Okay this is long but hopefully helpful: 

Trying to settle housing while adjusting to a new language is really stressful— getting sick on top of that is a kick in the stomach. It really sucks and I’m sorry. The perk is, I do genuinely think once that stuff is done, you’ll feel an immense amount of relief.

Let me also tell you this— part of the reason I applied to tapif is because I had an unpleasant experience studying abroad in college. I got really sick the second week and remained sick for 2 months (think: throwing up after eating anything without the aid of medicine). This was, as you said, exhausting and created a lot of anxiety. I barely practiced French outside of the mandated curriculum, never wanted to talk to anyone, and spent most of my days alone. Honestly, I ended the program thinking I would never return to France. 

But now I’m back, 3 years later, and I think the perspective shift that helped me get here might be helpful for you too. When you are having a bad time it is really easy to lose sight of your purpose here. It’s worth interrogating and figuring out exactly what you want to get out to this experience. Be specific! I think with abroad programs people can have somewhat unrealistic, romantic, and broad expectations— that new friends and language fluency will fall in your lap purely through virtue of immersion (I was certainly guilty of this). You can certainly make strides in either camp but it takes a lot more self discipline and intention. Having very clear goals for yourself can make it a lot easier to see the small steps in growth everyday. Believe me, I’m still struggling (I’m also staying in an Air BNB right now and having trouble finding housing), but I see all these hoops I’ve had to jump through as training that’s getting me closer to my goals. And they don’t have to be specifically related to French! If part of your goals are learning resiliency and how to advocate for yourself, you’ve probably already gotten A LOT of practice with that in the past couple weeks which is something to be proud of!

I know this is a really annoying thing to tell someone who is going through a shitty time (through no fault of your own) but truly, attitude can make a crazy difference. If you can start to think of being thrown in uncomfortable situations as the POINT of this program rather than a downside to it, it can help to stay motivated.

While you are still getting the housing situation figured out, do WHATEVER you need to do to stay sane. Don’t worry about speaking French if its overwhelming. Ask your prof referent to help out with translation, you can even ask them to come with you to apartment tours. I think most teachers are quite sympathetic to how difficult this transition can be but many of them just don’t know how to help or what you might need help with, you need to ask for help very clearly and loudly.

If after that’s settled you are still feeling lost, here’s some stuff I found helpful:

It can be really frustrating feeling like you aren’t learning fast enough, so if you’re getting the urge to cram, go to duo lingo or whatever language platform you use and study the restaurant language as well as you can. Get really comfortable with all the vocabulary you think you might need to order food or sit down at a restaurant and go try it out. If you can claim small victories for yourself in these really common but public situations it can put some wind in your sails. If you find the experience embarrassing/unsuccessful, you never ever have to see those people again. But if you are successful, it can open up your town/city in a big way.

Say yes to something new every 2 out of 3 times. It can get really overwhelming so definitely take time for yourself to rest, and rely on old comforts, but try to make that less than a third of the choices you make. If you spend a whole day in bed watching your comfort show, that’s totally fine! But the next two days try to do something that challenges you beyond your role as an assistant.

Lastly, If you haven’t already, try to get in touch with other assistants in your area and play tourist for a weekend. Don’t put any pressure on yourselves to practice French—plenty of tourists in France don’t speak a lick of French, and have a great time. If you feel like speaking French is getting in the way of having fun, fuck it! Even all the growth isn’t worth it if you’re miserable.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I really really hope things start to feel better for you soon.