problem of the fact that it is freaking cold outside. We’re on the beach; it’s not allowed to be cold on the beach! I really hope it starts getting warm soon so I can take advantage of this lovely beach front property I’m currently residing on J

It’s all a learning experience. Making friends here is not as easy as when I was in first grade and had to make friends-but I mean, it’s been a little over 3 weeks  and I may be cool but lifelong friends don’t just throw themselves at you (at least in my standards!)

But I think the hardest part is still the grocery store (lolz). Now I know I vented about this before, but it’s only getting worse. I am going to have to compromise and go grocery shopping more often than once every two weeks because clearly my body does not appreciate that frequency. I returned from the grocery store, shoe completely untied and threatening to fall off, my entire right arm shaking uncontrollably and both of my hands blue and purple (I don’t know why this is).

So I’m obviously just kidding, that’s not the hardest part about being abroad. I haven’t decided what the hardest part is, but I’m guessing it’s the fact that every time I do something cool or see something cool I think about my family and friends and boyfriend who would absolutely LOVE to see that or do this. But I think this is normal (shout if you disagree).

Another pressing issue: food. I eat bread like it’s going out of style! Breakfast, lunch and dinner (and sometimes snacks). But the real problem is that I’m always hungry! Even after I eat an entire meal with lots of protein and veggies and carbs, I’m still hungry. If you’re a nutritionist and you’re reading this, please help a girl out and comment with some advice. I have even tried to eat slower and finish my meal in 20-30 minutes, but that doesn’t seem to work either.

But then there are the good things about being abroad: like how I walked to Italy today and sat on the rocks overlooking the Mediterranean.  And then there’s this thought that has been prominent in my head lately: Life goes by quickly, so make sure whatever you’re doing ALWAYS makes you happy. If you’re not happy with something, change it!

Having the opportunity to be in this wonderful place makes me happy and even though there are things I may not like or I may miss, this experience is going to go by quickly, so I’m going to make sure I am truly happy with everything I’m doing!