Aug 2008

CLUB MED…THE MONTH OF AUGUST IN PROGRESS!

August 4~10, 2008

~I’m going to be on CBC radio this week!!!

The CBC radio program, Sounds Like Canada, does a feature called “Far Flung Canadians”, and we’re taping via telephone this week! Day and time, to be announced. If we can swing it, Lauren will also join us on the show as she is a Canuck who has flung herself abroad! As soon as I have the details, I’ll post the info on Facebook and can email a brief note out to everyone!

~My Skype name is: hiitsdana if anyone wants to call me (for free)! It’s also free to downloadin case you didn’t know, and with the help of my buddy Mac, you can see me and Carb and Gas via Mac’s built-in web cam! I promise I’ll put clothes on when I answer!

~If you scramble the letters in the word “EVIAN” (a French brand of bottled water)…you can spell the word “NAÏVE”! I learned this in Finland from Darin! So, I bought some, because, I am! … but Darin, naïve is spelled naïf in French…it only works in English eh?

~OK, so the first studio I looked at was a dive…but it allowed me to practice my bad French language skills, master Montpelliere’s fantastic Tram system and get some perspective of what 450€/month will not buy us!

~2nd potential studio…apparently doesn’t like Canadian cats…so we won’t be living there!

~3rd and 4th possibles insisting on letter stating I have an income…hmmmmm, they won’t take my year’s rent upfront! French systems…I know, the Spanish warned me!

~So people in Montpellier wear shorts…and everyone has a tan!

~ATTACK OF THE CLIC-CLAC!!! OR, GASOLINE FAIT COMME UN SANDWICH!!!

Do you know what a Clic-Clac is??? Gas knows it IN-timately…it’s a sofa bed also known as a fold-out couch, and Gas got folded-in this morning!!! He appears to be OK...but then that’s what I thought after he went through the x-ray machine back in Madrid!

~Gas is completely confused…inside the dehumidified and air conditioned hotel apartment he grows his fur, then out on the 35° in the shade balcony and he sheds his fur…he doesn’t know if his fur is growing or going!

~Gas also seems to prefer Spaish shadows over French ones!!!

~Think I found a potential job for me…do you think my experience in Madrid’s nude bicycle rally will serve as adequate qualifications?

“strip teaseuse lap danceuse”

~I’m in the land of Dijon Mustard, it grows on trees here and it’s cheap and I love it and I feel more French when I eat it!

Well, mes amis, wish me more than luck in finding an apartment that likes Canadian cats and doesn’t mind if I’m not working…and if any of you have any connections here in Montpellier that could help me out (Nick) please feel free to give them my number 06 456 38 38 5! Thanks, et jusqu’à la prochaine…

Dana, essence et carbutateur xox

CLUB MED…DAY 2!

August 2, 2008

~The Med is my neighbour, but I haven’t met him yet! Apparently there’s a massive nudist beach in the neighbourhood…stay tuned!

~Day 2 shopping at Inno, le supermarché près de moi, and I discovered what was missed on day 1’s investigation…Smirnoff Ice…so I’ve decided I’ll stay in Montpellier!

~Had to buy a Virgin today…a new phone…NB a French user manual is somewhat easier to figure out, even without pictures, than the Spanish one I still can’t completely read!

~Here’s my new #:

From Canada:
(011) (33) 645638385

Local:
0645638385

~Today I walked the periphery of the old, central and “c’est COOL” section of Montpellier. It took over an hour…a tad bigger than Jaca, and I only got temporarily displaced once and that was in the shopping centre looking for the grocery store!

~Carb and Gas update…not much to report. I think they’ve got the hang of this moving thing I do to them. They only spoke for the 1st hour of the 8ish hour car journey. They approve of our air-conditioned hotel room with the glass walled balcony, although gas’ fur is confused by the cool air and growing thicker as we speak, and he has only dived into the glass wall once…that I noticed!

~I, too, seem to have the hang of moving cities, cultures and languages! It just isn’t as scary here…have more confidence in my French education than I did in my Spanish pocket dictionary! Plus, now I have experience and just know what I need to do.

