Mon quartier, St Eloi

My suburb. Just a few pictures. As you know, there are some utterly beautiful places in France. And the centre of Poitiers is packed with history and is lovely to explore. But it's not all quaint with climbing roses. I live on the edge of St Eloi, in part of a house which looks to be quite old. Certainly our street is very established. However, most of St Eloi has been built over the last few years to cater for the burgeoning immigrant population, in the main. There are efforts to make it into a good community, with parks being developed, a new Lycee just about ready to open and a good bus service. I'm not all that fussed about all the apartment blocks, and it much more densely "apartmented" than these photos really show, but it always seems quiet and perfectly OK to me. In fact, I hadn't even noticed any graffiti until I looked at these photos! I have been told that the Police are always here at night, but I think it might be "Give a dog a bad name" sort of story. Not that I am wandering around the streets at night so I really don't know! So, no cute cottages, no roses sprawling up the walls, no little courtyards...... but real people live here just like they do everywhere else.
What else? Not much news really. I was supposed to be going to the village of Ruffec this weekend, but the people have cancelled due to sickness. Fair enough, but I was really looking forward to it! The weather has packed up a bit too, so I'm not sure what I'll do. If I go into town for a wander round I just end up buying chocolate! You would wonder how so many specialist chocolate shops could make a living, but I guess if there are enough people like me around it's not too hard!
So a few more random things. If I have done anything useful while I have been here I hope I have educated at least a handful of people about New Zealand. Like the Russian guy in our uni class who wondered how I would travel to New Zealand after flying into Australia on my way home. I told him I wasn't flying into Australia. But you wouldn't be able to fly direct, he said. Well, the plane has to stop to fill up with petrol or whatever they use, but yes, after Singapore it was straight on to New Zealand. And we do have airports. We even have our own airline! (Pixie Town Air, possibly.) Perhaps people have a vision of something akin to the Chathams. I don't know. The Mexican girl in our class thought that we were up near Greenland, but I suppose that's a not uncommon view. The theme in class at the moment is Women's Rights and the text book makes the assumption that we all come from countries where women have held no leadership positions. I seem to be always doing the "But in New Zealand...." thing. I think even the Prof was doubtful when I told her that we had had two women PMs and that Helen Clark had been the leader for 9 years. They also now know which country was the first to grant women the right to vote!I would have liked to have had enough grasp of the language to have mentioned Dame Sylvia, Sian Ellis and all the other recent women leaders. Mind you, I would have also liked to have had enough grasp of the language to explain how I always seemed to be ahead of my time and never quite came to terms with waiting in the car outside the Woolston Working Men's Club while John had drinks after cricket, because women weren't allowed in!! And there are other similar tales, but perhaps that might be straying a little away from the scope of the Blog title. :-) But feel free to ask me! Anyway, it was quite funny listening to the Korean girls, well, mainly my friend Gi, going on very passionately about the subservient role women have in Korea. Interesting!
Oh yes, here's another thing that has popped into my mind. You know how people always answer cellphones and say in a loud voice, "Yes, yes I'm on the train!" Well, I had my big moment the other day when someone rang me and I was obliged to say (in French), "Yes, yes I'm on the bus!" Quite funny really! And speaking of buses, when I got on one day this week I met a chap I know, who did the kissing on both cheeks thing. So I texted Louise and said, "I got kissed on the bus this morning." She thought that not being satisfied with just having a Toilet Man I now had a Bus Man too! In fact, I also have Restaurant Man, but there isn't much of a story to tell there.
Oh yes.... have I told you about all the Skype calls I get from men in Africa? I don't know how they are able to track down names and find women in France, but I'm sure it is relatively straightforward. Anyway, these blokes obviously REALLY want to come and live here, so chatting up a bird is an option I guess. They often ring, and I just ignore the call. Or they chat. Usually it is an Arab-ish sort of name - from Tunisia, or Algeria, or wherever. But last night I had a chat message from Fred! Very African! Who actually said "I would like to make friends with you. I would like to have a friend in France. I can be a good friend for you." I have tried replying in the past, but think it's best to pretend I don't exist. I suspect that in their determination for a move to France they wouldn't even be put off my my advancing years! As Hilary suggested about someone else, they are probably just after my valid Carte de Sejour. :-)
We move our clocks forward for Daylight Saving this weekend. And on that note..... Feel free to leave a comment. :-)