Well all. I apologize for the long delay in getting
a new post up for you. I have been without internet for over a week. So welcome
to another long catch-up post!! It will include my last days of my sister’s
visit, the Paris attacks, moving, and life without internet. Enjoy!!
Monday 9/11 was a semi-tourist day for me. That
morning I met Rachel and her mother-in-law, Mary, at the metro near their
hotel. Then we went and got breakfast from a bakery, Paul; Rachel and Mary both
got tartes, I got pain au chocolat. Then we headed to the RER station (one of
the Trains) to get to head to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower opens at 9:30
we got there at about 8:50, and it was a good thing we did, there was already a
small line…by the time 9:30 rolled around the line was wrapped around the other
side of the tower! Sometimes it pays to have a sister who likes to plan ahead.
At 9:30 they opened the ticket office and we got our tickets to take the
elevator to the top (smartest idea). We got up there and it was beautiful! I
loved being able to see all of Paris with a bird’s eye view! We walked around
the top then headed down to the 2nd floor, there we walked around a
little more, took some more pictures, and then we took the stairs to the 1st
floor (that was a lot of stairs, so glad we took the elevator up)! On the 1st
floor they have some parts where you can stand on “clear” plastic and look down
to the ground. That was fun and kind of scary at the same time (raise your hand
if you have a fear of falling too) since it is still very high up. When we
decided it was time to leave we went to wait for the elevator…that was taking
forever. There is only one big elevator and it was filled with people when it
finally stopped on the floor. So we decided to go down the stairs instead. We
beat the elevator that we couldn’t fit into…the stairs were worth it. After the
Eiffel tower we walked to the river, for a boat tour of the major sites of
Paris. The tour was fun. It still amazes me all of the history that is in
Paris. I loved seeing the sites from the river. After the cruise I left Rachel
and Mary at Trocadéro to head to Montgeron to pick up my keys for my new
apartment. Once I was finished there I met Rachel in the Carousel, a little
mall underneath the Louvre (where they were). We then started to walk around
trying to decide what to do for dinner. After passing a ton of different
places, we decided to go back to Isle Saint-Louis, where we had dinner the
first night, to try a restaurant we had seen. We got their “formule” (a set
price meal). I got, French onion soup (except they just call it onion soup
here), tartiflette (kind of like au gratin potatoes, but with French cheese),
and a fruit salad for dessert. It was so good. I really enjoyed the meal. Then
we walked back towards their hotel and I headed home (I had work the next
morning).
Eiffel Tower
View From the Top
View From the Top
View From the Top
View From the Top
View From the Top
View from the first floor
View from the first floor
View from the first floor
River Cruise
River Cruise
River Cruise
Carousel de Louvre-Ready for Christmas
Eiffel Tower at sunset
Eiffel Tower at sunset
My store!
McDo all decked out for the holidays
Notre Dame
View From the Top of the Eiffel Tower
On the River Boat Cruise
Tuesday
10/11: I had to go to work while Rachel and Mary headed to Versailles to
explore the palace and gardens. I also had to tutor that evening so I did not
meet up with them until dinner time. We were all tired and wanted to do
something fast. So I met them at the McDonalds (you read that right, McDonalds)
near their apartment and get dinner to go. My first experience with McDonalds
in France wasn’t too bad. I got a “Royal Cheese” which I think is a quarter pounder
with cheese...it tasted just fine. We also finished of the macarons we got
their first day here. We chatted awhile and then it was time to say goodbye,
they were leaving very early Wednesday morning. It was hard to say goodbye. I
loved having my sister here and was so grateful that she could come. I hope
more people decide to come visit me! It was fun seeing a family member everyday
for a week. I miss
Wednesday 11/11: Armistice Day-Veterans Day (in the
U.S.). Today we did not have school. Bank holidays are usually given off in
France. So I decided to move a bunch of my stuff to my new apartment. So I got
up packed my stuff aka shoved things in my suitcases and waited for a few
friends I recruited to help me move (Amanda, Kayla, and Jo). Amanda and Jo arrived
first so we gathered all my stuff and waited for Kayla by the metro entrance.
