Friday, March 2, 2012

Hardest part of this week is that is has three of my favorite holidays in it and I’m not in kindergarten to celebrate.  National Pancake Day, National Pig Day and Dr. Seuss’ Birthday.  You can just imagine how much fun I have on a week like this.  Here in France, not so much.  No one would appreciate my pig hat complete with snout and tail.  Lindsay and I have spent years working together on this week and our fun activities, so I’m missing her this week, although not all the work involved.  Hopefully as Liam grows, (and I get lots more grandchildren-hint, hint to all three of you)we can celebrate random fun holidays together!!  I’m the Nana with her own pig hat and a pig pancake maker shaped thing!

It’s Friday again and the start of another weekend.  One would think with how laid back my lifestyle is here that the weeks would drag by, yet somehow the day and week is over before I can quite believe it.  Nothing too exciting this week, it feels like winter might be over and spring is in the air.  I love that!  Bulbs are coming up and trees are budding-yahoo.

Yesterday I ventured out again to try and find a pet store. Shops here are either in a downtown setting or scattered around, not in plazas or malls like I am used to. I brought enough food for Sophie for several months, but wanted to see if I could get it here rather than haul more back with me each time.  I keep her on a pretty restricted diet due to her birth issues.  Okay for anyone who really doesn’t know by now, she is an Australian Shepherd, teacup dog weighing 4.5lbs.  She was born with Atresia Ani which basically means “no butt hole”.  Yes, we adopted her knowing this……she was a $2000 dog and we adopted her “free” because she needed three surgeries to fix the issue.  All is well and she has turned out to be a great little dog.  Even when she’s driving me crazy, I’m glad we brought her.  So, the food I use is available here and I found a pet store that carries it.  Turns our Royal Canin is a popular dog food here.  So, I’m still not sure exactly how I got there or to the grocery store afterwards, but thankfully the GPS was very helpful.   It is not at all laid out easily, roads twist and turn, not great signs, and directions are so not my thing.  I’m getting better, but you add in a round about every few hundred yards and it’s crazy.  I don’t think they know what a four way stop is.  It’s take the roundabout to the third exit-that’s just going left! Fourth exit takes you back to where you just came from.

I’m finding food is our most expensive thing here (well that and fuel for the car).  I’m spending more for the two of us than I did for four at home.  We’re not eating anything crazy or extravagant, but we knew the cost of living was 35-40% more here, plus the food costs seem higher to start with.  But then you get an occasional thing that is so cheap you can’t quite believe it.  Bread is fabulous and super cheap.  Yesterday’s fresh baguette was 35 euro cents (maybe 50cents US).  Everyone buys bread everyday as it doesn’t last.  I freeze (horrors, don’t tell anyone here) half of most loaves because it would just go to waste for us. It’s not quite as good, but we think it tastes great. 

Yesterday pineapples from Costa Rica were 79 euro cents each……that’s less than a dollar for a whole pineapple.  So, I love finding the treasures and bargains.  Each week my local store does a few “Buy 2 get one free” things so I look for them as well.  I do love a good deal!

I have to plan ahead to get the car and drop Ross off at work, which is different for me.  I told Ross yesterday that I sometimes just wish there was someone to explore with.  I’ve always had kids on a move and we would go places and explore.  The boys were good with directions and could help me get straight.  So, some days I’d rather just stay home and putter than go out alone.  That sounds so weird coming from me, I am a social person and love being out, and I seem to meet people everywhere I go and chat with them-yes, very limited chats right now-but still.  There are just days that hit me when I realize the empty nest is really empty.  Yet- in my “other” house-it’s still full!  I’m happy here and I like it a lot, but there are weird, lonely moments.  Fortunately they are few and far between.  Six months from now, I’ll laugh and wish my days were so simple and quiet, so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as possible while I have them. 

