Italy, night
After days spent swimming, working, reading a lot of books (I love the books of Carofiglio, I hope he will write more of them), listening to concerts, re-thinking about my life, having to live with a lot of mood swings, tonight I decided to write a short post, just in the case that someone who follows my blog starts to wonder if I am still alive.
Yes, I am still alive. I am not mentally in a blogging mood. I am more in a writing "old fashion diary" mood, but I don't have too much time for that either.
Just briefly:
I saw the last Harry Potter movie. I was a bit disappointed by it.
I listened to a concert of Moby. I loved it and danced a lot. I didn't see the concert, as I didn't want to buy the ticket, but I listened to it very well just standing outside the area limited to the concert. I enjoyed a lot.
I went to the concert of the Buena Vista Social Club last night. Great atmosphere. It was in my favorite square in Lucca, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. The ticket was extremely cheap (only 10 euros), the music was great, I danced a lot and I enjoyed any minute of it.
I will soon have to come back to France and even if I love living there, here I feel home and I will miss it.
I will have a job interview for a possibly permanent job in August. My life is so upside down right now that even if I strongly hope that they will offer me the job, so that I can decide about it, I also feel that I should take the break that I keep postponing from the beginning of this year and for which it is never the good moment.
What else? ah, yes, I think too much...sometimes I wish I could just live without thinking so much....
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
My ideal daily escape
Italy, morning
Last time I had some holidays, some real holidays, meaning some full days in a row without working, without checking emails, without thinking about work, it was June 2006. I went to Lanzarote with the olandesino and I loved everything of it: the place, the holidays, being there with the olandesino.
So, last time I had some days of relax one after the other was three years ago. After that, the instability of my job and the large amount of work things that I had and have to do to make sure to keep having some kind of job made impossible any kind of relaxing fairly long (which means at least a week) holidays.
Not being able to have that, I am now enjoying and fully absorb any sunday or any single moment or half day in which I don't have to work. It is not the same of course, but it helps to not get completely crazy. In these days that I am in Italy, working from morning to evening, I try to make sure that every day I have at least an hour to go to the outdoor swimming pool or to read a good book (I love the books of Carofiglio), or to chat with my friends or to go to the sea. It makes a difference in my day and it gives me the energy to face the next day of crazy work again....
I wish I could take a holidays again in South Africa. I often think about when we were there, the olandesino and I. I loved it. Some areas are very dangerous, but the ones that are not, are just simply amazing.
Last time I had some holidays, some real holidays, meaning some full days in a row without working, without checking emails, without thinking about work, it was June 2006. I went to Lanzarote with the olandesino and I loved everything of it: the place, the holidays, being there with the olandesino.
So, last time I had some days of relax one after the other was three years ago. After that, the instability of my job and the large amount of work things that I had and have to do to make sure to keep having some kind of job made impossible any kind of relaxing fairly long (which means at least a week) holidays.
Not being able to have that, I am now enjoying and fully absorb any sunday or any single moment or half day in which I don't have to work. It is not the same of course, but it helps to not get completely crazy. In these days that I am in Italy, working from morning to evening, I try to make sure that every day I have at least an hour to go to the outdoor swimming pool or to read a good book (I love the books of Carofiglio), or to chat with my friends or to go to the sea. It makes a difference in my day and it gives me the energy to face the next day of crazy work again....
I wish I could take a holidays again in South Africa. I often think about when we were there, the olandesino and I. I loved it. Some areas are very dangerous, but the ones that are not, are just simply amazing.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Loss of language
Italy, afternoon
I love being in Italy and spend some weeks here. However, while my permanence in my home country can be considered positive for my mood, the same is also extremely dangerous for my capacity to correctly speak or remember any kind of foreign language....
I just realized that in the last days I wrote some horrible English emails for work...... :-(
Every time I come back to Italy my brain basically switches off and goes in saving energy mode (which means it can do much more than allowing me to eat, gossip, chat, sleep and trying to relax)...which is not ideal when you are "in transfer" and still have to work a lot....
PS. The new Harry Potter movie came out yesterday. I still didn't see it....I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about it!
