Still the 26th of September 2013, but nighttime
First impressions are really important, so I think it’s important for me to record my first impressions of Chalons so that I can go back and look them all over when I’m through with TAPIF and so that you can get a sense of what I’m dealing with right now. Let's start with my arrival to Chalons en Champagne.
About 20 minutes before the train was meant to arrive in Chalons there was an announcement that came over the public address system saying that there had been some sort of human accident at the stop after Chalons so the train would be stopping in Chalons and everybody would have to get off so the SNCF (the French railroad company) could figure out a way to get everybody to their final destination. Oh great, I thought, I’ve got 2 enormous suitcases, a carry on, and back pack and now I’m going to be that person who holds everybody up as I try to corral my bags. It got better when I finally got off the train and figured out that there was an elevator on the platform (the quai) as well as a regular staircase. I wasn’t so sure at first glance and I could just see myself trying to get my bags down the staircase - not pretty. So I got my bags into the elevator and was just about ready to figure out what button to press when 3 elderly ladies and their bags decided to join me. Now, the elevator is only about 6 feet square, and between my bags and myself the elevator seemed pretty packed, but in typical French fashion they all hopped in and somehow we survived. It wasn’t pretty but we made it.
Now, I’d long since decided that there was no way in the world that I was going to walk to the school with my bags. First of all, I had no idea where it was. None. Second of all, everybody said it was nearby but accounts varied from a 5 minute walk to a twenty minute walk. That’s a big difference, especially with 100+ pounds of clothing and in heat that is quickly heading toward 80 degrees! So I was super excited when I saw the little sign directing me to the taxi stand. Sure enough there were dozens of spaces for taxis. And one taxi that was just closing its door to take a passenger someplace. And one man ahead of me waiting. So we waited. And waited. And commented that we really hoped there were taxis here. Finally one showed up and the man walked over to it, talked to the driver, then turned around and came back. Apparently the taxi driver didn’t want to go wherever the man wanted to go, and then he told me that I could walk very easily to Jean Talon, where I’m staying. Yeah, well that just wasn’t happening and I explained myself. 6 Euros and 40 cents later I was there (okay, so I had to pay the driver’s minimum because my destination was so close, but it was worth it).
Before long I was being handed a set of keys and being shown to my new digs in the Internat. The Internat, as best I can figure, is like a dorm for students who live outside of the city but go to the school. I couldn’t tell you why they don’t go to the school in their own town, or why it is that so many French high schools have an Internat, but that’s where I’m living. There are either (a) 120 rooms in the Internat or (b) 120 students, I’m not sure which because I forgot, but I think it’s the latter. Each room is sort of a 2 room suite which can sleep six students. You walk into a door (which is locked) into a hallway. At one end of the hallway is a room with three sinks and at the other is a room with a toilet. Next to the toilet room is a room with a stall shower. Then there are two doors (also kept locked) that access the two sleeping rooms. The sleeping rooms in my suite are each about 18 feet long and probably 12 feet wide - very big - with 3 single beds, 2 desks, three standing wardrobes, and three wall shelving units. Since I don’t have to share my room, I think it’s more than sufficient. There are two huge windows that open onto the area between the Internat and the high school, but since I’m on the ground floor, I don’t think I’ll be opening my shutters up very often - Alexis (my Parisian host brother) would be very angry if he knew I wasn’t opening the shutters!
My room from the entry door - notice the students sitting outside the high school across the courtyard
The closet - one vest is shown for scale.
From the windows - the orange door you see goes into the hallway
The hallway - that's the other person's room with the closed door (she's not here yet) and the sink room
Looking the other way - the toilet room door is open at the end and my room is open on the left
Anyway, I got my things all moved in and decided to try the wireless. I’d heard from last year’s assistant that the wireless didn’t work for Apple computers but that they were trying to fix it. And then I heard from the other American assistant, who arrived before me, that there were still problems. But I tried anyway. No luck. I went to go see the lady who is in charge of the assistants who told me, basically, that Apples don’t work here. Houston: we definitely have an issue. What kind of living situation am I in with no internet? This is 2013. I want to talk to my friends in America. I want to keep abreast of things happening elsewhere in the world. I need to do grad school applications.
Things were not going so well, and then my tapeworm started to wake up and I got hungry. So I decided I should try to find something… somewhere… With Clark, the other assistant having left so I could move in, I was on my own. So I walked, found a patisserie with some mediocre looking pastries, kept walking, and became increasingly depressed. There was nothing. Nothing at all. I ended up at the edge of town at a roundabout. There was a giant pharmacy, a car repair shop, a gas station (1.48 a litre) and two grocery stores. So I visited both grocery stores. Dorothy, I am NOT in Paris anymore. These were not the most well stocked markets I’d ever seen but I found some rice crackers, some other crackers, and apples and considered myself lucky to have been able to suss that out of the darkness. Back to the Internat - got totally lost (did I mention that I have no map of the town?), and ate an apple. Now what, I thought… Well I made my bed, organized my toiletries, made a list of things I should do tomorrow, read a chapter of my book, and mourned the lack of internet. So by now it was getting dark, the students were coming back in from class (across the courtyard) and it was getting loud. Soo… what do I do… Nothing. What can I do? Nothing. I really would love to have internet so I could look at a map of this town, find some things that I’d like to see, and plan an adventure to see them. But I can’t even do that.
So finally I decide I’ve got to do something so I decide to walk in the other direction. It couldn’t be any worse than what I already saw… Well it was… at first. All sorts of apartments for sale, closed up buildings, empty storefronts, it was depressing. Chalons is definitely a town that has seen better days, there’s no doubt about it. Then I came across a street with all sorts of kebab places and gyro shops. And I kept walking. And then I started finding civilization: churches, people, real estate agencies, etc. It was getting better.
By the end of my adventure I’d found two fairly nice town squares, a handful of churches, the city hall, the market (the real market - not a crappy grocery store) and I’d found a bite to eat (a kebab sandwich, of course- so French). I even got so bold as to go into a hotel and ask for a map of the town, which now gives me something new to examine and consider.
When I got back to the Internat I learned that two other assistants have arrived (so 4 of the 6 are here now) and I met them and we chatted for a bit. Then I went back to my room and decided I should take a shower and get ready for bed. Well it would be easier if I had a towel. I thought it would be easy to just go and buy one. Wrong. But I decided to go through and take the shower. I turned it on and about 1/10th of the little sprayers in the shower head worked.
Seriously. FML.
I won’t explain how I dried off, but let’s just say things can only go up from here!
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