Uncomfortable truthes

After being here for a few weeks, a few things about life here in France are becoming less new and shiny and more shall we say, glaringly obvious. 

For one, just like our professor Christina warned us, classes here are starting to get a little boring and I want to skip them to travel. Also, the eco-minded French don't believe in air conditioning. Fine - I was never a big fan of going from a nice sunny day into a classroom or store that feels like a meat locker. However, the weather here is disgusting. Most of my classes are on the second floor of our building, where the temperature is approximately 1 000 degrees. Even outdoors isn't very nice, since there's no wind in France, which sounds comical. But, Strasbourg sits in a valley, and there literally is no wind. Like I said when I was little, the wind is not my friend, but this weather almost has me wishing for some LOL! To sum up the weather so far; it's hot, and sticky, and smells like dump sometimes. I've been sweating round the clock here, probably really sucks to sit beside me when I've forgotten to put my deodorant on haha!


Second uncomfortable truth is significantly more distressing than some gross weather. So, you know how maybe you read the news and you hear about places - Europe, the states - who really don't want to have more Muslim people move to their country? WELL, I've always thought that was horribly discriminatory. Until now. Let me explain. It's not the women and children that I wish weren't here, it's the men. Not a lie, day to day I encounter more men from the Middle East than people from France it seems. Not that that's bad  because these people aren't white, but it's bad because these men treat me and every other woman who walks near them like dirt, or their property. 

If I we're physically strong enough to beat up every man who's catcalled and yelled at me or my friends on the streets, I would. I get so mad I could just throttle them. When somebody looks at you like I piece of meat, it's absolutely enraging. But being mad isn't half as bad as being scared. I know for a fact from the way I am approached, spoken to and looked that if the opportunity arose, I would be in serious trouble. Since last time I checked I can't hold my own against a fully grown man, it's important to always have a buddy, and be hyper aware of where you are and who's around. I'm sure that for most of these men they are accustomed to treating women the way they can in their home countries,and they don't give their actions a second thought. But cultural sensitivity be dammed, if I could surround myself with normal people who grew up with western values I would. Not to say there aren't plenty of white men who are pigs, there are. But I was surprised to learn that a lot the tales about how Muslim men treat women - any woman by the way - aren't unfounded. Shout out to my walk home buddy Claire McNally, the nice guys in our hallway, and all you wonderful, normal guys back home, and to my dad, wish you were here Papa. 

THE END - NO MORE UNCOMFORTABLE THINGS SO FAR