The first week here

Well, so far so good. Everything is going pretty well. I am staying with a host family all year, the Chalufours, and they are perfectly marvelous. They have been hosting IES students for something like 15 years. So, they are old pros at this. They had everything ready for me when I got here, including a list of rules and information, typed out and sitting on my desk. Sophie and Didier are the parents. They are both editors of children's comic books. Their office is in this building on the same floor as the apartment. They have 5 kids but only two of them live here. The oldest is married and lives in Paris. The second is teaching somewhere in Southern France. The third, Fleur (I think), is in Vietnam for 6 months studying. I'll get to meet her later in the year. The fourth, Vladimir, is 23 and lives here. He is a student at one of the Universities in Paris, although I'm not quite sure which one. The youngest is Colombe, who is 12. She is pretty funny. She's such a talker but it's often hard to understand her because she talks so fast. It's starting to get easier though.
We live in an apartment in the 17th arrondissement in Paris. It's very close to the Arc de Triomphe. In fact, I see it every day going to school on the metro (the subway system in Paris). It's a cool neighborhood. The street we live on has fresh vegetable and fruit and fish markets along it. It is a pedestrian street. Also, there is a wine shop right across the street from us! How French!! The apartment itself is pretty big and very French. It has three entrances. (As they had more kids, they bought more apartments and connected them.) They own most of this floor in the building actually. It's pretty cool. My room is small but cozy (shown above). Just the right size for me.
There is also another girl from IES that lives here. (We have our own entrance to the apartment.) Her name is Callie and she's from Charleton, South Carolina. She goes to school at the University of Missouri because her family moved to Missouri shortly after she graduated from high school. She's pretty awesome. We get along really well. She does a lot of the talking at dinner with the Chalufours, mostly because I'm really shy with my French. I don't talk a lot, but I'm getting better. I think I spoke a whole paragraph tonight!!! That's pretty good for me. I just have to get more comfortable with it.
I haven't done too much exploring of the city yet. I'm still afraid of being mugged but I guess I just have to be safe about getting around. I have been to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, of course. Mostly, I've just explored the neighborhoods where my school is and where my apartment is. I'm starting to get comfortable with the city and I'm making new friends every day with whom I can explore. Here's hoping I settle into this quickly!

Love and Hugs!
French Amy