La Victoire

So, today I woke up in a panic and ran down to the metro to take a two hour trip down south to Évry (Essonne) for my first day of work. I thought it would only take an hour so I was extremely late.

The address I was given was incomplete and I had no specific directions. I walked a few kilometers before I found the government center and then had to wander around until I found the room for orientation. I strolled in angrily thirty minutes before the end of the meeting. They didn't seem to care I was late and had nothing to say about their incompetent directions. I filled out my paper work, gave it to them and listened to the game plan. After several more meetings and some more paperwork it looks like I'll be ready to teach some English.

I then ran to the metro, rode all the way back to Paris, and then to la Celle St. Cloud in order to open a bank account. The banker was a young guy who loves America and spent two hours worshiping us. He just couldn't figure out why we liked France and we couldn't see why he liked America. Classic. I think he thought we were so nice because Americans are just nice to anyone with a pretty accent. Anyways, we got an account! So, that was a huge hurdle. We cashed our checks, but it'll take a week to clear.

Afterwards, we went to the town's market and bought some freshly butchered and cooked chickens with potatoes. It was SO good. They were just butchering animals in the middle of the street, gutting them, cooking them and selling them on the spot. We ate whole chickens that had been breathing like two hours before we got there. Quintessential French.

We got a hot chocolate while we hid from the rain and celebrated a little. It was our first tangible victory.

The Paris Catch-22

Lauren and I arrived in Paris Wednesday the 22nd of September. We had officially started our biggest adventure together to date. Through the University we obtained posts as assistant English teachers in the French school system. Lauren is teaching high schoolers in la Celle St. Cloud and I'm teaching in several little elementary schools south of Paris. We are both paid pretty well and will only be working twelve hours a week maximum. It seems like a dream come true.

The last week or so has been hell--it has been the hardest trial to date for our marriage. Neither our University nor our facilitators have been able to really help us find a place to live or open a bank account; everyone's hands are tied. In France, the banks are regionalized and in order to open an account you need to live near the bank and you need to prove it. The catch-22 is that in order to rent a place you need at least a bank account ( in addition to lettres de garant and a whole reassuring dossier ). You can't have one without the other. The only hope is to know people who can help you or find a lucky loophole. After a week of struggling we finally got Lauren's school to help us open an account today.

Meantime, we have been going from hotel to hotel, carting our eight bags around with us through the metro system, fighting out of stress, and starving. We spent hundreds of euro on hotels, food, internet, and travel and we've only been here nine days. Its been a nightmare. Last week, Lauren and I went to an apartment showing in the 13ème (where we want to live for transit purposes ). We were a bit late and in our usual panic when we strolled up to the apartment--there were fifty people there waiting to see the apartment. There were people form all walks of life, just as desperate as we were to get an apartment in Paris. Each person or couple had a nicely prepared dossier with them including garants, references, and probably their family tree tracing them back to Napoleon! We were no match for fifty French people. Its a shame too, because the apartment was amazing.

Yesterday, an agency set up an appointment with us to see a place in the 19ème. The apartment was decent, but had plenty of space. We told the agent we wanted it and explained our situation. After telling the agent that we were American and therefore had no way to build a decent dossier she said it was no big deal; all we needed was a deposit of six months! That equalled about 4,000 euro! Those two experiences just about sum it up for Paris apartment searching.

We signed up with a budget renting agency the other day who allowed us to call on some apartments. We found a nice place in the 13ème that is owned by an intense French mother of seven. She showed us all around the quartier on foot. It was real funny and very refreshing after getting stiff-armed for a solid week on apartments, banks, and agencies. If we can round up our funds quick enough I think we'll get the apartment.

After a week of pure torture things seem to be falling into place for us a bit. Hopefully, I'll be able to enjoy Paris a bit now.