This is the third part of Ali's story, courtesy of her mother Patty (tFS user modelmom). Ali's journal chronicles the beginning of her modeling career in Paris at 15 years old (which was in 2002). Patty's comments are italicized and the format has been edited. 

Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

We met a girl named Tatiana from Russia today. She’s 19 and had been modeling by herself since she was 16. She speaks English!  She was so nice and could probably see that my mom and I were a couple of lost sheep. I had a casting for Harper’s Bazzar the next day and I asked her to go along with me. She said it wasn’t on her list but I talked her into going with me. She booked the job! (They took one look at me and said they were looking for a pro.) I was happy for her.

We went to lunch with her …it was so nice to find a friendly face. She warned us to look out for the gypsies in the Metro. She told us they make a living by stealing from the tourists!  We went downstairs to find a phone tonight. It’s daytime in the US and I wanted to call my boyfriend. My mom had a cow, she thinks I am going to be kidnapped.

I was laughing at her until a young man walked up and licked the phone booth!!

Today I am in another country but I am thinking about the USA. The date is September 11th and it is the one year anniversary of 9/11. I am proud to be an American even if I am half way around the world. I would rather be back home with my horse and my friends but my mom seems to think that this is such a great opportunity and I don’t have the heart to tell her any different. I know we have spent a lot of money since we arrived here but my mom says not to worry about it.

I have a casting today for Madame Figaro and another test with a photographer. I think one of the reasons they wanted me to come to Paris is because my book is so weak, but at this rate it should be full in no time. We walked so much today that my feet have blisters. I wore my heels to all the castings, which was dumb. I finally figured out that most of the models wear comfortable shoes and change at the casting. It’s all the little things that you don’t know that drive you crazy. It’s all common sense, but we are learning little by little.