Saturday
Catherine, the head English professor at Charvieu middle school, has decided to take me under her wing. She proudly declares that she is my French mom. I’m pretty happy with that. She’s done a lot of looking out for me. Late Friday night, she sent me a text asking if I’d like to take advantage of the decreasing COVID restrictions to go shopping with her on Saturday. Not having any other plans and excited to get out of the house for the first time, I said yes!
She pulled up in her sporty blue car and I got to meet her daughter, Célia. Catherine informed me that our first task of the day was to get me a French SIM. She said that she was charged 10 centimes (10 cents) every time she texted me, so she wanted to the fix the issue. Fortunately, Verizon had just unlocked my phone on Monday, freeing met to get the SIM switched. We were sad to discover there were no month to month plans available. I was ready just to bite the bullet and pay for a full year plan so I could use my phone outside the confines of my apartment, but Catherine insisted on adding a line to her account that she would simply cancel when I left! Because French stores are also promoting Black Friday sales now, she got a new iPhone out of the deal.
I can’t tell you what a relief it is to finally have a working phone again. It feels so scary and isolating to be without a landline when you’re in a new place. I worried when I took the bus to Meyzieu that I would get lost and be unable to let anyone know. Thankfully, now I’ll be able to get ahold of folks. If anyone is interested in communicating via text, send me a message over Facebook and I’ll share my French number with you!
Our next stop was the International Discount Store. The shop reminded me of a Dollar Tree, but it featured discounted products from countries outside of France. There were candies from America, Christmas decorations from Britain, household supplies from Italy, etc. Catherine insisted on buying me a slew of items (mostly candy). I was thrilled to find a 5 euro pan and a spatula for .50 euro, which will be helpful when I make my morning eggs.
The store was absolutely packed with people. Everyone was DESPERATE to get out of the house after a month of confinement. I felt gross being around that many people after spending my summer avoiding them. I was grateful to get out of the store.
Our next stop was the hypermarché that my landlady had driven me past on Friday morning, E.Leclerc. I’m not sure how best to describe this store. The majority of the interior was a simple grocery store. However, it also featured a string of higher end stores beyond the cash registers. I imagine this is what Meijer was like in the past.
Inside the grocery section, absolutely everything was done up for Christmas. There were huge Christmas tree displays, advent calendars, and stockings.
Catherine was going to a friend’s house for dinner later in the evening to eat Foie gras. Her daughters thought that it sounded good and would be nice to have for dinner themselves. We went looking for some. They showed me that a single tube can cost up to 32 euro.
Something I also find peculiar is the French penchant for yogurt. They often have some after dinner as a dessert. I’m personally not a fan of French yogurt because it isn’t sweet. I once purchased some lemon yogurt in Paris and had to spit it out immediately because it tasted like liquid cheese.
Before we left the store, Catherine happened to ask me if I had a cup of coffee before I came. I said no, because I have no coffee maker in the apartment. She stopped in her tracks- absolutely shocked. She loves coffee and can’t go without it, so she wanted to rectify the situation. We turned around to find an “Italian” coffee machine that functions similarly to a percolator. We grabbed some grounds, a nice cup, and headed home.
I had casually mentioned that Mme Bodet made some delicious cornbread Thursday night, so of course Catherine insisted on driving me to every bakery in town so we could find a loaf for my Sunday breakfast. We found some after the third bakery.
I was absolutely exhausted after our adventure. Still, after putting my things down inside, I headed over to Chez Bodet see if Yanza still wanted to practice for his English test. He said no because there were some boys over, so I promised to come back Sunday when the timing would be more ideal. I got to spend the rest of the evening watching Schitt’s Creek.
Things are starting to feel a little more comfortable. I have coffee, a phone, and a Christmas tree all my own.
Mary-Est-En-France 