I’d been home most of the day; the weather for the last few days has just been pure crap; nothing but cold and rain. But then around noon I looked out the window to the west and there were these very dark heavy clouds, they were headed this way and they looked like snow. Snow! I can just tell from the look of the clouds. Suddenly I’m energized, time to get out and drive. I love driving in snow, especially that first snow of the season.
I go out to the car, pop in a Christmas music CD and start driving, I head for the center of town where the Christmas decorations are already hung and lit. It’s Saturday so of course traffic is madness with all the Saturday shopping going on and also the start of the holiday shopping season. As I drive aimlessly the clouds are getting closer and darker and more ominous and I just feel more giddy and excited.
Then it happens, the clouds have finally arrived over head and it starts to just pour down….rain…yeah rain…Oh yeah, it never snows here.
I head home and stop at the grocery store for fois gras and a baguette. If it would just sleet a little I could sustain the mood, but no just more cold pouring rain. Oh well, maybe in a few weeks. At least the fois gras is good. Have I mentioned that I love fois gras.
…………………………
In other news, I received an invitation in the mail today to a reception in down town Toulouse to meet the US Ambassador to France. I knew it was coming, I had been asked by the US Consul in Toulouse for my home address. It’s cause I’m on the AIT board. How cool is that, I get to meet important people. Well, I would get to meet important people, except that…see this is a formal event and I won’t go out and buy a 200€ dress to fit over my current size, that I will only ever wear once, for a one night event. But it was cool to get the fabulous invite.
…………………………..
OH MY GOD IT’S SNOWING!!! Don’t worry I’m not getting back into the car.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Monday, November 21, 2005
Mocking Potential
Saturday night was the AIT/FEU Thanksgiving dinner dance. (Americans In Toulouse/France-Etats Unis) (France-Etats Unis is another club in Toulouse, this one made up of mostly French people who actually want to meet Americans and practice their English on them.)
We haven’t attended an AIT event in a very long time, but since I’m on the board now it seemed like something I should probably attend. Mind, the idea of a ‘traditional’ American Thanksgiving prepared in a French restaurant was just too hard to refuse, I mean think of all the mocking potential.
First of all, I’m not much of a social butterfly, I mean you know me, I love a great conversation with someone who actually has something to say, but socializing just for the sake of meeting people – most of whom I would not actually choose to speak with on a normal day – just not something I enjoy or am good at. So usually when we attend these events we find a nice place to sit in a quiet corner and enjoy our meal, maybe a little dancing and some people watching.
Not so Saturday night, now I don’t want to compare it to a Hollywood entrance or anything, but when word started to circulate that Missy Walters had arrived, people were coming at me from everywhere. Since I’m the membership coordinator, I’m usually one of the first contacts that people have with the club; the first name they hear. New members wanted to introduce themselves face to face, old members wanted to lodge complaints face to face, total strangers wanted to know how to join and discuss what AIT activities they might enjoy and some total strangers just wanted to touch ‘the belly’ and ask when I was due, weirdos. I ended up with a pocket-ful of cards and slips of paper with people’s e-mail addresses and notes about what they wanted.
The French restaurateur I believe was appalled by the fact that the meal would not open with a salad and would not be served in courses. So instead of doing it the American way he tailored the event to make us more civilized. As we sat down (at 9:00 pm, mind we’d been there since 7:30) our aperitif glasses were taken away and a salad was set down before us. It was your typical French salad, greens accompanied by two large slabs of fois gras. We Americans all became very silent and a bit frightened at that point and began to look around for the moron who might actually have asked for fois gras or served it at their Thanksgiving table. But it turned out to be the restaurateurs’ sole idea. Mind I love fois gras, but we all began to wonder what the next ‘course’ would bring; no family style service here. When our actual thanksgiving dinner plates arrived they were arranged in the traditional French artistic style. Two thick slices of turkey breast covered in a thin white sauce that I suppose was meant to be gravy, and several ‘molded’ side items.
