Grève means strike. I learned about a week ago that on Thursday, January 29th that there would be an interprofessionnelle grève. Not only would most of the teachers at school be on strike, but other professions would also be striking in demonstration against the most recent proposals for changes within the education system. I might not even be able to get to Amberieu because the trains might not be working, I was told. “So don’t bother even trying. Just don’t come”… OK.
With a little research I realized ALL the assistants would be in the same state- Thursday, for us, would be a nice day off! Woohooo! So what would you do if you had Thursday off? Well, party Wednesday night seemed like the most logical answer to me!
Recently, while walking around with my Irish friend Michelle, I stopped by the American store- at least that’s what I call it- it’s real name is Best Bagels; they make bagel sandwiches (they have REAL Philadelphia Cream Cheese!!!) and they sell some products that are particularly American, like root beer, peanut butter, Captain Crunch cereal, Pop Tarts, and Jell-O… for extremely expensive and outrageous prices. A box of Captain Crunch is 9.95 Euro. I did not buy the Captain Crunch. I did, however, pick up some Jell-O for 3 Euro 70 a box… I figured it just might be worth it…. I was right!
On Wednesday afternoon Michelle came back over and we made jello shots. These very typically American treats are easy to make but not ever found anywhere in
I got asked to work for a quick 2 hours at Paddy’s (in case you missed it last time, I picked up a second job bar tending at a café/bar right near my home. It’s called Paddy’s Corner and I LOVE it!! It keeps me busy and is fun!). They had a group coming in to use the space for a little party of sorts and my job was to make sure they had everything they needed, including the peanuts, charcuterie (I don’t know if that translates… cut up meat, like salami and ham), red peppers soaked in butter and garlic, cheese, juice, water, etc. If they wanted “drink drinks” they’d have to go to the bar. So yeah, I carried little trays of food back and forth for two hours- my friends showing up at the bar to wait for me as I worked. At 9, when I got done, my bosses told me that if I wanted left over charcuterie and cheese I could take some ‘cause they had no use for the extras. BONUS!
So we headed back to my apartment where jello shots, rum and mixers were waiting for us. As the rest of my friends arrived we pulled out the jello shots and explained to the non-Americans how this process works- not hard… take a toothpick (or your finger) and dislodge the jello from the plastic shot glass. Then turn it upside-down and squeeze it out into your mouth. A tasty treat.
My roommates didn’t take part in the jello fun, though had certainly been invited to do so; Will went to meet up with some friends and I think Olivier was scared of them, haha.
Around 11:30 or so we all left the apartment so that Olivier could go to bed- he did, after all, have work the next day. We headed to one of the bar boats, Sirius. I had never been there on a Wednesday night, but I was hoping it’d be just as fun as the previous Saturday night I had been there- good music, good dancing, good fun!
Not too bad- the main dance floor wasn’t open but there was a little live music on the main deck (enclosed, it’s too cold to all be outside!). I was THRILLED to find live music!! I had been searching for it for a while now and I just happened upon it this evening! What wonderous luck!
The small group that played/sang wasn’t bad- they were a “rock”-cover group- playing mostly American songs that might or might not actually fit into the “rock” genre. Everything from Beach Boys to Beatles to something a little more swing-esque. Alicia danced with me a little bit and we all just kind of chilled and hung out ‘till around 1:30. By then, my roommate Will had joined us and half the group was starting to tire. Alicia, Kim, Lucy and Andrea all went home and Andrew, Will, Michelle and I (along with two of Will’s friends from school) all went in search of somewhere to really dance- not to half-way decent randomness, but to “dance music”—you know, that crappy music you’d never listen to outside of a bar but is great to get you moving- SOS by Rihanna for example.
As we walked the streets in the direction of a bar Will insisted was open until 3AM we quickly realized that Wednesday nights are not like Friday and Saturday nights… even on the night before a Grand Gréve… sure enough, we got to the bar to find it closed. After standing there for a minute trying to figure out where to go and what to do I saw a group of French guys walking the street together. So… I did what anyone would do… I yelled at them for help:
« LES FRANCAIS!! On cherche quelque part pour danser! Qui est toujours ouvert ? Vous allez ou ? »
This of course means, “HEY FRENCH PEOPLE!! We’re looking for somewhere to dance! What’s still open? Where are you going?”
I’ll spare you the French discourse and just tell you that their response was along the lines of, “The night’s over, everything’s closed” to which I responded, “but the foreigners want to dance!” to which they replied that there was nothing still open, they apologized and headed on their way. We thanked them, said our goodbyes and each headed towards home.
Finishing the night with a PBJ on French bread made up for our lack of dancing though-- it was apricot jam because we didn't have anything else... and it was the end of the bread, so it was a little hard and difficult to bite... but it was delicious nonetheless :)
I think it was a highly successful Wednesday night!
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