12 Sep Women and Their 28 Days

I was 25 years old when I moved into a third-story apartment overlooking Peachtree Street in Atlanta. As many of you know, this is the main thoroughfare through the entire city. A very busy street.

Exhausted after a day of moving I crawled into bed sometime around 2:00am. A few hours later, I got out of bed, frustrated that I couldn’t get to sleep. The constant roar of traffic and finally, the siren from an ambulance kept me awake the entire night.

As I commiserated with my neighbor, Paula, she offered me some very intuitive advice. “Oh, give it a menstrual cycle. A woman can get used to anything in 28 days.”

She was right.

Today marks my two-week point in Paris. I woke up homesick, missing my family and all things familiar. I’m over depending on this spotty WiFi. I’m ready to burn the few clothes I brought. And I’d give my right arm to be able to walk in a restaurant and get what I thought I ordered.

But as I showered I knew my day was about to turn around. I was going to get my new laptop today. I had confirmed yesterday that when I returned home, my Atlanta Apple Store could switch the French plug for an American plug. So, problem solved, I was easily an hour away from being able to write blog posts, download my photos, access my bank account, and most importantly, plug in my back-up drive so I could access my Atlanta work files. My ‘working’ life here in Paris was about to get so much easier.

Off to the Apple Store I went.

As I told the clerk what I wanted, she asked if I wanted the French or the American keyboard. Yes, they are different. And no, they can’t order an American one and let me pick it up at their store.

So, I’ll order one online, find a UPS store somewhere in the ‘hood, and have it in 5-6 working days. Bummer.

I can just hear Paula saying, “If you’d just wait a menstrual cycle, you’d get used to NOT having a computer. Then you could REALY enjoy Paris.”