Dull, dull, dull

Howdy all! It’s a clear, cool night in Rome. An absolutely gorgeous red moon is hanging over the hills of Abruzzo in the distance. All this from my terrace. Quite nice…and yet I feel no inspiration lately. Too tired from work and then the inevitable homework questions from DRK. I need a few more hours in the day. At least I’m reading another book…trying to research a major setting in my book and fill up my coffers of ignorance with a modicum of knowledge. Am I reaching too far? It’s all a bit scary.  

That’s it. Not much more. Life is dull, dull, dull.

Bloody true

First, congrats to la Gringa. Finished book #2. That is a huge accomplishment and not to be taken lightly. Hot dog, that’s great news. Me, I’ve been under the weather lately. I gave blood last week and wasn’t aware that I had a minor virus at the same time. A pint down in the red stuff, the virus took charge and chased me to bed. For three days straight, it was like being car sick. Non-stop. But it’s over. And the blood donation was worth it. Maybe it’ll save someone or make that surgery a bit easier. 

And me, I’ve now given blood in 5 different countries. That’s a noble accomplishment, right?

Here in Italy, I should have learned the words for dizzy before I arrived. When the light headedness took over and I grew all sweaty and clammy while at the food table, I walked back to the nurses. “Are you fine?” The words to describe my condition escaped me so I just said, “No.” And boom, the room jumped into action. A nurse cleared the couch in the teacher’s lounge (Blood drive was in the teacher’s lounge at DRK’s school). She laid me down and threw down drops of some nasty liquid down my throat. Another nurse held up my feet. A third, the one who actually took my blood, came over to check on me. Everyone was so nice, caring, helpful. Both the nurses and the fellow donors. After a few minutes, the blood giving dizziness was gone, I chowed down and left. It was only an hour later when the viral nausea hit. Later in the day, when DRK called, she said her mother mentioned I had almost fainted. Rather than ask how her poor father was, she grew desperate on the phone and asked, “Did anyone see you? Did any teachers know who you were?” My health be damned. She just didn’t want to be embarrassed. I told her everyone saw and that I wore a nametag that said, “DRK’s father.” She was none to happy.

Oh, and a question, with all these needles and blood, why don’t the nurses wear latex gloves? 

Whip

The Logic Board has Died

More tales of computer woe! Not only does La Gringa’s poor letter “P” not work, which is a huge deal for a book about the Perils of Paulina in Panama, but DRK’s computer has just passed away. It was a quiet death, dragged out. The video card, built into the Logic Board on her Macbook Pro is no more. It was always troublesome, but I figured we could fix it. We went out to the Apple Store in Rome (sorry La Gringa, the first and only Apple Store on the old Continent is in Rome!) The Genius Bar was kind and told us no problem we could fix. The estimate? The same price as a new PC and only guaranteed for 3 months. Ah…no thank you, Apple!. So we bought a new PC, and that’s PC and not Mac. Of course, being in Italy that means I will forever be stuck with Windows in Italian. Italian, French, German, whatever. We gringos are used to this. We deal with it all the time. Trying to figure out how to get the accent marks, QWERTY vs. QWERTZ. I’ve dealt with Austrian keyboards, Swiss French keyboards, French keyboards (yes different from Swiss French) and now Italian. At the very least, Italian keyboards are baseline QWERTY. Phew! 

We are momentarily inconvenienced, however. We have been a 2 computer family, but were going to upgrade and become a 3 computer family this summer. We are now a 1 computer family for a few days. Doesn’t work. Thankfully, we pick up our new treasure on Thursday.

I only hope the “P” works. :>)

 

Whip

I’m baaaccckkk

Yes, I’ve been off vacationing in fairer climes.  You might have noticed a little windgeing about the weather on my part.  Complain no more…for at least two or three posts.  I was off in tropical Thailand and Cambodia and since I’ve been back in Paris, we’ve had fantastic weather (two days straight!).  

Spent some time with our expat friends in Phnom Penh (time warp town).  It’s the “other” expat experience.  The one with a cook, maid, driver and house guards.  The third world expat (are we still allowed to say ‘third world’?) sure has us beat on sheer foreign-ness.  People always wanting to help you– “Tuk tuk Madame?” “Post card madame?”  ”Madame, you buy water from me?”  And I mean relentless.  I’m sure there are days where you have to steal yourself to wade through it.  

Also, you NEVER blend.  Even if you took the 12 years necessary to master khmai (the khmer language) and bought a motorbike for your family of four,  your average blue-eyed, blond-haired 5 ft. 5 in. monster will never look Cambodian.  It’s the shoes too and the clothes, of course.  They scream, “I shop in an industrialized country”.  

There are bonuses.  Guests are at a minimum.  How many people pass through Phnom Penh as opposed to say…Paris?  Everything is cheap.  DVD’s-a few bucks, silk scarves, purses, pillows all about 10 bucks.  Nothing on a menu was more than 7 dollars (yes, they use the dollar…who knew?)  Oh and did I mention the support team?  Maids, cooks, drivers…could get used to that.

And I’ll just say it one more time…there is the weather.  Still, La Gringa

Weather today: Mostly cloudy, chance of rain

OK, OK, I’m getting an icky feeling this is becoming a blog for weirdos obsessed with their pets…  (No offense to all you weirdos out there obsessed with your pets…some of whom live in my house) I know, I started it (the pet thing)..mea culpa.  

I’m wondering why my fellow bloggers will post pet photos but not their own.  Hmm shy maybe? 

I’m rarely accused of being shy.  We (La Gringa and El Latino) were at a dinner party Friday night where I was asked the usual question “How do you like France?”  (After ten years it’s crazy to me that I’m supposed to answer this in one sentence…it’s like, ‘how do you like your husband?’ — do you want a daily average???)  I’m not one of the expats who loves to hate it here, nor do I fall into the category of beret huggers.  I’ve a slightly jaded, more positive than negative, yet reserving the right to complain -attitude.  

 

 

 

So I gave the requisite raves about Paris and living in France.  I made a teensy weensy complaint about the last 67 days of rain.  

And the response?  ”Well, NY weather is worse.”  

Where I come from (New York), thems fighting words.  So here it is…according to the BBC, (independent source, neither American or French, see how fair I am) Paris has a wopping 162 wet days per year on average.  That’s nearly every other day!  NY has 125.  Not Yuma Arizona, but that’s another month+ of dry, frizz free days.  NY has on average an extra 2.5 hours of sunlight per day!  I’m sorry, I have light deficiency.  That’s my beef here.  I love Paris.  But words to the wise:  Bring an umbrella…just in case.

La Gringa