l'euro.

newsweek ran a recent article about the rising cost of study abroad due to the rather lackluster power of the dollar right now. i have to say that i'm feeling the crunch as well. when i arrived in france about 6 weeks ago, the exchange rate was around $1.30 for every euro. now it's up to $1.41. i've been making it work and there are definite ways to cut costs. what astounds me is the student newsweek profiled from yale who is studying in paris. according to the article, she is an african studies major and has already spent $4,200 in the first six weeks of her program. that's absolutely absurd. i was in paris a couple of weeks ago and i noticed a slight price difference compared to nancy, but $4,200 is insane. that comes out to around $100 a day. that's a ton of baguettes and wine. and while she was lamenting about the costs, i was wondering why she didn't go somewhere in africa. i mean she is an african studies major and life would probably be a lot cheaper. i suppose i shouldn't judge too harshly since i don't know the exact parameters of her program and lewis + clark's set up is amazing. i live with a host family where i eat all meals except lunch during the week. then we receive a (small) stipend for lunch at the university cafeteria. also, the only book i've had to buy this semester, so far, is a novel of my choice for my literature class. so if i skimped in the right places i could get away with spending very little out of my own pocket. granted i wouldn't do much, nor enjoy the various local cuisines but i still cannot comprehend having already spent over $4,000. i guess i should understand her expensive tastes since she's attending an ivy league school, but that's an insane amount of money.