Veronica Lavil

Traveling historian with a writer's heart

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Tag: University

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Hello 2019: Goals, plans and yikes

January 2, 2019September 29, 2019by Veronica LavilLeave a Comment on Hello 2019: Goals, plans and yikes
Hello 2019: Goals, plans and yikes

Well, here it goes. I have been seeing everyone post their plans for 2019 and wrapping up by saying what was the best part of their 2018 and I had some difficulties coming up with a post summing up my year. It was a very difficult one for me. I have always been very open, [...]

A Student in Paris

Strikes Take Over France

April 23, 2018March 22, 2021by Veronica LavilLeave a Comment on Strikes Take Over France
Strikes Take Over France

In August, I will officially celebrate my 4th year anniversary with France. By now, you would think I know well the country I have adopted. This year has taught me that I have yet to learn about the French.  When people used to joke about how much France loves to strike, I would shrug and [...]

Personal

To the Woman That Taught Me to Travel

August 7, 2017August 25, 2017by Veronica LavilLeave a Comment on To the Woman That Taught Me to Travel
To the Woman That Taught Me to Travel

On Saturday, August 5th, my mother finally accomplished one of her biggest dreams. She graduated from the University of Purdue (it's ok, I guess I can allow being rivals only for university - I am a big Indiana University fan). This was a big day for my mother, someone who has sacrificed so much for [...]

A Student in Paris

An Ode to My First Year at University

May 4, 2017by Veronica LavilLeave a Comment on An Ode to My First Year at University
An Ode to My First Year at University

Here I am, on the final stretch of what is my first year at university. First off, the first semester took forever... the second one just flew by. I really don't know where the time went there. I have one last final, May 10th. I don't know how to feel about this first year. It [...]

Coffee Conversations

If We Were Having Coffee: Art, Presentation and Doubt

February 6, 2017February 23, 2017by Veronica Lavil6 Comments on If We Were Having Coffee: Art, Presentation and Doubt
If We Were Having Coffee: Art, Presentation and Doubt

If we were having coffee, I would ask you to come to my house. I would set out a table full of cookies (or biscuits as the English and French would say) and talk about how confusing the Paris weather has been. This morning it was raining and this afternoon it decided to be sunny [...]

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Veronica Lavil

Veronica Lavil

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On the eve of my departure, I had a date between the city and I. I drank red wine from a paper cup from the windowsill of my hotel as I’d done on so many evenings from my first apartment to the last. I listened to the people going on about their lives - the neighbor singing, the people on the streets with their aperitifs, the clinking of pots and pans from an open window of someone preparing their dinner… I remembered nights dancing along the sidewalks, “took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer”, of mornings watching the sunrise from Montmartre, remembering the weeks I didn’t know where I would sleep next… and it was then that I realized that I had wanted a date between myself and the 19 year-old wide-eyed child that arrived, excitedly, to the city of her childhood dreams almost 8 years ago. Paris is the place in where I became so many things I never knew I would and could become. It’s a place where I’ve danced, sang, cried and had to rebuild myself. It’s a city that haunts my past but yet shines with her magical lumière. Every time I come here, I become more at peace with her, both the city and the lost woman I was. I’ll always thank them for making me strong 🤍 It’s a complicated love affair, Paris and I, but how can you not love a place that made you into the woman that you are today? That gave you the best people who continuously show up? I’m appreciative and grateful, though this city can drive me crazy, of what I built here. Paris will always, somehow, feel like home 🤍 https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfmqUyFrV1M/ Parisian week As I sat in the courtyard of the halls I used to roam, drinking the same coffee from the cafe where I would spend hours studying (being served by strangers because those that used to work there no longer don’t - I wonder what happened to them), I couldn’t help but wonder how one place can mean so much and be so special yet at the same time be so scary. This place will always feel like home, but to another life and another woman. Though there are so many things I would turn back time on and change, I can’t help but appreciate how far I’ve come. I’ve made a beautiful life for myself and grieved the life I thought I would have. This new one is 100x better. I get to call two of the most beautiful cities in the world home. Ti amo Parigi. Je t’aime Paris. There is something about how the light hits at sunset, no? “I grew up bilingual… the bi does not stand for two but for adiós to speaking any language correctly”… and so starts my videos that I shall call #byelingual, in which I share with you the things I’m learning about the 4 languages I speak *decently*. Might as well start making fun of the stupidities I’m learning and embarrass myself on the internet. Her story changed and better days came ( 📸 @nnsiyafirsova ) May - moved into my new apartment, turned 27, danced in Torino, dipped my toes in the sea to get burned for the first time this season, and saw friends accomplish important things in their lives 🤍

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