To Tania, the one who made my night with her letter full of love and pure friendship.
Wanted so badly to update Mi Doble en las Antípodas, got inspired while I was sitting on the throne, and feeling in the need of explaining myself concerning my last post. That\’s right, the same one where Ana, who had just arrived in France, was feeling as a foreigner as ever. So there I am, hanging out on Facebook and not here, feeling sympathetic, I comment a post on your Timeline, I publish a short message and there it goes Facebook again, linking old friends back! As well as again, the reminder of that evasive post, that I\’m writing this time in this passionating language, my mother tongue, the language of Cervantes ENGLISH, FOR THE SAKE OF GLOBALIZATION!
I arrived in France as a total foreigner, yes, picturing brainwashed with stereotypes from a Catholic French school in Lima: oh oui, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, la Revolution Francaise et la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l\’Homme et de la Femme. What a disappointment after one month in Paris, the city of Lights. Well, I must admit the first week was nice, visiting all of the landmarks. But well, I\’m not talking about that now, as it deserves a whole post for itself, and \ »j\’en ai déjà râlé assez\ ».
In one month, I learnt to say automatically Thank You (Merci! / Merci Beaucoup!) and Good Morning (Bonjour!) or Good Evening (Bonsoir!), if it\’s a Friday, Have a nice weekend (Bon week-end!), and if it\’s lunchtime, Enjoy your meal (Bon appétit!).
In one month and a half, I learnt to take the Paris underground (Métro) all by myself, like a big girl.
In two months, I learnt to write a semi-formal e-mail, or to call by myself to any third person asking for information or any other details.
In two months and a half, I got used to the noise in my neighbourhood in a Thursday night (des soirées étudiantes, quoi!). Just heard some few hours ago (yes, I am writing this on a Thursday night).
In three months, I made my first group of friends to hangout with, some exchange students in my engineering school.
I\’ve always thought that the first persons who share with you your studies overseas, are those who you will always reminisce. They are those who discovered a new home with you, who are also non-locals, like you. Berni, Stella, Hatim, Fabien, Diana, Sabah… You guys were my first friends away from home, which means youll be my friends everywhere, so will I. Gerardo, Oliver, Aline, ca fait pas longtemps que vous êtes partis de La Rochelle, mais je vous avez une place privilegiée dans mon coeur.
For me, a chapter finished in Hong Kong, a chapter that wrote its last pages and told me: It\’s time to go. I got to France, and slowly, I start to see the links between these three cities, so different and so alike at the same time. Since they are three cities with a strong port past specialized in trading, all of this thanks to their strategic position in their region, three cities which where immigration hubs (Lima, as a colony; Hong Kong, always; and La Rochelle, during the colonization of French Canada), three cities with a different idiosyncrasy, three cities where I studied engineering (also three cities where I had to take Calculus I over and over again…), three cities, three languages, well, three cities where I\’ve lived! And in each one I grow up and change, so I end up feeling like an Ana 3.0 (and there will be more updates to go).
In the same chapter, I\’ve noticed the same pattern: the first semester will be always the one with the first week shock, getting lost trying to buy stuff for the new flat (Wellcome and in Hong Kong, Castorama in La Rochelle), and getting here and introducing oneself to everybody, watching how they\’re surprised of seeing a Peruvian coming all the way from Lima, and having the impulse of jumping over anybody who I overhear speaking in Spanish “¿Argentinos?”, “¿Españoles?”, “¿Mexicanos?”. Ah, my Ribeyro, if you could only see the urban fantasy that I\’m living in… [Note: Julio Ramón Ribeyro is my favourite writer. From all times. He\’s Peruvian, from Lima, and we have the same birthday. What else to say, his style is a strong influence in my personality and my creative writing as well.]
I remember those olf International Baccalaureate days, and the hours that we spent together analising the rise and fall of comunism, the cultural revolution in China, the poems of [César] Vallejo, and my final presentation in Spanish about Julio Ramón Ribeyro\’s symbolism. Pleasant days making chemical compounds by ourselves in Chemistry (when we lacked them) and trying to decipher the mystery of the Hollow Earth in Physics. And that tiny little bug called Visual Arts, who has hunted me until here and sometimes makes me be a bit out of place in an école d’ingénieurs, when I decide to talk about Latin American culture to French freshmen, among them was there an unfortunate who asked me whether I rode llamas, as cowboys ride horses. Yes, Tania, I know we\’ve listened to worse from the experiences of our friends, whether we have biscuits or Mc Donalds in Peru, or if we take showers under waterfalls.
I can\’t deny that it\’s impossible for me to compare two Universities, the best ones of their country, to an engineering school in France. This complicated French mille-feuilles hinders me from splitting it and studying it. It\’s that French Touch, quoi. What I can say though, is that this is a place where I\’m discovering fully, with my strengths and weaknesses. Where I can make myself be appreciated, where I know where to stand out (not in maths for sure). That the experience in Hong Kong has coated me in a bath of spiritual and mental strength, to be ready to live here. That I can outdo myself, and surprise me too, when I think that there\’s no hope left for me (for example, maths). That I can adapt myself and be flexible, as a bamboo, even to a change of keyboard layouts (switching from QWERTY to AZERTY was a milestone). And most importantly, that when you think that you\’re alone, without friends, and the only things lefts are you and the sea… well, it\’s partially true. But, but, but actually, it\’s just that those friends haven\’t found you yet. And those who you wish you have met initially… actually meet you later. It\’s already three cities where this has been happening to me. At this stage, I feel very convinced of my own hypothesis: the best friendships come late, but stay.
As for the IB essays, I\’m exceeding my word limit. I know, it was stressful during the Internal Assessment period back in the days. But I know you never count my words, neither do I. I decided to reply to your letter, in the middle of readings for midterms, Physics Mechanics, Java Algorithms, HTML5, Mechanical Design, Functions of Several variables and the Real Numbers. Between cover letters for engineering trainings, UNIX coding and German. Because somewhere in this multi-cultural world, where I don\’t know any more where do I belong to, there\’s a little corner called “2011: IB Library. Conversations with Tania about Lima”.