By Erik Skye

2 Jul 2011

Jet lag hit me hard today. Things seemed to started out nice: Ceren, Iris, and I had petit dejeuner (breakfast) together, in Ceren’s apartment. I watched Iris dance and sing to music, her skinny body undulating and squirming in the extreme. She is quite the character actually. I told Ceren I thought Iris was funny, to which Ceren replied without sarcasm “she’s crazy”. But then I realized my eyes weren’t coming into focus and the back of my brain hurt. I went back to sleep, with pillows over my head, until 3 pm.

During my first day in Sydney Australia last December, a French woman named Sandra had a birthday party near Bondi Beach (which Ceren brought me to). Today, Sandra was in Paris visiting friends. Ceren brought me along to this gathering, which was in a nearby park Ceren called ‘boot shimo’. (That’s how it sounds, so you can be sure that’s not how it’s spelled!; late correction from Ceren: "Buttes Chaumont") Sandra recognized me immediately and was very surprised to see me. “You had long hair back then” were her first words. New couples would join the group, and as they approached, everyone would get up and greet them. The interesting part was that women were greeted with kisses on each side of the check (from men and women). Some men even greeted other men this way (Ceren says that’s reserved for friends). This is common here.

Ceren and I later travelled to a dinner gathering of her Turkish family on the east side of Paris, in a suburb. They served me the tastiest foods, and I was in heaven as they sang and danced and played some type of hand drum. They made me some kind of alcoholic drink made of anise mixed with water that was delicious. It was an incredible experience.

After that, Ceren’s cousin zipped Ceren and I through Paris to a bar on the south side of the city where we were to meet Ceren’s Brazilian friend Fernando. We found him just as he and a large group of nationals he was partying with were leaving to find another party nearby. Fernando is one of those always happy people who says funny things in almost every sentence and makes you feel good. With him were Brits, Italians, Mexican’s, and probably other nationalities too. Ceren and I joined the parade making a journey down the street, soon finding ourselves in a small apartment with a full Mariachi band.  Here's the video:

Ceren with Mariachi band video link

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