Thankful

I know it’s been a little while since Thanksgiving and even longer sine my last blog post, but I think I have just really been enjoying sinking into my routine.

I usually wake up around 8:30 and give myself an hour to have a cup of tea, and catch up on group texts, and instagrams, and snapchats I missed while all of my friends were awake and I was snoozin. I catch the 9:45 train into Paris and then take two metros to get to class, and just a short walk. Class lasts from 11-1, so then I am usually starving so I grab a baguette to eat on the train back to town if I have to pick up the kids, or I just go and wander around Paris getting to know places better. The kids school is a three minuet walk from their house, and when I pick them up at 4:30 they usually play soccer with the other kids for about an hour, or until their wimpy Arizona au pair makes them leave, we come home I give them showers, cook dinner, we eat and I put them to bed.  Easy peasy.

I have so much to be thankful this year.

I am thankful I got paired with such a great family.  On Wednesday I cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner from scratch for them (and nothing burned…pretty impressed with myself) and they helped make it so special for me setting the table with the nice china and lighting candles and opening champagne because they know how much I love it (and I love it even more in France)

I am thankful that I got to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Madrid with Erin seeing all of her favorite places, and bars and clubs and cafes. She even took me to Taco Bell which totally made up for the fact that my wallet, my cash, and my American phone with all of my pictures was snatched out of my purse.  We went to a German Christmas Market, and ate Tapas till I felt like I was going to explode, and drank sangria and mojitos, and wandered the streets of Madrid.

I am thankful that I’m still getting along with the kids.  Comb gets the biggest smile on his face and gives me a huge hug everytime I pick him up from school, and every night after I cook them dinner he snuggles up into my lap and gets really upset if I try to clear the dishes or anything.  I am having the most trouble connecting with the little girl which has been a little hard for me at times, but her parents told me she was shy and independent.  I can tell she likes me, but is just reserved. I think the oldest has finally learned that just because I speak English, I am not a total idiot, and he can’t tell me he has “no devior” because I will just google translate what is written in his planner and find out what his homework actually is.

It has been really really cold here lately, so I am thankful that my heater has finally started working so I an stop using my hot plate as a source of heat.

I am thankful that everyday I get to see the Eiffel Tower on my train ride in and out of France.

I am thankful I am making friends and meeting people to go to brunch with on weekends and wander around Paris with.

I am thankful I am not busy cramming for finals this week (sorry to everyone that is and good luck!!)

I am even thankful for Gabby the elf. It is nice to have a familiar face on the train everyday and someone to wake me up when I doze off.

I am thankful that I have time to do yoga videos and to write and to read (right now I’m reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway about his time in Paris, and also A Paris Wife which is about the same thing, but written from the perspective of his wife.)

I am so thankful to have the friends that I have that work so hard to stay in touch with me (I have post cards written for you all sitting on my desk…just needing a credit card to mail them), and a family that has made it 22 years without putting me up for adoption and for loving me despite my inclination to make myself an easy target for pickpockets.

Moving to Paris has hands down been the most fulfilling decision I have ever made and I look forward to all the adventures I have in store for me!

The Lost Art of Making Friends

Sometimes you just have a feeling.  I remember a whole Oprah episode dedicated to the importance of trusting those feelings and your gut instinct, and today I had one of those feelings.  As soon as she sat down on the train next to me, I knew, deep down that we would never be friends.

I first noticed that she was wearing Barney purple tights, and a royal blue skirt, but that she was reading a book in English.  My mom always taught me not to judge a book by its cover, the cover of her book looked like an 1800’s Romance Novel. I decided to just wait it out a little while and finish my French homework, when I noticed that she had the same textbooks in her bag I knew I had to talk to her.  I finally put on my best sorority recruitment smile and introduced myself to her.  After the last 10 minuets of a painful train ride, I was ready to put my hand on her lower back and escort her out the door of the train, and never see her again until I realized that we took French class at the same school, which meant another two metros and and a 5 minuet walk left with her.  I will spare you all the details and give you some of the highlights.

Her name is Gabby.

She is a 20 year old au pair from Indiana.

She wants to bleach her red curly so that she looks more like an elf.

She is very worried about where she will be able to watch the premier of the Hobbit here in France.

The kids she watches hate her and just cry.

She does not like Taco Bell because she thinks it gives your cancer. (I don’t have a lot of friendship requirements, I could probably even handle the elf thing, but this is where she lost me)

She has not done anything in the two months she has been in Paris yet, because she is too tired and would rather watch movies off her ipad in bed)

She doesn’t really miss her friends and family, just her cats. She has 15 of them, and is looking into getting three of them visas so they can come live with her.

She asked me if I liked, “soft core porn and blood” because if so she has a great show to recommend.

