I am absolutely consumed by the love I have for Paris.
I made pancakes for the boys in the morning, took pleasure and sweet time in getting myself all dolled up and feeling fabulous, and spent the afternoon and evening with two exceptional humans. We watched La Vague, a German drama with French subtitles, and it really made me think after we left. It was very well done, and I highly recommend it. (The translation of the title is "The Wave," if anyone reading this decides to take interest in it and look it up.)
Afterwards, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe of Paris and ate American food with fruity cocktails and talked too loud and laughed too much. We walked through the Champs Elysses and decided to return when it's warmer to jump into the fountains at Concorde, and eventually went into Hagen Daas for dolce de leche with whipped cream and sat on a bench under the lights until midnight. It was a great night, and I realized as I was walking down the famous avenue, that all the work I did to get here is incredibly worth the results I'm living right now. Even when I feel lonely, I can walk through the streets and see the gardens and smile at the sight of my heart's desire.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Why I Love This Job
When the sky is grey and a drizzle tumbles down from the sky and dampens my trenchcoat as I walk by the bookstore, taking in the sweet smells coming from the flower shop around the corner, I know that I live in Paris. The vespas, smartcars, and ancient romantic architecture overflowing with small garden spaces set the perfect backdrop for these afternoon promenades through the city of my dreams. Late-night taxi rides back to my home in the sixteenth arrondisment showcase the illuminated city through my backseat window, and it captivates me. In the magical times that seem to generate themselves here, I forget about how much my feet hurt after dancing for hours in stilettos, and even how much I miss all the little comforts of my small-town New Hampshire life.
A midday cup of Carte Noir coffee and pleasant chats with Marie and Angela have provided me a new form of comfort, along with the bedtime kisses I receive from Etienne at the end of each workday. The thousands of reasons I could come up with to explain what it is that makes me able to truly enjoy the life I have here could never fully captivate the immense pleasure I get out of the rare and precious moments when the four year old I adore comes through and surprises me with small, yet at the same time grand, breakthroughs in his young life. Sometimes, it's just a smile that he gives me when the day seems long, and other times, it's the first ABC song or word or counting that he shows me he can do all by himself. Occasionally, it's a day of polite requests and unlimited laughter, or, my personal favorite, an hour or two of make-believe that enraptures the two of us so deeply that I forget that I'm at work.
To top off having the most incredible job I could have asked for in the most magnificent place I could ever imagine, my host family is a true second family who makes me feel worthwhile when I want to fall apart, and they do it without trying or even realizing it.
We went to Verbier, Switzerland, in the Alps, and the mountains were glass sculptures hand-blown by the universe for humans to admire for all time. Slow mornings in my own big, comfy bed, led to long breakfasts with Etienne and hours of snowman-building, slipping and sliding in slush, and sledding down the bottom of the mountain. Nearly every night was spent with Disney movies and room service before bed, and I wouldn't change it for the best restaurant in all of Europe. The landscape and long drive made me reminiscent of the White Mountain trips with Daddy every winter, and I wrote him a long letter telling him how much I wished he could be there.
Marie saw my manly old ski gear and insisted on giving me money to go shopping and buy a hot pink replacement, knowing I couldn't afford it on my own. She is the most generous woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I get to live daily in her presence. This is just one of the unlimited and ever-growing reasons that I admire her.
Upon our return to the city of lights, I enjoyed a day of relaxation, painting, self-pampering, and meeting up with a good friend for the evening. When work started again on Monday, it felt like a coming-home of sorts. In getting back into the swing of things and catching up on emails and re-writing my to-do list, I heard from my friend Ali from South Africa and decided to check up on the possibility of making a trip down to visit her, just to see if it's at all possible. As it turns out, it's not only possible, it's going to happen!
My payment for the Swiss vacation was much larger than I had expected, based on Marie's significant re-evaluation of my work during those couple of weeks. I was shocked and blushing when she informed me of the figure, and in all honesty, I'm still a bit mind-boggled at the concept of being paid to take one of the best vacations I've ever had. Nevertheless, it's this new-found financial surplus which is allowing me to make my African adventure next month a reality.
