It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Well- as you can tell from the title of the post, I didn't get out of Saint-Priest today. I did however manage to get out of my apartment to run a few errands and do laundry on this beautiful fall day. Doing my laundry on Saturdays, I'll have you know though, isn't as much fun as doing it on Sundays. There is no market for one thing, and everyone else in Saint-Priest must like to do laundry on Saturdays too... because I could barely find an open washer!

I also mailed some postcards (if you want one, I need your address!) and went to the grocery store to buy some candles. My apartment, because it has a trash shoot and vent connecting to other apartments in my building, occasionally starts to take on other apartment food smells... And now because I use so many candles, I have learned to light matches. I've never really lit a match before, so this has been sort of exciting... in a "I hope I don't burn down my apartment" kind of way.

And that's about all the excitement I've had for today, which has been nice. I realized I have a 4 day weekend coming up (Thursday is a holiday in France... veteran's day I think). So I will have to come up with some sort of exciting plan for next weekend. I didn't end up going to the Tony Garnier museum today, so maybe next weekend will be "museum weekend" because there are a few others I want to go to.

I am going into Lyon tomorrow to meet Lindsey and her dad for lunch! Hurray!

Hope you're having a nice weekend!

Reste cool:)

If only I ruled the universe....

Well.... that was one way to spend 3 and half hours of my time. If I were queen of the universe, inefficient systems like this would not exist. (This delicious picture displays my reward to myself when the nightmare was over. I thought I'd add it to the top to lure you in so you'd have some motivation to read all the way to the bottom.) Here is what happened:

This morning I went into Lyon to go to the Rhone area prefecture (which deals with visas, passports, and driver's licenses). On Wednesday, when I was there around noon, they told me that although the office opens at 9am, I would be too late if I got there at 9... and they were right. Anticipating a long line, I arrived at the prefecture an hour and 10 minutes early (7:50am). Too my surprise, the line was probably a good 200-300 people long already (but it was hard to tell as people sort of lined up in rows of 5-7 people making it look more like a mob than a line). I got in line, telling myself at least at 9 the line would start to move and I'd get to wait inside and hopefully sit down.

By 9, I was probably about the middle of the line. The line started to move, slowly, especially after someone came out to separate the heard (driver's licenses upstairs, visas stay in line). It was probably 10:15 before I even reached the gates at the front, and 10:45 before I was inside. So... from 7:50-10:45, I stood in line, reading a book. For some reason, the beginners of the line didn't line up against the wall... we were in the middle of the sidewalk about 3 feet from the wall of the building. I was afraid if I went to lean on it for a minute, I'd lose my spot. And, people were cutting in line like nobody's business, so I wanted to make sure I stood my ground.

By the time we got inside, I had made friends with the 2 guys behind me (and by friends I mean accomplices in keeping cutters out of our part of the line and waving away smoke from the jerks who thought it was ok to smoke 2 feet away from others in line). Both guys were in line for a renouvellement (or a visa renewal). One was from Columbia and he's doing some sort of nuclear engineering in France. Apparently it is very, very hard to maintain temporary residency in France if you are from Columbia. He said the last time it took him an entire year before the process went through, even though he was working for and hired by a French company. The other guy had a similar story, but he was from a French speaking country in Africa, so it wasn't quite as hard to stay as for the Columbian. He even had some sort of special letter that was hopefully going to get him through quicker. Both guys said that once you get to the front of the line, you explain your situation, show your documents, and if you have everything, you take a ticket. Then, you wait several more hours before they call you up. The guy from Africa said that the Paris office is even worse. The people who were at the front of the line today in Lyon probably got here at 4am (according to him), but people in Paris basically start lining up the night before and camp out over night in order to make the cut. I thought, mon dieu, I'm glad I'm not in Paris!

