me like

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down."
- Woody Allen


salut
john
my.personal.electronic.journal

a deuuu

 

they tooook off!! they just left us!

nate and I were lucky to have received partners for the month of july!! they were both buds from madrid and were here for a while helping out as volunteers! working with a co-partner makes all the difference!!

 

salut

john

estas.sara.y.nena

its in the airrrr

 

I couldn’t believe my eyes!! how was it possible that a little nice older lady of 100 years out dance me!? I makes sense! 76 more years of experience may have contributed to that!! I mean you would have also been amazed! I was invited to an “animation” at a small chateau here in marseille last week! we lunched a la francaise and boy was it delish!!! that took about two hours! haaa!! then we went in for a spectacle!! we had a dj who had his tunes that dated back to the 20s, 30s…hahaaa!! well a little more recent! but all my friends knew what was going on! their feet movement was perfects! hips in shape! heart as young as ever! I just felt privileged to have been able to dance with some special people of such a caliber!! but let it be known!! my choice of the day was indeed out of your league!! 100 yearsss old!!

 

salut

john

je.peux.vous.offrir.l’aperitif

e-key-ah

 

they pronounce it completely wrong!

well I guess I am not qualified in deciding who pronounces what right or wrong! that is often a topic of discussion around here! first of all I am constantly speaking a foreign language whether it be french or spanish and even when I speak english there are very few who understand my lingo!! ya see! where im from in the south we have this sort of accent that is well known around the world! the french love it when I give em a nice hick accent!! its funny because here in the south of france they also have a thick accent that can only be found on these lands!!! we often make fun of their way of speech and try to imitate it!! I guess for an intents and purposes you could technically call them hicks as well! websters defines hick as an unsophisticated provincial person! and that’s where we beeee!! la provence!! we live in the capital of the provence!! and having traveled around france it is neat to be able to distinguish the different accents all different sorts of regions!! I miss the alsace accent!! well!! there are many many more grammar language lessons that await us!! but for now I will pronounce ikea the way I know!!! by the way! here is a bud of ours who for the first time in his life took a trip with us to ikea and he loved it!! he didn’t want to leave!!

salut

john

i.would.like.to.redo.that.one.scene

vous gagnez la partie du paradis

 

we had quite an eventful afternoon yesterday! what a day!?! we volunteered to karaoke at a retirement residence!! its hugeee! we arrived and turns out that the animator had changed plans!! we were playing board games, listening to music and watching a petanque tournament!! we had already invited a few of our patients so we went a nice little tour of the residency to search all of our friends!!! I was off towards the Alzheimer's sector to pick up a madame moiselle =) as I heard from a far “ahlo AHLO. venez aider moi s’il vous plait” hello HELLO help please! I stumbled upon a resident and he was off to the clinic but in the heat of the day and on his rolling chair he wasn’t feeling up to the challenge! as I approached him he said “vous gagnez la partie du paradis” which means you will earn or gain a spot in paradise! I wasn’t even doing anything and that’s exactly what got to me! there he was all alone in the middle of the street and I hadnt even recognized his need of help! I wasn’t too aware of my surroundings! luckily I overheard his weak straggly voice pleading me across from the parking lot! well we took off towards his destination! we had such a great conversation! he told me how much I needed to take advantage of my youth! they always say that! but they are the ones who are so YOUNG at heart! so kind! so loving! so understanding! anyways we made it to his destination and I asked his name! it sounded anglo saxon or something and I could hear a small accent as he told me his name! I quickly told him I was american!! my name is John!!!!!! he exploded of excitement!! he had spent many years in new york!! what a lesson!!! wow!!! I went back to find our friend and I brought her to the activities and we had a blast!!! what a day!!!

salut

john

maybe.in.the.future

la troisieme foisss

 

1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 sticks of butter
2 tsps vanilla
1 tsps baking soda
1 tsps salt
2 cups of flower

180
11 mins

 

thanksss leee!! we visit an ancien chef de cuisine however he says he has never baked american chocolate chip cookies!!! surrrrious?!?!?

so lee handed over her famous recipe but id forgotten that in europe they do not use the same measurements balances or whatever. opps! and on to top it off our friend didn’t have a stove! haaa! he had one of those oven/microwave machines but french style! ohlaalaaa! that didn’t stop our cookie dough making skills!! ohh how I love you cookie dough! it worked out!! well until we started the actual baking process! ohlaa!

we didn’t know exactly what temperature to set it on or how long! and the results were two small fires, two burnt batches of cookies and one last average batch half way cooked!!! woooo!! he loved em!! soo..I guesss we succeeded!!

salut

john

it.was.about.having.fun

cookies

 

I don’t realize how much our friends really need our presence! my mister had surgery on his pupil last night around 7 pm and from that point onto the morning he was in what he calls “l’horreur”! the horror!! he had to be rushed to the doctor early this morning around 7 am and returned back to room for a quick tea but wasn’t really feeling  it as his appetite had been thrown off with all the pain he had to undergo! he then had another appointment which took a couple of hours putting him at about 2pm finally in his room tranquil! I knocked on the door at 330pm as he greeted me with open arms! he had been waiting all night he said! he said that the visit is what had got him through everything! it kept him “maintenu” kept together! and I wonder at times if our friends even remember that we are to visit!? we usually set up our appointments early in the week so towards the end around thursday friday I begin to question if they are expecting us but much to surprise they are impatiently waiting all week! and I began to think to myself that as much as he needed todays visit I needed it that much more!

 

salut

john

the.toaster.will.have.to.do