children's books, bowling surprise, and circus tent dancing

Phew! I'm exhausted from my long day yesterday.... but it's just too good of a story not to blog about it! I don't want to forget all the deets!

So- to start off my day, I went and did the final two loads of laundry that I will ever do in my little Saint-Priest neighborhood laverie! Woohoo! I didn't have any coins, so I decided to be brave and go into the bar next door, which the laundromat lady's husband owns/runs. It was surprisingly full of little old men and women for being 10am... most of them had little cafés... but others seemed to be regular drunks. The bartender/laundromat lady's hubby, was very nice and gave me my coins, asking if I knew how to use the machines or needed help with anything. I said, nope I'm a regular laundromat goer... but even still, as I walked out the door, I had silly looking drunk men yelling advice on how to use the machines.

After getting my laundry all put up to dry on the rack (and eating a delicious croque monsieur from a bakery on the way home), I gathered up my materials I had borrowed from the head office in Saint-Priest (where Laurence's office used to be... and where Céline, her replacement, currently works) and set off to return them quickly before stopping by Corinne's house. Of course it wasn't very quick because Christine, the woman who lead our in-services, was there to help organize the Saint-Priest language festival that will take place in June. So I met Céline for the first time, talked to them both about how it was ashame I'd be missing the festival, how this year went, how they were thankful for having me work with them, etc. It was very nice, until I made the mistake of saying I left all the materials I had made in the apartment for the people next year (as the previous assistants left binders of  stuff for me). Céline said, oh well... we don't know who will be living in that apartment next year, so you should bring us all that stuff.... in the next few hours because we will be closed over break and before you leave. I wasn't going to be available to do such, so I worked out the plan that I'd box up the stuff and have Corinne bring it over for them after break (poor Corinne).

And so I walked to Corinne's house with a big cardboard box :/ I guess it does make sense for it to all be at the main office, but.... it was very convenient for me to just look in my closet and find materials when I needed them... but I guess it's not really my decision. On the other hand, I'm leaving a bunch of other crap here (some sheets and towels I bought here as well as office supplies type materials.... which I hope is OK because it's not all going to fit in that box and it's not coming home with me!).

Corinne was out gardening when I walked up and she said, well what'd you bring me?? I recounted my little afternoon adventure to her and she willingly offered to be the one to take the materials to the main office without me asking her, so that was nice:) It was warm out, so she asked if I wanted a drink (sirop!!!) and we sat to chat. She helped me figure out the SFR letter I had just received, containing another sticker to stick on a box meant to contain my neufbox (which I just sent away using a different sticker they sent me). Oy vay I thought- did I send the box with the wrong sticker? But it turned out to just be another option for sending the package (through a different mail carrier system). Then, we got down to real business.

I logged into my email and she read through the most recent conversations between me and the bank lady. She said it didn't make much sense to her either (making me feel less useless) and decided she'd just go ahead and call her. She talked with her a long time, checking on my online American bank statements for the information she needed and eventually hung up saying, "Elle était charmante, cette dame..." (she was a lovely woman). Turns out I need an IBAN number to make an international transfer and we can't find that number on any online banking statements... and if I can't find it, we can't make the transfer. Instead, she will have to send me a check in euros, which I will then have to deposit to the bank... which will take several weeks and a processing fee. Bah! But at least there is a solution!

Then Corinne announced that since she had worked for me, I was going to work for her and help her take down her laundry that was out to dry on the porch:) As a side observation- I notice way more outdoor clothes lines here and when we were in Italy than I've ever seen in the US. I asked Corinne if they even had a dryer, and she said yeah, why do you need one? I lol-ed, so nice these people! And explained no, I was just curious because the laundry was hanging out to dry. She said she just preferred having the laundry dry outside in the spring and summer, but during the winter their dryer runs all the time. She said it's way more popular to leave laundry drying outside in the south of France than it is here in Lyon or in the North of France... so she is in the habit of doing so being from Marseille... but also because of how much energy it saves when the dryer isn't constantly in use. I thought man- we use our dryer all the time at home! We only hang something to dry if the tag says to do so... and even then not all the time! But now that I've been living in France with neither a washer/dryer, nor the time/extra coins to sit and wait on my laundry to dry at the laundromat, I dry everything on the rack... and despite my towels being crispy instead of soft, I don't really mind and I could certainly continue to do it for the sake of using less energy in my own house someday....

Anywho, once we got in all the laundry, she went to wake up Lucie, who was home sick, so that we could go pick up Emilie. I stayed in the car while Corinne went out to find Emilie in the crowd of kids just let out from school, and Lucie and I talked about the big Easter chocolate eating weekend that awaited her:) Then we all went to my Tuesday school (and therefore Corinne's school), so that I could meet up with Elise, Eve, and Nathalie, and so that Corinne could pick up flowers she ordered from a school fundraiser.

