Luckiest Day of the Year?

St. Patrick's Day! No, French people don't get excited about it, but the footage of the rivers running green in Boston and Chicago do make the news here. My students loved learning about leprechauns and pots of gold. They really wanted to believe. I told them all about St. Patrick being captured as a slave by the Irish, how he escaped, and later God led him back there to help the people. And I love any opportunity to talk about religion in school. The kids were good and didn't pinch each other for not wearing green. Except this year the Pope changed the official date (to the 15th because of Holy Week), so that set off the chain of bad luck last Saturday night.

Theoretically, it should have been marvelous. At the suggestion of Aiveen, a friend and English assistant from Ireland, a bunch of us went to Lille to celebrate at the Irish pub. Jen even drove, so we wouldn't have to worry about getting the train back. Everything was great until we wanted to leave... at some point, it had started to rain and sleet outside. In this weather, we lost our way back to the parking garage and wandered for 45 minutes. Completely soaked and freezing, we arrived only to find the gates locked and barred. What to do? We couldn't stand outside and wait for 7am. Thankfully, we called Brian from Boston, and he let 6 shivering friends sit in his kitchen.

I can't communicate the night in detail, because it's hard to find the words. On the way to Brian's, we got a cab because walking another minute in the rain was inconsiderable. Nina argued all the way there with the driver because he had let the meter run before we got in. This was impressive and hilarious. He eventually knocked 2 euros off. Then we sat there, jumbled among chairs, a table and the shower (also in the cold, tiny kitchen) for four hours. I stretched out across three chairs and counted flowers on the wall. We dozed in and out. Long does not begin to describe the night. Finally, 6am rolled around, and we started back to the car.

Lessons learned:
(1) Always, ALWAYS check parking garage hours
(2) Bring a map
(3) Buy water-proof shoes
(4) Dont be afraid to haggle with cab drivers