I feel bad, like I should change her name in my blog in case I ever develop a sudden interest in Middle Earth and spell casting and we become friends…but nah. Who knows maybe I am the weirdo and she just said all of this stuff to try and loose me.

Everyone in my French class is doing well, I’m sure Hello Kitty would say hello if she could. There are four Russians that all wear super blingy jewelry and fur coats that sit in the back and whisper in Russian. That would make me nervous, but its ok, they tell us that they work at the grocery store. So it’s totally legit.   An American au pair joined my class today, but I decided to wait until tomorrow to try and be her friend.  Gabby was enough for one day.

I did have a very successful weekend out and made friends and went to a French Rave and a birthday party and had a blast! And on my day off on Tuesday I walked all the way from Notre  Dame to the Eiffel Tower and saw the Musse d’orsay, and the love lock bridge, and so many amazing things.  The great news is, I took a ton of pictures, the bad news is I have no idea how to post them. Hopefully I will figure out soon!

Things I need to Learn

1. French, obvioulsy

2. How to get on and off the subway without spastically pulling my headphones out of my ears

3. How to look French enough that people in fanny packs stop asking me where the Eiffel Tower is

4. How to survive without Target. (I really need a new pillow, and I had to go into 5 pharmacies before I found tweezers so that I can stop looking like Frida Khalo)

5. How to get the heat to turn on in my room

6. How to work my toaster oven

7. Where can I buy an umbrella (refer to number 4)

8. Where to get my hair cut

9. How to say, “just a trim, please, I am terrified of hair cuts” in French

10.  Where I can get some Mexican food

If anyone wants to send me a carepackage… I need Taco Bell Sauce (so so so much Taco Bell Sauce) and Ranch Dressing. My life would be complete.

My new friends Casper and Hello Kitty

Last week was great. I had the whole week free to just run around Paris with nothing really to do, I went to my school to buy my books (and to make sure I could make it alone), I went to the Louvre and the gardens outside of it, I walked around the Eiffel Tower for forever and the day before Halloween I went to Pere Lachaise, the largest cemetery in Paris, which was so spooky and so gorgeous! I saw Jim Morrison’s grave, and Chopin’s grave and Oscar Wilde’s grave, which was covered in lip stick prints. I didn’t want to miss out on anything so I kissed it too.

On Friday, the parents and I left Paris to meet up with the kids and the dad’s parents right outside of Champagne, France at one of their three vacation “houses”. Except its not really a house, it is a castle. Like, there is a dungeon (which is used for “storage” now), and four towers and a main building.  It was built in the 12th Century aka way before America even existed (well it physically existed, but you know what I mean). It was the scariest place I have ever been in my entire life.  It honestly looked like a set out of a Disney World Ride, but grandpa kept my glass full of champagne, and grandma had two cheese plates for dessert so I wasn’t complaining.  That night I also took the kids trick-or-treating for their first time ever! They didn’t have costumes so we found some old sheets and made them ghosts, the kids were so excited and loved it!  I was a little creeped out so I bribed the little girl into sharing a room with me by giving her candy and letting her play with my ipad. Then in the middle of the night, one of the brothers came into the room and got in bed with her. I sat up to check on them and make sure everything was ok, then fell back asleep I woke up a few other times during the night and checked and saw two kids sleeping in the bed. The next morning he was gone, so I asked him about it (ok since I don’t speak French I asked his mom, and she asked him) and he said he never was in the room. I don’t believe in ghosts and stuff, but I swear on my life there were three people in that room.  After that I was pretty much ready to get out of the castle.

The best part about the castle (besides the food and every time the sun rose) was when Comb was messing around with the fireplace and his grandpa told him to stop because he would burn the whole place down, Comb replied “Its ok, you have three more houses” and kept playing with fire. I had to fake a coughing attack to leave the room and laugh. I love his sass.

Yesterday was my first day of French class in Paris….my classmates are…unique. I am the only American. I sat next to a boy wearing a beret and a turtle neck (so authentic), there is a man who looks like a sherpa who trekked in straight off of Everest and left his yak parked around the corner, there is a Russian named Vladamir and he looks as creepy as his name sounds, an Asia who I think might actually be Hello Kitty, and a nun. I think my best bet for friendship is the ghost that followed me home from the castle.

Who knows though..maybe the nun likes wine too.

Highlights from Holiday

Holiday was great, and it was so good to spend time and bond with the family, but I am so happy to be home and back to my own room and my own space.  A week is kind of a long time with four kids especially when its raining most days. So instead of day by day, here are just a few highlights of my people.

