There's really no place like Home

After over 10 non-stop months (10 months and 6 days if you want to be exact) in France, I am finally back home in the States. But first, let me bring you all up to speed on my previous issue.

So I more or less got my issue with that horrible landlord fixed. After filling out a main courante, my teacher was kind enough to go with me when I went to try and reclaim my deposit check. I hadn’t mentioned to Laurène (the ex-landlord) that I was bringing anyone with me, so as soon as she saw my teacher, (after being late to meet me) her expression instantly changed and she immediately just said that she would go and retrieve my check. Not gonna lie, it wasn’t exactly what I was envisioned. After the way that she had treated Alejandro and I, I had begun to imagine her seeing my bringing an actual French adult as a challenge, which would then have resulted in an exchange of verbal assaults. That didn’t happen, but it had at least been comforting to know that my teacher—as funny and good-natured as she was towards us students-seemed like the kind of typical French citizen that when provoked, was ready to defend herself in a heated argument.

Nope, she just went in, came back with the check and then I gave her the 60 euros she had requested for ‘damages’. I could understand replacing the stained hand towels (I’m gonna take a moment here to be selfish and say that that, was not my doing) but a few hand towels at Monoprix don’t cost 60 euros. She claimed damage to one of the chairs and her wooden mirror, but what she showed me was so minimal it was ludicrous. I was tempted not to give her the 60, but it was what was put in the main courante at the police station for exchange of the check, and my teacher was there, so didn’t want to be seen as that (read: like Laurene) kind of person. So I gave her the 60, but I got my check back, and that’s what counts. I was so relieved, I briefly remember wondering if my knees were going to give out under me.

Afterwards, I profusely thanked my teacher for going out of her way to come with me; I really couldn’t have imagined a teacher being so helpful in that way.

So there’s that, which was last Friday. The days following were mainly filled with packing, cooking/baking for Théo and Guillaume, while coming to the realization that with all the hassle from moving out of Laurène’s apartment, I was ready to leave Paris. The city itself if great, but I was tired of the glacial attitude of the Parisians, and the crummy, rainy weather. Tired of the smell, both on and under the streets in the metro, tired of how expensive transportation and food was, and how long it had suddenly seemed to get anywhere. And not only that, but as I'd been staying at Théo's since leaving that cursed apartment, I'd begun to feel like a burden, especially since Theo was Guillaume were in the middle of their difficult final exams. Unfortunately, our combined stress-his over his studies and mine over my landlord problems-was putting a strain on our relationship. Though when it came down to it, I think a big part of it was that I was so close to leaving.

And then came my final full day in Paris. I got up early, went on a run (something I'd managed to get back into and continued even after moving to Théo's), came back and showered, ate something light, then hit the city one last time with Theo. Stopped by briefly at ISA to say my good-byes, and then basically just wandered around Saint Michel and Île de la Cité. The sun had come out for a bit, and we'd decided to grab a bottle and sit along the Seine, but as we came out of the Monoprix just of Boulevard Saint Germain, the return of a cloudy sky threatened rain, and we switched to just heading back. I made a great asian chicken dinner and prepared both banana/berry and chocolate chip/Bailey's muffins, all of which we enjoyed with a bottle of our favorite hard cider and with The Godfather movie. (Now I can say I've finally seen it!)

Well, up to the end of the movie, we were ok; had succeeded in not dwelling on my impending departure the next morning. But as soon as I got up to clear the dishes, the air quickly became weighed down with a palpable depression. It was rough, but we knew it had been coming. In the end though, we tried and succeeded to reflect instead on the good times we'd had together over the past 10 months. Sleep that night was peaceful.

Morning came at 5:45. Got up, showered, had a quick coffee and we were out the door with my luggage. Took the RER B up to the airport, and before I knew it, it was time to leave. I remember thinking how for the past 2 weeks I'd wanted nothing more than to just go home, to my safe (if crazy) and secure (if not stable) home. And then suddenly, if not terribly surprising, I was having ridiculous half thoughts about just forgoing the plane and staying. But then Théo, bless his heart, began to list off all the great things that were waiting for me at home (a list I'd actually like to post next) and that cheered me up considerably. At least, through my tear-stained face, I was able to give a semblance of a smile and a small wave as I got on the escalator that took me away from him.

