January 9, 2006
So, I'm back in France. My break flew by and now I'm back in the bittersweet land far, far, away. I know I haven't posted in about a month and I figure I should get back into writing (it's very therapeutic for me). I do have pictures of my class and the girls I live with, but I'm going to put them at the end. I think at this moment, I'm more optimistic than I was the first time around in September because I know that it's half way done. My French has improved three-fold and I can point out American French speakers where ever I go. So I got my flight at 7:30 yesterday night, unfortunately Air France, the wonderful airline that they are, double booked the flight. Phil pointed out that there would be a problem when there was an AF 19 and AF 0019 on the departure list. One was supposed to leave at 7:30 and the other at 7:45. After waiting in an extremely long line, (God bless Phil for carrying my bags for basically the entire time) I got to the front of the line and the woman asked me if I could wait to fly out at 10 pm. I told her that I couldn't because I'd be late to work. So, I was put on the 7:30 plane. According to my boarding pass, I didn't have a seat because they would assign it as soon as I got to the boarding gate. I said goodbye to Phil and went through security, by this time it was 7:27 and I decided to book it to the boarding gate because I was afraid I wouldn't get a seat. I got to the gate and I had to wait until everyone else went in front of me and then I was finally called up to the desk. I got the last seat on the plane, right next to the bathroom. I was seated right next to a woman who didn't know how to shut up. During the entire plane ride, she continuously asked me questions about myself. I couldn't stand it. Finally, I fell asleep. The flight attendant woke me up for breakfast. There was some good news with the wake up, we would arrive 40 minutes early. I was floored. That didn't last long. I went through immigration without a hitch and I got to baggage claim. I sat there for an hour and a half before realizing that my flight was no longer listed on the carousel. I was in France, but my bags weren't. All of my clothing, my computer cords, my food and my pictures are now somewhere in an Air France plane. I had to go to Baggage Services in order to make a claim. The woman there told me that it could take 24 hours to locate it and send it to me, or it could take a week or more. I broke into hysterics. Not only was I exceptional tired, exhausted and everything else, I was furious that it happened. I was seeing red. How could they lose my stuff. All of my clothes that I got for Christmas. All the new pants that don't have wear marks and holes in them yet. Luckily, I had my laptop and my external hard drive in my backpack. I have some clothing back in my town, but not much. All I can do right now is to cross my fingers and hope that I get everything back really soon. Right now, I have about 2 hours from Valence. There is nothing I can do except to enjoy the ride on the first class ticket I bought myself to go back to the town that's grown on me.
