Just spent the last hour trying to convince our washing machine to open the door and release my clothes, but I finally gave up when I realized it must not understand English.
Clearly I’ve lost it.
It’s been just about two months since we’ve touched down in Bordeaux. For the most part we’ve all settled down into routines that resemble home. Travelling by bus and tram is still an adjustment, especially being at the mercy of bus schedules and strikes. We already had one bus strike, the Sunday I came back from Toulouse. No one knows when or why they’ll strike, but it’s pretty crippling when they do. But 2 or 3 days later, everything is back to normal, or at least “normal.”
RBC en France: As I mentioned in the last picture post, I spent last week at a remodel project in Bruges, about 30 minutes north of Bordeaux. They replaced the roof and siding, and did some minor adjustments inside. I was so happy to be put to work in a meaningful way! I joined the charpente crew (carpentry) and was climbing all over the clay roof tiles (a lot different than our flat shingles in Michigan)! I learned how to solder, did some cement work, and painting. Us girls even installed the “salle du royaume” sign above the entry doors! They kept finding odd jobs to occupy us Americans, and we even built a couple of tool boxes for a brother! I’ve been invited to work on a remodel project in September in Orthez,so I’m looking forward to that.
Tres Chaud: This past weekend we had quite the heatwave, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius on Sunday and Monday (111 degrees Fahrenheit, no it’s not a typo!). It wasn’t humid, but it was oppressive. Sunday we had a pre-planned picnic for a sister who was leaving our congregation. Thankfully the picnic was under shade trees, after our meeting around 6pm, and next to a lake. We took advantage of the situation. Monday the only solution was to hit the beach! We drove about 1 hour to Le Porge, a gorgeous piece of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the breeze was still hot, the water was a refreshing 19 degrees (66 degrees Fahrenheit).
Since we’ve settled into home-like routines, I don’t have much to fill you in sight-wise. I appreciate more and more of the Bordeaux architecture though, and am looking forward to August when most of the students have left so I can explore some of the hangout haunts.
Soldes: So one thing that’s different here - they don’t have sales just to have sales. No Presidents Day, Memorial Day, random 13 hour sales here! Nope, the entire country (and I’m pretty sure the entire EU) only has sales in all of it’s stores twice a year - around Christmas time, and now. Because of that though, they really mean “sale”! Most stores are marked down 50% for a better part of their merchandise. Conveniently it started two weeks before my district convention, and I was able to pick up a cute dress from H&M for 7 Euro (about $10) and another dress from a store called Promod for $20! Of course while you shop you listen for English speakers and endeavor to strike up a conversation…
Of course with the exchange rate, I can’t really shop like I want to, but it’s nice to get a little something before the district convention. And it looks like I might have a few job opportunities lined up for the summer, which is encouraging!
Plans de Voyage: after the meeting Sunday, I’m going with a sister from my congregation to Biarritz, a popular beach location for a lots of Europeans. Fortunate for me, she lives there! So we will beach and eat and relax before Wednesday, where I’ll head up to Creil for the district convention (it’s 45 minutes north of Paris). Our English district is all of France and about 1800 people, so I’m looking forward to meeting some new people from all over!
La Langue: While most people speak a little English here, they aren’t confident in it, so being here has ramped up my comprehension of French, and a little of my speaking. I don’t know if I’m “comfortable” speaking the language, but I’m definitely comfortable making mistakes in it. I know about 5 verbs, and I use those verbs til they’re raw, but only in the present tense. So far people are excited to know that I’m American, and try doubly hard to understand what I’m trying to say. I find sound effects and gestures really help drive home the point in most situations.
Listen to that - the washing machine just stopped holding my clothes hostage. Hooray! Hope you’re all well - email me news of you!
xoxo
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