A new day, a new trip & standby...

      I think some of you have been eagerly awaiting a new posts on this blog. Thank you for being so patient. I had wanted get this started from the beginning of my trip, in California, but that obviously never happened. I ended up being entirely to busy with meeting new & great friends, going to the beach, discovering the cooler side of LA, and, finally, an amazing two weeks in French pioneer school. What an experience that was! It was intense, yet so encouraging; energizing while at the same time, with 4-5 hours of study each day, exhausting. To get to know better the other 22 students was also a highlight. Between all of us there were 6 different countries, 6 different states, and 10 different languages represented. It was an amazing two weeks!

    So now I am in Paris. My time getting here was quite interesting. As some so of you may know, I flew standby. Originally I was set to leave LA on Saturday morning and was supposed to arrive in Paris on Sunday. Well, things did not exactly go as planned. To be fair, I did know what I was getting into with standby, but I just hoped to be the exception! As it turns out, trying to fly standby out of LA, on a weekend no less, is a pretty dumb idea. Arriving all fresh and ready to go Saturday morning ended with me finally flying out Monday morning, and that was only my first flight, to Philly! I won't bore you with the in between of those 3 days other then to say that if anyone chooses to fly standby it is very advantageous to do the following: 1) Always have the idea that you will most likely not get on the next flight, because you probably won't. 2) With your unbelievably charming attitude, despite the repeated disappointments, gain the friendship of at least one of the flight attendants who work at the desk.  3) Have some amazing friends near by who are willing to come rescue you after not getting on that 10pm flight. 4) Do not make friends with the other standbys, they are not your friends, they are your enemies. And after hearing their stories, you will feel guilty about actually getting on a flight when they do not.
I ended up switching my flight from Philly to fly into Brussels instead, the chance of me getting on the Paris flight was way to slim and I really did not want to get stranded there as I had been in LA. Thankfully, I got on that flight right away and got to enjoy a whole day in Brussels yesterday. Since it was my first time there, and I only had the day, I took advantage as well as I could. I am happy to report that I have had genuine Belgium Frites, beer, waffle, and chocolates. I am also happy to report that I literally walked the entire city and therefore do not feel guilty about enjoying all of those gastronomical pleasures;)  It is a great city and I will be sure to post some photos!!
At the end of the day I jumped on a train to Paris, arriving 1hr15min later. I love Europe's train system.
My friend Carly only lives 3 stops from the main station in Paris; I quickly arrived at her door step, exhausted and ready for a glass of wine.

Two days here and then I will be off to Congo; thankfully on a booked and set flight. No more standby until my flight home! Hurray!