Expats with Cats

Apparently, being out of the country does not exclude you from US only holidays. We not only scraped together one Thanksgiving meal - we had two! Of course, it wasn't the same without family, but we did have a double dose of friends.

First Thanksgiving - Wednesday, our apartment with English and South American friends. I only had a half day of classes, and spent the afternoon cooking things I thought would give them a good idea of what typical Thanksgivings are like. Basically, we introduced them to the art of rendering a vegetable unrecognizable by smothering it with cream, cheese and/or sugar. On the menu: stuffed mushrooms, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and because turkey was really difficult to find, steak. Ryan left work early to help me, and ended up baking the apple pie. It was hard coming up with typical dishes... some of the ingredients aren't available (like anything in a can), and vegetables are often seasonal, so I had to make a first list along with a couple of backups. Then, to determine which recipe I was going with, I'd try to find the main ingredient first. Take the green bean casserole for example. First, I had to find a recipe that didn't include cans of cream of mushroom soup or a French fried onion topping. Then, I had to make sure I could actually buy green beans. The first two grocery stores didn't have any, but I knew there was a last resort option... a frou-frou veg shop, where I did find the elusive fresh beans. Enough for a casserole only costs you $17 - thanks Switzerland! It went on like that throughout the afternoon. I went through the network of grocery stores, trying to find enough ingredients to complete a dish. It was like a scavenger hunt, and when I was finished, weighted down with bags full of groceries, I felt like a winner! Here we are plating up, and finally sitting down to dinner.






Second Thanksgiving - Thursday, with our American and Parisian neighbors in their apartment. Our American neighbor was adamant about having turkey. This is not a temporary rotation for him... Europe is his home now, so I think he needs to hold on to the details of American tradition a little more than we do. Thanks to his hard work and determination, plus a trip to Italy, we had a turkey! And his grandmother's stuffing as one of the sides (we could have used that at our first Thanksgiving).


Things I still missed... the Turkey Bowl, Mossy's stuffed mirliton, Memere's mirliton casserole, meat dressing, and green beans with artichokes, Cissy's pecan pie, Bill's shrimp remoulade and crabmeat ravigote.

But maybe next year I'll remember our expat holiday and miss that too. The turkey won't be Italian. The conversation topics probably won't include Pablo Escobar. And we certainly won't have Titi watching us eat, waiting for crumbs to fall.

I have been reading some Mark Twain lately. I feel a connection with him because we have a few things in common. He was born in a small town in Missouri (my dad’s side of the family is from a small town in Missouri). He spent a lot of his life on or near the Mississippi river and the big river towns like St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans (me too). He also did some travelling in Europe and has some great stories that are very funny to me after spending some time here.

Here is a little excerpt from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The entire book is FANTASTIC. If you haven’t read it in a while, you should. To set the scene… Huck and Jim (the runaway slave) are rafting down the Mississippi river looking for freedom. They have a lot of great conversations along the way like this one about foreign languages.

**SIDE NOTE: In order to keep our blog PC, I have edited the original text slightly with the text in brackets. I hope you and Mark Twain will forgive me.**

"Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?"

"No, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said – not a single word."

"Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?"

"I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. Spose a man was to come to you and say Polly-voo-franzy – what would you think?"

"I wouldn' think nuff 'n; I'd take en bust him over de head. Dat is, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no [body] to call me dat."

"Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying do you know how to talk French."

"Well, den, why couldn't he say it?"

"Why, he is a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's way of saying it."

"Well, it's a blame' ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it."

"Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?"

"No, a cat don't."

"Well, does a cow?"

"No, a cow don't, nuther."

"Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?"

"No, dey don't."

"It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?"

“’Course."

"And ain't it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from us?"

“Why, mos' sholy it is."

"Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that."

"Is a cat a man, Huck?"

"No."

"Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man? – er is a cow a cat?"

"No, she ain't either of them."

"Well, den, she ain' got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?"

"Yes."

"Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he talk like a man? You answer me dat!"