Went through security (where they took the rilettes I'd bought as gifts the day before, grrrr) and then boarded the plane a mere 10 minutes later. Was in Frankfurt about an hour or after that.

The trip as a whole was pretty uneventful, though I have to point out that my layover in Frankfurt was rather unpleasant. When I turned to the corner heading to my terminal, my nose was instantly assaulted with a foul sewer smell. Gross. And then they made me pay for my extra suitcase, which I'm not gonna lie, I'd expected to pay in Paris and was then happy when I hadn't. So it wasn't exactly the whole paying part that bothered me so much as the fact that the lady I got was wholly incompetent and had to charge my card twice because she hadn't charged me enough the first time. I got one of the aisle seats in the middle, so sleep came in sparse and never satisfying 15 minute intervals. Plus it never got dark outside, which didn't help.

Arrived in Seattle, but customs took a good 45 minutes. But getting to see Papa after that brought me right back to my childhood, and I had to force myself not to cry. (I think he did too..) Was able to retrieve my luggage fairly quickly and were out of there.
True to his word, and even though I was still pretty tired, I got my promised welcome home dinner of Sam's Sushi. Fish has never tasted so fresh to me in my life.

After that, went back to Papa's where I stayed the night. Decided that I would see Mom and Jen (and Luna, of course!) the next day.
Well, that was my arrival..still more to catch up from these last couple days, but I'll get to that soon.

It's good to be home, Seattle.

More love than ever,

Rachael

En ce moment, tu ne me plaît pas, Paris

I know I haven't been very faithful to my blog of late, but things have been so stressful lately...still, I reminded myself that it's important to blog about the unpleasant things as well. I'll try to bring you up to speed as concisely as possible, here goes:

 Moved out of the apartment I was in for 3 months last week, and in the middle of my finals week. Alejandro left for the States yesterday, and the landlord was and still is giving us (and now just me) HELL. Harassed us, verbally abused us (this one..seriously, I have never in my life been spoken to like she did) and is still withholding my deposit check for so-called 'damages'. Tricked us into paying for the stupid plumbing bill that I'm beginning to suspect was a whole set-up in the first place. Jesus, with the non-stop anxiety and what I'm sure has been a constant accelerated heartrate, I was starting to consider going to the doctor to get a prescription for a mild sedative...Then I happened to explain to my teacher today why exactly I was late to class this morning (appointment at the bank and then trip to ISA for advice trying to deal with this nightmare) and ended up getting help from her and a guy in my class who I'd totally forgotten was a lawyer (legally only in Egypt, but is half French so knows a bit about the system here). Was accompanied by her (Most helpful teacher alert!) to the nearby police station to put in what they call une main courante which can best be described as a pre-complaint. Sort of like a head's up, I'm kinda having problems and if they get worse, you can see that I had a hunch. Whether or not telling this witch that I went and this that will scare her enough to stop giving me all this made up crap and finally give me my check back, I'm not really sure. But for the time being, the benefit of the doubt has taken a bit of the edge off of the marathon my heart's been running. I might as well enjoy it because who knows what tomorrow will bring..
I miss not having to worry about being so screwed over back home.

In other news, I was accepted into the Paris School of Business for this following year. Ironically, I received my acceptance e-mai; just before the shit hit the fan, so it's had quite the damper put on it. I'll go more into detail and the rest when this nightmare is over...hopefully soon.


Much love,
Rachael

They were just so perfectly, adoringly, French

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it until now. There are many, many reasons why I love it here in Paris (though also a few reasons why I don't, but I'll get to that another time) but sometimes there are moments that just come into focus and strike you, making you scramble to write down the memory in your little pocket book so that you don't forget to blog about it later.

I was at Kevin's school one afternoon like usual, waiting to pick him up. As 6 o'clock rolled around, children start to pour out of the doors, and I saw one particular little blonde girl in rainboots, catch sight of her father. She made a bee-line towards him and threw herself around his knees. While not very different from what the other children were doing, I was kind of captivated by the mundane cuteness of the entire scene as the father, in his long-ish overcoat and perfect/casual/sophisticated scarf, stuck the baguette he'd been holding under his arm, and took his daughter by the hand after she had made a big ceremony of jumping into a puddle on the curb with her rainboots. As they turned around and strolled on down the street hand in hand--the father looking down with the baguette still under his arm, the daughter looking up happily-- I mentally kicked myself for not having brought my black and white Pentax with me to Paris. Because what a shot that would have made.

