I had stayed in various types of rooms in Paris. The best of which was in the 19th area and on the rue Crimeé. I loved the area, i dont know why i was unhappy about leaving it, Here i had shared a room with a young french girl who watched TV all night long. The room gave onto a garden and some trees and in the morning you could hear the birds chirp to their hearts content .... it was a happy place . Later on the young girl went away and there was an african woman who came in her place to occupy the other bed in the room. This woman had very nice clothes and she dressed properly and went out to restraunts with her "friends". Later on when we had known each other better she told me that she had been married and had two sons, but when her husband died, his elder brother had wanted to force her to marry him. She had gone and complained against him, but the agents said that he had told them that in the "christian tradition", it was only right that the elder brother should marry his brothers widow´and give the family his protection.
She said she had then met a woman who had told her that she could take her to Europe and get her to work as a babysitter in a family. She had found this an opportunity to escape the brother-in-law´s attentions and she had been whisked off to Paris, but here she had found out that her girl friend was infact a Maman. Meaning that she did find work as a baby sitter but the real job opportunity for her was to go out with people !
That was why she could send money back home for her two sons. But she wasnt happy because her "work" meant that she would spend time at the hospital too .,,, for reasons you can imagine .....
Well i was glad to leave this room only when i knew what she was doing for a living. My application for a room had come through and i was now going to a Foyer in the 11th area very close to The famous cemetry Pere la Chaise´..... This was a beautiful modern building; a very impressive iron and glass structure run by a young looking madame Virginie and her colleagues.
I was put in a room where there was an elderly woman who i didnt see for a few days. This Foyer had elderly guests and was a home in which other women could stay while they were waiting for a studio apartment. I found Madame La Fontaine{not the real name] in bed most of the time with the covers pulled up on top of her face. I noticed how she went to bed with her shoes on. The room stank of urine, but had large glass window pains and a lot of beautiful sun light.
I think she stayed in bed most of the time because she didnt deal with her incontinence. People had probably given up on her and that was why i was in the room with her. I was very happy to be in this room even if it stank. What a small price to pay to be with someone who was living without the difficult situations i had seen before. And she wasnt a smart phone fiend chatting loudly on her phone till late hours in the night. I found her to be very quiet and nearly always hiding in her bed. It was the ideal place where i could paint and sometimes she would be peeping out to look at me when she was awake.
At times she went out of her bed and the room and came down to the dinning room for lunch or dinner , but she would be cursing everyone she met on the way. I wondered what she was saying because i couldnt speak french well enough. The change came gradually .... her brother would come and visit her and he had brought her some coloured pencils and felt tip pens. Now she had started to do some designs on white pieces of paper, they would be houses and heart shapes and flowers always with a message of well wishes. She would give them to people as gifts when she was in a good mood. She loved to give gifts and i received some good chocolate Bunnies for easter.
It was as if the new mood for this spring was bringing her out of her bed. One day as she was giving me some more sweets i told her in my very elementry french that she should wear the special pads which were comfortable and would help her lead a normal life. I told her that every one wore them, and that even i had used them at times .... it was perfectly Ok to do it.
The change in her mood came because she tried to produce her pictures and people saw that she was making an effort to reach out. This gave the social workers hope and soon she had a young woman called Amelie who took responsibility to wash her and cut her fingernails. From being a hopeless case and a stay in bed person.... she had become a woman who had a nice hair cut and would get invitations to drink coffee at the bar with friends [i wonder if it was because she could pay]. I had seen her eat and drink in the toilet attatched to the room, because she was affraid of people and now there were people who wanted to go out with her for lunch. Madame La Fontaine was saved by Art from her solitary life and from her misery! Later on a friend told me that she probably was seeing a psychiatrist too and that was helping her get over some of her traumas. Perhaps she was lucky to find her way back to being a "normal" person doing normal things like going to the hairdressers and looking good.....
She said she had then met a woman who had told her that she could take her to Europe and get her to work as a babysitter in a family. She had found this an opportunity to escape the brother-in-law´s attentions and she had been whisked off to Paris, but here she had found out that her girl friend was infact a Maman. Meaning that she did find work as a baby sitter but the real job opportunity for her was to go out with people !
That was why she could send money back home for her two sons. But she wasnt happy because her "work" meant that she would spend time at the hospital too .,,, for reasons you can imagine .....
Well i was glad to leave this room only when i knew what she was doing for a living. My application for a room had come through and i was now going to a Foyer in the 11th area very close to The famous cemetry Pere la Chaise´..... This was a beautiful modern building; a very impressive iron and glass structure run by a young looking madame Virginie and her colleagues.
I was put in a room where there was an elderly woman who i didnt see for a few days. This Foyer had elderly guests and was a home in which other women could stay while they were waiting for a studio apartment. I found Madame La Fontaine{not the real name] in bed most of the time with the covers pulled up on top of her face. I noticed how she went to bed with her shoes on. The room stank of urine, but had large glass window pains and a lot of beautiful sun light.
I think she stayed in bed most of the time because she didnt deal with her incontinence. People had probably given up on her and that was why i was in the room with her. I was very happy to be in this room even if it stank. What a small price to pay to be with someone who was living without the difficult situations i had seen before. And she wasnt a smart phone fiend chatting loudly on her phone till late hours in the night. I found her to be very quiet and nearly always hiding in her bed. It was the ideal place where i could paint and sometimes she would be peeping out to look at me when she was awake.
At times she went out of her bed and the room and came down to the dinning room for lunch or dinner , but she would be cursing everyone she met on the way. I wondered what she was saying because i couldnt speak french well enough. The change came gradually .... her brother would come and visit her and he had brought her some coloured pencils and felt tip pens. Now she had started to do some designs on white pieces of paper, they would be houses and heart shapes and flowers always with a message of well wishes. She would give them to people as gifts when she was in a good mood. She loved to give gifts and i received some good chocolate Bunnies for easter.
It was as if the new mood for this spring was bringing her out of her bed. One day as she was giving me some more sweets i told her in my very elementry french that she should wear the special pads which were comfortable and would help her lead a normal life. I told her that every one wore them, and that even i had used them at times .... it was perfectly Ok to do it.
The change in her mood came because she tried to produce her pictures and people saw that she was making an effort to reach out. This gave the social workers hope and soon she had a young woman called Amelie who took responsibility to wash her and cut her fingernails. From being a hopeless case and a stay in bed person.... she had become a woman who had a nice hair cut and would get invitations to drink coffee at the bar with friends [i wonder if it was because she could pay]. I had seen her eat and drink in the toilet attatched to the room, because she was affraid of people and now there were people who wanted to go out with her for lunch. Madame La Fontaine was saved by Art from her solitary life and from her misery! Later on a friend told me that she probably was seeing a psychiatrist too and that was helping her get over some of her traumas. Perhaps she was lucky to find her way back to being a "normal" person doing normal things like going to the hairdressers and looking good.....
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