We then started the journey to my new apartment. I’m so grateful for their
help. I have no idea how I would have made it all the way out there without
their help. We dropped my stuff at my new place. It was about 5 when we were
finally done, and we were starving. So we decided to eat at this little diner
in Montgeron. It had a 50s theme and was definitely a stereotype of what the
French think of U.S. diners. We shared some appetizers; mozzarella sticks and
onion rings (I was pretty happy about this) and I got a cheeseburger and fries
(they were steak fries; different from other places I’ve had fries here). Then
we made our way back to Paris, where I left them to head out to their
apartments in the Paris suburbs opposite from where we were. It was fun hanging
out these guys. They know how to make anything into an adventure!
Thursday 12/11: Just a normal day of teaching
English at the school. It is fun getting to know these kids more. I wish that I
saw them more than once a week, or once every few weeks. It’s also fun seeing
how excited they get seeing me in the hallways. I love it!
Friday 13/11: Another normal day today. I have just
two classes on Fridays but I also tutor every other Friday night. So I will
hang out in Neuilly until it is time to tutor; which is what I am doing right
now! I have one more class in about 20 min. Then afterwards I will probably do
a little work for next week, maybe explore the city some more, maybe do a
little window shopping…I am moving out tomorrow…So, obviously, I started
writing this post well before the events of that night. I want to leave it as
is and just add. On 13/11 after I completed my tutoring session I headed home
like any other night, stopped at the market to get something for dinner and got
home, ate dinner got ready for bed etc. I skyped with my mom for awhile and
then skyped with my good friend Malia. While talking with Malia a friend of
mine here in Paris, Kayla, messaged me and asked if I heard about the shooting?
I hadn’t so I started to look up the news and see what I could find. At first
it didn’t seem too serious. As sad as it sounds, a shooting in my mind wasn’t
that big of a deal, they happen in the U.S. However, the news kept coming in, a
bombing at the stadium, hostages at the Bataclan theater, the numbers kept
going up. It really shocked me. I looked up the distance from where I was in
the 5th to where the events were taking place…the Bataclan and the
café were just 2 ½ miles or so from where I was! I couldn’t believe it; I heard
no sirens from my window. I made my post on Facebook that I was safe, and just
watched the news for most of the night, received many texts, messages, and
Facebook posts making sure I was safe. I was safe, but I was sad, and afraid
for Paris, for France. I worried that if I went to bed it would get worse, I
was saddened for the victims and for their families, I worried. After a very
late night FaceTime chat with Tiffanie, I finally fell asleep. It really
baffles me that people resort to such extreme measures for “revenge” or in the
name of God. I know that it happened in the past and will happen again in the
future, it is just sad. I pray for the world. I pray that we will show these
terrorists that they cannot win. That the world will come together against
them.
La Defense the night of the Paris Attacks
Saturday 14/11: Today when I woke up. I immediately
checked the news. I wanted to know what had happened in the hours of sleep I
had. I wanted to know if anything new had happened. It was depressing hearing
all of the reports. Once I got up I had to get all of my remaining things
packed, since I needed to move, once packed I headed out on the metro/RER to
get to my new apartment. It was really nervous at first. I had never seen Paris
so quiet on a Saturday morning. I got on the metro and headed to Chatelet (a
major metro/RER station). It was there that I saw a lot of soldiers out
watching, looking, protecting. It is there that I felt it really was safe to be
out in the city. I arrived in Montgeron safely and started unpacking (I’m still
not done…sorry no pictures until I am finished), made some dinner and headed to
bed. Moving really takes it out of me.
