Thursday morning I was challenged by a police officer at the entrance to the Jungle. I have presented my driver’s license to the police, probably 40 times before that morning. But the officer today told me I am not allowed to drive in France on a New Jersey driver’s license. I was told I needed an International Driver’s Permit. According to the State Department, U.S. licenses are usually acceptable in Europe—I used mine to rent a car in Scotland in October of 2015—but apparently not when driving into the Jungle to spend time with refugees.
The good news is spat over the license was enough to distract so that when a replacement driver was summoned, the gendarmes did not check the back of the van to see we had a generator and fuel we were delivering to the church.
Overnight I hosted a Sudanese couple in the studio apt. where I have stayed since arriving. She is 8 months pregnant. The gynecologist told me she would be picked up in the morning for more tests. The husband told me they would come at 10:30. That would be close but I should still make the 11 AM Bible Study class I was asked to present. At 12:30 PM the doctor called to say she would be “a little late.” Thankfully, Sheena came to be with them so I could start the class. We all had a late start on Friday.
It was also my turn to cook on Friday. I did a vegetarian lasagna, without lasagna noodles, just using pasta layered with eggplant, mozzarella, and zucchini. It was baked in a large baking dish Johannes and I bought at a second hand shop for 8 Euros.
Saturday started slowly. Actually most of life here is much slower than at home. There are no 4 AM wake up calls here. Morning prayer in French is 8:15 but we have silence in the house until after morning prayer in English which starts at 9:15. Then breakfast. No one seems to stir in the Jungle until 11. The fast paced life and long days of our first week here are fading memories. But here, that can change in a minute.
Sheena, Babak, Hussein and I visited the hospital on Saturday. We brought clean clothes to some, and candies to all. The patients seem to appreciate our regular visits now. I teamed up with Babak again and only saw two men. The third was in a different hospital for a few days.
Babak is especially helpful because of his own experience as he discusses the medical progress of the guys and helps them understand the process of obtaining status either in France or the UK. There is little we can do here about status in the UK, but agencies we work with like Secours Catholique can help with the legal work in France.
On to week 3.