I thought that by not speaking fluent
French, I would have a hard time trying to find someone to date. This
is not the case. As it turns out, one can meet a partial-English
speaking bachelor every day. Sometimes in very strange ways. For
example, last week I was innocently walking down the street. I
stopped under an awning because the rain came pounding out of
nowhere, as it usually does. An old man approached me and
started asking for change. My normal protocol for when I am
approached by strange men alone in the street is to pretend I can't
speak French. Honestly I don't know why I keep doing this, as it has
never worked for me. Usually, the guy says something like «Oh, do
you speak English? I can speak English!» (Seriously, where are all
the people who can't speak English here? I thought it was the
majority....) This time, though, the old man just kept talking to me
in French. After three or four times of me saying «I'm sorry, I
don't understand.» I just gave in and answered his questions. No,
I'm not a tourist. Yes, I work here. No, I'm not British. Or Italian.
Then he rattled on about how he wants to learn English. Do I give
private lessons? His son speaks English very well. In fact... he is
single. He is about your age. Will you meet him here tommorrow at 3?
I didn't end up meeting the son, but I did end up taking the man's
number...with a two week trip to South Africa coming up in March, I
can use the extra money!
First dates here are pretty much the
same as in the US. Drinks and normal interview questions. Second
dates are a little bit different. On one second date, we swam beneath
a beautiful waterfall and had a picnic on the beach. On another, we
took a friend's boat out into the ocean and watched the clouds zoom
by overhead. On another, we drank homemade rum and danced on the
terrace underneath the stars. It's all very lovely and exciting.
Third dates are where it starts to get awkward. Because by then, I
already know that I don't want anything to move forward, but they
don't know that. And during the whole date, I make a point to steer
it towards a «just friends hanging out» stance, but I know, at the
end of the night, when you are obliged to kiss cheeks before saying
goodnight, that I don't know how to manuver well enough around that
to not get real-kissed in the process.
I don't know why I am not interested in
being someone's girlfriend. The boys I date are perfectly nice,
attractive, interesting, and intelligent. And French, which always is
worth extra points!!! And who wouldn't want to fall in love in
paradise? But I've been in the dating scene long enough to know what
I'm looking for...that spark of something a little bit magical. And I don't intend to settle for anything less :-)
In other news, there is this place
called Crocodile park, where a crazy Frenchman feeds 30 crocdiles by
dangling raw pieces of chicken from his mouth and into theirs. That's all I can say
with words on that. Here are some pictures.
Final story of the week: one thing I've learned while studying a
foreign language is that I am much better at speaking when I am
slightly drunk. Recently I've learned that this goes both ways. I was
at a party last Saturday night, and by 4am (when parties start winding
down here...) everyone was suddenly speaking English! Not even just
to me, but to each other, and it was pretty hilarious. For example,
one of our friends was trying to sing «Don't worry, be Happy» which
came out «Don't worry, be Quiet!» (shhhhhhhhhh)! Then two guys were wrestling in
the pool, and when one had had enough, he yelled «Go away your
Grandmother!!» I'm not sure if that is a normal insult one says in French or not, but I laughed so hard at the idea, I couldn't breathe.
On that note, I'm going to go away, my Grandmother. Have a wonderful rest of the week, mes amis <3
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