Program: ISA : Study Abroad in Paris, France
February 6th, 2024
I miss France, and I wish to live there with everything that I experienced during my time abroad. Paris was beautiful in so many ways. I got my first apartment there. I got my first boyfriend there. I lost so much weight from walking and running so much. I ate some of the best foods I have ever tried in my life and I went on an excursion trip to Morocco to adventure in the Sahara Desert and to understand a world that is different from my own. Man did I LEARN SOME THINGS ABOUT AFRICA! I consumed a lot when I stayed in Morocco when it came to eating, jewelry, events, trips, and spending on clothes, medicine, and spices. I went to this shop at this Leather Crafts store in Marrakech, Morocco, and I lived on the Sahara Desert for a week! We didn’t have our phones so the sun was our alarm clock and nightfall was when we went to sleep. Our diet consisted of cous cous, boiled vegetables, yogurt, and bread with salt everyday. And our drinks were either water or coke with the sugar because you NEED the calories and sugar from all the walking and the hot sun beating down on you.
I went into the country not knowing what I would buy, bring back, and what I would experience. I rode a camel, I slept on the sand dunes, I tried so many spices and bought many oils for my hair and skin. I had no prior knowledge of Morocco or Algeria but it was a beautiful country and many stores I went to was decorated of beautiful colors and prints. Especially the carpets that covered the walls of the airport and pretty much every restaurant and hotel we went to. I was blown away at all of the hand-stitched carpets and the beauty of the country. AND there were cats roaming around the streets. I loved petting them all.
I am a young adult and after my experience abroad I have really grown to learning so much about the world outside of America. This was my first time traveling alone. I was able to have a space of my own in Paris and I am so grateful for having that space especially after sharing a room with two siblings all my life and a roommate in college after Covid. At times I was not ready to understand that I am not a child anymore, I am an adult, although young, who can make big purchases and do big things and dream big. It was always a dream of mine to go to Paris and the fact that I got to travel too was an added bonus and it made me think that this is the life I want for myself. I want to travel.
I went to a leather store in Morocco and most of the leather I felt was made of a layer of cow stomach or camel stomach or camel skin. This was very shocking to me because in America, people tend to dislike leather that is made of animal skin because it is cruelty, but outside America it’s different cultures and beliefs. The biggest shock I had when traveling to all these different countries was how much power men held EVERYWHERE we went. Every restaurant I went to was make only but they had made an exception for us because we were travelers. The staff at these restaurants and hotels were just men. No women at sight.
In Morocco, women were not allowed to sit outside, go to cafes, eat at restaurants, and they were required to wear head covering and to cover themselves when outside so no one knew their identity. This changed my perspective a lot when I was living on the Sahara. We had to cover our skin and our head so we would not get burned from the hot sun and also keep many layers on because at night it got VERY VERY VERY COLDDD! We slept on the ground and used wool blankets to keep warm. This was a culture I was not expecting but in no way could I judge because this wasn’t my life. I met many nomads while staying on the Sahara and we got a chance to see ex slaves. YES, EX SLAVES who played music for us at an event while in Morocco and serves us coffee! I was shocked and speechless. No words could describe what I felt in that moment.
When I got my phone stolen and my wallet stolen, I went to two different police departments in Paris. The first one did not care about me at all. They told me it was my fault it got stolen and they kicked me out of the station. They were so rude to me and the second police station just told me to write a report and that they would get back to me in three days. I never got a message from them at all. I accepted my fate and had to move on. I was grateful for the Dear Neighbor Fund because many women in my program got things stolen from them once October hit. I told some friends in my program what you all did for me and they were shocked because their school did not help them when they got their stuff stolen. I was grateful for Regis in that moment because you cared when I felt like no one else did and I was alone.
This all happened when the Israel and Palestine war started and many people in Paris were stealing cars, stabbing people, stealing bikes and scooters too. Five women in my program got their phone stolen including me and I even got followed home by a random man in a cab one night asking me to be his friend. One girl in my program got her laptop stolen. One girl got her backpack stolen and this was all on the metro! Sometimes I felt like these Parisians knew we were Americans and we were heavily targeted and I was really scared. One girl got her keys stolen so she could not get into her apartment so I had to let her in and she slept with me in my room for a day before she could get new keys the next day. Hard times came but I knew it was part of the experience when you move to a foreign country and as a women I was getting disrespected by men left and right for how I looked and how I dressed. At times I missed the USA because I was never discriminated this much for being black, being a women, and dressing the way I wanted to as much as I did in Europe.
I did have very fond memories while traveling to Spain and Morocco. Spain was beautiful and warm and the food was so fresh and so good. The beaches were so clean and everyone seemed to be enjoying their life there. I went to a pottery shop and some workers asked people who wanted to volunteer to spin pottery. I offered myself to do it and I got a chance to spin my own pottery plate and it was that real workers experience in the art of pottery and how I could do it myself too. As a Black woman in a new country, I have never known or thought I would be going to a continent like Africa this early in my life and experiencing the world of Africa. I never imagined that I would be going to Spain either or living in France. One thing I know for sure is that if there is a will there is a way.
Traveling plays an important role in building bridges and friendship with different types of people and ethnicities between different cultures that isn’t my own Carribean Black. I did unfortunately face discrimination because of my dark skin. I was kicked out of areas because I was black. This is unfortunate because in America discrimination yes exists but it’s not so straightforward like it is in Paris. I made this realization after of course crying about it but that too was part of the experience. I researched and only went to places I knew were for women like me and that made me happy because the country was so diverse and Paris was my college campus. I tasted many foods I have never tried before and even went to a Michelin star Asian restaurant.
My trip to Northern Africa was a once in a lifetime opportunity and those are memories that will last a lifetime. I bought a headscarf and many scarfs that were beautiful and decorated with many patterns that I will keep forever and give to family. Part of my identity being a Black woman experiencing a foreign country for the first time was a complex and evolving journey of me being comfortable and uncomfortable somewhere where racism exists very much and traditional roles for women were still in effect as part of the country's values. While there were many challenges faced for women outside of America, regardless, I accepted the culture as my own and I used strength, resilience, and my unique open world and open-minded perspective to purchase goods and even engage in the culture to contribute to a more diverse, inclusive, and interconnected world. Even with the negative aspects of it.
Again, I am so fortunate to have been able to see the rugs and how they are hand stitched. As I left the Morocco with my carefully chosen Moroccan gifts for my mom and for friends, I couldn't help but feel that I'd taken home not just a piece of exquisite craftsmanship but a piece of Morocco itself. This experience was more than shopping and riding jeeps into the sunset; it was a sensory and cultural immersion that I will treasure for a lifetime just like I treasure the immersion mission trip to California. It's a reminder that the most exceptional experiences and purchases in life are not just possessions but a part of the story of our lives and how we felt in that moment.
During my stay, I fed the homeless with my program on a Friday and spoke to many homeless men and women. I helped by giving out toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soaps and lotions. Unfortunately, we ran out of supplies quick, but the homeless people there were rude even when we helped. Beggars could not be choosers but our team did the best we could and couldn’t judge their life or attitude towards us because we didn’t know what they were facing daily. ISA was very helpful with the negatives that I faced. I was stuck in the elevator at one point not being aware it was broken because my apartment only placed a broken sheet of paper on the first floor and not the others. I had called for someone to help and help came, thankfully in time. When I was facing racism at school with my professors and going out for social events, they helped me switch my classes and helped me find events that were inclusive.
