Thinking has almost become an anomaly on the farm. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time by myself.
Anne-Sophie recently noticed my change in spirit and quickly took me in even more under her wing. I’m still in awe of this woman. I most certainly have a crush and hope to be half as strong as she is when I arrive at her age, but hopefully not arriving with four children. I guess you could consider this post a dedication to Anne-Sophie.
I’ve not only learned an incredible amount of vocabulary words in the categories of farm life, food, child slang, and medicine but I’ve learned how to:
-Walk in the pitch black of night without a flashlight (didn’t really learn this from AS) BUT when friends come over they ask how the hell do I walk from my apartment to the bathroom without light. Some nights it’s irrelevant to carry a flashlight because the moon is so bright and others I just trust my feet.
-How to obtain a European debit card, health insurance, securité social, more health insurance and paperwork jargon that get’s ridiculously pointless…paperwork, paperwork. If anything I’ve learned that with any sort of health involving, school, activity, etc there will be paperwork and a lot of it.
The following directly pertain to AS:
- How to interact/communicate with four non-English speaking children while cooking and cleaning AND making sure everyone is happy.
-How to drive a GIGANTIC van down a teeny-tiny one way road in all types of weather with oncoming traffic.
-How to cook a number of things in a number of ways: soups, crepes, apple sauce, yoart, cheese, bread, tartes, etc. I could keep going. Basically she taught me how to cook without a recipe book. Woman loves to cook.
Anne-Sophie has definitely been a light in my life here, even though she may not know it. She will know it before my time is up here. She has kept me pretty sane and will not let me be alone for more than I have to be. Which, at this point, has literally kept me sane. She told me yesterday I need to take the car out more, basically to get out of the house.
I’m really unsure how she has managed the past 11 years without a nanny of some sort with four children. She has ambition, passion, and confidence. Even with four kids and her passions she manages to give her time to the kids and do what she loves. Granted, no one is perfect, and she forgets A LOT but doesn’t look back on mistakes just learns from them. I’ll stop there.
But if I could just import all of my friends and family here the French life would be the life. I’ll just have to bring it back with me.
