Some French Politics and More Old Churches

This morning I got up earlish because I received a call a few days ago from the mairie (townhall) saying that I would need to let people in to "do work" on the apartment at 9am. About 8h30, my little apartment buzzer rang... and wouldn't you know it, the little lady from the mairie was here. The first thing she said when she got here was, "They're not here yet?" First of all, I had no idea she was coming. Second of all, she was 30 minutes early. Third of all, I wasn't really sure "who" was coming. I was a little annoyed.

I asked her if she'd like to sit down to wait and she awkwardly watched me finish my breakfast... She asked me if I had moved in ok, if I've had any problems, etc. Then, just to make

conversation I told her that I had had a formation the past 2 days... and she asked if I had any trouble getting there with the strike. I told her, no, I got there early and asked if she was on strike yesterday too. And of course, she said, "Well yes! We must strike!" I was like, huh, well this is a topic we could go on for a little while... so I asked her a few specific questions about the retirement reforms the president, Sarkozy, is proposing, and causing such a raucous by doing so.

Apparently, currently people in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65. If passed, the reforms will raise the retirement age to 62, the pension age to 67, and will increase

the social security contribution requirement by a year. Sarkozy has proposed this reform in order to cope with continuing deficits in the French government. But, many French, this lady

included, will fight to make sure they don't have to wait until they're 67 to receive their pension funds. She reminded me that the French have a long history of striking for their rights when their politicians aren't listening to them (she went all the way back to 1968 to begin this history).

According to this woman, Sarkozy is actually fou (crazy), among other choice words to describe him, and as an American, I can compare his lack of intelligence to George Bush. I thought, well, I

don't really know much about Sarkozy, but I agree that Bush wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box. She went on to compare him to other, more "distinguished" French presidents like Mitterand and Chirac (who was actually of the same political party as Sarkozy). Then, she went on to say that Obama is much more intelligent and that he is also much more attractive (lol, the French LOVE Obama, he is the bee's knees). We talked about his wife and his kids... and then talked about Sarkozy's kids (he has 3 boys, 2 from one marriage and 1 from another, and neither of these wives is his current wife). I asked if his multiple marriages bothered anyone in France, and she said no... the French don't like to pry into the private lives of their political leaders... it's what they do for France that they really care about (which is so interesting to me as Americans are so very concerned about the private lives of our political leaders).

Anyway, after 30 minutes of this, she got up and left. At 9am, the electrician showed up... and I had to butcher my way through explaining why the lady from the mairie left and what he's supposed to look at. I was also supposed to wait for the painters to show (which they did not in the extra hour I waited). It wasn't completely wasted time because I went through a bunch of teaching materials the previous assistants left in the apartment. Some of it was worth keeping,

other stuff not so much... but my ideas on what/how I want to teach are growing!

I went over to Laurence's office after going through these materials to look for more teaching materials. I also made some copies and talked to her a while. She said I was always welcome to come and sit and work on plans in their office so I could have some company (which I thought was cute/nice).

And then, after making a little quiche in my oven, I met up with Lindsey

to see a few more churches that are on my "to see" list in Lyon. We went to St.

Georges first, a 19th century church a few blocks down from St. Jean and built on the grounds of another church from the year 550. It was cool, but kind of small, and not

open to go inside, so I don't know if it would have gotten any cooler.

We also went to visit St. Nizier, a church near the Hotel de Ville. The first

version of this church was built in the 5th century, it was ravaged, then rebuilt in the 8th century, burned down,

and then rebuilt again from the 14th-16th century.

Although it also suffered damages throughout the French Revolution, I would say that for the most part the church that stands here today is mostly the church from the 1500's. At the back of the church there is a gorgeous organ, that was installed in the 1800's. Quite the historical little churches, eh!

Afterwards we just moseyed along, talking about our weeks and our plans for the rest of the week (we're going to go see a movie on Friday and then Saturday is the little trip to Chambery). We passed by the Place des Jacobins, a new fountain favorite of mine. Then, we took a gander at a few shoe stores (no luck for me, which is probably a good thing since I haven't been paid yet).

And now I am getting ready for my last day of work this week. I'm going to my favorite school tomorrow, but going by bus this time, so I hope I find it!

Hope you're all having fabulous weeks! Reste cool:)