What is an arrondisement? Glad you asked! There are 20 unique districts in Paris. Below is a map. Basically, the 1st district is in the center of the city, and the rest of the districts spiral outwards from there in ascending numerical order. Some districts are known for certain traits - the 7th arrondisement has the Eiffel Tower, the 13th (my host family lives in this one) has Paris' Chinatown.
As for today's activities - we arrived at FIAP and dropped off all of our luggage. Our rooms were not yet ready, so we spent a significant amount of time walking around the 14th district. Here's a picture of me observing the architecture of Paris' residential buildings on the city's outskirts from the comfort of a warm cafe.
After some wandering, we returned to FIAP to finally get our rooms. The rooms are doubles with desks and two dressers. Almost identical to most dorms at the University of Illinois, except that these dorms have a shower and a bathroom.
And here's me inside the huge lobby. The place looks more like a hotel than housing for students.
I was able to take a much-needed shower and wash off the past 18ish hours of travel. Refreshed and rejuvenated, our crew spent 2+ hours strolling around Parc de Montsouris, which is a beautiful park on the southern edge of the 14th. The park was ENORMOUS, but what really struck us what that this park was far from the biggest park in Paris. The French clearly spend significant amounts of money on public spaces, parks, and pedestrian infrastructure. Below is a picture of me inside of the park. Take note of the lily pond and how it seamlessly connects to the large grassy area with the wooden bridge.
Here's some actual pictures of the park, it was beautiful.
As I finish writing this, it is about 8am on Monday in Paris. We're having breakfast in a bit, then heading to L'Institut Catholique, our university, to get oriented and learn about how classes will function when they start next week. I love you all, talk to you soon.
-Noah
