C'est cool AND What's it really like...?

How cool is it that my blog got tagged?
A friend through many friends, Tiasha Stevens from Chicago, who I believe just recently joined the blog community, mentioned my blog in HER blog...how sweet!

...and now, the topic for today:
as i was sitting on the RER A (a commuter train, similar to the Metra in Chicago--taken lots by me and other cool kids who commuted during junior high and high school--shout out Whitney Young Ackies and the track team, FloPitt this is for you) train tonight and feeling a little bit weirded out, I thought to myself, in all my ranting and raving about RANDOM paris stuff, I feel like i've given no real sense of what it's really like to be here

i think that's got a lot to do with my first few weeks having been spent in a slight awed state...then when i was getting settled i was dealing with home drama...prayed on it, gave it to God, let it go...got re-settled and am now kind of used to it

i have a different voice now and can better speak to Paris as i speak to life regularly (for anyone who was around before there was an "Aris of Paris" (shoutout to Rev. Otis Moss III of TUCC...stay strong Trinitarians. Uncle Pops my heart is always with you))

the point?
what is it actually LIKE to be here?
well it's definitely a different country, as evidenced by the whole language barrier (which, by the way, i'll admit to speaking a helluva lot of ENGLISH lately)
it works, sorry, i'm american--BUT, I can conduct conversations in French and do not advocate for stupidity/ignorance when visiting different countries!

tonight i'll say this for "being here"...
in Paris there are a lot of RULES/regles (reg-luhs)
i think i must have gotten it from my Beauty & the Beast love affair I had with the movie and soundtrack, but it always seemed to me that Paris was "provencial" which is another reason why I still often marvel at the size of this city. It's pretty darn big. The metro goes about anywhere. Think NYC train system but not burroughs, just everything in one big blob, though very pretty and gorgeously designed architecture, etc.
But, I go back to "rules"
It's annoying--and it's more a feeling that you know somebody somewhere is trying to control you in some weird way JUST because they're used to things being whatever way they usually are.
For instance, I got a ticket yesterday on the tram, which is like an electric trolley. It's been around for a little while (1 year, though it took 3 years to build supposedly) and the RATP (train) police asked to see my ticket...they do a lot of "control" stuff here, which feels like you're constantly being audited. And I don't mean just certain people--it's EVERYBODY.
So they asked to see it and i showed them the card I use which does not have MY picture on it, but my roommate's picture because the card takes too long to come in the mail and i didn't know it was problem. Turns out it is and I had to pay 40 euro, which if anybody's paying attention to the SINKING DOLLAR is about $60...or it was yesterday.
That they even came up to me, and everybody else on the tram asking to see the tickets signifies somebody all up in my bizness. Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I was also slightly put off when last night I tried to buy wine and was told at the register, after having already selected, with approval from my new friend Michelle (after we spent an amazing 2.5 hours at the Georges Pompidou Center library!), a great bottle of red wine. I think it was a--okay I don't remember, but it wasn't Bordeaux, it was 2005 and it was only 3,02 euro (and no, the comma isn't a mistake. they write it just like that)...and yes you really can get good bottled wine here for the equivalent of $5 (which is one of the few things i don't complain about...what i DO complain about is having to buy wine in glasses at music shows/bars that cost MORE than a good bottle--often 6,50 euro!)

i digress...
I had the wine in hand and what do they tell me at the register? "Oh, sorry, we can't sell you wine after 9pm"
Now, I know there are certain states (CT for instance) that still have blue laws. I do not live in CT, so I have never had to deal with such condemnations of FREEDOM to support economy!
Now granted, my wine disappointment had much to do with the fact that I'd felt robbed from earlier in the day when the stupid RATP idiots made me pay 40 euro, but ultimately i just felt like my day (and the day previous) called for wine. I felt brutally rebuffed (Clueless, circa 199?) and complained for at least 38 minutes. It's some law that they can't sell after 21:00 hours.
UGH!!!
rules, laws, everywhere...
and don't forget to say "merci, au revoir" as you leave each store. Not a bad thing, but a small (polite-ish) adjustment.

But at the end of the day, I suppose it's one of those "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" situations.
And I, for one, am still not convinced that Paris is for me. But I am here now--telling you what it's really like :)

(and yes, i suppose in a way this is--at least for this brief fleeting moment--the return of the long blog by ArinMaya--enjoy!)