Snow!

It's snowing!

I woke up first in what I thought was the middle of the night and then realized was 7:15... meditated and then went back to sleep. And then when I woke up again, snow! In big fluffy flakes. I can't help thinking of it as a gift to the children of Paris. It doesn't often snow here. But I understand it's going to be a cold winter, so there will prolly be more of these gifts in the next few months.

Last night I went to the Bom and met up with SF, plus all the usual suspects (moppety and the boys again...I do have girlfriends, honestly) . SF is great fun. He's from Tennessee and has been living in Germany, but is ready to move back to the states...or maybe to Mexico. I can't believe there are comp ling jobs in Mexico, but hey.

We went to the Rhubarb, and then dinner, with this guy T who is a dissertating philosopher, and his cousin M, a bright-looking 20 years old and just in for the weekend from the UK. Dinner was a few doors down in a restaurant where you eat in what I suppose used to be a wine cellar. Curvy ceilings. And they serve you free sangria at the beginning of the meal and free calvados at the end. Anyway, grand time.

I should mention about the Rhubarb...an Irish bar not far from the Bom, that's where I went with Irish and English folks last Sunday and found myself staying out very late, due in part to a chocolate martini one of the girls bought me because she was having one!

Whoa, having too much fun here. And speaking too much English! Well, lunch yesterday was entirely in French, with the people in my office (Md, Sv, J-F), and still I have trouble understanding them in noisy situations; Md is from Morocco and Sv has a southern accent, so I really only have a clear shot at understanding J-F, but when he speaks fast I'm lost.

There was a funny incident at lunch, which is couscous on Fridays. "Couscous" here means what we know as couscous, plus a broth with vegetables to pour over the couscous, and then you order whatever chunk of meat or sausage you want with that. Well, the waitress called J-F into the kitchen to explain that there were no more vegetables left in the broth so we would have to order something else. It was late, and they had had a great many more customers than they had expected. I ended up ordering couscous anyway, and asked for a green salad to go with it, just because I had been looking forward to the couscous.

I forget if I've written this on the blog, but people sometimes ask me if I am enjoying French cuisine, and I always reply and say, "Yes, very much! I love couscous!" It always gets a laugh. It's funny because it's true.

Anyway, today is all about American cuisine. Thanksgiving Day, observed. Kids even: there will be two year old twins and of course six year old El. Must venture out into the snow now to find sweet potatoes and marshmallows.