Pre-departure was a very difficult journey for me. I had so many obstacles for having issues with my passport, getting my visa, to getting my computer, money and phone stolen; it was really bad. Fortunately, I overcame every one of those obstacles.

It was hard to pack my belongings because I wanted to bring everything with me. I like brought 10 pairs of shoes because I knew I was going to do a lot of walking and odds are that I will probably buy more over here. Then I know french people dress different than Americans in the sense where they dress with more casual/formal. You wouldn’t find someone going to the store in their pajamas and t-shirt. Actually, I don’t think I have seen a woman wear a t-shirt at all. Like in the US I always wear my shorts and t-shirts all the time and it is hard because I wont really be able to do that over here, of course, unless I want to stand out as an American which I really don’t. Besides, I am doing an internship so I have to look professional. So I pretty much packed all dress shoes and boots. dresses and dressier shirts. But no jeans because last time I was hear, I don’t remember seeing a lot of people wearing jeans.

Saying good bye was hard. I didn’t think it would be that way. I thought I was prepared to say goodbye but I was wrong. I know I am going to go back but three and a half months is quite far away. It was very painful to say good bye to my mom and to my boyfriend. For a moment I began to have second thoughts of leaving.

Since I had already been in France, I already knew what to expect for the most part. I knew I was going to see beautiful monuments and a lot of old buildings. The streets where going to be more narrower and the cars smaller a lot of motorcycles/mopeds, crazy drivers too. For the meals, well I expected bread and wine for sure, oh and cheese which is not my favorite whatsoever. I like cheese but not french cheese. I am not expecting a whole lot of different things from what I had previously seen. I am hoping to see a lot of new places, meet a lot of people and make the best out of this internship abroad.