There was a perfectly round disk of sliced sweet potato (one disk), a muffin tin sized mold of something that mildly resembled stuffing, except that it was crunchy and dry but not too far off the mark in the taste department, an oblong mold of something white and very light in texture that no one ever identified and a tablespoon sized bit of cranberry sauce.
Cranberry sauce is a very expensive import, you can get it in some of the mega stores, and you get a 4oz glass jar for about $2.50, so it was served sparingly.
There were these very hard and dry bricks of what we all agreed must be cornbread, but served without any honey or butter to un-brick them.
I ate my entire salad and fois gras, fois gras is very filling thank goodness, and so I was able to get away with just nibbling at the turkey course.
The white molded stuff was distinctly flavorless, I thought maybe it was like a mashed potato mousse or something, someone else suggested it was cauliflower, someone else said celery, one man said he knew that it was a regional French vegetable that resembled a beet. Anyway, we all at least tried it, but no one finished it since we were unable to establish what it actually was.
The restaurant owner, unsure what wine to serve with this horrid collection of things, provided us with a nice red and a chilled white and plenty of ice water, which was a real treat. (Ice water is never served in France, even McDonalds only puts two or three little cubes in their cokes, the French don’t do ice.)
The next course was the dessert. The pumpkin pie was served swimming in cream (not whipped) and a slab of chocolate mouse or cake or something. Dessert isn’t dessert without chocolate. The man across from me commented that it was a pie and it was made of pumpkin, but it definitely was NOT pumpkin pie. He was right.
Anyway the evening was completed with a DJ that played nothing but French and/or American Disco all night; you can see what a party it really was. The only true upside was that we didn’t have to endure any football games.
We haven’t attended an AIT event in a very long time, but since I’m on the board now it seemed like something I should probably attend. Mind, the idea of a ‘traditional’ American Thanksgiving prepared in a French restaurant was just too hard to refuse, I mean think of all the mocking potential.
First of all, I’m not much of a social butterfly, I mean you know me, I love a great conversation with someone who actually has something to say, but socializing just for the sake of meeting people – most of whom I would not actually choose to speak with on a normal day – just not something I enjoy or am good at. So usually when we attend these events we find a nice place to sit in a quiet corner and enjoy our meal, maybe a little dancing and some people watching.
Not so Saturday night, now I don’t want to compare it to a Hollywood entrance or anything, but when word started to circulate that Missy Walters had arrived, people were coming at me from everywhere. Since I’m the membership coordinator, I’m usually one of the first contacts that people have with the club; the first name they hear. New members wanted to introduce themselves face to face, old members wanted to lodge complaints face to face, total strangers wanted to know how to join and discuss what AIT activities they might enjoy and some total strangers just wanted to touch ‘the belly’ and ask when I was due, weirdos. I ended up with a pocket-ful of cards and slips of paper with people’s e-mail addresses and notes about what they wanted.
The French restaurateur I believe was appalled by the fact that the meal would not open with a salad and would not be served in courses. So instead of doing it the American way he tailored the event to make us more civilized. As we sat down (at 9:00 pm, mind we’d been there since 7:30) our aperitif glasses were taken away and a salad was set down before us. It was your typical French salad, greens accompanied by two large slabs of fois gras. We Americans all became very silent and a bit frightened at that point and began to look around for the moron who might actually have asked for fois gras or served it at their Thanksgiving table. But it turned out to be the restaurateurs’ sole idea. Mind I love fois gras, but we all began to wonder what the next ‘course’ would bring; no family style service here. When our actual thanksgiving dinner plates arrived they were arranged in the traditional French artistic style. Two thick slices of turkey breast covered in a thin white sauce that I suppose was meant to be gravy, and several ‘molded’ side items.
There was a perfectly round disk of sliced sweet potato (one disk), a muffin tin sized mold of something that mildly resembled stuffing, except that it was crunchy and dry but not too far off the mark in the taste department, an oblong mold of something white and very light in texture that no one ever identified and a tablespoon sized bit of cranberry sauce.
