My Life in France as a Teaching Assistant

THE JOURNEY

Oui oui, I’m in France! It’s been a week of adventure, memories, and… madness.Yeah, madness mainly from the trip from Kenya to France. I was among the first teaching assistants to leave in the group—you can call me the pioneer. One thing about me is I hate Mondays, so I try to make my Mondays worth looking forward to. So, of course, my flight to France was on a Monday night.

My family travelled over the weekend to see me off. Their first-born daughter was finally going abroad and, in an African family, that’s such a huge achievement. Even greater for me, because my doors were finally opening. Just a year ago, I was at the airport escorting my best friend to the UK as she returned to finish her master’s. I remember thinking, “When is it ever gonna be my turn?” Now it’s here. We’re rushing to the airport at 19h15, and my boarding time is at 20:30Hrs.

I can feel my bags are heavy, but I can’t say that out loud or my dad will flip. He had already warned me several times that my luggage looked a lot and indeed it was overweight, 29kg, and heavy. How would I leave behind my 4 favourite dresses: the one for the beach, for going on a date, for church, and for cruising the big cities on weekends? Not to mention my 20 tops (that still didn’t seem to be enough), my beloved jeans, my jackets (which in my defence took a large part of my luggage), and of course, the teddy bear my dear friend Amanda gifted me.

So there I was: two large suitcases, a laptop bag on my back, and a sling bag on my front. This young girl from Komarock was finally going abroad! Yet it still hadn’t hit me. I was more stressed than happy—worried about doing this alone. My mom and aunties kept repeating the same reminders: “Usibebe mtu bag, usishikie mtu mtoto, usisalime mtu” (don’t carry anyone’s bag, don’t hold anyone’s kid, don’t say hi to anyone). And of course: “Make sure you see your bagpack at all times, don’t leave it with anyone!” Wow those are so many warnings. Is it always like this kuenda majuu (to go abroad)

Saying goodbye to my friends was really sad because our timetables just got disrupted and long-distance friendship suddenly felt so heavy. Then came the family: my siblings, aunties, uncle, my little cousin who was really going to miss me, my mom who I could tell was still in denial that her little girl is going away and my dad (still reminding me to “hurry up—it’s almost time to board”).

Security Check 1

I get to the first security check, and my first shock begins when we have to to place our luggage on the conveyor belt. Remember my massive suitcases? I had to lift them up to that thing…and I’m only 45kg. I thought I would pass out! People nearby just minded their own business, no one offered to help, and I realized—this is my life now. Independence.

Now let the games begin — my luggage is overweight, and I can see my mom and aunty screaming at me through the glass windows. Thank goodness they’re soundproof, but the drama that unfolded between removing some things and leaving them behind, or the airport guy trying to sell me a carry-on suitcase to put the extra stuff, and my aunt shouting “NO” to that carry-on suitcase… it was HECTIC! I ended up leaving behind my 4kg of Unga ya ugali, lentils, bathrobe, and two dresses. There goes my dinner for tomorrow when I arrive.

The good thing was, the airport staff thought I was a minor because of my height—short girl privilege! They were kind to me, even as I still had to pay a ridiculous fee of 8k for just 2kg extra. From there, I had to return my extra luggage to my family and bid them goodbye for real this time. Next up was passport check, at this point I had gotten my boarding pass. I met a really nice lady who asked why I’m going to France (they all thought it’s for studies because I looked too young). Then I proceeded to find my gate. My dad is now calling me a hundred times to confirm I made it to my gate and it’s currently 20h56. It’s my first time at the airport alone, imagine the pressure I had still trying to find my gate.

Security Check 2

More checks, more stress. I get to 2nd floor and for you to get to gate 18 you have to go through another security check, this time remove your shoes, your jacket, take out your laptop and make sure it is in a different tray. This really pissed me off because I had to reopen my bag and take out the laptop then proceed to return it to my bag and close the bag, and there are people behind me waiting for me to finish so they can pick their stuff! Honestly, I think I got biceps from all the lifting. After I was done the security guy was kind enough to show me the gate 18 and even offered to take me but I have to do this alone.

Security Check 3

I’m so done with these checks! Here now is my airline’s - they check my passport and visa and scan it and need I mention, the lady was smiling at the people before me then when it was my turn, she had this big scowl on her face and goes ahead to ask “what are you going to do in France” and I have to maintain my cool… and to think she’s black!

Finally, I get to sit down and call my dad after confirming that boarding hadn’t yet started. Then I called my friends to let them know I made it, sweaty and tired but I did it. It was now time to board and it hit me, I’m going! Especially when I saw the plane, a sigh of relief and a bit of excitement crept in. I booked a window seat of course, and was worried about the two people sitting next to me, it could either be an annoying couple or a mom with a really spoiled kid but it ended up being a couple — not at all annoying (Hallelujah). I was so thrilled to find out the network was still working and I could send pictures of the plane to my family and text them the last time before my time zones change.

Speaking of timezones, my flight was from 22h25 to 06h05 and I expected to arrive at 6h05 kenyan time but it was France time which was 1 hour behind,meaning I sat in that plane for 9 hours! Did I mention that I didn’t stand up from my seat at any given point?

Plane food

Wataniua na mkate huku mai lawd (they will finish me with bread). The Food: chicken with potatoes, salad, sesame breadsticks, bread, butter, blueberry cake, and my enemy—cheese. I was thirsty the whole way, and the water in France? Let’s just say: so many minerals.

I was so thirsty and that was the last time I had fresh water to drink because where I am in France currently the water has minerals, so many minerals. Ni maji ya chumvi in short. Then during breakfast, we had, take a guess? Yeap that’s right…bread, queen cake, yoghurt, juice. There was wine for dinner but I couldn’t — I really needed to be awake for my next connecting flight.

Arrival in Paris

I’m in Parisssssss. No it didn’t feel like that. it was freezing, raining, and chaotic. I had just 1 hour to catch my connecting flight to Nantes. Safari bado ni ndefu (the journey is still long). I was to get to terminal 2F but the amount of running up and down, taking escalators up then down 2 floors then up again — bruh! Pretty sure I lost 5kg in the process. Terminal 2F was hidden like a treasure hunt. It didn’t take long because I was lost, no no it’s because it’s far! Haibo!

But first, security check, and here they shout just like the movies. And once again my laptop, my bag, my jacket, my sling bag and my passport. On the other side, I’m now at immigration or border control and the line looking at me is deadly. 30 minutes later it’s my turn and that lady does not look like she’s having a good morning. “Bonjour” she says and smiles and I’m shocked because I was expecting border control to be very mean and strict especially because I’m black. She goes through my passport and visa then asks why I’m in France. I tell her I’m here as a teaching assistant of English and she says wow! Then asks me to remove my hat, looks at me for 5 seconds, “Welcome to France! Enjoy your stay.” That’s it! Literally 5 minutes and I’m done.

Finally, I reached Terminal 2F. And you won’t guess what happened to me next…