Adventure: The Bus & Shopping

We felt quite brave yesterday, maybe more than we should have. Maybe it's the jet lag. Who knows. The apartment feels pretty settled, as much as can be expected at this point and we were ready to venture out for a few things (fans, clocks, bath toys, a printer) to help make life here a little more comfortable.

Since we don't have a car, on foot and by bus are our two options for transportation. We've made several trips out on foot- to the grocery store, the park, exploring Albertville- but in order to get to the large shopping area with the kids, it's best by bus.

Thankfully, there's a bus stop just a short walk from our building. So, we loaded up the stroller and took our shopping bags with us for a big trip. Plastic bags are not given out at stores as they are in the U.S., so everyone here carries reusable shopping bags (like the kind that are becoming popular because of being "environmentally friendly") or small push carts. We took our rolling duffel bag, expecting to bring a load home.

After studying the bus schedule and map, we had a pretty good idea of where we were going and successfully communicated that to the bus driver, who was very kind. Having two cute kids doesn't hurt in helping people feel compassion toward us. Malachi was overjoyed to ride the bus- he asked about it as soon as he woke up from his nap yesterday and even asked again this morning if he could ride it. Big windows and not having to ride in a carseat are quite a treat for that little guy.

It was a treat to see a little bit of Albertville and orient ourselves to where things are a little more. Already, we can see that the bus will be an excellent place to practice our French, especially with two cute blond heads tagging along. Many times we had to communicate to people that we couldn't understand French when they tried to ask us about the kids.

We did make it to the Grand Geant, a smaller equivalent to Super Walmart (but much, much more expensive), and found almost everything we were looking for, including fans, a printer/scanner, clocks (there were none in our apartment- not good for school!), bathtoys, school stuff for Hannah, and a few other assorted items. The only thing I haven't been able to find so far is popping corn- I'll have to ask someone about that.

The ride home was uneventful, other than that we were packed in like sardines. The bus seats 9, with some room for bags and strollers and standing room, but I think we were close to 20 in there. The kids just sat on the steps and giggled. We were certainly tired by the time we lugged all our treasures up the steps, but very thankful for the few things we found.