bonne fete

Hello!

Happy almost new years and belated xmas to everyone! Thanks for all the kind wishes from all who sent them along. Christmas in France was a bit bizarre, it being +20 outside and not being around the family, but we made the best of it anyhow. Nicole and I got to open 2 stockings each, care of some loving mothers back home, and we spent the day at our neighbours house.

There havn't been any new developments on the olive front, and I'm beginning to wonder if they will even be done before I leave! Aside from olive tending (which I don't do enough of), we have been having a lot of fun going on hikes, creating fantastic soups and pizzas, and meditating each morning. I've also been busy practicing hand stands, and making embarassing mistakes in french :

meant to say: I need to wash my hair
actually said: "I need to wash my ponies"

meant to say: Our house is a little messy right now
actually said: "Our house is a little satly right now"

There have also been a few mistakes that are a little less PG, the seemingly innocent words 'kiss' and 'excited' meaning far more than intended.

Tomorrow we're going to Uzes, a beautiful city about an hour from Congenies, to go skating and check out the sights. I hope everyone is well at home, sorry this post isn't terribly entertaining, I'm lacking inspiration. Hopefully the pictures make up for it!

Love!

Olive Update, Day 92305981

Dear Olive enthusiasts, and Kyla supporters

This whole olive thing is getting old. it's now day 92305981 and the olives are still really bitter and awful tasting. Even despite the hard work that madre is seen doing in the above photo!

So, Madre came and Madre went. She was here for the coldest week this year... it was freakishly cold. We even had frost one morning! When asked what to pack, I had given the wise advice of "hmm... maybe a pair of shorts". Mom now thinks that I am a liar. It warmed up exactly the moment that she caught her plane, and I reminisced fondly over the lovely week we had, but only after I changed into a pair of shorts.

Also my dear friend Nicole came to visit and is currently staying with me. We are having a lot of fun, but when asked exactly how we spend our time, or what is specifically so hilarious, we very rarely have an answer. We spend a lot of time singing songs, riding bikes, hosting imaginary cooking programs in our kitchen and persuing the perfect cup of french coffee (café créme? café alongé? avec lait sur la côté?).

December 1st in Congenies was a curious evening for the two of us. A nighttime bicycle tour revealed the newly hung Christmas decorations around town (5 strings of blue and yellow lights, and a 2008 lighted sign near the tabac, the 8 not yet lit!). The Christmas decorations were pleasant enough, and really no suprise, just a bit odd to see them without snow on the ground. The strange thing was our second discovery of the night...

A loud chirping from the bush in front of the parish fountain in the middle of the town. Loud. It could be heard all down the street. Granted, these are pretty quiet streets. It sounded like... a cricket?

We discussed the feasibility of a lonesome cricket lost in the middle of Congenies on December first. I brought up the (rather clever, no?) point that the cricket's chirping was a mating song, and we decided that certainly it's inappropriate for crickets to mate in December.

Going out last night on another nightime tour revealed the cricket to still be singing near the parish fountain. And we began to think... maybe this is some cruel French joke - to hang the Christmas lights and place a fake cricket chirping machine at the same time. This seemed like the most likely senario. But upon closer inspection the cricket (or cricket chirping machine with built in censor) stopped chirping as soon as we approached!

Any thoughts on this?
Dad, I'm counting on you here...