Normandie and Molière all in one week!
October 24, 2019
Salut! Right now, I’m writing this blog entry on the train ride to Brussels for fall break, but let me back up through everything else that’s happened this week. On Friday I took both of my APA course midterms, and then in the evening, there was an event at a bar in which all the APA students were invited to meet and talk with French students so we could practice our French and they could practice their English. Then bright and early Saturday morning, we left for our second APA-led excursion to Normandy. We began with a lunch and visit to the town of Honfleur, one of the few towns in Normandy that still has a old town centre that wasn’t destroyed in World War II. Next, we visited a distillery of cidre and Calvados (a liquor made from apple and pear juice.) Then we headed to Deauville, a beautiful and affluent town that’s sometimes referred to as the 21st arrondissement of Paris. Then we made it to Port-en-Bessin for dinner and the night. The next... Read More
Last Weekend in Paris and End of Finals
October 17, 2019
The last weekend in Paris was a mix of finishing my final essays and trying to fit in some last minute visits. I barely saw anyone from the program over the weekend because we were all in the same boat–scrambling to finish our assignments while enjoying our favorite parts... Read More
Midterms Week
October 17, 2019
Hello again! It’s the week of midterms so this blog entry is going to be a quick one cause I’ve got lots of studying to do! This week has been wild, between a French movie night to a football (soccer as us Americans call it) match, to class at the Musée d’Orsay to the... Read More
October in Paris!
October 11, 2019
Bonjour! This week has been an exciting one! Friday started out with a bit of shopping to keep up with the fashionable Parisians. My language support instructor told me about a store she liked so I just had to check it out. Saturday was APA’s visit to the Château of... Read More
Last Week in Paris!
October 9, 2019
A True Versailles experience Looking back on it, this week was sort of a wreck, and I think it started with the weekend. APA planned a tour of Versailles for us on Saturday. We were supposed to meet at 1:30 to begin the tour. From my homestay, Versailles is about 45 minutes... Read More
One month in! Three more to go!
October 4, 2019
Salut! Its the start of October, and I’m realizing I’ve been living in France for over a month now, which seems absolutely crazy on one hand, but on the other, it feels like home! Since my last post, I (along with the rest of the APA students) went to a beautiful concert at... Read More
⅗ Weeks Completed in Paris!
October 2, 2019
Grand Tour of the Louvre (yes, more Louvre!) My Wednesdays are free and so I wanted to make the most of the day. But before I could go and enjoy all the things that the city had to offer, I needed to get some chores out of the way. When we first arrived in Paris,... Read More
Loving France!
September 26, 2019
Walking Through History On Wednesday, we had a night tour of the Louvre. The tour was supposed to start at 6:45pm but because of miscommunication, we all arrived late and had to essentially run through the museum to see all the exhibits that our tour guide wanted to show us.... Read More
Bourgogne and more!
September 26, 2019
Hello again! At the end of my last blog entry, it was Thursday evening and I was packing and preparing to leave bright and early for Bourgogne (Burgundy), a beautiful region of France a few hours from Paris. This weekend excursion is the first of the APA organized excursions,... Read More
La Vie Parisienne
September 19, 2019
Bonjour! It’s time for another update! I’m coming to the end of my second week in Paris and I’m feeling well adjusted to my life here! Friday night I (along with the rest of the APA Paris students) went to a tour of the Louvre at Night, and learned about the history of the... Read More
Leaving Home
September 17, 2019
It is hard to believe that I am studying abroad for a semester. My summers spent abroad have been much less daunting. A few weeks of going on adventures and exploring new places is the perfect summer vacation, but doing the same for a whole semester raises many... Read More
Settling into life in Paris
September 16, 2019
Bonjour tout la monde! It’s Calista again! This week has been a whirlwind of returning to Paris and making this quintessential city feel more like home! We returned to Paris on Saturday and moved into our home stays and student dorms called “foyers” that night. For me,... Read More
First Week in France
September 5, 2019
Hello everyone! I’m Calista Goldwasser, one of the students studying abroad this semester in the APA Paris Advanced program and I’ll be your window into the study abroad experience with APA! A little bit about myself: I’m a junior at DePauw University where I study... Read More
Last Week in Dakar
July 25, 2019
Soccer Update On Friday, Dakar’s streets were decorated for soccer because Senegal played against Algeria in the final match of the Africa Cup. All day, Senegalese soccer jerseys were worn everywhere, and taxis proudly displayed Senegalese flags. I wore my jersey and everyone... Read More
Connecting with Dakar
July 18, 2019
New Dresses 2 weeks ago Nakeshia, Siddhakshi, and Seneca went to buy fabric for a Senegalese outfit to bring home. Siddhakshi’s sister took them to a shop to pick out fabric and get fitted for their new looks. I was in class when they picked out everything, yet I already had... Read More