Friday, June 26, 2009

Small v. Big

Everything in Europe feels small. I could have told anyone this since my first trip overseas when I was 10, but living life "small" again differs drastically from the memory.

Being present in the small life awakens your senses and sends a shock to your quantitative comfort zones. Streets, and therefore cars, are small. Objectively, I think I'm a small female and I barely fit in the showers. A glass of wine is 25cl (or 4oz) poured to the line. A cafe americain is a double espresso you can choose to add water too if you desire more volume at the expense of concentration.

I love this.

It forces me to slow down and enjoy. I passionately do not want to waste. I'm exponentially more satisfied. And, in most cases, the quality is higher than the larger, less expensive version that's easily accessible in the US. I appreciate the luxury of this access and infrastructure, but I'm going to try to exercise more discipline in the quantity to quality ratio in my life. But it is nice to have this choice (and the reawakened awareness to choose to do so).

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Undercover













I learned after one morning that French women don't wear tee-shirts. Period. If you don't want to be seen (and sadly, treated) like an American, the first step you can take is not dressing like one.