Why I said yes to this adventure

I was at the supermarket and saw a Coleman icebox when I realised why I had said yes to coming to live in California for ten months.
It is because of our stay in Saudi Arabia in 1978-1979... almost 30 years ago! My father was working there and my mother and my sisters and I had followed him for a year. Until then I had only lived in Nîmes and found the experience freeing. I was a provincial little girl with a strong Southern accent and it opened my mind. When I came back to the same school, talking to the same friends I could feel the difference. I had started to learn English playing with our neighbours, Jane and John Eastham, and little Cameron, I was used to an international environment, Jeddah was where all the embassies were then. It made me a geography champion, a star pupil in English ( without much effort I have to admit) for years to come... I had lived in a tropical area where it only rains once or twice a year and the sun always sets around half past seven all year around. I had been in contact with children who had lived in several countries and spoke several languages. To be fair their knowledge of rude words was outstanding.

Though Southern California has no tropical climate the latitude is that of North Africa (so we have no long Summer evening like in Britain) there are similarities. The Saudi Arabia I remember had a childlike quality, a mixture of optimism, innocence, faith in expansion and consumerism, love of cars, of course, both endearing and irritating. In the UK, or in France, the humour is very ironic and sometimes too sarcastic. I'll never forget the day someone in London said to me: "That was summer!" after one day of sunshine in June! I was so disappointed!
In Jeddah we live in an enclosed European compound, called Armaska, with swimming pools, tennis courts, places to entertain, a little shop; and here I live in a "gated community" complete with an electric gate, a pool, gardeners, a warden who cruises on his little golf cart!
Besides people drive cute Chevrolets, the aforementioned Dodge pick-ups, consume goods in gigantic Malls, live in a children's world, absorbed by toys, games, children's films and literature. Ah! the second floor of the magnificent supermarket called El-Moktar entirely dedicated to toys!
I was only a little girl then so I wasn't fully aware of Women's condition in Saudi Arabia other than my mother could only go out of the compound with long skirts and arms covered. Yet there was also the amazement of discovering the Sahara, snorkling in the Red Sea, camping in Yambu.

In spite of all this I can see how different those two experiences are and am looking forward to unfolding the rest of this adventure.

Just a joke!

A perfect world

I was having troubles recovering from the jetlag and anaemia so I had to rest for a few days. I thought TV would be a good experience.
Daytime TV has a lot in common with British TV, though I hadn't watched the Box for two years when I left the UK.

Adverts are all the more fascinating. They show us the ideal world we should all aspire to, where you can eat tons of unhealthy greasy foods without putting on any weight. The food displayed on the screen is excessively well lit and with all the sauce dribbling on top of it, it is almost ALIVE. It is fried or barbecued, covered in brown sauces and gleams on the screen. These barbecues are literally bouncing back and jumping into your plate! It hypnotises you to make you believe you are craving these ribs/ steaks/ tacos/ Ceasar salads/burritos/pizzas served with an abundance of soda!. Not the slightest steamed broccoli in sight, or fish on a bed of herbs, or healthy fruit salad!!! Oh dear, don’t even think about a wheat-free and dairy-free diet, local produce, 5 fibres a day, seasonal fruit and veg. And no one would even think about drinking a glass of tap water. TGI Friday,Taco Bell, Mac Donald’s, Jack in the Box, here we come!

The most reassuring adds are car adverts. Beautiful people drive beautiful cars. And of course, they are alone on the road, not stuck in traffic like normal people going to work, oh, no! Shiny cars, especially SUV( Sports Utility Vehicles) glide along the Pacific Coast Highway, in the desert or against a dramatic setting. They create this magic world and protect your children and the environment. Once you are inside nothing can happen to you, it is all soft and comfortable. Besides, they encompass hundreds of enticing gadgets. No need for maps anymore since we have GPS! How could you think of travelling without a DVD player? And look at this design lovingly filmed…. They accelerate, they brake so easily, you already desire them. You have to have them. How can you live without the latest Cadillac? BMW? Jaguar? General Motors? Ford? Toyota? Nissan? They are godsent, really; they look so nice, how they shine, how their design makes them almost take off in the sunset … It is a love story between you and your car. The latest Toyota campaign is actually called Summer Love!

After cars, it is the Wooonderful World of Plastic Surgery. Teeth whitening, straightening, gastric bypass, a wonderful procedure too reduce the size of your stomach, nothing really, and so easy, and then once you had that done the plastic surgery to remove all the excess skin!!! Ouch!
And isn’t medicine wonderful? It will sort you out in no time. These ads talks about the latest drug to fight high blood pressure, insomnia, weight problems, restless leg syndrome, cervical cancer, erectile dysfunction (“male enhancement”). Each one is a miracle cure. Yet they have to list the various worrying side-effects with a nice big smile…. Beware! Get yourself vaccinated, drugged up! Run to your doctor’s!

Local adverts are by far my favourites. The picture is little fuzzy, as if they had been filmed with an old VCR camera from the 80’s. The editing is dull, the punchlines/ slogans cheesy and repetitive. Out-of-work actors praise a local furniture shop, a pizza delivery or car dealer in a silly uniform while staring at the camera, with a little map of how to get there. Fabulous!

Since all programs are interrupted every seven minutes by advertising it is very difficult to follow any plot development. With our increasing ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder adverts fit perfectly. They last for 30 seconds and don’t even get interrupted by films.

Back in Paradise

I have just recovered from a cold and the jetlag after our two weeks in Europe. So many places that I feel dizzy! London, Sloane Square, Battersea Park, Putney, Richmond, Ham House, Fulham, Piccadilly, the National Gallery, Covent Garden, the Southbank, Mark Rylance performing street theatre at the Royal Festival Hall, Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, Lille, Wazemmes, Paris, Boulevard Malesherbes, Station Wagram, Le parc Monceau, les Champs Elysées, la Rive Gauche, Le Bon Marché, L'Illusion Comique au théâtre le Petit Hébertot, Le Marais, le Musée Carnavalet, Place des Vosges, des fallafels rue des Rosiers, des sandales K Jacques, Gare de Lyon, Marseille, des vêtements de bébé au marché de la Plaine, Le Cours Julien, le Vieux Port, Rue Paradis, Le Palais du Pharo, la plage du Prophète, Callelongue, la Canebière, le film " the Bubble", Le Panier, Le Musée de la Vieille Charité, des dessins de Bonnard au Musée Cantini, Lille, Londres, Islington, Heathrow, le film" Half Nelson", LAX...

And after all that, back in Everlasting Blue Sky Land,...where I picked up my new car, a shining Toyota, and our adventures continue...We are now planning our next trip in August with Christian probably going to see Emily in Tucson, Arizona.... That will be a challenge, especially for the moment I only drive to places I know in Thousand Oaks!