Je Me Suis Installe

I moved into my apartment and I'm completely thrilled I just need a few items to pimp out the place completely (mom if you're reading this feel free to send a blank check my way so I can hit up the local IKEA). Now I can start blogging about more important things such as partying and perhaps teaching.

A technician from France Telecom stopped by today to update my phone line for the low low price of 54 euros. I'm not exactly sure what he did but I was told that it was a requirement to have my internet set up. So, tomorrow I have to go to the Phone House to set up my phone, internet and cable with Neuf for the low low price of 55 euros. To top things off it should only take about 3 weeks to get set up. Yes folks 3 whole weeks!

Vagabond No More

After six weeks of living like a vagabond, moving from place to place and crashing on the couches of friends, I have finally found a place to call home. I found the place a couple of weeks ago but things weren't finalized until yesterday. I saw the place several weeks ago when I was at my lowest point and because of my excitement about the place the girl subletting it selected me above all of the other hopeful renters. Or maybe she just felt bad for me because I sounded so pathetic when I met her.

The apartment is a furnished studio and it is approximately 30 square meters (322 square feet) which is HUGE by Paris standards (I've seen many during my search). It's located in the 11th arrondissement in the quartier de la Roquette. Republic and Oberkampf are to the north, Place de la Bastille is to the West and to the east is Pere Lachaise.

I don't move in until the 31st of October or the 1st of November so I will be couch surfing for a few more days but there is an end in sight.

If it wasn't for Opal, Amy, Lillian and Chi-Young letting me crash at their places I probably would have flown back home by now. There are so many more people that were very supportive and helped me in a number of different ways such as all the strangers that helped me carry my 120lbs worth of luggage up and down many flights stairs.

Edit: I forgot to add Veronica to the list. If it weren't for Veronica I probably still wouldn't have a bank account let alone a récipissé for my CDS.

An Update I Guess

So as of right now it looks like I won't be a homeless vagabond in Paris for the duration of my contract. Good things are on the horizon and I just keep my fingers crossed that everything works out.

I've been a bad blogger as of late but if you've had to move 120lbs of luggage around Paris 5 times in the past 4 weeks blogging would probably be the last thing on your mind as well.

Before I say goodbye I want to send a huge shoutout to Islandgirl4ever2 who invited me to join and her fellow expats friends at lunch last Friday. She embodies the word sweetheart.

More to come soon dear readers and perhaps, maybe, possibly I will post a picture or two for you all.

Are You Black?

That's the question that was posed this morning when I call a woman who is offering free housing in exchange for babysitting her brats children. I'm getting desperate here and the idea of not having to pay rent is very alluring.

I guess she thought that since I was born in the Bronx that I must be a hardcore, gangsta rap loving, gun toting black person. Since I was a little taken aback and caught off guard I just answered the question truthfully. And her response was "Oh that's great my children really haven't been exposed to that many different types of people especially black ones." And so in an effort to save the world from their fear of black people I have decided to meet with her at 3PM today.

Oh the French gotta love them.

How to Lose 10lbs in Two Weeks

1. Move to Paris on limited budget with low income
2. Walk all over the city in search of affordable housing
3. Forget to eat during the day
4. Get home late realizing that you have forgotten to eat all day
5. Pass out due to exhaustion
6. Repeat

The above steps can be summarized by the following:
Become a English Teaching Assistant in France placed in the Paris-Versailles-Creteil academie.

Because of my sheer desperation I'm considering calling this guy.

I owe you, my dear readers a detailed post about what I have been up to for the past 10 days or so but I just haven't gotten around to it. I also have some pictures that I would like to share but my sheer exhaustion and focus on finding housing prevents me from doing so at this time. Stay tuned.

Le Nouveau Locataire

Today I saw the Parisian apartment of my dreams. It was big, it was bright, there was balcony, there was an elevator and it was in a clean safe area. Oh and the guy that is renting it out was very nice and friendly and included in the rent is a cleaning man that comes three times a week (an upgrade from my bi-monthly cleaning woman in New York) and is a much needed necessity when living with three men.

