CAF and ASTI

They are both abbreviations of organizations I went to today, but they have a totally different purpose. The former is the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales, which can give me about 80 Euros per month for the room I’m renting in France. The latter is the Association de Solidarité avec les Travailleurs Immigrés, where I will do some volunteering work (hopefully) until December.

The CAF office of Aix is situated close to the highway A51. I already found it by accident during my walk on Sunday. After waiting 10 minutes in the entrance hall, I could go to the desk. A kind lady explained which forms (4 + 1 filled in by my cité universitaire) I had to fill in and which other documents I’d need to send. I finished the forms within 15 minutes, so it cost me less time than I expected. My exchange coordinator at the IAE had told me that I needed a ‘carte de séjour’ for the CAF. But the lady at the CAF said that I don’t have to, since I’m a European citizen. Otherwise, I had to fill in even more French forms...

Late in the afternoon, I went to the Maison des Associations* where the ASTI rents a room between 5 PM and 6:45 PM. I already met 2 people from this organization on a big fair** at the Cours Mirabeau last Sunday. I had decided in The Netherlands that I wanted to do some volunteering work. Most of all, I could get in contact with French people (not students) and see how a French organization works. Secondly, I couldn’t do paid work, because my Dutch health insurance wouldn’t allow me to do that. The 2 hours in the Maison des Associations were great. I helped children with English and some Maths. When I didn’t know a word in French, they were eager to help me. I think this is a great opportunity for me to learn French well, because I have to force myself to speak it all the time. So, next Monday I will return to my little “French class” and hopefully, they will let me in on Tuesday as well!

* It rained all day and I had to walk quite far, so I was glad that I took my summer / rain coat with me from The Netherlands.
** Sports clubs, music schools and other organizations from the Aix region presented themselves. There were dance, sports and music demonstrations. The atmosphere was great!