Just in case you don't believe me when I say Narbonne: Tout est possible, here are the things that have happened in the past 36 hours:
1) We saw a man with a cat and a goat at the market. No big deal. We hung out with both the cat and the goat. I kind of want a tiny goat now.
Man #1: "Hey! Hey! What happened? Did you fall? Are you okay? Did you fall down? What's wrong? What hurts?" etc.
Man #2: "Nothing's wrong, there's no problem here. You're fine. I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor! See my card? There is no problem! Look at me, friend. Look in my eyes. You're fine. You're at home. You're on the couch and you're relaxing. Everything's okay."
Listen, boos. This is NOT the time to catch up or try out your new Jedi mindtricks. Nor is it the time to give weird crazyface diagnoses or attempt some kind of hypnotic escapism.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a gaggle of other people were just sitting around drinking, reading newspapers, or watching the whole scene as if it were not a big deal. Someone called the pompiers (firemen) and it took them about 25 minutes to get there, despite the fact that we were about than 5 minutes from both the hospital and the police station. Waiting for emergency services and watching helplessly while a man has a crise cardiaque (and is "aided" by crazy people) is NOT an ideal way to relax on a Sunday afternoon. (Finally, the pompiers came, medical aid was given, and they finally took him away. Well, at least to the ambulance. They never really moved the ambulance, at least while we were there.)
Moral of the story: Let's all pray I do not have any real medical emergencies in Narbonne, as we can see that the definition of "emergency" here is a bit special.
3) Last night I was kind of mini-stalked by a couple of very strange French men while going to the nearby panini vending machine to get my Sunday night no-kitchen dinner. I was talking on the phone en anglais, and as they passed by me for the third time, they exclaimed "You eez beauteeful!" and then proceeded to watch me as I waited for my sandwich. They tried to speak more English. Emphasis on the "tried" part. I dealt with them politely but firmly in French. Luckily they didn't follow me.
4) Tonight at the McDo drive-through, the man accidentally gave us not just our food (two Royal Bacon meals with Potatoes Deluxe (potato wedges) and Coca Light), but the food of the car behind us as well. We didn't realize until we got home. We (Violeta and I) saw it as a gift from Narbonne, and proceeded to eat ALL of the following things in my room: three burgers, an order of chicken nuggets, fries, two orders of potato wedges, and two Coca Lights. We knew it wasn't that great of an idea, but when Narbonne gives you a gift like that, you better appreciate. (If my camera weren't currently unavailable, there would be a picture to boast about our feast.)
5) Violeta left her cell in my room, and so I went to return it. This is not that special, except that we proceeded to have a spontaneous 10-minute dance party while watching my new favorite video (thanks Polly)!
1) We saw a man with a cat and a goat at the market. No big deal. We hung out with both the cat and the goat. I kind of want a tiny goat now.
2) We (Violeta, Carmen, et moi) went to have a coffee, tea, and hot chocolate (respectively) at a café when tout d'un coup, a man starts having some kind of cardiac arrest. For real. Then of course, while we calmly try to help, two men are also "trying to help"...
Man #1: "Hey! Hey! What happened? Did you fall? Are you okay? Did you fall down? What's wrong? What hurts?" etc.
Man #2: "Nothing's wrong, there's no problem here. You're fine. I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor! See my card? There is no problem! Look at me, friend. Look in my eyes. You're fine. You're at home. You're on the couch and you're relaxing. Everything's okay."
Listen, boos. This is NOT the time to catch up or try out your new Jedi mindtricks. Nor is it the time to give weird crazyface diagnoses or attempt some kind of hypnotic escapism.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a gaggle of other people were just sitting around drinking, reading newspapers, or watching the whole scene as if it were not a big deal. Someone called the pompiers (firemen) and it took them about 25 minutes to get there, despite the fact that we were about than 5 minutes from both the hospital and the police station. Waiting for emergency services and watching helplessly while a man has a crise cardiaque (and is "aided" by crazy people) is NOT an ideal way to relax on a Sunday afternoon. (Finally, the pompiers came, medical aid was given, and they finally took him away. Well, at least to the ambulance. They never really moved the ambulance, at least while we were there.)
Moral of the story: Let's all pray I do not have any real medical emergencies in Narbonne, as we can see that the definition of "emergency" here is a bit special.
3) Last night I was kind of mini-stalked by a couple of very strange French men while going to the nearby panini vending machine to get my Sunday night no-kitchen dinner. I was talking on the phone en anglais, and as they passed by me for the third time, they exclaimed "You eez beauteeful!" and then proceeded to watch me as I waited for my sandwich. They tried to speak more English. Emphasis on the "tried" part. I dealt with them politely but firmly in French. Luckily they didn't follow me.
4) Tonight at the McDo drive-through, the man accidentally gave us not just our food (two Royal Bacon meals with Potatoes Deluxe (potato wedges) and Coca Light), but the food of the car behind us as well. We didn't realize until we got home. We (Violeta and I) saw it as a gift from Narbonne, and proceeded to eat ALL of the following things in my room: three burgers, an order of chicken nuggets, fries, two orders of potato wedges, and two Coca Lights. We knew it wasn't that great of an idea, but when Narbonne gives you a gift like that, you better appreciate. (If my camera weren't currently unavailable, there would be a picture to boast about our feast.)
5) Violeta left her cell in my room, and so I went to return it. This is not that special, except that we proceeded to have a spontaneous 10-minute dance party while watching my new favorite video (thanks Polly)!
Also, this was not our first spontaneous dance party.
It is in fact our third in the past two days.
It is in fact our third in the past two days.
Narbonne, tout est possible.
LOVE it
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