Far and Away

Featured image: Parisian architecture I’ve been back in the United States for almost a week now, and my four months in Paris feel like they were years ago. I attribute that mostly to the fact that I’ve been working nonstop at my retail mall job (is there anything more American?) since the morning after I got back, and doing boring adult stuff between shifts, like getting a haircut and scheduling doctor’s and dentist’s appointments. A stark contrast from my last…

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Featured image: Bern, Switzerland, with a view of the Alps in the background Now that I’ve spent almost three months in Paris, I’m feeling pretty settled here. It helps that I’m taking care of a plant now. A few weeks ago, I volunteered at a rooftop garden in the city, and left with a slice of an apple tart and a tiny plant. I’ve never been super into gardening – or good at taking care of plants, for that matter…

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Featured image: The view from Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum in Paris. It finally happened: I joined a French gym. After being worn down by weeks of being harassed by French men while running on the streets near my apartment and realizing that it’s rapidly getting colder and darker in the mornings, I caved and got a gym membership. Much like everything else here, French gyms are smaller than American gyms. The weight room is unbelievably tiny and cramped,…

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Featured image: Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, where my friends and I tried to resurrect Jim Morrison last weekend. We’re hoping to see him again within 30 days. The day I arrived in Bordeaux, France, my host family threw a dinner party with some friends and we began eating dinner at midnight. I was exhausted from not having slept on the plane ride over, groggy from my three-hour afternoon nap, and incredibly jet-lagged. Needless to say, I don’t remember any…

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