{exploring east paris}
{cimetière du montparnasse and the neighborhood butte-aux-cailles}
{le chateau de versailles}
{LORDEEEE! absolutely insane but absolutely brilliant}
there is something to be said about studying abroad, or at least traveling when you're young. one of the things i find most intriguing is learning how we communicate when a common language isn't part of the equation. a roll of the eyes, a point of the finger, a few vertical jazz hands when one wants to describe the drops of rain falling outside. i've been thinking that these moments - when we're most in touch with ourselves and are forced to assume the most basic form of communication - help to reinforce the beauty of the words spoken to those who can understand you beyond hand gestures and facial expressions.
as i sat down to my coffee this morning, my host mom asked me if i wanted to accompany her to the market. what followed made the 40 years she has lived in this neighborhood readily apparent - the kisses she flung left and right outside her tiny car window as she drove down the street, the greeting of "ma cherie" to every market vendor, the laughs she shared with every homme et femme whom she approached. i felt like a five year old child as i pointed and she translated: "la asperge," "le lapin," "le crevette." it was pretty grounding, to say the least.
on another note, a weekend well spent with some kids i'm grateful to be spending time with abroad, and an amazing music festival in parc de bagatelle right here in pont de neuilly.
"as time goes on, you'll understand. what lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. time solves most things. and what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself."
- haruki murakami
