I suppose I can no longer cheat you all with pretending that I am still frolicking around in France. In fact, it would be rude and dishonest to not confess the truth to my faithful readers out there.
It really has not dawned on me that I have been back in the USA for almost two weeks. I am not sure if I have just grown immune to what has been going on or if I am mentally and emotionally already moving on towards a new life challenge. As a friend of mine put it, if I were to have cried every time I received some sort of new information about my situation in Lyon, my eyeballs would have already popped out of my head. Indeed, the last time I cried was at the American Consulate over a month ago. I sobbed the entirety of my two hour meeting (well, once they finally had the guts to stop lying about being there for me.) In essence, they claimed that they would do absolutely nothing for me if I were put into prison for staying in France to fight for my rights. I find it quite ironic how we are brought up to believe that we should always fight for what we believe in, yet when we do that, no one seems to care unless there is money involved behind the scenes or a life (more so multiple lives) at risk.
In any case, I am not asking for your empathy. What is done, is done. So I keep strong on the outside and replay Steve Job's graduation speech at Stanford University hoping that this past dot is leading to an even better future me. Who knows maybe all of the technical, complex French I learned through all of the letters I received from the Direction du Travail, Préfècture, Tribunal, other lawyers, and judges will come into play later down in the line when I am an International Law lawyer. Or perhaps it will push me to fight for foreigner rights in my own country. Who knows what life has in store for me.
Until then I can only laugh at the fact that I had two police officers with me at all times in the airport. They refused to hand over my passport until I was buckled into my seat. (And the damn seat belt sign was not even on yet.) However, I absolutely cannot take it for granted that I cut all of the lines for check-in, baggage drop, security, AND was the first (escorted) person onto my plane out of France. It still seems all so surreal that this was my life. That I was kicked out of a country I love as much as my own and treated like a criminal when I did absolutely nothing wrong. But, life goes on and when one door closes another opens, and all that optimist jazz.
Ultimately, I want to thank all of you who have supported my move to France, who have kept in contact despite the time differences and distances, who have cared about my life abroad, and most of all who have bothered to take five minutes out of their lives to read what I have written on this blog. Without you I would have never bothered to keep this thing going. I know that there are millions of blogs out there in the mysterious internet galaxy about teach abroad experiences, daily life happenings, traveling, food, and happiness, but thank you for reading MINE! I feel BLESSED to know that you have followed me around France, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Morocco, and Tunisia the past two years.
So where do you come back into the picture dearest reader? Well, I've got a two part plan. I suppose you could take a gander that I don't give up. Everything is all in the making/editing/figuring out phase but at least I am putting you first in my plan right?
For my English speakers, I will be doing more of an opinion section and I am up for any and all comments, big, small, ridiculous, or controversial. Please sign up to leave your thoughts.
For my French speakers, I will be writing to you in French (please correct my grammatical mistakes), showing you America from an authentic American point of view. The reality, not the media provoked bullshit you are used to seeing on your television sets and iPhones.
So that's that. Until next time, un grand merci to all who continue to support me through this journey. And please do not leave without listening to this lovely band: click here.
Bisous,
La Petite Pamplemousse
It really has not dawned on me that I have been back in the USA for almost two weeks. I am not sure if I have just grown immune to what has been going on or if I am mentally and emotionally already moving on towards a new life challenge. As a friend of mine put it, if I were to have cried every time I received some sort of new information about my situation in Lyon, my eyeballs would have already popped out of my head. Indeed, the last time I cried was at the American Consulate over a month ago. I sobbed the entirety of my two hour meeting (well, once they finally had the guts to stop lying about being there for me.) In essence, they claimed that they would do absolutely nothing for me if I were put into prison for staying in France to fight for my rights. I find it quite ironic how we are brought up to believe that we should always fight for what we believe in, yet when we do that, no one seems to care unless there is money involved behind the scenes or a life (more so multiple lives) at risk.
In any case, I am not asking for your empathy. What is done, is done. So I keep strong on the outside and replay Steve Job's graduation speech at Stanford University hoping that this past dot is leading to an even better future me. Who knows maybe all of the technical, complex French I learned through all of the letters I received from the Direction du Travail, Préfècture, Tribunal, other lawyers, and judges will come into play later down in the line when I am an International Law lawyer. Or perhaps it will push me to fight for foreigner rights in my own country. Who knows what life has in store for me.
Until then I can only laugh at the fact that I had two police officers with me at all times in the airport. They refused to hand over my passport until I was buckled into my seat. (And the damn seat belt sign was not even on yet.) However, I absolutely cannot take it for granted that I cut all of the lines for check-in, baggage drop, security, AND was the first (escorted) person onto my plane out of France. It still seems all so surreal that this was my life. That I was kicked out of a country I love as much as my own and treated like a criminal when I did absolutely nothing wrong. But, life goes on and when one door closes another opens, and all that optimist jazz.
Ultimately, I want to thank all of you who have supported my move to France, who have kept in contact despite the time differences and distances, who have cared about my life abroad, and most of all who have bothered to take five minutes out of their lives to read what I have written on this blog. Without you I would have never bothered to keep this thing going. I know that there are millions of blogs out there in the mysterious internet galaxy about teach abroad experiences, daily life happenings, traveling, food, and happiness, but thank you for reading MINE! I feel BLESSED to know that you have followed me around France, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Morocco, and Tunisia the past two years.
So where do you come back into the picture dearest reader? Well, I've got a two part plan. I suppose you could take a gander that I don't give up. Everything is all in the making/editing/figuring out phase but at least I am putting you first in my plan right?
For my English speakers, I will be doing more of an opinion section and I am up for any and all comments, big, small, ridiculous, or controversial. Please sign up to leave your thoughts.
For my French speakers, I will be writing to you in French (please correct my grammatical mistakes), showing you America from an authentic American point of view. The reality, not the media provoked bullshit you are used to seeing on your television sets and iPhones.
So that's that. Until next time, un grand merci to all who continue to support me through this journey. And please do not leave without listening to this lovely band: click here.
Bisous,
La Petite Pamplemousse
