I'm reading a book right now titled "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist", and it is a phenomenal book. One thing it talks about is a way to gauge whether a writer's work is truthful. One way to tell is if there are embarassing details that the author includes about him/herself. As you can probably tell, I don't have too much difficulty doing that. I want this blog to be real and include the struggles we deal with.
Some days, there are a lot of them.
There are mornings when I am heading down to the street thinking that I'm nowhere near mentally ready to face a non-English speaking population. There are days where I am stopped on the street by someone that needs directions. "I'm sorry. I can't help. Stupid American here."
Last Friday, I had 2 simple errands that needed to be done. One was mailing a package back to the US. The other was buying a bottle of wood glue to glue a couple of wooden chairs in the apartment. Back in the US, those 2 things could be done while half asleep. Here, not so much.
The woman at the post office spoke about 10 words of English. I speak about 3 words of French. I had to fill out 2 sets of customs documentation and get everything labeled correctly. It was such an interesting time that Sandy has said I'm officially responsible for all trips to the post office from here on out. She also "helped" by leaving me there and heading to the market ahead of me. She felt the need to call me twice while I was dealing with Madame Postale. I survived.
How difficult is it to buy wood glue? There are local stores called "Drogueries" that are pretty much like old time hardware stores in the US. They have a little of everything. There are 2 of these within a few blocks of our apartment. I looked up "wood glue" translation online. Colle a bois. I even practiced it 5 or 6 times before leaving. And in the time it took to walk there, I completely forgot colle a bois. Completely.
The droguerie I went to is run by a woman that speaks no English. I know this from when we went there about a month ago to buy a few things. If you're the only one in the store, she will follow you around talking French. Since I knew I couldn't communicate in French, I just kept telling her, "Hold on. I'll find it." as if she would somehow spontaneously understand.
Someone else came into the store, and she went to help them. As I was about to leave the store, I saw some tubes behind the front glass door that said "colle" on them. GLUE! I FOUND GLUE! I'd been around that store at least 5 times and spent probably close to 10 minutes in there just walking around muttering "Hold On. I'll find it." I looked and found a bottle that included a picture of a wooden dresser on the front. "Colle bois" YES! I'd found it!
That was the highlight of my afternoon. If a cameraman had come up to me as I walked out of that store and said, "What are you going to do now?" my immediate response would be "I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!" and I would've doused myself in champagne.
It's the little things, people. The things we take for granted.
When I swallowed my pride enough that night to tell that droguerie story to Sandy, she reacted in the exact way she should have. She broke out in hysterical laughter to the point that she was crying.
This is quite a bonding experience.
Paris
Monday, April 25, 2011
"Signs" that it is Monday
Here are 2 signs I encountered today that helped me to realize that it was Monday.
First:
"Ascenseur en panne" - Elevator Broken
This was found in our apartment building. This means that every time we leave the apartment, it requires us to walk down 118 stairs and then back up 118 stairs until it is fixed. This includes taking the dogs for a walk, getting groceries (and hauling them back up), going out anywhere. We're hoping this sign doesn't stay up long.
The second sign was at the bus stop where I catch the bus to work, after taking the 2 trains:
This sign is too blurry to read. I took the picture 3 times with my phone and it was blurry every time. This must've been another sign that it was Monday.
Anyway, this sign is the bus schedule for the stop. It reads "Dimanche et fetes - Service non assure" This means "Sunday and holidays - No Service". Why did that mean something today? Well, when I walked from the apartment to the Metro, there was nobody on the street. That was odd for 7:15 on a Monday morning. The Metro itself didn't have many people on it. Neither did the RER train I take to the suburbs. That's kind of odd. So when I got off at the RER station and noticed that the bus wasn't there, I decided to look and see what was up for today.
Easter Monday.
"Easter What?"
