my paris

deathofmaratThere are a lot of details to juggle when you move to a foreign country. Before you even arrive, the visa process is an enormous hassle. If anything, however, the beauracratic gauntlet demanded by the French embassy prepares you for life abroad. Once in France, even the simplest tasks assume monumental proportions. The language barrier is a constant problem, complicating even the simplest transactions. But, more subtly, the cultural disconnect between the French and American sensibilities can be a cause for some frustration. Everything here has less of a sense of urgency, which I often find wonderful when lingering over a cup of coffee, but which can be a slight cause for concern when you find yourself without electricity, or in some other crisis. Thus, much of the first few weeks you arrive in Paris are spent waiting in lines, setting up bank accounts, registering for a carte de sejour, getting the internet in working order, and everything in between.
Eventually, however, these details are squared away, and you are left with the more mundane problems of daily living. For instance, dealing with your landlord—who is, in my case, crazy—and navigating around the city. It takes me about 45 minutes to get to school from my front door, and often the trip is a crowded one. Because I take the subway so frequently, I buy a monthly carte orange, which costs about 55 euros. The subway is clean and easy to understand, but not quick; unlike New York, there are no express trains, and, when late to class, I often find myself wishing for just a little bit of American-style efficiency.
There are lots of things that I love about Paris, though, which make the minor frustrations worth it. The food, for instance, is incredible. Simple things like butter, milk, eggs, yogurt, and produce are so good here that I literally think I may have to move here, just so that I can continue to eat them. The cost is higher, certainly, but so is the quality. Like many things in France, you get what you pay for, and the disparity in price between French and American products is dwarfed by the disparity in quality. Likewise, the relaxed attitude that makes it difficult to find open grocery stores on Sundays and impossible to take the metro after 1 am is also the basis for the French philosophy of the individual’s right to leisure and pleasure.