A little reptilian, but hey, they survived the end of the world

Life. Just when you think you finally have a plan, that you've managed to finally grab a hold of the reins--however risky the decision was--something totally out of your control falls out of the sky. Hits you like a brick wall, like a slap in the face, a punch to the gut, all of the above? You're angry, disappointed, scared. And there's nothing you can do, little anyone else can, and so you simply just try not to dwell and dread on the future for every waking moment of your day. And yet, an intrinsic stubborness, something that rises up out of the evolutionary survival-driven abyss pushes you forward, keeps you from spiraling into misery. The unused gears in this repressed mentality begin to whir, their determination providing a new sharpness, a new focus. You draw up a new primal conclusion: you are done letting people get in your way, of bringing you down, of threatening your deepest dreams that you've worked so hard to begin. No more bending over backwards; enough is enough. It's time to shed the soft skin and grow some scales, even if it means disapointing some people yourself.
And so you plot.

A sigh of relief

Miracle of miracles! Got my deposit back on Tuesday night, after weeks of believing I might never actually see it again. I had to pester my old landlord again and again just to come to Paris, but she finally did--though she only let me know the day after she arrived and had already gone into the apartment and showed it to a bunch of other people. (The poor souls, they have no idea what they have in store for them...) It was my long day, and then I had babysitting afterwards, but as soon as I got the text that I could come by later that night, my heart rate keep up a galloping pace for the rest of the day. I ended up getting off from babysitting a bit later than usual, so I was rushing a bit, but I brought Alejandro with me in case she turned out to be crazier than I thought she was and pulled a knife on me or something. (Ah, the things paranoia with conjure...) That, and she also wanted me to pick up the carpet I'd 'forgotten' (read: purposely left behind in the hopes she would get rid of it for me) and some sheets, which aren't mine or Alejandro's...maybe ISA's?

So I got there kind of in a rush, but had Alejandro stay out of sight on the stairs so as to not make her more paranoid than she already was.

Pretending to be nice to her...was weird. In my mind, I'd composed again and again my 'goodbye and good riddance, paranoid bitch' speech, but had kind of been half ignoring the fact that I wasn't going to do that until I had my check safely in hand.

Well, the first few minutes were just her giving me my stuff, and basically going over things that I could have done better before leaving.

Finally, as I picked up the carpet, I couldn't take the whole dancing around the bush thing any longer and just asked her if I was going to get my deposit back. The pause as she looked unsure was probably one of the slowest of my life. But finally, she slowly--ever so slowly--said yes. Now I can assure you I didn't collapse into a puddle like I wanted to, but I can't say that the relief wasn't plain on my face as I remember letting out a relief-laden 'thank you'. Not that she deserved it, but hey, fake niceties, remember? And it's not like I had the check in hand yet, either.

Speaking of which. As we're about to exchange the keys for the check and she's extending the check towards me, she recoiled and said 'Maybe you should hand over the keys first.' Ha! The witch. I'm pretty sure I let out a half exaspererated laugh, but remember thinking, hey, I can always call the police if she decides to get coy about handing over her share. That, or as I outmatch her in height and strength, I could've just knocked her lights out and taken my check...kidding!

I handed her the keys, and the next seconds? The second longest in my life. But then the next thing I knew she was extending out her hand again and this time I was taking it.

And then, after a few more half-assed pleasantries, I was out of there with my carpet and junk and down the stairs with Alejandro, heading towards the nearest BNP to immediately deposit the check.

Now here's the funny part: so on the way, Alejandro told me a little story about how he'd once received a fake check. (Thanks for the extra paranoia Alejandro..)

Well we get to the first BNP a few blocks away and it's closed. Annoyance. I decide to play it safe, as it was getting late, and so instead of trying to guess at which one may have one as well, we just headed to one I know for sure was still open, about 15 minutes away. We get there, it's still open, and I proceed to deposit my check.

And it doesn't take it.

It didn't take it!

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.....the first time.

In the few seconds it took me to decide to try putting the check in another way, I was already planning my frantic return to the apartment, hoping Alice hadn't already skipped town, or something like that.

But then it took it, and it was in.

