My First 6 Weeks in France

Dear Diery,

I woke up this morning and walked to the grocery store because I have no food save for a packet of spicy chorizo deli meat, which I inhaled on an empty stomach for breakfast. The street smelled like doggie dookie, and after a while I checked my shoes and smelled my pits for fear that it was in fact ME that smelled like dookie. It was not! But I'm learning it's not an uncommon smell here.

Six weeks in France later, a lot has happened, so I may as well fill you in. My ma and I came for a noble wedding in early July, landing in Paris and staying a night for my birthday. I had a lovely dinner with my ma and my dear friends Ava and Martin, who both live in Paris. The area we stayed in, in the 11th, was hip and artsy and a little dirty; I loved it. After only two days there, I decided to come back after I'd traveled a bit to settle in and find a job in that area.

Me n Martin n Ava

Picasso wall

Dinner!

We took the train to Vannes, and then rented a little car and drove to the charming village of Sarzeau, where the wedding would take place two days later. Lots of walking, eating, giggling, walking, walking, talking, walking. The wedding was a super new experience for me. Mega Catholic nobility wedding, with a 2-hour mass before the reception. The church was beautiful, the people getting married (son of my mom's colleague) were beautiful, and it was during a heatwave (a little north of perfect weather). The bride being Lebanese, songs were sung in French and also in Arabic. Ma and I were tuckered out after the ceremony, so we went back and took a nap before the reception, which was along the waterfront of the family's castle. Something I learned, which is important to note, is that nobility does not mean much financially anymore. They all have normal jobs and make a normal living. The family castle is co-owned by 250 people, who all pitch in to make numerous repairs to the building, which dates back to the 1550s. It's a ton of upkeep, and in the end people seldom stay in the castle itself which maintains its oldness through poor plumbing, really old furniture, etc.

We were all dolled up and I drank a lot of nice champagne and tried not to roll my ankles (first time wearing heels since high school prom). I chatted with my mom's colleagues and did my best not to offend anyone by using the informal tense, which is very poorly looked upon by French nobles. For dinner I was sat with all the groom's cousins, who were roughly my age, and had a nice time with all of them! The food was great, the wine was great, the cheese was great. It's super interesting to compare the wedding to the one in Nepal; there was virtually nothing in common except that the guests had a great time and that both are steeped in their own traditions. I think the French grannies woulda passed out if sat on the floor and handed a paper plate of boiled yak intestine and blood served with spicy potatoes. I think the Nepali grannies woulda been shocked by the French wedding too. I dunno. Anyway, lots of dancing ensued and we left not too late, with jet lag catching up to us and the exhaustion of the day settling in. Thank you to Thibault for the invitation, and to the whole family for the wonderful hospitality! The Wedding Video

Le Chateau

the mass

Ma and her colleagues

Getaway car

A foot bridge

priddy flowers

After Sarzeau, we drove up to the north of France and stayed for a few days in a lovely tiny town called Paimpol, near St. Brieuc (Bree-eu). It was both of our first times exploring Bretagne and we both adored it. I realized there's a lot in common between places with foggy climates, as it reminded me a lot of Ireland. Community is really important, as are laughs and drinking. We were in an AirBnB at walking distance from a little beach with few people, and we spent our days walking along the coast, swimming (briefly, water = cold), and exploring the villages and little markets. It was great to spend some quality time with my ma, especially given that my time at home flew by so quickly. The time came to say goodbye to Paimpol, and we drove back to Paris.

Vannes

Vino

Church

Beach

Tic Tac Wall

My mother headed home, and I then stayed for a weekend with my friend Martin in Marne La Vallee, near Paris, during which time we had a lot of deep conversations over coffee, went to a wedding-adjacent ceremony, he cooked me food from La Reunion (where his mother is from), visited his engineering school, and we spontaneously drove to Fontainebleau for an afternoon. Thank you Martin for the wonderful hospitality!

Can't get in to the castle no no no

Good food!

The castle in question

I took a bus from Paris to Toulouse to see my grandparents for the next week, and had the chance to see my cousins, one of which I'd never really met! Was great to reconnect with family, be in the south again, and eat my grandmother's cooking. Lots of vegetables and garlic and it felt like my whole body healed. We spent time by the pool, went to some shops, went to a Salsa (dance not tomato) festival! and talked a lot.