I love being in Italy and spend some weeks here. However, while my permanence in my home country can be considered positive for my mood, the same is also extremely dangerous for my capacity to correctly speak or remember any kind of foreign language....
I just realized that in the last days I wrote some horrible English emails for work...... :-(
Every time I come back to Italy my brain basically switches off and goes in saving energy mode (which means it can do much more than allowing me to eat, gossip, chat, sleep and trying to relax)...which is not ideal when you are "in transfer" and still have to work a lot....
PS. The new Harry Potter movie came out yesterday. I still didn't see it....I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about it!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Proud of being from Tuscany
Italy, morning
I needed to be pampered. I needed to spend some time with family and friends and so I packed my computer and I decided to do my work in Italy. I am at my mom's place and every time I come back, I wish I could stay here longer. The time spent here is never enough.
I like living in the South of France. I love the people I work with, I like the place where I live, I have nice friends and a great apartment. But nothing is like here, in my home town. I am aware of all the things that don't work in Italy, of how bad the economy is, of the lack of jobs, of the nepotism that dominates the University jobs, of how difficult is to do research here. But I truly strongly miss being here. Tuscany is great. Not only I was born in a place very close to the sea and very close to mountains, hills and hiking places. But the cities are lovely, people are generally friendly, I have my friends since I was a kid, there are no real big dangers here....I wish I could find a job around here...Unfortunately the chance of that happening is probably less than winning a huge amount of money at the lottery.
The other day some foreigners were asking me about the rate of homicides in my home town. I laughed. Local people say that my home town is getting more and more dangerous...and it is true....but the truth also being that when I was little, robberies were rare events, as well as aggressions. Now, robberies are more commons and sometimes aggressions happen. But the rate of these events, compared to other places in the world, is nothing.
Trying to do as much as I can to come back home or keep living abroad and come back here as often as I can? This is a big dilemma. I see that any person that I know, doing my job, who decided to come back to work in Italy, after spending some time working abroad, is very very frustrated and not happy. Things do not work well here. There are not many jobs and the money invested in the research is very little, probably lower than any other European countries. I would probably end up being very frustrated if I would work here. But on the other hand, I think of all the things that I also like about Italy and especially about Tuscany. The more time I spend abroad the more proud of being Italian I became. I love the life style of the little Tuscan towns. I love to walk around these cities and see kids, teenagers, adults and old people sharing the same space, interacting. I like to have the feeling of being in a familiar environment. I like to have family dinner, laugh together, talk, share things. I strongly miss being part of something.
I have my life in places abroad since almost nine years now. But most of the time, no matter where I am, I feel out of places. I remember than when I was younger I use to feel out of place here too. But now, here in Tuscany, in my home town, with my family and long term friends, is one of the few places in the world where I not only feel home, but I also feel that things are familiar to me.
I may not come from the best place in the world....but it feels pretty good to me. And I miss it a lot. My way of looking at the same things changed a lot with the time passing by.....
I needed to be pampered. I needed to spend some time with family and friends and so I packed my computer and I decided to do my work in Italy. I am at my mom's place and every time I come back, I wish I could stay here longer. The time spent here is never enough.
I like living in the South of France. I love the people I work with, I like the place where I live, I have nice friends and a great apartment. But nothing is like here, in my home town. I am aware of all the things that don't work in Italy, of how bad the economy is, of the lack of jobs, of the nepotism that dominates the University jobs, of how difficult is to do research here. But I truly strongly miss being here. Tuscany is great. Not only I was born in a place very close to the sea and very close to mountains, hills and hiking places. But the cities are lovely, people are generally friendly, I have my friends since I was a kid, there are no real big dangers here....I wish I could find a job around here...Unfortunately the chance of that happening is probably less than winning a huge amount of money at the lottery.
The other day some foreigners were asking me about the rate of homicides in my home town. I laughed. Local people say that my home town is getting more and more dangerous...and it is true....but the truth also being that when I was little, robberies were rare events, as well as aggressions. Now, robberies are more commons and sometimes aggressions happen. But the rate of these events, compared to other places in the world, is nothing.
