Disclaimer: it was not fun. This may get a little rant-ey.
The day before I left I did that stupid thing I always do before I leave a place I don't want to leave: I stayed up really late so I could make my last few hours there last as long as possible. So I did that, then I got up at 5 am the next morning to drive back to Warsaw (have I mentioned how sick I am of sitting in planes/buses/cars?). I was sad leaving, but I was also really nervous. The closer we got to the airport the tighter my stomach felt. I went back and forth from trying to eat my feelings to feeling nauseous.
We finally made it to the airport. The lines were huge, and I became even more nervous that I wouldn't make my flight. But I did. I got to Paris no problem, found my next gate within 15 minutes, ate some food, and waited. And waited. And waited.
My flight ended up being delayed almost an hour. Problem: I was originally supposed to get to Montpellier at 7:25 pm, and the pickup time ended at 8:00 pm, so I was worried already that I would have to sleep at the airport of get a taxi or something.
With the delayed flight there was no way I'd make it before 8. I used my 15 minutes of free wi-fi (Thanks Charles De Gaulle airport, for your enormous hospitality) to write her an email that I would be late and prayed she would get it. At this point my stomach felt like it was filled with rocks.
Finally at 7:50 we took off, an hour later we landed. As I got up a girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was from the UW. I had met her during an exchange night a few months earlier and she remembered me. So at least I wasn't alone. We picked up our bags (her's was totally ripped, sadly) and stood in the waiting area. No one was there. I went to the counter at the information desk to ask the lady there if she knew anything. Nope.
Another girl walked over to me and asked if I was going to UVP, she had been on the same flight. So we sat there for 15 minutes or so, and finally the UVP student came to pick us up. We got in the bus where a few other students were waiting. One of them was a philosophy major. Strange boy.
We finally got to the dorms. Oh...dear frick. I had talked to a few people who had done the UVP program, and when I asked about the rooms, the response "Oh, they're tiny."
But we were told they are singles with a bathroom and a fridge, how small can a room be if it has a bathroom and a fridge?
Answer: very. It's not so much a room as a prison/closet. I became slightly claustrophobic (literally). The bathroom... imagine the smallest bathroom ever. It's smaller than that. The shower doesn't have a normal, civilized-people knob, it has on of those knobs you see in public bathroom sinks that you push down for the water to run for 30 seconds. We have that for our shower.
The water pressure, on the other hand, could probably kill a small mammal.
The nicest way I've heard it described was a hallway leading to a bed.
I saw the room and freaked out a little (more like panicked because that's how I handle situations) and did what I always do: email the person in charge frantically. I asked if she has any home stay options left (the answer was no, by the way). I'm considering looking into getting an apartment with another girl from the UW (although she never really officially told me she was okay with that, I just sort of told her we can maybe figure out how to look for apartments together). It seems like a complicated process though. We'll see. I really wish I had done a home stay. Sigh... sometimes I make mistakes.
But anyways, it was late, and I hadn't really had dinner. But this is France, and the French do not work late. I don't know, too busy drinking wine and eating cheese and getting free health care? (sorry, still a little bitter). My point is: there was nothing open.
So I was starving, I went over to the UVP student/leader/helper person and asked if there was anywhere I could get food.
"Umm...Zat iz a beet complicated, noseeing iz really open right nao. Hmmm... I can provide you wees Chinese noodles?"
Sure. She handed me top ramen, a bowl, and a pot. I went to the communal "kitchen" (literally two sinks and four burners) and tried to cook, but the stupid burners wouldn't work. At this point I was just absolutely exhausted and famished. So I channeled my elementary school self and ate the stuff cold and crunchy. Yum?
I did that, took a shower, and tried to sleep. But, like I said, I was a bit claustrophobic so I couldn't sleep, so I watched some YouTube for a while. I have no idea when I finally fell asleep.
But I'm here at least. Today was a lot better I promise, I'll post some stuff tomorrow after our placement test (which we foolishly tried to study for) and after I finally get some real food (I would kill for an apple) and after I figure out how to set up a cell phone and after I figure out where anything is around here and after I do any homework I may have...
Okay, so I may or may not be able to post stuff tomorrow. We'll see. For now I am insanely tired.
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