Yes, I said Easter Monday. The day after Easter is a holiday here in Europe. I had a dilemma. I could walk to the office. It was probably a 3 or 4 mile walk. I also had 2 guys from Belgium coming to work with me this week. I decided to call one of them. When I asked when they were coming, he said, "We're coming tomorrow morning since today is a holiday." I quickly covered with, "Well, I know it's a holiday. I just wasn't sure when you were getting here... um... tomorrow."
At that point, I realized the office was probably closed anyway, so I hopped back on the train for my 45 minute commute back.
Overall the day was a good one, though. I worked until about 3pm and then we headed out to the Latin District to look, shop, and eat. We stopped at our favorite Gyro place. We've been here 8 weeks and have eaten there 3 times so far. They are outstanding and are less than 5 Euro apiece!
The good thing is that Sandy and I have now noted the French holidays so that this will (hopefully) not happen again. Yet another thing to learn.
First:
"Ascenseur en panne" - Elevator Broken
This was found in our apartment building. This means that every time we leave the apartment, it requires us to walk down 118 stairs and then back up 118 stairs until it is fixed. This includes taking the dogs for a walk, getting groceries (and hauling them back up), going out anywhere. We're hoping this sign doesn't stay up long.
The second sign was at the bus stop where I catch the bus to work, after taking the 2 trains:
This sign is too blurry to read. I took the picture 3 times with my phone and it was blurry every time. This must've been another sign that it was Monday.
Anyway, this sign is the bus schedule for the stop. It reads "Dimanche et fetes - Service non assure" This means "Sunday and holidays - No Service". Why did that mean something today? Well, when I walked from the apartment to the Metro, there was nobody on the street. That was odd for 7:15 on a Monday morning. The Metro itself didn't have many people on it. Neither did the RER train I take to the suburbs. That's kind of odd. So when I got off at the RER station and noticed that the bus wasn't there, I decided to look and see what was up for today.
Easter Monday.
"Easter What?"
Yes, I said Easter Monday. The day after Easter is a holiday here in Europe. I had a dilemma. I could walk to the office. It was probably a 3 or 4 mile walk. I also had 2 guys from Belgium coming to work with me this week. I decided to call one of them. When I asked when they were coming, he said, "We're coming tomorrow morning since today is a holiday." I quickly covered with, "Well, I know it's a holiday. I just wasn't sure when you were getting here... um... tomorrow."
At that point, I realized the office was probably closed anyway, so I hopped back on the train for my 45 minute commute back.
Overall the day was a good one, though. I worked until about 3pm and then we headed out to the Latin District to look, shop, and eat. We stopped at our favorite Gyro place. We've been here 8 weeks and have eaten there 3 times so far. They are outstanding and are less than 5 Euro apiece!
The good thing is that Sandy and I have now noted the French holidays so that this will (hopefully) not happen again. Yet another thing to learn.
HE'S ALIVE!!!!
Happy belated Easter, everyone. I was going to post yesterday, but figured my Easter treat would be a day without getting online. It was great and well needed.
We had an absolutely wonderful Easter. Naturally, the kids found chocolate on Easter morning. They also had to find 2 dozen eggs hidden around the apartment.
By the way, see that "Kinder Surprise" right there? Those are hollow chocolate eggs that have a capsule inside that contain a surprise toy for the kids. I saw an article today that these have been banned by US Border patrol for containing a non-nutritive object imbedded in it. Seriously. Apparently, they think US kids will swallow the large capsule inside.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110422/kinder-surprise-eggs-ban-110422/
Anyway, they also got big chocolate chickens. REALLY big chocolate chickens.
They also had to find 2 dozen hard boiled eggs within the apartment. The Bunny did well hiding them this year, but the kids found all of them!
After that, we got some breakfast and got ready for church. There was a special family-oriented service and fun day planned for Easter. Sandy and I volunteered to help setup in the park during service so that everything would be ready to go once service was over.
For the kids, there was face painting:
Egg relay races:
A great new game where you toss a water balloon between 2 teams that use only a sheet to launch the balloon to the other team:
And of course, there was an Easter Egg hunt. There were a lot of eggs.