Since this is a major birthday, I thought it deserved a major post. However, my exam tomorrow and my 1500 group projects disagree. They have deprived me of all creative energy.

Biz - I hope this birthday's a great one, and I wish I could spend it with you. And even though it's your birthday, I have one wish... can you be this age again? Please? You being 16 blows my mind.



PS - Proof reading this post has me crying. I think the school work has taken my sanity as well. Either that or I just really miss you.

PPS - I still have my sanity.

PPPS - That means I really miss you. See what I did there?

Yesterday, we went to a soccer game in Milan. THE DERBY! Inter Milan vs. AC Milan. A once in a lifetime experience! Even if you are Italian!!!

Today we went grocery shopping, which is pretty typical for a Saturday. I usually have to go during the week as well, but I save the big runs for when Ryan's available. I picked up pasta, which Ryan questioned, thinking we had some at home. I overruled it... we were making a pasta dish tonight, and if we didn't have any, we'd be in trouble.

So, this is what the funny boy made when he was unloading the groceries. I guess we didn't need pasta.

At church last year we learned about Remembrance Day. It's just like our Veterans Day, but British, and is commemorated by bright, red poppies people wear on their lapels. The significance of the poppy flower comes from the WWI poem I've attached below. I love this poem, and thought it was a nice choice for a Veterans Day post.

In Flanders Fields
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


Here's a picture of my favorite veteran. He's second from the left, and kind of looks like me (because he's my dad). I've got a few other favorites... my grandfather, Ryan's grandfather, and my two uncles, one of which is preparing for another tour in Afganistan as we speak. I'll be picking up a few extra poppies this Sunday.

That's what we are around here. I caught a nasty cold, one that included chills and a terribly sore throat. Luckily, the weather this past weekend was perfect for laying on a couch under a blanket. It was cold, grey, and rainy. Still is, actually.

So here's what our weekend looked like. Ryan was actually well, but he'll take any excuse to nap. Now is a different story... he's caught my cold, and he's a nose blowing mess.


The bright spot in our weekend was Saturday night when we had our English friends along with our upstairs neighbors over for dinner. When the neighbors come for dinner, they always bring their dog, who is SO excited to come over.

We didn't take any pictures, which is a shame, because we had such a good time. I did manage to take pictures of the flowers we got for the occasion. I had never seen these before - they're like pretty artichokes. Ryan picked out the lilies. I didn't think I was a lily person, but now we have blooms all over the place and I'm loving them.

Ryan has been working in Zurich all week, and I had Thursday off, so I took the train and met him on Wednesday night. We love Zurich, and the fact that it's only a three hour train ride away makes it a really easy side trip.

My favorite thing to do is walk and shop. It reminds me of what I loved about Chicago... you can go for miles and not get bored. Thursday was the prettiest day you could ever ask for, especially considering I have NEVER seen Zurich with good weather. It made my walk soooo much more enjoyable.



So, while Ryan was at work, this is exactly what I did. I walked. And walked. And walked. For hours. It's the easiest thing to do in a city like Zurich. The stores are interesting and the scenery is beautiful. The flower shops are my favorite. I could probably spend hours in this place alone (below), but unfortunately, plants are hard to take back on the train. When you get tired, you can sit in the frilliest dessert shop, and have $12 hot chocolate. It's actually worth it. Then, when you get tired again, you just walk until you find a little square like the one below with trees and benches. It's the best place to pull out your book and let another hour go by. I'm not sure what this paragraph sounds like to you, but for me, it is the perfect way to spend the day. I really can't think of much else I'd rather do - ever.

I came across this link today... it's an advert for my university, so it's a little cheesy, but I thought some of you might want to see where I spend my days. With Laura.

I was excited about our overnight train, and merely suggested Ryan take a video.

Ryan: What must I video?
Me: Very funny.
Ryan: How long do I have to do this for?
Me: As long as you want.
Ryan: Hmm, then I'm done.

... was beautiful. We just got back, so I'll have to save the stories for later.