Bonjour! I've been in Paris almost two week nows, so I feel equipped and stable enough to give a good balanced report on my situation. Actually, I meant to update this earlier, but you know how the time slips away. I think I'll talk around large topics: host family, school, church and life (la vie parisienne).
HOST FAMILY:
I live in a jolie chambre lumineuse (as described on the half sheet of paper I received with the address and a phone number) in the home of AJ. No, I have never said that name out loud. It's an apartment on the top (5th) floor of an building in the 20th arrondissement on the east side of Paris-même (it's an awesome neighborhood, I'll write more about it later). AJ, my french mom, looks like Meryl Streep, especially when she smiles. Really warm eyes. Once a documentary filmmaker, she now mostly manages and deals her father's artwork, who is a painter. Here's a painting of his:
Her daughter, Leila, 26, also lives in the apartment. She is an actress, but also holds a day job for steady income. Like her mother, Leila is beautiful. She's in Poland right now visiting her painter-grandfather, because if you didn't notice the last name, they have heritage in Poland. However Aldona was born and raised here in Paris. Being artists and all, they always know the cool things going on in our quarter and Paris in general. Jackpot. Here's a photo of the two ladies:
The other night, we celebrated the Epiphany by eating galette du roi. This galette is meant to be eaten on the 6th of January, but the French continue buying and eating it for the first three weeks of January. Patisseries are full of them. Not unlike King's Cake at Mardi Gras, each cake contains a little fève (a fava bean, historically; ours had a mini red porcelain boot) baked into the center. Here's me looking awkward after I spit out the fève, crowned as roi (reine, actually). Family dinners are the best.
I don't spend an awful lot of time here at the apartment, but not for lack of comfort. There are two levels, and I have my own room and shower (salle de bain-different from a bathroom...no toilet). It often smells of incense and pachouli. And, on the rare occasion that I find myself alone in the apartment, I teach myself songs from Amelie on the piano in the living room. It's no Haussmann flat on the Champs-élysées, but you can see the Eiffel tour from the hallway window. And I'm tickled to call it home for four more months.
HOST FAMILY:
I live in a jolie chambre lumineuse (as described on the half sheet of paper I received with the address and a phone number) in the home of AJ. No, I have never said that name out loud. It's an apartment on the top (5th) floor of an building in the 20th arrondissement on the east side of Paris-même (it's an awesome neighborhood, I'll write more about it later). AJ, my french mom, looks like Meryl Streep, especially when she smiles. Really warm eyes. Once a documentary filmmaker, she now mostly manages and deals her father's artwork, who is a painter. Here's a painting of his:
Her daughter, Leila, 26, also lives in the apartment. She is an actress, but also holds a day job for steady income. Like her mother, Leila is beautiful. She's in Poland right now visiting her painter-grandfather, because if you didn't notice the last name, they have heritage in Poland. However Aldona was born and raised here in Paris. Being artists and all, they always know the cool things going on in our quarter and Paris in general. Jackpot. Here's a photo of the two ladies:
The other night, we celebrated the Epiphany by eating galette du roi. This galette is meant to be eaten on the 6th of January, but the French continue buying and eating it for the first three weeks of January. Patisseries are full of them. Not unlike King's Cake at Mardi Gras, each cake contains a little fève (a fava bean, historically; ours had a mini red porcelain boot) baked into the center. Here's me looking awkward after I spit out the fève, crowned as roi (reine, actually). Family dinners are the best.
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