Cranberry sauce is a very expensive import, you can get it in some of the mega stores, and you get a 4oz glass jar for about $2.50, so it was served sparingly.
There were these very hard and dry bricks of what we all agreed must be cornbread, but served without any honey or butter to un-brick them.
I ate my entire salad and fois gras, fois gras is very filling thank goodness, and so I was able to get away with just nibbling at the turkey course.
The white molded stuff was distinctly flavorless, I thought maybe it was like a mashed potato mousse or something, someone else suggested it was cauliflower, someone else said celery, one man said he knew that it was a regional French vegetable that resembled a beet. Anyway, we all at least tried it, but no one finished it since we were unable to establish what it actually was.
The restaurant owner, unsure what wine to serve with this horrid collection of things, provided us with a nice red and a chilled white and plenty of ice water, which was a real treat. (Ice water is never served in France, even McDonalds only puts two or three little cubes in their cokes, the French don’t do ice.)
The next course was the dessert. The pumpkin pie was served swimming in cream (not whipped) and a slab of chocolate mouse or cake or something. Dessert isn’t dessert without chocolate. The man across from me commented that it was a pie and it was made of pumpkin, but it definitely was NOT pumpkin pie. He was right.
Anyway the evening was completed with a DJ that played nothing but French and/or American Disco all night; you can see what a party it really was. The only true upside was that we didn’t have to endure any football games.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Le Flic
Civil unrest, riots, fires and violence; the news over the last few days is chock full of this stuff.
On Sunday S and I took one of our patented Sunday picnics. We pick a small town - people are always telling us ‘Oh, you just have to go to [insert name of small village] it is just the most beautiful little village in France’, and yes all these small towns are quite charming - and we visit it. Then we find a nice overlook outside of town and have a picnic.
The town, this time, was Cordes sur Ciel. Which means ,‘Cordes in the sky’. Which is supposed to be a comment on how close it is to the heavens or something. Anyway it’s on a hilltop north and west of Albi.
It was a cute little medieval village built on the top of a not very tall hill. Full of its own history much of it having to do with the Count of Toulouse and having been one of the first bastides in the Languedoc region. It was basically a medieval city founded to encourage growth. The sovereignty built the center of town and surrounding lands and shops were given to individuals who promised to build up agriculture and commerce for that town and therefore also for the kingdom; a way of creating instant roots for the kingdom. Of course this initial founding is followed by years of religious wars, royal wranglings and of course plagues; things that seem to be a part of most of the medieval cities of this region.
Anyway, the town was charming and the surrounding lands are vineyards for the Gaillac wine region. We ended up having our picnic inside the van as the weather here has finally turned cooler. I think it was 48° outside when we ate at around 1 p.m. S found us a nice hilltop with a view of vineyards and freshly planted wheat fields. We enjoyed some tomato salads with mozzarella (my favorite) and bread and wine (I had water). It was a fabulous outing.
The oddness was in the drive, it was only a short drive from Toulouse, maybe an hour and in that time we saw 5 Gendarme patrols pulling vehicles over for inspection. Now, they looked just like the patrol that pulled me over to inspect my paperwork that one time, but they were looking for something specific. I daresay they were looking for North African/Arabic/Muslim looking men driving vehicles that could be concealing materials used in the making of fire bombs.
The torchings began in Toulouse, and a few small surrounding cities, on Friday night and have continued for about 4 nights. The rioting is small scale and confined to one of the southern neighborhoods, which as you might guess is the tenement area to which all of the North African/Arab/Muslim/disenfranchised/angry youths have been relegated. News says that to date 140 cars have been torched in town and several bins near government buildings have also been set on fire. Thus far the police have managed to use tear gas to effectively disperse crowds and keep the violence contained.
Today I read some recent interviews with some of the arrested youths that have appeared in ‘La Depeche’. These kids describe plans to draw police into the tenement complexes and then ambush them with fire bombs. These are kids of 19, 16 and even 8 years of age who say they have nothing so therefore have nothing to lose. Local officials feel that these kids are just out to imitate what they’re seeing on TV that is happening in Paris. Whatever their reasons they seem quite determined.
