The Avenues & Ikea

Saturday, September 24^th, 2011

I went to school again. There’s lots to do at school, and rarely enough time to do it! I wish that once a week or so a bus would take us back around 6. Once I get home at night I rarely get anything school-related accomplished. I try, but I’m tired and just can’t make myself do it.

At one, Maddie, Rick (M.S. Phy Ed teacher), Diana (elementary art) and I went to the Avenues. It’s a really nice mall. They have stores like H & M, Bath and Body Works, The Body Shoppe, Office Depot, Mango, Jimmy Choo (no, I did not go in – not yet anyways!) and others. I saw at least 2 Starbucks in there. We went to Ikea first and spent almost 3 hours going through there. We all had lists of apartment needs. Maddie, Rick and I left our carts by a wall with paper on them so we wouldn’t have to carry our stuff through the rest of the mall. We walked to the food court on the other end and ate at Au Bon Pain. It was delicious! Again, they had tons of American fast food there, and the lines were huge! None of us wanted that anyways, so it was nice.

After our lunch/dinner, Rick, Maddie and Diana went to Carrefour (a French based grocery store in the mall) and I made a quick run to Office Depot. I needed some Sharpies! They’re not on the supply list at school. I met them down at the grocery store. I was going to get a phone, but I didn’t have my passport or a civil id, so that was a no-go. Ce la vie!

I only needed yogurt, so I was done quickly. Rick needed a pile of groceries. Diana and I walked back to Ikea. I paid for my stuff, then called Maddie from Diana’s phone. They were still in the grocery store, so Diana and I decided to take a taxi back to Mahboula. We knew we’d have to take 2 back, due to all the stuff we were getting!

Diana and I got lucky and a taxi driver walked up to us and helped us with our stuff. The driving area in front of the Ikea store has insane traffic. He was parked in the front of the parking lot. It should be a 20 minute taxi ride, but it took over an hour because the traffic was so bad.

It was after 7 when we got back. I Skyped with the parents for about 2 hours. Dad had to leave to go to a funeral which was a bummer, but I was late. They were worried, but I had no way of telling them that I was stuck in traffic. So it goes! We had a nice chat, and Mom took notes because Grandma keeps asking her all these questions and Mom doesn’t know the answer to them! I’m sure she’ll have a list the next time we talk!