Sure enough, once we were in inside, I noticed that there were probably only about 50 people behind me waiting in line. The others had been sent away (gasp), which means, had I actually gotten here at 9, I would have been sent home. By 11:15, I was up next and I went to explain my case. I started out with, Hi, I'm an American, living and working here as an English Teaching Assistant (I figured if this part of the country was more American friendly, I ought to go ahead and play that card first). The man behind the glass took my passport and said... err usually it's too late to do this for you now... and then made a phone call. After about 10 minutes on the phone, he handed my passport back to me and said, the stamp you received at the immigration office is good until May. If you wish to live here past the end of May, you must come back with a renewal of contract form. I was like.... so you're saying I don't need anything until May. He said correct. I said, now really, I'm good until May. I can live here without anything else, even though my visa expires in January. He said, Forget about your visa. That was just to get you here. You have the OFII stamp which is what matters now and it is good until May. I was like, oh huh. Thanks.

I left, thoroughly happy that I would not have to wait in line any longer... but as I got outside and started walking away, I realized I had just gotten up super early for nothing, wasted more than 3 hours of my life, standing in line for nothing, and all after asking 2 people who should have known to tell me I didn't need to stand in line in the first place (one being the contact person at the French Embassy in the US, the other being the guy from the prefecture in Lyon). AH!

But- it wasn't a total waste. Because my legs were stiff from standing so long, I walked down the river and happened upon the big flower and fountain. I think I've posted a picture of it before, but if not, here's another one. I decided that what I needed what a pick-me-up... a reminder that I'm glad to be here, not bitterly angry at such an inefficient bureaucracy (why, why, oh why do they not make people sign up for times online or something more civilized???). So, I stopped for a pink praline brioche and a cup of hot chocolate. Both delicious. The brioche was by far the biggest one I've had, and one of the sweetest, but it didn't stop me from devouring it after being in that long, horrible line. (The picture at the top is the brioche turned upside down to show all the gooey yummy pink praline goodness.)

Now I'm home... it's a gloomy day and I'm not really in the mood for anything but maybe a cup of tea (I know, weird right? I am not a tea drinker, but the French mid-morning break has forced me to enjoy it because they always ask if I want some and it's hard to say no) and a movie. Tomorrow will be a better day. I'm doing more laundry (which isn't that exciting) and then going to the Tony Garnier museum with my friend Hannah.

Hope you all have better Fridays than I did!

Reste cool:)

Hhhhaunted Hhhhhouse

This morning was my first day back to school since October 21... and although it was a little rough getting up so early and switching my brain back into French, I had a great time at school with my kids and colleagues.

With les CMs (my oldest group, the combined CM1/Cm2 class), we went back over some Halloween vocabulary (ghost, bat, witch, broom, haunted house, mummy, skeleton, etc.), and played the game memory (which they love... and subsequently cheered "ouaaai" upon finding out the activity for the day). It was weird to be doing Halloween again, after Halloween was over, but I guess the teacher didn't want to start right off the bat with something new (since I was their very first lesson back at school). They had to match the picture with the word and pronounce the word when they flipped it over. Listening to them try to say "scarecrow" and "haunted house" was so funny. I tried to tell them at the beginning of the lesson that in English we pronounce the "h" sound at the beginning of words, whereas in French you do not (at first they were all saying "aunted ouse"). So they ended up saying "Hhh, hhhaunted Hhh, house." They couldn't get the "h" out in one full breath lol. And "scarecrow" was just hard because they had nothing to connect it to. At least the other words are sort of similar in French or are familiar from American movies (skelete=skeleton, spider reminds them of spider man, bat reminds them of bat man, broom sounds like the sound a car makes... and a witch rides a broom, etc.). But, I couldn't think of a good way to help them remember scarecrow... even after explaining that "scare" is like scary and a "crow" is a bird, they didn't get it. Oh well, maybe I'll show them the Wizard of Oz sometime:)

In the next class, we did essentially the same activity. These kids actually remembered the vocab and could pronounce the words better than the older kids for some reason. (Except, they were even cuter trying to pronounce "hhhaunted hhhouse.") The kids were so sad when the bell sounded for the mid-morning break.

