Parisian Connection

by Yuri Sibucks (Brazil)

Making a local connection France

I have always been passionate about traveling. From small cities to huge ones. I guess I was born with a kind of exploring desire. But every time I traveled to a major city I would always see that there was a city of tourists and a city of locals within the same city, and I did not like that because I wanted to meet the local people where I was, as well as going where they go. And that was when I decided to go on Couchsurfing website, which undoubtably changed my mindset and enabled me to truly experience local connections. I had the opportunity to visit Paris for the first time last year, 2019. I was hosted by two different hosts during the four days I was there. To start with, I got to the city and followed my first host's directions regarding which subways I needed to get in order to get to his place. His explanation had quite a bit of information and train changes but this was actually a challenging way to start my trip because I was really on a no-tourists-around zone so I needed to ask some information using the little French I know, and it turned out to be ok. So I not only felt as if I were on a daily commute but also found out that the year I took French had been paid off. I have to confess that the tourist spots that I was deadly curious about and that everyone told me to visit, did not appeal that much to me. However, thanks to my great host, I was taken on a walk around a stunningly beautiful canal with hundreds of people having picnics and listening to music on Bluetooth speakers until we got - for my shock- to an artificial beach where several families where playing games and spending time together. During the whole walk I could only hear French language around me, that was a clear exemple of "a city of locals" which was surprisingly close to "the city of tourists". However, I would have known this place existed if it wasn't for my host. I have no words to describe the feeling of home I saw at all those people and how much of a paradox it was when compared to the other sights I visited. It was the local connection I felt the most thankful for. The other host I had in Paris has a YouTube channel in which he interviews all of his Couchsurfing guests. It was very enriching to watch all the videos he had done and being interviewed was surely fun. It is very nice to see my video online and be able to show it to my friends and family. It was super fun to answer all the questions he had about my country and his. It was an amazing exchange. I felt like a YouTuber for a day and I was truly happy to share something to his viewers. From the beginning to end, the whole time I was in Paris, I found myself immersed into a culture and making connections I did not see coming. I honestly do not believe there is a better way of traveling. I would have never had any of those experiences if it wasn't for my strong desire to create local connections. Those are only some of the hosts I had but I can safely say that I want to meet all of them again some time, and have them all to visit me so I can give them back the incredible learning experience I had.