Paris....The Way I see It

Today I woke up to a white Paris. The past few days it has been snowing…ew. Please go away snow. Let the sun shine through and warm this city up!

First...most of the pictures above are from the Chateau de Versailles...and then the snow when I woke up this morning :)

I’ve been in Paris for almost 3 weeks now and Valentine’s day is coming up. Let me just say…love is in the air. In Paris, love is always in the air. This is the most romantic city ever. Love is on the metro, at school, in the streets, in the parks, it’s everywhere. Lovebirds are constantly holding hands and making out. I was on the metro the other day and it was kind of crammed and the couple was still going at it. I didn’t know if they felt more awkward with my face 6 inches away from their kissing or if I felt more awkward being that close to people I don’t even know having a tongue war.

I have certainly become more independent with the little time I have spent here. I love going into Patisserie’s and ordering in French. Although my French isn’t that great, I feel confident and it’s not really a challenge anymore. I was looking out our window today and watching people walk by and go on with their daily lives, and I thought to myself, I’m living in Paris. The first week seemed like vacation, but now this is a way of life. I could totally see myself living here, but I would miss my family and friends way too much. I was asked today if I miss Texas and I thought about it, and I actually don’t really miss it. Yes Paris has its positives and negatives, but this is a truly beautiful city and I enjoy the endless activities I can do here. There is always something to go see or somewhere to go and I don’t know if I will be able to see everything that I want to see while I’m here. Learning and exploring Paris is what I am in love with and before I leave I will know Paris like the back of my hand.

For me, the night life is not that important to me because it seems the same as it is in America except the beer is way more expensive and the music is mostly techno (ugh). I’ve been to a few clubs and I wasn’t that impressed. Maybe it’s because I’m not with my best friends from TEXAS J so it’s just not that exciting. Also, once we go out at night, I have to figure out how I’m going to get home. Taxis are expensive so we try to avoid taking those. The metro is closed so the only option left are the night buses. I’m usually not with my roommate so I end up staying the night with a friend, who is just my luck the farthest away from me. Getting home is the tricky/difficult part and I wish the metro was open all night so night life would be easier.

Living here has made me financially and emotionally different. Financially, because I watch what I spend because the exchange rate is $1 to 1.51Euros and I write EVERYTHING down of what I buy. Shoutout to Rhiannon ;) I want to make sure that I have enough money to travel and buy gifts so I’m buying only necessities. My eyes are doing the shopping by seeing as much as possible. I’m just taking everything in and learning from every little experience. Emotionally, in many ways…I realized how much the US is an amazing country and I miss AMERICANS. Parisians are great, but there are a lot out there who hate Americans and would much rather us leave their country. Plus there are many that will not leave you alone on the streets. Mainly the men are dogs and personally I just want to be left alone while I’m walking home from school in the evening. I’m sure there are men around the world like this, but they are very outspoken here.

I absolutely LOVE my host family. I have been teaching my little brother gangsta phrases… J And we have this thing where whenever I leave or he leaves we say “peace” and give each other the peace sign. I think he thinks he’s pretty cool now! Lol! He’s a super cool kid and I love him! We were watching Exposed on MTV the other day and I was making comments about all the guys on the show and when a blonde girl in a bikini came on he goes, “OOOOOOO.” And I said, “Yea, you like that?!” and he said, “It’s my turn now!” I almost died laughing. The language barrier is diminishing now and we are understanding each other a lot better. Although there are still some confusion and we don’t understand each other sometimes, we still find a way to get around the barrier.

I hoping for the snow to go away soon so I can get out more and not be freezing! This weekend I have plans to go to the Louvre and a few other places to site-see and maybe shop a little for some gifts!