april 7

Focusing on A few amazing days

Last Friday I handed out ‘tracts’ or flyers in the morning. I was tired I didn’t want to get up. With two months left and still no solid commitment to my life, with a sense that I am not critical enough, but glad im helping out with the ATTAC NON to the constitutional treaty project, because it keeps me thinking, and has brought me in touch with another interesting group of people, namely the theatre education group.

Friday, instead of waking up really early, like I always think I will, to hand out flyers for a while at the market, I woke up with enough time to get to the market and hand out flyers for half an hour, maybe less. While the pressure of letting others down really is what got me out of bed, and the slight sense that not handing out the flyers might have a negative impact also helps make me feel useful. So I went out into the rainy morning.

What a rush

I laughed at myself to see what a flyer/billeting gourmade I am. What a thrill. I love getting peoples attention, inviting them to take a flyer, feeling the French words become clearer in my mouth, noticing the words traite constitutioelle (sp?) for the first time. Being asked what I would vote, and being asked, as N predicted I would be, to explain why I was involved.

The market. the old fashioned way. After a few, usually positive, interactions with people at the market, I hit upon my last vendor/target. The bucher’s table, covered by a red umbrella or awening, and wearing a read apron and a red hat, ormaybe that was just me, asked me what I was handing out, and confided in me that he barely needed the flyer because he was already going to vote non. Being aware of the 'right' answer. And Then he asked me where my accent was from. He had been in montreal for a conference, and sadly couldn’t see much of the city, but he had enjoyed his time there. Maybe we talked more about the constitutional treaty, and then a person in a plaid shirt and loosely combed and pulled back mousey brown hair- a plastic bag slung over one arm, slipped him a glass on a saucer. A renverser. (coffee) . What I understood was that usually some one else gets it, and that this person must have been another stall worker. Apparently only one coffee shop in Annemasse knows how to make this drink this renverser or allenver…. The swiss apparently wouldn’t blink twice at it, but in Annemasse a tiny bar I had never noticed until Edmund, the bucher stall handler, pointed out to me. It is nestled into the grey strip of building that lines the Place, and will be more visible as a store when the parkinglot there is turned into green space. It’s the same grey strip of building that the 24 hour video dispenser is located on.

In the course of our conversations, a conversation that would make me late, dispite my early arrival in the vicinity of my first school of the day, Edmund offered me a sip of the coffee usually only available in Switzerland and only available in the tiny sports bar on the corner. I kindly refused, and then felt rude on the third refusal and so then graciously gave in, to sip the hot shugarry coffee. When I went to hand it back after my first more-for-the-look-of-it sip, he insisted kindly that I have more, to heat me on this cold day. He was so kind, and friendly. He said that if I came by on Tuesday of a good hour we could take coffee together. However, since I didn’t get up early on Tuesday ididnt, I will try to pass by on Friday again though. Before I left he insisted that I have another sip. There is something about sharing food withsomeone. I cant wait to have that drink.

I was certainly on a high.

Im a people geek.

Friday.

Saturday, feeling a little slow and tired, after pancakes for breakfast with Amelie who was once again exiled from the house, and was trying as un-invasively as possible to stay at mine—and aurelie, whith the two of them we had breakfast together, from noon till 3. At about the same time as I tried to get out of going to the multicultural festival in Cluse with strangers—The very reason I was there in the firat place was to see these stranger do their stree theatre performance piece outside.

It is strange to come into a group of people later in my stay. To them I must be incredibly impermanent.