heading south (part 1)

July 21, 2006 - Friday 13:47

Heading south Part I

This has been an incredible trip. First of all, 12 hours of train ride from Paris to Nice was a nightmare. I didn't book a couchette, so try to sleep with lights, half way sit-up and noises as someone like me with sleeping disorder... yeah, it doesn't work. Unlike usual, this time I took as much stuff as I could to move because I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy all these daily things all over again, thus, I had one huge luggage and a small one. Nice is one his way to be the 3rd largest city in France and it is crazily expensive to live in.

The city is under construction for a tramway for who knows how long ( at least 3 years) and no one knows when the project will be finished. (not anytime soon, it will take another year or two), therefore, the traffic is all screwed up. I called a taxi from the train station and it cost me a fortune because of all the deviations. But luckily; I got the LAST bed in the hostel. They didn't let me reserve it since it is high tourist season and they ran out of reserved beds. I smelt like a barbarian since I hadn't taken a shower for two days and the smell of the train was that pleasant, but I wasn't able to get into my room until 3pm (take a note on that, the hostel is closed between 11am and 3pm). I arrived at 9am with a big headache but I got to talked to one of the women who works at the hostel, not sure of her name, call her L. then, who remembered me from my last stay because my insane craving for caffeine. There was nothing to do so as she suggested, I needed to head out and give out my CVs (résumés) in hope of finding a job. And I did, with my not-quite-fashionable smell/hairdo/and clothing. I headed downtown with my head spinning.

I was only aiming for hotels on my first day since there are many Italians here and hotels looked for people who could speak the language. However, it was too late. You have to start turning in your résumés in JANUARY AND FEBURARY in order to get a small place in summer!!!! "No thanks" they told me. "can I leave my CV here anyway..." "Well, to be honest, we already have a whole stack of them....." Fine, after giving out my CVs like party flyers on my first day, I decided to take a shower finally. So I was back to the hostel around 4pm. Water is good, water is your friend, and soap just works wonders!

Having a job is important; but finding a roof is too. L. took a piece of paper of the bulletin board and gave me a wink... "Call this number, you may want to check out the room". Yeah, she is not supposed to do that but it was so nice of her to do so. I thanked her and stuck the paper into my backpack, forgot about it. I thought that I had things under control. When I was in Caen, I jobbed down a few numbers to call for the room and I was sure that I should be able to find one that would fit my situation. But "NNNOOOOO"(a John Belushi "No") They are either too expensive or too far. After spending 35 euros on my cell, I only looked at one room, and I can't afford it. Then, I called ALL the numbers in the classified in the newspapers... there are so many great places for rent, I am just too cheap.

In the hostel, there are 8 of us. Two girls from NYC ignored me most of the time and one from UK snores like a bear at night. But I managed to make a good friend with another girl from UK with Indian and Malaysian heritage, Miss. A. We went down to the beach that night for the fireworks since it was Bastille Day, then we had a few drinks. I had 2 "sex on the beach" and the bartender was very generous about vodka. But she doesn't drink alcohol because of her religion. So, I couldn't take any sleeping pills that night and I didn't sleep at all. My 3rd night of sleeplessness...

July 15.

Suddenly remembered the paper that L. took off the bulletin board. I called the number and made an appointment with Mr. M. who is the owner of the apartment. He is, for the record is the biggest fucking asshole I had to deal with since a long long time. He doubted if I was really going to take a look at the place or not. He called me and reminded me two times that night. We had the appointment at 11am and I was around the building about 10am, so to kill time, I walked into an internet cafe to check my email. I just sat down, M. called and reminded me about the appointment. "Tell me now if you are not going to there!" "But Mr. M. I am already here, I am next to the building and checking my emails." Anyway, cominciamo bene huh? It was a music store/internet cafe, and the person who owned the place was about 60 years old. When I just started using the PC, he got a phone call and started yelling at the phone on some issues on Israel. I was the only customer, so I could hear everything clearly. After I finished, I went up and I spoke to him. We had a long discussion about random stuff. He is a musician, lived in Singapore for a long time and had traveled around the world. Anyhow, he (Yv.) left me a copy of his business card and we were supposed to meet for dinner the next day.

I had to run because it was about 11am. I had never seen M. smiled, he has been already bitter. He opened the door and showed me the place. "There you go, 350 a month plus utility for August, and then, you can move into a cheaper one for 300 euros plus utility. I have another room for 375 euros a month, but since you can't afford the 350 already, so there is no use to show you that room." "OK, I will take it." "You need to leave something as a reservation fee so I don't rent them out." "Ok...how do you want as a reservation fee?" "200 euros at least." "OK, I don't have my check book with me, so can I give you cash?" He said yes and I went to the ATM machine, however, I had a limit of 450 euros a week of cash, so I could only take out 150, but he accepted it and wrote me a receipt. "You don't have your check book, or your acceptance letter or your passport and you want to rent a room!" "I try my luck mister." So, semi-officially, I had a room, I had an address, which is the most important thing that I needed to have to renew my residence permit.

Since I rented one cubic meter's space to store two of my suitcases, I had to drag them to the storage. I phoned before I took off just to make sure it was the right place. The person on the other end of the phone was super nice and he said that if I could wait 20 minutes, he could come and pick me up because dragging two suitcases in the heat for 30 minutes wasn't a good idea. A while later, I saw a white minivan pulled up in front of the hostel, that was Y. He was really nice to me and he said that he would help me looking for a small job if he could. There was a bitchy woman before me, so he was happy that I had the patience to wait. So, he gave me a 12 euro lock for my rented box and he let me use his computer and internet to print out my résumés.

I left the storage company and started targeting restaurants. Too late for the season as well, they finished their group training in the month of April or May. But actually, I found one restaurant was hiring. I handed him my CV and we sat down and talked for a few minutes. He asked me if I had worked in the kitchen before, I said yes, and he asked me what salary do I have in mind. I said that I had no idea at all, this was the second day I am in the city... He then told me to expect a call from him for a trail, if I did fine, I would be hired, if not, too bad. I was really delighted by the news, although it wasn't a sure thing. I then stayed in the Virgin bookstore for 3 hours studying Italian cooking and I took a few pages' of notes too. Then, when I was back to the hostel, I spent some time reviewing the classic recipes. But, he never called.

July 16

I woke up late, under the influence of Unisom. I stepped into a cafe next to the court house, the only one I knew. The last time I was in Nice, I went out with 7 people from the same hostel and we had a great time at the same place. But now, it was just me, and my dear double espresso. One of the guys working at the bar started speaking to me and I found out that he was going to China and Brazil with his big yak in November. So he wanted some inside ideas in China and he asked me to leave a copy of my CV and if he heard something , he would call me right away. Sure, people can say whatever they want.

Sunday, nothing was open. I decided to take a break and go to the beach. I touched the sea for the first time since my arrival. Between «NO»s and the sleeplessness, being at the beach was like in heaven. I spent a few hours with two girls from the same hostel and while we were hanging out in a cafe, I got a call from the guy at the bar. Lets call him M. D. because I didnt know his name and the cafe he worked in starts with «D». He asked me to drop by the next day between 2pm to 3am while he was at work.

I waited and waited for the buzz for a trail in the restaurant, but it never happened. So as planed, I went to dinner with Yv. and he showed me a bunch of pictures, told me his life story. We took a short walk afterwards and we went back to our own place. I then went to a discothèque with a few girls but nothing was going on that day.