Trying to do as much as I can to come back home or keep living abroad and come back here as often as I can? This is a big dilemma. I see that any person that I know, doing my job, who decided to come back to work in Italy, after spending some time working abroad, is very very frustrated and not happy. Things do not work well here. There are not many jobs and the money invested in the research is very little, probably lower than any other European countries. I would probably end up being very frustrated if I would work here. But on the other hand, I think of all the things that I also like about Italy and especially about Tuscany. The more time I spend abroad the more proud of being Italian I became. I love the life style of the little Tuscan towns. I love to walk around these cities and see kids, teenagers, adults and old people sharing the same space, interacting. I like to have the feeling of being in a familiar environment. I like to have family dinner, laugh together, talk, share things. I strongly miss being part of something.
I have my life in places abroad since almost nine years now. But most of the time, no matter where I am, I feel out of places. I remember than when I was younger I use to feel out of place here too. But now, here in Tuscany, in my home town, with my family and long term friends, is one of the few places in the world where I not only feel home, but I also feel that things are familiar to me.
I may not come from the best place in the world....but it feels pretty good to me. And I miss it a lot. My way of looking at the same things changed a lot with the time passing by.....
Sunday, July 5, 2009
And Federer made history
France, evening
Not being able to watch tennis games on tv is one of the few reasons for which I miss to not have a tv. Federer won today Wimbledon and broke the record of Sampras in terms of Slam titles won. I miss a lot watching tennis games. I miss even more playing tennis outside. I should start to play again one of these days...
Not being able to watch tennis games on tv is one of the few reasons for which I miss to not have a tv. Federer won today Wimbledon and broke the record of Sampras in terms of Slam titles won. I miss a lot watching tennis games. I miss even more playing tennis outside. I should start to play again one of these days...
The good and bad of the arsenic
France, night
There is this old movie I like and that in Italian is "arsenico e vecchi merletti" (Arsenic and Old Lace in English). Every time that the word "arsenic" comes to my mind, I immediately think about this movie. However, in the last months the word arsenic came unfortunately to my mind very very often and not for good reasons.
The arsenic is a chemical compound of not necessarily very pleasant characteristics. If ingested or breathed, it can cause serious health problems, including death. Because of my work, during my stay in San Francisco, I came into contact with some undefined quantities of arsenic on a regular base, every year, for over a month. The result of this being different symptoms, more or less scary (and all together very scary to me): headache, stomach pain, nausea, nails that became much whiter (like the natural white of the top of the nail diluted into the nail....very impressive to see it), etc, etc. After months, I finally got the results of the test to check for a possible arsenic intoxication. I have arsenic in my body, but the quantity is not so high to require a treatment.
The thing is, since I knew that I may have had got arsenic in my body, I started to look on internet for possible harmless solutions to it and ask everyone. More than one person suggested me to start to take some pill containing cysteine (which is an amino acid) and in general increase my intake of sulfur, as sulfur seems to be able to capture the arsenic in the body and help the body to eliminate it. I got pills of sulfur and of cysteine. I started to take them during my stay in San Francisco and since I didn't finish the package yet, I still keep taking them. And you know what? my hair never looked more amazing than now! Cysteine is supposed to help hair and skin...and no kidding...it really does!!!
At least this light arsenic poisoning is not all that negative. I got some fabulous healthy looking hair now!!!
There is this old movie I like and that in Italian is "arsenico e vecchi merletti" (Arsenic and Old Lace in English). Every time that the word "arsenic" comes to my mind, I immediately think about this movie. However, in the last months the word arsenic came unfortunately to my mind very very often and not for good reasons.
The arsenic is a chemical compound of not necessarily very pleasant characteristics. If ingested or breathed, it can cause serious health problems, including death. Because of my work, during my stay in San Francisco, I came into contact with some undefined quantities of arsenic on a regular base, every year, for over a month. The result of this being different symptoms, more or less scary (and all together very scary to me): headache, stomach pain, nausea, nails that became much whiter (like the natural white of the top of the nail diluted into the nail....very impressive to see it), etc, etc. After months, I finally got the results of the test to check for a possible arsenic intoxication. I have arsenic in my body, but the quantity is not so high to require a treatment.
