Bienvenue à Paris!

Paris: The very name of the city has this aura of magic about it, an unattainability of human perfection, containing the quintessence of Western culture. So I'm still in that dazzled, dreamlike place in my mind. I'm really here? I keep wondering. For real?

I am in Paris on a Fulbright to l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) to do electrochemistry for about nine months. I graduated from MIT last winter, then visited Paris for a few weeks with the January Scholars in France program. I fell head over heels in love with the city and knew I had to come back. I spent seven months doing hydrogen storage chemistry at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is in the tiny New Mexican town of Los Alamos. The 18000-person town sits 7300 ft above sea level, and snow-capped mountains graced the view out my window. I got to try many new outdoor activities, like rock climbing, white water rafting, and camping, but cultural opportunities are negligible out there in the southwest. I've been aching for a city, and Paris is just what I needed after my time in Middle of Nowhere, USA.

I'm a few weeks late with this blog, having arrived in Paris on 18 Sept 09, but I was busy having a great time. I promise I'll catch up! I am sure I will have more time on my hands as the weather worsens, and as my right hand cramps up in absolute refusal to write in my journal. I've been taking so many pictures of Paris. It's hard to control yourself; everything is picture-worthy! At first, I took pictures of every street and every old apartment building, but after a point, I started deleting them, because really, there are only so many pictures you need of graceful white façades draped with lacy black balconies hanging with vivid red poppies. This blog is intended to be merely a glorified photo album. Actually, my thinking went, All of my friends have cool blogs; I want one, too! So with that sophomoric mindset, let's embark on this Parisian adventure.