Grandma:

We were basically BFF’s all trip because we shared our two greatest loves in life: Candy Crush and wine. Grandma and I averaged about 2 levels and 6 glasses a day.  She speaks very little English, but some Spanish so I was able to pull out my Cabo vocab and use some of my favorite Spanish words like, “Mas! Mas! Mas!”  She is an amazing woman and such a good grandma, she was always the first one to start a game of tag with the kids and the last to stop. She told me that in France, they believe that whoever finishes the last of the bottle of wine, will be the next one to get married. I think Grandma is either terrified that I will die alone, or just really wants to attend a wedding because she made she I finished every bottle.

Autumn (The 6 year old cousin that came on the trip):

I have one nice thing to say about him. He made me really grateful that I didn’t end up with his family.  He is the annoying kid that sucks at everything but still needs to be the center of attention so he fakes an injury and cries. He wouldn’t listen to anything I said, and would just laugh instead. He didn’t even respond to my dirty looks, which usually scares the kids straight.  In retaliation for him driving me nuts I always got him out first in dodgeball, and made him hold my hand in public.  I know I’m a bad person but I believe it was Mother Theresa who said, “do what cha gotta do to get through the day” and if making Autumn have the shortest bath time got me through, then so be it. Grandma did say that she wasn’t sure what I did, but it was the best Autumn has ever behaved on a trip.

Madeline:

I have probably bonded the least with her, her parents just recently told me that the first night I moved in she cried because I didn’t speak French.  I can tell that she really likes me, but she will just like me a lot more when I can girl talk with her.

Maron:

Loves me. He’s my snuggle buddy. He is also the one that gave me head lice, but I blame Autumn anyways.

Comb:

Comb told me and his mom that he wished that he could be a sausage. Have I mentioned I love him? He is really starting to get close to me too. Whenever we are at dinner he always asks his mom how to ask me questions in English so he can ask me himself. The family has a huge map of France in their kitchen and whenever anyone travels outside of Paris, they move the picture to wherever they went.  Last night Comb asked where my picture was, so we helped him cut one out so I could be on the map too.  I think I have my in. Comb has also started calling me Baby. Every morning its Bonjour Babyy!! or Good night Baby. I’ll have to get a video of it.  Its the best He is getting a lot better about listening to me, and finding other ways to communicate when he has something he needs to tell me.

This morning I helped the mom pack all the kids up and they went to their other grandparents house (AKA castle) for the week, and the parents and I are meeting them on Friday so I am kid free all week! I have so much time I don’t even know what to do with it! My french classes start next week so I am really excited for that, I think the whole family is.

Life’s a beach

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m even if a different country, things are so similar. Leaving for holiday could have been with any family in any part of America. There were tears over who would sit where in the car, before we were even out of the neighborhood we had to turn around because we forgot Doodoo, Comb’s bunny, every McDonald’s we drove past the kids whined that they wanted to stop (and obviously I wouldn’t have opposed), we had to pull over at a rest stop so Comb could get a stern talking to, and two hours later we were here the highlight of the drive was definitely when Comb took his shirt off and starting beating his chest and refused to put it back on. We met up with their grandmama (who I love) and their cousin Autumn (whose kind of a French little shit).

The beach here is gorgeous. I did try to take pictures and I promise I will try and upload them later, but my pictures don’t really even do it justice. The sky was this perfect light blue and the water was a shade of light grey. To get a better image of this, next time you are in the bathroom of any middle age white person ask to use to bathroom, and after you are done snooping their medicine cabinet for crest white strips, take a look at the color of the walls. I can almost guarantee it is a shade remarkably close to the color of the ocean here. If you look above the toilet there is probably even a picture of this exact beach (which I’m sure they assume is somewhere in California), and some quote about “Life is a Beach” which leads me to believe they have never before been to the beach with three children and one little French shit.

The beach with the kids is actually really fun though. While the boys played soccer, Madeline and I attempted to fly the kite, which despite everyone around us making it look easy, we failed miserably at. Most likely because all of my kite flying experiences as a child ended with me in tears and my kite in a tree. (Mom. I do not blame you, my childhood was still great and I promise not to put you in a home despite my lack of kite flying as a child, I know you tried).
Back in Paris they asked me what some American foods were, and for some reason the first thing I thought of was pancakes. And now they are obsessed with trying them. They bought all the ingredients and asked me to make them tonight. I don’t have the heart (or the capability in French) to tell them I’ve never made pancakes before, let alone that I am rarely ever awake early enough to try them. Luckily they will have nothing to compare it to.

Why couldn’t they have asked me to make turkey sandwiches?

