Where the time flies

A few people have wondered what fills the long days of a girl working 12 hours a week.

[Quite a change from last Spring when I worked some 12 hour days.]

If I was at home, things would be very different. But time, no matter where a person is topographically located, is like a vacuum--it fills itself. The French vacuum fills slowly and takes 2 hour lunch breaks. The Texan vacuum runs like a diesel truck. Here are some insights into my life. The everyday stuff. That I never thought to blog about before. More than anything you'll find my life resembles that of a pioneer. Even down to those hand-held chalk boards the kids use at school.

French Time Expenditures:

• Washing clothes by hand. In the bathtub. Wringing them out. Hanging them to dry on myriad radiators. Laveries here are expensive--$5 to wash 6 kg of laundry, and $2 to dry.
• Waiting on trams, buses and trains to arrive. There is no pick up and go. It takes about 5 hours a week to get to and from schools.
• Cooking the old-fashioned way. No microwave. No microwave dinners. Want to reheat soup? Well, just get out a pot and light the stove.
• Done heating up soup? Time to wash that pot and the other dishes... also by hand... keeps fingernails spic and span.
• Consulting the Cambridge French-English Thesaurus to figure out what someone said at school, at the market, or on Les Simpson.
• Going to the grocery store. Often. It's only wise to purchase as much as you can walk with home. Otherwise you would just have to abandon those excess groceries on the street corner.
• Exercising. (Okay this is important anywhere) Pastries lurk. They beckon. They stare.