The thing is, since I knew that I may have had got arsenic in my body, I started to look on internet for possible harmless solutions to it and ask everyone. More than one person suggested me to start to take some pill containing cysteine (which is an amino acid) and in general increase my intake of sulfur, as sulfur seems to be able to capture the arsenic in the body and help the body to eliminate it. I got pills of sulfur and of cysteine. I started to take them during my stay in San Francisco and since I didn't finish the package yet, I still keep taking them. And you know what? my hair never looked more amazing than now! Cysteine is supposed to help hair and skin...and no kidding...it really does!!!
At least this light arsenic poisoning is not all that negative. I got some fabulous healthy looking hair now!!!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Insomnia
France, night
Since a weeks if not more, I started to suffer of insomnia...I don't know how to stop it. I fall asleep, I wake up, I start to think, my mind begins to spin and there is no way I can fall asleep again.....I guess I will work at night now...
Since a weeks if not more, I started to suffer of insomnia...I don't know how to stop it. I fall asleep, I wake up, I start to think, my mind begins to spin and there is no way I can fall asleep again.....I guess I will work at night now...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
everyone in the water
France, night
Kitesurfing here in the South of France is very popular. I got familiar with kitesurfing because the olandesino is crazy about it and loves doing it. And me, I love to watch kitesurfers (but too scared to try it). It looks so cool, so scary, so adventurous. I just tried to control the kitesurf on land, it is so difficult. I felt I was risking to fly away....
And it is beautiful to see all the kites up in the air, near to each other.
The kitesurfing season seems to be at its full now. Every time I went to the beaches near by, I always saw a lot of people kitesurfing. And when you see them jumping and turning, it is so crazy.
Just to give you an idea of what it is about, check this out:
Kitesurfing here in the South of France is very popular. I got familiar with kitesurfing because the olandesino is crazy about it and loves doing it. And me, I love to watch kitesurfers (but too scared to try it). It looks so cool, so scary, so adventurous. I just tried to control the kitesurf on land, it is so difficult. I felt I was risking to fly away....
And it is beautiful to see all the kites up in the air, near to each other.
The kitesurfing season seems to be at its full now. Every time I went to the beaches near by, I always saw a lot of people kitesurfing. And when you see them jumping and turning, it is so crazy.
Just to give you an idea of what it is about, check this out:
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Viareggio
France, morning
There are a lot of bad things happening every day in the world. But last night something happened very very close to my home town, in a place that I know very well and that I love. For some time with the olandesino we even dreamed of finding some financial support to start our own research group there. Anyway, this place is Viareggio, in Tuscany. And last night a deadly accident happened to a train transporting gas. There was an explosion, two buildings collapsed, a lot of fire, and a lot of people died and got badly injured.
In these moments, I always feel very sad and sorry for the victims of disasters like this one and also very lucky, because none of my family was there. And they could have been. Viareggio in the summer is a place where to go, to walk around, near the sea. I could have been on a train arriving in Viareggio, since from here it is the closest final train destination to my home town. When these things happen, I would like to be home with my family and the people I feel closer to me and hug all of them and just be together. It is so scary to think that one minute everything is fine and the next minute someone you love with all yourself could not be part of your life anymore.
It doesn't help anyone really, I know, but I feel very close to all the families who lost someone they love in this tragic accident.
There are a lot of bad things happening every day in the world. But last night something happened very very close to my home town, in a place that I know very well and that I love. For some time with the olandesino we even dreamed of finding some financial support to start our own research group there. Anyway, this place is Viareggio, in Tuscany. And last night a deadly accident happened to a train transporting gas. There was an explosion, two buildings collapsed, a lot of fire, and a lot of people died and got badly injured.
In these moments, I always feel very sad and sorry for the victims of disasters like this one and also very lucky, because none of my family was there. And they could have been. Viareggio in the summer is a place where to go, to walk around, near the sea. I could have been on a train arriving in Viareggio, since from here it is the closest final train destination to my home town. When these things happen, I would like to be home with my family and the people I feel closer to me and hug all of them and just be together. It is so scary to think that one minute everything is fine and the next minute someone you love with all yourself could not be part of your life anymore.
