Créteil

Créteil

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
It's a good life here in France. There's plenty of great food, excellent wine, an incredible health care system, more stinky cheese than you can shake a baguette at and plenty of museums, history and culture for everyone.Of course it has some negative aspects, too. That's to be expected. Things like no Arby's, milk in a freakin' box, people eating the cross-section of a veal's head and the occasional strike or car burning.But, the worst has got to be visa renewal if you're an immigrant living in the Val-de-Marne départment.Visa renewal in Paris was a walk in the park. We made an appointment with the préfecture, waited a few minutes, then an employee actually possessing the ability to smile and be friendly processed my paperwork. I was given a date at which time I could pick up the new visa and within 15 minutes or so, the entire process was completed.This is unheard of in Créteil. Créteil is where the...
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A Town Like Paris

A Town Like Paris

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
Author Bryce Corbett – wait a minute. I hesitate to even use the word “author” here. These days it seems like any jackass who can sit himself upright behind a keyboard likes to refer to himself or herself as an “author”.I wouldn’t refer to Corbett as an author – more like a blogger gone pro. Each chapter of “A Town Like Paris” reads like a long-winded blog entry, riddled with references to his friends & outings as if the reader actually cared enough to keep track of Corbett’s lifeless & bland ancillary characters.“A Town Like Paris” is an attempt at telling the story of an Australian expat living in Paris. While I am an American living expat living in France who spent more than two years living in Paris, I wondered with each turn of the page where in the hell Corbett’s Paris could be located on the map, because I had never seen the place.The...
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Leaving Paris

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
It's been over a year now that Olivier & I have been battling with our upstairs neighbors, Hedwig & the Banshee. We've talked, argued & pleaded with them.They whined, complained & threatened to escalate the situation. We filed complaints with the Paris police - their shitty habits are just too damn annoying & disruptive. Although, to be fair...the majority of people living in our building don't seem to be familiar with how to be a good neighbor.It's not just the neighbors in the building. As I sit here writing this, I'm listening to the screams & chatter coming from the elementary school & junior high just behind our building.Eh...our apartment is too small, anyway.We've repainted all of the rooms & repaired all of the floors.We got in touch with an agency here in Paris that will rent the apartment from us & will use it to house families in need.Ok, then...all we had to do was...
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Damn…Two Years Already?

Damn…Two Years Already?

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
It feels like it was only about a week ago that Olivier & I were being bombarded by all of that fucking rice.But...it was two years ago already. Damn.The traditional gift for the 2nd anniversary is cotton. Fucking cotton? Whatever. It's true that I really would like to have my own special room filled with nothing but cotton balls just so that I could jump in it like a giant, silent pile of leaves...but Olivier is always throwing that phrase "it's not practical" at me whenever I come up with brilliant ideas like that.So, no cotton ball room...but, I was actually coaxed out of the house by promises of delicious Greek cuisine. I had completely forgotten how much I hate shoes & pants. Olivier was a walking snot-faucet & had himself all jacked-up on cold medicine...No, really...he was sick. I'm sure that you're thinking it was the past couple of years that gave...
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13 of the Greatest Things That I Never Said

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
Well, that's because someone else said it first...1. "If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company." -Jean Paul Sartre2. "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." -Rodin3. "Holding onto anger is like grasping onto a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned." -Gotama Buddha4. "There are two types of people - those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah, there you are." -Frederick L. Collins5. "The secret of being boring is to say everything." -Voltaire6. "He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know." -Lao Tzu7. "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." -Kurt Vonnegut8. "We judge...
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2 Countries, 2 Names & Plans for a Life of Crime

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
Not all women change their names after they get married, but I did.Well, sort of. It depends on where you look.All of my paperwork here in France says that I am “Mrs. Massoud.” However, if you take a look at my Colorado driver’s license, my social security card & my passport, Mrs. Massoud is nowhere to be found.Since our 2-year wedding anniversary is coming up next week, it seemed like a good time to finally make some of this shit official.Ugh. Two countries, Two names. Too much of a fucking hassle.The real problem is the fact that my passport is about to expire and armed with only my carte de séjour, I’d only be free to move about the E.U. That might be a bit of a problem should I ever feel like heading home to the states again, which is likely since there isn’t an Arby’s anywhere in France.I did some checking. It seemed that I would have to...
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