my life with depression.com

i was an idiot this morning.

as i exited the metro and crossed the street, i noticed a girl with the cutest boots. soooo cute. they were black, rose just up to her knees and simple. well, after walking for about 5 minutes, i noticed a boulangerie (bakery) and decided to purchase a croissant. i thought: that’s funny, i’ve never seen this before. the croissant wasn’t very good. this surprised me as the ones that i buy from the starbucks near my loft are better. i walked on and noticed a fran-prix. it’s a chain of markets here. hmmm. again, i was surprised that i never noticed it on my daily walks to school. well, no worries. i made a mental note to pass by after class since i needed to buy cereal for breakfast. anyways, as i was finishing my croissant, i noticed that the corner of the big boulevard that i was to cross looked different! the restaurant to my right was not longer there. the church across blvd montparnass was not there. it took me a while to realize that i must’ve taken the wrong street!

no wonder why i’d just noticed the boulangerie and fran-prix this morning ! i thought that maybe i just walked with my head down or something. i know … i sound retarded. it must be the cold cold air this morning along with the excitement of seeing those cute cute boots. well, i turned it around and found that i didn’t cross the second little alley/street that i was suppose to cross. oh well.

later, after class, i’m chatting with some school mates when i hear my name. i look to the direction of the voice and i find this tall blond romanian girl walking to me with a big smile…. it took me a while, but i was soooo happy to see AMELIA! she and i were in the same french class during my stay here in october. i was sooo excited. although the class that i have now is nice, i was somewhat disappointed that it didn’t have the same warmth that my first class had.

i met some of her current classmates. one from canada. two from brazil. one from los angeles. i agreed to go to lunch with them they, though my original plan was to go to the audio lab and practice my comprehension, after all, how often do you get a lovely surprise such as this. we decided to eat at the same chinese restaurant that we used to eat at. afterwards, she invited me to her apartment for some espresso. she said that she just purchased it and was so excited to use it with guests. i agreed to go. she lives just outside of paris in the suburbs of rueil-malmaison. the suburbs here always get such a bad rap because of the kids who lit those cars on fire. supposedly, living there is more dangerous than living in the city. However, in rueil-malmaison, where she lives was rather lovely. it is newer and is near a new commercial area. there was a nice plaza/courtyard with a small, dry (during the winter), concrete man-made river that meandered. the seine river was just right there. across the seine is an old restaurant where monet painted SOMETHING … i don’t know what. there were small pools which held koi fish and water-lilies. there were arbors and bald trees but if you use your imagination, you can see how beautiful this place can be in the spring or fall. she said that when it’s warmer, the tables and chairs are out and one can sip café and watch the boats sail by. we hung out for almost 7 hours. just talking about her life. she’s engaged now - she moved here for her boyfriend - getting married in may AND she is sooo fluent now. she says that she thinks to herself in french and screams “F-ing Sh*t” when she hurts herself. i guess these past few months have done wonders; not only her french, but also for her english!

she showed me what types of assignment she has for her advanced class…. i was familiar with some of the grammar. i have my french tutor to thank for this! it helped here too to explain the rules to me because she had to use both french AND english - not her native tongue.

on our way back to the RER - train, we talked about my depression. she also shared that her fiancé is getting treatment for his. she is actually the one who pushed him to get help. she was patient and supported him. he’s very grateful and she feels that this brought them even closer. i shared the fact that i had to live like that by myself without any support for the longest time and i applauded her for supporting him. it’s hard dealing and having patience for a depressed person - especially when no one understands what’s happening at first.

i had a lovely day today. i took the RER and the metro back with a small ‘parisienne’ smile on my face. (that’s suppose to be funny because the french are not known to smile out in public. too casual!)



other posts from this trip:

attempting french mail
l’alliance francaise-test
wine
ahhh pah-reeeeeeeee
galette de roi
le premier jour
friends in the parisian suburbs
riding the paris metro = le métro
brazil, french and crepes in paris
hello can anyone understand me
joyeux saint valentin
my last day