It doesn't help anyone really, I know, but I feel very close to all the families who lost someone they love in this tragic accident.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
French orgasm
France, evening
In the South of France there are these cute houses, in these cute streets. And the streets are so narrow and the houses so close to each other, that something like a bit of privacy may be a difficult thing to obtain.
I became friend of an old man who lives in front of me. We "meet" on our own balconies to exchange a few words couple of times a day. It is charming. Talking from balcony to balcony is a very common activity here. It doesn't really matter if the neighbors know about each other life. It is a characteristic thing here. Everyone keeps track on the others.
This evening, I was just sitting in my living room, working at the computer, when my attention got caught by a very loud "ahhhhh, ahhhh, ahhhhhhhhh, oui, oui, ouiiiiiiiiiiii".....and so on. A woman was having fun. Good for her. Too bad that with the houses so close to each other, the walls separating the apartments made out of nothing, the hot season that forces to keep the windows open and the fact that her pleasure lasted quite long (if I manage to see who the guy with her is, I will congratulate myself with him!), anyone living in this neighborhood had the chance to participate to the intercourse of this couple. She managed to get to an end, finally. Of course, the end was much louder than before. I can say that she certainly enjoyed it!
No secrets! let's share everything!!! we are just a big happy family!!!!
In the South of France there are these cute houses, in these cute streets. And the streets are so narrow and the houses so close to each other, that something like a bit of privacy may be a difficult thing to obtain.
I became friend of an old man who lives in front of me. We "meet" on our own balconies to exchange a few words couple of times a day. It is charming. Talking from balcony to balcony is a very common activity here. It doesn't really matter if the neighbors know about each other life. It is a characteristic thing here. Everyone keeps track on the others.
This evening, I was just sitting in my living room, working at the computer, when my attention got caught by a very loud "ahhhhh, ahhhh, ahhhhhhhhh, oui, oui, ouiiiiiiiiiiii".....and so on. A woman was having fun. Good for her. Too bad that with the houses so close to each other, the walls separating the apartments made out of nothing, the hot season that forces to keep the windows open and the fact that her pleasure lasted quite long (if I manage to see who the guy with her is, I will congratulate myself with him!), anyone living in this neighborhood had the chance to participate to the intercourse of this couple. She managed to get to an end, finally. Of course, the end was much louder than before. I can say that she certainly enjoyed it!
No secrets! let's share everything!!! we are just a big happy family!!!!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
After la cremaillere
France, morning
My eyes this morning are open so little that I can barely see. I am too sleepy. Last night the cremaillere/the house warming party was nice. I hope everyone enjoyed, even if there were two different groups of people who didn't really integrated as I hoped. But we laughed a lot and this is the most important thing.
I made a lot of small things to "grignoter" (French for snacking) and I made sure to have plenty of alcoholic beverages: wine, lot of beer, juice, coke, water of course. I think I over-due in some way (I probably got this characteristics from my mom who gets so worry that there are not enough things to eat and to drink when she invites someone, that normally we can go on with the left over for days). I have quite some left over. And left over of things that I can't eat or drink, so I guess I will use this as an occasion to invite some friend over again.
A friend of mine brought some fruits beer...I heard about it and I think that it is just cute and weird. I can't try it unfortunately, as I don't stand alcohol, but it looks funny anyway. I made the tiramisu as I was planning to. I didn't find the right cookies, but apparently none noticed, as everyone loved it and asked me for the recipe. I should open a take away tiramisu place. It is quite easy to prepare. Then I also made some banana-walnut muffins. First time for me in which I made muffins. It turned out quite well.... I made them cow-milk free, so that I could try them. They are good! I just had two of them for breakfast this morning (they are quite small).
It is amazing how little I like to cook (in fact, I never cook) and how much I like instead to prepare cakes and cookies and sweet things, even if a lot of times I can't eat them. I think that dessert are such a social, happy thing to make and to share. It always makes me happy to prepare cakes!
Now I should start to work, I have so much to do!!!
My eyes this morning are open so little that I can barely see. I am too sleepy. Last night the cremaillere/the house warming party was nice. I hope everyone enjoyed, even if there were two different groups of people who didn't really integrated as I hoped. But we laughed a lot and this is the most important thing.