Sunday 15/11: I may have slept in a little too long
for church. It will now take me about 40 min to get to church each week, so I
need to start planning my morning schedule a little better…In the afternoon my
new roommate (Niveta) and I met up with some other assistants; Amanda, Kayla
(both Americans), and Catherine
(Scottish). We met on the Champs Elysee and did some window shopping. We had
lunch at Burger King (way cheaper here than in Switzerland) and walked some
more. We were stopped by news crew who interviewed Amanda (she volunteered)
about her experience as an American during the attacks on Friday night. Then we
decided to head to Ikea. Ikea is like my happy place here. It is exactly the
same as it is in the U.S. It was Niveta’s first time in an Ikea so we walked
through the whole thing, just to show her its awesomeness. I got quite a few
new things for my apartment and a little shopping bag/cart thing that all the
French have (it makes having to walk to and from the market a lot easier –
since you don’t have to carry everything). After shopping in Ikea we stopped at
the little food court thing they have (not the restaurant but where they sell
hot dogs and such) and got something to drink, cinnamon rolls, and some ice
cream. Then we headed back home. It was a long day, but it was good to be out with
friends and to show that we were not afraid.
Nearly empty metro station that is usually packed- Gare de Lyon
Kayla and Amanda-With Kayla's new boyfriend...
Monday 16/11: I went into Paris again today to meet
up with Amanda. We have started a weekly trend of meeting in Le Marais for
lunch and other activities, mostly walking around. We ate at a bagel place
called Bagelstein. I had a bagel with cream cheese and Dr. Pepper! Then we went
to the cheesecake place that Rachel found, Berko. This time I got my own piece
and it was delicious! After Berko we went to the Orange (a cell phone/internet
provider) to get internet for my apartment. I’m glad Amanda was there with me,
I’m not sure I would have been able to figure it all out without her help.
After Orange I headed back home. It was tired and ready for bed.
BHV all ready for Christmas
Berko Cheesecake
Tuesday 17/11: Back to teaching. In my first class
we talked about the attacks. The kids here often amaze me. The two I had today
talked about their fear of the night, but also about the strength they received
from seeing the support from most of the world. One student said that it
humbled him to know that Paris would not stand alone. Seriously a 17 year old
whose first language is not English was able to express such deep thinking in
his second language makes me proud. I am so grateful to be working with such
amazing kids. After my classes I spent some time preparing for the week then
headed to Puteaux to tutor my favorite 7 year old. He is such a fun kid;
hopefully he is learning English from me! After I was done tutoring I headed to
the Eiffel tower to meet some other assistants; Amanda, Cat, Lucy, and Emily.
That night the tower was to be lit up in the bleu, blanc, et rouge (blue,
white, and red) of the French flag. When we arrived the tower was dark. It was
beautiful and sad at the same time. Like the tower was mourning for Paris. Once
they lit it up, it was so cool. It is amazing how such a simple thing can mean
so much. It seemed to say that France will not give into what the terrorists
want. I loved it!
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
Wednesday 18/11: I had a bit of a stressful
afternoon. After my classes today I planned to meet Amanda in Le Marais again
to go to Thanksgiving. I arrived at the metro stop only to discover that they
were kicking everyone out. There was something happening at the next metro stop
and they were not letting trains through. So they told everyone to take the bus
to La Défense to catch the RER A to wherever they needed to go. So I went up
and started trying to figure out if there was a way to get back without going
to La Défense. I could take the bus…that a million people were waiting for. So
I waited. When the bus came it was so f ull, I was just like nope; I’ll keep
waiting. I then noticed that no new people were coming so I headed back to the
metro on the off chance that the trains were running again, they were. So I
took the train to le Marais to meet Amanda. We went to Starbucks and chatted
for awhile then headed to Thanksgiving to see what they had for our
Thanksgiving dinner (Saturday 28/11…I know two days after…but we have to work
on the actual holiday). They have so many good American things there. I ended
up buying some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, a Butterfinger, and an A&W root beer!
After Thanksgiving we wanted to go see another store, Tati, which has housing
goods and such for really cheap. So we walked there…the whole 20+ blocks. Then
peaked around, decided we should go to one of the bigger ones and headed home.