I'm more than aware that I've stated it over and over ever since my arrival, but it's something that cannot be proclaimed enough: I am one of the lucky ones.
A midday cup of Carte Noir coffee and pleasant chats with Marie and Angela have provided me a new form of comfort, along with the bedtime kisses I receive from Etienne at the end of each workday. The thousands of reasons I could come up with to explain what it is that makes me able to truly enjoy the life I have here could never fully captivate the immense pleasure I get out of the rare and precious moments when the four year old I adore comes through and surprises me with small, yet at the same time grand, breakthroughs in his young life. Sometimes, it's just a smile that he gives me when the day seems long, and other times, it's the first ABC song or word or counting that he shows me he can do all by himself. Occasionally, it's a day of polite requests and unlimited laughter, or, my personal favorite, an hour or two of make-believe that enraptures the two of us so deeply that I forget that I'm at work.
To top off having the most incredible job I could have asked for in the most magnificent place I could ever imagine, my host family is a true second family who makes me feel worthwhile when I want to fall apart, and they do it without trying or even realizing it.
We went to Verbier, Switzerland, in the Alps, and the mountains were glass sculptures hand-blown by the universe for humans to admire for all time. Slow mornings in my own big, comfy bed, led to long breakfasts with Etienne and hours of snowman-building, slipping and sliding in slush, and sledding down the bottom of the mountain. Nearly every night was spent with Disney movies and room service before bed, and I wouldn't change it for the best restaurant in all of Europe. The landscape and long drive made me reminiscent of the White Mountain trips with Daddy every winter, and I wrote him a long letter telling him how much I wished he could be there.
Marie saw my manly old ski gear and insisted on giving me money to go shopping and buy a hot pink replacement, knowing I couldn't afford it on my own. She is the most generous woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I get to live daily in her presence. This is just one of the unlimited and ever-growing reasons that I admire her.
Upon our return to the city of lights, I enjoyed a day of relaxation, painting, self-pampering, and meeting up with a good friend for the evening. When work started again on Monday, it felt like a coming-home of sorts. In getting back into the swing of things and catching up on emails and re-writing my to-do list, I heard from my friend Ali from South Africa and decided to check up on the possibility of making a trip down to visit her, just to see if it's at all possible. As it turns out, it's not only possible, it's going to happen!
My payment for the Swiss vacation was much larger than I had expected, based on Marie's significant re-evaluation of my work during those couple of weeks. I was shocked and blushing when she informed me of the figure, and in all honesty, I'm still a bit mind-boggled at the concept of being paid to take one of the best vacations I've ever had. Nevertheless, it's this new-found financial surplus which is allowing me to make my African adventure next month a reality.
I'm more than aware that I've stated it over and over ever since my arrival, but it's something that cannot be proclaimed enough: I am one of the lucky ones.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nina, Laura, and Me in Paris
The last four days were really great, and I know that the next time I see my German sister will be just as fabulous, too! I'm not sure when it will be, but I am very certain that it will come at least once more before I go back to New Hampshire.
While they were here, we went out into the city to be tourists and have fun. Sightseeing was cool, running around at night was, to say the least, interesting, but falling at 2 am trying to catch a taxi did NOT end well! I tore two ligaments in my wrist and one of them took a sliver of bone with it, so now I'm in a brace for three weeks. It could have been much worse, I know, and thankfully it's my right hand and I'm left-handed. Still, I blame the impossible-to-get taxis in Paris for this!
I would love to type up far more, but it's a little difficult with one hand, so I will leave it at that, and just think about the fun I had with the girls taking crazy photos and and dancing around my apartment with champagne...
While they were here, we went out into the city to be tourists and have fun. Sightseeing was cool, running around at night was, to say the least, interesting, but falling at 2 am trying to catch a taxi did NOT end well! I tore two ligaments in my wrist and one of them took a sliver of bone with it, so now I'm in a brace for three weeks. It could have been much worse, I know, and thankfully it's my right hand and I'm left-handed. Still, I blame the impossible-to-get taxis in Paris for this!
