Oh Toulouse

Welp. It's been an overwhelming few days. I'm not quite sure where to start. I arrived in Toulouse on Friday and checked into my hostel that afternoon. The people who were also staying there were all really cool - a lot of anglophones (British, Welsh, Aussi, Scottish ,New Zealanders) so that was nice. Surprisingly, most of the kids there were also looking for more permanent lodging and not just passing through, so I sort of dived right into the apartment search from day one.

Basically, the process is: navigate through a host of french websites for housing, kind of like Craigslists of sorts, to find listings that somewhat resemble your criteria. Then you get up the courage to call the contact numbers listed to set up a "visit" of the property. Then you go meet theproprietur at the property wherever it may be in the city. I guess the same as the US, however, I've never done that. As well as renting studio, one or two bedroom apartments, what is actually more common is "colocations" which is when you rent a room in a house or apartment already belonging to someone. That started to become more and more appealing because the leases are more flexible (12 months is not compulsory), they usually come furnished, you don't need a guarantor or a bank account to get in on the lease. (That last part was especially key for avoiding the conundrum of needing a French address to open a French bank account but needing a bank account to rent a property here). So there we all were in the hostel; waking up, sitting for hours in front of our computers surfing websites, coming and going from viewings, feeling frustrated and tired and scared that we would never find a place.

Boring boring boring ok. Bottom line is: after much stressing in my twin bed of the hostel (seriously, I think I shed some hair over this), several fumbled telephone conversations, I went on my first visit, and voila! I found a place! So I'm currently living in a house which is a 15 minute walk (< 5 min bus ride!) from the high school I will be teaching at. My roommates are 2 other girls, one French and one Mexican. Both are incredibly sweet. My landlord is like a grandfather, always checking in and making sure we are comfortable. He gave me brand new sheets and a comforter, yesterday he brought me over some milk and tonight fresh baguettes and croissants for tomorrow morning. Seriously, I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve this, but I really struck gold. The rent is reasonable with everything included - laundry, electricity, heat, internet and water, which for France is pretty unusual. It is awesome living with someone French because it forces me to converse in French - I know that sounds funny because you would think living in another country you are always speaking that language but the actually opportunities to practice are relatively few, and it is all too easy to live with other Americans or only have English speaking friends.

I feel a LITTLE out of the way where I'm living, just because it isn't right in the city center, however it is still on the metro/bus lines so I am still definitely in the city of Toulouse and it only takes me 30 minutes door to door to get into the heart of town. There are other assistants who have been placed in the region of Toulouse, but are actually a few hours from the city center so will be living in smaller towns and villages.

So far I have been to my school and met with the other language teachers, most of which are women, all really warm and welcoming. The main woman in charge of the assistants, organized for her 23 year old daughter to meet me in town today to have lunch and show me around all the cool spots. I mean, how nice is that!?? Everyone has been SO kind to me, I am so grateful.

Yesterday on my to-do list was to get a public transportation card that I can recharge monthly and open a bank account. Let me just say that here, so far, if you get one thing crossed of your list per day, you feel accomplished. It's the little things. Days also consist of a lot of highs and lows, and there are moments when I feel very discouraged and frustrated with the language and navigating a whole new city and trying to get established, and others when I feel on top of the world and so proud of myself. Anyway. So I go to get this metro card, which is at most a 5 minute process, and the guy there makes me feel quite stupid, I keep having to ask him to repeat himself, and then when I go to pay the 16 euros with a 20, he's appalled I don't have something smaller (seriously it is like a cardinal sin here to not have exact change). So I walk away from that exchange feeling dumb and annoyed. Then I go to open a bank account, something I've been dreading for months, and I get the sweetest lady who explains everything to me very slowly, writes it all down on a paper for me as she's going along, and within an hour I have a brand new bank account (with no fees!). It's just funny how things like that go.

Anyway, long post, but had to catch up on all that has happened in such a short amount of time. Hopefully things will get more exciting and less bureaucratic from here.

A bientôt!

Paris

"Hopped off the plane at C-D-G"....Anyone? OK, if i can't make corny jokes on my blog where else can I?

So I am currently writing from the upper bunk bed of my hostel in the Quartier Latin of Paris. There may or may not be an open bottle of red wine next to me. What does it feel like to be back? Honestly...nothing special. When I first came to Paris when I studied abroad 2 years ago I was all a-flutter with the magic of Paris and couldn't wait to get out and explore, despite the jet lag. This time when I landed, I felt the same level of excitement as I would if I had just flown to Florida. I was too exhausted and it felt sort of like business as usual. The lack of enthusiasm could have something to do with the ridiculous lines I stood in at the airport, or the 3 hours I waited at Charles de Gaulle for my friend Emma who I had missed, or the 46 euro cab ride I had to take to get to my hostel. I'm not sure.

I finally rendez-vous'd with my amies at the hostel (appropriately names Oops!). It wasn't until that night after we had dined ouside at a cafe, split a bottle of vin rouge, walked up the rue de Mouffetard to have another glass of wine at a table on the street, grabbed a crêpe-nutella on the walk home under the full  moon that I finally had that, OK-I've-arrived feeling.

It is different but nice to be back in a place you have already visited. You don't feel the same pressure to hit all the major museums, parks or landmarks, but there is still ample space to wander and discover something new.

Notably, Emma and I had a phenomenal dinner at a place called L'Ecurie, supposedly started in 1689 in the Latin Quarter. It is tucked away on the corner of a side street. It's dark wood exterior (that looks like it's about to fall down sideways) and candle-lit, tired, lacquered wooden tables out front are extremely inviting in a mysterious way that makes you feel as though you just stumbled upon a gem before you even look at the menu. While we waited a reasonable 15 minutes for a table we were given a complimentary French version of red sangria to sip out on the street in the meantime. The food was incredible, though definitely meat-heavy. They had a "formule" (app, entree, desert) for 17 euros. I ended up with a bleu cheese salad, shrimp (served in-shell and head-on) on a bed of lettuce and roasted tomatoes, and crême caramel for desert. After dinner everyone gets another complimentary digestive which, though nice, I couldn't even finish because of how strong it was. The real surprise however, (which I almost feel one should experience by surprise as I did,) was when I went to use the bathroom at the end of the meal. Remember I said the building has been around since 1689? Original plumbing. More or less.

Today we decided to see the Conciergie (near the Notre Dame where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned during Revolution), however, it was closed due to the huge city-wide strike over the government wanting to raise the retirement age 2 years from 60 to 62. Oh well. We tried.

Off to dinner, that's all for now! A bientôt.