DISCLAIMER: This is a more personal/day-to-day experience entry. For something a little less about me, check the entry directly below!
I’ve been in Paris exactly two weeks. I’m at a much better mental place now than I was when I stumbled off the airplane with absolutely no clue what to expect.
So much has happened since I first arrived at the host family’s home. I got there early on a Saturday morning, and I felt kind of awkward for the first hour. It’s always a little strange to live with new people, anyway, let alone people who speak a foreign language.
As soon as I got to their home, the parents gave me coffee, Nutella, bread, and yogurt, and the family sat silently in the kitchen until I finished. As I’ve said before, the French don’t seem to engage in filler conversation, and I greatly appreciate that, but at first, I expected them to constantly talk to me so the situation wouldn’t seem awkward or anything. They remained quiet, and I started to appreciate that they didn’t feign interest in my day or force me into small talk.
All is well with the Arizona in Paris group. Madame has a busy schedule for us, but we’ve seen some incredible historical places. This week alone, we went to the Catacombs, Versailles, le Jardin de Luxembourg, la Domaine de Marie Antoinette, the Pantheon, and more. We’re going to Saint-Denis next week, and we’re off to Normandy one of these weekends. I’m exhausted, but learning so much. The group of students is pretty small. There are 16 of us. It feels like elementary school, to tell you the truth, mostly because there are so few students and everyone knows each other. It’s a good and a bad thing.
Seven of the AZ in Paris students headed to Amsterdam last night, my roommate included. It felt very strange to finally be alone. To be honest, the only time I’m alone is when I shower, so it was so creepy to have no one to talk to in the room.
Last night, I ate dinner with my host father and then watched the French version of Bewitched with the four kids. I understood most of the show, and the little kids kept asking if I knew what was going on.
I got up really early this morning and ate breakfast with the kids. It’s crazy how mature some of the children are, especially the older boys and older sister. Maxence takes on the parental role when his parents aren’t around. He always asks his sisters if they need anything, and he gets bread for everyone. He was even trying to be hospitable towards me, but I assured him that I could make my own breakfast. He’s probably the sweetest little boy I’ve ever met.
The toaster started smoking this morning, and I could smell the fumes. The little girls kept trying to stick their hands in the toaster, but I told them it was too hot. Maxence and I fixed the toaster before letting any of the others use it again.
Little Anais dropped her butter on the dirty floor, and then she picked it up to stick it on her bread. I literally leaped from my seat and took the butter right before she spread it onto her toast. I was like, “Nooooooo c’est mauvais!” and laughed. She’s six years old, so she doesn’t always know what’s sanitary and what’s absolutely disgusting.
After that, Anais told me to come into the living room to watch her spectacle/show. Marine was like, “Parlez doucement, alors, Laura peut comprendre.” She basically told Anais to speak really slowly so I could understand everything. She’s so sweet! I assured her that I can understand nearly every word of most conversations. That isn’t the case in the classroom environment, when the teacher is talking about history or something complicated, but I’m pretty good at understanding and responding to day-to-day dialogue.
Anyway, Anais showed me her little toys, and they were tiny policemen with guns. She had one of her toy figures get arrested and handcuffed. I was like, “Why is he a prisoner?”
“Uhh…because he’s MEAN!” she responded, and she had the policeman handcuff and repeatedly shoot the prisoner.
Anais is a six year old girl, so it’s weird to see her play with police figurines with tiny guns. She kept pretending to shoot things, fake prisoners, and even me just as a demonstration. The other day, Marine taught me the “zero zero sept”/007 game, which involves miming pistols. It’s crazy that these young kids seem to love gun-related games, and guns aren’t even legal in this country.
Everyone can tell by my accent that I’m not French. Today alone, I said “pardonne” to two people and they immediately responded to me in English. “Pardonne” is a French word. I said a one-syllable French word, and my accent was a dead give-away. This study abroad experience has been very humbling, as you can imagine!
COPYRIGHT 2009 LAURA DONOVAN