I would love to type up far more, but it's a little difficult with one hand, so I will leave it at that, and just think about the fun I had with the girls taking crazy photos and and dancing around my apartment with champagne...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
To Cherish Forever
The day to day reality can feel mundane or overwhelming, but the seemingly minor details can change everything for a single moment and elevate it to a level of ecstasy no words could ever truly capture.
Climbing up the stairs with a giant stuffed animal and a bottle of chocolate milk, the typical beginning of the bedtime routine I have with Etienne, he reached over and held my hand tightly, smiling up at me with messy curls falling into his face. This is an event worth framing in my memory for all eternity.
---Second magical moment of the week:
We were sitting as his dry-erase-board desk, and I drew him cartoons. When I wrote out the word "T-REX," he recognized all the letters, and showed me how he could write it, too. For the first time in his little life, he wrote out a full word all by himself, and I got to be right next to him.
This is officially the most rewarding job I've ever had.
Climbing up the stairs with a giant stuffed animal and a bottle of chocolate milk, the typical beginning of the bedtime routine I have with Etienne, he reached over and held my hand tightly, smiling up at me with messy curls falling into his face. This is an event worth framing in my memory for all eternity.
---Second magical moment of the week:
We were sitting as his dry-erase-board desk, and I drew him cartoons. When I wrote out the word "T-REX," he recognized all the letters, and showed me how he could write it, too. For the first time in his little life, he wrote out a full word all by himself, and I got to be right next to him.
This is officially the most rewarding job I've ever had.
Friday, January 16, 2009
In Love with Life in Paris
Just as every other human being who walks along this planet encounters hard times, makes mistakes, and gets overwhelmed, I do also. However, no matter how many things I critique myself on or mistakes I make that come back to haunt me, making me wish to be in my big gold bed with hot cocoa and my best friend, I am still here. Today, I discovered what exactly it is that makes it all worthwhile.
It happened when I was sitting in an overstuffed chair in the living room with Etienne leaning against me, reading a book together titled "How Do Dinosaurs Learn Colors and Number?" He was sleepy and I was calm, and he confused a few of the colors and asked me the names of each type of dinosaur on every page. Then came the numbers, and he recognized them all. He counted perfectly. Over and over, every time, he got it exactly right. It may sound small and insignificant in the adult world that most of us have gotten accustomed to, but for me, this was an incredibly proud moment. After the past months of practicing numbers, colors, and letters together, it has all clicked in his brain and stuck in his memory. Less than an hour later, we were hiding from the "sharks" on his play rug, and he told me he loved me. Afterwards, we read a book about sharks and rays, and he pointed at a lot of different letters telling me what they're called and who's names he knows that start with them. The amount of joy that came from all of this, how great it felt to see the results of teaching him, the trust he's found in me, are worth every tear, every scream, and every homesick moment.
Taking a step back from myself and my frustrations, I can appreciate the life I've found here. The friends I have made are good and interesting human beings, and I adore being able to relax with them. The places I have gone to are places I never want to forget.
Drinking champagne on the bus ride to Amsterdam and laughing through the hours of the ride. Seeing old windmills still standing, and architecture that inspired Walt Disney himself. Screaming at the surprises in "The Dungeon," and smiling with wax celebrities for hours. Letting my jaw drop in the face of Van Gough's original works from his various travels and periods. Singing "Rent" at the top of my lungs in the Red Light District and laughing at cartoon animal shapes in the condom shop window. Finishing a cup of fresh coffee while trying on and then purchasing perfect and pink glitter-coated high heels.
Upon my return from that weekend in Amsterdam, I enjoyed my many laughs with the family in Paris, ice-skating downtown on Friday night, and then spending the following evening at Angela's house to enjoy eating pizza, making ourselves up, going out to dance through the morning, and sleeping in until I finally felt rested enough. During Ali's last night, we drank champagne and ate sugary treats and talked for hours with a few of her close friends until the night turned into the morning and we were forced to say good-bye.
