vendredi, 1 juin 2012

I have been much busier than I had expected! I’m supposed to be at work between 9:30-10, I leave between 5:30-6. I have had to stop by the store for random things every day, and then (if I eat dinner with Beatrice and Olivier), we eat from 9:00-10:45, and by the time I shower and get to bed, it’s around midnight. Eeks. Tough life, right? I guess it’s worth it because every day I get in my business casual (emphasis on the casual, here—it’s a super small office), and have a smirk on my face that likely screams American, as I listen to TSwift, Amelie des Crayons, and TTC. 

I am really in love with this city. I know, mom and dad, you can wipe your tears. You might lose me to La Ville Lumière (supposedly a name for Paris, which I just learned). I love that noone knows who I am, and I can just stroll through the streets, people assuming that I’m just another Parisienne on her way to work after a café au lait to wash down sa tartine for breakfast. It’s kindove nice to not be reachable every second of every day, like I’m used to in Texas. The only people who I have in my French phone are my host family, and my friend Kim. It’s nice. I also feel like it is much easier for me to do what Jennifer wants to do here, as opposed to doing what I feel like I’m “supposed to do,” which is a struggle for me in College Station. If I want to have 2 glasses of wine at a café while reading a magazine by myself, I’m going to do it.

Speaking of that afternoon at the café, I am still learning my alcohol tolerance. So I had 2 glasses of wine (because I accidentally bought a bigger size than I had realized, and didn’t want to waste my money). I’m just being money-conscious, right?! I joke—I was fine. But I came back to the apartment for dinner, and Beatrice kept saying, “Jennifer, you look so tired. You should go to sleep. Are you tired?” I was jumbling my words a bit…and super chatty……I talked to the dad for an hour and a half at dinner. It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized that du vin rosé is much stronger than white or red wine. Oops. They laughed at me a whole lot; God gave me a French family that isn’t too serious, which I am grateful for!

Last weekend I went to a quiet town 45 minutes out of Paris called Marines with my host family. In this area of green rolling hills, there is a quaint house with a garden, lounge chairs, and a huge yard. It was built 100 years ago, and there are still pictures on the inside of the original homeowners. Look at these pictures…as I told Beatrice, houses like these don’t exist outside of movies. At least not in my world. I was trying to take mental pictures the whole weekend. Beautiful beautiful. And the LaCroix kids (who are all in their 20’s-ish) were so welcoming to me. The oldest son (probably 30) is married and has a baby, and his wife Charlotte was SO kind to me, really asking me questions and wanting to know bout my life, as well as wanting to help me practice French (and practice her English). It made me realize how much it means to be included. It’s back to the basics, here. She and the other LaCroix son’s girlfriend (Constance) were asking me about my life, about what I liked to do, about Felipe (shoutout!), and teaching me French phrases that the young, hip people say. When I shared this slang with my host parents, they died laughing at me. “Tu es trop mignonne!!” –Beatrice. She teaches me French words that are, shall we say, not so kind. Pardon my French. Quand en France, faites comme les Français, right mom and dad?

Other hootie happies:

•  I am loving my internship. Everyone is very kind (all 4 of them), and I have lots of responsibility, which is great. I am now in the process of making 2 iBook presentations on an iPad: one is a tourist guide of the 8^th arrondissement in Paris (where my apartment is). The other is a recipe book that a French mother wrote (with cute stories and anecdotes in it) for her kids.
• My coworker played music from his computer yesterday in the office, and he put on Sexual Healing. Pshh typical French people.
• The one day that I happened to wear a dress and heels this week to work, my maitre de stage asked me to go to the paper company with him. Via bike. So I hopped on the bike with my 4 inch wedges on, and proceeded to completely fall of----before I began riding. Balance is tough, guys! I almost smashed a little Asian girl while falling. And completely embarrassed myself in front of my boss, who was uncomfortably unsure what to say to me after that.
•  I went to a French cooking class with a Club for Foreigners (yep, that’s me) and we learned how to make a delicious Patilla (?) with avocados, shrimp, and mangoes inside. Mmmmmm
• Sometimes there are people playing the trumpet and bass in the metro and seriously makes my day! I start tapping my foot to the beat, and smiling like I'm in a French film.....why does everyone else ignore them?
• I got to see Ashley and Kellyyyyyyy last weekend! So refreshing to see them and to feel like these big grown up adults who happened to meet up on the other side of the world. They are a blessing to me.

• Tomorrow morning, my friend Kim and I are going to Bordeaux! We both want to take advantage of being in Europe and so close to all of these other countries. But because it was so last minute, we just decided to travel within France this weekend. Bordeaux apparently has amazing food, great wine, and is only an hour away by plane! (Which cost $180 round trip! Not sure if that’s a good deal or not, but hey—how else do you learn?) We’ll leave tomorrow morning and get back Sunday evening.
• Meanwhile, my family has moved houses and I’m trying to not think about it. Today, Friday, is their first full day in the new house, and they are going to go visit the old (empty) house. Hoping they don’t send too many pictures or I’ll cry.....
• Still hoping to find a church here. But I was out of town last weekend, and will be this weekend too.
• I had my first real French crepe. And it was 125% worth it. Ice cream, Honey, and roasted almonds. Mom, stop licking the computer screen. You can't taste it through there.

• I am feeling super confident in my French! It is very encouraging to be amongst people who speak only French. Even when they speak to me in English, I usually just ignore it and speak back in French. That’s why I’m here!

Well, I should probably get off of my computer because I just got to the office…like a grown up. I'll go get some coffee.

A bientôt!

Jen