My whole life converges on Paris

One of my French friends from my high school exchange has a house at La Baule in Bretagne, essentially the Hilton Head of France.  He was going to take me there this weekend but he and his family decided to go to the South to visit his girlfriend's family instead.  That means I HAD to stay here in Paris for the weekend.  Aw shucks!  (I really hope my sarcastic tone is clear enough in those last two sentences.)

Sitting in my room at 5 pm on a Sunday afternoon I've realized my entire life converges on Paris.

First, Shannon came to visit me from Rome.  She and I have been friends since sophomore year a USC. 

This past summer I went up to Philly for my cousin's bar mitzvah.  My friend, Rachel, happens to live outside Philly so I invited her to crash the party.  She wound up meeting more of my family than I ever have at one time.  Fast forward 10 months and I get a message from saying that she and her mom are in Paris for one day and want to see me.  I get up at 11 am after getting home at 7 (the trains stop at 1:30 am so if you go out clubbing in Paris you're essentially committing to staying out until the first train at 5:30) to meet them in Paris as their tour guide for the day.

Just a couple days ago I got a snapchat that my friend, Erin, who I cheered with freshman year at USC, is spending a week in Paris with her mother.  The next day I see on instagram that my friend, Lauren, another cheerleader, is on her way to Paris too.

Late March some ESSEC friends and I were out clubbing in Paris.  Standing outside one of the clubs a guy came up and asked us if he could borrow a lighter (Mom, I promise I didn't have one and I don't smoke).  We're speaking French but I recognize his American accent.  It turns out he's from Delaware and graduated from the performing arts school, where my only cousin on my mom's side went to middle school, that shares a building with the nationally ranked charter school, where my cousin went for high school.

Earlier in March my good friend Deborah was in Belgium visiting her boyfriend who did an exchange at her school outside Boston.  He had class for a couple days and wanted to let him study so she hopped on a bus to Paris to come visit me.  

This past Friday I saw on Facebook that one of my 22+ cousins, on my dad's side, who I've never met before was in Paris for a couple days; so on Friday we met up to have lunch and actually meet for the first time.  At the end of June my aunt (the youngest of my dad's two younger sisters) is coming to Paris with one of her best friends for 6 days.

One of my other really good friends, also friends with Deborah, is studying abroad in Prague for the summer.  She's coming to Paris the weekend of June 12 to visit.

Tomorrow, Monday, my best friend since kindergarten is moving to Paris for a month to do an internship at the Paris Astronomical Institute.  He goes to Columbia University in New York so I don't get to see him often.  Once he told me when he was landing I emailed my professor for my Monday classes (I have the same prof for both classes) and told her that I wouldn't be in class since my best friend needed help moving into his apartment.  We, just a couple days ago, had an long conversation about existentialism and experiencing your life so I'm sure she understands.  Regardless, I'm allowed two absences in all my classes; this will be my second absence in French and my first in French Civilization.  After all, your best friend only moves to Paris once.

This Wednesday is my 22nd birthday (cue Taylor Swift in the background) and it just so happens that a lot of USC people will be in Paris.  The only logical thing to do is to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower on my birthday to celebrate and have a Gamecock reunion.  That will be a really chill (for lack of a better word), fun way to celebrate my birthday and old and new friends.

Finally, since I'm abroad, my family has taken the opportunity to make a vacation out of things.  On July 11 I'm taking the train to London to meet up with my immediate family and my aunt and uncle (mom's side) as well as my aunt's son from her first marriage and his girlfriend.  We're staying in London for 5 days then flying to the Loire Valley or 2 days before staying in Paris for another 5.  They leave on July 26 and I'll have another 4 days back here in Cergy to pack my stuff up and move out.

It's serendipitous just how significant Paris has been in my life and relationships.  I'm still here for another two and half months and I can't wait to see what else comes my way.