Ross leaves Sunday evening until Thursday, but there is no snow, no moving truck coming and I have the car.  So, I’ll venture out again and explore with a little more confidence than before.  I don’t mind his little trips, it’s the over the weekend ones I hate.  As soon as I can find a kennel or dog sitter, I’ll go with him on a few trips that are to fun places.  I counted and I’ve only been in 8 countries (USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Austria, Germany and France).  I want to get that into double digits while we live here.  I told Ross an even dozen would be niceJ

We have a day of Cultural training later this month.  Not sure what to expect, but it will help I’m sure……..Would have probably helped two months ago, but oh well.  With that next week I have a conference call with other Expat spouses who don’t work but transferred with their spouse’s job; should be interesting.  We start our language training in April, again so late but we have to go through the relocation company.  It has been hard due to Ross and his job to fit it in.  Most people live at the school for a month or so and totally immerse which would be great, but we’re already here and have a house and he has his job.  We’re trying to work it out the best for all.  Meanwhile the Rosetta Stone and my workbooks are what I work on.  I try to watch at least one French show a day.  Right now it’s “Urgencies” which is old ER episodes in French.  I’m picking up more and more. 

Tomorrow we are assembling the beds upstairs and getting that finished!  Then in the evening we are  going to Anne-Rachel and Paco’s for dinner.  William (our friend and their nephew) is there so we’ll get a good visit in.  William is coming to stay here in two weeks so I am looking forward to that.  I’m going to make him go with me and finally try taking the bus.  It’s my number one “I don’t want to do it” thing and I don’t understand why.  I’m sure once I start using it, I’ll laugh at myself.   I have this fear of being stuck on the bus with “smelly guy” and I already get bus sick on field trips…….I think that’s a big part of it.  But with William, it will be like having Lindsay or Calum with me and I’m sure we will laugh a lot.  Since he has just moved here, we can compare our “culture shock” experiences and find the funny quirks.  He hasn’t lived here since he was maybe 5 years old, so this is all new to him too.  His French is much better than mine so that will help. I think having him here will be just the fix I need.  Then it will be me busy planning for my trip “home” at the end of the month.  I’m excited to go but also know I’ll be glad to come back here and be “home”. 

Referring to “smelly guy”, most people here are pretty okay, although the women do not seem to have nice hair.  They all seem to look like it needs a good washing!  Must be Paris where the fashions are that good hair is popular.  Here, not so much, lots of stringy looking, not so styled women.  I don’t care, I will still do my hair and makeup before going out-a girl has some pride!!  I already stand out being taller than all the women and most of the men, then I regularly bathe and change clothes, plus my style or look must be obviously American.   They even talk about me at the office- coffee time is sacred here and Ross says it’s a chat fest.  No one gets coffee and takes it back to their office.  So they ask how I’m doing and when he tells them things they find it all so amusing.  They all marvel at my 8kg washer and dryer, which are at least a third the size of mine at home, but double the size of most of theirs. And most don’t have a dryer.   It literally takes me 5 hours to wash and dry one load….and it’s a small load of laundry.  They find my “American ways” so fascinating!  It cracks me up.  But as one of the women told Ross “well we don’t wash our clothes that often like Americans do anyway, so we don’t need a big washer”. (YIKES)

Most people here do bathe regularly and some even wear deodorant, but THEN, you encounter those who don’t.  And sadly, I encounter them more than I want.  My nose is so sensitive, it kills me.  I’m trying, really trying, but ugh………seriously, if your shirt reeks of BO, wash it and don’t wear it again!!!  For my Georgia friends, here is my best analogy even though it’s a poor one………..Paris is our Atlanta, Tours (my main city , 20 minutes away) would be Gainesville, Fondette (our next little town)  is old Dawsonville before it was populated and our little town Luynes- well it’s Jot M’ Down Road!!!  I can feel all my Georgia folk nodding their heads and saying “Oh I get it”.  We’re country here….oh so country.  But some of that is wonderful!!  It’s just funny sometimes. 

So, really nothing too crazy or exciting this week.  I am posting a picture of the oddest tomatoes I’ve ever seen.  I’m trying to buy something different each week, just to try it.  This struck my fancy yesterday, so I bought one.  We had half of it with dinner and it was very tasty and nice consistency, but the shape just made me smile.  So, I’m off for now…..I’m sure there will be more crazy fun things in my adventures coming up.