Cultural Mysteries - The Bise...aka the most confusing social custom on the planet...

France has an abundance of cultural customs that are obvious (most of the time) to the French, but a complete mystery to Americans.  Perhaps the most awkward custom for Americans is the "Bise," a series of kisses that inevitably results in a miffed French person and an American who almost scored a peck on the mouth from a complete stranger (which sometimes isn't neccesarily bad, except when you are meeting someone's 87 year old grandmother).  Thus far, I have completely bungled just about every interaction where a bise has been involved.  Here's a funny vid to check out if you're bored...Perhaps we'll get some video footage of us awkwardly meeting a French couple for your viewing amusement in the future.... 

Internet Dependence

There once was a couple named Stam & Ceph who decided to move to Southern France for a while. "Easy it will be," said Stam to Ceph,"as easy as eating an entire French Baguette cover in Nutella." And so Ceph and Stam packed up there belongings and moved...

(Present day):
After watching a parapentor flying in our neighbor's backyard we decided it was high time to really try to figure out how French people do things...and let me tell you...eating an entire baguette with Nutella is easy (we do it almost every morning), but figuring out how to live like a French person is way more difficult. Something as simple as going grocery shopping becomes difficult when the hours that the store is open are only from 9-12 and then 2-6! It's a different pace of life, that I could definitely get used to as a worker, but as a consumer...what a pain in the ass! :)

We have been doing tons of work on the house in Castex...so far: painting, working on the floors, covering the holes in the septic system (that was gross...good thing we got respirators), high quantity pruning on the trees on the property, saving the snails, worms and frogs from falling branches, hanging shower curtains, and learning how to grow vegetables! We are the proud parents of baby sprouts of all kinds: carrots, artichokes, strawberries, rasperries, blueberries, herbs, garlic, onions, etc. I made up a song for our first baby sprouts...that will be posted soon (my singing ladies, you are going to love this one, might be on par with the Gum Song).

It has been beautiful out until recently...snow and cold have come to call. I tried to hide so the snow and cold couldn't find us, but our cats were meowing so the snow and cold found us...dern cats! Anyway, we're still mooching internet from a local McDonald's (never appreciated McD's so much in my life). I called the internet provider this morning, and we should be getting internet within 4 days. In the meantime, just so you all have our number, it is: 011-33-5-61-69-85-98 (the 011 is to dial outside of the US, the 33 is the country code, and 5-61-69-85-98 is the actual phone number. You have to dial all of those numbers in order to reach our house. If it were too easy it wouldn't be French!)

We miss you all very, very, very, very, very much! Hope all is well and more stories and pictures to come once we get internet!

Love,
Steph

Update -Blog hacked

Sorry Folks, our blog has been hacked...we're working to get it fixed...

Still no internet...  and someone stole my SS# just for good measure.  Fun Stuff.

Hope you all are doing great!
Cam

Castex!!

We finally made it to France, and here is a quick update!

 

Here is an overview of the country.  Castex, the town near our home is labeled 'A'

 

Here is a closer view of the local geography...Our home is in the country, about an hour south of Toulouse, which is the 4th largest city in France and a major center for aeronautic production.  Airbus has one of its largest (if not the largest) plant in Toulouse, and is one of the largest employers in the area.

However, out in the country....Here's our story...

 

Steph being very excited about arriving...although to a house with no heat (snow was still on the ground then).  We unloaded the cats (who were mostly traumatized from the trip, but ok, then crashed under a ton of covers)

When we woke up in the morning, this is what we saw:

 

Not too bad eh?  This is the view from our bedroom window.  The Pyrenees are in the background.  The tall peak on the left is 3,200 meters high (not sure what that is in feet) and is an impressive feature on the landscape.  Our neighbor is super cool and has a son that works at a nearby ski resort.  Apparently they have over 2.5 meters of snow...we'll have to check it out.  The Pyrenees have been visible nearly every day, and the sun rise usually lights up the mountains in a beautiful pink alpine glow.

The weather in Castex has been amazing.  It is usually sunny or partly cloudy with temps in the 50's every day.  It rains occasionally, but usually at night and we find the weather to be very similar to Colorado, which is an excellent change from the grey drear of Chicago winter. 

 

The House

The house and property need a ton of work.  It hasn't been lived in for a couple of years and a variety of things are in various states of disrepair.  The gardening is endless and we've already spent 3 days trimming hedges, but have hardly made a dent in the work to be done.  The house itself was built piece by piece from an old barn, starting in the mid 50's, so repairs are a total cluster and we're still trying to figure out what everything is.  

Beyond working on the house, we've had a chance to cruise around a little bit, but haven't been climbing yet.  Here are a few pics from the area around Castex.  We're out of time right now, but will post more as soon as we can.  We're waiting for the internet to be hooked up at the house, which can take as much as two more weeks, but can't wait to talk to you all to catch up.

 

Steph Trimming one of the 50 bijillion trees on the property

 

A nearby village, typical of the area, with rolling hills and a church to mark the skyline.

 

 Rieux Volvestre a nearby medieval town

 

 A sundial, marking the lunch hour for the French, which extends punctually from Noon to 2pm everyday...a time during which, every business (with the exception of restaurants) closes and it is impossible to get anything done...We're learning not to fight it by having nice long, relaxing lunches.

Here are the hours of a local mayor...a couple of hours on a couple of days a week...

 

Rieux Volvestre Church

 

Sunset above a neighbors house near Castex.

Talk to you all soon!

Steph & Cam

We Made It!!!!

After much mucking around, we have finally made it to France!!!!

Newsflash; typing on french keyboqrds blozs donkey bqlls: zemre getting internet soon: zill zrite ,ore lqter on q nor,ql keyboqrd:

best to qll!!!

Steph & Cam

International Driver's License Poll

So....Steph was trying to decide which of the following photos to use for her new International Drivers License.  We need some input....

Here are the options:

Option 1: Sexy Duck

Option 2: Happy Bulldog

Option 3: I'm Too Sexy For My Pants

Option 4: Pelican Choking on a Fish

Option 5: Monkey Moose

Option 6: Studious Duck (Sny Dog Rules!)

Ok!  Your votes determine the outcome!

Paint Stripper

Facade Off
Paint stripper so strong it'll take the guilty smiles off politicians!

 

When you have a persistent paint job that just won't go away, try Facade Off for a new change of face!  New and improved industrial strength will change your life with one, fast acting formula of poetic proportions.  Swift as a bullet, our product will blow away the unsightly look of your old walls and leave you with a blank canvas and a fresh start.  We guarantee it!

Customer Reviews

Score: (1 out of 10)  Fresh Start?  Yeah Right

By R.L. Perez (Leon, Ni) on September 21, 1956

This product is crap!  It promises a blank canvas, but can't deliver!  It got rid of the old paint as swift as a bullet like it says, but when we tried to repaint the walls of our houses, nothing but the same old paint color would stick.  Explain that!  What a hoax.  What's the point of repainting if you have to paint with the exact same crap as the first time?  

Plus, I found Facade Off to be toxic to my health and fear that I'll lose years of my life because of it.  I say this product sucks...I had high hopes when I bought into the idea of a change of paint, but was less than satisfied with the net result.

R.I.P

(edit) R.L.P