We had just left the Cezanne movie theater. I sat outside with the other kids, pretending to ride the motor cycles parked in the slots along the side of the cinema. Paris a Tout Prix had just let out, but a few people were still inside watching Monstres Academy. The girls waited, as we plotted how to throw one of the boys into a fountain, of which Aix-en-Provence had many. Everyone was pleased with the movie, as we had found it enjoyable and had understood it. Comprehension of a film usually wouldn’t be something to be proud of, but the movie was in French, and none of us were native speakers. Soon, all the movies had finished, and we went out into the streets.

It was a beautiful night. As I walked down the main street in Aix, I could practically feel the energy. The majority of the group was behind me, leisurely walking through the streets. The white-tented booths lining either side of the street were enticing; there were magical aromas, attention grabbing colors, and unfamiliar objects to be discovered. Vendors were selling a variety of goods up and down the streets: products made from the region’s plentiful lavender, a wide variety of jewelry, African drums, and other interesting things. However, one particular jewelry booth caught my eye. The woman who was selling the jewelry had made it all herself, and the pieces seemed to be something my ten year old sister, who wore tons of bracelets, would love.

I was traveling with fourteen students and two leaders on a five and a half week trip to France. We had already been to Alsace, Brittany, Paris, and the Loire Valley; we were in Aix for only a few days before going to the Riviera and the Alps. I had come to believe that the world was my oyster and I was capable of navigating it; this was, of course, despite the fact that my French, although not horrible, contained a limited vocabulary and was heavily accented. I was determined to use the language to my advantage, even though I often got flustered while speaking French and would switch to English as soon as I was spoken to in my native tongue. After I bought the bracelet, I quickly surveyed the street, figuring it would be easy to spot my trip mates. There were lots of tourists, but there certainly weren’t large groups of American teenagers who I knew wandering the streets of Aix. Unfortunately, it was not quite as simple as I had anticipated. I decided that they were likely still in that main strip, and did a loop around both sides of the streets, not bothering to pause and look at the alluring products.

As all I had in my possession was about two Euros in cash, a cell phone that functioned only in the U.S., and a bracelet, I decided I would go to the ATM and take out some cash. Luckily, right there on the market street was a bank. I took out the minimum amount of money. I figured I would need to use a pay phone, so my next course of action was to find change. A bill was probably not going to work at a pay phone. I knew the number of my trip leader, but I didn’t want to ask an unknown stranger to borrow a cell phone. It seemed unsafe to let a stranger in a foreign city know that I was lost with a limited knowledge of the language and no form of quick communication. I walked along the street, asking vendors if they could exchange my ten Euro bill for some two Euro coins. After getting rejected by a few of them and feeling a bit desperate, I finally came across a man who agreed to make change. I took the money and headed off to the pay phone, figuring I could get everything sorted out rather quickly. Naturally, the pay phone only took credit cards, and it didn’t seem to take mine either. I had wasted about ten minutes going through the whole process of getting money from the ATM, getting change, and finding the phone, and now I was back to square one.

My mind was racing. As soon as I had realized that no one was in the immediate market area, and I had felt fairly certain of this, my immediate idea had been to use a pay phone. My plan had failed, but I was still lost. Different ideas swirled around in my head, the better ones coming to the forefront of my thought, only to be discarded because of their complexity. I just needed a simple plan. It needed to be something that I could easily execute, and I didn’t want to put myself in danger. I knew I did not remember how to get back to the Hôtel du Globe from where I was. I also had no clue as to where the others had gone. Determinedly, I walked back to the movie theater, deciding that the best idea would be to use a phone at a business, where I would be safely surrounded by many people.

I went up to the front desk at the movie theater, and hastily explained my situation, using French as my aid. After I had described my troubles, the workers looked at each other and laughed a bit. I felt sort of stupid, especially when they asked why I couldn’t use my cell phone, which I clutched in the palm of my hand. They seemed skeptical of most of what I had said. Still, a woman at the front desk reached down into her purse and pulled out a phone, passing it over to me. I called my leader Ross’s cell phone number. The dial tone went on and on; no one was picking up. I left a short, frantic message, and I decided to call again. There were two other numbers I should have taken down. The other leader, Allison had a cell phone as well, and in my confidence that nothing would go wrong, I had not bothered to write it down. Sara, an older girl who was fluent in French, also had an international plan. I had known her number at one point, but it was written on a scrap of paper that I had surely lost. My hand shook as I dialed again. The woman whom I had taken the phone from was starting to get antsy. I knew this would probably be the last call I could make from this phone. As dumb as I had been not to take down the other numbers, I was hopeful that things would go my way. I did not want to have to walk back to the hotel by myself, along side streets and alleyways, when I didn’t even know where to go.

When Ross answered the phone, my tension was relieved. We had a quick conversation in which Ross disclosed that he was actually not with the rest of the group and was off for the night. I told him I didn’t have the other number, so I had decided to call him. He reassured me that I was right to phone, and he said he would call Allison for me. All I had to do was stay put, and she would come to the theater and pick me up.
Within about five minutes, Allison arrived. She had tears in her eyes; it must have been a very difficult situation for her as well. When she had been left alone with a group of fourteen teenagers, she had managed to lose one. For me, the experience had not really been so awful. I had the opportunity to speak some French, and panic brought out the best French I had spoken in my entire life. At that point, however, we were all just tired and hungry. For the hour and some odd minutes I’d been lost, everyone had gone to eat, realized I was lost, and they had searched the main area for me.

Unfortunately, my idea of what to do had differed from their ideas of what I might do. Still, I was now safe and sound, and we headed to dinner. I realized that the world, even at night, on your own, in a foreign city, is really not such a dangerous place after all. Sure, a few vendors had been a bit rude when I asked them for change, but my butchery of their language and lack of purchase made it understandable. All in all, I realized that I was capable of being a lot more independent than I had previously thought. Just a few weeks earlier, going somewhere in my hometown with a group of friends would have seemed slightly risky to me. The situation was also a stressful, scary one. Many people would be terrified if they were alone and lost in a foreign country. I had kept my cool, and after being lost at night in a French city, I certainly had a different outlook on things.