Arriving in Arras

After waking up at 5am in Rome, taking a subway, airport shuttle, city bus, car, and train, Paul and I arrived in Arras, France in the region of North Pas-de-Calais last night around 9pm. There has been very bizarre weather in France lately (although, I heard there’s been snow in Florida!) and the train was delayed due to ice on the tracks. At one point the train stopped in the middle of nowhere, and the conductor informed us that the train was stopped for our safety and security and told the passengers not to open the doors. At the next stop, a train door was frozen shut so worker at the train station took a sledgehammer to attempt to pry it open. Anyways, after all that, we made it here. Our apartment is extremely small; we don’t really have a bed, or internet, but it will work. Today we ventured out in search of free wireless and a grocery store. It is absolutely freezing here – so happy mom bought me thermal wear for Christmas! Tonight, we went to one of the guide houses and met a bunch of the people I’ll be working with for the next few months. Monday, I’ll start a week of intense training, and Paul will commence the endeavour of looking for a job. Until then, we’ll relax and enjoy the baguettes!