Tom Thumb

America is going well. I've pretty much been going non-stop despite the jet lag but finally today things slowed down so I figured I'd go wander around the grocery store. I didn't need anything in particular, just wanted to see what's new in the world of food.

So I walked to Tom Thumb. (that's right, I walked. It's only 5 minutes, although in this land where no one walks anywhere it did feel a little strange) I got there, grabbed a little basket and walked slowly up and down each and every aisle just taking it all in. I've already done the walmart thing and it wasn't so bad, so today I wasn't going slow because I was overwhelmed, I was mainly intrigued.

I hadn't been there but 5 minutes when I ran into the first person who worked there who asked me if he could help me. I said no thanks and continued wandering with my empty basket. 2 minutes later someone else asked if I needed help finding something and I said no thanks. not 2 minutes later another guy asked if he could help me. I was like 'no thanks, I'm just looking'. The look on his face told me that was the wrong thing to say...who goes to the grocery store just to look??

No lie, 6 different people asked me if they could help me find something and they all did it with a smile. I probably did look a little strange...carrying around an empty basket and spending 5 minutes studying the different flavors of pop tarts but still, what is with all this customer service? I really missed it in Sudan when it was non-existent but today I wanted to turn around and say 'Did I ask you if you could help me find something? No. So please quit bothering me.'

Before you think I'm a horrible person I would like to point out that this is probably just a little reverse culture shock, nothing to worry about. I mean, I didn't actually say it out loud or anything. I guess I just have to get used to friendly people who are actually here to help.

Today I am Thankful For...

...Chic Fil-A, slurpees, GAP, automatic SUVs, Target, fountain Dr Pepper, Wal Mart, Sonic happy hour, turkey sandwiches, and candy corn. Not everyone will appreciate this list, but some will.

So obviously I made it back to America. The trip was a bit of an adventure. All was well from Paris to Dublin but then the flight from Dublin was late and I missed my connection in DC. Well, I didn't just miss it. I rushed through customs, grabbed my suitcase, answered 'a few' questions from customs and then ran to make the connection. Only I couldn't find the check in desk and when I finally found someone who knew what was going on I had already missed it.

Then it was an automated check in thing and I sure could NOT figure that out...my first experience with all this new, mind-boggling technology. I finally got things together and figured out, got myself rebooked on a new airline (where an airline employee had to come and do my automated check in for me) and headed off for security. This is where the fun began.

While I was still in line, still in line, for them to check my ticket the first time so I could put my carryon onto the xray machine a security lady comes up and says very quietly and discreetly 'maam can you please come with me?' She takes my ticket and passport before I can answer and leads me to a special x-ray machine where she takes everything from me and sends me through the metal detector. A lady on the other side leads me to this glass booth that has a door with no handle on the inside. They put me in that solitary confinement booth and left me there!!

Then from outside the glass booth the lady says that I have been selected for extensive security screening and that they will keep me in that booth until they thoroughly search my bags, at which time my person will be extensively searched. What can I do? I'm stuck inside the glass booth with all the regular passengers walking past me and looking at me like I did something wrong, like I'm a terrorist!!

They took about 10 minutes to go through my carry on and purse, taking every single item out and inspecting it. Then they took me out and searched me too. Finally they figured out that I wasn't carrying a bomb or anything else and they let me go repack my bags and get to my gate.

Good thing I had already missed and been rebooked for my flight or I would have been really angry but I guess I can see why they might have chosen me. My passport is old and wouldn't scan when I checked in for my flight...never mind that Sudan stapled stuff inside of it right next to where it says 'do not staple'. Throw in the fact that I looked especially nervous and anxious (coming home after 3 years can be just a little nerve wracking) AND I was probably a little disheveled from running through the airport with a heavy suitcase. Then I just happened to have lived in a country that is one of the top 3 state sponsors of terrorism, plus how many other questionable places have I visited? Yah, I guess I can't blame them for picking me.

