I have arrived

I'm back in Europe!!
And these are the things I have missed:
- European yoghurt.  European whole milk (it tastes like sweet cream).  European bread.
- Beautiful architecture for even the most mundane apartment buildings.
- Quality cars (or maybe just precise and skilled drivers).
- All the little shops that sell real stuff (as opposed to little ghetto shops that sell junk--though those are here, too)
- Walking to the grocery store, cool foods to choose from, and having to bag your own stuff with your own bags.
- Amazing historical monuments that you casually walk by every day.
- Little motorbikes zipping everywhere!

The things I have not missed:
- Smokers EVERYWHERE
- The odd, disgusting smell of exhaust in the small, congested streets.  I swear exhaust smells worse here.
- Creepy men who dress way too snazzily.

I was slightly worried about getting through customs, since I don't have a visa and I'm staying for longer than 90 days, but Liz speaks French, and the customs people just looked at our pictures, stamped  our passports, and let us through.  It took less time than it has taken for me to get back into the United States!  So, I didn't get deported!  Yay!
Also, big milestone, I got hit on before I even got out of the airport.  Or something like that.  The guy who brought us to our reserved taxi gave me his card with his name and number on it.  He told Liz to tell me to call him if I needed someone to show me around.  She was like, um, no, she's not interested, and he said that he was being entirely philanthropic; he has a wife and a baby after all, he only wants to help.  Whatever.  His card is my first souvenir.

Odd thing:  Army guys dressed in camo with huge automatic weapons were sauntering through the airport like they owned the place.  Who ever thought it was a good idea to give big guns and uniforms to 20-something young men who already have big heads and a overdeveloped sense of their own importance?  They are supposed to save us from the bad guys?  It seriously didn't look like they were good for anything but picking up girls and perhaps starting some fights themselves.  The three that I saw swaggered around in the Arrivals area and stared at me with cocky smiles as they walked past.  Oh the lechery.

I'm looking forward to being able to communicate.  When the taxi guy came up to me at first, Liz was in the bathroom.  I opened my mouth to say who I was (I can totally do that in French!!) and all that came out was "Ich bin".  Curse my German tongue!  I have to wean myself off of words like "ja" "nein" "danke" "bitte" and start saying "oui" "non" "merci" and "s'il vous plait".  Here are some words I learned today:
billet (bee-yay) = bill (as in a dollar bill or a euro bill)
pieces (pee-es) = coins
comment dit-on... (com-uh deet oh[n]) = How do you say...
l'oeuf (luf) = egg
le chien (luh shee-eh[n]) = dog
Please do not mock me if any of these words or pronunciations are wrong.

Also I am very tired.
I will start taking pictures someday.  Maybe tomorrow.  Until then, use your imaginations!
Love,
Alexandra