Life has been more than a litte crazy since we have landed back in the US of A. I landed in Kentucky around midnight so I could attend my sister's bridal shower the next afternoon. I was dead on my feet but still managed to be there awake in a dress and even won one of the games. Since that time we have been to West Virgina to see my parents, North Carolina to see Daniel's parents, New Jersey to see my grandparents, Pennsylvaina to see friends (when Daniel's office told him we would not start working on Wednesday but on Monday), and then to Fairfiled Connecticut where we are renting a room from a very sweet lady from Craig's List and have found an apartment in Norwalk.
The journey
Though sadly we will not be able to move into our apartment for another week, for those who have keep track, it will be two weeks here before we more into our apartment, a month since we lived in our own place, and 3 months since we packed up our house and I saw all my things. It will be close to 4 months since having our dog, between dropping her off before we starting packing and picking her up after my sister's wedding in September, I am sure I owe my parents something really good for Christmas.
Luckily renting a room has been an awesome choice as it feels like we live somewhere and Jill, the lady we are renting from, has a sweet greyhound and two sweet cats.
That would be Star curled up beside me and you can just make out Snickers on the sidewalk. Lounging in a backyard writing this post is way better than on the Econo Lodge hotel bed.
It seems uncessary to say I miss Paris, but I really do. I am sure this is amplified in a bit by finding myself once more in a new place right as Paris was becoming comfortable and familiar. It was a bit of an odd realization that we discovered we going though a bit of culture stock coming back home to our own country. Our first Super Walmart grocery shopping trip was a bit of a contrast to the open air markets of Paris we had just left. And while I was super excited to reunited with my mini cooper, if you know me know how much I love my car, it was amazingly odd to start driving again after a two and half month hiatius. I did my first true parallel parking today and despite my short car I was certain I was going to rear end the car behind me. And while I do enjoy milling my way through used book shelves I can't tell you the joy it brings me knowing I can walk into any new bookstore and know I will find what I am looking for.
It is still occasionaly feels odd ordering in a restruant and not rehersing my order before giving it to the waiter. I find I miss using my french very much. Don't get me wrong it is wonderful to return to world where I speak the same language as everyone else. I was so excited to banter again I was joking around with the US immigration guy when we landed, I think I made his day too. I spent two and half years attempting to learn french, the first year of that was before we even had a trip planned. It was not always the most rigorous of practice but I ran through two different audio tape series, three levels of Rosetta stone, watched french movies, watched american movies in french, read books on french culture, read children's books in french, wrote a blog in french, and annoyed Daniel practing my french daily on him. It never worked out for me to take a class and I certainly didn't make time everyday and probably not enough time as I should have but I invested a lot of myself in this endevour and it is odd to see all that perparation come to an end. I don't think I have ever work this hard and this long to choose to learn something before and I find I am at odds with what to do next. Should I continue to learn french so the next time we go back, and there will be a next time, I will be able to speak at 6 year old level and not a 3 year old, or should I start my focus on our next big trip, I am thinking Italian. I really enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment when I knew I could be understood and the apperciation and often encouragement I got from those I enteracted with.
I miss the food stalls, Sunday picnics in Luxenburg Gardens, just being a short walk from the Siene at night which provided sights I don't think I would get tired of if I saw them every day for the rest of my life, I miss the cheese, I miss the bread (God do I miss the bread), knowing there was always a new street to turn down and then having some of those same streets become familiar enough I no longer needed a map to cut between them, I miss the more adventure chic world of fashion and wanting to rise to meet it, I miss the french, and I miss that a situation like that requires you to be more adventrous, to be more open, to be more friendly.
These sort of trips are often refered to as once in a life time expereinces and I believe it was and I think in so many more ways than just the longest vacation I will ever take. It makes me sad because with the flurry of activity since coming home and making a new home it all seems so distance and out of reach. I think I gained a lot of exposure to things I would like to change about my everyday life to better reflect what I enjoyed about my life while in Paris, it just feels hard to do these things as you are living out of a suitcase and spending half your time driving. I worry I will forget.
This whole post is not to say I am sad it is over, I am, but my joy in having been able to do this trip way out weighs any feelings of loss. I consider myself very fortunate for the expertise and find a lot of joy recounting the trip here and flipping through my thousands of pictures, which I can not wait to be reunited with my printer so I can bring some of the Paris sights to my Connecticut apartment.
I promise the next post will be shopping.
My City