In fact, they estimated just under 2000 eggs. And there were about 25 kids. Once the kids were told to "go" it got crazy.
The problem was that the bags the kids were given weren't anywhere close to big enough, so when they filled up their bags, they had to come back. Nick came back with a full bag, and many full pockets. Thank you, cargo shorts!
The kids had to come back, empty the content of their eggs into their bags, leave the eggs behind, and head out for more.
I think some of these kids could work for NASCAR pit crews in the future. Sorry. We're in France. Formula 1 pit crews.
Every kid got more candy than they could imagine. The weather was beautiful. In fact it was a little "hot" for Paris in April at 75 degrees. The eggs that had chocolate melted:
We then walked to the train station to head home. We had a wonderful dinner of... mystery meat. We went to the Boucherie (butcher) down the street on Saturday and got what Sandy thought was a ham and I thought was a pork knuckle. It was neither, but it was very good!
After a long day of Easter festivities and a good meal, we finished the day with Skype sessions with both sets of grandparents. Honestly, could the day have been any better here?
I hope you felt the Grace of God and were able to appreciate the miracle of the Resurrection on Sunday. We definitely did.
We had an absolutely wonderful Easter. Naturally, the kids found chocolate on Easter morning. They also had to find 2 dozen eggs hidden around the apartment.
By the way, see that "Kinder Surprise" right there? Those are hollow chocolate eggs that have a capsule inside that contain a surprise toy for the kids. I saw an article today that these have been banned by US Border patrol for containing a non-nutritive object imbedded in it. Seriously. Apparently, they think US kids will swallow the large capsule inside.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110422/kinder-surprise-eggs-ban-110422/
Anyway, they also got big chocolate chickens. REALLY big chocolate chickens.
They also had to find 2 dozen hard boiled eggs within the apartment. The Bunny did well hiding them this year, but the kids found all of them!
After that, we got some breakfast and got ready for church. There was a special family-oriented service and fun day planned for Easter. Sandy and I volunteered to help setup in the park during service so that everything would be ready to go once service was over.
For the kids, there was face painting:
Egg relay races:
A great new game where you toss a water balloon between 2 teams that use only a sheet to launch the balloon to the other team:
And of course, there was an Easter Egg hunt. There were a lot of eggs.
In fact, they estimated just under 2000 eggs. And there were about 25 kids. Once the kids were told to "go" it got crazy.
The problem was that the bags the kids were given weren't anywhere close to big enough, so when they filled up their bags, they had to come back. Nick came back with a full bag, and many full pockets. Thank you, cargo shorts!
The kids had to come back, empty the content of their eggs into their bags, leave the eggs behind, and head out for more.
I think some of these kids could work for NASCAR pit crews in the future. Sorry. We're in France. Formula 1 pit crews.
Every kid got more candy than they could imagine. The weather was beautiful. In fact it was a little "hot" for Paris in April at 75 degrees. The eggs that had chocolate melted:
We then walked to the train station to head home. We had a wonderful dinner of... mystery meat. We went to the Boucherie (butcher) down the street on Saturday and got what Sandy thought was a ham and I thought was a pork knuckle. It was neither, but it was very good!
After a long day of Easter festivities and a good meal, we finished the day with Skype sessions with both sets of grandparents. Honestly, could the day have been any better here?
I hope you felt the Grace of God and were able to appreciate the miracle of the Resurrection on Sunday. We definitely did.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wrecks, Legos, and Stalemates
Twice in a week's time, Sandy has left the apartment to run an errand and has immediately rang back up to me to say that I have to come out and take a look at an accident right outside. With the first one, a taxi ran straight into a tree in front of our apartment. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it. Let's just say that the car had some significant damage.
The second one happened right around the corner from us. Take a look:
It hit so hard, it knocked the Mercedes logo off the front of the car!