I made a lot of small things to "grignoter" (French for snacking) and I made sure to have plenty of alcoholic beverages: wine, lot of beer, juice, coke, water of course. I think I over-due in some way (I probably got this characteristics from my mom who gets so worry that there are not enough things to eat and to drink when she invites someone, that normally we can go on with the left over for days). I have quite some left over. And left over of things that I can't eat or drink, so I guess I will use this as an occasion to invite some friend over again.
A friend of mine brought some fruits beer...I heard about it and I think that it is just cute and weird. I can't try it unfortunately, as I don't stand alcohol, but it looks funny anyway. I made the tiramisu as I was planning to. I didn't find the right cookies, but apparently none noticed, as everyone loved it and asked me for the recipe. I should open a take away tiramisu place. It is quite easy to prepare. Then I also made some banana-walnut muffins. First time for me in which I made muffins. It turned out quite well.... I made them cow-milk free, so that I could try them. They are good! I just had two of them for breakfast this morning (they are quite small).It is amazing how little I like to cook (in fact, I never cook) and how much I like instead to prepare cakes and cookies and sweet things, even if a lot of times I can't eat them. I think that dessert are such a social, happy thing to make and to share. It always makes me happy to prepare cakes!
Now I should start to work, I have so much to do!!!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Getting closer to the cremaillere
France, evening
Two more evenings and then I will have the cremaillere chez moi....which basically is an house warming party at my place. It seems that about 20 people from work and couchsurf friends will come. I like the idea of inviting people at my place, but then I get very very nervous as I would like to have everything under control and I would like everyone to have a lot of fun and enjoy it. To succeed in this, I have to make sure to have plenty of wine and alchool beverages. Plus water and juice for myself.
Then I guess I will order a few pizzas, make my famous tiramisu (and I hope to find the right cookies for it, the pavesini), make some salty and sweet snacks and have plenty of other things like olives, seeds etc.
And then what should I organize to entratain people??? it is too long since I had so many people coming over. Of course I will make sure to have some good music.
Uhhhhh, I get so nervous....I want to make sure that everybody will enjoy it!
Two more evenings and then I will have the cremaillere chez moi....which basically is an house warming party at my place. It seems that about 20 people from work and couchsurf friends will come. I like the idea of inviting people at my place, but then I get very very nervous as I would like to have everything under control and I would like everyone to have a lot of fun and enjoy it. To succeed in this, I have to make sure to have plenty of wine and alchool beverages. Plus water and juice for myself.
Then I guess I will order a few pizzas, make my famous tiramisu (and I hope to find the right cookies for it, the pavesini), make some salty and sweet snacks and have plenty of other things like olives, seeds etc.
And then what should I organize to entratain people??? it is too long since I had so many people coming over. Of course I will make sure to have some good music.
Uhhhhh, I get so nervous....I want to make sure that everybody will enjoy it!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The best excuses for not needing to shower
France, night
A lot of people seem to arrive on my blog typing "why French don't shower" and then they end up on my post.
Because we are now in the best season to fully appreciate the mixture of natural body odors of whom doesn't shower since days, I decided to list here the best excuses I heard for not showering (and not only from the French):
1) (Currently very common) It is hot outside, so if I shower and go out I will sweat again. I may just not shower till I don't need to go out.
2) (following the previous one) I stay at home, I don't need to shower.
3) (for the winter) It is cold outside, I don't sweat, so I don't need to shower.
4) (the ecologist) Water is a resource to not be wasted. I like to think that if I don't shower, I will help the planet. (this excuse was particularly disappointing as I heard it from a very cute German guy....who unfortunately stank like a goat!)
5) (the self-convinced) I don't sweat. Taking one shower a week is enough for me. The rest of the days I just use deodorant/perfume.
6) (the scientist) Body odors are part of us. They are natural. Humans are the only ones in the animal kingdom who try to cover body odors with artificial things.
7) (for the night people) I like to shower in the morning, it helps me to wake up. Unfortunately, I am always running late, so I don't have enough time to shower most of the days.
8) (for the morning people) I like to shower before bed, so I go to bed clean. Unfortunately, often it is so late by the time that I go to bed, that I just don't shower.
