Paris, Pirates, and Plans

I apologize for my hiatus. Along with not having internet Windows Vista became corrupted on my laptop and it was running extremely slowly if at all. As of today, thanks to my friend Flo, I now have Windows 7 and what seems to be a happy computer again. Yay!

So, the family I babysit for is back. They did some things in my room, like installed a towel rack and another shelf, mounted a mirror, and the fridge finally arrived. The microwave will be here tomorrow, and I should have internet sooner than later (I don’t dare say soon). Apparently one company has to come and confirm that there is no existing line in the room, and THEN the company we’re actually getting internet from will hook it up within a week after that. I can’t wait to be able to call home whenever I want and to look up things to do and see in Paris from the comfort of my little room, which I do like very much. It’s cute and works perfectly for my needs.

The three year old with jet lag can be a bit cranky, it turns out. The first time he saw me his face crumpled like someone told him he would never get dessert again. However by the time his mom came home and tried to give him a kiss he said, “No, I’m playing with Kelly right now.” He is really freaking cute. I always forget how kids that age can turn on and off the waterworks so quickly. He fell on his scooter the other day after we were playing “animal doctor” with his stuffed animals and immediately there were big fat tears rolling down his rosy cheeks. After a quick assessment I determined he was fine, just scared. I said, “Should we take you to the doctor?” He started crying harder and screamed “I don’t want to go to the doctor!” I quickly explained, “No, I mean the animal doctor. Remember?” He said, “Oh yeah.” and INSTANTLY stopped crying, like turning off a switch. It was an impressive theatrical performance. I wonder if I was like that at that age. (Dad, you’re probably reading this, was I?) Yesterday I spent an hour playing “pirates” with him. I was running around the living room with a piece of wood for a gun, ducking and “shooting” at each other and having sword fights. Every time I would dramatically groan and flop to the ground after being shot, Lawrence would come up and say, “Want me to help you up?” (in a really cute French accent). Adorable. Kids’ imaginations are so amazing. I’m glad I’m still a kid at heart; I have a lot of fun playing with him.

I haven’t had to do much other than babysit this week because I keep getting called off of work. Tuesday there was another transportation strike, so I couldn’t get there. I was supposed to go today but the students are on strike. They are marching in the streets, blockading schools, and I saw on the news tonight that it even got violent in Lyon. The footage I’ve seen bears a resemblance to Vietnam War era protests with police and young adults squaring off. Luckily I have been able to avoid most of the drama. I did see some of the young people (or “jeunesse”) marching through the RER platforms today banging on drums and singing. I got a text from one of the teachers at my school saying I don’t even have to go tomorrow. Then, we have a vacation for a week and a half. Good grief. Between the terrorism threats and the strikes I picked one hell of a time to live in France.

So, in my newly found spare time I have been exploring the city with Maja. We went up to Montmartre and wandered around the cemetery, found the café from Amelie, and checked out Moulin Rouge. Yesterday we went to Pere Lachaise where a lot of famous people are laid to rest including Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Gertrude Stein. It was a fun Halloweenish outing. We are also planning on going down to the catacombs around Halloween. I didn’t get to go the last time I was here and I’m really stoked. Should be nice and creepy. We are also planning a Halloween party at Maja’s. I still need to come up with a costume for that, ideas are welcome. We have also been cooking together over at her place, since she has a full kitchen. It saves us a lot of money to pool our resources, and it’s nice to sit down and eat a hot meal with someone.

This weekend I have plans with my French friend Maria. My friend Anne from Grand Valley, who is studying abroad in Angers, is visiting me for Halloween, and then some teachers from my school are taking me on a daytrip to see some French castles. I’m looking forward to all of it. J

Disenchanted continued...

Maja and I returned home and I had a glass of wine and tried to calm down. I had a really hard time falling asleep because I was so angry. I kept replaying the whole thing in my mind. Endless “should’ve could’ve would’ves” were thrashing around in my head: “I should have been paying better attention,” “I should have grabbed his hand”, “I should have tackled him to the ground,” etc. I literally couldn’t sleep for hours. I called Dave and he made me feel a lot better about it, and I finally went to sleep.

Both of us slept until 2:30 P.M. the next day as a result. We decided to go to the police station and went into a few stores to ask for directions because for some reason there were NO signs anywhere. It seemed like everyone told us to go the opposite way, but we finally found it. Then, we walked in and I explained the situation to a female cop, who to be honest was really rude and told me she couldn’t understand me. Then Maja took a whack at it, and she said she didn’t understand her either even though the friendly lady behind the counter was nodding and making comments about my story. There was a French actress waiting to report her credit card stolen and she got up and offered to translate. The lady cop scolded us and said that we should have reported it right away, which made me mad because we had TRIED but I wasn’t going on a wild goose chase for the police station after midnight in Paris, which has proved difficult enough to find in the daytime. We waited for about an hour on a bench and exchanged stories with the French actress and a mother and her little girl on vacation in Paris from Georgia (the country not the state). Someone had stolen the Parisian's “carte blue” in a bar, and charged $1000 that she did not have to begin with. It was a little comforting to know that even French people can be fooled too, because I was sick of feeling like a stupid American. The Georgians had been getting on the metro when they saw a band of about eight gypsies coming toward them. The mom clutched her purse and moved down to the next car, but the gypsies surrounded them and pushed her around a bit, grabbed her cameras and jumped off the metro just as the doors were closing. The little girl was really upset because it was their last day in Paris and all their pictures were gone. However, they had travel insurance so at least with a police report they could get reimbursed for their stolen cameras.