At the break, Murielle, la directrice, reminded me that the CP class was on a field trip this morning. So... I did not get to teach my lesson on numbers after the break. Instead, Murielle asked if I had brought anything for Thanksgiving. She decided that she'd rather take advantage of me being there than have me just sit and observe a lesson in French, which I thought was really nice of her. Thankfully, I had brought the 2 books my mom sent me for Thanksgiving, just to show her and the other teachers at the lunch time. I showed them to her before we went back inside, and she and the other teachers were so funny... they thought the pictures of the pilgrims and Native Americans were great and enjoyed hearing about what we eat at Thanksgiving.

Although I hadn't really prepared for how I would explain Thanksgiving, I did so in French first because I figured the kids would be completely lost if I had just started with the book in English. My explanation was probably painful to listen to... it's hard thinking of the words for pilgrims and religious freedom and starvation and squash... but we got through it. Then my 9-11 year olds all gathered around my little board book, the kind you read to really little children... and they were so engaged. I thought, hah so funny. This book is so simple, but then again, even the simplest explanation of Thanksgiving in English is really, really difficult for them. They thought the pictures were cool and asked if we still dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians. (Murielle actually asked if I'd be dressed up on Thanksgiving lol).

And then to finish up with this group, we switched gears to explaining the regular American school day because we got into a little discussion about how many days we get off for Thanksgiving... and the kids realized that American children go to school 5 days a week instead of 4 on a regular basis. Murielle was appalled that we only got 30 minutes for lunch. The kids thought it was so cool that American children get to bring their lunch to school (one kid even shouted out, "It's like a picnic!"). And even though the kids in America get much less break time during school hours, my French students thought it would be pretty awesome to end the day so early (they don't finish until 4:30 here, but granted they do get a 2 hour lunch break and 2 recesses).

At lunchtime, Murielle showed me all around the maternelle (pre-k classrooms), which becomes part of the after school childcare. She said that children start here in preschool as early as 2 and a half! She also explained that her own kids (she has 3 ranging in age from 2-6) have to go to the babysitters until 6:30 or 7pm because she gets paid to stay much later than the other teachers... which lead us to talking about if I was ever free to babysit (which obviously I said yes). So we'll see if she ever needs me, but I've already met her kids and it would be so much fun if I got to babysit them. I'd even work for free, if there was some sort of French meal involved of course:)

Besides the tour of the maternelle, I thought lunch was much less awkward than usual. Even though I mumbled through a few comments, I was at least involved in the conversation, as opposed to just pretending to understand what was going on. I also shared some of my pumpkin bread with them... which got them talking about all the things they were going to make for me:) What a great idea it was to share such an American delicacy: Pillsbury Quick Pumpkin Bread Mix. Yumz!

And now I'm home... I don't want to go back out to make more copies of my very important documents, but I need 2 more for tomorrow, just to be safe. Ugh, I can't wait until this darn visa process is over!

Reste cool mes amis:)

Ah la paperasse

La paperasse, or wretched papers or paperwork (according to wordreference.com... I thought "wretched papers" was a fitting definition) is driving me crazy!

This morning, I woke up early to make copies of a few important documents at the post office (they have photocopiers at every post office), and then went to renew my TCL metro pass in Lyon (which only took 20 minutes this time around, it took me 45 minutes the last time!). Since I was done a little early, I got myself an apple pastry and waited for the Brits who were meeting me at the train station office at 11:30. Hannah, Caroline, and I bought our train tickets to Colmar... I also got Lindsey's tickets and Helen is meeting us in Colmar taking a different train. We are going the first weekend of December because it is supposed to have excellent Christmas decorations and Christmas markets.. much like in Strasbourg, which I'm also going to with my friend Amy. (In case you're interested in learning more about Colmar before my trip... although I'm sure to post something about it after I go... http://www.colmar.fr/ this website is in French, but for those non-French speakers, you can watch the photos change at the top of the site to get an idea of what it looks like... it's pretty cute I have to say... or you can go to this website that shows the Christmas markets, which is why we are going http://www.noel-colmar.com/index.php?lang=en).