9) (reason for not loving to shower suggested by Nicole in the comment to this post) Not being a big shower-fan because after we have to do the hair.
These are the best excuses for not showering that came up to my mind just now. I will update this post if I will hear or remember new excuses. If you know any good one, please let me know!
I thought of this topic for my night post, as today in France it is the "fete de la musique" day. Basically a day of the music. Very cool. But also an occasion to come very close to a lot of very smelly people.
A lot of people seem to arrive on my blog typing "why French don't shower" and then they end up on my post.
Because we are now in the best season to fully appreciate the mixture of natural body odors of whom doesn't shower since days, I decided to list here the best excuses I heard for not showering (and not only from the French):
1) (Currently very common) It is hot outside, so if I shower and go out I will sweat again. I may just not shower till I don't need to go out.
2) (following the previous one) I stay at home, I don't need to shower.
3) (for the winter) It is cold outside, I don't sweat, so I don't need to shower.
4) (the ecologist) Water is a resource to not be wasted. I like to think that if I don't shower, I will help the planet. (this excuse was particularly disappointing as I heard it from a very cute German guy....who unfortunately stank like a goat!)
5) (the self-convinced) I don't sweat. Taking one shower a week is enough for me. The rest of the days I just use deodorant/perfume.
6) (the scientist) Body odors are part of us. They are natural. Humans are the only ones in the animal kingdom who try to cover body odors with artificial things.
7) (for the night people) I like to shower in the morning, it helps me to wake up. Unfortunately, I am always running late, so I don't have enough time to shower most of the days.
8) (for the morning people) I like to shower before bed, so I go to bed clean. Unfortunately, often it is so late by the time that I go to bed, that I just don't shower.
9) (reason for not loving to shower suggested by Nicole in the comment to this post) Not being a big shower-fan because after we have to do the hair.
These are the best excuses for not showering that came up to my mind just now. I will update this post if I will hear or remember new excuses. If you know any good one, please let me know!
I thought of this topic for my night post, as today in France it is the "fete de la musique" day. Basically a day of the music. Very cool. But also an occasion to come very close to a lot of very smelly people.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The French attitude
France, morning
If I want to write a post, I have to do it before to go to work in the morning. After, my day is just too full lately. Out of nothing I got a job offer the other day, to stay here some additional months after the end of my fellowship. The person who offered me the job would like me to do something that I don't know if it can be done, so it may be that I can't take the job ;-( I really hope that it will work out.
It is a bit more than a year that I live in the South of France and the general impression is very positive. In fact, I would like to stay here longer. It is positive even considering the assholes working at the agency who rented me my old apartment and still keep my entire deposit (900 euros). It is still positive beside the street full of dogs poo. It is still positive beside the fact that French needs to put butter on almost any edible thing. It is still positive even if the bureaucracy here is even worse than in Italy. I guess I just like here. It reminds me a lot about the life style Tuscany in some way.
But in this year I noticed that the French have an unique attitude, that I never found anywhere else in the world. They basically don't give a shit about absolutely anything except themselves. They don't do it in a mean way. It is not something bad. I think it is more something deep inside them, a deep cultural behavior to survive. They just left other people deal with what they do. And because of this, whatever it happens, it is never something to apologize for. But nothing of this means anything bad, it is just the way they are. Because if you actually ask their help, they can be very nice and people here are extremely friendly and pleasant.
If I would have a dog and my dog would poo in the middle of the street, I would clean it.
Here none does it and they don't care if someone will step on it. Someone else will take care of the cleaning.
If they open a door, they don't care of closing it slowly, so that the noisy don't make anyone jump on the chair or in bed or anywhere else. They just slammed it.
If you are not used to the way they walk here on the street, better be careful. French don't move to let you pass. They walk straight, coming toward you, without the minimum intention of slightly moving out of the way. The walk everywhere on the street, without a general pattern, but more like:" this is my space, too bad I have to share it with other people. In any case it is their problem, they will deal with that". I have no idea how they can avoid to bump into each other at the last minute.
