France again

It is officially warming up here in Southern France. I can tell because my host mom stopped keeping perishables outside on the patio to keep them cold; now we just have to eat things quickly. I’ve switched from my Carhart to a stylish raincoat I got from a thrift store, and I don’t need a scarf anymore. Finally.

Speaking of weather, the French are real hung up on it. The environment affects day-to-day life here in a way it just doesn’t in the States. Now that it’s sunny, people spend hours outdoors, just leaned up against buildings or sitting on the ground. The park was crowded with folks on blankets, and it isn’t even t-shirt weather yet.

They also just really care about environmentalism. Phrases like “continuing soil toxicity” and “sustainable alternatives” are household here. ATMs have an option to not give a receipt to save paper. Water usage is measured by the cup. Lightbulbs are only used when the sun goes down. Unlike home, every single person I’ve interacted with both believes that climate change is a real and present danger and that they must work individually and communally to fight it. It’s refreshing and awesome, but the room temperature milk due to the fridge not being on full power was difficult to get used to.

By the way, the stereotype that the French eat smaller portions doesn’t seem to check out. I think they just have tiny drinks. Like, the servings are decently large, but the coffee cups and water jugs are laughably small. I have to bring a water bottle to restaurants to avoid dehydration.

Anyway, for class discussion today we talked about the issue of rats. Let me explain: each student is assigned a day on which we must present a topic that we feel is pressing and relevant to French/international life. So we’ve talked about travel, waste prevention, stuff like that. Today’s student, Xin, presented on rats. She says that there are a lot of rats everywhere and she wants to know what we all think about that.

We went around the room presenting our opinions: we should exterminate them, we should sterilize them, we should coexist with them, etc. When it got to my turn, I was still so flabbergasted by the choice of topic that I just sputtered out, “The only time I see rodents is when my cat kills one and brings it to me, so I don’t have an opinion.”

Teacher thought that was an adequate position to take and blessedly moved on. I mean, rats?

Cordialement,

Allison

P.S.: Yes, everybody mentioned Ratatouille at least once.