As the screaming of my cousin's two years baby daughter punctures my ear drums, here I am sitting in a modern 60 msq apartment located in the western suburbs of Paris trying to detail my life in Paris. A boring subject for some, but a necessary milestone for my sanity… So it has almost been three months since I have embarked on this "ironic" journey of mine, thinking that I was through with my relationship with Lebanon. Truth is I was never more involved with Lebanon than I am now. My work is centered in Beirut, I report to my boss residing in Hamra. All my cycling training revolves around the Lebanese national championship and the Arabs championship. After years of procrastination I have finally started (all the way from Paris) the necessary paper work that will allow me to build my house in Lebanon. Last but not least I do watch MTV Lebanon practically all day. Anyway back to what this post was supposed to be about: describing my life in Paris. Well one piece of advice: if you love Paris, stick to the touristic perspective. The daily Parisian life will overshadow its glitter. The Eifel Tower will keep on shining, but not as brightly as seen by the touristic eye. Same thing applies to the Champs Elysees, etc, etc… This being said, you will get to discover one thousand little pleasures in Paris that only a permanent resident would appreciate. These small bookstores concealed from the touristic eye, those small bakeries hidden in some residential neighborhood strange to the feet of tourists. Amidst all these contradictions, I am leading a quiet life. On a non-university day* I wake up at 9 am every morning, have a small French breakfast while watching "MTV alive". Around 10 am I put on some solid two and half hours of work, and then I go out for my daily two-to-three hours ride. Back at 3:30 pm just in time for a quick lunch before I catch the bus to "Rueil" (where N babysits Chloe, which happens to be my cousin's house). I usually use this thirty minutes bus trip to read some statistics material, before I reach my destination. Once at my cousin's I opt for another solid 2 hours of work. At 7 pm N and myself go back home, pass by the supermarket on our way home, cook a fancy dinner (sometimes) or order Japanese food, eat, chat, watch TV. At 10 pm I am back to my computer screen for another two-to-three hours of work. Weekends are when we play the tourists in Paris. I think that it is the only way to enjoy the city. I always thought that this is the kind of life that suits me better. After trying it, I am not sure this is what I want. All my energy is channeled towards Lebanon. A friend once told me: "you hate Lebanon but you can't live outside it" To be cont'd(…) *I only go to school one or two days a week.
Is the summer officially over?
-
With the winter season knocking on the door, our long Lebanese summer has
officially ended. Gotta respect the laws of nature or else we'd be in big
troub...
1 year ago
2 comments:
Arrete de te lamenter sur ton sort!!!
Lebanon w MTv et je sais pas quoi... on en reparlera a ton retour au Liban quand tu te rendras compte de la majorite futile, impolie et insignifiante des libanais.
Le jour ou tu prendras l'ascenseur avec la voisine botoxee qui t'empoisonneras avec son Parfum Opium ou Jean Paul Gaultier, maquillee jusqu'au cerveau (si elle en a un), tu lui diras un bonjour de politesse, ce mme bonjour que tu dis a ton voisin ici que tu connais mme pas mais qu il te rend quand mme avec un sourire poli, eh bien le jour ou cette voisine te regardera avec un air dedaigneux comme si elle avait l'air de te dire "men wen la wen ba3rfak ta t2elle bonjour"..
Ce ci n'est qu'un exemple infinitesimal.... si je me lance je ne finirai plus.... but I think u got my point so stop longing for lebanon... the only thing u have there is your family but paris gives you wings u can t even dream of having in Leb!!
I agree with all what you said, in fact if you go back to my previous posts you'd see some concordance with what you said; but what can i do? that's the beauty about blogging :P However I am just describing my situation, not my feelings. So we can't talk about lamenting. That could very well apply to the previous post (Home sickness), but not to the one before it :) so you see, my mood fluctuates a lot :-)
Happy to see you around.
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