Cecilia Arrived! And my French.

Cecilia arrived today and she is great. We had tea with her mother and chatted for a bit before they had to go run errands, etc. She seems just great and this should be an interesting year. Her mom brought us a couple bottles of wine and told me if I ever want to get away from the two crazy students, I should drop into Paris for a weekend or a week. Yes, Please!! After I study a little more French first...

Speaking of learning more French...Our bathroom sink has a problem with draining, so Nicholas asked me to run out and get a plunger. No problem. I go to the center of the city where all the big stores are and realize as I am walking in, I have no idea how to say plunger in French, let alone most of the words around it that would form a question... hmmm.

First store, I basically say (translated from bad French to English): "Excuse me, I would like..uh... um..." now I use hand motions and noises to mimic what I think a plunger looks and sounds like. The sales woman looks at me confused. I proceed to say "For the toilet." A look of understanding, "Ahh, a brush!" "No, no. Not a brush. A..." More hand motions and noises. Then she looks like she gets it and sends me upstairs to the next floor. Great, here we go again! Next person I ask, gets it on the second try, as well, and tells me, or so I think, that they are out of stock. Sorry.

Next store. I see a toilet brush and grab it. I look for a sales person to help. No luck. I stand in the long line to check out. Once I get to the front I repeat exactly what I said and did in store one, but this time, with a prop! The woman gives me a quick lesson and teaches me the name for plunger in French, repeats it, lets me repeat and then lets me know that I have to go to the next floor to find it. Of course.

Head to the appropriate floor and go confidently up to a sales woman and proudly and loudly ask for a Deboucher, s'il vous plait! She points me in the direction with a smile.

I finally find it and feel success rush over me. Ahh, how wonderful! I communicated and got what I needed! Yes! Then, I think about the fact that I am holding a large plunger in my hand with a giant smile on my face and how I have just talked to 5 separate people asking for this. Haha.
Deboucher des Toilettes :)