Bonjour de Paris!

Letters from Abroad
By Charley Eatchel ’24 (shared with permission from The Words)

Bonjour de Paris!

I have been in France for about a month now, and it’s truly been such an engaging experience. In my program, I’ve met the most amazing group of people from across the States and learned so much from them and with them. I’ve explored so much, from lesser-known gems to tourist hits (and I’ve become quite adept at navigating the Metro, if I do say so myself). One of the first things I hunted down was bookstores (of course) and I’ve taken a trip to Lyon, ridden a boat down the Seine, and been to an uncountable number of museums. There’s already been so many fun and exciting things to do, and there’s so much more to come in the next few months (hopefully including a few visits outside of France)!

One of the most fascinating parts of this program has been contrasting the French perspective with my own American experience. I’ve had so many interesting conversations with my classmates, sparked by things we learned or didn’t quite understand about French culture. In a lot of ways, it’s made me reexamine the outlook of the United States. I’m very interested to see how things progress in my remaining time here.

I’m about to start an internship at the literary research center for Sorbonne University here in Paris which I’m very excited about. After just recently having my first meeting with my supervisors, I’m extra hyped to have access to doctoral research, seminars, classes, and connections to all there is to offer aux Lettres. My trip up to this point has been focused on language immersion and cultural context, and it will be interesting to see how my French experience blends with my love of all things literary.

I can’t wait to be back at Mac with you all in the fall <3

Macalester me manque,

Charley 🙂