In the French system...

I've been in France for little over a month... and "le man" has got me. 27 years in Mexico and I only got as far as a credit card. Now I'm in french social security, have a checking account and card, and waiting for a resident permit and government aid. Wow. Now, I have to tell you, I live in a third world country (people now call them developing economies... you can tell they either don't live there, or don't read our papers) with a maybe fifth world administration. I move to France, supposedly representing the best of the 1st world, and I can't even get a printed bank statement from my local branch. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, huh? The french just looooove paperwork. Getting the resident permit has been a pain, but I'm on my way. I don't even want to imagine the mess when I notify everybody of my change of address in a couple of months !
I've found a few nice options to move to, I just have to analize my options, go look at them and all, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be much of a problem. I hope I can get a place with internet. I brought my webcam and it's still in its case ! By now I'm sure I won't spend my nights chatting with my mexican friends, but at the very least I'll be able to keep more in touch. And now, another weekend starts. No plans yet, maybe go have dinner with my friends, if I can get a ride back home, and for the rest of the weekend, I have a duel pending with my financial calculator. Fun.. yeah... I know.
Well my friends, more to come... read ya later!

One down, 11 to go...

Hey, I just realized this is my 50th post ! cool.
Today marks my first month in france. Wow, time goes fast. Sometimes I feel like I've been here forever, another day of school, another night back home, another meal to cook. You could say I'm used to it. But I can't say it's been easy. It's hard to start a new life, specially one so far and so different from your last one. When you've been going to the same places, seeing the same people, man, even speaking the same language for over 25 years, radical changes aren't smooth, they can't be. But you know? I really didn't expect it to be easy, and I'm sure it wouldn't be as much fun as it was. It is, after all, an adventure. And like any good adventure, it has its obstacles, some of then decently low, some of them pretty damn high. I know I'm bound to crash into some of them sooner or later, but that won't keep me from jumping. As I've said many times before, I don't know what'll happen next year when this adventure is finally over. What I do know is that I'll be braver, stronger and hopefully smarter. And if anything else, that'll at least make me better prepared for adventures yet to come. That alone makes it all worth while.
I'm also happy to say that I'm not alone on this quest. I've met some pretty cool people here and have made an amazing group of friends. One of the great things about being a foreigner is that there are a lot more of us out there, and we're all going through the same deal. I've had such a fantastic time this month... and as I was saying with a couple of friends last saturday, it's only been that, a month ! Imagine what the next 11 will bring !
So yeah, there have been ups and downs, and there will probably be a lot more, both higher and lower... but such is life. I quote Clem again: "we breath only so in the future we can breath again." We just have to remember... the best is yet to come.