Chapter 112: Nachos

nerd blog post #121

I work with an Argentine valley girl who is always full of questions. The other day she asked me what I think is the best thing about life. This may seem like a crazy, unanswerable question that is to vague to even deserve a response. But as someone who loves asking questions, I always answer them. And my answer is easy. Community. People are the most important thing to me, and if I'm not surrounded by them, I'm not happy. Her answer was nachos and she admitted she hadn't put a lot of thought into it. I think nachos are one of the best things, but for me, sharing a plate of nachos will always taste better than devouring one alone. So I stuck to my answer.

There is a point. And the point is that the early part of the week was pretty lonely without my clowns and with only a couple of friends in the city (who have their own lives and aren't always free when I want to hang). Paris is a beautiful city and I will always enjoy it, but roaming around alone just isn't the same...

Luckily, on Wednesday, everything turned around. I have had the best half week and I am so glad things are looking way up. It started with a surprise visit from Marni on Wednesday. Marni is a good friend from Queen's who I did a lot of acting with and she is part of the sketch comedy group I was in before I left. She arrived in the morning and we spent the whole day together, talking and walking around. We had a pint on the patio of my pub in the afternoon, made dinner together, went to the wine bar and had a sleepy ovary. I was so glad for the company and it was nice to catch up. I have always really loved Marni, but we weren't in close touch this year, so it was awesome to have her for one on one time for so many hours.

The next evening, I had plans with Gel. She invited me over for some wine and her French roomie, Vincent, joined us. Gel's French is still weak, but she's taking courses and trying to learn. Because of this, the conversation was very mixed in the two languages, with Gel speaking English, Vincent speaking English to her, Vincent and I speaking French to each other and a lot of translations going on throughout. I really like that kind of scene. I like translating and switching back and forth between languages. It means I don't miss out on the convo! We headed out to the wine bar eventually and ate one of their delicious cheese platters. They live only a ten minute walk away so it's easy to get home, even if the metro's closed. Though I prefer not to walk alone at night (obv), this neighbourhood is a safe and lively one, and I like that there are always a lot of people out and about.

I woke up with a fat bottom lip. It was more than twice the size and made my upper lip entirely invisible in comparison. I must have been bitten in the night. I looked crazy, but after icing it with frozen spinach (the only thing I could find), it eventually went down. It was weirdo, though.

Yesterday afternoon, Gel and I met in the early afternoon and headed down to Paris Plages. This is a long section of road next to the Seine that the city converts into beaches every Summer. There are many genres of "beach" including the wooden "beach" and the grass "beach." There is also some sand, lots of mist sprays, a work-out centre, children's play areas and much more. It's always packed with tourists and locals and a fun place to hang. After that, I took her to the Canadian bookstore and introduced her to Brian. We each bought a book and will switch when we've finished.

I also bought a German dictionary. Steve is coming back to Europe this fall and we'll be living in Berlin for the month of November. I have started looking into apartments and contacting the people I know there for advice. We'll be there for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, which I'm sure will be a cool experience. I am looking forward to practicing my German and letting people know that I do, in fact, have freckles.

I worked last night and when I arrived, I was scheduled to close. This was a change from before, and I figured they probably wanted to train me on closing duties. This is very nice, but I'm leaving in just under three weeks, so I thought it was time to put in my notice so they didn't train me unnecessarily. I hate confrontation. Things like quitting make me very nervous and I usually delay until the last minute. But the owner walked in and it was the perfect time. I explained my VISA situation and told him I'd only be here until the end of the month. He said he was disappointed, but understood. They were looking to make me a senior staff with both opening and closing responsibilities and five to six shifts a week starting in September. Sorries, but I have Gemma and some horsies awaiting me and must go! Still, I was trained for closing so I can have the extra hours for the rest of the month. It went well and I'm glad that's out of the way.

The shift was great. I was working with Taylor and her and I are becoming better friends. We worked until 4am and then some girls we had met that night wanted to go out. So we did. I was pretty tired, but happy for a party, so stayed out until one of the first metros of the morning and got home as the sun was rising out of my window. It felt more like Toronto/Kingston times than ever. I loved it.

I have plans to meet Taylor this afternoon for a walk in the sun. I bought a watermelon to share. I work tonight again with both Gel and Taylor, which will be fun.

I found cheap tickets the other day to London and leave in the morning for three nights. It will be good to see Raffi and what he's up to there. And Doctor will make a day trip to London to hang! I'm very excited to see those boys.

But thankfully, I'll also be happy to come back. I feel as though I finally have my own group of friends here who want to hang out and enjoy the city. It will make leaving at the end of the month a little sad, but that's always the best way to leave a place. I wish I could renew my VISA and stay at the pub, but I know deep down that that's not the way I want to chart my path right now, and that I need to continue into the arms of Gemma and her stallions.

I hope you all have a good week-end!

Much love,
Hincks.