I'm back my little darlings

I'll be the first to admit that I've been slacking a tad with this blog... you know, my last post was about 7 weeks ago. But, I have what appear to be really good excuses, so you can all get off my back. Some of these excuses are;

• I'm so tanned that I spend hours admiring myself in the mirror. There's never too much self-adoration one can do!


• To get that tan, I've had to spend countless hours on the pristine beaches of the Mediterranean coast. From Cannes to Monaco, I've followed my traveller's duty to lay under the rays as much as possible.


• I've had 6 different groups of visitors coming and going from my apartment. I've been so blessed to see all these people again, but it doesn't leave too much "me" time.


• I've been soul-searching.

So there, that should explain some of my absenteeism from this page, and I don't blame any of you if you don't want to read this again, I understand if you're holding a grudge. But, now that I've finally had the guts to put my fingers to the keyboard, i might as well fill you in on what's been happening on my corner of the world since I last wrote here. I beg of you to spare me the judgement for using a list format, but it's the only way you'll get coherent writing from me, since I have so much to tell!

1. So, since leaving you all hanging in suspense last post, I took my decision and sticking to it of staying another year in France. At first, this took me just as much by surprise as it probably did you, but wheighing my pros and cons, I realized that I would be a fool not to take advantage of another year here. Aside from the obvious bonus of having new people in my life, staying here will definitely cement that aventurous, independent part of my personality that has been slowly showing itself since my arrival months ago. Never in my 25 years of life had I done something that I owned so much. I mean, all my big achievements I have always relied on others to reach success( thanks fam and friends!!) but this time, it's been all up to me to make it what I've wanted to. It hasn't been all rosy and easy, as some of you may have noticed by my teary, shaky voice phonecalls. Knowing that I'm missing out on some of the most beautiful moments of my friends' and family's lives gives me a knot in my stomach still. But if I'm going to really live one life, it has to be my own, not my friends' or family's .And taking this next step forward; going away from what others would have expected from me is such a liberating feeling. I'm in love with this new strongly independent side! So in the next few weeks, I will, for the 3rd time in 9 months, be packing all of my belongings and undertaking an adventure in the Alps... And I couldn't be happier!


2. I mentioned I had people coming to visit me in the past few weeks. I've had the pleasure of receiving dear UVic friends, a BFF, a French crowd from the alps, London visitors, a lone visit from the Alps encore, and my Colombian Friend who lives in Paris. As a result, I've been able to take in the beauty of the Cote d'Azur through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time, and I have been re-marvelling at all the wondrous things that surround me. It has been a blessing in disguise; since I'll be leaving the beaches and mediterranean glitz behind soon, so I'm glad I get to do it again, and even better, accompanied by people that I love and are so special to me. On the plus side, I've also had the chance to do new things, like bathing in the glamour of the world-renowned Cannes film Festival, and visiting the charming Italian city of San Remo.


3. I've discovered once more the world is a tiny place. The other day, on my way back from work on the bus, 3 guys got on, one of them sporting an old-school black, red and yellow Canucks hat. Knowing that he could only be a hardcore Vancouver fan, I started talking to them. Turns out, they graduated from UVic last year, one of them has lived in Abbotsford his whole life, and the other one lived in the same residence that i did my first semester in University!!! And I ran into them on the bus from Monaco to Nice!! I was a little awestruck at the coincidence! But THEN, something even creepier happened. As Iannis and Cecile started searching for my replacement, they got in contact with a girl from Colombia...I didn't think too much of it, I just thought it was funny she had the same name as my sister. Then, when they called her for a phone interview, and I spoke to her... we realized we went to the same school in Colombia!! She was only 2 years below me!! How weird is that?? I'm all they way in France, and my replacement for the AuPair job is a girl who went to my same school in Colombia, and whose parents my mom knows! Cue the floating boats, and "It's a small world after all".
4. I visited the Cannes festival. Not much more I can say, except it was glitzy, it was packed, hot, and I felt like a total creeper taking pictures of Quentin Tarantino having lunch on the terasse of the Carlton Hotel, while trying not to get caught by the million security men in black suits.

I don't think I can go on any longer with this list making. But, I do guarantee to keep you posted on my last weeks here, and my adjustment in Megeve. I have some good leads on jobs, in private schools, hotels, and even an institution for children with mental and physical disabilities. But, I'm kind of loving not knowing what's going to happen. It's such a nice change from the A-Z guide that my life seems to be sometimes. Don't tune out, I won't let as much time go by as I did since my last post. A tres bientot les amis,

Maria Maria