Time Traveling

Phew! I made it to Paris! After circling the Philly airport twice because we couldn’t find parking, I went inside, fearless but overwhelmed, situated myself with a sandwich from Earl of Sandwich, and waited, and waited, for my plane. One thing I must say is that I like their bathrooms. They have plenty of room for your bags and privacy. And I also saw a guy wearing a Pizza John shirt outside and someone else with a Doctor Who shirt on my flight :) We were supposed to take off at 9pm, but we didn’t until about 10:30 or maybe even 11. They needed to replace a part when it arrived in Philly, and then they overbooked the flight and needed 3 people to take the next flight to Paris. The best part about waiting though was guessing who was a tourist and who was French. A lot of my guesswork came from the shoes people were wearing. If the men had stylish shoes, like nice moccasins or hush puppies, and slick coiffed hair, I guessed they were French. If the women weren't wearing sneakers, and maybe wearing a dress or skirt, I also assumed they were French. Once we landed on the other side and heard what language everyone was speaking, I was mostly right ;) but I don’t want to start this adventure with assumptions.

On the plane, I sat next to a very lovely couple. They were in their early 60’s, and they were big on traveling. Not jetsetters, by their definition, but close enough. The wife, Jean, was telling me all sorts of stories from her trips across Europe. Her husband, Joe, was chiming in now and then and adding some humor. It felt like I was traveling with an aunt and uncle. We were talking and they were the typical retired couple, but their marriage was still fresh. I had to stop and laugh to myself when Joe was chewing gum before we took off and he said to his wife, “Ow! I bit my tongue! Have you ever done that?” Who asks someone they’ve known for 20 years if they’ve bitten their tongue before? It caught me off guard. They bickered over little things, but nothing serious. It was always light hearted. Something to strive for in any relationship.

I tried to sleep. I really did, but it wasn’t really possible with the cramped cabin and full flight of people talking and eating and whatnot. It was about a 7 hour flight, and I was sitting for about 6 hrs and 45 mins. In any case, I was able to begin reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, as suggested by a good friend, and I was that girl who had her light on over her seat when everyone else was sleeping so I could read it. It was the perfect solution to distract me from an uncomfortable seat, and a great little introduction into the city of Paris :) Shout out to the ladies who kept pressing me to read this book.

Once we landed, I had to turn on my confidence and knowledge of the French language and put all of my pretend conversations I’ve been having over the summer into action. I paid for a phone card, called my host family (they ended up speaking in english, so that was sort of good!) and found my shuttle. We drove through the outside of the city, and wow, google maps just came to life. I know that’s strange to say, but it’s now all real! I passed dozens of fresh produce stands, cafes, and people looking at maps! Very bizarre and beautiful. The husband and his son greeted me at the bottom of the building, and we climbed five flights of winding stairs with heavy suitcases to come to a quaint little apartment. I have the coolest room, with a sliding Japanese-esque door, a HUGE fish tank, a bed on the floor that can prop up into a chair, dozens of shelves for my clothes, and a large window with a basket of plants outside and bamboo blinds. It’s very tiny, smaller than my brother Mike’s room, but I like it.

My family is very nice and welcoming and fed me some random things when I came in--probably because they didn’t know what I liked and how hungry I was, and probably because I wasn’t responding to their questions correctly, but I ate a watermelon and mozzarella salad, with bread (a real baguette! It wasn’t fresh, but still...) then a slice of ham, a warm glass of sparkling water, some corn on the cob that was a bit burnt--and I didn’t know if I was supposed to eat it with my hands or cut it off, so that was interesting, a yogurt (yep, they just kept feeding me ;) and a cup of green tea. I was very grateful for it though! I don’t know when they eat dinner, but they invited me to stay :)

I’m trying my best to stay awake until at least after dinner when I can shower. I unpacked everything, and now I don’t really know what to do. I’m too tired to go out and explore, and my phone doesn’t work quite yet. I think I’ve had enough for one day anyway. When my phone works, I’ll send pictures!

It’s now a little after six, which is hard to believe from the disorienting plane ride, and I’m in Paris. What’s a girl to do?

Thank you for your continuous prayers. Praying for everyone who graduated yesterday and for everyone else who’s going on an adventure this summer.

“Fear is useless, what is needed is trust.”

Love,

Anna