Complications, Observations, and Explorations!

Bonsoir! (Good evening)

Complication #1: Today has been a good day all around… however, if this weefee (wifi) doesn’t start cooperating I’m going to pull my hair out. It worked all day yesterday, not at all the day before, and on and off today. I’m writing this in a word document in hopes that I can quickly post it into my blog before it shuts off!

Complication #2: This morning I was awoken bright and early at 7:10am by my alarm clock, which I promptly turned off and then fell back asleep until 8am… Laura (Laurence’s daughter) rang the buzzer at about 8:35… so oops. She was early, I was late. She was very kind and waited on me to get ready, but I sure can’t wait until I’m back on a regular sleeping schedule.

Complication #3: It rained off and on all day (perhaps this is the cause for my poor wifi signal?). Thankfully I packed an umbrella, so I didn’t get too wet, but it was so windy that several times my umbrella turned backwards… which was very amusing to both Laura and I… and the occasional passerby.

Complication #4: Credit cards in France are different than our credit cards. They don’t necessarily have a strip on the back, but a small chip on the side. Therefore, the credit card machines are a bit different, and in some stores they are all together unable to use my cards. I haven’t had too much trouble so far, if I can’t use my credit card, I can find an ATM to withdraw money. But, this morning, Laura took me to the bank to begin the process of opening an account. The woman was extremely friendly and patient with her explanations of the system and the documents required. I’m pretty much all set at this point, I just have to wait 8 jours (a week is 8 days, not 7 in France) to acquire the actual credit card.

Observation #1: St. Pree-est is a very cute and friendly town. Almost everyone, especially little old women, say Bonjour in passing. The man at the reception desk of the bank was also very friendly- he even asked if I was interested in tutoring the children of his friend in English…noting that private English classes are very expensive… which means that I’m sure my going rate wouldn’t be half bad. But, I told him I’d wait and see after I started working what my schedule was like.

Observation #2: The transportation system is very accessible and very clean. Laura told me that the tramway is only about 2 years old and the metro has been refurbished over the last few years. The tram is kind of like an above ground metro or a modern looking trolley. They had them in Paris and they were my preferred way of travel because they were so clean and you could see the happenings around you. In Paris, you couldn’t take the tram into the heart of the city, just around- however in Lyon, there is a tram right by my apartment that goes straight into Lyon Centre. I can also take a bus to the metro and take it into the city when I get fancier and know of more places to go in Lyon.

Complication#5: Transportation’s not as inexpensive as I was hoping. For students, the price of a monthly pass is something like 31 Euros. However, as I am unfortunately no longer a student, it will cost me a whopping 50 Euros! (like 75-80 bucks! Yikes!). So until I know exactly how often I need to use the tram or bus, I’ll just purchase the 13 euro carnet (book of 10 tickets, each ticket lasting you an hour of use).

Observation #3: The French eat, a lot. Maybe not snacking so much, but their idea of lunch involves a salad, a large omelet with ham, and yogurt and cheese for dessert… or some variation of that. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy eating this much, but it’s something I have to get used to. Tonight I went into the village of St. Priest to find a cute Patisserie I saw earlier while bank hunting, and I got a quiche au jambon (ham quiche) and a tartelette au citron (lemon tart). As I gazed into the glass of endless pastry choices, I felt like saying, “I’ll take the lot!” But then I remembered, 1: I am not in a Harry Potter movie, and 2: I don’t have enough money or room in my tummy for everything all at once. All in due time thoughJ

Exploration #1: After getting back from practicing the buses/metro/tram with Laura, watching a very French film at Laurence’s house (Amèlie, one of my favorites), taking a quick cat nap while watching the movie, and a quick look around for a Laundromat (no luck yet), I discovered that while I was gone, I had been given my new hot plate-stove top, atop the oven I thought was broken. Laura and I played with the “stove” and I decided I better go out for my dinner tonight.

Exploration #2: The last “exploration” was an exploration of the stove top, if youwere wondering. But it also leads into the exploration of the village when I wentout for my pastry dinner. The village sits behind the Chateau, so I guess I just didn’t go far enough the other day. It’s very cute. Lots of shops, a fountain (yay something to show my dad- he loves fountainsJ), a school of music, and a

beautiful church. Pictures to come . . .

Observation #4: During our search for the Laundromat, I discovered that the médiathèque (fancy library) and Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) are on the other side of town, right behind my apartment building. But what was really cool to see, as these buildings aren’t very interesting, was a car procession for an Arab wedding. All the cars were decked out and honking all the way down the street to the town hall (this is apparently something everyone in France does for a wedding). Then, as the bride got out of the car, men dressed in traditional garb started beating drums and blowing these huge brass horns (an Arab tradition). I didn’t have my memory card at the time, but later, on my exploration of the village, I saw the bride getting pictures taken at the Chateau…so of course I took a picture to show youJ

Well that’s about it for today. I bought a map of Lyon so that tomorrow I can begin the real exploration of the big city. Laura said she would “give me a shout” later in the weekend to go to the movies. So wish me luck navigating the tram and city without her!

Reste cool!

Ps: I thought you would be interested to know, in one of our cultural conversations about France, Laura informed me that the French do not actually say “Sacre bleu” and “han han han.” But instead they sigh heavily and say something that sounds like “buff.” When I said that all my American friends impersonate the French like that, she said, “Oh because of Robin Williams?” I don’t know about that, but thought it was funny nonetheless.