La vie se passe plus lentement ici.
Life passes much slower here. Yes, I know Paris is a sprawling city which houses more than 2,000,000 people in twenty arrondissements (quarters) and an additional 8+ million people in the outlying banlieues (suburbs). For all the city’s hustle and bustle, however, les Parisiens find and revel in the relaxing moments in their days.
The French, as I am learning, are masters of the art of both the protracted lunch break and dinner. As the odd-one-out in America who loves to take her time eating meals, I have enjoyed having lengthy meals be the norm here in Paris.
Last week I spent the better part of two hours with friends at a cafe near Sciences Po. We ate ice cream and talked, and the waiter never bothered us by asking us if we wanted our check. It was heavenly. Just tonight we spent 4.5 hours relaxing over our meal of delicious Moroccan couscous, pastries, and mint tea.
I live such a privileged existence. To be able to study abroad two times across the globe, to immerse myself in a language because I think it would be fun, even to simply access consistent power, clean water, and other modern amenities. Here is where my experiences in India contrast so strongly with my new experiences in France. Both are adventures and challenges in different way. Every day in India was exhausting, thrilling, and new. The last three weeks in France have been long and event-filled, but somehow comforting.
Western Europe, in other words, is much more like home to me than the far reaches of South Asia. I can fit in here. Many people think I am French and have asked for directions. (Whether or not I actually know where they want to go is a different question.) I can explore and talk to new people by myself without feeling (too) uncomfortable. I can (try) to speak the language and from time to time make coherent sentences, depending on my level of exhaustion. Often I have the feeling that I’ve been to France before, either in another life or a dream. When I take hours on a meal with friends or read my book on the metro, I find myself happy to be in Paris and to be able, for a short time, to pretend to be French. Thus far, the daily adventures here suit me well.
A bientôt!
*Originally posted September 18, 2014