Paris makes my heart beat

I'm a very happy girl again. Here I am. Finally. I landed this morning at 7:40am and eventually found myself at my new home for the next 28 hours.

When I arrived in Paris, i had no reservations, no map, and no Euros.

But after squeaking out a few rough sentences from high school French, several tries, and lots of patience, I wound up at some hostel in the city centre, with a guy named Jesse from New Jersey who bears a striking resemblence to Cory Matthews. After we paid for our hostel room, checked all our crap in, (and got past the awkward two twin beds that were pushed together by the hostel staff --ah, Europe) we parted ways for the day.

This city is by far one of the most magical places I have ever been. For those of you who read European Escapades, you might remember my obsession with it. For those of you who havent, you'll soon understand. This place makes my heart beat. I love it. I love the smells. I love the cobblestone. I love the language. I love the sparkling lights on the Eiffel Tower. I love the crepes. I love the artEsts. I love the architecture. I love the Siene River. I love the accordian players on the metro. I love the paintings. I love the way art and love and life and beauty are celebrated.

It's really wonderful being here.

I'm about ready to head off to my favorite church - Sacre Coeur - the Sacred Heart ---- and hoping to have some good prayer time, ipod time, and journal time. I'm also hoping to get in Montmarte, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Champs d' Elysee, the Arc de Triumph, and of course... the Eiffel Tower. I'm saving the Eiffel Tower until dark.... when it sparkles.... all i remember is that it's breathtaking. Who knew a massive piece of steel could be so captivating?

Anyways... it's about time for me to leave and make the most of this short excursion. First, let me just preface the remainder of this journal a little bit.

I am expecting to experience a range of emotion over the next few weeks. When I first planned this trip I was really weirded out by having two very different types of trips back to back. Two very different worlds will be colliding in a sense. It was strange planning for my graduation celebration vacation (i didnt even realize that rhymed) and silmultaneously preparing to enter eastern Africa....without any kind of a break inbetween.

But now, I'm excited about the paradox being so close in time.

I'm really hoping that it will produce some good heavy thinking on the matter. I'm already trying to understand how it is that God pronounced this earth "good" and wants us to live life abundantly, and yet, that His heart breaks for injustice and people in need and desires us to be apart of His plan for transformation. How does one adequately do both? Or do one without thinking about the other? Or enjoy one without feeling guilty? Or enjoy another without being prideful? That's just the surface of some questions floating around my head. Somewhere I think there's a line of balance. I'm just not sure how it all fits together yet. I'm not necessarily expecting to have some magical moment when it all clicks, but I'm hoping this traveling dichotomy forces me to process through these thoughts a little better.

So yea, I apologize in advance for how sparatic the following entries will likely be. I'm just going to write openly and honestly as I experience. I mean, the world's mine oyster, right? haha. I'll probably sound like an idiot more often than not. :)

Thanks for reading.I miss everyone. If you get a chance, please email me and catch me up on your lives. melodyjwilson@gmail.com I would love to hear. Really.

avec amour,
mélodie