Today was a great day. And although it was only my first 24 hours officially living in Paris, it surprisingly didn't feel like it. It felt ... sort of normal.
I woke up this morning, went to the ATM to withdraw the €500 I needed to pay this month's rent and did some grocery shopping just down the street. Then I went to meet up with a friend of mine who lives in Paris named Valentine. Val was an exchange student who stayed in Wisconsin with my friend Celine during summer 2010, and I hadn't seen her since.
I (somehow) navigated the metro system without a problem and made it to her house, where we ate lunch and caught up. After finishing our food, Val suggested that we go to her favorite area of Paris, le Marais. Located in parts of the third and fourth arrondissements, le Marais is known as a neighborhood with strong Jewish, gay and hipster (or "Bobo," as the French say) communities. It turns out it also has great thrift stores and falafel, which happen to be two of my favorite things. Cue Julie Andrews as Maria Rainer.
As many of you know, I love thrifting and antiquing, and like many hipster/bobos would say, I've been doing it way before it was cool (Sorry, Macklemore). I grew up with parents who lived for the bargain and thrill of second-hand shopping, and thought what better place to do so than ole Paris? So feeling quite close to home, I started the hunt for some new/used treasure and wound up with an adorable skirt and sweater for €20, something any shopper in Paris should be proud of.
After shopping we went to a photo gallery, a park and a café. We took the metro together to the stop at Franklin D. Roosevelt where we parted ways. Then I successfully boarded a different metro line back to the station near my apartment. A few blocks later, I was back in my room, practically glowing with pride over everything I had accomplished.
The rest of the night I decided to rest up in hopes of watching most of the Super Bowl (airing between 12:30 - 5:00 a.m. in Paris). So after Skyping my parents and boyfriend, I made myself some dinner, and had my first conversation with one of the other apartment tenants in the process.
I'm still not completely sure of her name, but I sort of know how to pronounce it, (haha). Whatever her name is, she's an Italian getting her Master's Degree in classical music, and I would guess she's about 30 years old. Almost immediately after meeting me, she ran to her bedroom and hurried back with a notebook. "Can I ask you a favor?" she asked in English with a strong accent. It turns out she had an assignment where she had to sing a song in English and she needed some help with her pronunciation. I worked with her for about 15 minutes and slightly burned my dinner in the process. But it was well worth it, I suppose.
Now, as promised, below are some photos of my humble abode abroad.
From Paris, with love – Go Ravens!!!
I woke up this morning, went to the ATM to withdraw the €500 I needed to pay this month's rent and did some grocery shopping just down the street. Then I went to meet up with a friend of mine who lives in Paris named Valentine. Val was an exchange student who stayed in Wisconsin with my friend Celine during summer 2010, and I hadn't seen her since.
I (somehow) navigated the metro system without a problem and made it to her house, where we ate lunch and caught up. After finishing our food, Val suggested that we go to her favorite area of Paris, le Marais. Located in parts of the third and fourth arrondissements, le Marais is known as a neighborhood with strong Jewish, gay and hipster (or "Bobo," as the French say) communities. It turns out it also has great thrift stores and falafel, which happen to be two of my favorite things. Cue Julie Andrews as Maria Rainer.
As many of you know, I love thrifting and antiquing, and like many hipster/bobos would say, I've been doing it way before it was cool (Sorry, Macklemore). I grew up with parents who lived for the bargain and thrill of second-hand shopping, and thought what better place to do so than ole Paris? So feeling quite close to home, I started the hunt for some new/used treasure and wound up with an adorable skirt and sweater for €20, something any shopper in Paris should be proud of.
After shopping we went to a photo gallery, a park and a café. We took the metro together to the stop at Franklin D. Roosevelt where we parted ways. Then I successfully boarded a different metro line back to the station near my apartment. A few blocks later, I was back in my room, practically glowing with pride over everything I had accomplished.
The rest of the night I decided to rest up in hopes of watching most of the Super Bowl (airing between 12:30 - 5:00 a.m. in Paris). So after Skyping my parents and boyfriend, I made myself some dinner, and had my first conversation with one of the other apartment tenants in the process.
I'm still not completely sure of her name, but I sort of know how to pronounce it, (haha). Whatever her name is, she's an Italian getting her Master's Degree in classical music, and I would guess she's about 30 years old. Almost immediately after meeting me, she ran to her bedroom and hurried back with a notebook. "Can I ask you a favor?" she asked in English with a strong accent. It turns out she had an assignment where she had to sing a song in English and she needed some help with her pronunciation. I worked with her for about 15 minutes and slightly burned my dinner in the process. But it was well worth it, I suppose.
Now, as promised, below are some photos of my humble abode abroad.
From Paris, with love – Go Ravens!!!