Eyjafjallajokull!!!

No, not jiberish. That is actually the name of the volcano that is raining on my spring break parade with lots and lots of volcanic ash. Europe is a no-fly zone, and airlines are losing $200mil a day due to the lack of business. All French airports were closed through today; now all Paris airports stay closed through the weekend while a few others in France open up tomorrow. I believe that the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and much of Eastern Europe are still no-fly zones through Monday. My friend Alec is still stranded in Dublin, and will be at least through Tuesday. I think I may have to end up scrapping Switzerland plans (even though they are by train) because I may have to find an alternative way to get myself to Athens other than flight (like night train to Italy, then ferry to Greece), and this would take several days. Hoping that the airports open ASAP so that all will be back to semi-normal for my flight next Sunday, so that this doesn't need to happen. Basically, I'm currently really stressed out and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it....just wait, and see. In the meantime, I've been watching this drunken scottish man say exactly what i've been thinking:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tweetmeme/youtube-sky-news-i-hate-iceland

Trying to keep myself busy in the meantime, though, which isn't too hard. I went to Giverny, and it was a lovely lovely day-- Brit, Briana and I rented bikes and biked the three miles from Vernon to Giverny. We explored Monet's gardens and house, then meandered down the road to the old Hotel Baudy, which is where a lot of the american artists stayed when they went to Giverny to paint with Monet for a bit. It was a very lovely day in the country-- it was so strange to have complete strangers say "bonjour" to you as you passed on the bike path, or have a super friendly waitress who jokes with you have the time! Today, I did some research then went to Pere Lachaise with Brit. It was really quite overwhelmingly large, and we didn't have a map, so we basically just struggled to find famous people tombs for a few hours and only succeeded in finding Oscar Wilde's and Delacroix's. Then we went and met up with other friends in the Luxembourg Garden to enjoy the sunshine and rant of our hatred for Iceland for a while. Tomorrow, we are planning a picnic in the Bois de Boulogne, where we will rent canoes and explore! I guess life could be worse.

Speaking of, my host mom was so cute-- she told me that I could invite some friends up to the Chateau for the weekend, so that we aren't "stuck with nothing to do in Paris." I actually started laughing when she said that, and responded "Yes, because Paris is sooooo boring. Life is sooooo difficult being here!!" So I guess that if worse comes to worst, being stuck in Paris wouldn't be the most atrocious way to spend my spring break. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed because Greece would just be soooo amazing! Wish me luck!!!