Lyon, je t'aime!

If Philadelphia is to New York, then Lyon is to Paris. More hometown, less cosmopolitan, less famous monuments, more hidden gems. It was made for discovering and savoring...one neighborhood, one adorable cafe, one vintage store at a time.

I hated it when I first got here. It was little things that made each day overwhelming and exhausting - not having a AC converter, not liking my host mother, not liking the initial intensive French classes, not understanding the public transportation system required to go to school, and I admit, not having my Blackberry.

But France does this thing to you where everything about the way of life in the U.S. or especially at Penn is completely changed. Classes? Two days a week. Emails? I check once every other day. Instead of the hectic, productive and amazing Penn lifestyle, here the cliches of a slower rhythm and learning about another culture hold true and make for another kind of amazing experience.

Our daily commitments consist only of two things: going to class and having dinner with our host families. The rest of the time is spent...discovering. As a group (of Penn kids in Lyon) it quickly became ritual to meet at a status of Louis XIV at Place Bellecour every night and go from there. Anywhere. We walked around, we had dinner, we went to parties with French boys who also happened to be at the statue...

Lyon, je t'aime. Beaucoup.