I’m a winner!

I know you’re all waiting to hear how the so called “battle” between France and I went… well, let’s just say I’m a winner!!!! For now anyway. After checking online to make sure my bank location was open, I found out that, oh it is not open on Mondays… that figures. (As a reminder to you, I needed to go to the bank to acquire a RIB form, or a little piece of paper with my account numbers on it to be able to finally get internet and telephone for my apartment.) Although my bank location was closed, I checked to see if there were any others open. Thankfully, there was one open in my region and I copied down the map from the internet to go straight there this morning.

Then it got tricky. This bank was located in the Parc Technologique. It was easily accessible by tram, but once off the tram, this technology park (or industrial park) was not very walker friendly. It was basically a large office complex (and I do mean large). There were only little green signs on the buildings to denote what offices were held where… and of course I didn’t have much to go off of except the little map I drew. After walking to about 10 different buildings and no luck, I decided I was in trouble. Fortunately, I had also copied down the phone number. I called, got lost some more, called again, and the man came outside to meet me. Of course on his way out, he lit a cigarette, which he needed to finish before going back inside. While we stood there talking, he asked if I had an appointment and what I needed. Of course, I had no appointment; I was just waltzing in like any other person in battle might do. I told him what I needed and he said… A what? I said you know… like the thing with all the numbers on it… and he said… oh, well we’re more of like the business behind the bank, not an actual bank location. I’m sure my face went white or I looked like he had just killed my cat because he immediately said, but we’ll see what we can do. So he stamped out his cigarette and we headed upstairs.

He took the papers I had and returned with 3 copies of the RIB. WOOHOO! I did a little dance as I walked out. Nice job little smoking French man.

Then, it was time to head back to the SFR store (just one tram stop away). Of course they remembered me and very quickly got it all set up. I am to wait for a guy to come install my telephone line from 15h-17h (or 3-5pm) on October 7th. Then, I will receive a text message and an email from SFR when my neufbox comes into the more local shop in Saint-Priest. Once I have this neufbox, I can plug everything up and have internet, phone, and HGtv. Hurray! So hopefully within the next 2 weeks I will finally have it all figured out, which is good because my internet hasn’t worked all day. Hopefully I can log on long enough to post thisJ

After all this hard work, I stopped for a ham and cheese crepe (yumz). Then I did a bit of

grocery shopping so that, although I ate out all day, tomorrow, I can start cooking at home. As soon as I got home, I got a text from another assistant who wanted to meet up in Lyon. Her name is also Lindsey (but with an e), and she will be the high school English assistant in Saint-Priest. It was great to finally meet and to talk to someone about the program, the city, living in France, etc. We got caught in the rain though and it was mighty chilly. So we stopped off at an H&M to find me a hat. It is a very French-y winter hat, but it will keep me and my ears nice and warmJ

We crossed back and forth from Presqu-ile (where she’s looking for housing) to the Vieux Lyon for some early dinner (well it was 5:30, so I was ready for dinner). Apparently, I’ve forgotten that the French don’t eat dinner until after 7pm… and trying to find something open between 5-7 is not easy. So instead of sitting down to eat somewhere, we just went to a boulangerie for

pizza and desert (at least that’s what I ate). The pizza is a little different, but very good. And tonight I tasted a Lyon specialty- the pink pralines brioche. Really it is the pink praline that is the specialty and they add it to different pastries. A brioche is a type of sweet roll, and I’m not sure why the praline is pink. But it is BRIGHT pink. This is the view from the bakery.

I’m back home, ready to rest. I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow and I like it (except a dinner date with Laurence's family). I need to rest my legs and prepare for my orientation on Wednesday (by doing nothing). If anything I’ll go find where the orientation is in Lyon, but otherwise I’ll be tidying up and putting away my laundry that is still trying to dry. This is an interesting tid-bit about my apartment… I don’t think I have heat. So when it is cold, my wet laundry does not dry very fast. I’m wondering if I’m just too stupid to find the heat or if it really doesn’t exist. I’m also wondering how much a space heater costs. Until then, I'll be cranking up the "bunson burners" on my oven.

Miss you all. Reste cool!