Sans Abri, C'est Moi!

This is a photo taken at that long dinner that Rachel and I sat through the other night.

Currently, I am in Lyon, France where I came with Rachel to help her with her bags and to help her find things around town. She is living in a house provided by a church for which she will be working during her séjour in France. It’s a very nice home, but quite far from where she will be working in St. Étienne. She says that she will have a two hour commute both ways every day that she has to go to work. On the flip side, she doesn’t have to pay for rent, and the church is providing her with the finances necessary to use the public transport system. In the house there is another gentleman by the name of Alain-Georges. He is from Cameroun and also a VERY nice individual! He made dinner for us last night when we arrived! He also sat and talked with us for over two hours. All in all, Rachel’s situation is ideal (minus the long commute!).

I went back to Évry and finally spoke with someone who knows what is going on (well, sort of). I met a lady by the name of Catherine Hernandez who is in charge of my schedule and the minor details of the job. I had some questions for her about opening a bank account, but she didn’t know the answers. She went to make a phone call to someone who might know, but there were already two people in the office using the phone. That’s right, in a professional office like the National Inspector of the Department of Essonne for the Académie of Versailles, there are only two lines! Welcome to France. We waited a few minutes, but once one of the lines was free and Mme Hernandez had the opportunity to call someone, nobody answered. She then took my e-mail address and said that when she hears something, she will send me a message. I’ve still received nothing! No surprise!

Before leaving Paris yesterday, Rachel and I were in the hall of my current apartment building when an elderly lady by the name of Anique Pirrat who lives on the 6th floor asked us to carry a couple of small grocery sacks up the stairs for her. She told us that we could leave them at my door on the 5th floor and that when she made it up the stairs that far she would take them from there. Of course we insisted on taking them all the way up to her door. We also waited for her to pass my door so that we could get a chance to talk with her. It was perfect! As soon as she saw that we had left the door open, she was ready to chat! We asked her how she was doing and she asked us about our current situations in France. I informed her that I was looking for an apartment to stay for the next nine months and the wheels began to turn. She began to think of people that might be looking for roommates and of apartments that would suit me. After thinking for a bit, she remembered that there would be an apartment available on the 6th floor of the building just in front of the one in which I currently live. The building has an elevator, so I wouldn’t have to climb all of those stairs everyday if I didn’t feel like it. She informed me that the apartment was smaller than the one I am currently occupying, but that there are two rooms, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. The rent is €750 per month, but with a roommate, it would only be €375. That’s €25 below my budget! She told me that she would call the owner to ask about the place and that we could call her later on that evening once we’ve arrived in Lyon.

Once arriving in Lyon, we were picked up at the train station by the pastor of the church at which Rachel will be living and working. Once we arrived on site, we found an internet connection so that I could call Mme Pirrat. The call was successful as Mme Pirrat informed me that she had spoken with Mme Londner (the wife of owner of the apartment) and that I could call her for more information. She gave me Mme Londner’s number and I called right away. When she answered, I asked a few simple questions about the apartment and then asked if it would be possible for me to have a roommate. She wasn’t sure, so she told me that she would ask her husband and that I could call back at 13h the next day. I did! It was her husband that answered this time who informed me that having a roommate would be no problem. The only problem is that the apartment isn’t available until the middle of October; therefore, I’d have to stay with someone in the mean time. This won’t be a problem because as I have already mentioned, I’ve been blessed in Paris to have friends already who told me to let them know if I’m ever an SDF (Sans (Without) Domicile (Home) Fixe (Permanent)) and that they would help me!

I’ve not yet seen the apartment; therefore, I might be excited about nothing; however, it is in the same place as my current apartment which means that the door of the building opens to a metro station; there is a bakery and two cafés on the first floor, a Monoprix (A place like Target) across the street, and WONDERFUL views! Please pray that this works!

I’m still trying to open a bank account and get a cell phone, but other than that, Things are coming along just well!