Thursday 19/11: I came to my classes then headed
home!!! It was a pretty chill day. I went to the store, bought some stuff. Went
home and relaxed the rest of the night. It was nice having a break from being
busy most of the week!
Friday 20/11: After my classes I went to the Orange
store near me – our internet was not working! The guy there was mean and did
not even try to help me. So I gave up and decided to call the help line on
Monday morning. Then went shopping at Auchan (which was right next to Orange),
this store reminded me so much of Walmart. It had everything like Walmart does.
I spent a good amount of time in there just wandering around. I even found a
swiffer…which I bought. I love swiffers, like they are seriously my favorite
things…my floor feels a lot cleaner now.
Saturday 21/11: Today I went on a long adventure;
first to Saint-Germain-en-Laye to see where my friend Kayla lives, and then
north of the city for dinner. I met up with Cat at the RER station and we then
met up with Kayla and Amanda. We then started to head towards Kayla’s. On our
way we stopped at a pizza place for some lunch…Kayla and I really like to go
get pizza whenever we can. Then we headed to her house. She lives with a family
in exchange for nannying/speaking English with their youngest son. It was a
very big house with a kitty! Amanda loved the cat so much! He was so calm and
just enjoyed our loving on him. It makes me want a cat so much more! After
playing with the cat for awhile we decided it was time to start heading out to
the dinner party we were attending at another assistant’s, Hana, home north of
Paris. We had to stop at Monoprix to get supplies for what we were all
bringing. Hana was making spaghetti bolognaise; so I volunteered to make garlic
bread! I got supplies for that and the others got what they needed, then we
started our really long journey to Hana’s. We to the RER A to Gare de Nord
where we switched to RER D to Saint-Denis, where we had to switch to the train
line H. While we were getting of the RER there were a ton of people getting off
too; as we went down the stairs Amanda got pushed and she fell breaking the
wine she was bringing and bruising her tailbone. It was surprising that no one
besides us really stopped to help her and make sure she was ok…Amanda was ok
and we helped remove the broken wine bottle and punctured coca-light bottle
(France’s Diet Coke) from her bag and then went to get on the next train.
People can be so rude. The entire trip to Hana’s took us over 2 hours…so fun!!
I definitely wish we would have had access to a car that day! Dinner was delicious
and everyone loved the garlic bread I made, which is always good. At 9pm
Amanda, Kayla, and I headed out since we had the furthest to travel and I definitely
did not want to get home after midnight. I left Amanda and Kayla at Gare de
Nord and headed to Montgeron on my own. While waiting for the train to leave at
Gare de Lyon (I had to switch to a different RER D there) I witnessed something
that would probably have ended differently in the US. Four SNCF security guards
(all white) got on the train and asked a young black man to follow them off the
train. They searched his backpack asked to see his identity, and wrote him a
ticket of some kind. Now I was expecting this young man to freak out or start
some conflict with these guards…no such thing happened. He just stood there
respectfully answering their questions and waiting for them to finish. Once
they were done he got back on the train and that was the end of the incident.
It really baffled me. I’m not sure if it is because in France there isn’t as
big of a race problem between whites and blacks or because this kid was just a
good kid. But it really showed me the difference between the respect people
have here for police and even security guards. There has been a lot more
security checks going on since Nov. 13 and it is nice to see that people are
respecting the jobs of those who have to do the checking. I finally arrived
home at about 11:30 and went straight to bed.
Church in Montgeron at night. So beautiful and peaceful
Sunday 22/11: I slept through my alarms...again…I
will get over that someday…maybe. Since I didn’t wake up for church I decided
to stay in and relax, and it was glorious!
Monday 23/11: As you may remember Mondays are another
day off for me (yes I have a long weekend every weekend). So I did some
cleaning and unpacked a little more (sorry still not done so no pictures yet).
