Kelinde's Declassified French Survival Guide

In my earlier post (four years ago), I mentioned that you should “pack what you want”. Please don’t do that. I carried two suitcases full of nothing and I ended up having to throw some clothes and shoes out. I also bought a lot of things with me that I didn’t need! Also, baggage fees killed me at the airport. Please don’t be as obnoxious as I was four years ago, pack one suitcase. After a while it became obvious that we didn’t have a lot of clothes LOL we were all pretty comfortable with seeing each other in the same outfits over the course of four months. You know it’s bad when you can tell immediately if someone bought a new article of clothing. You’ll survive Strasbourg with one suitcase, trust me.

Love you guys!

See you in the next four years LOL

Hi friends!

I can’t believe I’m updating this blog almost 4 years later, but I do want to give an update (even though I really hate writing).

France was great! I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I ate a lot, I shopped a lot, I spent a a lot, I slept a lot, I traveled a lot, I studied a lot. I enjoyed it.

My study abroad was single handedly the greatest experience of MY LIFE . and it really kickstarted my travel obsession. I legit hate writing guys so I will update the rest of this later, or maybe I’ll see you again in the next four years, haha.

Bon Nuit. (I still got it) lol

Bonjour!

It is currently 6:46 A.M. and I just got back from an amazing weekend in Vienna with the BDI program here at Strasbourg. I’m writing this while it is still fresh in my mind so here goes!

Vienna turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Many people overlook Austria when they discuss places to go in Europe. Here in Austria I visited the most beauuuutifull garden ever. It was so relaxing to just be outdoors and embracing the fall season. After the garden I went to Prater park which is a famous amusement park in Vienna. However, the park is no six flags its more of a fair, AND the food is cheap for a fair. 3.90 euro for a sandwich? Sounds like a deal to me! They also had a mini Oktoberfest area. I don’t know if it will be there in the Spring or replaced by something else but I got a souvenir cup for 1 euro!

Outside of the hostel we stayed (Wombats) there is a market that sells the most vintage items I have ever seen. They have old leather bags, programs from plays in the 1950s they have vintage passports, hats, cheap food, scarves. They have old things and new things from souvenir shops. Of course it is closed on Sundays but it was one of my favorite parts and I don’t go vintage shopping so that says a lot.

The hostel we stayed in (Wombats)  was really nice. It was clean, there was a bathroom in my room, and breakfast was really good!

I went with 50 students (mostly French) and it was a great way to meet new people and make new friends. I really enjoyed it!

Austria is a hidden wonder in this world. Everything is great! The food, the people, the language! (They speak German but plenty of people there speak English!). The train system is similar to Paris and New York and it is really simple. If you can navigate the train in Paris you will do fine in Austria. The only difference is that all the words are German! Yikes! (And I thought it was hard to learn French!

Ça va!!

Hallo! ( Thats how the French say it LOL)

So this past weekend was the most epic weekend I have had since I’ve been here. I went to PARIS!! Paris is the most beautiful city I have ever been to, and I am pretty well traveled. The transit system is exactly like New York, EXACTLY. So the only prerequisite is being from New York and you’ll be fine (I’m just kidding) however, being a New Yorker did help.

Tips

I stayed at a hotel in Rungis which is an hour outside of Paris. I know that sounds bad but with the metro it really didn’t matter too much. The hotel I stayed in was cheaper than a hostel. A hostel would have cost me 60 euros for 2 nights and the hotel charged me 70 but I split that with a friend (and if you come with more people you save more) so I saved 15 euros, which came in handy for transportation, and food (because food in Paris is expensive.)

* The prices of drinks cost more than some meals, so I walked around with my own water.

* Sorry, I lied, there are no such things as meals. In some places you have to order your entree and side SEPARATELY, and the portions are small. I mean prices aren’t that bad but you may end up spending 20 euro on a meal (unless you go to McDonalds).

*Souvenirs are CHEAPEST at Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower is good too, but the cheapest are at NOTRE DAME (plus all the souvenirs are pretty much the same)

* KEEP WALKING! The further you go down the street the cheaper things get!

* Notre Dame, Musee d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower (obviously) and the Arc are open on Sundays!

* Hold on to your purses! Be on the lookout for pickpockets!!!

Places I Visited

Arc de Triomphe 

Eiffel Tower

Palace of Versailles

The MOST beautiful building I have EVER stepped foot in, you MUST go here

Random Parisian dishes to make you hungry lol

I found a Chinese (Chinois in French) place, several actually which is very rare in Strasbourg.

Musee d’Orsay

You aren’t allowed to take pictures but… lol I had a wave of rebellion rush over me lol.

Louvre

Selfie with my homegirl  Mona

Notre Dame 

Bonsoir!

So the weirdest thing happened to me the other day. I saw this girl leaving a bar I was at and she looked sooo familiar. I ran up to her and asked her if she went to Georgia State and she said “yes I was an exchange student there.”

What a coincidence! She was an exchange student at my school and now I am an exchange student at her school. What are the odds?

Bonsoir!

I know it’s been awhile but a few weeks ago I was on my way to film a French web series ( I was an extra)  called “Redownland” which will be coming in January!! So I will post a link to that in the near future. Back to my story… so on my way there me and Elle stopped at an African shop to ask for directions and the lady was selling perm and stuff and she also had a list of numbers for people who did BRAIDS!! SCORE!!!!

