-
Attempts at Being Healthy
1. At 10 years old I’m constantly teased for being short. This of course doesn’t bother me now, but at that age it’s an earth-shattering, hide-under-the-sheets kind of shame. My mother finds me sulking in a corner one summer afternoon. Most probably she had seen my cousins teasing me, a situation I had extricated myself…
-
Books for the Poolside
Kuaidis (deliveries) are being dropped off at my doorstep almost daily. I am amassing an insane amount of summer reads because that’s exactly what I intend to do this summer – read! It’s a luxury that’s eluded me for some time now. That all changes during the holidays! I plan to indulge in the most…
-
Loneliness, Happiness (Or: Internal Dialogue in a Coffee Shop)
I know the feeling of having nothing to say, is what I want to say to the couple sitting in front of me, tired faces staring blankly at an unfamiliar menu; a newborn baby, so young it’s still wrinkly, silent in the pram beside them. I know the pervading loneliness of not being able to…
-
A Car’s Long Weekend Escapade
What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever lost? My answer would be: a car. Okay, I didn’t actually lose it, it was stolen. From our private underground parking lot. Private “securisé” underground parking lot, the one that has two remote control-operated gates. Paris during the school holidays is pretty quiet, so I figured the car thieves thought, let’s hit…
-
Ear Ache
Turbulence hits, the seatbelt sign lights up. My daughter leans her head on my lap and I loosen her seatbelt for her – a meaningless gesture of comfort in a very uncomfortable situation. The night before, I lay in bed fretting over a 2-hour flight with a feverish kid. And so here we are. Our…
-
Not So Country
I am not made for the country; I’m a city girl, through and through. I think I have a problem with serenity, because after several days of calm and silence I start to feel queasy. There’s too much pressure to relax, and no excuse to feel angsty because everything’s so peaceful. I do know the…
-
2012
The year is hardly a month in and already it has been harsh – we celebrated the New Year with paracetamol and pajamas as we came down with the flu. What the hell, 2012? We’ve barely started and already we’re enemies? I’m thinking back on 2011. The year started in Saudi Arabia and ended in…
-
And At Once I Knew I Was Not Magnificent
Future stretches once again into the unknown, long-term and short-term plans are thrown into a paper bag, shaken, and I haven’t opened the bag yet to know what will happen, and maybe I’ll bide my time, because I don’t want to know yet… So. Evenings by the pool, summer welcoming us with rain, but it…