The clock is ticking...

Despite the fact that I'm now not leaving the States until the 17th, thereby buying myself a whole lot of time, it seems like every wrench has been thrown into the gears of trying to plan this damn trip. I have a rapidly growing list of grievances as follows:

1) Searching for a bank in Nijmegen. Which doesn't seem to be all that hard, but the vast majority of sites are in Dutch or only have an office in Amsterdam. May I simply bike across the German border every couple of weeks to go to an ATM? Customs will probably say no. May I open an account in a Dutch bank? Larry the advisor says that Homeland Security doesn't let that fly. Will I have to resort to selling the Vicodin left over from the wisdom-teeth fiasco in order to prevent starvation? I hope not, but it's highly possible.

2) I don't know where I'm living, how I get there, or how to pay for it. Cool.

3) Since I can't do anything about my visa (well, it's actually not a visa, but a residence permit) until I get there, I'm a little worried that I'm going to forget something and get deported. The best part: I need to wire the residence permit fee from a bank. Immediately upon my arrival. Please refer to grievance #1.

4) €1 = $1.36. Yikes.

But despite the grievances, the fact remains that I, Girl Who Has Never Left America Except For Two Brief and Unsatisfying Trips to Canada and Eight Hours in Mexico, will be gallivanting around Paris in roughly ten days.

Can I get an a-MEN?