In Paris, but not "OF" Paris

So, life among the Parisians has gotten a whole lot better since when I first arrived just over a week ago. Everyday still feels like the longest day of my life and every night like the shortest sleep, but I think that means I'm filling up every day with the most I can possibly fit in and I am generally happy with the way things are going.

But where to begin? Maybe I should just start with what my general routine has been this week. This week, my group has had our walking tours where we travel around to the different "arrondisements" (districts) to see all the big sites i.e. The Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Notre Dame, etc. Every morning, I wake up and have breakfast with my roommate-- hot chocolate with either nutella toast or pain au lait-- and book it to the metro fifteen minutes away. We meet up with the group, walk around seeing so much stuff we can't possibly remember, and then break for lunch before we collapse. This week I've bought lunch in the city (usually a baguette sandwich or a crepe for a couple euros), but I'm going to start bringing lunch because it's cheaper. After lunch, we can do whatever we want! We break out into groups to explore places we've never been before. Every other week from now on will be different because we'll have classes in the morning, but we'll still have adventure time in the afternoon.

And here are some memorable stories for the week:
- Monday: I tried my first real French crepe. Good, but surprisingly, Dad's are better! Obviously, the crepe was authentic and I felt very French to walk around eating a crepe, but nothing beats crepes a la Dad!

- Tuesday: After our tour of St Germain and the Latin Quarter (which I absolutely loved!!), a group of us got some Greek food in some little alley, took it down to the Seine where we sat on the edge of the water eating and waving to the people passing on boats. We all ended up dripping grease onto our pants and attracting seagulls, but the weather was nice and we were happy to be where we were and with each other. Later that day, my roommate (also named Rebecca with the SAME middle name as me) and I went to the grocery store in our neighborhood. We walked up and down the aisles trying to figure out what half the stuff was. Luckily our host lady Mme de Boudemange clued us in on the all the grocery stores in France's BYOB policy-- "Bring your own bag." It's good for the environment. We cooked dinner in our apartment kitchen (French kitchens are a little different from American kitchens, but not so different we couldn't figure it out) and after dinner we danced in our living room. See, sometimes at our host house we feel a little banished to our rooms like we don't want to disturb Mme de Boudemange in the common rooms, but since she wasn't home, we danced around the room singing, "When the host is away, the guests come out to play!"

-Wednesday: At Sacre Coeur, we stopped to take pictures and a man came up and tried to braid a bracelet onto my wrist. I'd heard of people doing this, so I firmly said, "No, monsieur." It was totally under control and the guy backed off, but my director saw and yelled loudly, "Get your hands off her!" Then they argued and Prof Fry pretended to call the police. That day, my French was really good, but I fear my English was very bad. When I tried to say "spoon-feed" as we walked home from the metro, I accidentally said, "food-speen" and my roommate laughed at me!

Thursday: We ran into the missionaries during our tour! There was eight of them that had set up a booth on the sidewalk with pictures of Christ up. They sang hymns and we listened for awhile. Later that day, we got lost and then when we finally found the metro, we ended up on what I now call the "ghetto line." It was an obscure line that we've never taken before and we found ourselves to be the only white people surrounded by blacks, Arabs, and homeless people. If I were to be pick-pocketed, threatened, or stalked, this would have been the place! It was a little scary, but mostly just a smelly experience (those homeless people can sure stink up a metro car!).

Friday: Today, I led a group of us to a famous ice cream parlor on Isle St. Louis called Maison de Berthillon. I got to try chocolate, hazelnut, cinnamon, and raspberry-rose, which were all delicious. Then we went and saw the puppet show and stamp market that is featured in Audrey Hepburn's "Charade." So cool! But on the way there, we saw an touring open market under a bridge. It was from the South of France and they were giving away samples of wine, cheese, and produce. We walked around and listened to the band who at one point tried to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" and butchered it so badly we had to laugh.

Saturday: We toured the Versailles gardens! So peaceful in the morning, but very touristy in the afternoon. That night, my roommate and I made dinner with another set of roommates in the group. It is really fun to get to know everyone in the group.

So, that's about that. The main thing I am struggling with at the moment is feeling like an outsider. Yes, I am living in Paris, but it is obvious that I am an American. I really don't like feeling like I don't belong, but at the same time, I like America and I don't want to be completely separate from it. Despite its lack of fashion, overreating habits, and inefficient ways of spending time, the United States is still a great country. My director talked to us the other day about something called "best of practice," which is basically taking the best of both countries into our lifestyle. Some things about France is SO much better than the United States, but the U.S. has some advantages that France does not. For example, the French do NOT wear flip flops and all I can think of when I see little French woman walking around in heels is, "Do they KNOW what they are missing?!"

Thanks so much to everyone whose written me. Your comments and emails really pulled me through a tough week of transition and I'm grateful for that. I feel like I'm back on my feet, but don't stop the correspondence because I want to know what's going on in all of your lives! One thing I am quickly realizing here is that no matter where I am or what I am doing, my family and friends are still the most important thing in the world to me.

Until later, a bientot!