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I officially hate Santa..

or whoever thought it was a good idea to ever put Comb in possession of a nerf gun. I have lost count of how many times I have been hit. But he is so cute I just laugh at everything he does which just encourages him, and he gets this little devilish smile on his face and just keeps doing it. Yesterday after school he found a bag on the ground and filled it up with dirt then chased all the other kids around on the playground screaming something in French and hitting them over the head with it…the other au pairs didn’t think it was as funny as I did.  Luckily his mom was there when a big black nanny came over to yell at me. After she left, Comb’s mom just turns to me and goes, “what can you do? sometimes kids are violent.” and let him keep chasing everyone.  We obviously had to bring the bag of dirt back home with us.

Comb thinks everything is a game which makes getting him to come stand next to me, or to leave the playground for home look like something out of a chase scene from scooby do.  Now that, is something the other au pairs think is funny.

I am loving the family still.  I have had my first few nights alone with the kids, doing shower, dinner, brushing teeth and bedtime and it went really smoothly. (Knock on wood) I thought it was going to be really hard not being able to tell them to go to bed, or lights out, but they all know the routine so well and are such well behaved kids that I can pretty much just pick them up and put them at the table or just put their toothbrushes in their hands and they do it.

I was able to go into Paris one day with the mom. It is only a twenty min train ride from their house, which isn’t bad at all. I got all signed up for French classes, and got a student metro pass, and some maps. We went to this gorgeous church called Sacre Coeur Basilica which overlooks all of Paris, lunch with her mother, and the Eiffel Tower.

I hate having pictures of myself taken alone, even in really cool places, and I usually blink which makes the picture more awkward, and I also really hate taking scenery pictures. (I guess I am just not hip enough to be into photography) so if you want to see what I saw, Google has a lovely collection of pictures, and if you really want to see the awkward pictures of me standing in front of those things that is something you are going to have to take up with my mother because she is the only one I sent them to.

In the meantime, here is what it looks like when I try to get Comb to leave the park

We are leaving tomorrow to go up north for holiday and will be gone for a full week! I will try to take some pictures with the kids and my eyes open.

La Lutte (The Struggle)

The kids have lice…… LOL

and I have yet to master the double kiss.

Meet my children

I am just starting to get settled in and I am loving it. My bedroom is huge and it has two big windows that overlook the whole garden where there is a little stream and a waterfall.

The kids are great. The oldest is Miron (which I have not even tried to pronounce out loud yet…especially since I went all day yesterday not knowing what his name even was). Today was his 8th birthday party so we all went bowling with his friends.  There was the usual cast of birthday characters; a little black boy who looked like Eurkel and insisted on busting out some of his break dancing moves in any open space, the little Asian who gave pokemon cards and was more excited about them than the birthday boy, the kid who never gets cake at home and ate three pieces, and the kid that was only invited because his mom made him and spent the majority of the party in the corner trying to balance a balloon on his head or counting bowling balls.  Since bowling is not a leisure activity meant for people with sausage fingers, and there is no way in hell I could figure out how to say, “excuse me where is the closest firestation I need this bowling ball cut off of my finger” I decided to opt out and be part cheering section part coat rack.

Madeline is the middle, she is so sweet and adorable. Our favorite activity together is drawing pictures and she says what it is in French and I say it in English.  It is unfortunate that I already drew everything I am capable of drawing so that game is pretty much over.

And last is my favorite, Comb. He is four and I already have so many great Comb stories. When he first saw me the first thing he did was run up to me and rub his head all over me, like a cat.  He does this a lot. Or just rests his forehead on my leg.  Once he licked me, and apparently I did not taste very good because he said “bleck!!” and ran away. He does not understand the concept that I speak no French, like at all, and he will ramble on and on and on and then just stare at me and wait for a response, so I just smile back and then he keeps going.  Today at lunch his mom told me that he doesn’t know the difference between Africa and America so his first question after he saw me was, “why isn’t she black?” Today at the bowling alley the group next to us had some margaritas or something like that, when they left Comb walked right over and helped himself to all their leftovers.

Besides not tasting very good, and being white, the kids and I are getting along great.  The parents are super helpful and accommodating and I can’t wait to start this next week and get even more settled in.

PS they had wine with breakfast and cheese for dessert…my kind of people.

Au Revior Y’All

For the past few months I have been living in Midland Texas, a town with oil money and nothing else. Outback Steakhouse is considered fine dinning, and the Taco Bell here sucks (which you know coming from me is saying a lot). Tomorrow it’s off to Paris to start my new adventure as a nanny for 3 kids in a town outside of Paris. Telling people in Texas that I was leaving for France quickly became one of my favorite hobbies.  These are a few of my favorite responses:

“Oh, so your husband got a job so you’re moving with him?”

“Why?”

“Paris, Texas? or Paris, Arkansas?”

“Have you seen Taken?”

“That’s in England right?”

I did meet  lot of really nice, sweet people while I was in Texas, and loved having time to spend with my mom, but for now its au revoir to Midland, and howdy to Paris!