~So if you’ve got the notion to do what I’m doing…definitely read the following…

8 simple steps to sorting out your new life when moving to France:

1 Get there, somehow…trickier with cats…I can give you Anna and Phil’s
phone #.
2 Find a temporary place to stay…that likes cats.
3 Find a phone store that employs a Canadian guy named Xavier to help you pick out a new cell phone that suits your purposes, no frills. Then Xavier becomes your first and only friend and throws in a phone case for free!
4 Ask your new and only friend if all stores in France are closed on Sundays.
5 Learn how to say “carton” in French so you can buy cigarettes.
6 Spend hours in the local grocery store until you find Smirnoff Ice, Canada
Dry Ginger Ale and Werther’s candies. (Don’t even look for peanut butter
if you’ve brought residual gifts.)
7 Find a real place to live for a year…that likes cats.
8 Find a job.

Easy as pie and your sorted!

~Day 3 is reserved for reading French newspapers! Emma, can you google who invented the French-English dictionary…I really want to thank them!

~That’s all I know for now…and now the real work begins…finding my sanctuary and a job to pay for the sanctuary…it is exciting!

Je t’embrasse,
Dana, carb et essence xox

FINISH UP FINLAND & CLUB MED

July~August 2008

~Cigarettes in Finland are sold in “Family Packs” (as Darin calls them), 28/pkg.

~Retraction from last update (July) “Men are slobbish”…amendment…”but not Darin!”

~I hope, Ali and Darin, you enjoyed your beer as much as I appreciated the lift to Tampere airport Ali and for lookin’ after me Darin…I miss you and the refugee camp…in a strange kind of Punkalaidun-ishy way! Still awaiting your updates!!!!

~My stint in Finland, July 13~28, was welcomed by a Finnish text message, which I received July 28th on my way out of Finland!

~I resisted Stansted airport’s floor, as inviting as it appeared, as a most hospitable Finn/Brit couple whom I met in the Tampere “International Airport” offered me a bed in their London home. My inflatable pillow, Thermarest and sleeping bag traversed Europe twice, for not! The bed was accompanied by morning coffee, a shower and a walking tour of Stoke Newington. Plus, they’re kindred cat folk. They took a risk inviting a complete stranger into their home…I never forget kind and sharing people like this…perhaps they noticed my cat hairy apparel. They definitely get to be added to my collection of good people in this world!

~Piko and Mike’s 1846 home is older than my country!!

~The 2 day journey to Finland, in perspective, was short, in comparison to the 3 day journey back to Jaca!

~I’m thankful I’m not young and attractive…waiting in bus and train stations would be even more annoying!

~Travelling teaches you there are good people worldwide…but it also confirms there are losers in every language!

~I had under 12 hours back in the Jac to drink and pack up! My boxes and bags are as disorganized as my emotions!

MON MONTPELLIER…IT’S MINE!

August 1, 2008

~You know the expression ”Get a Life”…well, I’m on it!

~If first impressions are true impressions…then, I LOVE Montpellier!

~Day one in Montpellier…international cuisine, copious grocery food selection (including Canadian maple syrup!), Gitanes cigarettes, French men, really yummy fermented grape juice, Mediterranean sunshine and heat, and clumping cat litter…yes!

~By the way, if you happen to be waiting for a personal invitation to visit me…you could be waiting a long time. Here’s the thing about me, I have an open door policy…you just need to confirm I have a door at the time you invite yourself to visit me! Once you have crossed my path in a positive kind of way…you make my email list…I only delete those who ought to be deleted from the human race!

~Brendah…you have no idea how often and regularly the word “Bella Bella” comes up in my day-to-day conversations!

~Lauren’s response to my last update…”it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me miss you!” Awwwwww. The next person to cross Lauren’s path, could you please give her a really big hug for me?

Well, all’s well east of the Pyrenees…French day one was wonderful…can’t wait for the next 364 to come!

À toute a l’heure,
Dana, Essence, et Carburateur xox