Abroad Diaries: Alex Pechersky
The sun was blazing on my cheeks and shoulders as I hauled my body up the final stretch of the hill to our AirBnb in Nice, France. It was my first weekend trip since my arrival in Barcelona for my semester abroad. I peeked over my friend’s shoulder to check our distance from the AirBnb, only a few more steps until I can finally set my stuff down. I released a sigh of relief as I saw the number of our AirBnb, and the beautiful view of Southern France that came with it. I can’t believe I even thought to complain.
Still panting from exhaustion of the day’s travels and walking through the final days of the French Southern heat, I watched as my friend followed the instructions given to her by our AirBnb host on how to unlock the door. It seemed simple enough; Take the key from the lockbox, unlock the door, and go up the green stairs next to the apartment number. However, feelings of fear started to replace the relief I felt upon arrival as my friend fumbled with the key. I watched as she scrunched her forehead, beads of sweat dripping down as she shook the key, pulled it in and out of the lock, and finally sighed in frustration. “Can someone else try this?” she asked, backing away and extending the key ring in the direction of me and my four other exhausted and sweaty friends. I picked it up, asking all the typical questions, “Are you sure this is the right one?” “Is this what the instructions said to do?” Yes and yes. After taking turns with the key, going from the inside of the gate, lodging it from different angles, it was clear that either we were at the wrong door, or we had the wrong key.
We formulated a plan of action; Call the AirBnb host, and split up amongst ourselves to search for evidence of a different entrance that we had overlooked. Upon explaining our difficulties with our French AirBnb host, we were met with a humiliating response that I will never forget. “Hmm.. I thought it was easy?” Her French accent ringing through the phone. This sent us into a spiral of laughter and confusion, because thirty minutes of fumbling with the key felt like the opposite of easy. She agreed to meet us on the property within the next thirty minutes, so we used this time to search the premises for another set of green stairs behind a locked door.
Thirty minutes later and sweatier than before, I found myself on the curb of another apartment uphill from our supposed AirBnb after with no luck or green staircase in sight. I started to drum up alternative places to stay, when I got a call that our Airbnb host had arrived, and I should come back down. The tone of utter defeat in my friend’s voice made me fear the worst. I stumbled down the hill to find my friends standing in front of what happened to be the only other door with a green staircase behind it. The door directly next to the one we had spent the last hour trying to unlock. I stopped in my tracks, not sure If I should be embarrassed or relieved that we had a place to stay. Without words, I looked at the AirBnb host holding open the door, “Sometimes, you have to think outside the box…” she advised in a slightly mocking tone.
As I write this two months later, I like to believe we lacked proper instructions from our AirBnb host. Considering the lockbox with the key inside was not attached to the actual door, and that the correct door was made of steel and appeared incredibly uninviting, it’s a mistake anyone could have made. Nonetheless, I have carried this slightly condescending advice throughout the rest of my time abroad. Her words, French accent included, ring in my ear in times of confusion and stress. First, studying abroad has not been as easy or luxurious as I imagined. Similar to unlocking the door to our AirBnb, the instructions to study abroad seemed simple: study, travel, and enjoy life in a new place. While I have truly enjoyed these things, it is the moments like this one that have helped me create memories, and grow throughout my time abroad. I have been met with many challenges in which I needed that reminder to think outside the box. Thinking outside the box has allowed me to embrace new cultures and unfamiliar ways of life, and take advantage of the slip-ups along the way. Although this wasn’t the only mistake I have made in my time abroad, it is definitely the most memorable.