The only downside is that I would be paying my entire salary in rent and I would be eligible for CAF assistance because the landlord refuses to add anyone else to the lease. While I am somewhat willing to pay that much for an apartment here in Paris I was banking on the idea of being able to get some money back from CAF assistance. If that's not possible I will have to bust my butt finding side jobs such as tutoring or babysitting some little brats (this is meant entirely as a joke and purely for entertainment purposes only to any future/current employers reading this post). So for the time being I will continue my search but will consider the apartment that I saw this morning.

*Anyone that has taken the beginner course in French at the Alliance Francaise will understand the post title.

I LOVE New York!!!!!!!!

Today I received an email from an English teacher from one of my schools. Maybe it was just my interpretation or maybe it really was her writing style but she seemed really excited to be writing to me and to have me as an assistant. She asked to know a little bit more about me so in my response I told her that I was a 30 something American from New York. The first sentence of her response was "I LOVE New York !!!!!!!!" There were literally 8 exclamation points. How cool is that? So much for the misconception that the French hate Americans. She mentioned that she was an assistant in Scotland 4 years ago so she knows what it's like. She also hinted at the fact that I may have Wednesdays off at one her particular school and she's work on a 3-4 day schedule for me...chouette!

Lastly, she told me that they have a place for me to stay temporarily for 250 euros/month. Why or why couldn't she have informed me this earlier? Albeit, he's a "a 25-26 year old crazy about football so you'll have to put up with that but it's SO french ;))." Had I stuck to my original plan of just arriving in Paris with no designated place to stay I would have save a couple of hundred euro. But no, I had to listen to the maternal unit and several friends that insisted that I find a place immediately so that I wasn't left homeless on the streets of Paris. Que sera sera right? It's only money. The good news is that I'll have an affordable place to stay should I not find permanent housing by October 1st.

The Almost Scam

A couple of weeks ago during my frantic search to find housing in Paris I replied to an innocent enough looking post on www.franglo.com (actual post has been removed because I flagged it). There wasn't much detail in the post and there were no pictures included but I thought "what the hey, there's no harm in responding". A few weeks later I get the following message in my inbox:

Hello [L'etrangere Americane],

Thanks for the great response. I do appreciate your interest. The place it is still available and it is available for long time rent. All utilities are inlcuded and pets are allowed. I would have loved to meet you and visit the flat but I am presently not in Paris. It is available now and you can start as soon as possible. Also, you can rent as long as you can as I do not intend to live in the flat again. It is 670 euros monthly with an extra fee of 80 euros for the utilities which comes to a total of 750 euros. I used to reside in the house with my family before we had packed due to my transfer from my working place to the U.K and presently my house is still available for rent including all the utilities. Moreso Now, I also travel here and there on business. Pls i want you to note that, i am a kind and honest man and also i spent a lot on my property that i want to give you for rent, so i want to be sure if you will be able to take care of the flat as I do not any damages in the flat. I have given the price for the flat as I believe this way, I am helping someone in need for shelter and also the person will be able to take care of the flat and make it clean always I will like to know if you can give me an assurance that you will take good care of the house for me. Also, I will like you to fill the below form.

RENT APPLICATION FORM
1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number
3)How old are you?
4)Are you married?
5)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)What is your religion?
10) Do you smoke?
11) How many months do you want to rent the house for?

[Insert long highly detailed description of the apartment, decor, amenities, and neighborhood in perfect English here]

Will wait for your response.

Thanks,
[Scam Artist]

My initial reaction was that I had just hit pay dirt and that I was going to be living it up "MTV Cribs" style in Paris. Then little mini red flags started to go off in my mind such as "why is such an amazing apartment being rented for so little" and "why does he need to know my religion to rent me an apartment", "why is the first section of the email fraught with grammatical mistakes but there is nary an error in the second half"?.

Because I couldn't get those red flags out of my mind I decided to do a little super sleuthing courtesy of Google (love Google). Low and behold I found this little gem. Turns that Scam Artist copied the entire description and pictures from this apartment posting and tried to pass it off as his own little did he know who he was dealing with.