I cannot believe it is already Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! And I have been living in Paris for three months! The experience has been so many things so far. Amazing because I am living in this remarkable city that is truly like nowhere else. Everywhere I turn there is another gilded building or museum to be explored or a gem of shop to browse or an alluring bakery full of delicious pastries to sample. There are flower shops bursting with colorful blooms on every block, dogs and puppehs everywhere, and chic people bustling around with purpose and energy. All things that give me so much joy. Humbling because as an American needing a visa, I cannot be choosy about my employment situation and most of the time I feel as if the term indentured servitude wouldn't be an exaggeration. A lot of times, I don't even know how I make it through the week. Thought-inducing because, while I know I'm somewhat predisposed to this, something about wandering around art museums or walking aimlessly by the river or through unknown streets makes one so... introspective. I dwell on questions I perpetually cannot answer, I frequently become completely lost in observation, I feel like I am learning more about this world than I can even realize right now. Awful because of the stresses of being in a foreign country without knowing the language or having much money at all but mostly the unfortunately numerous occasions that I have been victimized by people with malintent. Exciting because I cannot possibly be bored here. I honestly have not had the chance to be bored once arriving, there is not an idle second and if there were, I definitely have something I would want to fill it with. I wish I had more free time because I know I will never be done exploring all this city has to offer, I'm worried I am not going to be ready to leave! Something about this combination of things, both good and bad, has made me feel so incredibly thankful to be alive. I am so happy to be alive and I am so happy I feel so alive. I often feel overwhelmed with emotion when I think about it! I am so thankful for every single person I have in my life that I love so much, I feel so blessed. My whole family, each one of you are so amazing. My friends, my Mr. M, you are all so wonderful. I feel so filled with thanks thinking about how lucky I am to have everyone in my life.I think, without even being able to celebrate properly, this is my most thankful Thanksgiving yet.!