I drove into town today to meet someone for lunch and there are Gendarmes everywhere. There is one group stopping vehicles coming into our little town. Nothing has happened here locally and I suppose they want to keep it that way. But in the heart of Toulouse there are patrols at major intersections and even at some minor intersections that lead to neighborhoods that are predominantly Arabic.
So to answer all of your questions, we are fine. The newspaper interviewed the mayor of Toulouse who assures everyone that things are under control and that they expect to see an end to violence soon. Religious leaders are taking responsibility for these youths and measures are being put in place to settle disputes ‘honorably’ though what that means is anybody’s guess. It’s a very long term problem that has been going on for years and will continue for years to come, for a variety of reasons; each only serving to add another complication to an already complicated issue.
You know I've heard, in the past two years, many people refer to this group as 'Arabs', said much in the same way people of the 50's and 60's would have said the word 'nigger'. It's really sad, this country does not believe in affirmative action type laws because it would then be reverse discrimination in the hiring process, so therefore these groups have no protection or legal rights to jobs.
We had tea in this adorable little teashop off one of the main streets in town once, a while back, and it was run by an Arab gentlemen who told us of being harassed by the cops all the time, pulled over because he drove too nice a car for an ‘Arab’, being stopped on his way home because he didn't fit in the neighborhood he was driving in. He even had to pull some tricks to buy a house in the neighborhood he bought in. By the time the neighbors and seller realized who had really bought the house it was too late to back out. But over the years the neighbors have not accepted him and his family, but have at least let them be.
Yes, these people have a genuine beef, but the answers are hard. No one can really see a solution that is going to fix all of the issues. The French simply do not like the North African/Arab/Muslim people and I think that it's primarily a religious thing. The French are predominantly Catholic and have little understanding, patience or empathy for the dress/beliefs/lifestyle of these foreigners in their midst. Not to mention the whole nationalistic/this-is-our-country-so-learn-our-language-and-start-to-look-like-us issue that any US minority will tell you they also encounter.
The origins of the problem go way way back but now the problem has been and will continue to be aggravated by the EU opening borders. As more of the newer EU member countries are Eastern European and therefore predominantly Muslim and they're coming to Western Europe to find jobs these clashes will grow worse. Add in that unemployment among the French is 13 to 15% in parts (over 20% for Muslims) no one is willing to give a perfectly good 'French job' to a foreigner no matter how qualified they are.
So there you have it, my thumbnail analysis of a problem so vast that no amount of burning or rioting will fix it, and one that the French are perfectly willing to keep ignoring once this unpleasantness settles down.
On Sunday S and I took one of our patented Sunday picnics. We pick a small town - people are always telling us ‘Oh, you just have to go to [insert name of small village] it is just the most beautiful little village in France’, and yes all these small towns are quite charming - and we visit it. Then we find a nice overlook outside of town and have a picnic.
The town, this time, was Cordes sur Ciel. Which means ,‘Cordes in the sky’. Which is supposed to be a comment on how close it is to the heavens or something. Anyway it’s on a hilltop north and west of Albi.
It was a cute little medieval village built on the top of a not very tall hill. Full of its own history much of it having to do with the Count of Toulouse and having been one of the first bastides in the Languedoc region. It was basically a medieval city founded to encourage growth. The sovereignty built the center of town and surrounding lands and shops were given to individuals who promised to build up agriculture and commerce for that town and therefore also for the kingdom; a way of creating instant roots for the kingdom. Of course this initial founding is followed by years of religious wars, royal wranglings and of course plagues; things that seem to be a part of most of the medieval cities of this region.
Anyway, the town was charming and the surrounding lands are vineyards for the Gaillac wine region. We ended up having our picnic inside the van as the weather here has finally turned cooler. I think it was 48° outside when we ate at around 1 p.m. S found us a nice hilltop with a view of vineyards and freshly planted wheat fields. We enjoyed some tomato salads with mozzarella (my favorite) and bread and wine (I had water). It was a fabulous outing.
