An American in Provence

Double take, Cat calls, Wolf whistles, Hey Baby want to (verb) my (noun)?



As far as I have seen so far, there seems to be less of this going on in France than in the US. Of course, I haven't walked past any construction sites lately.

But it seems to be more of the non-verbal kind, not phrases or demands. (Or it is and I am just blissfully unaware linguistically).

Though there was a time that I walking with my sister in law, and we walked past a group of, I am guessing, teenage boys. They were calling out things like "Hey how are you doing? Talk to us" We ignored them, then the comments changed to umm, well, name calling. (I didn't know this at the time, she explained it to me when we had moved away.)

So gentlemen- be respectful. Don't do it in front of your lady. Don't do it at work. Don't, in fact, say anything. While you might be quite pleased to hear "Hey big fella" a) it isn't going to happen and b) that doesn't mean women want to hear the same from men.

As I have been going to job interviews lately, I am more dressed up than usual. And by usual I mean sweats. I have received some honks, which I assume were meant for me as there was nothing else obvious that they could be honking at. A couple of double takes, and a few Wooh!s.

Though this could be as much due to my coloring (blond hair, blue eyes) as everything else. This area is mostly a dark haired, dark eyed region. Haven't gotten any spontaneous marriage proposals yet but was discussing with the men working on the apartment below us. They asked if I was married, said yes, then said they should have figured with my blond hair and blue eyes. Yes, I did step on to French soil and ensnared the first sap who came along. (hard to come off sarcastic online)

I think any woman who says that she hates getting noticed is either lying or deceiving herself. As long as it is somewhat tame and subtle (honks, double takes) I think most women feel secretly flattered. Once men stop complimenting you as you walk down the street in your best, then you notice that they don't and wish they would again. But if every day on your way to work you are bombared with gross requests, then I can see where it would be a problem (and you might want to take another way to work.) Or at work is bad too. I suppose everyone has different comfort levels but to me the following are acceptable at work: "You look nice today" "I like what you have done with your ----" or "That is a very nice ----- (hairstyle, outfit, shoes (haha like men would notice shoes) or piece of jewelry)". Notice I did not include body parts in that list. "That sweater really brings out the color of your eyes" is okay. "That skirt really brings out the hotness of your legs" is not.

That doesn't mean I only want to be thought of as a ornament and not be respected for my acheivements and abilities. Looks alone may get some people jobs (not me) but you gotta have something more that.

If anyone, man or woman, has a different opinion or would like to share an experience, please feel free to comment.

Our apartment is incredibly dirt and I can't even clean it.

First off, we have tons of tools and building supplies taking over our hallway. Our medium bedroom is filled with boxes and bathroom stuff (shelves, shower curtain, towels) that we had to move out of the bathroom when we started working on it. The smallest bedroom has the shower basin smack dab in the middle of the floor, plus the spa thing that we are planning on mounting on the wall (one piece with the shower head, jets, etc.) on the floor. Everything is covered in a fine layer of dust, from the guys working in the bathroom- sanding down the walls, then putting more concrete on because apparently our walls are sloped. Our vacuum cleaner decided that it has had enough. (and honestly, I don't blame it. I would have quit too, if only I could.) It turns on, makes noise, but that is about it. Besides, even if it did work, there really is no point as there is a new coat of dust every two days anyway.

Sponge bathing is getting old, especially in the winter. By the time the warm water gets from the faucet to my body, it is cold. Standing there without a stitch on in the cold air makes one want to take sponge baths less. One starts to think "Ah well. I didn't do anything too strenuous today. I didn't work up a sweat or play in the mud. I think I am good for one more day. I would much rather stay in my nice comfy sweats." Don't believe me? Try it for two months.

At least our washing machine works, so our clothes are clean.

I have recently upgraded to the New Blogger. I have added labels on the posts, so you can click on a label and be shown all the posts in that catagory.
The labels I have, in order of frequency, are at this time

Provence (17) (places we have visited here in Provence, including Marseille)
French Customs (16)
Wedding (15) (our's and other people's)
French Language (14)
Misc (12) (things that don't fit in other catagories)
Daily Life (11)
Family (11)
Holidays (11)
Our Apartment (10)
Rants (10)
Trips (8) (any trip taken outside of Provence)
Mishaps (7)
Homesick (6)
Alain (4)
Bureaucracy (4)
Friends (4)
Jobs (4)
Health (4)
Cooking (3)

New catagories may be added in the future, and some posts have more than one catagory.

Another change is that on the right underneath the list of labels you will see an icon Site Meter. If you click on it, it will show facts about my site. How many people have visited (starting at this moment, not since I started the blog). It also shows interesting facts about location of people that have visited my blog, how they reached it (search engines, etc). If you would like me to block your address so your IP is not shown, please let me know.
Thanks

Today we had the washer/dryer combo and our stove/oven delivered. We bought them on Saturday, after much visiting of the various home appliance stores in the area. It took a while to figure out exactly how to configure our kitchen as there is a 107 cm wide part of the wall that juts out. I guess it was the old ventilation shaft or something. Who knows.
The only possibility was to buy a 50 cm wide stove (smaller than standard 60 cm) and a 60 cm washer. We wanted a combo, and the best was to buy one that opens in front, not on top, and those only come in 60 cm widths. So what about those extra 3 cm? We are going to have to make it unaligned, slightly surpassing into the sink area.
We finally went to a Factory Leftovers type of place, and found the same models, 100 euros less for the washer, and 50 euros less for the stove. Delivery/set-up/removal of old appliances was 40 euros, a definite worth-it.
Except we don't have enough plugs in the kitchen, nor a gas hook up for the stove (which has three gas burners and one electric). So we need to get someone to install a gas connection, as we already have the gas line from the city for our hot water heater. Anything is better than working with two hot plates and a toaster oven. So the stove is in the hallway for another week or so. Making it a little harder to cook. Oh well. I can always order pizza and serve cereal. We had debated whether we wanted to cancel the delivery of this stove (when we realized that though we had the gas, we didn't have the hook up. One thing home ownership has definitely taught me- never assume anything!) and get an all-electric one, but everyone seems to think gas is better. Besides, we weren't sure the company would let us change our order.
(everyone admire... Oooohhhh... Aaaahhh.... ->)

The washer/dryer is a great space saver. In our old apartment I had to haul the laundry to the nearest Laundromat several blocks away. When we moved in here, the woman left her washer, but it doesn't spin fast enough to get any of the water out. So then I have to wring it out in the sink and hang it up to dry. At the moment, we don't get direct sunlight so it takes about three days to dry. Can't wait to try it out. Even if it only dries 4 kg of clothes (washes 5 kg, don't know why there is a difference) anything is better than what we had.
Stove will eventually go right next to the dryer on the right. Then we can start removing wallpaper, repainting, changing the electricity, and buy new sinks and cabinets! Oh Happy Day!