I'm definitely drinking more than one American-sized cup of coffee each morning, which is funny because in general, most things are smaller in France than the US. When you go out, coffee is literally a quarter of the size of an American cup of coffee. You can't really find (as far as I can tell, unless you go to "MacDo," McDonald's) a small/medium/large option for regular coffee out at a cafe or restaurant because espresso is the norm, and you really don't take it to-go, either... unless you visit the AWESOME vending machine that sells espresso (with or without sugar/milk,) mochachinnos, cafe au lait, or cappucinos for 0.40 euros (we have one of these at the Institute.)
I talked about my excitement for quite some time after receiving the beverage.. the girls here are starting to realize (among the many photos of food I've taken and whatnot) that I have a slight food craze.
I'm not sure how much caffeine is in this coffee I drink every morning at the apartment because that espresso definitely woke me up more than the bowl full of regular coffee here... that being said, I feel rather awake for having seven hours of sleep under my belt!
Well! I started that post above this past Saturday, and never got back to it until now...! Ah bien!
So, it's Monday, but I'm going to wrap up my weekend thoughts before exploring my Monday madness.
Friday night, it finally happened... I made friends with the cat! Her name is Aquarelle (French for "watercolor",) a beautiful grey cat (though don't ask me what kind, I could never tell you because I don't know the first thing about cats,) that my host mother's friend owns. Since she was away on travel, my host mother watched the cat for a couple of weeks. Aquarelle gave me the French-turn-up-your-nose from Day One, running away from me and, one late night when I arrived home alone a little past midnight, the thing hissed at me several times.
So, I thought we were on bad terms, what with the constant stink-eye and her mischievous sleeping on my bed (it's like the cat sensed that I have a problem with certain things being on my bed... I don't even let my own dog sleep on my bed at home!)
But then, the weekend came and my host mother left me with the apartment to myself from Friday to Sunday. Toute seule, it was just me and the cat... which didn't frighten or concern me by any means, I mean it's always good to have company (I really came to appreciate her when I walked home late at night,) but I didn't think anything of it.
So Friday night I arrived home after a chill evening at La Place Plume (let me tell you... that walk home is never fun) and guess who greeted me? After the slightest bit of hesitation, Aquarelle rubbed up against my legs with that "I'm glad your home" attitude instead of the "I'mma rub my cat fur onto your pants and you can't stop me" attitude.
I didn't make anything of it until the next morning when I was brushing my teeth, and the cat hopped into the bathtub beside me and stared into the drain like it was some marvelous contraption. Slowly she crept up to the sink and kind of pawed at the faucet.. so I thought hey, why not make a peace offering?
I turned on the water just so the pressure wasn't too much, and Aquarelle drank away! It was actually very cute. But then, you know, I had to finish brushing my teeth.
That morning I decided: we're in this together, cat. You and I this weekend, attacking France (and by that I mean she'll stay home and sleep while I explore.. but that's totally cool as long as she's home when I am. One evening I came back sans host mother and couldn't find the cat anywhere... only to learn an hour later that she was sleeping on a chair just under the tablecloth that hangs over the dining room table... darn cat.)
So, Aquarelle's mom just picked her up an hour ago...
Well I'm glad I had the company for the weekend I was home alone, and one fact was verified for me: As they say in the movie Meet the Parents, "For a cat, you have to earn their love."
Welcome to France.
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