With his birthday money, Nick decided to buy a big Star Wars Lego set. He bought the AT AT. He finished the whole thing by himself in just 1 day. He was so proud of himself. We were proud of him, too.
Apparently, Sandy and Morgan figured out how to end a game of checkers in a draw. Only my girls...
The second one happened right around the corner from us. Take a look:
Apparently this car had a problem turning around that pylon in the center of the road and it rolled over.
With his birthday money, Nick decided to buy a big Star Wars Lego set. He bought the AT AT. He finished the whole thing by himself in just 1 day. He was so proud of himself. We were proud of him, too.
Apparently, Sandy and Morgan figured out how to end a game of checkers in a draw. Only my girls...
Add another year
As a friend said in the remarks of the last post, I turned 39 on Saturday the 16th. Why does "39" sound so old? To me, it sounds older than 40. And yet, I digress...
Morgan decided she wanted to do a lot of research on what we could do for my birthday. As her guide, she used a book titled "Fodor's Around Paris with Kids." I'm pretty much a big kid, so that worked. She found a place called Double Fond, which is a magic theater and cafe. They have a kids show in the basement on Saturdays at 14:30. It was in the Marais district, which is an area we'd wanted to explore anyway, so we decided to go for it.
Before the show, we went to The Red Wheelbarrow, which is an English bookstore in the Marais district. It was a very small and fun bookstore. We found a handful of books to purchase. We'll definitely be back.
All of the reviews for Double Fond said that it was a great time, even if you didn't speak French. Therefore, we figured it was just a lot of magic tricks without much talking. We were wrong. It was an hour show in which the magician interacted with the crowd (specifically the kids) in French. It was fun, even though we only understood a few words of what was being said. The kids had fun, and the slight of hand was very good.
From there, we started walking around the Marais district and (intentionally) wandered past a restaurant called Breakfast in America (BIA). It was opened by an American and has real, authentic American food. Since we weren't quite hungry yet, we continued on our walk of the area. There were a number of stores we walked into. We saw a group of 7 guys singing on the street:
We've seen them in the Metro before. They are very good!
As we walked on, we heard a bunch of shouting through a microphone and loud music from a building. We were at the back of the building, but it sounded like a riot was about to happen. Sandy and I decided to quickly continue up the street. As we wound our way around, we ended up coming to the front of that building. There were a number of Red Bull Mini Coopers sitting outside.
It said "Entree Gratuit" on the front door so we decided to check it out. It was a huge dodgeball tournament sponsored by Red Bull. As we first went in, Sandy and I were given free Red Bull. I think it gave us some energy.
We enjoyed the dodgeball. Nick snuck between people to get up front. All of the teams were dressed in fun ways.
After watching for a while (and finishing our Red Bull), we continued on our way. After walking a little while longer, we found ourselves back at BIA for dinner. YAY!
Morgan was slightly excited that they had Dr. Pepper. She loves it and hasn't had any in close to 2 months. She also got wings and fries.
Sandy and I got burgers and a drink each.
Nick got chicken nachos and a 7 up. It was wonderful. You know how I've been talking about how expensive things are here? That meal cost us about $75. Yes, seriously. Two burgers with fries, 6 wings with fries, chicken nachos, and 4 drinks. That's why we don't go out to eat too often.
Anyway, we headed back home and walked past this amazing chocolate shop. We immediately turned around and went inside. It looked amazing. It smelled fantastic. It was expensive. The chicken in the middle of the picture costs 90 Euros. That's about $135.
Sandy and Morgan made me a wonderful cake. Sandy actually found a box mix in France. It was chocolate. It completely rocked! Honestly, I think it was better than the made-from-scratch cake they made for Nick. It's okay, though. Sandy agreed.
Overall it was a wonderful birthday. Turning 39 in Paris. What could be better?
