For my French conversation class, we have to give presentations on different neighborhoods, quartiers, of the city that we have been assigned. My assigned metro stop is Cour Saint Émilion, next to an area of little shops and restaurants known as Bercy Village in the 12th arrondissement. After class, Devan and I went to walk around, so I could take some pictures and get some information for my project. We found a few shops I loved full of trinkets and odds and ends. I actually bought myself a pencil case. On one side, it reads Il se maria, meubla sa maison, acheta un bureau, un carnet et un stylo mais il s'aperçut qu'il n'avait rien à écrire. On the other side is the English translation: "He got married, furnished a house, bought a writing table and stationary, but found he had nothing to write."I love this quote. Yesterday, we found another boutique with an adorable, random inventory and a super friendly shopkeeper, called La Chaise Longue; I plan on going back, probably to get the macaron timer. Yes, ovens have built-in timers but I'll use this instead, and for everything, simply because it's a macaron. That alone justifies its purchase, in my mind.
Devan's parents are coming tomorrow and they are very generously taking me with them to Nice in the south of France this weekend, where Devan's cousin studies. We actually met some of her cousin's friends by chance in the bathroom at Sensation over the weekend. I think I also forgot to mention that when we were at the train station waiting for the metro in Brussels early Sunday morning, I ran into someone I went to high school with. I hadn't seen him in three years, but we happen to cross paths in another country. Talk about a small world.
Last night I found out that one of my best friends from high school, Jared, is coming to Paris this weekend. Devan and I have are going to be visiting him in London for Easter, so I would have seen him soon anyway but I am so excited to see him even sooner`. It works out that our train is supposed to get back from Nice just a few hours before his bus leaves for London, so I am going to be able to catch him before he heads back. I'm absolutely thrilled he'll be in Paris!
Work is piling up, which is frustrating because I just want to be able to enjoy being here and time is slipping away. I also don't even have my carte de sejour yet. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before; the consulate gave me not necessarily the wrong visa, but a different visa than most of the other students in the program. I have a sort of "supervisa" in the sense that I would be able to lengthen it past the 6 month validation period without having to return to the states and reapply, and I can also legally work here, which are great benefits but it's not like I will be able to take advantage of either of them. Also, in turn for these benefits, to legally complete my visa at all I must go for a physical exam and chest X-rays and bring in even more documents. One of our program directors likened it to someone immigrating to the United States who would have been required to have a physical examination and the proper documents, to ensure they weren't going to bring any unwanted diseases or anything into the country. After my rendez-vous medecin, I will hopefully be finally given my final portion of my visa provided I pass the physical. This takes place next Wednesday, which I simply find funny because my time here is already halfway gone.
For now, I have to go and finish my history midterm due tomorrow.
Bonne nuit!
No comments:
Post a Comment