Clafou(tea): The First Day at La Borie

After getting mes clés from the reception desk, I head upstairs to find a very green room.

My bâtiment (building) was just renovated in the spring, so it's practically brand new. It's a little snug, but I kind of like it. The color is a little alarming, but at least it isn't school bus yellow like in the other dorms! :P

The floors are not real wood. It's some sort of rolled out kind of squishy material. If I had a house, I would totally use this.

My view! Beautiful, but no screens.

Before I could unpack though, I noticed that the room had yet to be cleaned and I needed to ask for internet, so I went back to the reception desk.

Btw, the secretary who was working was super sweet! I haven't seen her since Wednesday, but I hope I'll get to see her more often.

It turns out I was supposed to get a welcome folder, but since the room hadn't been cleaned, there was no folder. Also, I was pretty much the only person there and the secretary barely knew any English. I decided to step outside for some air.

I started going through the packet and tried reading the policies, but all the French became overwhelming. Is this really what I wanted to do? I felt so alone and was regretting my decision. I was crazy nervous.

Not going to lie, I cried.

I tried to sneak past the desk to go back to my room, but the secretary saw me and called out my name, so I had to stop. Between my broken French and her broken English, we were able to have a short conversation as she tried to calm me down. She gave me a map of Limoges and marked down where I could get my bus pass, and also gave me walking directions to the "Hyper U," which is similar to Walmart because it has a little bit of everything, but way better!

I go upstairs to put down my folder and try to get my bearings straight. A part of me just wants to shut down and not leave.

Then, there's a knock on my door; it's M Clermont! He is honestly one of the friendliest people I have ever met. He was all smiles and his English is super good, which was a relief. He was concerned when he didn't see me at the train station and didn't get my email because he was showing Hunter, another American student, around the city. He had just left Hunter at his dorm and came to see if I had arrived.

All I can say is what a blessing this man is! He was able to talk to the maids to make sure my room was cleaned right away, and then we also went downstairs and spoke to them about my door sticking, and about getting sheets! He also added some extra places on my map. He didn't have time to show me around the city, but he did drop me off at the Hyper U to show how close it was.

I think grocery shopping was actually the best thing for me at that point. First of all, it was connected to a mall and I discovered that all malls smell the same. Kind of weird, but also just a familiar smell.

I browsed their cheap(er) stuff aisle which was awesome, and then I found some breakfast food, green tea, honey, and a tea cup.

They had BELVITA! I love these things and got them when they were BOGO at Harris Teeter in Charlotte. To find them here was super exciting, and they are cheaper!!