Called about the internet still not working and got an appointment for some
technicians to come fix the problem. Went grocery shopping and relaxed the rest
of the day. It was nice to have a couple of days of relaxing…I’ve been so busy
recently. It is funny that ever since I moved out of Paris I do more than when
I lived in Paris…life.
Tuesday 24/11: I went to classes and then came home
to wait for the technicians to arrive (sometime between 1 and 6pm)…As I was
making some lunch they called and said they had arrived! They were quick. We
made our way through their repairs with Niveta and my awful French and their
broken English and we got our internet fixed! It was the best thing ever. I’m so
glad we got it taken care of; it has been rough without internet to do research
for classes etc. That night I finally cooked a real meal (because I finally had
enough groceries to last more than a day or two). I made some alfredo sauce
(from scratch, they don’t have alfredo sauce in jars here), pasta, chicken
(with Italian seasoning), salad, and some bread (that I bought, bread is really
cheap here). It was so good and I still have leftovers. I love that I can cook
and make good food without a lot of effort. Thanks mom and dad for teaching me
to cook! Then I spent the rest of the evening watching Netflix and planning for
classes. I feel like me life is complete again.
Wednesday 25/11: After classes today I went to meet
Amanda at le Marais, apparently our favorite place. I got there before her, so
I waited for her at Starbucks, yes again I know where it is and I know what I
like from there. Then we went back to the store Thanksgiving to get supplies
for our Thanksgiving dinner we are having on Saturday. I got some French’s
onions, and some Cranberry sauce, and Pam (cooking spray). The Pam is not for
Thanksgiving dinner, just for my happiness when cooking, haha. I am so glad
there is a store that has American things, even if it is ridiculously expensive.
After we finished there we headed to Lush to get Amanda some shampoo and
conditioner. Then we went to BHV (it’s a department store) where we wandered around
for awhile, looking at things that we would love to have if we had ovens/money/a
way to take it back to the States with us. We spent a lot of time in the
kitchen stuff…I love kitchen stuff…we even found gold salt and pepper (because France
is so bourgeoisie). We both got our
steps in for the day so we decided to head home. It’s fun having a friend to
hang out with here!
Gold Salt and Pepper from BHV
Thursday 26/11: Happy Thanksgiving!! It is kind of
hard being away from family and friends this year. This is my first time away
from everyone. I usually have some family or friend’s house to go to on
Thanksgiving. It is very different working (a normal job) on this holiday
knowing that if I were teaching in the U.S. I would have today off. In my
classes we talked about Thanksgiving and what they know about it, about the
food, about what we are thankful for, and then Black Friday. They are so
confused by Black Friday here. People do not like to work and therefore opening
a store at such crazy times for good “sales” doesn’t appeal to them, good for
you France. It was fun getting their perspective. After school I decided to go
to McDonald’s, where I am now, to finish up this blog before I go tutor Max (I
had to rearrange his session this week since I had to wait for the technician
on Tuesday). I needed something American today. So I am sitting here using
their wifi and finishing this really long post up and listening to Maroon 5.
Here is what I am really thankful for this year. I am thankful for: my family,
especially my parents, who love and support me in all my life decisions. I am
grateful they are supportive of me living so far from home and for living a
long time dream of mine. I’m thankful for my friends new and old. I’m grateful
that I’ve made new friends here that I can laugh with, share fears with, and
figure out the confusing bureaucracy of France with. I’m grateful for friends in
the U.S. who message me, who pray for me, who are following my life here. I’m
grateful for the opportunity to live in France. I’m grateful for being placed
in an amazing school, with a great staff. I’m grateful for the students I work with;
I hope they are learning from me. I’m grateful for my Heavenly Father who has
been here for me through my homesickness and all. I am grateful for His hand in
my life. I am grateful for so so much and am so blessed.
Ok guys! I’m finally caught up!! I hope you made it
through and that you are continuing to follow me here, on Facebook, and on
Instagram. Look for my next post which will include our American Thanksgiving
in Paris event that is happening on Saturday (because we definitely could not
have made it work tonight)! Love you all.