The oddness was in the drive, it was only a short drive from Toulouse, maybe an hour and in that time we saw 5 Gendarme patrols pulling vehicles over for inspection. Now, they looked just like the patrol that pulled me over to inspect my paperwork that one time, but they were looking for something specific. I daresay they were looking for North African/Arabic/Muslim looking men driving vehicles that could be concealing materials used in the making of fire bombs.
The torchings began in Toulouse, and a few small surrounding cities, on Friday night and have continued for about 4 nights. The rioting is small scale and confined to one of the southern neighborhoods, which as you might guess is the tenement area to which all of the North African/Arab/Muslim/disenfranchised/angry youths have been relegated. News says that to date 140 cars have been torched in town and several bins near government buildings have also been set on fire. Thus far the police have managed to use tear gas to effectively disperse crowds and keep the violence contained.
Today I read some recent interviews with some of the arrested youths that have appeared in ‘La Depeche’. These kids describe plans to draw police into the tenement complexes and then ambush them with fire bombs. These are kids of 19, 16 and even 8 years of age who say they have nothing so therefore have nothing to lose. Local officials feel that these kids are just out to imitate what they’re seeing on TV that is happening in Paris. Whatever their reasons they seem quite determined.
I drove into town today to meet someone for lunch and there are Gendarmes everywhere. There is one group stopping vehicles coming into our little town. Nothing has happened here locally and I suppose they want to keep it that way. But in the heart of Toulouse there are patrols at major intersections and even at some minor intersections that lead to neighborhoods that are predominantly Arabic.
So to answer all of your questions, we are fine. The newspaper interviewed the mayor of Toulouse who assures everyone that things are under control and that they expect to see an end to violence soon. Religious leaders are taking responsibility for these youths and measures are being put in place to settle disputes ‘honorably’ though what that means is anybody’s guess. It’s a very long term problem that has been going on for years and will continue for years to come, for a variety of reasons; each only serving to add another complication to an already complicated issue.
You know I've heard, in the past two years, many people refer to this group as 'Arabs', said much in the same way people of the 50's and 60's would have said the word 'nigger'. It's really sad, this country does not believe in affirmative action type laws because it would then be reverse discrimination in the hiring process, so therefore these groups have no protection or legal rights to jobs.
We had tea in this adorable little teashop off one of the main streets in town once, a while back, and it was run by an Arab gentlemen who told us of being harassed by the cops all the time, pulled over because he drove too nice a car for an ‘Arab’, being stopped on his way home because he didn't fit in the neighborhood he was driving in. He even had to pull some tricks to buy a house in the neighborhood he bought in. By the time the neighbors and seller realized who had really bought the house it was too late to back out. But over the years the neighbors have not accepted him and his family, but have at least let them be.
Yes, these people have a genuine beef, but the answers are hard. No one can really see a solution that is going to fix all of the issues. The French simply do not like the North African/Arab/Muslim people and I think that it's primarily a religious thing. The French are predominantly Catholic and have little understanding, patience or empathy for the dress/beliefs/lifestyle of these foreigners in their midst. Not to mention the whole nationalistic/this-is-our-country-so-learn-our-language-and-start-to-look-like-us issue that any US minority will tell you they also encounter.
The origins of the problem go way way back but now the problem has been and will continue to be aggravated by the EU opening borders. As more of the newer EU member countries are Eastern European and therefore predominantly Muslim and they're coming to Western Europe to find jobs these clashes will grow worse. Add in that unemployment among the French is 13 to 15% in parts (over 20% for Muslims) no one is willing to give a perfectly good 'French job' to a foreigner no matter how qualified they are.
So there you have it, my thumbnail analysis of a problem so vast that no amount of burning or rioting will fix it, and one that the French are perfectly willing to keep ignoring once this unpleasantness settles down.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
’Thar she blows!’…again.