Before my parents came for Christmas, I let myself finally have an entire day doing absolutely nothing and taking my first bath in four months. When they arrived, exhausted but excited, I was ecstatic to see them again. We got to be tourists in the city and see the Arc de Triomphe and walk the Champs Elysses together. We braved the cold to wait in line for the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. We sifted through the old stone streets of the Latin Quarter and ate in a French restaurant where I learned how to eat snails. We saw the church of Saint Chapelle and climbed the stairs to the Sacre Coeur, and saw the Parthenon and Archeological Crypte. An evening was passed on a bateaux mouche night tour through the Seine River. At the Louvre, I got to see Mona Lisa herself, and was overwhelmed by the beauty that the art and architecture embodied.
In the meals we shared at the house and time passed in our rental car during our German voyage, we got to just exist together, catch up and share plans. Seeing Nina felt so amazing after all these months, and I still believe that her mother is one of the kindest people I'll ever meet. My parents got introduced to the city of Oldenburg, and I got to see it all again and reminisce the fun I had there in August. On New Year's Eve, we melted metal and threw it into a big bowl of water to form a shape that tells us our fortune for the new year. We let ourselves forget about the imperfections of reality and get caught up and light fireworks in the street. Nina and I danced the night away and the slept away half of the next day. Barbara and Johannes, her parents, cooked sausages and sauerkraut and spatzle, and it was all wonderful. Walking through a little old village with her grandmother was also wonderful. In fact, the entire experience was absolutely wonderful, (with the exception of missing our bus to get there and getting lost several times during our not-so-mini road trip.)
Saying good-bye is always difficult, and not knowing when I would see anyone again made it even harder, but we made it through the morning in Oldenburg and cried through our farewell at the airport.
Even though I have to bear the distance from the ones I love for several more months, I know it is all going to be more than okay, and very worthwhile. I know I've messed up with skipping school and making the easy choices instead of the right choices sometimes, but I have to be doing something right, because the little boy I play with every day listens to me. He can count and recognize letters and he loves me.
I am already starting to realize how much I don't want to leave this city or this family. Marie is the best host mother I could have wished for, and my job is far more rewarding than I had anticipated. When Regis tries to look out for me, and Xavier helps me make cookies and cupcakes while Guillaume eats the batter and tells me jokes, I feel like I'm a part of the family. At the end of the day, when I've done a really good job and Laurent looks at me with a smile before we say good-night, it's great. This place and these people are extraordinary, and I am completely in love with them and the life I now have in this, the city of my dreams that is Paris.
It happened when I was sitting in an overstuffed chair in the living room with Etienne leaning against me, reading a book together titled "How Do Dinosaurs Learn Colors and Number?" He was sleepy and I was calm, and he confused a few of the colors and asked me the names of each type of dinosaur on every page. Then came the numbers, and he recognized them all. He counted perfectly. Over and over, every time, he got it exactly right. It may sound small and insignificant in the adult world that most of us have gotten accustomed to, but for me, this was an incredibly proud moment. After the past months of practicing numbers, colors, and letters together, it has all clicked in his brain and stuck in his memory. Less than an hour later, we were hiding from the "sharks" on his play rug, and he told me he loved me. Afterwards, we read a book about sharks and rays, and he pointed at a lot of different letters telling me what they're called and who's names he knows that start with them. The amount of joy that came from all of this, how great it felt to see the results of teaching him, the trust he's found in me, are worth every tear, every scream, and every homesick moment.
Taking a step back from myself and my frustrations, I can appreciate the life I've found here. The friends I have made are good and interesting human beings, and I adore being able to relax with them. The places I have gone to are places I never want to forget.
Drinking champagne on the bus ride to Amsterdam and laughing through the hours of the ride. Seeing old windmills still standing, and architecture that inspired Walt Disney himself. Screaming at the surprises in "The Dungeon," and smiling with wax celebrities for hours. Letting my jaw drop in the face of Van Gough's original works from his various travels and periods. Singing "Rent" at the top of my lungs in the Red Light District and laughing at cartoon animal shapes in the condom shop window. Finishing a cup of fresh coffee while trying on and then purchasing perfect and pink glitter-coated high heels.