I finally made it to Dallas and my family and friends were there with signs and flowers. It was very sweet. Now I've been busy shopping and sleeping. Fun times!

Versailles

I go to America tomorrow. I guess my blog won't be quite as exciting after that. I mean, y'all all know and experience American life every day so I don't know how exactly to make my normal American life sound exciting but I will try.

I managed to squeeze in a visit to Versailles Sunday. It was pretty cool. Huge gardens. The fountains are only turned on Sunday mornings before noon and, out of coincidence only, we were there to see them!
All the bushes were cut into really cool shapes, including the one below that is a huge head. I'm not really certain how they prune the top of that one.

All the leaves are changing colors which was really cool because I realized that I've never really seen leaves change colors. Texas isn't exactly known for it's amazing fall colors. Usually how it works is one day it's warm and everything is green and the next day it is cold and all the leaves are on the ground and brown. Around here there is lots of reds and oranges. It's pretty. I guess the picture below doesn't exactly capture all of the fall colors but I promise they're around.

One thing I can't figure out, well two things. One, why do they only run the fountains Sunday mornings and, two, how did they run the fountains back in the day when they didn't have electricity. I'm sure a little internet research could clear this up for me but I haven't gotten around to that.

You have to pay to get in the gardens and then pay even more to go inside the palace so we just did the gardens. When you're standing at the palace and looking away from it there is a cute little pond. It doesn't look like it's too far to the other end so my friend and I decided we would walk to the other side. 30 minutes later we were still not to the other end and thinking about how once we finally got there we would still have to walk back.
So here's the view from the other end. The palace is back there, that thing you can barely see. It was a walk.

Another fountain. Really they were beautiful. And then to imagine that they were built in the 1600's.

So that's Paris and the end of my journey around the world...for now. We'll see where I end up next but until then I'll enjoy catching up with all of y'all in America!!

New Church

I went to this amazingly beautiful church the other day. It's fairly new but they built it to look really old. Way cool fact, they built it out of a special kind of rock that is self-cleaning. Unlike the other places like the Louvre or Notre Dame where they have to clean it with lasers every few years, this church cleans itself every time it rains.

Everything is beautiful but it was a little strange. Walking up to the church there were all these shows. People performing, bands playing, break dancing, yoyos, a guy with guitar playing beatles songs, etc. All the way up the hill I encountered various productions, people doing something, anything really, for money. It felt odd but I couldn't immediately put my finger on why I thought it was off.

This is the New Orleans style band that was playing at the bottom of the hill. Anyways, so I go in the church and even it feels a little off. It's not just an old church that isn't being used, it's new with regular services and even a big 'thank you' booth to everyone who gave contributions to help them build this new 'campus'. Then there was the fairly large gift shop...and then the smaller version of the gift shop.

As I was leaving the church I realized what felt so off. Right before you went outside they had some of those coin press machines. You know the kind you find at amusement parks or the state fair where you put in 75 cents and a penny and then it will press the penny into a picture? Yes, they had several of those. You could get the pope, a picture of the church or various other things.

That's when the story came to mind of the temple and the money changers. I think it was probably similar to this when He turned over those tables. It all felt a little wrong. I mean, I know this is Paris and there are a million tourists, but I feel like compromising religion and turning the church into a show for money is somehow not right. And then that led me to thinking about the church in America...let's just not go there.

This guy above, he was amazing. I might would have even given him some money had he chosen another tourist hotspot. He was on top of a concrete pillar about 6 feet off the ground doing tricks with a soccer ball. If he fell he was either going down a precariously steep hill or into the street and he was doing amazing things like handstands and jumps and stuff. He was really good, I was way impressed.

So that's the new/old church. Beautiful and yet somehow tainted.

From the Top

I finally made it to the top of the Eiffel tower but first I took a little time to hang out in the park just below the tower.

