Cultural Observations about Paris

I don't mean to sound like I'm running off of stereotypes, though it may sound like it-

But seriously, about half of the people walking the streets in Paris are eating baguettes. I guess we know their snack of choice!

Also, the number of smokers is definitely higher than it was in Germany. Basically everywhere we went there would be some people smoking, and walking down the streets is like permanently secondhand smoking. 

I would really love to say that most people in France were friendly... But that really wasn't the case in my experience. Yes there were definitely people that were nice and helped us out when we needed help, but most people on the streets, the metro, and even in tourist areas were pushy, and acted like we were wasting their time. I did try to speak my limited French at times, and a few people I talked to played along. The rest just answered in English.

Paris is definitely an old and beautiful city with a lot of history, but in ways it reminded us of New York City. It was pretty dirty in some areas, people are pushy, and it's just a very large city with lots of tourists- we were pretty overwhelmed at times.

So, we saw what we needed to see and are moving on.

I did not have my France interview yet, I will do that in the south of France, but I had an interesting conversation with Carol, our roommate from Brazil who is living in London. I asked her about Nursing in Brazil, and she said it was very similar to what Germans had described to me- it is a low paying job for people that work very hard, there are long hours, and not a lot of appreciation for the Nurses.

But, Nursing in London was very similar to the US, where they aren't underpayed, and most nurses specialize. She actually told me that when you go to the hospital in London, you will see a nurse unless you specifically ask for a doctor. These nurses can prescribe medicine and are called GPs, or General Practice Nurses.

Just a little tidbit about Nursing in Brazil and England!