Morgan decided she wanted to do a lot of research on what we could do for my birthday. As her guide, she used a book titled "Fodor's Around Paris with Kids." I'm pretty much a big kid, so that worked. She found a place called Double Fond, which is a magic theater and cafe. They have a kids show in the basement on Saturdays at 14:30. It was in the Marais district, which is an area we'd wanted to explore anyway, so we decided to go for it.
Before the show, we went to The Red Wheelbarrow, which is an English bookstore in the Marais district. It was a very small and fun bookstore. We found a handful of books to purchase. We'll definitely be back.
All of the reviews for Double Fond said that it was a great time, even if you didn't speak French. Therefore, we figured it was just a lot of magic tricks without much talking. We were wrong. It was an hour show in which the magician interacted with the crowd (specifically the kids) in French. It was fun, even though we only understood a few words of what was being said. The kids had fun, and the slight of hand was very good.
From there, we started walking around the Marais district and (intentionally) wandered past a restaurant called Breakfast in America (BIA). It was opened by an American and has real, authentic American food. Since we weren't quite hungry yet, we continued on our walk of the area. There were a number of stores we walked into. We saw a group of 7 guys singing on the street:
We've seen them in the Metro before. They are very good!
As we walked on, we heard a bunch of shouting through a microphone and loud music from a building. We were at the back of the building, but it sounded like a riot was about to happen. Sandy and I decided to quickly continue up the street. As we wound our way around, we ended up coming to the front of that building. There were a number of Red Bull Mini Coopers sitting outside.
It said "Entree Gratuit" on the front door so we decided to check it out. It was a huge dodgeball tournament sponsored by Red Bull. As we first went in, Sandy and I were given free Red Bull. I think it gave us some energy.
We enjoyed the dodgeball. Nick snuck between people to get up front. All of the teams were dressed in fun ways.
After watching for a while (and finishing our Red Bull), we continued on our way. After walking a little while longer, we found ourselves back at BIA for dinner. YAY!
Morgan was slightly excited that they had Dr. Pepper. She loves it and hasn't had any in close to 2 months. She also got wings and fries.
Sandy and I got burgers and a drink each.
Nick got chicken nachos and a 7 up. It was wonderful. You know how I've been talking about how expensive things are here? That meal cost us about $75. Yes, seriously. Two burgers with fries, 6 wings with fries, chicken nachos, and 4 drinks. That's why we don't go out to eat too often.
Anyway, we headed back home and walked past this amazing chocolate shop. We immediately turned around and went inside. It looked amazing. It smelled fantastic. It was expensive. The chicken in the middle of the picture costs 90 Euros. That's about $135.
Sandy and Morgan made me a wonderful cake. Sandy actually found a box mix in France. It was chocolate. It completely rocked! Honestly, I think it was better than the made-from-scratch cake they made for Nick. It's okay, though. Sandy agreed.
Overall it was a wonderful birthday. Turning 39 in Paris. What could be better?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Quick Hitters #2
My shoes seem to make some serious waves in Paris. Apparently, finger shoes aren't very Parisian.
At the open market around the corner from the apartment, you can see just about everything... including a whole shark freshly cut.
Or you can go to the local Picard for some frozen stingray.
We've seen a few blimps flying around, including this one that hovered over Invalides for a while.
This is Nick's room. Actually it's the basement in the apartment where we have to take our trash. The dogs refuse to go down there.
At Aquaboulevard, if you don't have your own Speedo suit, you can get one out of the vending machine.
And finally, I give you the Squat Toilet. You have to figure it out for yourselves.
The Street of Yelling
You read that correctly. That's what Nick has named the street we live on. In the first 4 weeks we were here, there have been 4 protests that have marched down the street in front of the apartment. Unfortunately, the first 2 happened when I was at work, so I missed them. For the 3rd one, I was coming out of the Metro stop when I heard a lot of voices. The protest had congregated around the one Metro stop right near our apartment. Yes, I walked out into the middle of the protest. I had people talking to me in French and trying to get me to take some flyers. I just ducked and got out of there.