It's been a while since I've seen grass so soft and green. Most of it is fenced in...I guess that's how they keep it so soft and green.
There is this really cool peace exhibit at the far end of the garden. This glass wall has the word 'peace' etched into it in pretty much every language you could ever imagine. So salam!

Here I am...along with some random Chinese guy...at the top. When you don't know what you're looking at it just looks like another city. And it was really cold up there.

Then it was sunset and we all know how much I love sunsets. I sure did stand out there for an hour absolutely freezing and waiting for the colors to come. It was great!

This year they've had the tower lit up blue at night because France is the president of the EU. But for some reason on this night they lit it the normal way and I like it so much better than the blue.

Arab Market

Today I went to a huge Arab/African market north of town. I loved it! You could get anything and everything you ever wanted. Most of the stuff was cheap (both in price and in quality) but there were all kinds of fruits and vegetables that you wouldn't find in other areas of town. And the meat....well, let's just say there were plenty of 'delicassies' to be found if you like organs and such.
This woman was selling maize. You don't see it too much in Sudan, but in Kenya and lots of other places there are people all over the streets roasting corn. Everywhere you go you see people walking down the street and snacking on maize. It kills my teeth but everyone else seems to love it.

Anyone in the market for some olives? Who knew there were so many colors and flavors?

This probably sounds horrible but I love the beggars here. They just sit to the side of the road and you can choose to give them money or not. But it's your choice. In Sudan they would follow you around forever, constantly pull on your clothes or purse, even stand in between you and your open car door so that you couldn't drive away unless you gave them something. I constantly struggled trying to not allow my heart to be hardened...I'm not sure I was very successful.

Bike Tour

I went with some friends last night to take a bike tour of the city. We met under the Eiffel tower and then went to get our neon vests and bikes. It was then that I realized how little thought I had given to this bike tour thing.

First overlooked but painfully obvious detail: The tour would involve bike riding. I haven't ridden a bike in 12 years!! You know the saying 'it's just like riding a bike'?...now forever tainted in my opinion. Throw in about 20 adults who haven't ridden a bike in years and it's just not pretty. At one point I almost fell over after someone almost ran into me because someone had almost run into them and one of the guys made a comment about how we shouldn't mix drinking and biking....I hadn't even been drinking, those were just my natural bike riding skills. Needless to say, it was entertaining.
Second overlooked and yet obvious detail: The tour was from 7-midnight. That's 5 hours on a bike. I am definitely paying for it today!!

Third overlooked obvious detail: It's hard to take pictures at night, especially while you're moving on a bike...especially when you find yourself flying out of control every time you take even one hand off the handlebars to snap a picture.
Fourth (and maybe the most important) overlooked detail: Bike riding involves following some semblance of traffic laws. I'm not so good at that. It's not my fault, I blame it on Sudan. I haven't actively participated in any sort of traffic rules for a really long time due to the, well, the lack of.

Combine all of these things and it can make for a pretty exciting time. But we all survived and we all had fun.

Eiffel Tower

Just a few Eiffel tower pictures. I still haven't managed to make it to the top yet but I will before I leave which is a week from today. It's crazy!

The Louvre

I went to the louvre last night. I'm not so much a museum person so I wasn't too impressed. The museum itself is pretty cool. Alot of the paintings are set into the wall so that they look like they're actually painted on the wall. The ceilings are all elaborately painted and each room looks really cool.

But the only thing I recognized was the Mona Lisa. Other than that I didn't know anything. And the Mona Lisa wasn't anything impressive. Like most really famous things, they aren't usually quite as impressive as you expect them to be.

Even as I was walking through I was drawn more to the view outside than I was to anything inside. The museum isn't arranged to be non-art lover friendly and I quickly grew tired of looking at paintings that I didn't recognize. The only thing on the map that really caught my eye was the section of the Arts of Islam but they were remodeling that part so it wasn't available.But the glass pyramid was cool and I was there right at sunset so the buildings were all pretty and pink.

