Ever since I first laid my eyes on the beautiful city of Paris in November 2017, I was in infatuated. While I was in a taxi on my way to the airport to fly back to Madrid, I promised myself that I would come back to Paris SOON! And I did just that. At first I planned to spend the new year in Madrid, but after a conversation with a friend from Germany who was going to be in Paris for New Year’s, I quickly changed my mind.
Typically, I spend every New Year’s at home (the Bronx) with my mother and brother but this year wouldn’t be like most. I would be bringing in the new year in a new city and I was very thrilled about that. I believed that by doing so, I would be born anew and the “good vibes only” mood for my new year would be set! For me, the last two years have been very humbling. As I came closer and closer to achieving my goals (graduating college and moving abroad), I was betrayed by family, disappointed by friends and hurt by the person I loved the most. I was confused, devastated and upset when these relationships ended, but ultimately, I learned and grew so much from them and they shaped me into the strong fearless woman I am today.
“We used to use umbrellas to face the bad weather. So now we travel first class to change the forecast.” –Jay Z
When I returned home (Madrid) from Lisbon I quickly unpacked and re-packed my suitcase. Before I knew it, I was back on a plane headed to Paris. My first night in Paris (the day before New Year’s Eve), I went to Buddha Bar, a four-star Asian Restaurant located in the center of Paris. There I celebrated my friend’s birthday with lots of champagne and tequila. Afterwards we went to a sophisticated club (everyone was either wearing a suit or a nice dress) where we ordered bottle service. As I sat in the VIP section socializing with some beautiful women I had met, I thought, “I could get used to this lifestyle.” Then I remembered how I just graduated college and owe the United States government a lot of money in student loans. That fantasy quickly vanished. Nonetheless, it was pleasant to indulge in life’s luxuries in another city. After all, everything is fancier in Paris.
“Birthdays was the worst days. Now we sip Champagne when we thirsty” –Biggie Smalls
How do you end the year of right? With good vibes and lots of champagne! While I was in Paris I started every morning off with two sunny-side up eggs, bacon, a brioche and a mimosa. My friend from France who I was staying with, found it so weird that us Americans mix orange juice with champagne. I told her, “Since it has orange juice in it, it’s a brunch cocktail which gives us an excuse to day drink.” Plus, it was the perfect remedy for the hangovers from which I frequently suffered during my stay in France.
To bring in the New Year right I bought a bottle of champagne to pop at the Arc de Triomphe, one of the most famous monuments in Paris. I met my friends at a restaurant where we had a couple glasses of wines and discussed our expectations for the evening. We were told by a few locals that there would be a light show at the Arc but we weren’t sure what that meant. When we googled “New Year’s in Paris” it specifically stated that there weren’t any fireworks included in the festivities so we had no choice but to go to the Arc to see what was in store. On account that we are all struggling college students/graduates, we decided to take the metro. To my surprise, the metro was free! Something that’s unheard of in New York City. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Fourth of July, Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day, you must pay MTA or you’ll get a ticket for $75. Nonetheless, my friends and I loved the idea of free public transportation even though it was only for one night.
Apparently, everyone else also loved the idea of the free metro. The train platform was so packed that when we gathered to board the train two of my friends got caught in the doors and had to wait for the next one. Eventually, we all reunited and attempted to exit the train station. Imagine a thousand people trying to walk through one door. For about 10 minutes I panicked from claustrophobia, so when I finally reached outside I was as happy as “Gina” and “Reggie” when they hit the lotto in “All About the Benjamins”. Outside of the train station, food stands lined the street. Vendors were grilling different types of poultry and vegetables. The aroma quickly took over my body so much so that I almost forgot what I was doing and where I was going.Eventually, my friends regained my attention and we swarmed toward the Arc along with hundreds of other people.
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” –Oprah Winfrey
I have never been to Times Square on New Year’s Eve. However, I have watched the ball drop on TV many times and this celebration in Paris mimicked the atmosphere on 42nd Street. Instead of skyscrapers and giant TV screens in the background, historic monuments like the Eiffel Tower and the Luxor Obelisk (Ancient Egyptian obelisk) created the beautiful scene in which I found myself. The closer it got to midnight the more anxious I became. I couldn’t help but feel like I was doing something right. I was following my dreams, but even I could have never predicted life to be as adventurous as it had been thus far.
Minutes before midnight approached, I climbed on top of my friend’s shoulders so I could see above the crowd. As I sat on his shoulders gazing over the crowd, everything in the universe seemed perfect and I was truly happy. Ten, nine, eight, seven … three, two, one HAPPY NEW YEAR! It was 2018! Fireworks illuminated the sky. I popped the bottle of champagne I was saving for this moment and passed it around to my friends. We danced, we cheered and we snapped A LOT of “selfies and usies”! The vibes were good and the energy was so positive. Strangers joined us in our cheering and even photobombed a few of my pictures.
After the excitement had settled down we searched for the closest bar which didn’t take long to find. We ended up in this slightly classy bar where we danced the night away. As I sweated my makeup off dance battling my new friend Ruth (who I met in Madrid a few weeks prior to my trip to Paris), I realized that everything happens for a reason. If some of my friends and family would have never betrayed me I probably wouldn’t have discovered who truly supports me. If my ex-boyfriend would have never broken my heart I probably would of hesitated to move abroad. Yet here I am, traveling the world and taking over Europe. Along the way, I have crossed paths with amazing people who I had no idea existed six months ago, some of whom I consider to be great friends. Coincidence? I think not! There is a certain fate for all in this universe and a certain randomness to it. So, on the first blank page of a 365-page journal, I decided to let it all go...to expect miracles...to wait without anxiety... and know the universe has my back!
2016: The Caterpillar
2017: The Cocoon
2018: The Butterfly
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”