So I’ve realized that while here in Poitiers…I haven’t really talked much about Poitiers! I’ve talked about school, about the election, about my time spent in other countries abroad while on break from school, but poor little Poitiers has remained neglected. I’d like to reintroduce cette petite ville by taking a snapshot of different corners of the town every week and just describing them.
I only recently truly started really appreciating Poitiers. When I first arrived, I definitely experienced the stereotypical study-abroad “honey-moon” stage where I loved everything and everyone here. Then, I slowly progressed into always complaining because there never was any sun–or any sky for that matter. Many days I would wake up, I’d go outside, and the whole day would be gray without not one speck of sun. I hated the way how the clouds clung to the sky like pieces of cottony lint to velcro, how there was never any room left for blue. I never realized before how much the sky meant to me– or how much the sun did. And that really affected my judgement for a long while.
I can’t say that I’ve gotten used to there being no sky, but I’ve definitely adapted to it and have begun to see the beauty of the town. Poitiers is not Paris, but it has its own little quirks and its own charm.
So, let me present two snapshots of my town:
La Pharmacie!
Anyone who can read French–and is not French–is probably snorting right now at the little sign, which reads :
“Pharmacy Lafayete.
OPEN NON-STOP!
From Monday to Saturday
9:00 to 7:30 pm”
The pharmacy is open at 9. It closes at 7:30. It is not open on Sunday, so don’t even think about getting sick then. “Non-stop” in America typically means open 24/7. “Non-stop” in France means that the owner of the shop doesn’t take a lunch break. Or a breakfast break. Or decide around 4:30 he’d like to close shop (usually after hanging up a handwritten “Will be back soon!” sign), return a few overdue library books, drop by the Tabac and buy a newspaper, go home and read it over a café, then swing round back to the shop an hour later. While that might sound ridiculous in America, it is quite commonplace here.
When I first got here, I thought it was so admirable how in France, people had so much freedom over themselves and how much they worked, how they weren’t slaves to their jobs like in America. Then, once I got sick in late October and couldn’t find an open pharmacy one weekend, I was annoyed and wondered irritably why all the pharmacy owners in Poitiers needed to be closed, what could they be possibly doing and why in the world did I need a prescription for Ibuprofen? Why didn’t they just sell Ibuprofen in the grocery store like in America? But I digress. Now, nine months later, I’m happy if a pharmacy or shop even has opening and closing hours! Many of them don’t. And if a restaurant claims its lunch hours are from 12-3 but is still closed at 12:30, I know not to be surprised because that’s just life here. People work, but they work on their own time. And who’s to say if that’s a good or a bad thing?