If you have a problem, any kind of problem, it is your problem. This includes the fact that if your neighbors are very very noisy and you will in any way try to let them understand that they cannot play laud music at 4 am because they wake you up, this will be your problem that you can't sleep with their laud music, not their lack of politeness.
If you receive a lot of commercial magazines every day in the mail, what everyone here does is to take them out of the their mailbox and piled on top of it, in the common space, till you will have a pile of commercial magazines, even of some weeks old, spreading everywhere, including the floor and you will decide that instead of trashing to the recycle only the one you found in your mailbox, maybe you can also trash the ones of anyone else living in the building. See? they know that what they will not do, will be done by someone else for them.
Minimum effort, maximum result! and the ones above are just a few example that I found very astonishing.
If I want to write a post, I have to do it before to go to work in the morning. After, my day is just too full lately. Out of nothing I got a job offer the other day, to stay here some additional months after the end of my fellowship. The person who offered me the job would like me to do something that I don't know if it can be done, so it may be that I can't take the job ;-( I really hope that it will work out.
It is a bit more than a year that I live in the South of France and the general impression is very positive. In fact, I would like to stay here longer. It is positive even considering the assholes working at the agency who rented me my old apartment and still keep my entire deposit (900 euros). It is still positive beside the street full of dogs poo. It is still positive beside the fact that French needs to put butter on almost any edible thing. It is still positive even if the bureaucracy here is even worse than in Italy. I guess I just like here. It reminds me a lot about the life style Tuscany in some way.
But in this year I noticed that the French have an unique attitude, that I never found anywhere else in the world. They basically don't give a shit about absolutely anything except themselves. They don't do it in a mean way. It is not something bad. I think it is more something deep inside them, a deep cultural behavior to survive. They just left other people deal with what they do. And because of this, whatever it happens, it is never something to apologize for. But nothing of this means anything bad, it is just the way they are. Because if you actually ask their help, they can be very nice and people here are extremely friendly and pleasant.
If I would have a dog and my dog would poo in the middle of the street, I would clean it.
Here none does it and they don't care if someone will step on it. Someone else will take care of the cleaning.
If they open a door, they don't care of closing it slowly, so that the noisy don't make anyone jump on the chair or in bed or anywhere else. They just slammed it.
If you are not used to the way they walk here on the street, better be careful. French don't move to let you pass. They walk straight, coming toward you, without the minimum intention of slightly moving out of the way. The walk everywhere on the street, without a general pattern, but more like:" this is my space, too bad I have to share it with other people. In any case it is their problem, they will deal with that". I have no idea how they can avoid to bump into each other at the last minute.
If you have a problem, any kind of problem, it is your problem. This includes the fact that if your neighbors are very very noisy and you will in any way try to let them understand that they cannot play laud music at 4 am because they wake you up, this will be your problem that you can't sleep with their laud music, not their lack of politeness.
If you receive a lot of commercial magazines every day in the mail, what everyone here does is to take them out of the their mailbox and piled on top of it, in the common space, till you will have a pile of commercial magazines, even of some weeks old, spreading everywhere, including the floor and you will decide that instead of trashing to the recycle only the one you found in your mailbox, maybe you can also trash the ones of anyone else living in the building. See? they know that what they will not do, will be done by someone else for them.
Minimum effort, maximum result! and the ones above are just a few example that I found very astonishing.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Happy ending
France, night
Just a brief post before to go to bed. I am too busy with work lately, and unfortunately I don't have any time to blog or do things I like.
Anyway. I just saw this movie, the visitor, and I loved it. It is very touching. I know that an happy ending, where everything goes well and everyone is happy would have made the movie "too soft" and that in some way the movie doesn't end in a bad way and it is more realistic like that....but I still wish it would have had an happy ending.
It is a very nice movie about how it is never too late to start to live again.
Just a brief post before to go to bed. I am too busy with work lately, and unfortunately I don't have any time to blog or do things I like.
Anyway. I just saw this movie, the visitor, and I loved it. It is very touching. I know that an happy ending, where everything goes well and everyone is happy would have made the movie "too soft" and that in some way the movie doesn't end in a bad way and it is more realistic like that....but I still wish it would have had an happy ending.
It is a very nice movie about how it is never too late to start to live again.
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