ho-kay.
No pics yet, sorry. I’m tuckered out. I opened a bank account today, no small feat, then talked to all the incredibly brilliant people in my lab. Really smart PhD students, not to mention the researchers I’ll be working under. It seems I’m the only woman, in a lab of about 20. Now I’m boiling pasta and gazing into the gorgeous penthouse apartment across the street, which appears to have a couch, 2 chairs, and a piano! My place is about as big as the piano. On the other hand, theirs is undoubtedly ridiculously expensive.
This evening I walked to the 1st to buy a kitty litter pan from a very strange pet store. they were rather small (notice a theme?) and sold all sorts of animals – rabbits, gerbils, mice, chicks, chickens, roosters, birds, dogs. I felt so sorry for the dogs, puppies in glass cages. the place smelled terrible, too. I didn’t see any cats but it would have depressed me further. Anyway, they had cat pans but no litter. I was wearing my second-most uncomfortable pair of boots, so I decided to metro home, which turned out to be a terrible idea. The subway was super crowded and I still had to walk a lot to change trains, plus I was standing the whole time.
However, on the walk between the subway and my place, I was further impressed by my neighborhood. I live adjacent to the Jardin du Luxembourg and can walk across it to my work in about 10 minutes. Tomorrow I plan to jog in it. On the non-garden side, it turns out there are a bunch of cute shops, restaurants, and cafés. And a Boulangerie! So, tomorrow I will also overcome my fear and have some breakfast and coffee. And sign up for French lessons…and get a SIM card…and buy an adapter.