The craziest week ever

Hey there -

We have had the craziest week ever - sorry it's been so long since we posted but it has really been the week from hell! The last time I posted we were figuring out the metro and that seems like ages ago!

I started my job the Monday after we arrived. It is really a strange change. We don't have offices here - it's a very open space and like everything else here - a very small personal space. My keyboard is actually too big for my desk! I also don't have a docking station or a monitor - so I'm getting adjusted to the very un-ergonomic situation that I have to face. The work days are SUPER long - so remember all that vacation I was bragging about before I left? Who cares - when you work from 7:30 - 8pm every week day! I already need a vacation!

On Wednesday my students for the program that I am in charge of arrived. I have been at a hotel in a little town called Bougival every day since Wednesday (including today). I catch a cab every morning and it ranges from 28 - 51 euro each way, depending on the driver! My boss has been very supportive. I was supposed to be staying in that town for the last week, but he has allowed me to make alternative arrangements so as not to leave Cindy alone for her first week! But - starting on Monday, I will go ahead and stay in that town while Cyn and the dogs are here in the city centre.

As far as our home situation, we found an expatriate couple who are moving out of Paris (to Tennessee coincidentally) and we are purchasing most of their appliances and some of their furniture. We went to IKEA to pick up the rest. We also went to this store called DARTY to pick up the missing appliances. That was an awful experience though. The store refused our "American" credit cards and we were sent away with nothing to show for it! We have to try again after we get our French cards from the bank (Thursday). We can't wait to get out of this tiny hotel and into our apartment. It's much bigger and the dogs will have more grass. The dogs by the way are officially French now (if you read earlier I am sure you can figure out what I mean by that :-)

So - again we miss you. We are both terribly home sick and also seem to be catching colds which makes you miss home even more! Lee and Jano - I got your messages that you called on Skype. Try to call on Cindys because my work computer is really solidly shut down when I can finally get away from work!

Hope to hear from you soon!