For the 4th one, I was actually home when we heard voices shouting. We ran out to the balcony and saw the largest protest we've seen by far. It looked like 4 protests merged into one that went 2 to 3 city blocks. One was teachers, one was court workers... I have no idea what the other 2 were.
Here they come...
There was yelling, chanting, and a lot of music playing through loudspeakers.
Hence, we live on The Street of Yelling.
For the 4th one, I was actually home when we heard voices shouting. We ran out to the balcony and saw the largest protest we've seen by far. It looked like 4 protests merged into one that went 2 to 3 city blocks. One was teachers, one was court workers... I have no idea what the other 2 were.
Here they come...
And there they go...
There was yelling, chanting, and a lot of music playing through loudspeakers.
Hence, we live on The Street of Yelling.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!!!!
Nick celebrated the first Shafer birthday in Paris. Yesterday he turned 7. I think he had a very good birthday. When we asked him what he wanted, all he said was "A big Lego set." He's had a number of
smaller sets, so he wanted a big one. So the night before his birthday as he was getting ready for bed, he said, "So, dad. What legos did you get me? You don't have to say which set, but is it Star Wars, Atlantis..." Smart kid.
He got the Atlantis research station/sub. I think he liked it!
Yep. Lots of parts.
He also got bubbles. It was fun to see them shoot up over the building, and into the apartment.
Momma and Morgan made him a home made cake. It was a chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache. It. Was. Awesome. And it had sprinkles!
So, for part of Nick's birthday, we let him decide where we would go on Saturday. He had 2 choices. Disneyland Paris or Aquaboulevard. He chose Aqua because we weren't sure if the weather would be good or not. This place has a life sized whale that you climb into and slide out of, wave machine, swing rope, many fountains, a dozen water slides, and huge hot tubs. There are a lot of pools and a beach outside, but it was just a bit cool for us to be out there.
They also had indoor wake boarding. Seriously. OF COURSE Nick and I had to try it out. We had fun.
Side note: Just like every other public pool in Paris, there is a strict policy on suits. Men and boys need to wear tight fitting bathing suits NOT swim trunks. So, Nick and I got new suits. I'll have to say that yes, I was extremely uncomfortable at first; however, I soon realized it made no difference. Everyone was wearing the same thing. There were plenty of guys that had no business wearing a "speedo" type suit, but had to. I kind of got around that by purchasing a pair of tight running shorts and wearing those instead.
Overall, it was a great birthday.
smaller sets, so he wanted a big one. So the night before his birthday as he was getting ready for bed, he said, "So, dad. What legos did you get me? You don't have to say which set, but is it Star Wars, Atlantis..." Smart kid.
He got the Atlantis research station/sub. I think he liked it!
Yep. Lots of parts.
He also got bubbles. It was fun to see them shoot up over the building, and into the apartment.
Momma and Morgan made him a home made cake. It was a chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache. It. Was. Awesome. And it had sprinkles!
So, for part of Nick's birthday, we let him decide where we would go on Saturday. He had 2 choices. Disneyland Paris or Aquaboulevard. He chose Aqua because we weren't sure if the weather would be good or not. This place has a life sized whale that you climb into and slide out of, wave machine, swing rope, many fountains, a dozen water slides, and huge hot tubs. There are a lot of pools and a beach outside, but it was just a bit cool for us to be out there.
They also had indoor wake boarding. Seriously. OF COURSE Nick and I had to try it out. We had fun.
Side note: Just like every other public pool in Paris, there is a strict policy on suits. Men and boys need to wear tight fitting bathing suits NOT swim trunks. So, Nick and I got new suits. I'll have to say that yes, I was extremely uncomfortable at first; however, I soon realized it made no difference. Everyone was wearing the same thing. There were plenty of guys that had no business wearing a "speedo" type suit, but had to. I kind of got around that by purchasing a pair of tight running shorts and wearing those instead.
Overall, it was a great birthday.
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