When it was our turn to go, the policeman sat back in his chair and said, “Okay Britney Spears, what can I do for you?” I cringed and said “Britney Spears? Vraiment (Really)?”

He replied, “Okay, Cameron Diaz? Sharon Stone?”

First of all, I am not blonde and second of all, have you SEEN an American movie recently? Yikes. He was a regular comedian and typical French flirt, but honestly, as Dave later said, any levity in this situation was appreciated. However, it was so strange because that would never happen in the U.S. He asked me if I had come to report that I needed a French boyfriend. He made me speak French for most of the interview even though he spoke English, because “we are in France after all!” It was kind of nice to be made to speak French though because I had been falling into speaking English with Maja or letting her speak because her accent is very good. He asked if we liked McDonald’s and we said no, we don’t even eat meat but wanted the wifi. He said, “Oh, so do you eat men then?” and from then on there was a running joke that we were American man-eaters in Paris. I told him I was on a diet. J He assured me that this crime happens to a lot of people, not just American man-eaters like myself.

PARIS LESSON # 1: NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING ON A TABLETOP.

The craziest part about this whole thing is that you never know what to expect. You have people who will rob you in front of your face, and then there are people like the man who caught up with me on the street to give me the free pen that I dropped that got from the Counseling Center at Grand Valley. Go figure.

With that finally done, we headed off to meet Maja’s friend from home, Alex, who will be a teaching assistant in Toulouse but is visiting Paris for a week before heading there. It took FOREVER to find him. People staying in Paris who don’t want a cell phone contract get pay-as-you-go phones, and minutes can go very quickly and add up to be very expensive. Most people text to save money. However, most companies offer free incoming calls and texts, so it is always a tug-of-war to try and get the other person to call you. Maja had a hard time hearing where he was and there is always a rush to get off of the phone so we walked around for about an hour trying to find him. We finally got him to text the name of the bar he was at, and we had already passed it.

PARIS LESSON # 2: ALWAYS TEXT OR SPELL OUT THE NAME OF YOUR LOCATION TO PEOPLE TRYING TO FIND YOU SO YOU KNOW THEY AREN’T HEARING SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

So, we found Alex who was having a beer outside of a bar and had just arrived this morning. He reminded me a lot of my professor Dan who took our group to Nice last summer but younger. He could definitely pass for French on the street. We all went to meet up with some other language assistants who were having dinner near Place Monge. It turned out I had been on that street last summer with Maria and DeAnna. It’s a really nice place. I had grabbed a sandwich on the street to save money, but they had an inexpensive three-course meal for 9 euro, and it looked delicious. The waiter kept teasing me for not eating, and moved the flowers on the table away from me saying, “Don’t eat those because you are hungry!” with a wink as he passed by.

After dinner we went to a bar to get to know the other language assistants. There is Maura, who is also American and also has a boyfriend back home which made me happy to know I’m not the only one. There was also a hilarious Scottish girl named Janine, a couple of Brits, and an Irish guy named Dave. It reminded me of last summer to be hanging out with people from so many different countries; I love it. We had a good time getting to know them. There is supposed to be a bigger meetup on my birthday next Tuesday as well. As much as I like meeting the other assistants, I really need to start spending more time with French people so I can practice my French. I feel really rusty, but I am gaining a little more confidence every day.

The next day I went with Maja to meet the teacher she will be working with in Brunoy. She is lucky enough to have gotten in touch with hers. Her teacher picked us up at the train station, and we went back to her house and met the family. They were so sweet! Maja is very lucky. The seventeen year old son happened to have an English test that day so he practiced by speaking with us. Apparently Two and a Half Men is very popular here, along with How I Met Your Mother. I told him to watch Arrested Development. When I told the teacher that I have had no luck reaching my school she commented on how unorganized this program is (THANK YOU!!) and called my school for me! The teacher responsible for me is supposed to call her back, so at least contact has been made and they won't be like "Who the heck are you?!" when I show up next Friday. I was so grateful because making phone calls in French can be very nerve wracking. They made us lunch and then we went and saw her school. The atmosphere was so much like the schools I have taught at in the states; I was surprised. It was nice to get out of Paris and see a smaller town. I hope I hear back from my school before next Friday!

Disenchanted

I will never again promise a more exciting blog.

Day two started off fabulously with a croissant and a café au lait that was delicious and I don’t even like coffee. Maja and I went to look at an apartment for her. It turned out to be an absolute dump. I just kept thinking, “But where’s the rest of it?” If you had your arms outstretched you could touch both walls. The “bedroom” was more of a top bunk to the bunk bed of a one room apartment, with two really thin mattresses right on the wood surface less than three feet away from each other. The girl showing it to us explained that her old roommate had clogged the shower. I asked if I could use the restroom (free AND non-disgusting bathrooms are few and far between in Paris), and she said no, that was clogged too. Really?! How do you manage to clog every orifice of a bathroom?

