Les Nouvelles!

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So I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a while!

Doctor! Doctor!

So one Saturday I started to have a dry cough. I lasted until Monday, and then I decided to go to the pharmacy to buy some cough syrup. Everything was going well with the cough syrup, but it started to get more and more difficult to sleep because of the cough. Then it started to get really hard to breathe, even to just take the 10 minute walk to the Catho. So I decided to go to the doctor. I had always heard that healthcare in France was much cheaper than in the United States and in some cases better. I feel that both of these were the case for me. So the Thursday after, I went to the doctor. The doctor that I visited was very thorough. I walked in and waited maybe 15 minutes in the waiting room. Then the doctor comes and takes me by the hand into his office. At first there wasn't any conversation between the two of us, and so I asked him if he wanted to know my symptoms. He said yes. I luckily had prepared a post-it note with all of my symptoms, so I gave it to him. He thought that it was funny, but he knew that it would be difficult for me to know the vocabulary words for "I've had a wheeze." So he tells me to hop up on the table, and of course I do. He looked into my mouth and ears, and then he listened to my chest between 15 and 20 times! All of my doctors have only listened 5 times max. :D So after that, he sits on the table next to me, and he says "Vous avez la grippe." I laughed at him and said, I kind of figured. So he gave me a prescription for the cough, my fever, and an antibiotic to fight the flu. I asked him if I could pay with a credit card, and he said that he didn't accept those. I said, ok well is it ok if I come back maybe tomorrow to pay, and he said that would be ok. So after the doctor, I go to the pharmacy and get my prescription filled. I then finally make it home and sleep like none-other. The next day, Friday, I went to my 8 AM class, and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the two hour class. However, I did. I then went to the ATM and withdrew 30, a 10e and a 20e bill. I then force myself to walk to the doctor to pay him. I get there and the secretary told me it would be 22e. I give her the 30e, and she says I'm sorry I don't have change. I also didn't have enough coin to give her 2e so she kept the 20e bill, and I promised to come back on Monday. That weekend, I thought about paying the doctor, and I realized that all they had was my name. They didn't have a telephone number for me or any way to get in touch with me. None the matter, I make it back with a 2e coin on Monday and finish paying my bill for the doctor. I'm feeling much better now! I still have a little cough, but it gets better every day.

The New Fams

One of my main reasons for coming to France was to be able to experience the family life. This is why I chose to live with a family instead of in a foyer. I also wanted to at least have dinner with my family. I had a friend from this summer who lived with a family, and I thought that it would be nice to live with them so that there would be a good transition. Come to find out, they were a little expensive so I decided to change families. My new family is absolutely amazing, and I adore them. They love to talk to me, and I think that my house mother is the best cook in France. :D I look forward to telling you more about them as our time together passes.

Mots et Expressions!

Entre chien et loup - à la fin du jour, à la tombée de la nuit
Jésus en culotte de velours - (fam.) se dit de quelque chose de très bon, très agréable
Une bouchée de pain - (fam.) pas chere
La place du mort - bien juste avant mourir ou aussi la chaise au cote droit dans une voiture
Trottoir - (nm) le truc juste au côté de la rue où tout le monde marche
Tous les mots/expressions viennent de la littérature que j’avais lue. Les premiers vienne de Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attend quelque part par Anna Gavalda et le dernier vienne de Delerm. Mais, je me souvienne le dernier parce que ma mère d’accueil le dit tous les jours. :D

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