Simple tasks, big accomplishments

Yesterday while Lucy, Kathleen and Bucky were in their respective classes learning how to explain their family tree in French and how to conjugate ‘etre’ and ‘avoir,’ I went to our new bank to retrieve our debit cards. Earlier in the day, Bucky had taken the metro to Gilles’ studio to pick up numerous letters that had been sent to his house from our bank for us. The letters included lots of secret numbers and codes and instructions on what to do next. I figured out that I had to go to the bank and sign for our debit cards, at which time they would be released to me and then we would be on our way to being French. (I am sure that having a carte bleu is the ticket to being French!) At any rate, the nice woman who gave me the cards (she even let me pick up Bucky’s which I was surprised about because I assumed they would keep it under lock and key until he came to get it), also helped me figure out the machine that I had to use to deposit money into my account. I had gotten money out of my Bank of America account earlier so that I had some to put into our French account. And, voila, it was done! Of course, I immediately texted Emmanuelle to let her know of my accomplishment and she was graciously proud of me!

But that was not the end of my success for the day. I also went by the tourism office and struck gold again. I had made reservations online for a walking tour for the four of us on Saturday afternoon. Apparently, it is a tour that “we shouldn’t miss” so we signed up. It takes us through Old Lyon and through the trabules (I am sure I will blog about the trabules at a later date so stay tuned). At any rate, after making the reservations online, I received a message in my email that I needed to print out the confirmation and bring it to the meeting place for the tour. Unfortunately, we don’t have a printer yet, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I went by the tourism office and asked if they could print it out for me (in French bien sur) and voila, they printed it out.

Now, full of confidence, I decided to attempt other tasks after picking up the girls. Kathleen has been dying to get her hair cut and a friend of Emmanuelle’s, Helene, who lives in Croix-Rousse, recommended I take her to Flo De Lo Coiffure. I decided to go by there with the girls and make an appointment. After finding it easily (and also finding a new playground to try out on our way), we went in and I asked to make an appointment. And, voila, an appointment was set for today at 10:30am. I will let you know how the actual haircut goes!

Since Kathleen was so excited about her impending haircut, I thought I should only be fair and do something fun for Lucy, so we went to find the library! It turns out that it is very close to our apartment. Lucy wanted to find books in English, but after we talked about how beneficial it would be for her to (try to) read French books, she decided to look at those. She chose a book she has read many times in English, Magyk, and said she really wanted to try and read it in French. I was excited, but then my enthusiasm was quelled by the realization that we couldn’t check books out from the library because we didn’t have a library card! I then reflected upon my previous successes of the day and approached the woman at the counter and asked if it might be possible to get a library card for my daughters. She said that it could certainly be done as long as I have identification (I did!) and proof that we lived here (I did!). She told me that library cards for children were free which was an added bonus. She directed me to the person who registered new patrons, so I told the girls to look at books and I would return. And, voila – I returned with library cards for Lucy and Kathleen! They each checked out five books (in French!) and we all left quite satisfied.

Sometimes it is the little things in life that are the best. My tasks yesterday were simple, but gave me a sense of accomplishment that is certainly rewarding. Voila – a very good day!