Siestas and Old School Sundays...

Sorry, 12 hour days are making it hard for me to write, but I took a lot of photos on Sunday on our day off. We got the day off, but nobody told us that stores all close on Sunday, like old-school US circa 1979 ( I remember driving to Illinois to buy something once on a Sunday since they had legal Sunday shopping). So I'd planned to run all my errands on Sunday, but got up and not only were stores closed, restaurants have a siesta thingie where restaurants close between 2 or 3 pm until 7pm. So when my partner in crime wasn't around at 2pm, I had to try to leave without her, and after I got directions, I called her room one last time and found her and then we had to rush to eat within an hour, so we grabbed some stuff at the train station next door. As it turns out, there is 1 restaurant that doesn't close during the afternoon, count 'em, 1! These people really understand how to live. They don't work themselves to death over here. I feel Japanese compared to them. The US and Japan are probably two of the most driven countries, in terms of work/play ratio. The Japanese probably get more done and better quality, but boy, we spend a lot of time at work.

Then today, Monday, all the pharmacies were closed until 2pm, because it's Monday (go figure.) We have not gotten used to the odd time concepts of this place. In addition to the customary stuff, the constant rehearsing inside of a stadium is like being in a sensory deprivation chamber. We have no concept of days of the week or time. It's like Groundhog Day right now, just one long, run-on repetitive day w/tiny variations. Sunday was great because it was the first day that had it's own spirit and unique character.

I won't have to worry about putting on weight here either, since I go to bed hungry sometimes because when we get out work, NOTHING is open in Limoges. In theory, we ate enough at dinner to last us, but somehow it doesnt' happen. But I bought some goodies for late night snacks though today, so that should end. There's just significantly less junk food in France (the type that doesn't require preservatives) than the US. It's seriously Old Country here. I ended up getting juice boxes and Madeleines. I need to find some nuts and raisins, I have no idea why I didn't see any today. I think I was too busy trying to find clothing detergent!

Did I already tell you guys before that my accent is so good that a) one of our cooks at the stadium joked and asked me which Parisian neighborhood my accent is from, that I sounded a little snobby (right on, negro girl - had to pat myself on that one) and b) people who work in stores think I'm a native french speaker. This is good, yet bad because if they think I'm french, they also probably think I'm an idiot with the questions I ask, like, "do you have any stuff for pimples, like a cream thingie or something?" Doesn't sound like a strange question, but it is when in France certain things are only sold in pharmacies, not department stores. I asked for Ibuprofen and they almost passed out. So now I warn, I'm American, before I start rattling off in french so that if I ask a question that seems dumb, it's not because I'm not from here. And I get much love that way as well because they are so impressed that an American has studied enough to not have so much of an accent, so they are then extra helpful.

Like the lady at the grocery store who let me pay for my groceries without asking if I needed a bag. They reuse bags, so they don't give you one, nor do they bag for you. So I have all this stuff on the conveyor belt and I'm like, "excuse me, do I get a bag or something?" The lady let me pay for my two bags and even helped me bag it once I said that I was an American on my first grocery trip alone.

Alright, enough blather, here are some pics:

Thanks for all the comments, it's great hearing from you guys.