I'd almost had a heart attack, but in retrospect, I think my reaction was kinda funny. Alejandro certainly thought so..

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Anyways, I now have money again! And while it's tempting to go splurge, I've since only since used what I got back on paying my phone bill, and food. As soon as I saw the check go in, I decided to treat ourselves to a little celebratory sushi dinner next to our apartment, so that was nice. I think it's better if I save my money for now and at least wait until I get my last financial aid fisbursement at the end of this month.

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Hup! Well I'm glad I got that taken care of before my first French test of the semester on Thursday. Think I did, ok, but we'll see on Monday..

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Cheers!

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Rachael

Happy Thursday

Been in the new apartment for just over a week now, and everytime I climb the flights of stairs to the top, I'm surprised yet again by how quick and not out of breath I am. I suppose going from a 5-story to a 3-story building will do that to you.

Anyways, it's nice not to basically see this anymore when I look up:

Also, been having this stomach thing lately..not sure what it is, and though it's not major I imagine, it's annoying and want it to go awayyyy.

Oh well, at least it's my weekend now (aside from babysitting tomorrow) though I should/kinda hope I'll be spending most of it studying and doing the large amounts of homework I suddenly accumulated.

Happy Thursday,

Rachael

To have a roommate again

Hey guys,

It's been a little while, but it was time to update a bit.
So I'm now all moved into the new apartment with my new roommate, Alejandro. To be honest, it was a very stressful week, and not just because of moving stuff, but it's done and these last few days have been much better, if not perfect.
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But a little about the moving part: So I had to have all my stuff out by midnight on the 29th (as per the request of my crazy/paranoid/rude/bizarre landlord. And being the poor students that we are, we just put what we could in our suitcases and bags and lugged those from one apartment to the other..making about 5 trips. We no doubtedly looked ridiculous all laden down like we were on the metro, but whatevs, it was much cheaper than renting a moving truck or whatnot.
Unlike my last apartment, which is kept solely for the purpose of being rented out, this new one is normally lived in by our landlord. She's renting it out to us for the next three months while she's on a trip through southeast Asia. There's pros and cons to this:
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Pros:
-She has just about all the home supplies we could want
-More home-y feel
-Because it's actually lived, it's been updated over the years (fairly new floors, tile, walls)
-Her CD collection, half of which I'm going to rip onto my computer
-Recipe book collection, some of which are exotique
-Wifi
-Has a semi-big tv
-Washer
-The shower has a shower head holder!
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Cons:
-Even with all the home supplies, she doesn't have a coffee maker or spaghetti strainer (apparently not a coffee drinker, which is verrry rare in Paris)
-The more home-y feel is due in part to all of her stuff that she left behind, which hasn't left a lot of room for ours..
-The apartment gets steamy really easily for some reason, even when the heater is off
-No couch, and
-She has a pretty large table for the living room, but as we're only two and that's also where Alejandro sleeps, it's kind of annoying
-Wifi sucks half the time (shares with a neighbor and the modem isn't in her place)
-The tv has no cable and only a VHS player=useless/takes up more room
-I'd almost prefer a dryer (=jeans that don't sag easily)
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I'm going to be perfectly honest now about the whole having a roommate again: I definitely miss my alone time. I suppose I've always been more of a independent person who can deal with solidarity well and enjoyed cleaness, plus doing what I want, when I wanted it. Alejandro is no longer in school here and is instead looking for an intership or job, which means that so far, I have yet to be in the apartment all by myself because he's always here.
But having a roommate again is kinda nice, too. I hadn't realized that I'd begun to really miss daily interaction with a fellow American--not to mention fellow Washingtonian, as Alejandro is from Spokane-- (something I hadn't had as often last semester). And we have similar interests, big one being Hispanic food (he's also Cuban, which isn't Mexican, but close enough). He may not be as neat or cook and clean as well as I can, but I think I just need to keep being insistent/persistent. (He's already gotten better on a few things.) As for the alone time, he told me just earlier that he has a job interview lined up, so hopefully that will give him something to do. Also, it's just been nice having someone to sit down and have dinner with every night.
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Now, just gotta hope my old landlord gives me my deposit back and/or doesn't take money out from it. She'd orginally said she come back at the end of February, but I guess she couldn't be bothered, so now it's either the 11th or 15th of March. Only about another week or so to go..


Wish me luck!


Rachael