4.10.09

48. Mois-nniversaire

today is my "mois-nniversaire", which in english means that i've been here for a month on the dot...woot?

i don't know. it certainly doesn't feel so surreal anymore or perhaps it feels so surreal that i'm blinded so it feels real...not sure but what i can say is that i can clearly identify my "home" because i get that i'm-not-sleeping-in-my-own-bed feeling when i'm not sleeping in my own bed. that's to say that this weekend was my host father's family reunion & i slept at a hotel. this one...

it was quite luxurious & connected to the Beauval Zoo; a famous one where they birth lots of baby animals. like these ones...



anyway, i was really shocked at my reaction when i first entered the zoo. i realized for the first time that being in a zoo, i'm looking at wild animals from all over the world...like from the the aooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wild. it's crazy that they end up behind glass & in cages where they spray fake rain. it's just insane. well, basically it took me some getting used to, to see the big cats just pacing back & forth but then analyzed from some other angles (as alway :P) & it came to me that most of these animals were probably brought up in captivity so they don't really have a reference to compare their life to. right? i mean, they have somewhere to sleep, they have food to eat & althought they're quite limited space-wise, they sleep the majority of the day away so i guess it's alright. i truly believe that animals (like babies) are not like us. they rely on their instincts & don't really care much for over-analyzation (shhht) so i think they're good. it just makes me chuckle when i see all those simulation habitats. gosh, they're so fake.

so the family reunion was nice. the family's not that complicated in person but in words...i'll do my best. it's like this: (i'll go by generation) there's a mamie, head of heads. she was basically the host of this entire thing/the oldest one there. she has three kids: a daughter (60), a son (55) then another son (50, my host father).

the old daughter has four kids: a daughter (30, adopted), a son (27, adopted), a daughter (24) & son (15). the daughter has a son (4) & a daughter (2). the son has a daughter (8mths).

the old son has two kids: a daughter (29) who has a daughter (7mths) & another daughter (28).

the second old son has three kids but one was absent: a son (22, absent), a daughter (20) & another daugher (17 today! happy b-day!!!)

so that's the basic lineage minus the fact that everyone there had a spouse or "significant other" except the babies & the three teens: me, my host sister & the 15-year old. so that's it, not that's it's supposed to be thoroughly enjoyable for you...sry, it's more for my own record.

oh yeah, seriously, we spent more time eating than anything else this weekend. IT'S CRAZY. i, knowing myself, am i HUGE eater but i should keep my mouth closed cause these skinny french people have bottomless pits for stomachs. you literally went into each meal full. not not hungry, cause that's just an understatement. FULL. for example, last night's dinner, which was after the huge nutella crêpe, which was after the huge lunch, which was after the huge breakfast, went something like this...

first, there was the apéritif, which consists of champagne (oh yeah, i drink more or less often now; i say yes to 50 percent of offers but only in the spirit of the culture & i haven't even tasted what drunk is so don't worry) & platters or hors d'oeuvres, which i would translate as "out of the main stuff", which is accurate enough. next, after everyone's got their tastebuds going, we get some huge plate of entrée, which is an appetizer, usually cold & too filling, knowing that you still have to fork through the main course & the dessert, but too good to let any of it go to waste. so yeah, next you get le plat principal (i think?) which only fills you up more & usually its some lead-role meat on itty bitty veggies. you finish with a désert, which is usually a meal on it's own. THEN, when you think it's all done (cause you're supposed to end with dessert, right?) they offer a digestif, which is some crazy 50 percent alcohol (like cognac) that you can feel go through your system cause it burns so much to "help you digest & wash everything down." most people take a lighter version, like more champagne. THEN, when you think your about to explode the offer you yet someting else to drink like tea or coffee, which comes with a biscuit called a gâteau & although a biscuit may seem like nothing, it's actually a big something cause i forgot to mention that from the first course, they leave bread on the table that is soooo good & that the french eat like it's nothing. really!? cause to me that is major filling starchy complexe sugar carbs. i love bread but not even i could eat it knowing all the courses i had to sit through. plus, i think we went through a good ten bottles of wine.

these people are nuts.

i think i gained 10lbs. this weekend. but that's probably cause i ate 20lbs. of food. of EXTREMELY good, well plated, cooked my a french chef food. here a little recap: limitless oysters, clams, prosciutto, pain au chocolat, ratatouille, canard, veal in cream sauce, crème brûlée, tiramisu, white chocolate heavenly stuff, fromages, charcuterie, pain, vin etc. etc. etc. let me emphaisize...LIMITLESS, as in buffet. but well presented high quality stuff. & i promise i only named 10 percent of what was offered this weekend. & you wonder why i have to keep taking deep breaths.

i don't think i knew what i was in for when i said i was coming to france to eat...

EAT would have been more accurate.

digesting...

[bt]

(sry i don't have visuals so support my opinion...as with every weekend, my camera died WAY too early.)

1 comment:

  1. lol

    we can see who's fatter at the end of the year. I can't stay away from nutella...

    ReplyDelete