A lot has happened since I last blogged. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you obviously know that, but if not, or I have managed to leave stuff out, I will do my best to update things on here as well. I think the easiest way (to start, anyway) is with a couple lists. We know how I love lists.
The Good Things:
-2 amazing Family Home Evenings: For those who don't know, FHE (for short) is a Mormon thing that we do with our families every week. It's basically just family night, but here we do it with our group. I was so lucky to have had two activities that I will never forget: one, a boat ride on the Seine, and the other, going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Sorry Mom, I don't think you can top those.
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| on the boat! |
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| on top of the Eiffel Tower! |
-French Week: We had to speak only French for a whole week, and if we did well each day, we got a macaron. Although it was super hard, I think it really helped my French. I may not be fluent, but I can understand so much more than before and I have gotten over my fear of speaking which is the most important part.
-Discovering Chipotle: I miss Mexican food more than any other food, and when it comes to Mexican, Chipotle is the best. I am fully aware that it's not "real" Mexican, but I just don't care. It was a very emotional experience, in a good way. How they can have a Chipotle in Paris but not in Provo is beyond me.
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| SO HAPPY |
-Nuit Blanche: super fun night. You can read more about it here.
-Halloween: There's actually no such thing as Halloween here, but we made our own fun. Sydney, Kayla, and I went to this theme park called Parc Asterix, which is based off of the French comic Asterix and Obelix. It was quite the adventure, with lots of travelling and navigating, and it ended up being kind of ridiculous. The French don't exactly know how to do Halloween. But I had a lot of fun and I loved bonding with those girls :)
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| sporting our Asterix helmets! |
The Bad Things:
-Art History: I just can't get into it. I feel like such a snob for saying it, but I am sick to death of the Louvre. Maybe it's just class, but every time I go there I end up feeling sick and getting a headache and feeling too hot. I think I might be art-intolerant. Don't get me wrong, I know how lucky I am to be going there so often, but it doesn't mean I love it...
-Getting my phone stolen: This was the most traumatic experience of my life thus far. Let's hope nothing worse ever happens to me. Especially because of how I reacted to this. Here's what happened. I had just finished babysitting for a family in the ward, and I was heading home at about 11pm. I had been on the metro millions of times at that hour, and I always listen to my iPod. Everyone does. It's just the thing that you do. I normally take a different way home, but I decided to take the easier way. It involved stopping at La Motte-Picquet Grenelle, a pretty big metro stop. I now avoid that place like the plague. Anyway, I was just sitting on the platform, listening to music, and looking at my phone which was in my hands, and a man came up, grabbed it, and started running away. The combination of me not really seeing him, having music blasting in my ears, and just the fact that that kind of thing is not a normal experience, made it really hard for me to quickly process what was happening. It took me way too long to realize, and by the time my brain had figured out to get up and run, my voice and legs had not caught up. Seriously, he was so far ahead of me, and the sounds coming out of my mouth were not human. I couldn't make enough noise, and I did not sound like myself trying to yell at him to stop and tell the other people on the platform to get him. That was the other crazy part- there were other people around! I guess not enough apparently. I followed him all the way outside, only to find my empty case and headphones on the ground. I was like, heaving and dry-sobbing and so scared. A really nice man who spoke English asked me if I was okay, and if I wanted to borrow his phone to call anyone. I didn't have anyone's number so I just went home and cried a lot. After trying to track down my phone and going to the police, there's nothing I can do. The phone is gone. I was really shaken up for a couple days, but I got a blessing from Noah and my director and I felt a lot better. I am now a lot more cautious and maybe a little paranoid, but this experience has been strangely a good one. I'm still including it in the bad list because it was scary, and let's be real. I want my phone. But, I've learned to not be so completely reliant on technology, and so obsessed with being connected to home. It's been slightly liberating. I miss listening to music though.
-Dr. and Sister Hurlbut leaving: Our fantastic director and his wife unexpectedly had to leave us a few weeks ago. We got about a week's notice, and we got to have a last dinner with them which was nice, but we were all still pretty devastated. While this meant we got to blog in English and travel to other places, it was (in my opinion) not worth the exchange. I really really miss them. (P.S. We have a great new director, Dr. Erickson! I just still miss them)
-Being homesick: As much as I love Paris and France and the study abroad and all the great things that come with it, I miss America. I miss my friends and my family, being able to call people on the phone, driving a car, sweatpants being socially acceptable, Reeses peanut butter cups, my bed, and about a hundred other things.
I was worried before I came on this trip that I wouldn't love it, or it wouldn't change my life like every other person to ever study abroad has said it would. I came with completely different expectations, and I don't think one of my preconceptions actually was true. As much as I want to go home right now, I don't regret coming here at all. I think this was absolutely the best thing I could have done for myself, and the right choice. When I applied, this was literally the last thing I thought I would be doing, it was just an option for the upcoming year. If you had told me then, how I would feel about myself and life right now, I would not have believed you for a second. It has only been about 8 months since then, and I feel like in so many ways my life is so different. I may not become fluent in French, I may not make a million French pen pals, and I may not remember every little thing I saw or did, but I have grown more in these 2 months than I have in all my years at BYU, in high school, or any other experience that's supposed to change your life. I cannot even explain how happy I am; to be here, to have the life that I have, and most importantly: to be me. :)
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| "Our Town!" -Dr. H |
I want to cry. This was beautiful.
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