Got on the plane - no problems. That's where it ended. I made it to London with little sleep on the plane.
I had a super long layover & couldn't stay up so I found some chairs that didn't have an armrest & took a series of cat naps. Then it was a short ride to Paris. I found my way to the train station and called my family before I boarded the last train of the evening to Lyon.
The Larabas... Well they weren't aware that I was coming. They didn't speak english. I tried to convey to the woman that her daughter gave me her call phone # & told me that they would pick me up from the train station. Then I told her my train got in at 11 pm. I would be the one with the huge orange suitcase. I guess out of that conversation she got my train would arrive at 9pm so that's when she went to collect me. Needless to say - I wasn't there...
When I arrived in Lyon I went outside to try & find here but I had a feeling that she wasn't there. I went to the office at the train station & they didn't really speak english but they knew who I was. The kept trying to call her cell phone but she didn't answer. I was very very very tired from the 24 hours I had spent travelling already & asked the ladies at the train station if there wasa a hotel nearby. Fortunately there was one they were overbooked but because I was pathetic, they gave me one of their rooms. It was 70 euros. OUCH!
I dragged all 100+ lbs of my luggage to the hotel & the man at the front desk was very very nice & helpful. He spoke english so he called Mrs. Laraba and let her know where I was. My laptop battery was dead by this time & my phone for some reason doesn't work over here. JOY!!!!!! I never could have imagined that I'd have such bad karma. I plugged in my laptop when I got to the room but the coverter I bought didn't really seem to get along with the outlet or the plug. It kept getting really hot & wasn't doing much of anything. I thought it might have been because of the dead battery - I foud out later when I was sleeping that wasn't the case when the thing popped/exploded & shot out of the wall. Its broken now. I'm just glad my room didn't start on fire.
Anyways she called & said she would pick me up in the morning. I got up & went downstairs and said bye to the nice man that helped me & she came & got me. She doesn't speak english - did I mention that? The conversation was interesting & frustrating but we very slowly started to understand little thigs about each other. She brought me home, I put my bags in the house & we had some breakfast. Coffee, which was much needed & some bread. I must say it was pretty tasty. Then she did some things around the house & we finally headed out to go to school. She had told me again that the woman at the french school had never confirmed that I was coming to stay with her.
We got to school and there were a lot of people in the International student registration office. I was happy when I ran ito the other 2 students from my school. It sounded like they got into their apartments ok but there were others who were having problems. Mrs Laraba went in the office & talked to the housing woman. I didn 't understand what was going on. Then the housing woman said that I never sent her a confirmation & I was to go back to Mrs. Laraba's house & get my bags & she would find me a new place to live when I got back. Huh???? What the French??
Talk about an uncomfortable car ride back home... Then she tells me its going to be ok - don't worry , no problems. What the hell ever. She speaks french, she has a place to sleep tonight! So then she dropped me off back at school & I had to drag my 100+ lbs of luggage around again. Did I mention that I had to vacuum my clothes in space bags to get them to fit into my suitcase the first time & since I had to get into them to get my pajamas last night - now everything doesn't fit anymore so there are clothes hanging out while I'm wheeling my stuff around. Got back to the International Student Registration office and alas - It's lunch & they are closed. UNTIL 2!!! The woman asked me if I wanted to come back - except it wasn't a question. I left my luggage there & walked around trying to find somethig cheap to eat for lunch. I found a gas station & got a sandwich & a cherry coke (it doesn't taste the same - not a fan FYI) then I wandered back over to the school.
So the housing woman said that she's working very hard to find me a new family. She's called & left messages for the new one but they haven't called back yet. She said that she would send me an e-mail & let me know something - otherwise on MONDAY she will work on somethig else.
Now I am sitting at McDonalds (they have free wi-fi) waiting until 5 pm so I can go back to school to get my luggage. I don't know where I will go with it when I get it. She gave me the address to a youth hostel - if I go there I have to be there by 8 pm.
