It's finally spring in Paris.

I know most of you are (or have just returned from) occupying warmer climates at the moment, but it seems that spring has officially arrived in Paris, and I couldn't be more pleased about the change in the weather. For weeks, I sat through my morning French class watching the sun climb in the blue, blue sky out of the window, only to leave class at 1 pm to find the world gray and rainy. Today, it rained all morning and was sunny, gorgeous and warm all afternoon (save for the thunderstorm just before dinner...).

I packed away my winter coat into the suitcase under my bed weeks ago, and finally it seems like other people here are following suit, abandoning heavy winter wear and hats and scarves. I definitely saw some shorts today, and flip-flops have started appearing as well. I'm most excited about the fact that I can start picnicking in the parks and jardins and reading out of doors (though sadly there isn't much grass one can sit on in Paris, and I have been missing, a bit, the big green lovely lawns at Scripps).

I really love living here...it's horribly upsetting to me that I need to make some kind of plan about coming home; I was considering just hiding here, indefinitely, but a friend of mine is in the midst of some nasty visa issues which have dissuaded me from attempting that tack. If I decide to escape the states, I'll try to do it legally. My French has gotten quite a bit better, though according to my school, I'm still only on the "seuil," or "doorstep" of the language, at level 3 out of 6. Actually, doorstep probably feels about right. I can now talk to people in French, just not very well. And I screw up a lot, but it's alright. The only bummer is that I know if I could stay here longer...say a year, or two or three, I'd really be able to speak French. And when I leave in two months, I'll still be miles and miles (or kilomètres and kilomètres) away from there. But so be it.

Miraculously enough, I've made a few friends and we attempt to communicate in some tangle of French, English, Spanish, Italian and various other languages, depending on who's talking to whom. Most of them, like me, aren't planning to stay in Paris for forever (at least at the moment) so all these friendships will likely turn into the offer of couches and floors to sleep on in lots of different places all over the world, because they're a pretty voyaging bunch. So that's exciting.

And in other news, I miss you guys a lot, and send you lots of love and happy, sun-filled thoughts. And a few photos, too.