departure!

I finally did it...last night, I bought a one-way ticket to Paris. Tuan (one of the other Fulbright teachers) and I have been keeping an eye on the prices, and he told me about www.vayama.com, who had one-day tickets at a decent price compared to the others we'd been seeing. Considering the fact that it was less than half of any other one-way ticket, I was thrilled. This relieves me of dealing with penalties to change my return flight (you can only book a return 320 days in advance) or having to fly home one year from date of ticket issue. You can imagine the anxiety I was feeling as I clicked the purchase button. Everything is suddenly very, very real.

Now we just have to hope that the visa arrives in time. The paperwork is finally in the hands of the ANAEM in Nantes, and they will send everything to our respective Consulates via chronoposte in the middle of next week. At that point, my fate will be in the hands of the visa folks in Houston who have been wonderful so far.

Much to my mother's surprise, I've chosen to leave for Paris on my birthday. Initially, I wasn't excited about spending the day on an airplane - one of my least favorite places - but then I thought, what better way to begin a new year? Another year older, and off on a new adventure.

Damien and Kathy just called from Paris with a plan for my first day. Damien will rent a car and pick me up at Roissy and we'll leave from there for Poix. Having a car will be very handy, so we can easily take care of things like groceries and exploring the area (not to mention luggage!). From there, he'll make use of the long weekend, avoid the noise and dust from the deconstruction of a bridge across from their apartment in Nanterre, and continue on to Leuven, Belgium. Kathy is renting a room there while she works on her dissertation (she's a student/instructor at the Institut Catholique de Paris). I believe I'm expected in Leuven the following weekend. I haven't been to Belgium in over 15 years, so I'm looking forward to that. Besides, I'll have to recuperate my winter coat that traveled to Europe with Kathy earlier this week.

Kathy and Damien are wonderful friends; knowing that Damien is meeting me at the airport and will help me get settled makes that first day in France a little less scary.