Au revoir....

The sentiments in my last blog were hopeful and excited. Although, at that time I was speaking of my year in Paris, I have changed my outlook towards a new semester at UW-Milwaukee and a new appreciation of home. Over the past 5 days, so much has transpired that I am feeling very exhausted mentally and emotionally. On Thursday, as I was returning from my day of teaching, I received a phone call from Melissa at our study abroad center MICEFA. She was calling to see if my roommates and I would be available for a meeting on Friday at 1pm. I said yeah, no problem, and asked what the meeting was regarding. She informed me that my landlord had contacted her stating that there were some issues we needed to address concerning our living arrangements. As I was sitting on the metro on the way home my heart raced, wondering what these issues could be. I thought back over the past several weeks… there was one occasion that we were loud when returning home from a club… otherwise we had been pretty mild.

When I got back to my apartment I talked with Rose and brought her up to speed on the situation. She decided to call Melissa to get more information regarding the issues. Melissa clarified that the noise complaints were from our neighbors and cited several noise complaints pertaining to a violin and piano. First of all, who complains about musical instruments during the holidays?! Apparently our neighbors did. Secondly, she said that we were being loud in the halls. Ok, perhaps there were several times that this occurred but it has never been an every night situation where we are binge drinking idiots. So, we felt calm about the situation thinking that we would get chastised and told to be quiet in the halls, sign a notice and we’re good to go…

On Friday at one we all filed into an office at MICEFA. They cut the shit right away, and explained that they wanted us evicted and out by Monday, January 9^th. I hate to admit it, but emotions got the best of me at that moment and I started to cry. We asked if we could work something out. After all, we were never given a warning or notice as to the issues. Further, our “issues” seemed quite minimal. Noise is something that can be easily dealt with. After requesting this, we were responded to with an affirmative “NO”. We were to be out OVER the weekend. After our meeting, Madame Kaplan (our landlord) and Melissa followed us to our apartment to go through the “état de lieux” or, state of the apartment. She jotted down notes as we awkwardly sat there waiting for her to leave so we could make our next move. After Madame left, Melissa informed us that she would be available to us all weekend should we have any questions or concerns. At this point, we felt as though we could depend on her for moral and house searching support.

After Melissa left, I spoke with my dad who quickly came to my rescue. He did some research and found that it is completely illegal to be evicted during the winter months in France. Others confirmed this. Further, Lauren lives with a French lawyer who stated that what our landlord did was wrong and that we did not actually have to leave the premises until Spring. All of these revelations made our blood boil more. Our concerns consisted of retrieving our security deposit ($2500 per person), finding housing for Rose and Rhea (I had already decided to return to the states at that point) and finding temporary housing thinking that we were going to be homeless by January 9^th. On top of these notices from our landlord, all three of us were totally sick. Rose and I had been considering each other Ethel and Fred for days because neither of us could hear anything the other was saying, and this situation only made matters worse. The final note on this is that Rose’s friend Nicole had just come into Paris on Friday morning… bon voyage.

Typically I am a VERY positive person, but all of these things were causing my morale to crack.

Over the weekend we looked for housing, went to IKEA to refurnish certain items of the apartment that had been damaged, and waited for what was to come on Monday. We also tried to contact Melissa NUMEROUS times in order to get some answers and she NEVER once responded. I have to say that this was a disappointment considering we are students at the end of the day. We do need support from a study abroad organization when we are not getting it from anywhere else, and to not get it from Melissa after she specifically said we would was a big letdown.

Yesterday, we looked for housing. 3pm, doom’s time, the hour at which we were to return our keys to MICEFA came and went without a word from any involved parties. We had taken the lawyer’s advice and decided to stay in our apartment considering that what Madame Kaplan was requesting was illegal. Last night we binged on pastries and drank champagne to improve our morale and we slept like babies, again, unsure of what the next day would bring.

This morning we woke up, and spent the day searching the internet for any housing listings. Rose and Rhea are having some trouble finding anything big enough for both of them, but they are being persistent, hopefully this is an occasion where it pays off!

I am quite happy given the circumstances. I feel that this situation shed light on my desire to return home. I had previously been contemplating my financial situation. Paris is, as I have previously mentioned in posts, is SO expensive. I had been stressing on how I would pay for college this fall because all of my resources had been going towards this experience. Coming home now gives me the opportunity to take classes this semester AND work so that I can continue with classes this fall. I am so excited that I have already registered for 18 credits at UW-Milwaukee. I need to feel academically challenged again; that just wasn’t happening here. Overall, it just made sense to end the study abroad experience with this situation. No, I am not bitter in anyway. This was a growing AND learning experience and I will leave it behind a wiser woman…

 So, I am coming home after a semester when initially my plans were to stay a year, and I am perfectly fine with that. I feel that spending a year and a half altogether in France is more than most can say, and I am satisfied with that and my decision to go home. I have had a wonderful semester here and have learned so much about myself, my future plans, my past experiences and who I am as a woman. I have found future bridesmaids, laughed until I cried, and cried until I couldn’t anymore; I will never forget the memories that I have created here. At this time, I am looking forward to creating new memories at home with a new outlook and appreciation that I wouldn’t have without having had this experience in Paris. I am positive, and happy, and still looking forward!

This semester was a wonderful experience. Paris is a beautiful and magical city and this last negative event has not tainted any of the city's enchanting essence. France, you can bet your bottom dollar that this is NOT the last time I will be stepping foot on your cobblestoned streets... I will be back. For now; Paris, je t'aime et au revoir!