ABCDEFGHJ

So on the flight, there was no seat I in the rows, just found it interesting that the seats went from H to J.
On to the real news:
This all feels much how I anticipated-the sudden onslaught of emotion as I claimed my luggage and caught a cab at Charles de Gaulle... the "what have I gotten myself into!?" I miss everyone, and I'm very glad that I got to see all the Chicago-area family this past Monday.
The last day has flown by-literally! I wasn't able to sleep much on the flights, and losing 7 hours complicated things as well-jet lag. I need a shower and a full-nights' sleep.
I flew from D.C. next to a girl with long, curly, red hair named kaylea, and then when we arrived and debarqued, we arrived together at the luggage claim. Once we had our bags I accompanied her to her hostel, as her French wasn't great and she was nervous, but then I missed the TGV I wanted to take to Strasbourg. Luckily, Perrine took the whole afternoon off so me taking one of the later hourly trains, taking th 12:24 rather than the 10:24, is not a problem. It did cost me an extra 15 euros though (totaling 98 euros with purchasing the 23-25 card) my first major purchase!
My French is still sharp, I'm communicating pretty effortlessly - or at least no one is acknowledging my mistakes. I am happy about that.
Kaylea will be living in Paris for the year, finishing he rart degree, so now I havfe some place to stay when I want to come visit la Tour Eiffel! there is nothing more beautiful than a summer evening picnic on the Seine watching the sun set behind the Eiffel Shower as it begins to sparkle, and sharing a bottle of wine with people you like :>) I will be back here soon, but not too soon - gotta find some time to settle down in Tarbes and write postcards!