Let's Talk Food

Those of you that know me fairly well would probably say that I am a pretty picky eater. As a child (and by child I mean 18) I was known for my white plate at Thanksgiving - turkey, potatoes and bread. Over the last couple years I have learned to venture out, and I have been surprised by many foods that I have come to love. As I embarked on this journey I told myself that I would keep an open mind to food and would try anything at least once.

With this being said....

If I was a diabetic I would be in a coma right now, but my digestive system would be the healthiest it's ever been, and I surely would never fear another yeast infection (not that I've ever had one...).

Let me explain: I mentioned earlier that the French love chocolate for breakfast. And this still holds true. But I have taken to forego the chocolate for breakfast and just hold off for the brioche with Nutella for a mid day snack. In turn, my breakfast consists of toast with an assortment of jams, some english breakfast tea, and the occassional bowl of musilx that only has a few choice chocolate chips.

So what I haven't mentioned yet is that the french love SUGAR. Heaps and heaps of sugar. I have watched one by one each of the Sevettes pour mounds of sugar into their yogart. And let me tell you that we have yogart with every meal. Both lunch and dinner is followed by yogart - in as many varities as you could ever imagine.

The lactose intolerant would have no place in this home.

But, to move on from the sweets and to the part about how I said I would eat anything at least once while on this trip, let me tell you that tonight I ate a whole artichoke. When you go to the fresh foods section of the grocer and there are whole artichokes with all the leaves, that is what I ate. When asked if I wanted artichoke I said "sure, i've never had it prepared this way, I'l try it",but I did not expect to have the whole thing placed on my plate for only me to eat. But it was, and I ate it all. Wasnt too bad, but in the future I think I will share with others at the table.

To add to my list of things I have tried for the first time while being here:

Snails,
Beets,
mushrooms on pizza,
So many cheeses that I could never even begin to name them all, but most stink to high heaven,
and although I hate to admit it, I have eaten a variety of fruits.

Yes, fruit. When faced with the grocer at the open market handing me his homegrowon product that he was so proud of and telling me, in french, that he wanted me to taste it, and me not knowing how to politely tell him I dont eat fruit, I crumbled and ate it. I had a piece of orange, half a kiwi, and some mandarin oranges. And yes, I actually liked both the kiwi and the mandarin oranges.

Now, will I continue to eat all these things when I return back to the states, I dont know. I fear that they will not be as good as they are here and I don't want to taint the experience I had of them when I was in Fance.

But, I will continue to try things, and just pray that when I leave here that I will not go into sugar withdraw.

Disclaimer: please note that when I refer to "the french" I am pretty much referring to the Sevette's as they are my only source for this study.

Look out St. Louis....

... France is beating you on the race to become "green"!

Going "green", or becoming ecologically aware, is quite prevalent in France. Recently plastic bags have been banned from all shopping stores. This morning when we went to the Carrefore (the Walmart of France) we had to bring our own canvas bags to carry our groceries in. You will also find that many containers are bio-friendly and organic foods are plenty.

Here at the Sevette home being eco-friendly is a way of life. Lights are not used during the day - only sunlight from the windows. And you better be sure that if you do use a light in a room that you turn it off when you leave that room. I made the mistake of using my light in my room when getting ready the other morning, instead of opening my blinds, and I was reminded that sunlight is better for the environment, and of course the pocketbook.

When buying toothpaste this morning, Martine promptly informed me that my toothpaste selection was not good for the environment because the box that my toothpaste was packaged in was unnecessary, and why would I buy that if I could purchase a tube that came without packaging. So, of course, I promptly put my packaged toothpaste back on the self and bought the eco-friendly one, never mind the horrid taste it might have.... I know I am going to feel better about myself every time I brush my teeth.

As we continued to walk through the store Martine informed me of all the ways to be environmently conscience when shopping, all the way down to the tampax she buys. And I won't go into detail, but did you know that there are reusable ones? I'm not sure I can jump on that train.

Martine also buys only fair trade products when possible as well.

Now this might be available in the US too and I just don't know about it yet (I do live in St. Louis), but in France you can now buy cars that run on natural gas. The Sevette's are shopping for one. They are also looking into solar panelling for their home. I'm telling you, with as trendy as "green" is right now, this family is hip! I mean they even wash their clothes with a nut! Yes, a nut. From Indonisa. The nut apparently has soap inside it. CRAZY!

Now, I believe that the Sevette's are a bit of the extreme here in France, but I find it refreshing to know that American's are not the only ones working to better the environment. I have a long way to go before I am as hip as the Sevette's, but I am now much more aware of my purchases and how they effect the world I live in. This is certainly something that I was not expecting to get from my trip to France.

The Universal Language of ... bowling?

Yes, this is France.

Yes, the french bowl, and yes, I went Bowling in France. Bowling is apparently quite new to the french and as you can see from the photo they are quite Americanized (is that a word?). Actually, everything inside is in English - except for language spoken by everyone in it.

William and I also played a round of pool, or a version of it rather. It was nice to do something familiar, and it turns out that i'm no better a pool player in France than I am in America. Oh, well.

And it turns out that global warming is happening everywhere, not just in St. Louis - who would of thought? It's April and it snowed the other night. Big huge snow flakes. It was kind of surreal. This is apparently not the norm for France at this time of year - even for the North of France. The pool that is sitting in the back yard is usually open by now.

Unfortunately, I think I am starting to come down with a cold, as I am sneezing every 5 minutes. Good thing I packed the airborn.

Okay, Robin is patiently waiting for me to go play badmiton (?)with him. Thats all for now. More later.