Packing, Introductions, and the Like

As I'm writing this, I have exactly three days and three and a half hours before my flight leaves for Paris (well, New York, where I connect to Paris, but minor details). After that, I'll be studying in Pontlevoy, France with the University of Southern Mississippi for about three months, followed by another USM program in Madrid, Spain for five weeks. I'm a Biochemistry, Biology, and Spanish major, but I'll be spending the longest period of time in France, which I'm slightly nervous about because I've discovered that I tend to carry a strong Spanish accent when I speak French (pronunciations are pretty painful, as it turns out). I also tend to switch languages when there's a word I'm unsure of: last time I was in France with my family, I would start ordering food in French but complete my order in Spanish (thus the blog title: Je voudrais is "I would like" in French, and por favor is "thank you" in Spanish). I'm mostly crossing my fingers that by the end of the program, I'll be able to at least differentiate the two languages while speaking them :)

"A" marks Pontlevoy, the city I'll be staying in this semester!

And in packing news (because it's fascinating and everyone loves to hear about what's going in my suitcase and how I'm going to fit everything for 5 months in Europe), I've just barely started actually packing, but I do have a relatively detailed packing list right now -- my biggest excuse is that I'm trying not to take a lot of clothes so I "might want to wear them before I leave" (flawless logic, yes?). Anyway, the next three days will be a lot of space-bagging and weight measurements hoping I'm not over the 50 pound limit.

I'm excited to leave snowy Michigan (the obnoxious amount of snow we got last night is making it much easier to want to leave) to go to France, where I intend to eat as much French bread as I can and hopefully learn to make it for when I get back to the US also!