My day off!

We have today off to do whatever we please! How exciting! The possibilities are, mildly endless. There is still a bit of a strike going on.
The strike has closed most of the metro lines, including the ones heading to the South of France (aka. Nice, where we're going next). They have opened a few lines but with fewer trains running so trying to go anywhere by the metro is crowded, stuffy and not all that pleasant (though I didn't really like the French metro to begin with compared to the London underground). There is supposed to be renewed vigor in the strike on Saturday, which is the day we are supposed to leave so Dr. Brint is looking into hiring a private coach to drive us there. Its going to take about 10 hours instead of 4 by train. But hey, at least we'll have some place to live that night!)
The strike has closed businesses and many of the national landmarks too. The Eiffel Tower has been closed, the Arc du Triumph, the museums and many local shops. Yesterday we were supposed to go to the Museum D'Orsey but never made it inside because the workers took 2 hours to decide if they wanted to strike.
We arrived in the cold weather (it got so cold so fast here! Hello Fall!) at 9:30 and huddled together like Penguins until 11:30 when we decided to leave and go to the one museum that was open- the Petit Palace- which is featuring a Monet exhibit. This was cool, I have to admit. There were Monet's from all over the world which represented his entire career. It was worth waiting in the cold, but had we not been in a group and gotten in faster than the other line of "individual entrances" I don't think I would have waited (the guard said it was a 2 hour wait).
Yesterday evening all 14 of us collaborated and hosted a "progressive dinner." Molly, Katie and I live in the smallest apartment with just the three of us so started off the evening with champagne (toast to study abroad!) and appetizers. I made some brucetta, we bought cheese and olives and fresh baguettes which we broiled. Soft jazz played in the background as evening decended upon the Seine river outside our windows. It was delicious! Then we all walked as a group to the other girls' apartment where we watched  music videos and had pasta with home-made tomato sauce. The boys all left early to start dessert and we girls showed up late due to the dance party we had on the sofas to the music videos. (The apartment is on the 2nd floor and the windows face an intersection. As we were dancing you could see us through the windows and we got some people standing on the bridge to dance with us! It was good fun!) We eventually  made it over to the boys' where we feasted on chocolate covered strawberries, crepes (jam, banana, nutella...) wine and ended the night with cheese (not a lot of that was eaten as we were all SO full at this point). It was a wonderful, wonderful night filled with good food and good company.

2 days ago I also bought my tickets to go visit a friend from my Diabetes conferences (Children with diabetes)
who lives in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I'm leaving the day the study abroad program ends, Nov 10, and flying via connections in Rome and Geniva, to meet up with her. I'll be there for 12 days! I fly out the 22nd back to London to meet up with my parents and spending a week with them there for Thanksgiving. I can't wait. She's told me that we're going to go to some amazing places (tallest tower in the world, the hotel with the race track, concerts, the beaches!) and that I don't have to worry about a thing while I'm there, I just had to get myself down there. It's going to be a relief being with someone else with diabetes for a while, someone who knows what it's like and who, coincidently, has the same insulin pump and CGM as me! (Though apparently she has the UK version).

Today is cold, and like I said... free. The nose piece on my glasses broke last night so I'm going to try and find a place to fix them (hopefully some place will be open :/ ) And I also want to maybe look for some warmer shirts/sweaters. I bought a pre-paid package to send home some of the stuff I packed with I really don't need so I might do that as well today. Who knows, I might just go back to sleep!

Love from France! Hope everyone at home is keeping warm (colorado) and happy!