Christmas good cheer

Healthy looking Christmas trees for sale right outside the door of the supermarket.

Check out this tissue box. "C'est vachement bon!" It is really good. 
I have learnt a new word in french; "Vachement". It is slang for "really". It is derived from the word in french that means, "cow" , "vache"

I loved the way the tail sticks out. Cheesy, gimmicky and a gorgeous addition to my kitchen!

All the teachers at school have a little cubby hole where bits of papers and books are delivered. A bit like a letterbox. In french it is called a "caissier". To my delight, one morning recently I found a bag of goodies from my friend, Éve. She gave me some Eucolyptus oil and some paper tissues. The smell of eucalyptus is so divine …… almost worth having a cold as an excuse to repeatedly sniff the sweet minty perfume!

Also in the pack of goodies was some moisturiser, note paper and a bowl of wheat grains. In Provence, it is the custom to plant grains of wheat à la Saint Barbe, which was last week. You sprinkle the grains with water to make them germinate and grow. This is for happiness and good luck for next year. Éve said in the note that she will leave me to do this as Provence has adopted me!  I was deeply touched by such thoughtfulness and, in particular, I was deeply touched to think that Provence has adopted me. It really made me think how attached I have become to the people here in Gap and how, deep down iside me, I wanted to be included in their daily life. 

There are many, many things here in Gap, that are very, very different to systems, organisation and customs back home. Often there have been so many mistakes made by me through not knowing stuff. At times, I look as if I am a fool, however, most of the time, it is because i didn't know something. Slowly, after 3 months now, I feel as if I am beginning to get inside people's heads and UNDERSTAND their thinking processes. It takes a certain kind of saint to try and understand MY way of thinking and interpreting the world. Its almost impossible, unless someone has been to NZ themselves.

Each and every day, I encounter new ideas, opinions and experiences. 

After eating some raw carrot, I knew there were problems with a wire in my mouth. The wire is called a "retainer". It stops my teeth from moving back again after having orthodontic work.

I tried to ignore the problem, however, it wasn't long before the loose wire became an emergency situation, making it painful to eat. 

The events that followed took a day of finding a dentist that could take me straight away. Fortunately, my french is good enough to communicate relatively coherently. Whilst sitting in the dentist's waiting room, I took a snap of the handwritten price list. Very interesting.

I was dead lucky to get my wire repaired for about 50 bucks. I was a bit suspicious when she would take cash only. Anyway, I wasn't going to complain. 

It was an experience that makes for interesting story telling over a glass or two of wine.

As I was walking past the horse paddock on the way to school the other day, I spotted this very ginger cat sitting on the snow. It must have a very cold bum!!   ( Bum in french is fesse.)

Here is an update on my white horse neighbours. The snow has melted and they eat hay out of a barrel. The sun is bright and this gorgeous beauty was relaxing in the sun, catching some rays.