After buying tickets and a quick catch up with Hannah and Caroline, I headed off to find the prefecture for renewing my carte de sejour (or some sort of visa I need to continue working here after mine expires in January). Of course when I got there I had no idea where to go. They have little signs directing you different places, and the first floor was a mad house, so I thought maybe going upstairs might be easier to find an answer for where I needed to go. Of course, they sent me back downstairs. I waited in line to speak to someone, but realized I was in a line for drivers licenses. There was a man who seemed to know what was going on talking to another guy... so I waited until they were done to ask if he could tell me where I needed to be.

Well, obviously, I was there much too late to wait in line. (I was there 3 hours before closing, mind you.) He (I'm pretty sure "he" was a guy that was told to stand at the front and direct people to where they needed to go) told me I'd need to get here first thing in the morning if I wanted to get in. They open at 9am, but have people waiting in a long line before then. I have to work tomorrow, so I asked if I could come back Friday and he said sure, but there will be beaucoup de monde ce jour (there will be a million people here). Apparently, Wednesdays and Fridays are the worst days to come... and oh great, my days off are... Wednesdays and Fridays. But, then again, I do have nothing to do on those days, so I guess spending my day in a line isn't really that big a deal, just annoying.

I got all the information I needed from the guy and he told me "Courage!" which basically means "hang in there!" Someone else listening in was like, "psh, you're American, you won't have any trouble." I really hope so... I'd really like to have to wait in this line only once...

I came home real quick because I forgot my map of Saint-Priest, which is where the Social Security office is located (well the one closest to me). This was a much more pleasant experience, for the most part. When I got to the office (right across the street from my laundromat), I got a ticket, waited for a while, was called up... told to go to the back, waited a while, was called up... and then the lady was like.... wait what? You get free benefits for being an assistant? I don't even know what I need from you. So she basically made a copy of every document I came with (my birth certificate, my contract, my medical forms, my passport, my visa, etc. etc.) She stapled it all together and said, ok I guess we'll let you know if we need anything else! And then I left... and realized I had left an original document with her instead of a copy. And of course, for my carte de sejour, I MUST have all original copies. So I waited in line some more and poked my head in after a while to say... I left the original, can we swap? The lady was like, haha, oh yes, you might want that. (Side note: this nice woman is like the 10th French person to tell me, "Ah, America is the dream for us French," after she learned that I was from les Etats-Unis.... how funny that everyone thinks the French hate Americans).

After getting back my original document, I went to the grocery store. I realized that I had been passing a huge grocery store right by my apartment for weeks now and not even noticing it. It's sort of behind a construction site, so that's why... but in any event... it was pretty nice. And I got quenelles to make for dinner, they were delicious.

Welp, I better get ready for my first day back to school after the vacation. Oddly enough, I'm still doing Halloween with 2 of my classes, numbers 1-10 with another.

Hope you're having a good week! Miss you all!

Reste cool:)

The Tours Tour

These are pictures from when Lindsey and I toured, Tours, France... hehe. The hotel we stayed in was in Tours, but we did most of our touring out and around the Loire valley in the castles. We did get to walk around the town of Tours more on our last night and last morning there before taking trains different places (home for Lindsey, Paris for me). In these pictures you see the huge cathedral (shown in a previous picture at night time), cute wood-framed houses, an arched bridge with flags crossing the Loire River, another really old Cathedral, a pair of 300 euro shoes with balls we saw while window shopping on Sunday morning (I thought they'd be nice for Christmas), and the Hotel de Ville all lit up at night. And there you have it!

Busy Time Off

After such a go-go-go first week, I've been enjoying my second week of time off. I am finally caught up on sleep and trying very hard to fight off a cold that I think is creeping up on me. I have sent in the research paper I'm working on with a professor (yes, I am out of college, but somehow I'm still working on this thing to get it published, I thought it was a good idea at the time). I have made my pumpkin bread (yumz) and it's almost an acceptable time to make dinner.

I heard back from the French consulate contact and I need to go renew my visa 2 months before it expires (aka, this Saturday will be 2 months). She said that this was the fault of the consulate and usually I shouldn't have to go through these extra steps, but now I just have to suck it up and take care of it. So I am planning on going to the prefecture tomorrow afternoon, by myself this go around. Laurence said if I couldn't get it straitened out tomorrow, she'd help me on Friday. I also got an email from another admin... I'm not sure what this person's title is, but in any event, I also need to go to the Social Security office tomorrow (or Thursday) so that I have health care coverage.