Once Eve, Nathalie, and Elise were all cleaned up and ready to go, we drove over to Mireille's house (another teacher I gave extra classes to) for a gouté. She lives in a small apartment overlooking a nice wooded area, but with 5 women trying to chat and Mireille's two children under the age of 3 running around, it was a little cramped. But on the whole, I enjoyed playing with her kids and eating our little nutella and bread snack. Once her husband came home, the other teachers changed into something that they hadn't been wearing all day at school and we said à toute à l'heure to Mireille (see you in a bit, because she'd be meeting us later!).

We all got into Nathalie's car and we drove to Carré de la Soie, a nice outdoor shopping mall. I had heard all about it from Luc and Corinne, so I was happy to get the chance to experience it! Strangely enough- the mall closes at 7pm on Friday nights. So by the time we parked and went into one store, we were being asked to leave... which seems so strange to me, even after being here for 7 months! Wouldn't you think a mall would stay open a little longer? I did have long enough to buy a few children's books (I know I know- where will I put them... but I just couldn't leave France without buying at least a few books to read to my kids!). I actually got the same book that both Nathalie and Eve bought for their kids because we had seen it at Mireille's house. It's a book that gives directions and when you turn the page these little dots change shape or color because of what the child did on the previous page... thought it would be cute... and fun to read to any age group (perhaps with some translation involved).

When we left, Nathalie said, ok time for food! Let's go to Subway! I laughed, only because I was surprised that people living in a country so full of delicious baguette sandwiches would want to eat at an American fast food chain. She didn't think I wanted to eat there, but I said oh no, I like Subway... it's just very American. And she said- what? I could have sworn it was French! When we went in, I showed her how the walls were papered with the New York subway lines... but I guess, in all reality, a French chain very well could have been called Subway and styled after the New York metro lines lol. They laughed though, saying that they were trying to assimilate me back into my American culture by taking me to an American food chain in France. Baby steps, they said. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my white chocolate macadamia nut cookie:)

Elise, Nathalie, Eve, et Moi

Elise, Mireille, Nathalie 1, Eve, Nathalie 2

We left the mall for the bowling alley, where we were meeting Mireille and another teacher I'd never met before. It turned out that her name was also Nathalie and she had a son in one of my classes at my Monday school, so she knew who I was more than I knew who she was! We had a little drink (I tried a peach kir) and then the real fun began! If you recall from our last bowling experience, I lost with something like 40 points. This time I won with a whopping 78 points, which was higher than the 50 something Nathalie scored. (Everyone else scored below that... but the scores were equally as low on everyone else's score boards... so either bowling just hasn't been around very long in France or people choose to wait until they're adults to start playing!). But- it get's better. Not only was I able to score a few strikes and spares... I was also given a surprise going-away/happy engagement present. They had been laughing about it and peeking into their bag all night... and finally when I opened it, I could see why-dun dun DUN! It was a lacy piece of lingerie!!!! And if that wasn't embarrassing enough to open in a bowling alley- they made me put it on (on top of my clothes of course) and wear it for the rest of the night!

We then left the bowling alley for the big top circus tent dance club. It was in the middle of an open field... with bouncers that strictly asked how many of us were in the car before letting us park. We paid 10 euros for the entrance fee, which included a drink token. We sat down at a table around the middle of the tent... and out came a circus performer spinning on his head, juggling upside down (reaffirming my dislike for circus-ry tricks... I think it just freaks me out and makes me scared the person is going to hurt themselves).

When he finished his act, this area became our dance floor!

When he was finished, the DJ put on music and the first couple of people went out to dance. Eve said, come on girls, and we all went onto the dance floor, dancing to who knows what haha. It was one of the most unique experiences I've ever had before- there were people ranging in ages 20-70 doing their thing, either in groups of people, with a partner, or on their own. The music ranged from 70's-80's French/American/English pop to music from Grease to salsa, reggae, and hard rock. Some songs I had never heard but were huge crowd pleaser's... others were songs I knew by heart (Grease tunes of course... and Sweet Dreams). And the dancing! It ranged from swaying and side-stepping to line-dancing to kind of jumping up and down. There wasn't a whole lot of "dirty dancing" going on... we danced as a group... boys danced together.... boys danced by themselves (I was shocked too)... women danced by themselves- people were just dancing and having a good time because they liked to dance. It was fun and refreshing- people were "gettin' down" just because they liked the song and wanted to dance.

We were there for probably 2 or 3 hours... not getting there until about 11... which meant we didn't leave until about 2am... and I didn't get home until about 2:45. It was so much fun for my last night out with the girls... but I've been so tired and sore all day! My feet hurt!

So there you have it- my crazy French night in a nutshell! I said my goodbyes to everyone except Nathalie who's coming to pick me up at 11am tomorrow. I'm having Easter lunch at her house and helping her kids find chocolate Easter eggs:) I'm also getting up early to meet Caroline at the Creation Market to do one last look around for some prints of Lyon. I think that would be a nice, light souvenir to bring back with me!

Hope you're having a nice Easter weekend! I keep meaning to blog about my Paris day trip from last weekend, but I am distracted by packing and making plans for when I get home!

Reste cool:)