I'll start from the beginning- I was dropped off at the airport around 3:40 on Tuesday for my 6:40 flight to Lyon with a stop over in London. Thankfully, everyone (minus Leslie in NY) was able to see me off... as I rode, a little teary-eyed- but not too much;) down the escalator to security. The flight boarded on time, took off a little late, and arrived really late. I had to be through security by 8:05 to catch my flight leaving at 8:40 in London. Miraculously, I made it
through by 8:06, after listening to some seriously British people tell me to take off my boots and belts (insert seriously British accent) and watch them grab each others' butts and laugh as if it were a normal work pastime. Huh. I ran to catch the plane, which hadn't even boarded yet, eventually got on, and found out that I would be receiving a breakfast snack while the first class passengers received the "full English breakfast." I was a little miffed I didn't get the full English breakfast, and just the "Egg mayonnaise" or egg salad sandwich provided to
me in regular people class. Anyway, we were also told that the air traffic controllers in France were on strike... meaning we would have to literally fly around France (from London to Brussels to boardering the German/France line and into Lyon) to avoid issues around Paris. I landed at 11:35 (20 min late) and put all my bags on a little cart thingy... which a very nice old French man paid for (just 1 euro). I walked through the sign that said "sortie" (exit) and as I went through the doors, I saw Laurence in her red scarf... and my luggage came falling off my cart because I was paying more attention to finding said red scarf than watching where my cart went....
But, Laurence very kindly helped me transport my luggage to her little European hatchback (oh yeah which ended up being 2 suitcases weighing about 50 lbs each, and 2 "carry-ons," the bigger of the 2 being too heavy to hoist into an overhead bin...). We drove straight to Venissieux (the town right beside St. Priest) to her house. She had made a Lyon specialty, called Quenelles, that sort of looked like stuffed manicotti, but tasted more like dumplings... We also had crudités (salad with chopped up carrots and pieces of ham), and cheese for desert.... and of course all 3
courses were accompanied by a nice crispy baguette. After lunch, Laurence left to take her youngest daughter (16) to the doctor's office, and I was left to hang with her middle child, Laura (19), who has been very patient and kind throughout my first day. She spent a few months in Ecosse (Scotland) at the beginning of this year working in a kitchen of some sort, so she loved practicing her English skills. At this point I didn't mind speaking in English a little, as I had spoken in French from the get-go with Laurence. Although she is in
charge of the English Assistants, she knows very little English, studying Spanish and German in school herself. I didn't do half bad, but I was tired and feeling overwhelmed as it was, let alone trying to remember all the French grammar and vocabulary I'd forgotten over this past year.
After a shower at Laurence's house, we drove quickly over to St. Priest (pronounced Sanh Pree-est) to show me around before going to my apartment. I signed the papers and was given the keys to my 5th floor (4th in French), 3 bedroom apartment. The apartment is huge for just me; Laurence did mention that after they repainted a few other rooms, and if they found someone else to live here, I might have a roommate. So I won't get too comfortable living by myself, but then again, who knows when they'll get around to repainting and finding someone else... I have a nice little kitchen, with a borrowed micro-onde (microwave) from
Laurence's son, Jeremy (21) who is living at home now to attend university in Lyon. The oven (culinaire) is broken and is supposed to be replaced today. I have a nice bathroom, with a sink and a tub with a shower head, not attached to t
he wall but just laying free... so I have to hold it up to pretend I'm in a shower. And then the potty is down the hall in its own little home. This is a picture of my bedroom, it's the only one that was repainted before I arrived, so I moved all the furniture I wanted into the room. There is also a nice big living room with a pull out couch and 2 tables, a balcony that I've been told not to go out on because the railing isn't secure, and a view of other apartment buildings and pretty mountains in the distance.
After we looked around the apartment, Laurence and Laura decided we needed to go on a
shopping spree to help get me fixed up for the night. We went grocery shopping in my neighborhood store (yay big jar of nutella, chocolate croissants, and wheels of brie!), then to a huge store with everything much like at Wal-mart to buy sheets and towels, and then to the mall to get a prepaid cell phone. The phone card is kinda pricey, but to make local calls is very inexpensive. To make calls to the USA, it's like 1euro18centimes for every minute I use... so now that my internet sort of works, I hopefully won't need to use it much for calling home.
We then went back to Laurence's house for dinner with the whole family. Her children are hilarious.... they go from speaking French super fast and in slang I don't understand, to trying to translate to English, into singing songs they know inf English with the words they were just trying to think of. And to top it all off, Laurence started trying to speak in English, which made us all laugh because it is so broken and accented. (I hope I don't sound that bad in French!).
Finally, around 9:30pm (3:30pm our time) I went home to clean the bathroom, potty house, and put my sheets on my bed. I collapsed around 12:30, and woke up, wide awake at 8am... I don't know how I'm awake... I should have at least slept til 10, but just couldn't do it. I guess I'll be off like this for a few days! Here is a picture of the living room, during my late-night unpacking party.
Today, I'm going to get myself a little more situated, walk around St. Priest a little, and if for some reason my internet stops working this afternoon, I'll call Laurence to come take me to her house to use their internet. I would just go to the library down the street, but oh yes, I forgot to mention, there is another strike today... affecting buses, schools, etc. Très français, non?
Ok- that's all for now! Miss you all bunches!!!!!
Love, Lindsay
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