I'm backkkkk... again!

Okay so as I've previously said... I suck at blogging. Once again, I'm going to give it another try. 

I've been in France for over a year now and I'm still very happy here. I constantly get asked if I'm ever going back and the truth is I still have no idea. I mean, yes, I'm going back, but when? Now that's a good question. I have no idea. A lot has happened. In case you need a recap or don't know. I arrived in France last year in September. I came as an au pair. I found an amazing family who has truly welcomed me and made me feel as I'm part of their family. My contract was for September until end of June, but at some point mid-year, the family asked me if I was interested in staying another year. We talked and planned things, and we weren't sure if it would all work out, but here I am... a second year. :) I remember at some point when we weren't sure if me staying a second year would work out, we were all sitting together at the table having dinner, discussing the future when someone just says "You know Ana, I can't imagine next year without you here" and then the whole family agreed and we all had a moment where we just thought to ourselves how different things would be when I had to go back. Bref *, we all agreed that we hoped things would work out and I'd stay, and so things did. 

Things that happened last year, I did a bit of traveling, but not much. It's not easy to travel on an au pair budget, but I did manage to visit Amsterdam, Lille, Bruges (in Belgium), and the Côte d'Azur (Cassis, Cannes, Nice and Monaco). I also visited a wonderful place this past summer, I went to Corsica. It was absolutely amazing! I'll make a note and blog about that vacation at some point.

During the summer, I got a waitressing job in Paris. It was quite an experience. I just recently quit the job and now I'm an English teacher's assistant at a high school.

Summer was a bit sad and lonely because the majority of the friends I made last year were au pairs and as the school year came to an end, au pair contracts ended and everyone went back to their home country. I met sooo many people. It's incredible. I feel fortunate to have met such incredible people and be able to call them friends. We all shared and experienced things, that most people just don't get. Cool thing about me staying in Europe another year though is that now I get to go out and visit some of these European friends. For example, next week I'm going to Amsterdam to visit my friend Sarah. She became me best friend in Paris and I'm ecstatic to see her again. :D

Anyway, this is me trying again at this... until next time. :)


* Bref: The French say this quite often during conversations. It means "in short, to make a long story short".

I'm gonna try this again... :D

Okay, so I really need to start using this thing… I knew I was going to suck at this blogging thing, but I really should do this for myself, so I can look back on it all.

I’ve been here about 5 months already, and I have about 6 months left. A lot has happened in 5 months, but they’re really just little things and just experiences.

Anyway, I can’t write about everything at once because I’ll die, so I’ll start with my friends and the people I’ve met. It’s amazing how international Paris is, I find it more international than Miami. In Miami we’re mostly all Hispanics, then there are the tourists, and well then that’s it (generalizing, of course). But in Paris, it’s the tourist, but also there are the Europeans, the Latin American’s, the North American’s and the Asians who either study here, are expats, or au pairs.

There’s a little thing that I find annoying, and well I guess this is just my thing… Because I’m Hispanic people are constantly trying to introduce me to other Hispanics. Here’s the thing… I’m not one of those people who need to hang out with something that reminds me of home in order to not feel sad or lonely. Yes, I’m Hispanic and I’m proud to be it, but at the same time I don’t give a fuck. That sounds mean, but just hear me out. I’m Hispanic, but I’m also American. Most of the Hispanic’s that I met here literally come from Latin America and were raised there. But in my case, I was raised on spoiled American soil. I’ve been to Honduras and I’m very aware of things, but understand I’m also not impressed by our culture. It’s ordinary life to me.

Also, I don’t like salsa dancing, merengue, or bachata. Yes, I can dance to it. I was blessed with the ability to move my hips, whatever. It doesn’t mean that I have to do it. I don’t care! Lol I didn’t come to France to meet more Hispanics and constantly talk Spanish. I’m not impressed by Colombian’s, Venezuelan’s, Mexican’s, or Guatemalan’s… coming from Miami I’ve had a piece of it all. I’m just indifferent (apathetic) about it.  By being Hispanic, yes I can relate, but I’m not impressed and I don’t care. So stop asking me to dance Cumbia, Salsa, Merengue and ect.

Meeting American’s, I actually haven’t met a lot, but I think that’s because in my level of French class, there aren’t a lot of American’s. They’re mostly European, and I’ve hung out with them from the beginning. It’s always nice to meet someone from back home, and who understands my stupid American humor, but like I said, I don’t need to hang out with a piece of home to not be sad or lonely. I’m not sad or lonely here at all.  

Going on the American thing, I don’t miss speaking English because I talk a lot of English… I know, bad Ana. Sorry! There are two people I hang out with the most, Sarah from Holland, and Maria from Germany. With Sarah we speak English all the time, and Maria we speak French. So I get my fix of English conversation from Sarah. And get to be good girl and practice French with Maria. 

Okay, so that’s it for this entry. À tout à l’heure!