three months

So it’s officially been three months, which means I can start counting down without feeling like it’s gonna be forever until I’m home. 7 weeks ‘til Ricky gets here, 8 weeks until we embark on our grand adventures (Barcelona, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Venice, and Paris) and 10 weeks until I’m back in my bed with Coco cat. I’m already thinking about what I’m going to miss—my new friends, the beaches, walking around Saint Tropez, visiting a new town every weekend, driving stick with that barefootwhilecoveredinsandmylooooooonghairdowngoingwildwiththewindowsdownsunsinkinginraybansonsinginginfrenchwiththeradioskinthecolorofaspankinnewcopperpennyinapril feeling, knowing that I can buy alcohol at the grocery store even though I never do, the fragrances of the Riviera (fresh bread at the boulangerie, lavender and mimosa, the Mediterranean), meeting people from other countries, learning German, helpful French people who don’t make you feel like a complete idiot, going to the market, eating glace at the port, watching the yachts, all the weird looking bugs, Vogue Paris for 5 euro (at home it’s 16$), swimming in the Mediterranean (it’s so different from the Pacific!), running and biking through the country and along the coast, bisou greetings and goodbyes, the hilarity of watching giant groups of teenagers greet each other(bisous pour tout le monde!), forgetting to speak English after 2 glasses of Rose, and the like. And the things I’m not going to miss: French animals (cats and dogs), French children, American tv shows and movies dubbed in French, McDo, Wednesdays, my French cell phone, mean French people, snobby French people, ignorant French people, racism, homophobia, French hypocrisy, not being able to watch certain videos online because they are not available in my area, when people burn things for no apparent reason, pollution, people who smoke, smelling like smoke for days after going out even though I didn’t smoke and took like three showers, getting sick after going out, annoying men, walking past ritzy shops and feeling incredibly uncool, days when I wake up and can’t speak a word of French, thinking in celcius/farenheit and euro/dollar ratios, supermarches (hypermarche or regular marche is the way to go), the scary looking bugs, French accented english, etc. See why my love/hate relationship with this country is so complicated?

Today was another Wednesday and a relatively good one at that, especially compared with last week. I had the kids in the morning while Christine did the grocery shopping. They spent the entire time putting me in “prison”, torturing me and trying to “electrocute” me with candles. They were amused at least. I went to sports with the boys and walked around Saint Tropez (comme d’habitude) while I waited for them to be finished. McDonalds for lunch and when we got home, Nigel had taken the pool cover off of the pool! We spent the rest of the day playing outside. Baths were pretty easy and Matthew still wanted to play with me afterwards!

Tomorrow, Nigel’s sister and nephew are coming. The nephew is 18 and is also named Thomas. I asked Christine why both Nigel and his sister named their kids Thomas. She said that she didn’t know Nigel’s sister at the time and Nigel didn’t even think about it. Apparently Nigel’s mother isn’t happy about it. Nigel’s nephew is staying for 6 months and he is going to be working with Nigel’s pool and garden company. I think it will be cool to have a guy friend to hang out with (if he wants to of course). The other au pairs seem to think so too. Beke had been telling them about it since before I even got here so it’s been a long time coming. I’ll of course only be here for another couple months, so they’ll have to figure out how to keep him around once I’m gone.

In the mean time, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. It’s Saint Tropez, it’s almost summer, and while I can’t wait to get home, I’m focusing on making these next 7 weeks count.

Bisous