Arrival: 3 mars 2015

We landed 30 minutes (around 7:45) early on a sunny Paris morning. Lots of walking to get to the passport contrôle, but luckily the line was short. I was surprised that we had not been given any papers on the plane to fill out for customs before our arrival, and now, that the customs agent (or immigration agent) didn’t ask for any information-not where I’d be staying, for how long, etc. It’s a very open border! At first I thought, now, we all go pick up our luggage and then, there would be another gate to pass through, for customs, but non. I got my bags quite quickly and headed to the exit which again to my surprise, was truly an exit. On the other side of the door, there were lots of people, mainly people of African heritage, awaiting friends and relatives. Then I passed through a group of drivers holding signs with names on them. I looked carefully for “Touré,” hoping that maybe one was there for me…beh non.

The line for taxis moved quickly. As luck would have it, my cab driver was a gentleman named Robert, from Cameroun, who has been living in France for 18 years. He is married to a French woman and they have two little girls, 4 and 7 years old. We had a lovely conversation about his life and the life of immigrants in general in France during our 45 minute trip into Paris. I told Robert about my research: an ethnographic study of a diverse school in Paris to learn about the education of immigrant children, particularly kids from West Africa, whether they are first, second, or third generation immigrants. This encouraged him to share his insights:

·      In general, immigrants are not treated well here, according to Robert.

·      Things have gotten worse since the attacks in January. People do not trust anyone who is not French. It was already bad: here he is, finding a job after his university education was impossible, so he drives a cab. He explained that this was not due to lack of experience or meeting job requirements. If a Frenchman with fewer qualifications applied for the same position, he got the offer.

·      Robert cannot get French citizenship even though he’s married to a French woman and their children are French. There are way too many hoops to jump through.

·      He plans to return to Cameroun in five years or so for good. He just feels so much more at home there, every time he visits.

I took this as a good omen for the research I’ll be doing over the next three months. Robert also offered some advice for me: tell my prospective interview participants that the interview will last 30 minutes. Comme ça, they will be more enthusiastic to begin and when the time stretches closer to an hour or more, they will be happy to continue. He also suggested that I study lycées and universités. I explained that I really have to limit my focus, but perhaps I would observe in a lycée as well.