MM Trois: Trains & Socks

Happy Monday!  It's a busy week--met some cool French and American kiddos at the school I'll be volunteering at this morning and meet some cool new friends at the first event I attended with the American Women's Group this afternoon.  Just getting home now and leaving for Italy tomorrow (and not yet packed), so this is going to be short and sweet post today.

Trains:
We love, love the metro system here.  It is easy to use and gets you where you need to be fairly quickly.  I may be such a fan in the summer when it's hot and everyone is crammed in so you have smelly, sweaty people in your face, but for now, I love it!  BUT, don't throw away (or lose) your ticket after you go through the turnstile.  Police randomly check trains and at stations to make sure you have a valid ticket.  And if you don't--automatic fine.  We're not talking about 50 bucks, even a 100 bucks, we're talking 150-300 EUROS. Yikes!  Surprisingly, a large number of people still jump the turnstiles, but I'm too terrified to let go of the death grip on my ticket, let alone jump the turnstile!

Socks:
I have thrown away 6 pairs of socks since I've been here.  It seems like everyday when I take off my boots, there's a hole in one of them!  I know I do much more walking here than I ever did in the US, but it's starting to get ridiculous!  I'm about to go to the market to buy some new socks, I'm almost out.  I think it's partially due to the fact that I have an abnormal big toe that curls upward, but even if you don't have a weird big toe, I'd suggest bringing lots of socks when you come to visit! :)

In a box. On a boat. Across the Ocean.

So most of you already know this story, but my friend Katie hasn't heard it and suggested I write a post about it after seeing the picture on Facebook.  I figured we might as well get the story documented, and hey, even if you know the story, feel free to read again for a little pick-me-up.

Monday Minute Deux

Happy Monday! It's a cold, gray, rainy day here today, which means our snow will be gone by the end of the day :(

Monday Minute

Welcome to the Monday Minute...every Monday I plan to update 2-3 "nuggets of wisdom" that I've learned since I've been here. It might be a funny story that happened to us, or it might just be something that's different from life in the U.S. Be sure to check back every Monday :)

New digs!

We are finally getting settled in around here. After a 4 day bout with jet lag (who knew how much it could mess up your body? The sleep schedule isn't what messed me up as much as my eating schedule. Lets hope this doesn't happen every time I go back and forth to the states!) I'm finally feeling normal again. We have minimal Internet (via my iPhone hotspot) until late January, so posts will probably be minimal until then!