J'suis Ouf!

I wasn’t going to write a blog tonight, but I thought that I’d go ahead and say something small since the last post was a bit loaded with upcoming events and because I never explained what happened with Rachel!

We’ll start with Rachel. After having called the French Embassy in the United States, she received another email from Madame MEAN. The email was very political and the mean lady attempted to reword the mean things that she had said. This time instead of insisting that Rachel accept the mean lady’s conditions she just encouraged Rachel to consider the difficulties she might face should she chose to live two hours away. In other words the nice lady at the Embassy contacted someone who gave the mean lady in St. Etienne a spanking! PRAISE JESUS!

As far as meeting with the random guy to see if he would be a good roommate, nothing happened. He couldn’t meet for some reason, so instead of rescheduling, he just ran away. Oh well! At least it wasn’t me having to run away this time!

As far as having dinner with Lauriane and her friend, IT WAS AWESOME! We started with a drink at a café near Montparnasse and then ate dinner at the greatest Crêperie in the world! No lies, this place rocked! It was Laruiane’s suggestion, so I am now and forever open to her advice on restaurants in France! She’s also the one that recommended the ice-cream shop in Lyon that has the greatest Ice-cream in the world! Needless to say, I plan on being friends with her!

Now for the story that made me write this post tonight. As I’m having dinner with Lauriane and her friend Charolotte, I am asked to share with them some of the stereotypes that Americans have concerning French people. I just shouldn’t have! Next time someone asks me this question, I plea the 5th! I of course had to mention that Americans don’t think that French women shave their armpits. This probably wasn’t the nicest thing to tell two French girls, but they weren’t offended and in all actuality, I just wanted to make sure that the stereotype is not true. They laughed and explained that Germany is where the women don’t shave and that all French women DO INDEED shave their armpits! PLEASE UNDERSTAND! FRENCH WOMEN SHAVE THEIR ARMPITS! IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED SO STOP ASKING ME THIS QUESTION! It wasn’t this stereotype that got me in trouble, but the next one that I felt the urge to mention. I told them that Americans think that French people stink. Now, it wasn’t the stereotype itself that killed me, but the explanation that I shared shortly thereafter. I told them, and I quote, “Oh it’s probably because Americans take showers once or even twice a day whereas the French usually only take showers every third day.” PLEASE TRY TO ENVISION THIS IN YOUR HEAD! These girls had eyes the size of half dollars! They could not believe, not only what I was saying, but that I actually thought it was true. After letting the shock pass, they began to laugh uncontrollably while simultaneously explaining to me that French people bathe every day. The idea of bathing once in three days was appalling to these two very clean ladies sitting in front of me. Charlotte even cared to mention that she bathes at night and Lauriane in the morning. I then apologized deeply and told them that it was something that I had learned in highschool. I’m sorry Mme. Frederiksen if you are reading this; I did tell them that I learned this in your class. I must have seriously misunderstood what you were telling us on that day! Oh là là!

Things are still going very well! I’m meeting Magali today to get things settled with the bank and then I’m off to get a cell phone! YAY! Laisser les bons temps rouler!

Je Regarde TV3!

Well howdy!

I’m sorry for not having updated you sooner, but let me just say; although some cool things have occurred, not a lot has been going on every day!

I got back from Lyon on Saturday and had dinner with Magali! It was super! We chatted and laughed and enjoyed a nice evening. She is the one who is helping be get situated with all the necessary things (like a bank account). As I was talking with her about opening an account, she mentioned going back to the bank at which I had my last account in Caen and seeing if they still have my information. I’m SO stupid! Why didn’t I think of that? I went there today, and just as I thought, my account was still open! I just need to change the agency from Caen to Paris by having Magali fill out a few papers saying that I live with her for the moment. Oh là là!

On Sunday I went to a Pentecostal church. It was nice, but I’m not quite sure that I’m quite ready for the speaking in tongues. It’s ok if others wish to do it, but I don’t quite feel at home. I’m therefore still on the lookout for a church. Sunday night I went to see the apartment! It was super! Although it is small, it feels very open and inviting. The building is wonderful and everything in the apartment was updated. There is a kitchenette, a very nice bathroom with a bath/shower combo, and two rooms (one of which serves as a living room/bedroom. It may be the wrong place to live with a roommate if private space is absolutely necessary, but for someone who has lived on a college campus for the past four years, I think having a roommate would be great! I placed an announcement on http://www.apparager.com/ (the site at which I found my current apartment) and have already received over 80 responses! That’s how high the demand is in this neighborhood! I’m not kidding when I say that it is one of the most perfect places to live in Paris! The buildings are historic and the view from the apartment looks out over the street below and the trains in the distance. The minute I opened the curtains and saw the trains, I told the owner that my dad would be in heaven if he saw this! Click on the photo to see a plan of the apartment. Salle de Séjour means living room and Chambre à Coucher means bed room. Salle de Bain is the bathroom.

Last night, I met up with Abel to have a drink! It was SUPER! I told him about the apartment and told him that I would love to have him as a roommate, but he won’t be looking for a place to live until December. Too bad! He paid for my drink and we shared a very nice conversation. I will be meeting up with him again very soon.

Tonight I met up with Collin and Candice Bullard, two people from Baylor who are now living in Cambridge, England. They brought a friend with them and we had a night on the town. We went to a very nice crêpe restaurant near Montparnasse and had some of the best food I’ve had so far. I showed them around and we laughed about several things. I will find there blog and you can see a video that we made in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was HYPER COOL to see some familiar American faces in Paris!

Tomorrow I am meeting up with a guy interested in the apartment. I’m a bit weirded out by the idea of randomly meeting someone that I met on a website to see if they would be a good roommate, but hey, it’s better than Baylor just assigning me a random person! At least if I don’t like him, I can always ask to be excused from our meeting and run away screaming! Please take a moment to picture that!

On Thursday I will be having dinner with Lauriane (the girl with whom Rachel and I had dinner at her house) and a friend. We’re going to have crêpes too! I’m excited! Lauriane also mentioned the fact that maybe her friend would be interested in the apartment. Who knows! All I can say is that there are some potential stories in the near future! Stay tuned!