And, on top of these 2 important errands, I need to go to the Lyon Transportation office to renew my monthly metro pass and then I'm meeting up with the British girls to buy mine and Lindsey's tickets to Colmar (don't worry, she's paying me back, she's just out of town right now with her dad). We're all going on December 4th to the Christmas markets in Colmar, France (near Strasbourg and the German border) for a day trip. We're getting tickets now before they're all gone and the prices go up because it's such a popular time to go!

But besides all this... I will continue to post more pictures on facebook, write a blog post about Tours since I never got around to doing so, and catch up on all the other household chores I've put off!

Hope you're having an excellent election day! Don't forget to vote!

Reste Cool:)

Back to Paris, in Pictures

To begin our day in Paris, we stopped at our first hostel (le village) in Montmartre. This quarter of the city is located in the north, in the 18th arrondissement (or district). We had an amazing view of the beautiful Sacre Coeur (or Sacred Heart Basilica) from our 5th story window. We had a nice lunch looking up at the church, each having a yummy French delight (croque monsieur, nutella crepe, and panini). This area is famous for its large artist community (Picasso lived and painted here) and continues to have a little square of artists painting and selling their work.

Next we traveled by metro to the Arc de Triomphe, situated at the top of the Champs Elysees. The arch was commissioned by Napoleon after the victory at Austerlitz in 1806. The arch honors those who fought in the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of French victories and generals inscribed on the surface. The arch is the centerpiece of a rather daunting traffic circle with exits shooting out on all sides like a star. To get underneath the arch, one must go through the underground tunnel. It doesn't cost anything to walk around under the arch, but does cost to go up to the top. The Champs Elysees is a very swanky avenue that extends from the arch to the Place de la Concorde. We walked all the way down, passing such stores as Louis Vuitton, Swavorski, and Cartier. There is also a huge McDonald's, which is where we took a pit stop to go potty!

At the center of Place de la Concorde is the Obelisque de Louxor, or the Luxor Obelisk. The Egyptian obelisk was "given" to the French, and later placed where a famous guillotine used to be located during the French Revolution. (During the Revolution, this place was renamed Place de la Revolution. Marie Antoinette was guillotined here in front of cheering crowds.) The obelisk is decorated with hieroglyphics and a detailed drawing of how the obelisk was transferred to France in 1833. At the Place de la Concorde, you can see the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and the Jardins des Tuileries which extends off to the other side of the obelisk.

We walked through the Tuileries Gardens and took a little break/nap at one of the large fountains. The gardens were originally created by none other than Catherine de Medicis in 1559 after the death of Henri II (her husband). After the French Revolution, the gardens became a public park, and has continued to be a meeting place for Parisians and tourists alike. The gardens play host to many out door art exhibits and statues. This time around, there was a tree located in one of the fountains and an American Flag depicted on ladders.

Walking from the Place de la Concorde and through the Tuileries Gardens, you eventually lead up to the Louvre. The Louvre is a gigantic building. It was originally built as a fortress in the 12th century, but was frequently altered throughout the Middle Ages. Francois I acquired the Mona Lisa, one of the focal points of the museum, and over time the palace went from fortress to royal residence, to private museum, to public museum after the French Revolution. The glass pyramid and inverted pyramid were completed in the late 80's, early 1990's. We didn't visit the museum this time around, but did go downstairs to the Carousel du Louvre, small underground mall with the inverted pyramid (you don't have to wait in line to see this or pay money!).

From here we walked down the Seine to the ile de la cite, or the island of the city to find the Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was built between 1160 and 1345 and is one of the best examples of the French Gothic styles of architecture. The cathedral really is something to see- huge, beautiful towers, amazing gargoyle and saints decorating the surfaces, the flying buttresses, and the gorgeous stain glass windows. The church has a fascinating history, which I won't go into now... but although it may be touristy, it is a "Paris must-see."