Friday
I was really excited to get the day started because I finally had my appointment at the bank. My lovely neighbor, Mme Bodet, insisted on coming with me as my translator. Thank goodness she did! We arrived with all of my paperwork ready, only to discover that I would not be allowed to open an account. The bank manager insisted that I needed a NIF (numéro identifiant fiscale) to open an account. However, these numbers are only available to Europeans. I’m not sure if anyone is aware, but I am decidedly not European. We offered her my American social security number, but it was refused. This was really frustrating for me. I’ve really struggled to open a bank account here because they don’t want to deal with an American. I’d be okay with it, but I really want to get paid so I can eat!
Mme Bodet spent the car ride home on the phone with the headmasters of both schools, the rectorat of Grenoble (the organization that oversees all the schools in the region), and others to see if she could get something sorted out for me. It seemed to be to no avail.
I spent the day finishing up my applications and headed over for dinner. We had a shrimp, carrot, and pumpkin soup as a starter. The main course featured a shrimp pasta and a pasta baked with duck juice. All the dishes were amazing.
It was a bit of a disappointing day, so I just headed home to curl up and watch some movies. Disney+ has really stepped up their game!
Mary-Est-En-France 