We headed back to the apartment. Maja was going to make some more calls, and despite being jetlagged I wanted to get my run in for the day. It was really awkward because the streets were so crowded, and I had to run in place a lot while I waited to go around people or to cross the street. But, I did it. Day two in Paris and I ran! I was pretty proud of myself. So, I get back to the apartment and buzz Maja. She came down to let me in and we’re chatting on the way up the four flights of stairs. She pushed on the door, and then turned around to me with a look of panic. “Oh crap! I didn’t bring the key because I thought it was unlocked!” Nope. This one locked automatically. Easy mistake to make when doors do what you tell them back home. We were locked out with nothing except my iPod, which I couldn’t access the internet on. We spent a couple of hours knocking on neighbors doors trying to access Maja’s e-mail to get the phone number of someone who might have a key. The concierge of the building was completely useless. She didn’t have a key or a contact number for the lady whose apartment we’re staying at, and she was rude to boot. Finally a nice lady let Maja call, but no one answered so she left messages. We sat outside in the hallway for a while, me making friends with the building’s cat and hitting the light switch every five minutes because what surely saves electricity became extremely irritating when you’re stuck in the hallway. Finally the old couple took pity on us and tried to help. Maja was able to get a hold of someone with a key, and we finally got in!!

So, we get in, eat some food, and decide to get online since the internet here doesn’t work. The café we’ve been going to was fine but it’s kind of pricey and only gave you an hour at a time, so we decided to try McDonald’s. If I could turn back time, I never would have gone. I don’t even LIKE McDonald's, they just had free wifi. I have to preface this story with the important detail that I had been harassed ALL day on the street. I was not wearing anything provocative. It's like I had creeper magnet written on my forehead. That and there are beggars everywhere and the Parisian variety are a lot more aggressive than back home. I was on my laptop, and it had five minutes left on the battery. I was desperately trying to finish a conversation with Dave when this kid (15 or 17 maybe) and shoves a sign in my face in a language that I don't know. This happens all the time in Paris, usually they want money. I couldn't believe the security guard wasn't around, and really wanted him to go away. I told him to go away twice, and made direct eye contact with him. I told him I was going to get security, and he finally walked away. I finished my conversation, my laptop died, and then I realized...my iPod was gone. It had been on the table in front of me because I was adding phone numbers to it, and the little shit must have grabbed it under the paper. The security guard was utterly useless and wouldn't even call the police for me. I found a police officer outside and he told me to go to the police station, but it was late and after the day I had I wasn't about to wander around looking for something that I wasn't sure it's exact location. I decided to wait until the next day. It's just AWFUL because Dave gave it to me as a gift specifically for this trip, and it got stolen on day TWO in Paris. That and I had an app to text home for free, and any connection home is extremely valuable to me. Alas, my computer is dying again, so let's call this a "to be continued..."

Je suis à Paris!

Whew! After an 11 hour plane ride, I finally made it! Leaving Dave was brutal, but I've had some good signs recently and it makes me feel very positive. :) We didn't get to the panicking point this time, we just really enjoyed our time together instead of trying to cram in too much before I left.

I really dug my airline, Air Tahiti Nui. We were served two meals, dinner and breakfast which they woke us up for at 6 AM Paris time! I got served before everyone else because I'm vegetarian. It must be because we're so weak from the lack of protein ;)

To pass the time I watched Robot Chicken's Star Wars episodes, Kung Fu Panda (that movie always makes me want to eat the noodles), and (don't judge me...I couldn't sleep) Sex and the City 2.

I was glad that I had a window seat for once when we were approaching the Paris skyline and I saw the Eiffel Tower over the horizon. I couldn't stop smiling. This thing that I've been planning for over a year is FINALLY happening.

Maja found me immediately as I walked out with my bags, and we recognized each other right away. I found out her name is pronounced like "Maya." That's going to take some adjusting because I've been pronouncing it wrong this whole time...lol. We took a cab to the apartment that she's staying at because it was WAY easier than the metro with seven months worth of baggage. Get this: the lady that she is apartment sitting for has free unlimited calling to the U.S.!!!!! I called Dave and my parents right away. It is so different from when I flew into London alone, didn't know a soul and stayed in a tiny hotel room with outrageous rates to call home. I feel so much more at ease with everyone just a phone call away, and a non rushed phone call at that. The apartment is wonderful. The shower looks like a time machine, and there are like 8 different water dispensers that spray you from 8 different directions, and then there are combinations of these. I will take a picture and post it when I can. Unreal.

After touching base with home, I slept (extremely hard) for a few hours, and then Maja and I went and got food and ate it by the Eiffel Tower, grabbed some groceries, and now we are sitting in the most stereotypical Parisian cafe with the most stereotypical Parisian music playing to use the internet because the wifi (pronounced "wee-fee" over here) isn't working.

The jet lag is setting in. Tune in next time for a more exciting update!