Ce que j'ai fait pendant les vacances d'ete aux States

What I did on my summer vacation in the US:

-Went to a cat show. As an ex-animal welfare employee, I know cat people are crazy, but cat show breeders are a whole different brand of cult-like insanity. This one enormous sassy grandmother-type judge wore golden tennis shoes and kept taking about a show cat named Bonnie, the Happy Household Pet champion, who wasn't even there competing that day. Think Christopher Guest film Best in Show but with cats and perhaps bolder fashion decisions.

-Big family wedding. This is kind of the haiku description: radiant couple, weather held (ceremony outdoors). Everyone relieved afterwards.

-35th and 65th wedding anniversary lunch, 100 years of marriage celebrated simultaneously (in a cringingly American all-you-can-eat buffet in a Baltimore suburb). Will never really be a fan of all you can eat anything, but let me tell you, the bill was so cheap that I thought the restaurant had made a mistake and forgotten to charge us for 2 people. At least.


-Road-tripped (oh, so American) to North Carolina. Which is a vast wilderness state where man is losing the battle with nature, as evidenced by 7,000 new mosquito bites each time you go outdoors and neighbors complaining about roving deer who come and eat their gardens. One of my cousins once called her sister's backyard (and by extension, the entire the Raleigh-Durham surrounding area) the Ewok Forest. Saw Frannie's new house in said Forest, which will be beautiful when she fixes it up. It's definitely a long-term project (it needs floors, for example), but I know she'll do a great job.

-Saw fireworks on the 4th. The live band played Oh, What a Night-- in English. Thought there was a mistake at first, as although I generally find that song insipid in any language, am now more accustomed to hearing it as Ces Soirees-La. The French incarnation of the BeeGees will make its American debut at a friend's Kentucky wedding this Friday in tribute to all the absent Frenchies or Anglophones those who reside there (Merci, Tiffi!)

-Ran a 5K. For the first time in about 4 years. Got back into running because there's a great paved trail near my parents' house. Determined to maintain the habit in Paris, which is a challenge because the only socially acceptable jogging areas are parks where you have a narrow jogging window, so have to plan ahead to run at that perfect moment in the day when they are neither too crowded nor too secluded.

-Went to Boston. Met up with my best friend from CA there, which was lovely. And saw my cousin, Sara, who is like a sister to me. Both are very happy and this was inspirational, considering that long periods of existential misery is more the norm in Paris... Parisians perhaps just don't show happiness in the same way, though, and I am being unfair. Maybe they express it through excessive complaining, smoking or heavy sighing.

-Went to Sara's graduation from massage school. If you're not sure what kind of ceremony to expect for this, neither were we. Lots of inspirational quotes, ranging from Gandhi to Dr. Seuss, both in speeches and in power point presentations, but got a good sense of the program-- and how close the students became to one another. They really are embarking on new careers, and that was exciting to see.

-Made many resolutions and identified some new goals. This is a little Oprah, so I'll spare you my various projects. After all, one can only devote so many hours a day to attempting self-improvement.

-Plans for next summer: meet the family in Montreal (truly fascinated by the bilingual city on the North American continent; naively imagine it'll be like France, but with customer service) and then drive down to Delaware ensemble. Definitely feeling in need of more travel (by rail, though; avoiding airports until Montreal next year), so indulging in an upcoming trip to Munich.