I first need to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read our Blog! While I am selfishly doing it as a record of our year abroad, I appreciate all the "likes" and encouraging words. It surprisingly brings me back to 10 years ago when I was doing something similar on CaringBridge, documenting all of Will's health issues. It is in some ways very cathartic for me to write about what we are going through. It is also is very helpful to process all the changes...
All in all, Jeff and I keep commenting that this transition to Paris is going much easier than we anticipated. That being said, the 3 months leading up to it, were not. I keep thinking back to April1 -July 7 and I shudder. It was so stressful trying to end the school year, pack up and move home my classroom, pack up our house, prepare our cars, all while wondering if our darn visas would come. Now, in the grand scheme of things, these are very first world problems to have, and I realize how audacious that might sound. But as one that likes a lot of control, and one that takes a lot of control. not having control was very unnerving.
I think because of all the chaos at home, I wasn't able to really think about our time in Paris. My friend asked me that day we left, what I was going to do the first two days in Paris. I could not answer her. I had no idea. I, the planner, had not even thought 48 hours ahead! It was like I was doing all I could to make the 7:55 p.m. flight to Paris that I couldn't think of what came next. So the transition, while it has had it's ups and downs, has gone much more smoothly than I thought.
Will and Edy are doing remarkably well. Jeff and I went for a bigger apartment so that Edy could have her own room and boy has it been worth it. Her 12-year old, introverted self, just sometimes needs to go into her own space to read or listen to music. It has also been good for Will, who is continually on the move, making and creating things out of all our recycled bottles with masking tape and string. (He has developed a pulley system to deliver us keys to the outside ground floor.)
Surprisingly, of all of us, he is having the more difficult time. He is very social and we are finding he is really missing friends. We try and schedule some park time regularly. In fact, Edy and Will are comfortable enough to now scooter by themselves to the park 10 minutes away. This seems to help, just being around other kids. The American Library in Paris has also helped, as has The Americn Church in Paris that we are attending. The church has Sunday School during the church service. This week he came up afterwards and had already made two friends. (We signed him up for VBS in two weeks, which will be huge in filling his social bucket.) It also doesn't help that most of Paris goes South for the month of August. It has literally emptied out. (Both of our boulangeries have handwritten signs on the door saying they will reopen again at the end of August.) It has made me very aware, that without putting the kids in school, that I need to get him signed up for several group activities.
With both kids, Jeff and I have also developed a routine when traveling to a different city. Will's attention span in churches and museum, is very short, unless it has to do with WWII. Edy, on the other hand, just gloms on to the information. So usually, she and Jeff wander and wonder around, while Will and I do more of a quick pass, before heading outside to wait and people watch. Surprisingly, I am finding I am also more like Will in that I don't need as much time in the 5th Cathedral of Notre-Dame, so I am happy to oblige. Then again, Will is so good about pointing out the everyday "life" things of living in a different country. It is providing a good balance.
I was wondering, through all of this, if we would get sick of each other after awhile. There have definitely been times when we all retreat to our own spaces, glad for respite and Netflix. That being said, it hasn't been too bad yet. I do feel like I am constantly playing "cruise director" and coming up with at least one new thing to do or explore a day. In fact, I have to assuage my guilt about still not having seen the Louvre or going up to the Arc de Triomphe. But we have guests coming this weekend so we are hoping to play tourists with them.
I have really enjoyed making our apartment into our home. Our landlords have been amazing! In fact, we plan on visiting them in their new home on the West coast of France in October. We have had some funny stories with things not working or going wrong in our apartment. The first has been our television. While we don't have cable in Minnesota, our landlord graciously arranged it for us here. We were looking forward to watching some French television to help us with our language skills. Jeff has spent about 3 hours on the phone with our landlord AND the SFR consultant trying to get it to work. Jeff is now off to get our third cable box to try. (Luckily the internet has been strong, seeing as Jeff needs to still work most days.)