I am running out of words. This is truly unbelieveable. I keep telling myself it has to get better but it has yet to - there just keeps being more of the same or worse...
The Larabas... Well they weren't aware that I was coming. They didn't speak english. I tried to convey to the woman that her daughter gave me her call phone # & told me that they would pick me up from the train station. Then I told her my train got in at 11 pm. I would be the one with the huge orange suitcase. I guess out of that conversation she got my train would arrive at 9pm so that's when she went to collect me. Needless to say - I wasn't there...
When I arrived in Lyon I went outside to try & find here but I had a feeling that she wasn't there. I went to the office at the train station & they didn't really speak english but they knew who I was. The kept trying to call her cell phone but she didn't answer. I was very very very tired from the 24 hours I had spent travelling already & asked the ladies at the train station if there wasa a hotel nearby. Fortunately there was one they were overbooked but because I was pathetic, they gave me one of their rooms. It was 70 euros. OUCH!
I dragged all 100+ lbs of my luggage to the hotel & the man at the front desk was very very nice & helpful. He spoke english so he called Mrs. Laraba and let her know where I was. My laptop battery was dead by this time & my phone for some reason doesn't work over here. JOY!!!!!! I never could have imagined that I'd have such bad karma. I plugged in my laptop when I got to the room but the coverter I bought didn't really seem to get along with the outlet or the plug. It kept getting really hot & wasn't doing much of anything. I thought it might have been because of the dead battery - I foud out later when I was sleeping that wasn't the case when the thing popped/exploded & shot out of the wall. Its broken now. I'm just glad my room didn't start on fire.
Anyways she called & said she would pick me up in the morning. I got up & went downstairs and said bye to the nice man that helped me & she came & got me. She doesn't speak english - did I mention that? The conversation was interesting & frustrating but we very slowly started to understand little thigs about each other. She brought me home, I put my bags in the house & we had some breakfast. Coffee, which was much needed & some bread. I must say it was pretty tasty. Then she did some things around the house & we finally headed out to go to school. She had told me again that the woman at the french school had never confirmed that I was coming to stay with her.
We got to school and there were a lot of people in the International student registration office. I was happy when I ran ito the other 2 students from my school. It sounded like they got into their apartments ok but there were others who were having problems. Mrs Laraba went in the office & talked to the housing woman. I didn 't understand what was going on. Then the housing woman said that I never sent her a confirmation & I was to go back to Mrs. Laraba's house & get my bags & she would find me a new place to live when I got back. Huh???? What the French??
Talk about an uncomfortable car ride back home... Then she tells me its going to be ok - don't worry , no problems. What the hell ever. She speaks french, she has a place to sleep tonight! So then she dropped me off back at school & I had to drag my 100+ lbs of luggage around again. Did I mention that I had to vacuum my clothes in space bags to get them to fit into my suitcase the first time & since I had to get into them to get my pajamas last night - now everything doesn't fit anymore so there are clothes hanging out while I'm wheeling my stuff around. Got back to the International Student Registration office and alas - It's lunch & they are closed. UNTIL 2!!! The woman asked me if I wanted to come back - except it wasn't a question. I left my luggage there & walked around trying to find somethig cheap to eat for lunch. I found a gas station & got a sandwich & a cherry coke (it doesn't taste the same - not a fan FYI) then I wandered back over to the school.
So the housing woman said that she's working very hard to find me a new family. She's called & left messages for the new one but they haven't called back yet. She said that she would send me an e-mail & let me know something - otherwise on MONDAY she will work on somethig else.
Now I am sitting at McDonalds (they have free wi-fi) waiting until 5 pm so I can go back to school to get my luggage. I don't know where I will go with it when I get it. She gave me the address to a youth hostel - if I go there I have to be there by 8 pm.
I am running out of words. This is truly unbelieveable. I keep telling myself it has to get better but it has yet to - there just keeps being more of the same or worse...
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