Hallelujah

Me and Manou

Tempo Latino

Papou

Tempo Latino pt 2

From Toulouse I took yet another bus, this time to Avignon, where Flouki's (friend from Mongolia) family picked me up for a week of vacation with them in a region called Le Vaucluse. We visited many villages, went kayaking in a lovely river, hiked, climbed, laughed, and sang some songs together. What a lovely, lovely week. Her whole family is so kind, welcoming, and goofy, and I immediately felt at ease. All together we drove back to Paris, where I stayed with them for yet another week.

Nap time

Pont de la Gare, over 1000 years old

Flore's dad's '58 bug

solar carports galore!

ithe cream

view

view

no artichokes here

lil door

stuck

Avignon

River

I started applying to jobs and was immediately hired at a climbing gym in the area I'd looked at before! I was so excited. Then I started going through the paperwork they needed and realized I can't get my social security number, at least not for a couple months. I was shattered because I was so excited to start the job. Flore's mom helped me immensely with all the paperwork and incessant phone calls to the social security office, but I realized it's going to take time and the French bureaucratic system is a nightmare. How strange that, as a French citizen, it would still be illegal for me to start a job right now. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I'm still stuck in the waiting game two weeks later.

In the meantime I've been very focused on housing. It's a nightmare in Paris, supposedly. After lots of searching, I landed on a kind man who left me his apartment in the 15th for the month of August, given he is visiting his family in Japan, and asked me to just water his Bonsai and pay the utilities at the end of the month. Wowza! He works at UNESCO as an architect, currently helping rebuild monuments and buildings in Ukraine. Wowza! Honestly, it motivated me and I decided to apply to master's programs for next fall. Something in sustainable engineering.

However, I'm sleeping on his couch in the living room, which is fine, but when he gets back I have a feeling we may both be starved for our independence, so I kept looking a bit. After posting in countless Facebook groups and housing pages, I found a woman that is happy to split her rent with me in a small apartment on the east side of Paris. She uses her apartment mostly as a home base in Paris, and most of her time is travelling for work or staying with her girlfriend, so I'd be mostly alone for 400 Euro/month, which is a steal for Paris. Still on a couch, but the area (Montreuil) is much closer to where I want to be, only a ~30 minute train into the city. That seems like a lot for some, but here it's on the average side. Anyway.

tourist day

microwave in the woods, yes it worked

new train

old train

cookin

eatin chicken

new fav cafe

more cookin

Where am I at now? Still waiting on social security. I've called every few days for the last two weeks, and every time get different answers to the same questions, so I'm gonna continue calling. A French friend from Nepal has invited me to assist in the grape harvest with him starting early September, and I think I'll do that so long as I don't need my social security. I'm waiting to hear back. If I still don't have it when I get back from that, I'll find a job to pay me cash until I do. Restaurants/bars. If I can't find a place, I'll have to leave France, which feels so ridiculous to me. I feel very alienated by a country I should be able to call home. It's given me more appreciation for how much immigrants must struggle to call a new place home, especially when they don't speak the language and aren't familiar with the culture or don't know anyone there. On that note, if anyone needs a good watch I recommend Mo on Netflix, which details the life of Palestinian comedian/director Mohammed Amer. It gives an idea of what struggles immigrants face on the road to being in a country legally, despite how long they may have lived and worked there, while also highlighting the beauty and depth of Palestinian culture.

Other things I've done: Flouki took me to my first music festival, it was a great small thang in the woods south of Paris and featured lots of vinyl artists playing house, some dub, and some hip-hop. Cool people too. I've walked a ton to explore Paris, and alternated that with days where I sit on the couch and do literally nothing all day and digest lots of feelings and emotions. I feel super lucky to be surrounded by a community that's taken me in with open arms, and hope I can stay here. The last month has been a super non-challenging environment, contrasting the last year, and it feels necessary right now in order to process all the challenges I did go through. Also, I've noticed my French personality is a lot less outgoing than my American personality, and I'm working on ways to adapt to that because it's been really off-putting. Anyhow. I look forward to this next part of the adventure, however uncertain it may be. Cheers.