One small step for me...

I recently went to the market with my host mom, where we found this vendor selling “living art.” The guy had all of these plants out on display. Some of them were wall hangings and others were potted. The interesting thing about them is that they’re real plants that have been injected with glucose and are supposedly preserved for ten years. No sunlight or watering required. Even I should be able to keep one of those alive, right?

From the moment we saw them, host mom was hooked. She brought home a brochure and talked about the plants with her boyfriend, her daughter, and anyone else who was willing to listen. I knew her birthday was coming up and it would be a perfect gift… Of course I have no memory whatsoever. Fortunately I remembered just in the nick of time (the day before her birthday). So back to the market I went. 

This is the one I bought for her.

One of the greatest things about Nice is the unbelievable outdoor market. Every morning, hundreds of vendors set up stands of produce, meat, cheese, bread, soap, mustard, honey, pastries, candied fruits, arts and crafts, jewelry, and more. It’s all locally made or grown, and it’s absolutely amazing. It smells fantastic, looks amazing, and I love the vendors’ smiling faces and the friendly chitchat with customers. A feast for the senses. It stretches along several blocks parallel to the ocean, and at the far west end is a flower market. You can buy bouquets, individual flowers, potted plants, trees, cacti, pretty much anything imaginable.

There are also some interesting characters at the market. Saturday, we walked by a table piled high with some of the most fragrant and delicious looking strawberries I’ve ever seen in my life. The vendor was standing there looking extremely bored, cigarette in one hand and money in the other (Ok, so maybe not ALL the vendors are smiling…). We pointed out the strawberries we wanted and she casually flicked the cigarette to the ground, stamping it out with a grubby shoe. She picked up our strawberries, exhaling smoke on them, took our money, and handed them over.

I feel like if that had happened back home someone would have freaked out and done something very dramatic, like threaten a lawsuit…or at least call the health department. I can see it now. Instead we smiled, thanked her, and took the strawberries to the beach. I couldn’t help but be secretly proud. I felt like I took one more baby step toward accepting that the way of life and general attitudes here are not necessarily better or worse-just different. VERY very different.