Hello readers, o' faithful few!
Greetings from a gray and rainy day in Paris, halfway through a long weekend and the beginning of a (purportedly long) government shutdown!
It's been a couple of months since the last post and the only reason I can find to give is that it's been pretty up and down for me. It got dark, for one thing, so that on a Monday through Friday basis, I go to work in the dark and head home after work in the dark. That's kind of grueling. Otherwise, winter has been coming and going in Paris, alternating between quite chilly to cool and wet. There may have been sleet at one point but no real snow (yet). Work has been going well, an uphill climb 'til just recently, when I hit my groove. It feels good not being the slow adjudicator any more (meaning I do the fewest interviews in a morning, causing my co-workers to have to do more), though I'm by no means the fastest. My workplace is fun, friendly, and challenging.
The challenge has been at home, getting myself to do any of the things that I know would improve my life. Exercise, or eating healthy, or meditating, or even sleeping more/enough. It's odd how such seemingly simple things can seem so unattainable. In a place like Paris, it can be easy to feel like you have no right to complain or to feel hardship; but it's just as easy as in a place like Mali, just in different ways. Anyway, I have many new year's resolutions and plans to help overcome some of the difficulties... so we'll see!
Since my last post, I've gone to Spain and had a couple of visitors, most notably my parents. Visitors are such a boon here, because they get me out and about doing things on my list and that I've never heard of before. Below is a recap in photos...
Greetings from a gray and rainy day in Paris, halfway through a long weekend and the beginning of a (purportedly long) government shutdown!
It's been a couple of months since the last post and the only reason I can find to give is that it's been pretty up and down for me. It got dark, for one thing, so that on a Monday through Friday basis, I go to work in the dark and head home after work in the dark. That's kind of grueling. Otherwise, winter has been coming and going in Paris, alternating between quite chilly to cool and wet. There may have been sleet at one point but no real snow (yet). Work has been going well, an uphill climb 'til just recently, when I hit my groove. It feels good not being the slow adjudicator any more (meaning I do the fewest interviews in a morning, causing my co-workers to have to do more), though I'm by no means the fastest. My workplace is fun, friendly, and challenging.
The challenge has been at home, getting myself to do any of the things that I know would improve my life. Exercise, or eating healthy, or meditating, or even sleeping more/enough. It's odd how such seemingly simple things can seem so unattainable. In a place like Paris, it can be easy to feel like you have no right to complain or to feel hardship; but it's just as easy as in a place like Mali, just in different ways. Anyway, I have many new year's resolutions and plans to help overcome some of the difficulties... so we'll see!
Since my last post, I've gone to Spain and had a couple of visitors, most notably my parents. Visitors are such a boon here, because they get me out and about doing things on my list and that I've never heard of before. Below is a recap in photos...
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| September: Exploring the Marais with Amelia and Eric, who are posted in Cyprus. |
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| October: Road trip to Normandy with Jacques and Emma, who is posted in Mali. |
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| Contemplating the waves. |
Road Tripping
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| Beach hound |
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| The Paris Opera: Palais Garnier ceiling |
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| After seeing Decadance, a ballet show at the Opera, with friends from Washington DC |
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| October: Sangria in Spain with Julia, posted in Estonia |
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| Pretty doors in our AirBnB neighborhood of Little Barcelona |
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| Arc de Triomphe in Barcelona with the cool kids |
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| Windblown on the beach |
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| November: The parents come visiting Paris and here we are with Panama hats?! At the Chocolate Expo. |
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| Birthday mama at La Duree |
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| Me and the 'rents with the Eiffel Tower in the background |
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| Some fall colors at the metro |
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| Rodin museum garden |
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| St Chapelle church, looking straight up! |
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| We did not spontaneously combust, but we did enjoy the view |
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| Walking along a bridge at the Île de la Cité |
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| Parisiennes in red berets |
