Today was en eventful day! It started with me going to get an x-ray. Before you panic, don't worry, I'm not sick again! It is mandatory along with a medical exam to finish my OFII form to get my carte de sejour (my residency card). So I get there 30 minutes early. Let me tell you, this is not a common occurrence in France. Showing up early typically creates quite a stir. I always show up early to give allowance for a missed or late tram, casual walking versus power walking, or just plain getting lost, and it almost always causes hubbub. These people took it pretty easy, however.
So I get called back almost immediately which was a shock as the waiting room was full (and a disappointment as I had found an animal magazine) and am told to take off my shirt and bra. I am given no robe or anything whatsoever to cover myself. She leads me to the upright x-ray table (it was for a chest x-ray, which is done standing up) and presses me up against it and to my horror it is still warm from the last naked person that had been using it. I don't know if it was sweaty as well, or if my imagination had gone wild, but I could swear I felt the slightly sticky sweat of the last person to use it.
The woman then proceeds to have a conversation with me about how I can wait in the waiting room for the film and so on. She is facing me full on and looking me in the eyes, like nothing is weird about chatting with a topless woman. As I was dressing I could hear her call in the next person and proceed to take their x-ray without wiping the table. The whole thing was bizarre and as I left I reminded myself to take a shower as soon as I got home. This was certainly not how the first radiology place handled things though, so don't go assuming they're all like this.
Jeremy had taken a few hours off work to be my travel guide (you know I'm hopeless with directions) and reminded me it was Friday which meant the produce market was set up in center city. I never went on Friday before, only Saturday when the market is more odds and ends, less produce. Jeremy escorted me, made sure I knew my way back (it was only one turn, but that hasn't stopped me from getting lost before), and went back to work. The market was huge and bustling. I took a few pictures but it doesn't do it justice at all. I just didn't want to get in the way while taking pictures. There were tons of produce stalls, a few plant and herb stalls, some butchers, a baker, and a pastry stall, among some other random clothes and furniture stalls.
So I get called back almost immediately which was a shock as the waiting room was full (and a disappointment as I had found an animal magazine) and am told to take off my shirt and bra. I am given no robe or anything whatsoever to cover myself. She leads me to the upright x-ray table (it was for a chest x-ray, which is done standing up) and presses me up against it and to my horror it is still warm from the last naked person that had been using it. I don't know if it was sweaty as well, or if my imagination had gone wild, but I could swear I felt the slightly sticky sweat of the last person to use it.
The woman then proceeds to have a conversation with me about how I can wait in the waiting room for the film and so on. She is facing me full on and looking me in the eyes, like nothing is weird about chatting with a topless woman. As I was dressing I could hear her call in the next person and proceed to take their x-ray without wiping the table. The whole thing was bizarre and as I left I reminded myself to take a shower as soon as I got home. This was certainly not how the first radiology place handled things though, so don't go assuming they're all like this.
Jeremy had taken a few hours off work to be my travel guide (you know I'm hopeless with directions) and reminded me it was Friday which meant the produce market was set up in center city. I never went on Friday before, only Saturday when the market is more odds and ends, less produce. Jeremy escorted me, made sure I knew my way back (it was only one turn, but that hasn't stopped me from getting lost before), and went back to work. The market was huge and bustling. I took a few pictures but it doesn't do it justice at all. I just didn't want to get in the way while taking pictures. There were tons of produce stalls, a few plant and herb stalls, some butchers, a baker, and a pastry stall, among some other random clothes and furniture stalls.
Sorry about the disproportionate sizes, weebly is not cooperating with me. So I didn't get any produce, but I did pick up herbs to start my herb garden. I got sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, parsley, tarragon, chives, and scallions. The first time I passed the vendor he had coriander, but by the time I came back around he was out. I took some coriander stems from store bought coriander and put them in water, supposedly they can root from that and then you can plant them. We'll see. Tomorrow I'll get window boxes and plant them all and start on the rest of my "kitchen scraps" plants. There are plants like garlic and onion, and allegedly cilantro, that you can grow from the scraps of store-bought leftovers. I'll keep you updated on their success or failure.