Some thoughts on Paris, travel, and the program

Paris is one of the world's most famous international cities, a city of romance, fashion, culture, and history. It's also one of the last places on earth I would chose to go to. I love travel and have been to a few different countries (Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Australia, France), but have never found explorations through Western nations to be at all fulfilling. The countries that I feel drawn to lie more along the lines of Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Egypt, the Congo, Kosovo, India, Kenya, South Africa, Iraq, Thailand. I want to see cultures that are completely different, governments that are different, ways of life that are different. I want to learn from other cultures, explore their values, to give and take what I can. I want to see revolution alive in the hearts and minds of people.
Then why, you may ask, did I come to Switzerland? Why did I study French instead of Spanish? Well, long ago when I began taking language classes, Spanish was completely full and I was more or less “stuck” with French, which I decided to pursue in college for that easier A. For study abroad, the vast majority of programs in the countries I feel drawn to were either cultural and therefore not at all conductive to my major and graduation requirements, or required 1-2 years of Spanish. Feeling interested by Geneva as the hub of international organizations, neutrality, and one of the world's oldest and truest democracies, as well as by my own Swiss heritage, I chose this program in development studies and public health. Hopefully the connections and concepts I gain here and at UPS will allow me to, one day, travel to the places I dream of for real work and not just tourism.
Back to the subject of this post, however; Paris. What can I say? Most of the food is good, I enjoy the baguettes au fromage. The portions are extremely small, and everything- a small beverage or tiny to go crepe- costs at least 5 euro, and you can expect to spend 15-20 even on a modest meal. Knowing that the euro is worth almost twice as much as the dollar makes the high cost of food even harder to stomach. Wait staff often ignores you, whether you're trying to get a menu or trying to pay- the average French meal seems to take 2-3 hours, contrary to US restaurants where you are sent packing as quickly as possible.
The city is absolutely picturesque in appearance, however. Tall, adorable buildings with little balconies, adorned with peeling paint and colorful flower boxes. Everywhere you look, there are beautifully dressed Parisian women wearing their slim fit pants, sac-like dresses, and brand names like Channel. Stilettos are the norm, despite the uneven cobblestones. The weather has been for the most part beautiful, and the Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, etc are of course lovely. We met a girl from Japan the other night who had traveled extensively on her own over the last 8 years and was now living in Paris- unfortunately I have to agree with her that Parisians come off rich and snobbish, with the most friendly people being other tourists. One thing I do really appreciate about the city is the frequency with which you can find a fruit stand, which has far more variety than any typical U.S. grocery store.
The sticker shock- I return to that again. Even a bottle of water here costs about 2 euro, or almost four dollars. To order water at a restaurant is to pay closer to 5 euro. Oh yes, the Red Light District of Paris. Basically an endless row of cheap, tiny run down sex shops like that creepy one on sixth avenue, punctuated by the occasional peep show, club, or one sex museum. I was definitely not impressed- and then we tried to buy a bottle of wine, but because it was after 9pm, they wouldn't sell it to us at the nearby grocery store- very peculiar. Oh la la!


As for the group of students I am with, they all seem to be genuinely nice people who care about the world, mostly focusing their studies on international affairs and health. We all have such different backgrounds though- most are rich enough to have traveled far more extensively than I have, and many come from universities that teach strictly the dominant models of, well, everything. Needless to say, I'm having a bit of a hard time making meaningful connections with people from sororities, or who see the world ONLY in the same way the U.S government and Ivy League professors do. My roommate in Paris is absolutely wonderful; she is Indian American and has incredibly strong cultural ties, which is very excited for me because I have spent so much time recently studying India in terms of politics, economics, culture, and gender studies.
Mostly I am excited to get into the heart of our studies and spend time with my Swiss host family, which is made up of a mother and father and their two daughters who are both teachers in their mid twenties. I am really excited to settle into a home, meet Swiss friends, and begin work on our ISP projects. Our program is almost unsettlingly unstructured, but really excellent. Basically we spend every day meeting professionals, hearing their lectures, and interacting with them on a professional basis, we are immersed in French both in society as well as in our French class at the Ecole Club Migros, and we are to receive specific training in independent field research. This program was developed by Earl, who is with us nearly every day, and really seeks to make us into competent, successful adults rather than just occupying our time with class and taking our money. It turns out we have far more freedom than I expected- no curfews, no need to stay here or there, we can travel where ever we want whenever we want as long as we still attend our seminars and meetings. We receive a stipend for meals outside the home and are encouraged to dive into the culture and become as authentic as possible. I've never really been treated this way before in a similar setting- as if we're truly on the same level as the people we are meeting, like officials in the UN and Doctors without Borders. We get a UN Security Clearance Card once in Geneva to have access to their library, which is really exciting to me.
A final note on Paris. Where have all the punks gone? Certainly there are not here. And everyone has tiny little dogs and no place to walk them, so the sidewalks are covered in animal feces and cigarette butts- the city of love indeed!