for those of you who don't know, this past week was challenging for me. i felt really emotional, and lonely, and came home everyday after class and basically just laid in my bed. depressing right? thank god for a chorus line and snap chat, the two seemed to be the only things that were able to put a smile on my face. nothing serious had happened either, it was more like little things would get me down: the weather, the metro, a rude waiter, silly, petty, things, but i couldn't shake my parisian blues.
on friday, my friends were able to pull me out of the "funk." betsy, andie, and i went to a restaurant called chartier, which is a famous restaurant here in paris known for their delicious food at a very low price. i ordered spaghetti, (its my comfort food) and a salad, accompanied by the menu's cheapest glass of chardonnay. i don't know how we managed to swallow our food through all the laughter; our table conversations are always hysterical..i'm so grateful for my friends here! obi met up with us after dinner and the four of us went to trucadero to see one of the best views of the eiffel tower. we brought some wine along to help keep us warm while we waited to watch it sparkle. the eiffel tower at night is overwhelmingly beautiful, no matter how many times i see it light up, i never get tired of it.
as far as the nightlife this past friday...it was an off night after trucadero. first place we tried was holding a private party...fashion week, and we weren't dressed for the occasion. second place was the jazz bar, but on this night the place was SAD, we were one of three tables there and no one was under 45. awk. the third place we went to was a "paris bucket list item." it's a bar where you drink your drinks out of baby bottles...weird i know, but tourists want to try it, i mean...we went. though i wasn't disappointed, it was honestly nothing special. we sipped our cocktails through the bottle top, and i gnawed at the rubber while playing a game of "mash." at about 1:30 am we were ready to head out and head to bed.
saturday was a lazy day as i stayed in bed all morning until meeting with andie for tea and croissants. later that evening the girls came over to my homestay and we cooked dinner. i'm trying to be more "domesticated." our meal consisted of salad, tomatoes and balsamic, pasta carbonara and for dessert, fresh strawberries with nutella.
sunday, we stumbled upon an art gallery. the place was awesome, it looked like a commune for the starving artists of paris, but the art work was incredibly innovative and fun to look at.
we trekked the entire rue de rivoli (which is a VERY long trek) and made it to angelina's (another "paris bucket list" item.) they're known for their african hot chocolate, which really tastes more like a melted candy bar- so rich, and divine, but i couldn't handle more than a few sips.and now here we are. it's been exactly one month since my arrival in france, and i feel as though i've learned a year's worth of lessons in a mere four weeks. i've learned to be my own best friend at times because a big city gets really lonely, even surrounded by such a vast number of people. which seems ironic that people feel loneliest in places like paris or new york (my current and future city of living, awesome). i've also learned to live each day to its fullest because time has flown, and there isn't a single thing i want to miss out on while i'm here. with that being said, and hopefully this won't be too much of a contradiction, i've learned to enjoy the simple things. taking a walk along the seine river, sitting in front of the notre dame just to stare, people watching in a cafe, admiring street art, even buying a sandwich and giving it to a homeless man and his puppy, being able to allow these things to bring me joy instead of feeling like i constantly have to be doing something outrageous has been an incredible lesson to learn. my last lesson i'll post for the day, is learning how to love learning. that may sound silly, but hear me out. paris has been so refreshing for me (and my brain for that matter), because it's challenging me to want to gain knowledge. in the least conceited way possible, i've been a star student in my high school and college french courses. most people weren't given an opportunity to study at an international school growing up, so i have much more practice than your average american "french speaker." i'm forever grateful to my mom and dad for the sacrifices they made to let me study in an immersion program, i'm the luckiest. with that being said, it feels good to be a big fish in a small pond. people back home think i'm some brilliant language wizard, but here i feel like i'm at the bottom of the totem pole. most of the students in my class are from other countries in europe or asia, and french is their third, fourth, even fifth language they're taking on. since being here, i feel more driven to not only perfect my french, but to go on and become fluent in spanish, italian, and portuguese-tackle all the love languages. no one is impressed by an american who speaks french here, in fact its the least they expect of you, so it's important to me to be the best i can be and to push myself harder than i ever have back home.
my dad told me via skype yesterday, that the sky isn't always going to be blue here, both literally and figuratively speaking. but happiness is a choice we make... and today i woke up choosing to be in a good mood no matter what came my way, and it worked.
