Grève, Lights Out, Presents, and a Good Laugh

My Tuesday was filled with the sounds of chanting crowds, silent stores, French explanations, and started off with a good laugh.

In the morning I woke up at 6 - like usual - and headed downstairs to eat the same breakfast I eat everyday (I have a habit of eating the same thing for an entire month. In this case, it's been one and a half months.) The radio was on, but not with the normal French talk show. No, instead was the absolute worst English song I have ever heard. I write this with a straight face. It must have originally been a French song, with the meaning of the lyrics lost in translation to English.

"Washing machine, waasssshing maachhhhhhhhhhhhhhine!" was the chorus, sung by a warbling woman who drew out the words for a painfully long time. "I thought I saw you outside, but it was just your shirrrtt on the line!" Who was on crack when they signed this singer? And so I started laughing out loud, and Anita (my host mother) gave me an enquiring look. "Les mots de la chanson...elle a dit 'Machine à laver! Machine à laver!" What a hilarious start to a day.

Bonnie and I decided to do some shopping during the afternoon. Classes were cancelled due to the big grève which was taking place, and it had occurred to me that I only have a month and a half left of my stay. So we took my list and hit the streets of Chambéry to find gifts that would be in some way unique to France, Savoie (or something like that).

When we went in one store, the lights were out. The clerk didn't know why. And the next store was the same. And so on and so forth. And as Bonnie and I were on the 3rd floor of Pier 1 Imports (so French, right?) in the dark, we heard it. We heard the crowd, the 'manifestation', crossing a street nearby. Outside on the street we saw them down the way from us, with a cloud of smoke rising up from the fireworks.

However, considering the size of the 'gréve' on Tuesday, it's surprising we never actually crossed it's path. All we saw were short glimpses of the procession, but continued on shopping for presents for everyone at home. I quickly blew through 50€, but hey, it's for other people. So that makes it okay. Right?

I'm starting to really appreciate my stay in Chambéry, as the weather gets warmer, French becomes easier, and I begin to feel as if I have a place here. At the start I was so unsure of everything, I felt like a child who had to be taught how to speak, how to ride the bus, how to find her way around. But now I don't have a fear of getting lost in Chambéry (I always carried a map around before!), I have a friend here (Bonnie!), and I'm throughly enjoying my 'séjour en France'. Voila!