The other funny story is getting mattresses for the kids' trundles. Our landlord was again generous enough to order us new mattresses. The first of two arrived without issue. The second has had much more of an adventure. In Paris, delivery persons are given the access code to each building they are delivering to. Once inside, they buzz your number and it rings to a phone in your apartment. Well, our buzzer stopped working the second week we were here. We realized this only after a slip was placed in our mailbox saying that the delivery company had tried delivering the mattress while were were in the apartment. I then placed a note by our buzzer saying that it didn't work and that they should try calling Jeff or myself once they were inside the vestibule. Again, we received a note in our mailbox saying they tried to deliver it WHILE we were at home. This went on for several days before Jeff got someone on the phone. It turned out that the company policy is that they CANNOT call us to say they are downstairs with the mattress. They must buzz us.
The final straw came yesterday when they said they tried to deliver it to us at 10:10, the exact same time Will was looking outside the window to see it it was here. So we emailed to have them leave it at their warehouse, where Jeff and I would take the train to go out and get it. (Luckily, we know from experience, that it rolls up pretty thin.) Then, at 4:00 yesterday, Jeff's phone rang. The delivery company was downstairs with the mattress! He ran down and got it. I was ready with scissors in hand to open it up. Guess what? It wasn't a mattress but a duvet cover!
So after talking to our landlord, who feels awful about this, the kids and I to head out to buy one, and transport it back on the train. We need to do it soon as well have guests coming on Friday. Wish us luck!
Jeff continues to do a great job of balancing work and life. We have enough space in the apartment for him to work. Although sometimes he needs to take calls in our bedroom. The kids and I usually leave for several hours when he goes to work at 12:00. He takes his lunch around 7:00 p.m. and eats dinner with us, before finishing up between 9:00-10:00.
We are all staying up later, which means we continue to sleep in. I am trying not to feel guilty about this but do, seeing as we are IN PARIS! I also keep reminding myself that once I start school with the kids, we will be up earlier. This has also proved more difficult for me to get into a work-out routine. But, again, in an effort to be more flexible, I have started running in the late afternoon. I am only a week into this new routine and so far so good.
My mom asked me the other day if I am lonely. At this point, I am feeling pretty good. The most difficult piece is that when I want to talk to family and friends in the morning hours, it is mid-night in the United States. What's App has helped as has FaceTime. I have signed up to teach Vacation Bible School with Edy, and am making connections at The American Library with other moms.
I feel good about navigating around Paris. Things are beginning to look familiar and I don't have my face buried in a map as much. There are days I feel really confident, like when I order a week's worth of meat from the local market. Then there are other days when I feel so down, after being yelled at by the Postal Worker who doesn't understand me because I don't know enough French. Then I remember, my kids are watching, and maybe the greatest learning opportunity for them is seeing how I handle the difficult things.
Below, I have included some everyday life pictures with captions. These are all things I have found interesting and different from the United States. I hope that it gives you a little more insight into our life over here in Paris.
Thank you, as always, for reading our Blog! Look for another "Keep'in it Real" post next month. In the meantime, the kids are preparing another video post for you to enjoy!
Love,
Betsy
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| Edy learning a variety of ways to play Solitaire, while Jeff works. |
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| Will made up a game called "Bust-a Word." |
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| Will brought safety goggles with him to France. It is a good thing, seeing as he is always inventing things. |
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| Will's invention! He lowers the keys down to us in an egg carton. |
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| Will getting his first French haircut. |
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| Très bon! |
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| An example of shops being closed for the month of August. |
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The first time we cleaned our apartment, we laid out all the cleaning supplies and grabbed
Google Translate to help us determine what everything was for. |
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| Then we put the kids to work. |
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| Edy doesn't think it is fair she has to clean her own bathroom. |
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| Trying to decide upon coffee |
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| Will enjoying a detective class at The American Library. |
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| Edy has come to know and love Zara! |
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| The city of Paris does an exceptional job of keeping the streets and sidewalks clean. |
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| That being said, there are dry leaves everywhere! |
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| We have come to know the location of these very well, as Will seems to have the world's smallest bladder. |
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| My morning coffee looks a little different. If you are reading carefully, yes, it is heavy whipping cream I am putting in it. |
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| The mattress! No wait, just a duvet cover. |
