Paris!!!

So I’ve been in Paris for over three weeks now and it’s been a blast. We’ve been doing all the sightseeing (Versailles, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc.). We’re staying at this place called the FIAP and it’s housing for international students so there’s a crazy mix of people here. The food is like cafeteria food but the make our beds every day, give us new towels every two days, and change our sheets every five days so I can’t really complain. We have classes 3 times a week for a total of 9 hours so…I’m loving it. Right now my class has about 15 people from 10 different countries (you can see why I’m falling in love with Paris). I don’t just love it because it’s Paris-I love it because there’s the craziest mix of people here and the Parisian culture is so deep and diverse that there so much to learn see and explore. I won’t lie-French people are uptight. It is true that just about everyone here smokes all the time( it’s because they need to take the edge off). But French people are also extremely proud. For instance last night on my way home I encountered a very drunk man who proceeded to tell me that he knew he was really drunk and was upset that someone had called him a racist because he loved Paris so much. I asked him why he loved it and he said “Pshh come on look around you…it’s Paris” in a very thick accent and that was it.


The trip hasn’t been perfect the weather is up and down, and things can get really expensive here but I’m still doing ok. So far my worst night was this past Tuesday. We were at a club that was free for international students so a bunch of us went out to celebrate. The music was great and it was probably the most fun I’ve had at a club since I’ve been here. I even met a very sweet/cute guy with whom I danced for at least an hour or two. We went outside to talk and on the way back in the security guards wouldn’t let us through. At first I thought they knew the guy I was with and were just messing with us because they were making very inappropriate jokes. For instance they kept saying how big is he-because I’m bigger, or est-ce que je peux baiser which depending on the context either means can I kiss you or can I f**k you(and in this scenario he meant the latter). I tried to stay calm because there were three of them and even the smallest one was at least twice my size. I calmly just slightly laughed along and kept watch for some of my friends. They were at coat check and called me over because they couldn’t find my bag which had or coat check ticket in it. I argued with the guys until they let me in so we could figure it out. Long story short we did not find my bag and the establishment was really rude and unhelpful. As I tried to explain to someone what my bag looked like again one of the guards started pushing me and telling me I had to leave at which point I snapped and almost punched him, and then burst into tears. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t deal well with feeling physically threatened and this situation was beyond ridiculous. The guards were clearly trying to cover their asses because if they weren’t so busy being rude and sexually harassing me my bag which had my id, license, camera, cash, credit card, debit card, and phone in it wouldn’t have disappeared. There are no words to describe how pissed off I was and yes I did begin to throw out a mix of expletives and threats amidst the tears. This is where I graciously thank the people I was with for keeping me from hitting one of the guards, getting me into a cab to go home, and listening to me rant about why I’m such a feminist and why I hated men…sometimes. Not to mention helping me hold it together the next day when I was still shaken up.


I feel much better now and I won’t let that ruin my trip. It’s just extremely frustrating to be continuously reminded of how messed up some people can be. But, it’s not the end of the world. I made a police report and I canceled my cards so at most they got away with my phone which they can’t really use, my camera, and about 30 euros. But that club definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and you can be sure that I’ll never go back. Otherwise Paris is so much fun and I’m a little sad that I’ll be leaving in a week. It’ll be good to get to Tours though and finally meet my host family. And I’m actually excited about taking real classes again. I promise to keep updating and until then I hope all is well wherever you are.