Oh my god. My mind is just blown at this point. I've had so many experiences already, and it's only the 4th day that I've been here. You know that term, "roll with the punches"? Well, I tried. But I still got punched. Several times. You wanna know why? Lucky for you, I wrote down all my experiences down during the time I had no internet (which I still don't).
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| If you click on the image, it will enlarge (what she said). On another note, your computer zooms in too. Technology's cool, huh? |
So, living without any technological means for four days in a foreign country has been fun. But I'm not planning on doing it again. A bit too stressful for me. And as you can tell, anything can go wrong. Keep that in mind if you're thinking about doing what I did on complete accident.
But on another note, I've had amazing experiences here. The second night, The directrice took us at a restaurant to have a real French dining experience. And it was a gorgeous meal. I mean, it was so good. I didn't want it to ever end. I do have photos, but not of the main course because I was halfway through it before realizing I hadn't photographed it.
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This is a bit of bread spread with crushed olives over a tomato paste with some basil.
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| The second is the dessert: Thick, creamy ice cream on top of a raspberry praline. Absolutely to die for. |
I swear I'm going to come back a complete fattie.
So, here I am, sitting in a McDonald's in fucking FRANCE because that's the only place I can find free Wifi. The American. Sitting in the goddamn fast-food restaurant that is ruining French food culture.
Upon reading through what I've just written, I've come to the conclusion that there's been a lot of complaining for me being in France. Therefore, I have decided to write each time I post in the blog something that I'm thankful for when I spend my time here.
The first thing I'm thankful for? Getting housing before everyone else did. Why? Because it's something I no longer have to worry about. It was a smart move to get a step ahead of other students coming here for their year abroad getting ahead of the "apartment search traffic". But there's another reason, it's mainly just that I lucked out (for once). My flatmate has been here for quite a while, and has a group of French friends, aka, I get to practice my French. So every day, I learn something new. Mostly it's French slang (l'argot), but at least I'm learning! For example, there's something that they do here called verlan, meaning l'envers (the inverse). So for the word for woman (femme) they throw some letters out, add some in, and mix the ones that are kept, creating the word meuf (woman). It's like saying "chick" for a girl in English. It's so interesting. There are lots more, too.
So to recap: I have only spent about 90 hours in Lyon, but I have already had so many experiences. And only until now am I feeling a bit better about my French-speaking abilities. It's difficult to understand people here because they talk so fast, but that's why I'm here. Also, I've learned so much. The most important: Always have a pair of headphones on you when using public transportation and DO NOT look any male in the eye while on pubic transportation. Follow these steps and you'll be fine. It's also useful to know how to say "leave me alone", or better yet, "fuck off" in French. As long at you hold your ground, c'est facile.
Alright, I've had it with MacDo for now. Time to go back to the flat (which still isn't yet furnished because I haven't had time for IKEA), and put my brain through physical pain from trying to understand Mario Andretti-fast speaking French people.
À bientôt!
xoxo
