Being the parent of a college student studying abroad definitely has its perks! Number one is they miss you more and really appreciate anything that reminds them of home... even us! Coming to visit means bringing all their spring clothes, Wawa coffee, peanut butter and other things that they need and miss. It's not like they can't get peanut butter in Paris, it just costs 8 euros for half the size jar as in the US. They also get to eat out in restaurants that they would never spend their own budget on. We take them shopping and fill up the refrigerator with enough food to last more than a few days. I have to say the food in France was incredible and don't understand why everyone there is so skinny. Everywhere you look is a boulangerie and patisserie that sells the most beautiful and delicious pastries and bread that could kill any low carb diet. How do they do it? Wine at every meal, amazing bread, everything is made with the freshest butter and cheese and to top it off, creme brûlée! Immediately you can tell the Americans from the French. Only the Americans were fat!
We are truly glutens for punishment. Here in the US we like everything "super sized". In France the portions are just enough. Nothing is wasted and they look at you funny if you ask to "take away" leftovers. That brings me to another point...the waiters. Since the tip is already factored in they don't care that you wait a half hour for a menu or if they ignore you altogether because you don't speak French. I noted how these waiters wouldn't make any money in American restaurants with that level of rudeness.
Probably the greatest perk of studying in Europe is the ease of travel to other locations and countries. We took a train to Nice and stayed in a really cute "flat" right on the beach. This allowed us to explore the entire French Riviera and even drove right into Italy for lunch, then back to France for dinner. No passport was needed at all. Each village was something out of a fairy tale or a bigger version of Epcot. The road along the coast weaved in and out of small towns with cobblestone streets. There were amazing views of the mediterranean sea all along the route. Our favorite was the mountain village Eze with a castle hotel at the top. Next time we are staying there... $3600 a night! We saw Monaco and Monte Carlo where Devyn gambled and lost legally for the first time. Everything was perfect....until the train ride home! We took the last train back to Paris from Nice and were moving along fine until we got to Toulon. After 30 minutes of trying to figure out what was going on and not understanding the language we became very frustrated. People were getting off the train and chatting in French. Nobody outside would tell us what was going on. Announcements over the speaker system sounded like gibberish. Everyone seemed calm but annoyed. My faith in French culture was wearing thin. Employees of the train came into the car and spoke to only a select few. Eric asked a women across the aisle if she spoke English. Luckily she did and could tell us what was going on. She told us someone jumped on the tracks and committed suicide. She explained every announcement. She made sure we understood what to do. They had to send the train back to Nice for the night and then leave in the morning. They announced that if anyone didn't have a place to stay overnight they would find a " solution". That's when she asked if she could call and get us a room too. Her husband made arrangements for a hotel for us near the train station. The" solution" for everyone else was to sleep on the train. So our new best friend took us and even told us she would wait downstairs in morning and go to station with us. I was amazed. Everyone we had met in France up to this point was not at all friendly or helpful. She was like a "guardian angel". Even when our 5:30am alarm didn't go off she found our room and knocked to wake us up. Not even in America would that happen. What I found out was she was a Palestinian that was forced to leave her country as a child and her family was in Kuwait when Sadam Hussain invaded. She married a French man and is a social worker in Paris. If anyone should be a social worker it should be her. We spoke for the entire 8 hour train ride. What I realized was that because she endured so much hardship in her life she wanted only to help people. Whats no food or water for 8 hours when bombs are going off outside her home. When we finally got back to Paris I hugged her for all her help and couldn't thank her enough.
I feel so blessed to have shared in Devyn's travel abroad experience. This will not only open her eyes to the different cultures in the world but inspire her to make a difference too.
Now that we're home safely and getting ready for Passover I will think about all the places in the world where education, safety, freedom, and food are scarce and I will say a prayer for them. My wish is that there are many more " guardian angels" out there to help them be safe! I now know that Devyn will be one of them!
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