The Cat Spot

Before leaving France for Lebanon I yet again completed another compression, only this time into one carry on.  Everything fit. It's all about how you pack. What's new and what I've learned thus far... 1. France is France 2. Something about Lebanone inspired me to purchase my frist pair of Converse ever. Life change. 3. Lebanese Women have the best hair  4. It's impossible to be bored in Beirut 5. Lebanese people are very friendly and social. After living in France I almost forgot what it felt like to have social life and friends 6. I took a lover for the first time after being overseas  7. If you need dental work done, get it done here. It costs about a 1/3 less than it does in the states. My friend got her wisdom teeth taken out here. Back in the states she was told they would have to break her wisdom teeth in order to get them out. This guy was so good he managed to take the teeth out whole. She didn't use anesthesia and sits with me now at the cafe I'm writi...

After taking intensive french classes for two months I decided I was burnt out and wanted to do something else. I found a posting for an au pair position at the college and called the number. It was for a single british woman and her three children ages 3,7, and 9. This seemed a good opportunity to clear some karma with my nannys from childhood.  The house located in beautiful southern France just west of Cannes.  The mother, a former heroine addict, clean for 8 plus years, moved to Theoule to escape the past. The location of the home was removed from major public transit making it difficult to leave or travel anywhere without a car. The next month my life would no longer be my own. Taking care of other people's children is not easy. I caught a glimps of what my life may have been like had I choosen to have children, making me realize that I'm not ready and there is a lot I want to do before I if/ever have children.  I got a taste of what it must have been like for my nan...

Upon returning to Cannes from a  charming, slightly haunted wedding in Saint George sur Cher, I found myself incredibly ill, depressed, and alone. I fell in the dark hole that one wonders if she will ever come out of. I woke up crying, went to bed crying, cried on the train, in the market, at school, basically anywhere. Looking back I can't believe how liberated I was to allow myself to express such raw emotion for the world to see, and didn't have the chance to think twice about it because the tears streamed without prevail. I wished I had died in the accident, kept thinking I made a huge mistake coming over here (yeah it was that bad). I had no friends, nothing, no one, nada. There isn't much to do in Cannes aside from going to the beach, going to the beach, and going to the beach. What Florida is to the United States, Cannes is to France. Lots of old people and lots of teens and springbreaker types just on a more international level. No one liked me at all. Some of the s...

The first week I found Martine's put off demeanor towards my debutant (beginner) american self endearing and a point of encouragement to speak french. The only problem was that the more I went for it the more annoyed she got. She really didn't like me. When ever I said anything her face took an immediate stance of disgust and then would speak to me smugly in english. It got to a point where I just stopped talking. Meal times were really uncomfortable because she would sit across from me and just stare at me, then speak freely and friendly with Stefanie.  8/9/2013 - Breakfast Martine asked me a question in english. Before I could get more than four words out she cut me off and sternly said, "Your accent is very strong. It's a very strong American accent. Slow down. I don't understand you when you speak." Stefanie and I looked at each other as if she we couldn't believe she just said that. 1. My natural speech pattern is not fast and I take time to get words...

After having my right hand and arm immobilized for over three months, it was scarry to see what came out of my cast. The upper part of my right, hand, and forarm had decided to grow more hair. This hair does not look like the rest of the hair on my body. It's dark, thick, course. It grew in places I never had hair before. My arm looked like a baby deer or a man hand. Something seems very off about the way fractures and breaks in bones are medically treated. I understand that the bone has to heal back, at the same time when an entire part of your body is immobilized, there are healthy muscles and mobility around the injured area that become depleted due to this segmented immobilization. There has to be a better way to heal fractures and breaks. For me the greatest difficulty in the healing process wtih the fractured scaphoid was bringing strength and mobility back into the healthy muscles and limbs. My whole hand was dead for about a week after removing the cast, not because the f...

After a week of classes I have a vocabulary of a high functioning four-year-old sometimes a five-year-old depending on the time of day, if I have eaten, and if I have had my nap.  Vendredi (Friday) was the first day I began asking questions to Martine and Stefanie. A lot of "Qu'est-ce que c'cest...? Also a lot of "Je suis..." Expressing emotions and and asking questions.  At dinner I listened intently to Martine and Stefanie's conversation While listening I observed their mouths. If you want to speak french, you have to move your mouth. They stopped and looked at me. J'ami a ecouter e regarder vous bocas-Me (correcting me) bouche (mouth)-Martine  She had me repeat the corrected form of the sentence many times. As we were heading out for night of watching Pelote Basque, I noticed Stefanie changed her pants. Choisi un pantalone-Me Oui! (laughs) Katrine, what happened to you today? Did you eat a french dictionary?-Stefanie P.S. Everyone in France calls me Ka...

Martine and I did not hit it off very well. She being of a physically short and emotionally stern nature did not find my communicative facial expressions cute in response to my French newborn muteness. Her eyebrows would raise and her blue eyes peer up at me ultimately to complete a full roll to the right. This happened quite a bit. She would stare at me while I cut bread to tell me not to do that. She served me stale baguette for breakfast when I asked for yogurt. My bedroom is the only room in the flat doesn't have wifi.  My very existence was a problem. Stefanie, the German, noticed that Martine cared very little for me. I wondered how Martine and I would live together for three months.  I decided to see if there was another host family I could possibly live with. The college was great and found two other families for me to visit. I set up a time to meet with one. It took about 30 minutes to get there by bus. The mother and daughter were very sweet and emphasized how much t...