"A year [right next to]... Provence."

olla podrida

1. A stew of highly seasoned meat and vegetables. 2. A mixture; a hodgepodge. Olla podrida comes from the Spanish, literally "rotten pot," from olla, "pot" (from Latin olla) + podrida, feminine of podrido, "rotten," from Latin putridus. On this chilly day of December, stuck at home to relax, I can think of nothing better than to share with you an olla podrida of thoughts. I am so excited for Christmas, look at my great Christmas decos that I "borrowed" from work, and tidily strung up on the beams in our place. We are heading to Savoie on Sunday to spend Noel with my first host family. I talked to them the other day, and ( only when asked of course) we put in our requests for meals, Ben - fondue Savoyarde, and me, oysters with the amazing chalotte sauce Bernard makes. I love Christmas eve meal in France. Last year we just ate the most delicious appetizers and little dishes. Snails and whatnot too. Anyway thrilled to be going to Savoie. Also missing my family. Last year I was so sure and determined to just love everything in France and get the whole experience, that I was able to push missing people mostly out of my mind, but having a harder time this year. Most of the other English assistants like Ben are American and most of them are going home for Christmas. As much as I am excited to go to Savoie, I would love to spend a Christmas with the fam sooner than later. On the 23rd of Dec, a woman from work is getting married. So pleased that I was invited. The people from work are really lovely. They have made me feel really at home. Today I am dog sitting for this woman, which I love doing. Ben even more than me. This is her dog, We went out for her bachelorette party (or hen night for all those UK ers out there reading my blog) the other night to a Lebanese restaurant ate, danced to some belly dance music and all were merry. Today I gave my blood to the French people for the 4th time. They had a rotary blood drive thing not 300 meters from my house, so that was great, but after I finished, it took me a good hour to be able to even sit up without feeling sick and dizzy. I got a few key chains, a pen, and an awesome free lunch out of it though. I ran this morning with the puppy, and I didn`t drink enough, apparently, so thus the fatigue, but still its never been THAT hard. So here I am resting, eating the pie they gave me to take home, drinking lots of liquids, and listening to the band playing Christmas songs in the square outside my window. This is Olivier, my awesome olive tree soaking up the December sun. Hanging out with me and the puppy this afternoon. Olivier was a birthday gift from Ben. I`ve been meaning to post a picture. So there we go. What a good opportunity to give an olla podrida from Nimes.

posted by Bonnie @ 3:08 PM