So my first day in Lyon was pretty uneventful. I arrived at around 10:30 am actual time (4:30 am my time) and I actually felt pretty good! The jetlag hit me a little later in the day...hence the use of the term "uneventful".
NOW, day 2 is one for the story book.
I got up early-ish from my pull-out bed in the mezzanine (wikipedia: a "mezzanine" is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building) and i began to look for some apartments on line to call and make appointments! After a few hours, I had only one phone number and no one answered...good start.
So I then decided to leave the apartment hunt for the time being and when Amy (the teacher im staying with) got home from school, she took me to get a bank account.
The dude we met with was SCEPTICAL to say the least. He did not want to give me a bank account to save his life it seemed. He wasn't even sure what to do with my passport. But Amy is very convincing, so in the end he did! But then their server was down and it turns out I have to go back there tomorrow to finalize seal the deal.
Next stop: cell phone store. The guy there didnt even talk to me, just to Amy (im pretty sure he was hitting on her, flirting is the same in any language) but in the end, i have a working cell phone only with no minutes left as of now because of what surpassed during the rest of the day!!
So by this time im reallt not frustrated at all...this is to be expected...im finding it amusing actually.
So then i head down on the subway to meet Maggie, the girl i am looking for a place with. When I got there, I wandered around Place Bellecour which is basically like a square in between two rivers and its reeeally beautiful. You can see some of the photos at the beginngin and ill upload all of the photos to my facebook page.
While walking around, I noticed in particular the style of the french people. The woman are VERY well dressed, but some of the men...well let me just paint a picture for you: middle-aged male, tight white leggings, tight white tank top, c'est tout. yeeeah.
So then i met Maggie (the girl I'm looking for an apartment with) and we got some newspapers to look at ads and found a cafe to sit at and discuss our immediate future... so that was all find an dandy...right up until i needed to get home.
Now keep in mind that where im staying is quite far from the downtown...no walking possible, and its uphill. So i trek back to the nearest subway stop, go down, buy a ticket, and then find out its blocked off. And by blocked off I mean there are liek 5 big burly french men standing only at the entrance i need (not the other 8) and are giving me a look like "if you pass, i'll eat you". So to avoid being their dinner (it was about 8 by this time and the french eat late), i instead sucked up the fact that I just wasted 1,6 euros and went back up to the street.
On the way up there, I get my first phone call on my "mobile". The woman on the other end is all like "you called about my apartment?" and i am CONFUSED because i have no idea who this is and how she got my phone number. Im thinking that this is some miracle from God and this lady knew exactly that she had to call my cell phone and tell me about her apartment. Well, this is not the case. Turns out she called the house I'm staying at and they gave her my phone number...so much less interesting. But please imagine me in the middle of the sidewalk, struggling to find a pen to write down the address of this place, scribbling on the corner of a newspaper i found in my purse, still confused as to how this lady got my number...
So anyways I walk to the nearest subway line about 4 blocks up, and it's blocked off too. Oh and the last bus leaves at 7:15 and its 7:26. So i call Amy.
She says to take a taxi, luckily i have cash on me. So hailing a cab is not the same here apparently... you actually have to go to a taxi station to get a cab, makes sense because otherwise i think ppl woudl get killed in the street. So i find the station which is not that far and there are no taxis. know why? because of the strike...everyone in the city is taking taxis...obviously.
Anyways while waiting i start talking to an older man who is waiting ahead of me and he asks me where im going. turns out he's on the way and suggest sharing a cab...good news! Way to save some money. Finally a cab comes and we both get in and i guess the cabby misunderstood and only finds out 10 mins into the trip that were going to separate places. He DOES NOT like that at all.
So he starts getting into an argument with this other french man in the cab with me and im trying not to laugh because the cabby is all like "what do you think this is, a public service?" and the man is all like "well, yeah..." So they're yelling and the man is telling the cabby that im not from here and he is giving me a bad impression of "les lyonnais" (ppl from lyon) and finally the cabby is like watever let's go.
So the man finally gets out at his stop and 15 mins, 25 dollars, an angry rant from the cab driver and a big tip later, i arrive at my temporary home.
And here I am, writing all of this down so that I do not forget the details and so that I can share bit of french culture with you!! I miss all of you and I will keep you updated as much as possible!
Until next time...
Megan
