I just shared a meal with my darling husband. He walked home from the office, took care of a little business with the hotel and then we walked around the corner to a little bistro for lunch.
Tunis is very French. The restaurant is just what I expected a bistro to be like. Lots of little tables, some outside. Hurried waiters delivering plates and pouring expressos. We decided to split a salad and a pizza. It was excellent. Beautiful presentation, great flavors. The pizza is a little different from what I expected but still tasty. DH pointed out that instead of a sauce layer, the pizza had thinly sliced tomatoes as a base for the cheese and toppings.
What was surprising to me, is that all around us, people were chatting. And instead of hearing snippets of conversation--or overhearing raised voices--it was all a blur of nonsense. Nothing registered.
Not speaking the same language as the population is very limiting. Not that I spend all my time eavesdropping, mind you. When you are surrounded by people, you expect words to register, at least subconsciously.
When everyone around you is speaking one of two languages that you don't know a single word of, your universe is compressed down to the single table and the company you keep.
All around us, people talked. And the only people we understood were each other. I told DH that meant he had to focus on me... just me. I know, it'll be hard on him.
It did get me to thinking though... I use conversations around me when I'm doing dialog in a novel. I try to remember pithy statements and word phrasing that I overhear. It helps me to make a character sound unique--instead of just like me.
Long term, I'm wondering if I'll pick up enough French and Arabic to begin to understand those around me... or if my writing will be affected negatively by the lack of exposure to conversations around me. It could go either way.
--Sandee Wagner
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I wonder if you'll develop an American Ear. I have a Dutch Ear. You'll be able to hear people speak English from far away and you'll instantly snap your neck around to see who is talking.
It is almost like a fluorescent color standing out in a painting with all normal colors.
Once you get back to the US you'll go nuts for a while because your American Ear is going into into overload mode.
That is what happens to me anyway for the first couple of hours when I am in Holland. I am curious to hear (no pun intended ;-) if you'll have this too!
Emm,
It's so funny that you said this! I was at a table downtown drinking tea with a Scottish gal whose husband works with mine. A man at a table nearby jumped into our conversation just because he heard us speaking English. He was a long way from home and he was so lonely to hear a friendly voice! I'll bet I get it too. I can only hope my French gets anywhere as good as your English!! spw
As long as you can order chocolate croissants, who cares ;-)
I haven't even HAD a chocolate croissant yet. I've got to try one of those. I did notice that at Carrefour they had more sizes and jars of Nutella than they did peanut butter. spw
I have childhood trauma's from Marmite. My Mom, out of the blue, decided one day that it was healthy and started to put it on all my lunches. /puke
Emm,
Is Marmite (http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/marmite.htm#whatis) like Vegemite? It does sound nasty. Any food that is made from byproducts of the brewing process has to be questionable. spw
Yes it is.
Marmite is a sticky, dark brown paste with a distinctive, powerful flavor, which is extremely salty, somewhat comparable to Maggi, if you know that. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi_sauce)
They sell both in the Mexican section (???) of the supermarkets here.
Emm,
That sounds so nasty. I'm not going to be trying to develop a taste for that at all. I wonder why it ended up with the Mexican foods? Probably just 'foreign', but enough people asking for it to keep it in stock. spw
I know the Mexican cuisine uses Maggi. So do the Dutch (in soups mostly) although I have gotten out of the habit to use it.
There is a "Foreign Section" at the supermarket here too. Apparently the English need English soaps... I buy a lot of German/English stuff there too, because that is similar to staples I grew up on.
But I am so Americanized now, I hardly ever buy those things anymore. I think this has to do with American foods getting better over the years. Now I can buy quality foods like good coffee, breads, beers and chocolates too, etc.
Have you ever tried Green & Black's chocolate? (http://www.greenandblacks.com/us)
You know how K is so you know he is all about twinkies and not at all about organic and such, but this is now the only chocolate he'll eat. It is SOOOO chocolatety!
Let me know if you can get it there, if not I'll send you some!
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