Upon my return from that weekend in Amsterdam, I enjoyed my many laughs with the family in Paris, ice-skating downtown on Friday night, and then spending the following evening at Angela's house to enjoy eating pizza, making ourselves up, going out to dance through the morning, and sleeping in until I finally felt rested enough. During Ali's last night, we drank champagne and ate sugary treats and talked for hours with a few of her close friends until the night turned into the morning and we were forced to say good-bye.
Before my parents came for Christmas, I let myself finally have an entire day doing absolutely nothing and taking my first bath in four months. When they arrived, exhausted but excited, I was ecstatic to see them again. We got to be tourists in the city and see the Arc de Triomphe and walk the Champs Elysses together. We braved the cold to wait in line for the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. We sifted through the old stone streets of the Latin Quarter and ate in a French restaurant where I learned how to eat snails. We saw the church of Saint Chapelle and climbed the stairs to the Sacre Coeur, and saw the Parthenon and Archeological Crypte. An evening was passed on a bateaux mouche night tour through the Seine River. At the Louvre, I got to see Mona Lisa herself, and was overwhelmed by the beauty that the art and architecture embodied.
In the meals we shared at the house and time passed in our rental car during our German voyage, we got to just exist together, catch up and share plans. Seeing Nina felt so amazing after all these months, and I still believe that her mother is one of the kindest people I'll ever meet. My parents got introduced to the city of Oldenburg, and I got to see it all again and reminisce the fun I had there in August. On New Year's Eve, we melted metal and threw it into a big bowl of water to form a shape that tells us our fortune for the new year. We let ourselves forget about the imperfections of reality and get caught up and light fireworks in the street. Nina and I danced the night away and the slept away half of the next day. Barbara and Johannes, her parents, cooked sausages and sauerkraut and spatzle, and it was all wonderful. Walking through a little old village with her grandmother was also wonderful. In fact, the entire experience was absolutely wonderful, (with the exception of missing our bus to get there and getting lost several times during our not-so-mini road trip.)
Saying good-bye is always difficult, and not knowing when I would see anyone again made it even harder, but we made it through the morning in Oldenburg and cried through our farewell at the airport.
Even though I have to bear the distance from the ones I love for several more months, I know it is all going to be more than okay, and very worthwhile. I know I've messed up with skipping school and making the easy choices instead of the right choices sometimes, but I have to be doing something right, because the little boy I play with every day listens to me. He can count and recognize letters and he loves me.
I am already starting to realize how much I don't want to leave this city or this family. Marie is the best host mother I could have wished for, and my job is far more rewarding than I had anticipated. When Regis tries to look out for me, and Xavier helps me make cookies and cupcakes while Guillaume eats the batter and tells me jokes, I feel like I'm a part of the family. At the end of the day, when I've done a really good job and Laurent looks at me with a smile before we say good-night, it's great. This place and these people are extraordinary, and I am completely in love with them and the life I now have in this, the city of my dreams that is Paris.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Words of Wisdom
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever acheive greatly."
~Robert Francis Kennedy
~Robert Francis Kennedy
Sunday, December 21, 2008
From Amsterdam to Paris
The past weeks have been almost TOO eventful, and I've certainly found plenty of ways to keep myself busy. The trimester is now over, my Christmas cards should be getting to America right about now, I spent a lot of time with friends and even visited Amsterdam with a few of them last weekend, and now my parents are going to arrive in a mere matter of days! Then, next week, we're going to go stay with Nina for New Year's!!
Things are going well, on the whole, and I really feel like I have a true second home here. My job, aside from long hours, is fabulous, and I've completely fallen in love with the little boy. I love having friends, too. That's really REALLY nice.
Things are going well, on the whole, and I really feel like I have a true second home here. My job, aside from long hours, is fabulous, and I've completely fallen in love with the little boy. I love having friends, too. That's really REALLY nice.
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