Does anyone else recognize this sculpture? Everything was in French so I didn't understand what it was...I'm guessing that if it's something I rmight ecognize then maybe it was in a movie or something. I definitely don't know it from an art book or anything.

But I did it. I have been to the Louvre, even if it was only for an hour. I saw the Mona Lisa and a statue that looked familiar. And on Friday nights after 6pm anyone under the age of 26 gets in free. So I guess, even though I wasn't all that impressed, I got my money's worth!

French People? Where???

I must say that Paris is not what I expected and exactly what I expected all at the same time. I had heard all kinds of things about it before I got here. Some people said it was dirty...now maybe my perspective is a little skewed on this one, but I think it's amazingly clean. Some people have said that French people are rude and hate Americans but in my 2 weeks here I have yet to have this experience.

That's probably because I haven't interacted with many French people. I know, it sounds strange, but really. I've met/seen people from all over Africa. I've even spoken quite a bit of Arabic. I love that there are so many Internationals here. I love that people all over are wearing traditional tribal clothes. And it really warms my heart when I see mamas on the metro with their babies tied on their backs.

My friend's little girl goes to a French school and there are very few French kids in her class. Her friends have names like Babakir. I can't pronounce any of them. So they had class pictures the other day and I got to watch. The photographer told them to say something on the count of three and, it never failed, on the count of three the white kids would say it and the African kids, just the Africans, would lift their hands and give peace signs or thumbs ups or some type of gang sign. He took quite a few pictures before he just gave up.

I found it absolutely hilarious. In Sudan the little boys were always putting up some kind of sign for the camera...turns out it's an all of Africa thing. If you click on the post title at the top you can see some of my favorite kids in Sudan throwing some gang signs.
Earlier this week I went to a small palace. Above is the driveway.

And this house was at the end of the driveway. As you can see there was nothing small about this palace but I guess it is small compared to some of the others. It's the only palace I've been to in France and I was pretty impressed. It was like living in a Jane Austen movie...if only there weren't a million other people mulling around and taking pictures.
This was the medicine fountain. I guess back in the day they believed that the water had healing powers. Now it's just a beautiful, peaceful place to sit and reflect.

Another New Friend

I am making lots of new friends in my travels. Alaina is the latest. She was born today.

I'm still hanging out in France with friends. I'll arrive back in the States on the 22nd and hope to see everyone at the reception on Saturday the 25th. My Mom sent out evites to everyone on her list but if you have somehow missed out on that list leave a comment and I'll get you the info.

Notre Dame

I went to the Notre Dame cathedral yesterday...or the day before. I can't remember.

It was really tall and pretty much the same as it looks in the movies. The front door was really cool. Of course, that's the door that you don't use.
This is the cathedral from the back side. They have some pretty gardens but the cathedral is just huge. If you look on the left side you can see the gargoyles sticking out from the building...not quite as menacing as Disney has made them out to be, but still cool.

It really was beautiful. There were, of course, tons of people there. This guy got quite a bit of attention. He was feeding pigeons and had them sitting all over him, even on his head. He didn't have a hat for people to put money into so I'm guessing that it wasn't a performance and was just what he was doing. You never know what kind of crazy people you will find!

Arc de Triomphe

I went to the Arc de Triomphe the other day. It was cool. Big. Lots of people.
Not much to say. It's Paris.

I Really am in Paris!!

Despite the lack of blog pictures I promise I have been in Paris for a week now. I just haven't done anything picture-worthy until today.Even though it was cold and rainy for the most part I braved the weather and went wandering. This wasn't the official eiffel tower trip. I just found myself close to it and figured I'd stop by on my way home.

Here I am in front of the Hospital Invalides. Apparently that one English speaking guy is not so good with the pictures.

I don't know much about the hospital except for that at some point some king built it to house all the handicapped.
This was a really cool sundial on the top of the inside of the courtyard in the hospital.

Hopefully at some point it will stop being rainy.