Rediscovering France

Posted by Analyse at 3:58 PM

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

An overview: My oldies are both retired elementary school teachers living in a little farm, in a house situated in the middle of our ricefield. Habitants of our little barrio are mockingly called taga-bukid or taga-bundok due to the hills around the area. They are first-time travelers outside the Philippines, both on their 70s and are religiously catholic.
(Our house in the province hiding in the middle of our riceland)

Their arrival in France made me rediscover this country I now call home. Allow me to introduce to you France as I rediscover it from my parent's naïve and uncorrupted eyes.

Paris, Walang Kaparis: Have you ever heard about this? My mom said she's been hearing that line when she was a kid. And indeed, for her, it's Paris, walang kaparis.

Tourism: According to them, France could live with tourism alone. We've been to Paris, Lourdes, Midi-Pyrénées (mountains) and La Vendée (facing Atlantic Ocean) and we never ceased to bump into tourists of different nationalities. If only we could do the same in the Philippines, that would translate to more jobs and more income to the government.

Houses and Hotels on top of the mountains: So now they understand why Frenchguy loves to stay in our little farm. It's his dream to have one like ours. Taga-bundok ka dyan!

Streets of Cobble Stones: So for them, France is really rich. In the Philippines, they put stones inside the house, here, even on the streets. And when they arrived in the centre ville of Dijon where streets are covered with Burgundy stones, grabe daw talaga hehe (Burgundy is also known for its white-pinkish stones).

Map Reading: So there's the driver..and next to him, the map reader. And yes, all of the houses we've been are equiped with at least the map of France.

French Dining: It lasted 4 hours during bébé's baptismal party. Busog na daw sila, kelan daw ba matatapos? By the way, we had 5 servings from starters to dessert.

White Dress for the Baptismal Ceremony: Not anymore. French people don't invest anymore on white ensembles which is destined to be used once. Bébé was the only one on white gown. Pinay pa rin yan.

Pain or Baguette (French Loaf): Parang unan na daw kalaki. And these frencies just place them anywhere.. iniipit pa nga sa kilikili hehe..

Prices: How many times should I tell them stop converting before they actually stop?

Flexitime: Now they're thinking that I'm a big boss because I go and leave my office anytime I want. Pass 8:30, they start to worry for me because they're thinking I'll be late. [Moi] I don't badge nga My. [Mom] Uy, big boss ka na talaga ha... that's almost everyday! Alam ko na bat makulit ako..

Bourgogne Escargot (Burgundy Snails) and Frog Legs: Sosyal daw ang kuhol at palaka dito, sini-serve sa restaurants.

Condom Automatic Dispenser: In almost every corner, be it in Paris or in small villages in France. Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses. (Hyper catholic nga sila di ba..).

Nudity on Commercial Ads: Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses Part II.

French Kiss Everywhere: Immoral daw pala ang mga Pranses Part III.

Modern Farming: Alleluia for what technology could do. Would you believe that they had as much interest in this field as what they had for the Eiffel Tower. I guess my father was dreaming of having one for his farm.

Beggars
: Most of them don't speak French, they don't look kawawa at all, some even looks macho and able-bodied to plow our ricefield, iuwi na lang kaya sa Pinas at pag-araruhin.

Lady Bus Drivers: My father was amused to see that. Wala daw ganun sa Pinas.

Old People: Old and yet still climbing mountains, still driving cars, still gorgeously living their life!

Mc Donalds: [Moi] My, ano gusto mo? [Mom] Yung me rice. And I was wondering why they push me to eat in McDo instead of other restaurants. Miss na pala nila ang rice.

17 comments:

duke said...

ana sobrang nakakaaliw mga observation ng parents mo. I have a feeling ganyan din ang magiging reaction ng parents ko when they visit france!

buti they didn't react with how the french consume liters of coffee in the morning!lol

ps. si baby louna marunong na mag project sa pictures! cutey :D

Makis said...

Really enjoyed this post - it's more positive than my thoughts when my aunts came :) Louna looks great on her white dress! Great house in the province!

