the untitled post

so.so.tired.
must.find.time.to.sleep.

a.nap.would.be.wonderful.right.now

I've had a few interesting, or maybe not, experiences this week. One includes visiting the Prefecture to find out what I need to do for the renewal of my visa. Yes, I am looking to renew my visa. Don't cry. I'm still alive, just alive in France instead of Texas.

Last Friday I decided to check out the Prefecture in St. Germain en Laye with my friend to see what kind of information I could find out about getting another visa. Well, this is going to be quite the process, but thats ok, i'm starting WAY early and have been saving up my patience piggy bank and am bringing it along for the ride incase (and by incase i mean, WHEN) I need it, i'll be ready to go! No setbacks predicted. So my friend and I find this random builiding in the middle of a neighborhood and we walk in. Mind you, this is a friend who is not taking French classes and knows next to no French, so I am on my own here. If I'm walking into th grocery store, a restaurant, a clothing store, walking down the street and needing directions, none of those things give me such stress as walking into a prefecture to ask about my visa. I had already prepared what i was going to say but I wasn't prepared to walk into a building that had 100 different options of places to stand in line, wait, take a ticket, wait, or wait so hi, I immedietly got scared. I got super duper lucky and 2 different people (not quite sure if they were French or not) helped me out in English. How kind were they? I think they heard my friend and I trying to play the  'eeenie, meeenie, miiiiinie, moe' game where we were going to just guess where to go. Anyways, long story short, or should i stay boring story short, I quickly found out that I was at the wrong prefecture and I needed to visit the one in Versailles. WOOO HOOO!!! (not really)

SO that brings me to Monday of this week. I had decided that I was going to take Monday off of school and make a day out of the adventure I would have to find my way to Versailles. Now, Versailles is really not that far from my house, but it takes forever to get there. WHy? Because I have to change buses and wait for buses and then each bus makes about 43 stops each. Thankfully the weather is getting nicer and it was a warm(er), sunny day so it was quite pleasant to seek out an adventure. I got on the correct bus to Versailles and had looked up ahead of time what stop to get off at and where to go from there but once we got to the town of Versailles, the bus didn't stop at my stop. HOly moly, I hadn't printed out a map or did I have one in my hands so I only knew how to get where I needed to go from that one stop that apparently I had missed or something of the sort. The bus driver came to the terminus (the last stop) and was telling me to get off the bus because it was the last stop. I walked up to the front of the bus and in the best french I could muster I told him I NEEDED to get off at "this stop"and he said back to me that it was the last stop already and I needed to get off. I guess sometimes my emotions showing easily in my face is a good thing because I have felt that a lot of people have taken pity on me seeing that I clearly have no clue what is going on and help me out. Now, I dont' know if this bus driver was French and so we're just going to say he was because he was not the friendliest person ever and the French people need a little boost, but this man decided, out of some kindness somewhere in his body, that he would go out of his way and drop me off at the bus stop I needed to be at. How cool is that??? THat is basically unheard of. I mean, I wouldn't even expect that from a bus driver in the states muchless a French busdriver. Granted, the stop was probably not out of his way back to where ever he was going, but STILL. Nonetheless, I was VERY thankful, probably told him a million times MERCI BIEN! and also told him to have a fabulous day, except I said have a good day because I don't know how to say fabulous, oh wait, yes, I do, but thats neither here nor there.

Et voila!!!! I am, which was no small feat, at the bus stop I needed to be at. Praise the Lord, no joke! Boring stuff I will pass over like getting lost and not having almost any time because I should've left a lot earlier than I did that day, I arrive at the Prefecture only to have every bone in my body as nervous as ever, again! I decide to stand in the shortest line I could find and hope that somewhere within me I could find the words in French to express myself enough and then also comprehend enough of what was said to get the answers I needed. Oh, and in record time as well, I had a bus to catch not too long after. Well, the short line went relatively quickly and i made my way to the front where I told the guy what I had rehearsed and he told me to show him my passport which i did and then told me I needed to take a rendez-vous which means I need to wait in line for an appointment. I told him I didn't have time today but that I would come back another day and somewhere in there I threw in a few english words which he didn't understand. I stayed as calm as ever which I attribute that to the fact that I prepared myself ahead of time for the unknown, the chaos, the rude people and the lack of English. The guy was kind but didn't understand or speak a lick of English. He asked the lady sitting next to him if she did and she was a little to quick to respond, "no" which leads to me think that she did (at least a little, i'd be willing to bet) but here in France, its quite common that people will act as if they don't know English just because they can. How sweet, right? Well, thats ok because I don't need your help anyways, lady! Eventually the man expressed to me that I need to come back in April for some reason but not before then. I am still unclear as to why he told me April and I still did not get all the answers I needed, for instance, what kind of paperwork I need to have to apply for a new visa.

Anyways, this story is getting longer than I think it should be and for that, I am sorry for those of you who are practically falling asleep reading about my oh-so-interesting life here. But let me tell you, trying to get from point A to point B without reliable transportation (and the buses are not always reliable so thats why i say that) in a country where you STILL don't speak the language, it makes for constant adventures. CONSTANT. I feel like everyday is an adventure, living here! It's just that the adventures become less neccessary to share because they are so common to me now that I don't get all worked up over nothing anymore. It's just a way of life and once you get to that point, it may still be interesting ot me, but its my life.

What I learned this day: I conquered the changing of buses in a timely manner (YES!), conquered asking for directions in French AND understanding the reply in French (YES!), met a kindred spirit (for once) in a French person (YES!) and didn't die or cry once (which that isn't a big deal because that has never or rarely happens, in that order). So there were a lot of new mountains climbed on Monday. I think I sweat my body weight from sheer exhaustion and stress, but now I know what to expect and can be more prepared for next time. Oh, and the weather this day was AMAZING and by amazing I mean, the sun has been shining all week adn I can't tell you how incredible it is to finally see the sun after its been on hibernation for the past 3 months it seems like. And i was walking around with my coat open which was a big deal as well. Spring is in the air, WOOO HOOO!!!

Well, more interestingly boring stories to come. I had a late night wtih an early morning followed bya long day and an equally long nap which has left me in a comma state of BLEH this evening. I'm going to be by myself and spare you my bleh mood.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!!
<3, ME