JULY 2

I have been in France for four days now and it has been nothing less than exciting. Something new is around every corner. If it has nothing to do with me being lost than it moist certainly has something to do with being ticketed by the French Police or not understanding a word of what is being spoken around me. I must say that the past 48 hours have been quite an experience to say the least. If I made it through that then I am confident I will make it through the rest of the trip just fine.

I flew from Seattle to Iceland on the first of July and arrived in Paris on the second. I was a bit anxious on the flight, but for the most part I kept myself occupied with a few movies and my French lessons on my iPOD. I watched Avatar and Bridal Wars, which if I have my opinion are not worth watching again. Once was enough for me. I guess I am not one of the millions of people that fell into the trap of Avatar. The special effects of the movie were fantastic, but the movie to me was not my favorite. I needed to have something to keep my attention besides the crying baby behind me. This baby was crying on and off for seven hours. Let me tell ya, the kid has got some pipes on him. Boy oh boy can he scream. I would tire myself out if I cried that much. By the time I arrived in Paris I had a huge headache, was extremely dehydrated and needed to get food quickly.

Getting to the hostel was not as easy as I thought it would be. Luckily I had met up with four other people at the terminal in Seattle, so I was not traveling completely by myself. I had a few others to help me when my hand held dictionary was not enough to translate. Eric, Dre, Eden, and Stephanie were the closest thing to comfort for me. We found our luggage together and then somehow maneuvered out way to the train station (RER) that would take us straight to Paris. The only problem was that we weren’t sure exactly what stop to get off at. Dr. Davis gave us instructions to get off at Cite University, but after a 45minute ride and a few wrong turns we had to turn around, get back on the train and then get off at Norte Dame. We should have learned our lesson here to not listen to Dr. Davis. LOL. He is a great person, but not so great with directions. Trust me the story gets better.

We found the hostel on our own and settled in for a few hours. Then it was time to hit the streets of Paris!!! We sat a restaurant, paid 6 euros for a glass of wine then scouted the place for a eatery. I have to be honest I felt a bit vulnerable. I had no idea how to order and no idea how to communicate with the waiter. The handy dandy notebook I had came in play for a few words, but forming a full sentence is a much harder task. As we are sitting in this restaurant looking at the menu to order, I am in my own little world stressing about how I am going to make it through this trip if I can’t talk to anyone. I wanted to be able to understand t so badly, but I knew that it was going to take a lot more than just a little note book with a few words. I was day dreaming out the window when all of a sudden I see a tan skinned man walk by that looked like Dr. Davis’s twin. I shouted out the window and sure enough the goofy man came walking back my direction. Dr. Davis was there to save the day. Out of the entire city of Paris we spotted him, luck, I don’t think so. I think God knew that if I didn’t see a familiar face soon then I would melt down. From there we went to dinner at a Greek restaurant which kicked off the night to a great start. We were offered a free glass of Rose wine for everyone and shortly into dinner I got pulled onto stage to dance. It was quite the scene. Once I was up there a few more people from my group joined in and next thing we knew we were dancing in a circle and kicking our legs into the air. What a blast it was. I think the restaurant loved us because it was packed about fifteen minutes later.

So, I knew that my friend Alexa would be in Paris while I was there but I had no idea how I would get a hold of here. Internet and an e-mail was all I could think of, but I had no way of getting online. Every store I passed and restaurant I cruised by I looked in to see if she could possibly be there. Yes Paris is gigantic, but there was a one in a million chance that I would see her. I was feeling to lonely away from home and it hadn’t even been a full 24hours. I just wanted to see a friendly face. I guess my prayers were heard. I was standing on the corner of the street people watching when I catch the eyes of a gentle face. Alexa had the biggest smile on the face and was walking my way. How she spotted me I will never know, but we saw each other and that all that matters. Alexa was traveling with her boyfriend Alex and his family. His sister is the one that spotted Dr. Davis and when Alexa heard that she kept her eyes peeled for me. A tall gangly, quirky thing like me is hard to miss though, let’s be honest. I have never felt so comforted by her embrace. I was just about to cry. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was just overwhelmed with JOY. I think all the stress of traveling in a foreign country had kind of gotten to me. I had never been in that situation before, and seeing Alexa made everything seem like it would be ok. There’s just something about seeing one of your best friends that always makes things better. It was meant to happen. How else would you explain her seeing through a sea of faces?

For the rest of the evening I hung out with her and Alex’s family at the hotel. The world cup was still on, but I did not care so much to watch it as I did just to talk with Alexa. Dark was quickly approaching and I had a long walk back to the hostel. I could have taken a cab, but there was so much to see and so much to explore, so I hit the road with my made a strong sense of direction hoping that was enough. My direction sense only lasted so long before all the streets started to look the same. The names blurred together an before I knew it I was indeed LOST. I panicked for a moment then took a deep breath and pulled out my map. I could read the street names, but finding my location on the map was a whole other story. I knew I was heading in the right direction, but was afraid to go too far south, so I went north a few blocks then just kept walking. Eventually I hit a street that looked familiar and I followed it till I saw Notre Dame. Before returning to the hostel I just took a few minutes to chill on a bridge that I could spot the Eiffel Tower from. That’s when it all hit me.

I felt like in a second my life flashed before my eyes. K-12 and all of my college years were over. All I have learned and all I have done have lead me to where I am now, and although I may not be taking classes her, it will be the experience of a lifetime and I intent to learn much while I’m here. All my feelings had changed. Earlier in the day I felt completely vulnerable. I felt powerless to the culture and lost in a foreign place. I felt scared to take my adventure to a higher level and was nervous what would happen if I tried. All of that changed after one walk by myself literally in the park. I stood on that bridge feeling confident and strong, I felt like the idea of traveling was something that I could take on without a problem. Something about being by myself on that bridge late at night was so relaxing. Anyone who knows me would think these words are crazy nonsense. “Jessica is afraid of the dark, she would never do that,” but this was different, I truly have felt like I am here to change a little, go up, and mature in to a more dominant woman than I already am.

I headed back to the hostel with no worries. The streets were lit and people were everywhere. I went to bed with excitement in the air a senses of reassured security that it was all alright. Being in another country wasn’t so bad. I only had five more weeks minus one day to go. Let’s see if I will have the same attitude the whole time.