Faire La Touriste

One of the great new things that happened since I last wrote was the realization that I am alright in French and will be able to get around. This came to me when I went to open a French bank account. This does not sound very difficult, but in fact, since I was the first one to inquire for a bank account, the banker did not know what to do with me. I was lucky enough to be able to communicate with her what I was and that there was an agreement with my program. I in turn was able to understand all that she told me about banking in France. They are so strange here. You pay to open the account and keep on paying monthly. There is no interest on savings and well, that is about all I can think of that is different, but still kind of funny.

At the end of the meeting I asked where I could buy hair ties and was so ecstatic to understand the directions that she gave me. Although, where she told me to go, there were no hair ties, but an excellent adventure ensued. I went first to a “magasin de beauté” and was looked at like a crazy person after asking for the “elastique,” the ladies just sort of stared at me and I know they were thinking, “zees gurl ees crazy, vat does she sink… hair ties and soap go togezer???” OK, well maybe not, but they did tell me to go down the street to Saphora and ask there. A few short steps later I find myself in the uber-chic Saphora, sweating and grungy, asking a man for the long seeked “elastique.” I guess I did not realize that I was in the perfume section, when I asked he said “stique, I have never heard of zis parfum, who ees eet by?” I explained to him what I was looking for and he sent me quickly upstairs to find bundles of hair ties that const 3euro for five, definitely out of my league of hair ties. Finally I walked into the heavenly Monoprix (I wish I could put the sound of angels singing as you read this, but I guess it is too soon) where I found everything I needed for the afternoon, shampoo, hair ties bread cheese, it was awesome.

So when the epic adventure was over I sat on a bench and ate my bread and cheese as people stared at me thinking, “What is she doing eating bread and cheese without a knife?” If had had the telekinetic powers, I would have told them that I have only just arrived, but I feel that even then there would be no sympathy.

That turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would, but oh well, reading is good for you. The last time I wrote I talked about going on a walking tour with a few girls. Well, this indeed happened. It was a Fat Tire Bike Tour Free Walking Tour and it was amazing. The tour guide was funny and pretty informational. I got to see all the big things to see in the center of Paris; Notre Dame, Le Pont Neuf, L’Institut Francaise (where 40 Frenchmen write the dictionary every year), and we ended at the Champs de Mars, which has an excellent view of La Tour Eiffel. It was so cool, the last times that I have been in Paris I did not really know that much about the history, but this time it seems like every little monument has meaning. This past year at University I took a class on the French Revolution and it is amazing how relevant all the places here are to historic events. The enlightening tour was about three and a half hours long and after having lugged my computer around with me for the last few days, suffice it to say that my back was a little sore.

I had gone on the tour with a few people from my hostel, so after as we walked back to the hostel we grabbed a bottle of rosé and drank it while sitting on the banks of the Seine. (How Danielle Steel-like).

When I finally got back to the hostel I decided it was time to go to the Cité Universitaire, where I will be staying for the next week or so. I packed up all my things and trust me; there are a lot of “things,” and trekked to the RER station. As I was walking I could see the people looking at me and imagining e falling over and being stuck like a turtle. Unfortunately for them this dream was never realized, although I was unsure of the situation as I approached the steps to the station. Luckily, as I was teetering at the top ready to just fall down the stairs hoping not to break anything a voice came to me. “Avez-vous besoin d’aide?” the mysterious voice demanded and before I knew it he was taking my bag down the stairs and I was thinking, “Oh my God, please don’t take my bag, please don’t take my bag!” and he didn’t; he simply waited for me at the bottom and I thanked him and he went on his way. I made it onto the train and could hear the fingers being pointed at me. Yes, I can hear these sorts of things; people in France wear a lot of leather. Just kidding, but I definitely heard one woman say she thought I would fall when the train started and after not falling, I looked over at her and said, “good thing I didn’t fall.” Oh boy, was I being witty!

I made it into the dorm and found out that my roommate is a girl from school that I know from the French Club, so all is good. I went back into town to have some dinner and finally crashed later that night.

Yesterday I went and got my first baguette, it was nice and baguette-like and very tasty. Sadly enough it broke in half in the transit from the boulangerie to my dorm, but it was still yummy. Elaine and I ate breakfast in the park and watched all the runners go by. Later that day, the group met with the MICEFA lady and the International Programs inbound coordinator for France. We saw where our classes will be held for the next few weeks and then went on a beautiful boat tour around Isle de la Cité. It was beautiful and the lighting was amazing for pictures. I would post some of them today, but I seem to have forgotten my camera cable. Note to Mom and Dad, could you look in my room for it and maybe send it to me? Pretty please? Anyhow, so this pretty much brings us up to date, and in only one and a half short pages. I hope everything is alright stateside; secretly I have always wanted to say that, stateside. I’ll talk to you soon.

-Kathy

C'est Parti

OK, so I got to Paris alright. My travels were long, but well worth it. I got to see some family in Houston, which was nice and a little humid. My flight from Houston to Paris was with Air France and I have to admit that was the nicest flight of my life. Not only was the airplane food good, but there was a choice of movies and they gave out free headphones (not that I needed them, but the gesture was nice).

Also, while I was sad to be leaving the US and friends and family, my worries were tamed when I met a nice couple from Paris. They really showed me that living with the French was not going to be that bad (probably even great). The woman was Mexican, but spoke both French and English and her husband was French and spoke both French and Spanish. It was great; they even let me have the window seat!

I took a taxi from the airport to my hostel, BVJ, in the Latin Quarter. The taxi driver was really nice and we talked about his being from Chad and many other things on the ride into the city. I know that most people don’t talk to their taxi drivers, but I find it difficult not to when so far as I have found, they are very interesting people from places that I have never been (hopefully that will change soon).

I guess I forgot to mention that it is very rainy in Paris now. Apparently it is unusual, but it still kind of stinks. Yesterday in my mad effort to stay awake for the day (to avoid jet lag), I took the metro to go and see the office of the coordinators for my program, MICEFA (I would put the words for the acronym, but I can never remember them). There, I was able to send a few emails to notify my arrival (with a bit of difficulty adjusting to the new keyboard… only a few keys are different, but it is still hard; I almost signed my name Kqthy.) and also got a bit of a head start on setting up things for my stay. The people were very genial and I was happy to see someone who at least new who I was even though I had never met them.

At this point it had stopped raining so hard so I decided to walk back to the hostel, because I had time before the room would be ready. This may have been a bad idea. I started and walking and before long it was raining again. Luckily I had my rain jacket, but I still decided to stop at a café and have a beer (isn’t Europe great for underage drinking?). I then continued my trek back to the hostel and it continued to rain even harder, but I got to walk along the Seine and see the Isle de France. It was amazing; I finally realized that I am actually here. After all the applications and waiting and telling people, I finally made it. YAY! Once I got back to the hostel I made it a few more hours, but at 8:30 (20h30) I gave in to the sleepiness. I went to sleep without even eating dinner and didn’t wake up until morning. This morning I met some girls at breakfast, a Peruvian and a Swiss and while communication was not exactly easy, it was fun. I am going to go sight seeing with them tomorrow and will hopefully have some pictures.

So, here I am now, using Paris’ free WiFi system, writing this message and seeing the sun pop up behind the clouds (a mirage I am sure, but wouldn’t it be nice?). So I guess that is it for now (as if I didn't write a ton), but more soon!