So, I’m watching the ABC Nightly News last night – the Monday night news, as we get our internet news one day behind – and I listened to a story that, well, that poor S was sorry I’d heard I’m sure, because it set me to ranting. I’ve waited until this morning to write about it, however, so I would have a chance to organize my thoughts and cool off.
The gist of the story was that black New Orleanians are complaining that Mexicans are ‘swooping’ in and taking all the Katrina cleanup jobs. ::Gasps:: No!
Yeah, it seems that Mexicans are coming in in droves and stealing good jobs from under the noses of poor and destitute blacks. And the Mayor of New Orleans, for one, thinks that the government should be bussing those blacks that were originally displaced by Katrina, back into New Orleans so that they can do some of these jobs.
Now, let me first state that the Mexicans coming into New Orleans do not appear to be needing the government to bus them in for these jobs. No they seem to be arriving MIRACULOUSLY on their own. Yup, under their own steam and initiative they saw where the jobs were and they have arrived from all over the damn country to do these jobs. No government arranged transportation, no one spelling it out for them ‘Hmmm, Katrina, disaster, rebuilding…hey, that sounds like they might need people down south to work, let’s go check it out’. Nope they figured it out all on their own AND figured out how to get themselves down there, it’s amazing isn’t it, they provided their own damned transportation too. However, all those black folks seem to need big billboard sized sign posts pointing to the jobs, oh, and transportation from Uncle Sam.
Let’s face it, they are belly aching about someone doing and getting paid to do jobs that they DON'T WANT to do, just to have one more ‘poor pitiful us’ thing to bitch at white people (and Mexicans) for. Yes, these are shit jobs, basically shoveling shit and other debris from streets and houses, rebuilding homes and businesses, hard physical labor, back breaking sweaty work, possibly hazardous to your health work, sun up to sun down work…you get my point… it’s just too much like work to be worth it.
Oh, and one more little thing, no one has provided them with apartments or trailers or housing of any kind, no these men are living in tents. Yeah, they brought their own housing too. These are people who actually WANT to work.
Will whoever is nearest please reach over and give those folks one almighty BITCH SLAP for me.
Thanks, I feel a bit better.
The gist of the story was that black New Orleanians are complaining that Mexicans are ‘swooping’ in and taking all the Katrina cleanup jobs. ::Gasps:: No!
Yeah, it seems that Mexicans are coming in in droves and stealing good jobs from under the noses of poor and destitute blacks. And the Mayor of New Orleans, for one, thinks that the government should be bussing those blacks that were originally displaced by Katrina, back into New Orleans so that they can do some of these jobs.
Now, let me first state that the Mexicans coming into New Orleans do not appear to be needing the government to bus them in for these jobs. No they seem to be arriving MIRACULOUSLY on their own. Yup, under their own steam and initiative they saw where the jobs were and they have arrived from all over the damn country to do these jobs. No government arranged transportation, no one spelling it out for them ‘Hmmm, Katrina, disaster, rebuilding…hey, that sounds like they might need people down south to work, let’s go check it out’. Nope they figured it out all on their own AND figured out how to get themselves down there, it’s amazing isn’t it, they provided their own damned transportation too. However, all those black folks seem to need big billboard sized sign posts pointing to the jobs, oh, and transportation from Uncle Sam.
Let’s face it, they are belly aching about someone doing and getting paid to do jobs that they DON'T WANT to do, just to have one more ‘poor pitiful us’ thing to bitch at white people (and Mexicans) for. Yes, these are shit jobs, basically shoveling shit and other debris from streets and houses, rebuilding homes and businesses, hard physical labor, back breaking sweaty work, possibly hazardous to your health work, sun up to sun down work…you get my point… it’s just too much like work to be worth it.
Oh, and one more little thing, no one has provided them with apartments or trailers or housing of any kind, no these men are living in tents. Yeah, they brought their own housing too. These are people who actually WANT to work.
Will whoever is nearest please reach over and give those folks one almighty BITCH SLAP for me.
Thanks, I feel a bit better.
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