Saint Vendredi

Today was Good Friday, or Saint Friday as it's referred in French. I found a little Roman Catholic Parish near my neighborhood called Saint Joseph's Church. It's an English congregation, which I wasn't actually looking to find, but since it was close I thought it might be nice. The priest has a great Irish accent and all of the lectures had a different accent from somewhere in the world. I recognized the American right away.

I had a strange epiphany, which might be difficult to explain, but I'll try: When I'm walking around town or on public transportation in Paris, I generally try to pass as Parisian (and wonder if I ever pull it off) so that if two people are talking, they might as well think I can understand them, even though most of the time I can't since French gossip can ramble a little bit and it's difficult for me to follow unless I get the full beginning, middle and end of a conversation. Anyway, sitting in this church surrounded by a room full of people who opted for an English service, I felt odd at first, because everywhere else I go, even though both of my jobs allow me to speak English on a regular basis, I am nervous that I won't be able to communicate. It was kind of unbelievable to me that I could (potentially) speak at my leisure and I would be understood. I felt like a kid with his hand caught in a cookie jar. I'm not supposed to be speaking English, but I can here and no one can fault me for it!

Ok, that said...moving on.
Darcy and I took French class together in high school. She studied abroad in college and then moved back for a masters program. Here's where I pay tribute to Facebook...Darcy noticed that I had a blog about living in Paris in the Springtime and sent me a message to grab dinner, so we did last Wednesday and then had lunch today. It was really great to catch up about where everyone is right now and what's changed at Notre Dame. It's just nice to have a friend in Paris that knows where I come from and where it feels like she genuinely likes having me around. It sounds strange but everyone I've met so far, it's been like I'll just go out and have fun and if nothing comes of it then it's no big deal, because it wasn't there before. But she cares that I text her when I get home, and that's a comfort that I hadn't realized I'd missed.

Now I need to get to bed because it's late and I'm off to London early tomorrow morning!