Thanks for leaving me a message on my last post. Feeling so much better :)

Anonymous said...

aaaaaaaaaw!
ang cuuuuuuute
naman talaga ng bebe Louna ni Tita Naomi!

Anonymous said...

your parents are so cute.

it must have been nice when they met their apo :-)

Anonymous said...

My Mom had the same observations. He he he sabi nga ni Mom "ay may pulubi pala dito!" Then when they learned that we've been robbed "ay meron din palang magnanakaw dito".

Really, na miss na nila rice,baka di mo naman sila pinagluto Ana, grabe ka...ha ha ha

BTW, welcome to christianity bébé Louna! You have the most proud lolo and lola ;-)

Ka Uro said...

ana, kaka-aliw ang oldies mo. nai-imagine ko kung gaano sila ka-shock dun sa Pranses I, II, and III. hahaha

Unknown said...

hello, hopped from KU.

I'm glad your parents are enjoying France. More than anything, I'm glad they're enjoying You, Your hubby, and Your darling baby.

Analyse said...

Duke, yeah, i was enjoying my time with them, they're re-opening my eyes to the beauty of France.

Haze, hahaha, nagsasaing naman ako paminsan minsan..pano naman kasi, i brought probably a month supply of rice when we were in Paris, they consumed it in a matter of days lang yata hehe... it took me days din to buy another pack of rice, ayun, nagutuman haha..

Ka Uro, oh yeah, when my mom saw the pictures infront of Moulin Rouge (check na lang sa net, tamad ako e)..her question was 'Are they prostitutes?'..

Rhada, heya! welcome...everybody's enjoying ;)

Anonymous said...

tawang tawa ako ana.... grabeh ka observant si lola at lolo

sa condom dispenser my cousin who came to visit me had this shock too kahit available everywhere

sagot ko naman i believe in safe sex and better use condom than STD lol

hay naku sana dito kayo sa south mag degustation tayo

Anonymous said...

Hi Tita Sha, we were in Beaune last Friday to do the degustation, and ang tatay ko, kuntudo tikim haha, i don't think he noticed the difference between different wines tho...

we asked for a vintage wine same year of birth of my mom, aba, kasing mahal na ng roundtrip ticket nila.. di na lang daw hehe. should i say, shocked naman sila?

Anonymous said...

halo bading, sorry to disturb you ha pero may assignment ka sakin sa MANSION

labsyah, mwah!

tintin said...

Yay!! An update. And a very colorful one indeed. Your parents observations are so refreshingly cute. And the little jolie Louna is sooooooooo adorable. May I babysit?

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha great observations from your parents. Did they dare to eat frog legs??

Hey, baby Louna already knows how to pose for a pic ha. She's so cute... pwedeng hiramin kahit isang linggo lang? lol

Francesca said...

hahaha! ana, ano kaya reactions ni mommy and daddy if nabisita sa beach areas dito sa cote d azur! mga half naked dito (kita boobs) baka lalo ma shock France part IV sila, LOL
oy si bebe, dalaga na sa suot!

Jovs said...

Hahaha...taga-bukid pala ha!...you are so right though Analyse, hindi lang alam ng marami sa Pinas na hot na hot ang farm lifestyle sa mata ng mga Europeans. I would love to retire and live in a farm, perhaps even operating on the side a bed and breakfast! O diba? =)

Ang ganda ng kilay ng bebe mo! Nainggit ako... kasi ako nagmana sa nanay ko walang masyadong kilay!

I wanna go to France! I want to be able to gulp down pineau de charente for breakfast and not get odd stares and be labelled as an alcoholic! =p

Anonymous said...

Ate Amy, just got back from Collioure and Barcelona so they already had their shock of their life in France part IV. It was too hot there in the south, summer outfit na pati si Louna, now, back to Dijon, back to winter outfit too..

Jovs, kapitbahay tayo, I'm dreaming of a camping site naman ... and hey, don't gulp a bottle of wine for breakfast, kahit dito sa France, they will brand you as an alcoholic hehehe..

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