Week Round-Up

As there were a few items of note this week, I wasn’t quite sure initially how to tie it all together. However, as always, you can count on kiddos to add something worthy to talk about. And in this case, they also gave me the idea for the title of this post. Let me explain....

As we sat at lunch today, having spent hours peeling eggs, cutting tomatoes and chopping onions, I was tired. However, a teacher at heart, my “up-to-no-good radar” is still strong, and I could tell that the Indian boys at the end of the table were staring at me and giggling. As I whipped around to inquire what was so funny, they beat me to the punch. They pointed at my necklace, a large coral colored-plastic chain-link number, and asked what it was. When I responded accordingly, they told me that in their country it was called “sengal.” Thinking I had learned the Punjabi word for my accessory, I settled back down to my meal. Couth having been quickly washed down by the l’eau on the table, they got my attention once again and were delighted to tell me that in their country it was a chain for bison. So quickly it went from fashion statement to cattle accessory.

This roundup, however, is without any cute cowboys or prairie grass -- just the proper fencing, apparently.

Wednesday I had the pleasure of another AWG country hike. As we boarded the RER for Lardy, based on the name alone, I was expecting little. However, I was in for a visual treat, and felt so far removed from the bustling city. Miles would pass and there wouldn’t be another soul except for our small group. We could see miles and miles of peas, maize in the making and other root vegetables that were just beginning to sprout (no bison, though). The rapeseed, also known as canola, was a breathtaking yellow crop that is harvested come summer and made into canola oil. In addition to the yellow flowers blowing in the wind, our walk took us through forests with a floor blanketed in white and purple flowers. It felt as if Snow White would pop out at any moment and ask us if we wanted to come into her home, have some tea, and meet her dwarfs.

Surreal found me once more, but this time it was in the Lavatronic drying sheets. I found myself learning all about Martinique via mobile phone photos when the man sitting on the washer found out I was American and was able to converse in English. Converse in English he did (more like preach in English), and little did I know that for my three euros I would get dry sheets, visuals of the carnival on his native island and a lecture on socialism. It is one of those moments when you are not sure how you got yourself in that position, but if you could close your eyes, click your heels and end up alone in the canola fields, you gladly would. Bison optional (although welcome if chained up by tres chic coral-colored sengal).

Bon week-end!