I’m not dead, I swear!

Jump to Comments

It’s been a while… but I swear I didn’t forget about the blog, although you all probably did since it hasn’t been updated in almost a month.

This is one of those posts that I am going to equate to a walk of shame. Because it’s been so long, it feels like it’s going to be kind of cheap since I have to cover so much, but I’ll do my best.

June has flown by. I literally feel like it was May yesterday. Between people leaving and people coming, I haven’t had much time to stop and reflect on anything. There were some disasters at work, ask me about them later if you’d like. None of them involve me directly, so don’t get too worried. Let’s just say the internship has changed quite a bit since when I started.

One more note about work before I move on to other events. I work with amazing people: famous people, smart people, cool people… the list goes on and on. I attended a luncheon with the top boss last week and her life is incredible. Also, in one of the meetings last week I sat next to pretty much the most important person in my industry. Amazing.

The month started out with me eating snails. It’s not something you would expect me to do, but you better believe it. I ate three of the little guys, little faces and all. I felt like there was a family of snails in my stomach after I finished, but it was a once in a lifetime type of thing.

Other than that, Donna left Paris about mid-way through June, so we were busy doing last minute things for a good few days. We went to a fabulously fun night club with her friends from the dorm. It’s fun to go out with a group like that. One of the girls was British, one Irish, one Italian and a few French. I love going out in groups where the only common language is French. It forces you to speak it, but it’s also kind of cool that it’s not English.

I miss Donna so much though, we had a lot of fun together over here. I lost my best picnic-library buddy. Luckily, I’ve had quite a bit to distract me since she left.

Mid-month, Carolyn arrived and I have since been on a whirlwind tour of Paris. Let me just first say that I hate Charles De Gaulle airport. So the last time I was there, I lost my suitcase, which by the way, has yet to be found. I’ve mostly given up hope, it’s just that every once in a while when I go to shoe store or a library, I get very sad about having lost all my shoes and notebooks.

When I went to get Carolyn, I spent about two hours in the wrong terminal. Watching other people being reunited happily with friends and family. No sign of my sister. I finally discover that her flight was delayed by three hours and I make my way to the right terminal. So after spending a long morning in the airport, we get to the train.

The RER B, it still gives me chills down my spine. We reach the platform and the doors of the train are open, just like they were when I first got there upon arrival. We hoist her bag up quickly and find a seat. Of course, this time, the doors stay open another FIVE minutes. Five! Why this was not the case when I got to the train in March, I will never know.

Anyway, since Carolyn got here, we’ve been doing lots of touristy things. We’ve hit up the Champs Elysees, the Louvre, the Musee du Moyen Age, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur and all kind of gardens, parks, boulevards… it’s been a great time, actually going to see things, being a tourist for the first time since I got here.

Tip: it’s great to be a tourist when you already know where everything is, when it’s crowded and what metro to take to get there.

Corinna also left this month, which was also very sad. I am holding her laptop hostage so she has to come back and see me before she flies home to the US, but it was a sad goodbye. After-all, we did attend a number of sketchy Indian restaurants together in Paris. Who else is going to do that with me?

Last weekend, I had another visitor: Lia! She joined Carolyn and I for a night out at an Irish bar, where we watched a very exciting football (aka soccer) game and danced the evening away. Last Saturday, we hit up the Fete de la Musique, where Paris stays out all night singing and dancing in the streets.

I have never seen anything like it. We started up in Montmartre, where we had crepes with Lia’s family and ended up in this little amphitheater listening to a rap-type band. They were actually really good and we stayed there for the sunset. It was so cool, there were a bunch of little kids dancing in front of the stage in the warm evening while everyone sang along. At one point some guy from the audience joined the band and began playing the harmonica. It was so nice.

After that we made our way back to the metro to go to the center of town. It was tricky enough braving the crowds to get to the train, but once we got on, I have never been more squeezed in my life. I actually jumped from the metro car after prying free of the crowd when we reached our stop.

We proceeded to walk through the streets all the way to my apartment. There were thousands of people everywhere, cars couldn’t move, police watched as bottles broke and people danced in fountains. It was a bit too much for me, but it was amazing to see. I’ve never seen anything like it actually.

I spent the beginning of this week between work and hanging out with Lia and Carolyn. We had a nice wine and cheese moment along the Seine, very romantic. Ha!

Lia went on her way back to the US on Tuesday and since, Carolyn and I have just been chillin. We hit up the major soldes, which are the big sales here. The shopping is fabulous, although mostly impossible since we are poor. The sales here are interesting though, I must say, Basically, every store has a sale during the same week. Every store. It’s a madhouse.

Tonight, I’m going to bid Reed farewell and tomorrow Carolyn and I are heading over to jolly old England. Brilliant, I know! It’s pretty much the most expensive three days of my life, but I think it will be worth it. A good trip to the mother land will be cool. It’s kind of weird to feel more at home in Paris than I will in London since they actually speak English there. It’s kind of bad, I’ve been much more lazy about the travel plans because I keep thinking: “meh, they speak English.”

Then this coming week will be full of activity– Carolyn’s departure and Amanda’s arrival.

In two weeks, Amanda and I are hoping to head off to Italy and after that… well, after that I’ll be heading home pretty darn soon. I have mixed feelings about how fast this stay is winding up. By now, I love it here and am going to miss is terribly. I love that I know the city now, that I have my own hang outs, friends, routines. It’s so cool to think that I came here on such short notice and now I can say that I’ve lived in Paris, I know Paris.

I’ve gained so much perspective on America, on the world and on myself since I got here. The experience has been so valuable for me and I’m determined to make the last two months count! I promise I’ll try to write more about it too

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized