25 juin
I was kind of basically scared out of my mind to start
the internship. I was scared I wouldn’t
be able to understand and I wouldn’t be able to communicate and I wouldn’t be
able to do it. But it all turned out
quite well. I met up with my coordinator
Veronique. She is a middle aged woman
with short purple/red hair that must have a smoke break every few hours. She has twin boys that are 14 and another son
that is 10. Veronique and all of the
other people I met in the office, are extremely nice and helpful…I guess that
comes with wanting to work for a non-profit organization. I got introduced around as the young
American intern that is there for the summer.
I did training and orientation stuff with Veronique for
most of the day. In the morning, she let
me check my email and then gave me a t-shirt, a backpack, lunch checks, and
then some money for a partial reimbursement for my plane ticket. Then I had a 2.5 hour lunch break after which
I met Veronique at Le Manier which is where this beautiful house is
located. Les petits frères own the house
and use it for office spaces as well as a dining area and lounge for when they
hold activities for the elderly that they look over. At the house, I met some more people and then
Veronique gave me some more information and helped me plan out my week. I don’t know if it is just because it is
summer here or if French people are always so lax, but they have me working
from 9 or 10ish until noon and then 2 or 3ish until 5. That’s my kind of work week. And there is this banquet thing on Friday
night that I must go to and so they gave me Thursday afternoon off in order to
rest because of that banquet. Ha! This will be a relaxing and enjoyable
summer. The whole system of how they do
the visits is a bit confusing since it’s new, but I’ll get it down soon. I was able to understand most everything they
said which was encouraging. I was still
a little slow and hesitant at talking which is something I need to get over
real soon.
Things I learned throughout the day from talking to
people and experience:
-I will need to watch out for pickpockets in Marseille
especially because of my foreign accent…I shouldn’t carry my iphone around
-Marseille is famous for its wind that comes in off the
sea…I experienced it and it is intense, but is a welcome thing in the
heat. Sometimes when the winds are so
strong, they will close down high areas in the city because of the threat of
fires (I’m not really sure how fire would be a danger…maybe with electricity
poles)
-French women don’t shave their armpits
-The grocery store Casino is much cheaper than Monoprix
(but Carrefour still seems like the cheapest to me)
-All of the food that I buy from the grocery store always
advertises that there is no added sugar or that there are no preservatives
which is great and healthy but means that food goes bad a lot more quickly
here—thus why French people make more smaller trips to the grocery store.
-If a store closes at 9, then they kick you out at 8:45
-Don’t always trust people that seem to know what they’re
talking about when they are giving you directions…because they can be wrong
-There is a fruit/vegetable shop right by my apartment
that sells beautiful and cheap produce
-Veronique said that the motto/slogan of Les petits
frères is “Des fleurs avant du pain” which means Flowers before bread. It’s the ideology of the organization where
it is just as important to provide friendship and positive human relations with
people rather than just giving them food to eat. And I completely agree with this concept. A feeling of social connection is a huge
factor in evaluating a person’s quality of life. I learned in one of my psychology classes
that social support in old age is a better predictor of living long than
smoking.
After I was done with work, I took the Metro over to the
Old Port which is the main area of town.
I took the bus up to Notre Dame de la Garde which is up on a big
hill. The view looking out at the city
and the coast line was breathtaking. I
had to sit down to take it all in. There
are mountains, and then the red roofed city, and then the beautiful coastline
with clear blue water. Incredible. Then I took a long route back to the old port
and saw the pharo garden, a big fort, an abby, a restaurant/shopping plaza, the
palais de justice, and the opera house.
At the park, there was a mom calling after her son and she called him
Marius which made me happy because of the French film Marius that takes place
in Marseille. After my walk, I stole
some free McDonalds wifi and then headed home.
It’s so easy to lose track of time in the evenings since it doesn’t get
dark until 10ish.
At home, I was super excited to actually cook something
and so I cut up potatoes to have fried potatoes with onions and then I put it
all on the stove and it doesn’t work.
Great. So I had yet another
sandwich…but it was still delightful with boursin cheese and herbes de
provence. Mom and/or Alison, could you
look at the store and see if you can buy herbes de provence in America? Because
if not, I may stock up and bring several bottles home to share.
It is so flippin hot in the apartment without air
conditioning. It helps when the window
is open, but I can’t sleep with it open because of bugs. Even with the fan blowing straight at me,
it’s still super hot and stuffy…I’m gonna have to figure out a survival method.
26 juin
Remember when I got stuck because
of the train strike in France? I found out today that it
wasn’t really a strike, that’s just what they told people. What really happened was a young man got
killed in the Nice area because he was walking across the tracks and had
headphones and thus didn’t hear the train coming. Super sad, but interesting that they didn’t
tell us what really had happened.
I started the day of work at 9. I went to the office right next to my
apartment building and caught Veronique on her smoking break. They let me check my email again and I told
them my stove wasn’t working and so hopefully they’ll figure out how to get it
fixed so I don’t have to eat sandwiches all summer.
Then I went out to le manier, the cute house that is more
out in the countryside, and met up with another volunteer named Laurence. I thought that was a guy name, but it ended
up being a woman! She showed me how they
do some of their “visits” by phone and have a list of people they call once a
week to check in on. It was a good model
for me of what the visits are meant to accomplish. It’s not to solve their problems, but more
just to be a friend to listen and sympathize.
Basically she would call and see if they had any news to share and then
just talk with them wherever they led the conversation. She’d end by saying Je vous embrasse (kisses)
and telling them what day she’d be calling back next week. There was one lady she called that is 101
years old and she is just a super chipper happy old lady! I’m excited to take over Laurence’s phone
visits for the next few months. She also
talked to a woman who is in a nursing home who feels all alone and has a sore
back and can’t get the doctor to give her medicine. This lady is in a home with other patients of
less brain capacity since she is an alcoholic but she still is all there in the
head but feels isolated because she can’t relate to the other people there. She said she so appreciates Les petits frères
because sometimes it’s the only people she really talks to all week. Laurence talked to me about how she and the
organization take the approach of not being superior to these people that they
help, but recognizing that we are all interconnected as part of humanity and we
are here to help others and make human connections because they are so
vital.
After the phone calls, Laurence and I had a great chat
about her kids and she asked questions about my life too. She is from Bretagne and has 4 kids. Her 14 year old son is going to New York to
spend 3 weeks with a family there and he is super excited to go shopping in New
York. He learns a lot of English from
listening to American music. She has a
daughter that lives and works for a nonprofit organization in Brazil. Another one of her children lives in
Italy. I am always still so impressed
with Europeans where it is so common for them to know at least a second
language and often times a 3rd or 4th. I told Laurence that I loved that about
Europe and I wish America was like that.
She agreed and said she think it’s important for her kids to gain
another perspective of life and see a world different from their own. I agreed with her and said that that’s why
I’ve studied French and why I was here this summer, to gain another perspective
and realize that we are all a part of humanity.
Then she asked me about my life and my family. When I explained how big it was and about the
5 kids from Russia, she asked what religion I was and I panicked for a second
because I thought I was still in Israel and couldn’t say anything, but then was
grateful I was in France and could share it with her. I told her I was Mormon but that it wasn’t
super common in Mormonism to have a family that big. She asked about where I grew up and if there
were a lot of Mormons where we lived. I
said no and she asked if it was hard to grow up in a place where not everyone
had the same ideology as me. I explained
to her that it wasn’t that hard because as a young teenager, I decided on my
own to live a set of standards and I stuck to them and that my friends were
aware of these standards. I told her a
lot of my close friends were Christian and had similar values to mine. Very interesting conversation that I enjoyed
with her. It seems I speak French more
fluently when it’s a conversation like this and I just forget about being
stressed about grammar and then it just flows naturally
and I may make one or two mistakes, but all in all I communicate a lot
better. This conversation gave me
encouragement to be more confident with my French because I understand it and I
know it and can do it and so just need to take the next step and let it flow
when I speak and not be scared.
We were done about noon and I had a 3 hour lunch break! I
think that things will be busier when all the other interns come because they
are just kind of finding people for me tag along with this week to see how it
all rolls. But for lunch, I took the
metro to the train station and started walking down a road. I used one of my lunch checks for the first
time and I loved it! At this bakery, I
got a delicious salad with thick slices of goat cheese, ham, corn, and tomatoes
along with a delightful lemon pastry. I
also got a can of apple juice and a small piece of bread. I got all of this for 5.5 euros so I just had
to pay 10 cents out of pocket! It’s a
great feeling to be eating a free delicious lunch…makes it taste even
better. I found a cathedral and sat in
the shade on the steps. I got myself a
creeper who came and sat a bit away from me on the steps and wished me Bon Appetit. Then he kept coming closer and closer to
me…it was slightly amusing but I definitely left and didn’t look back at him
and finished eating somewhere else.
In the afternoon, I met up with a sweet middle aged lady
named Lilian that is also a volunteer for Les petits frères. We met at a large nursing home complex that
has lots of nursing home buildings as well as a hospital. I jumped into her car as she drove up and she
drove me around the complex telling me what each building was and what paths to
take when I was taking someone in a wheelchair to the park area. Then we went into the Jean Nasse building to
do some visits. Lilian had brought some
newspapers and laid them out on a table for people to read. She laid each one out individually so that they
weren’t in a big stack. She said she did
this so that people didn’t come and take the whole stack and also so that
people won’t come and take the whole stack to resell them. We went and met what they call here an
“animateur” but it is the person that is in charge of social activities for the
people in the building. He was a such a
nice guy and sat me in his office and talked to me for about a half hour about
the history of that nursing complex and the hospital that used to be a home for
Napoleon III then was used as a war hospital during WWI and WWII. He talked to me about the history of elderly
care in France and how it was a priority in the early 1900s, but then got
forgotten with the wars and the reconstruction that followed, but that it got
prioritized again in the 1970s. His
ideology and passion for his job touched me.
He said that his goal in his job was to make these people feel like they
are still alive, to give them hope and vitality. He explained that it’s easy for these people
to give up and just want to quit and welcome death but that is not good because
they are humans just like us. He said
that I would be a great contribution to the facility because I would bring
light and life into the building. I
could help these people feel alive again.
He talked to me about how at the end of life, there is a tendency for
these people to regress into that fetal position physically and psychologically
where things are safe and where one doesn’t have to accept the reality of the
world. I told him that I would love to
be as helpful as possible. He assured me
that if I started feeling burdened with the sad things I was dealing with, to
not hesitate to talk to him because we’re all a team there. He also informed me that he is a 5th
generation Marseillaise and that if I had any questions about how to get around
or what to go and visit, to let him know.
I did a visit with Lilian to this old lady. Before the visit, Lilian told me her story
and said that she had traveled a lot in her life as a flight attendant for Air
France and had kept her brain as she had aged and was a delightful woman. But recently, two of her close relations had
died in a tragic fire. Since then, she
has become dissociated and doesn’t remember her past life at all. We went to visit her and there was a tape of
bird noises playing along with a changing light humidifier thing. Lilian had brought her some beautiful pink
and purple flowers from her garden. Lilian
has been visiting her for years but this lady didn’t remember her at all this
time and didn’t remember receiving Lilian’s postcard a few weeks earlier. This sweet old lady was smiling and talking
but just obviously not there…it was so sad.
Lilian introduced me to her and explained that I was from the United
States and asked her if she had traveled a lot and she said no she hadn’t which
is the opposite from her life has been.
We chatted with her about the bird sounds and flowers and the
weather. During the conversation, she
asked me and Lilian both but separately “Quand est-ce que tu me deliveras?”
which means when are you doing to deliver me.
It was so sad that she was ready to give up and leave. Lilian said she had become so much skinnier
since she had last been there and that she hasn’t been out of her bed for a long
time because of her legs. We gave her a
kiss on the top of her head and left.
Even though it was so sad, it inspired me and made me so excited for
these next few months. I love being able
to do the Savior’s work of charity all day, everyday. I hope that I can bring some life and light
in the lives of some people. That makes
every day I’m here worth it.
The animateur then took me on a tour of the
building. The more mobile and cognizant
people are on the main floor so that they can go outside more easily. The building is organized into little
“quartiers” or neighborhoods that bear the name of a neighborhood in
Marseille. There are about 15 rooms in
each quartier that center around the eating area so that even if people can’t
get out of their bed, they can still feel connected to the others there. The animateur walked around talking to people
just like he was walking down the street and ran into people that he
knows. He told me it’s important to be
very casual in the visits so that it feels more like a neighborhood and
home. He introduced me to the doctors
and nurses as well as many of the people that live there. There was this one lady that he introduced me
to that couldn’t hear very well so he went right up to her ear and spoke
extremely loudly to introduce me.
Another lady that we met has lived in that building for 30 years! She has one tooth and it was super hard to
understand her….that will be a feat that I must accomplish, to comprehend
French when they have no teeth. She let
us into her room and it so cute with lots of cat and dog stuffed animals. She also has a pet black cat that lives in
there with her. We had to redirect a man
that was coming into the doctor and nurse area with a glass cup. The animateur told me that he is an alcoholic
and that this is a common occurrence. I
can tell that the animateur cares about each of these people individually and
takes care to know each of their stories.
I met this man that was super friendly and came up and started talking
to me about how he used to have 5 mistresses…two were American and three were
Italian…haha who knows if that’s true.
The animateur showed me their art room where they make ceramics and
such. There was also a music room with
old records and videos as well as a piano.
He told me I could bring people in there and play piano for them which I
plan to do. They have a salon and
massage room there as well. He took me
through the first set of doors to the Alzheimer’s ward…they were impressed that
I knew the word Alzheimer’s, but little did they know it’s the same word in
English. The people there are more on
lockdown and constant surveillance. One
man came up to us and sweetly and politely asked if we were going to let him
out. When we got back to the animateur’s
office (I wish I could remember his name!) I helped a girl there that is
working on her Master’s degree in Exercise Science. She had to write the abstract of her paper in
both French and English and so she asked me to edit the English part. I now have sympathy for people in the French
writing lab at BYU because they say all the time to me “You just don’t say it
like that in French.” And that’s what I had to keep saying her because some
verbs you translate to English and it’s similar to an English verb, but not the
most correct one. Also she had written
about “light gymnastics” because that is the direct translation from French but
I explained to her that gymnastics is more like flips and cartwheels and
balance beams and I can’t picture old people doing that, so I’m pretty sure she
was trying to say aerobics which was a word she had never heard of. I’m glad I was able to help her and she was
very grateful too. After I had edited
her paper, the animateur as a thank you gesture, had printed out the lyrics of
this 80s French song that is called Mélissa and also printed out the Wikipedia
article about the singer. He had
highlighted stuff for me to read. It was
super cute and sweet and made me super excited that I had a French song about
me! But after I left the nursing home, I
started reading the lyrics and it is quite explicit and a bit raunchy….which is
kind of hilarious to me. Guess it’s not
my theme song…ha. I looked up the singer
singing it on youtube later at the institute and the French people there were
like ya, I wouldn’t advertise that song as connected to you….hahaha. Oh well, I tried to be part French, but it
didn’t work.
At the bus stop, I talked to this guy and it always gets
around to talking about America when I talk to people because they find out I’m
American. This guy asked me how America
was and if we are in a crisis right now over there…ha I assured him no, we were
fine.
I found a McDonalds nearby where I live on my way back so
I’ll have to go check and see if they have free wifi. I came back to the apartment and grabbed my
computer then went to the institute because it is open on Tuesday
afternoons/evenings because they have an English class and it’s open for people
to come and hang out. It was nice to
talk to Jared, the other BYU student doing the internship and also to talk to
his parents who are the senior missionary couple over the Institute. I asked Jared some French vocab and grammar
questions then used the internet for a bit.
I played bananagrams with Jared and listened in on the English class
that Elder and Sister Rutman were giving to a brother and sister. There is Florian (the guy) who is 21 and then
Coralee who is 22. They both have joined
the church just this year. Florian came
over and talked to me for a while after the class. He is saving up to go on a mission at the end
of the year. He encouraged me and said
my French was good which I still think they’re just being nice. He also told me to not worry about accent
because it was cute, haha! I guess that
is okay with me J I found out that Florian is OBSESSED with all
things American. His life goal is to
live there eventually. He loves all
American music, especially blue grass and country. His favorite is Johnny Cash (he was wearing a
Johnny Cash that night). He also loves
all rock that is American. He actually
found out about the church because his favorite band is The Killers and he was
learning about the main singer and saw that he was Mormon which led him to call
up the missionaries to learn more about it.
I wondered if he loved the church so much because it has such strong
ties to America but in talking to him more, I know he believes in it too and
isn’t there just because of the American connection. But really, he is so obsessed it’s so funny
and cute. He says he dreams about
playing baseball with his son in his backyard.
His ringtone is God Bless America and when he receives a text, it’s the
baseball stadium announcing noise. He
loves American football and the smell of French fries and watches so so many
American tv shows…he named off a huge list and I honestly didn’t recognize many
of them. But I told him I like movies a
lot more than tv shows and so he told me he really likes the movie The Notebook
which is funny. He was super kind to
help me when I stumbled on a French phrase or when I questioned if a certain
word was masculine or feminine. He
showed me a video he had found on YouTube and it was the BYU Divine Comedy
remake of California Gurls that’s called Provo Utah girls. It’s super cheesy and is overflowing with
Utah jokes…he thought it was hilarious which cracked me up because it’s kind of
that it’s so dumb it’s funny kind of humor.
We talked about American music and he knows almost every group. He likes fun and John Mayer and glee and
taylor swift and so many other so American things. It’s cool that with the Internet and the
globalization of the world that has occurred in the last few decades, it’s
possible for people like him to know all about another country and what is
popular there. His sister really loves
America too and really likes the tv show Desperate Housewives and the movie
Twilight. I rode the bus back to the
metro stop with them and we had fun talking.
I think they’ll be some awesome friends and said they would love to show
me around the city. It’s nice because
they know some English and want to improve and I want to improve my French so
it’s fun to talk to each other.
All day these past few days, I’ve been writing down
French words that I’m learning or things in English that I’ve looked up how to
say. It’s a great method I think. I’ll write down words when I’m talking to
people and then I look them up and study them whenever I’m on the metro or the
bus. I’m getting like 30 words a day!
27 juin
Last night was a struggle. Sooo hot.
I got up and took a shower in the middle of the night because I was just
dying and thought that if I was all wet, the fan would be cooler on me, and it
worked! I’m gonna have to figure out how
to survive this. Europe just doesn’t
really have air conditioning and that’s just how it is.
They didn’t have anything for me to do this morning and
so I just used their internet and wrote people back that I’ve needed to respond
to for a while. Then I came back up to
the apartment and had lunch and caught up on journal writing. I took the metro and then the bus out to a
big shopping mall area where I was meeting up with a volunteer named
Bernard. I had no idea how old he was or
what he looked like and so I was kind of searching around and made eye contact
with a couple guys thinking it was maybe them, but that was a mistake because I
got a couple creepers that kept glancing back.
So I just decided that Bernard could find me and my eyes weren’t going
to search for him anymore. Bernard
finally found me and I went with him in his car to visit these two sweet old
ladies. Bernard is in his 60s but seemed
super active still. He told me about his
two daughters that live in Quebec and that are coming to visit him in a
week.
The first lady we visited was named Madame Ellena. She is 90 years old and is extremely hard of
hearing and doesn’t see very well. It
was necessary to speak extremely loud when talking to her. She was such a sweetie though. She told me about John, the BYU student that
visited her last summer. She showed me
the post card of Utah that he had sent her and also the little Eiffel Tower
keychain that he had given her. She told
me several times to tell him thank you again and to say hi for her. Mme Ellena told me that she has lived her
whole life in Marseille. She worked as a
housemaid for some rich doctors at one point in her life. She told me the doctors were really nice but
that their wives were not nice at all.
They let her eat whatever was left over from the family’s lunch and if
there wasn’t anything, then too bad for her.
She also told us about how she had worked in lots of different factories
in Marseille which is a big reason that she has bad hearing. She said she worked in sugar, soap, and also olive
oil factories. Bernard was very
concerned for her because she only eats what he called conserved food which
basically means it is not fresh. He told
me that in France, when people aren’t eating fresh food, they are considered
malnourished…which means most Americans are malnourished in their opinion. Mme Ellena has meals delivered to her every
day and explained to us that it is too expensive to get the fresh meals and so
Bernard said he would talk to the organization to try and get the money to pay for
her to have fresh meals.
Next we visited Madame Galieni who is Corsican. She has Parkinson’s disease and has a very
difficult time walking, but she is still very cognitively capable. She also talked to me about John, the BYU
volunteer from last summer. She had his
postcard at the table right by her chair where she spends a lot of time. She told me that he was so nice and that one
time they had played cards together. Mme
told me a bit about Corsica and the geography of it. She said that after spending days and days
alone, it is nice to have people to talk to.
Even though one can tell that it is painful for her to walk, she went
and got us a drink from the kitchen. Mme
Gallieni had me guess her age which was a scary thing to do. But she is 88 years old! I am so impressed with French people and long
they live. In America, it seems that
most of the time when someone is in their 70s, they are considered old! But in France, 60 is considered still
middle-aged. Bernard invited me to go
back and do these visits again with him next week, but I will have to wait and
see what I am assigned to do.
After I was done with work, I met up with my YSA friend
Orianne. Her and her brother were on
their way home from a day at the beach and came to help me figure out how to
get a phone. Orianne took me to the main
shopping area in downtown Marseille which is a dangerous thing to show me. To make it even more dangerous, she reminded
me about the country wide sales that all stores participate in that start next
week. Oh la la! I got a cheap ancient model phone for 20
euros that will work for these next two months while I need a phone. Orianne showed me some of her favorite shops
in the area and we made plans to come shopping sometime soon.
I went to the McDonalds by my apartment and thoroughly
enjoyed 3 things that I take for granted in America and that don’t normally
exist here: Wi-fi, public restrooms, and air conditioning.
28 juin
In the morning, I went out to le manier and met up with a
benevole named Danielle to watch her do telephone calls to different old
people. She was a sweet middle aged lady
with a cute dog. I went and got lunch in
an area of Marseille I hadn’t seen yet.
I walked past a museum about the Marseillaise (French national anthem)
that I’ll have to go into later. I also
saw Marseille’s arc de triomphe.
During the afternoon, I did a house visit by myself to
Madame Dernaucourt. Man is she an
incredible person. Several years ago,
she had a stroke that left her with paralyzed legs. However she has lived a full and adventurous
life. She seems to have lived a life in
the upper class of society. She lived
for 5 years in Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean. She showed me pictures of the beautiful
beaches and plants there. Basically the
visit consisted of her talking the whole time and me nodding my head and
reacting to what she said and then listening again. She is such a sweet and vibrant person that
is so full of life despite her handicap.
She had Madeline’s and Orangina for me to eat with her. She loves Americans because she’s from
Normandy and remembers the Americans liberating her country. She is full of stories. She told me about her Grandpa that died
fighting in the trenches in WWI. She
told me about how I shouldn’t ever go to the beach alone because she knows
people that have had bad things happen to them there. She told me about how she wants to set me up
with her physical therapist. She told me
about how she is embarrassed by all the rude Arabs and Gypsies in Marseille
that are a disgrace to the classy French people. And then we watched a movie together! We started talking about French films and she
found out that I love them and so we watched one of her favorites. It is based on a book written by Marcel
Proust and took place in Provence during the WWII era. It is probably one of my favorite French
films I’ve ever seen. The landscapes and
music were both beautiful as well as the acting and touching storyline. I could tell Mme had seen these movie many
times before but she still laughed and laughed at her favorite parts. She made certain to explain the colloquial
language to me when it occurred as well as her opinion on all the characters
and their actions. It was a lovely
afternoon and I’m excited to go back and hang out with her more this
summer.
That night was FHE for the YSA group. The bishop gave the lesson and talked about
the brother of Jared and his persistence.
We had delicious chocolate cake afterwards and then everyone just hung
out and talked or played games for a while.
I snuck into the chapel and played the organ in there for a little while
as well as the baby grand that is in there.
I had a funny conversation with two of the YSAs and Sister Rutman about
peanut butter and how Americans eat it on so many things. I explained what a Peanut Butter and Jelly
sandwich was to them and they thought it sounded quite odd and not
delicious.
It’s funny how the saying is so true that the grass is
always greener on the other side. So
many of the YSAs want to get out of France and go to America. But I don’t understand how you could dislike
France with all of its beauty. Coralee
has an Italian heritage and beautiful dark hair and olive complexion…but she
was so disappointed when she asked me if she looked American and I said not
really because she looks European. Where
in America, it is more the tendency to want to look European. It’s also funny when French people use slang
English like “Peace” or “What is up dude.”
It sounds so out of place and amusing with their accent. Jared and I taught them the phrase “you rock
my socks off” and it confused them a lot.
That night, even though I got home at 10:30, I was so
excited to use the stove and make warm food that I made yummy fried potatoes and
scrambled eggs with plenty of herbes de provence.
29 juin
Finally Friday! I
went to le manier and I found out that it was given to les petits frères by
this old lady that passed and endowed it to the organization rather than having
it being taken by the government. It is
such a beautiful location with several acres of gardens and open space. There is also an operating beehive that makes
“petits frères honey.” I was supposed to
meet up with a benevole in the morning but they never showed up so I just hung
out and did stuff on the internet. Every
Friday, starting at lunchtime, there is a gathering of lots of old people and
benevoles (volunteers like me) that come and hang out the manier. It was so fun and super relaxing. We started with a lovely three course meal
beginning with fried squash, zucchini, and eggplant bathed in a
vinaigarette. Then we had some delicious
homemade ravioli and whatever that pasta is called that is a big tube and you
put stuff in it…something that starts with a C.
Then we had a scrumptious chocolate cake with cranberries in the
middle. Then the rest of the afternoon
was just lounging, relaxing and talking.
They had games out like Petanque and dominoes and then about every half
hour, there would be a round of coffee or cake or smoothie served. I sat and talked to people and played
dominoes. It was great to just soak up
the sun in a beautiful setting. Also,
Jared came to the gathering so that was nice to be able to talk to him there
and see a familiar face.
After helping to clean up and such, Jared and I headed to
the church for the film night at the Institute.
We talked the whole way and I made Jared tell me lots of animal
stories. He wants to be a veterinarian
and has loved animals his whole life.
He’s had every type of pet you can think of and has worked in pet stores
and at a veterinary hospital. He had
lots of amusing stories from all of his animal experience.
That night we watched a movie called Night and Day that
had Tom Ford and Cameron Diaz. I was
expecting a romantic comedy…but it was more of an adventure movie but I still
really liked it. We watched it in French
with English subtitles. And French
people are just so quiet sometimes.
Jared and I were laughing and commenting throughout many parents and
they just didn’t react or comment except for super funny parts…I think they
just don’t understand the concept of cheesiness and how funny it is. And maybe Americans are just loud in general
which is true. Sister Rutman had made
caramel popcorn as well as popcorn with taco seasoning on it…which was
surprisingly really good.
I’ve been really bad at taking pictures…and I
apologize. But I don’t want to carry
around my camera when I’m working and going all over the city to visit
people. So there probably won’t be as
many pictures as before…but I’ll do my best.
30 juin
Today was a relaxing Saturday. I went with Jared to Carrefour in the morning
to try and get my phone card to work, but alas no luck. I apparently bought the wrong kind of
card. Then we did some Carrefour
shopping. Jared told me more pet and pet
store stories. Jared also showed me
where he lives which is in a hotel that has air conditioning and wi-fi. I’m very jealous, but our apartment is bigger
than his room and I like our location better so it all works out.
I came back home and cleaned up the apartment to get
ready for Stephanie to come. I did
laundry at a Laundromat nearby and went grocery shopping. Then I went and picked up Stephanie at the
train station with Jared. She is super
nice and I think we will get along really well.
She served a mission in Quebec and this is her last term of school. She is also super easy going. We came back to the apartment and I cooked
some lime rice, merlin fish, and asparagus.
We don’t have any measuring cups and so it was a lot of guesstimation
but it turned out yummy!
1 juillet
Happy July! I miss
America this week and the barbecue and pool party we’d be having at home for
the 4th of July….but that’s okay.
I’ll have lots of years celebrating the 4th in America. The countrywide soldes (sales) start on the 4th
so that is celebration enough for me.
But I might have to make the trek to Carrefour to buy some peanut butter
to have a piece of America that day.
Today Stephanie and I got to church early to be at choir
practice because they asked me to play piano for it while I’m here. I also played piano in sacrament
meeting. It’s so easy to space out when
people are talking in a different language because if I turn off my brain for
just a minute or two, it’s hard to focus it back on comprehending what is being
said. But church was still great nonetheless. I’m always impressed with how friendly and
welcoming everyone is.
After church, Stephanie and I walked over to Parc Borely
where they were having a huge Petanque tournament! Lots of old men with their own set of
Petanque boules were set up on numbered lawns playing their games. It was a big carnival atmosphere with food
stands and tents. Some of the players
had matching shirts for their Petanque team.
Petanque is a game that is a cross between croquet and horseshoes and is
popular all over France but apparently is significantly characteristic of
Marseille.
I LOVED reading every word of your blog entry!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are living a dream!! I know you are loving it and soaking in every moment!!!
I am so excited that you will be able to share your warm heart and love with so many people! You have so much to offer others! They will really appreciate it!!!
Keep the details coming!
I love you and miss you!
We will miss you on July 4th -- but because of the burn ban, we can't shoot off firework!!!
We'll do double next year for you!
Love,
Mom
Sounds like you are having a great time. I love reading about your adventures. Stay safe. What is herbes de Provence? I've never heard of it before. Yeah our apartment doesn't have a/c so it gets hot. We usually put our fan in the window when it cools down at night. Does your window not have a screen? Maybe try putting a wet rag on your forehead. Good luck. Having no a/c really makes you appreciate it.
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