The numbers are blurred so I will post them down below:

0753489427

0637690447

0753055496

0672963115

0605609158

0751112259

Saltations!

This is one of my most important posts so listen up!

In France it’s frowned upon to ACT American, not to be American but to act American, and this means to be quiet. As Americans many of us are naturally loud and maybe it’s because Americans are always and I meant always talking so in order to be heard you have to be louder than the next guy. In France it’s different even in a crowded mall there will be an element of silence and at most you will hear hushed voices not loud boisterous conversations. 

Examples

1)Last night I was on the phone and it was 2 a.m. (which to me is normal because I don’t sleep especially since I nap a lot which you will the first week because you will be constantly busy.) I was calling back home so it was around 8 P.M. in the U.S. and I didn’t realize how loud I was until some French lady BANGED on my door it was so LOUD I thought she was a robber and started yelling at me in French. I have absolutely NO idea what she said only her and God know and I’m sure what she said wasn’t kind. I was so scared I tiptoed around my room the whole night!

2) At breakfast this morning I was talking to a classmate and he told me that after the club we went to an Irish student was walking in an alley and was so drunk and loud a local Frenchman slapped him in the face and he had the mark to prove it the NEXT day! Ouch!

3)  I was on the bus talking to two classmates and I said Beyonce’s name really loud (I mean its Yonce), and this French lady gave me the DIRTIEST look. LOL.

In conclusion the best advice I can give is in order to not appear American don’t act American, especially NOT in big cities like Paris (and if you leave the country Barcelona and Rome) because people will ROB you if they know you are American. Trust me this happened to my dad in Italy before (sorry dad, he hates when I tell this story.) And they even told us about this during orientation if your American don’t bring attention to yourself. 

So when in France….. just be quiet. 

 

Bonjour!!

I have two hours before I have to get ready for yet ANOTHER orientation this one at the IEP (School for Political Science), so blogging it is!

Okay if you are a GSU student you will be with the CEPA program and thats pretty definite unless the partnership falls through, and I doubt it will (this is the most popular program at GSU and it has withstood the test of time.)

Tips

Pack what you want!!! I definitely under packed considering the fact that I love to have variation in my outfits. I’m not the type of woman you see walking around in workout clothes unless I’m you know working out. I have a room to myself so I could afford to pack two big suitcases and to have a duffel bag and purse to carry on the plane. CEPA tells you to pack lightly and in doing so I left a lot of things I WANTED (not needed) at home when I had the space.

My suggestions

PACK WHAT YOU WANT( Pack your NEEDS first obviously)! Make sure your suitcases if you bring two (which I did, because I’m extra) weigh 45 pounds each NOT 50 because you will want to bring some things back, and ALWAYS use a carry-on just in case your suitcase is overweight. Now I’ve been told that you want to “pack light” because you will buy things here. Okay first thing Europe is EXPENSIVE because the euro is higher in value than the dollar so you end up spending MORE over here, so bring things from home and if you can afford to go on a shopping spree go right ahead. Also it’s CHEAPER to bring TWO suitcases than to pay for an overweight one. However, do so cautiously because if you have a roommate (and you won’t know until you get here) you might not have space, but then again some shared rooms are bigger than others. One more thing I wish I had known is this hotel has NO elevators (it was built 250 years ago by some rich people), so I definitely broke a sweat (and a nail) carrying up two suitcases full of clothes, and I’m a pretty strong girl. Proceed with caution! 

The hotel has NO pics of student housing so I will attach some photos of my room

 

#chateaudepourtales #packingabroad #studenthousing 

When I first played with the idea of creating a blog I thought about a specific group of women (black women), and something that is very important to us OUR HAIR! 

When doing my research I couldn’t quite find a hair salon that specializes in African American hair. For those who don’t know my hair is VERYYYY kinky and hard to manage. I can’t wash my hair and go it needs to be DONE. So because I couldn’t find anything online I just thought that I would figure it out when I got here, and I was in for a surprise.

The three main types of hairstyles that I see here in order are..

1) Braids

2) Really bad/cheap  lace wigs

3)Really bad/cheap weaves

4) Natural hair 

Now I’m not saying this to be harsh, as I said in my introduction I PROMISE to be honest. It’s like these women don’t know what a brazilian hair weave looks like and it’s not their fault. There are no hair salons that I have seen so far that cater to black women, and I REFUSE to get a French perm especially since I don’t speak the language. The Salons here that I see are catered more-so to European hair textures, so in order to find someone to do my hair I had to exercise my “extravertness” and ask random people on the street. When I approached one woman she told me she did her hair herself and this just made me assume that most women here do their hair themselves. She didn’t speak english and her braids were a little dated to me but I took down her number because you know desperate times call for desperate measures. 

My suggestion to any African American girl with natural hair coming on this trip…

Go for braids!! I wouldn’t trust a foreign perm simply because perms aren’t something you can allow anybody to do. In order to get braids follow these simple steps.

1) Find someone you see with exceptional braids

2) Ask them who did their hair

3) Get that person’s contact information

4) Get your hair done! 

I’ll add some pics of the hair I see on a daily basis, and I will let you know how my hair journey works out for me. I currently have in a Peruvian deep wave but it won’t last forever, and I need to get my options together from now.