Submitted by Heather Fard on the 2020 winter session study abroad program in Paris, France sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences…
This week, I started my first journey abroad. I landed in Paris on Friday morning and was hit extremely hard with jet-lag. This first week was harder than I had expected. The nerves of being in a foreign country and living with three girls I had never met had caught up to me. I was also more homesick than I had expected, which I had not experienced before. Luckily, we all felt the same way and are getting along rather well. There is also a transportation strike going on in France at the moment. In Paris, the best way to get around the city is the metro. Our first week here was a maze of different routes to get to class on time. Coming from a suburban town outside of Philadelphia, I have not used public transportation many times. This week has been an adjustment and learning process to get around the city.
After finally adjusting to the time in Paris, I was ready to go out and explore. We are staying two blocks from the Eiffel Tower, which is even more beautiful in person than I could have imagined. We have spent almost every night there this week. We have not had much time to do touristy things yet, due to the fact that we are in class until the sun goes down. As a field trip we went to the Museum of the History of Medicine. This museum was extremely interesting for those in my study abroad group. We are all either biology or pre-medical majors, so this field trip was interesting to all of us and the careers we hope to pursue.
I am excited to see what the rest of the month here in Paris has in store. I have gone to the Eiffel Tower, Saint Chapelle and the Picasso Museum. I have many other museums and locations to check off my list before I leave. I also hope to make my way to a few other European countries while I am here.
