Impatience ...

A little backstory --

In order to get my visa for France (which I have to have before I can actually go to France) I need a piece of paper called an "arrêté de nomination".  This piece of paper is sent by my Académie as usually arrives sometime in June or July.  Once I have my piece of paper, I can go to my local consulate (which is located in Los Angeles, CA) drop off everything important to me (passport, arrêté, guarantee to give my first born child to France, etc) wait two to three weeks and get everything back in the mail and then enter France.  

So knowing all this, I know that, at the very latest, I need to go to my consulate August 31st (and then hope that there are no delays).  However, being logical, I have planned to go LA around August 15th.  (the LA consulate, oddly, also allows assistants to mail in their visa applications, but it adds 2 weeks to processing time, so I would have to do that on, oh, Monday?)

So knowing all this, I very impatiently check the mail everyday, only to be disappointed that my arrêté hasn't arrived.

Fast forward to Yesterday --

I receive an e-mail that my académie is running a bit behind and we should expect to receive our arrêté by the end of August.  My reaction: WHAT?!?!?!?!?  And here's the reason:

"The person in charge of the arrêtés is on vacation until August 15 (this is France after all!), so they probably won't be able to mail them out until at least this date. "

Ahh... on vacation, eh?  Yeah, that seems like a totally reasonable reason to not get the administrative work done for 50 people who need a visa to fulfill the job that we were hired for!!!! 

So, our very nice contact person at the French Embassy has offered the following: 

"If you are leaving for France in late September and have a visa appointment for late August, please sit tight for now and wait for your arrêté de nomination to arrive.  You should receive it sometime between August 15 and August 30, hopefully before you go for your appointment.  If it is a couple of days before your appointment and you still don't have the arrêté, then let me know and I will intervene to make special arrangements with the Consulate.  Since there are a lot of you in this situation, please be patient for the arrêté to arrive and only contact me about stepping in if it is truly urgent (i.e. one or two days before your appointment).  I will be doing this for a good number of people, so it would really help me out if you can wait to contact me until you are absolutely sure you won't have your arrêté before you go to apply for your visa. "

The trouble for me is that I'll be in Wisconsin for my cousin's wedding from the 24 to 31st of August - So basically, I need to schedule my appointment for sometime around the 20th and hope that it all works out!

GAAA!!! The bureaucracy!  It's killing me!

Have Cat, Will Travel

This is my darling cat Razu:

This is what he looks like when he's being mischievous which is, oh, about 98% of the time: 

It may not be totally obvious from the pictures, but Razy is a big cat: He's 13 pounds, 20 something inches tall and 20 something inches long!  Fortunately, he fits into a carrier and is the correct weight to fly (however, if he gains 2 pounds we are both S.O.L.).  

Bringing a cat overseas is quite the process, however.  Here is the checklist provided by the French Government as to what I need to do to bring him into la belle France:

I. Dogs, cats and ferrets

The European Union adopted new measures for the importation of pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) into the EU member states.

In order to bring their dogs, cats and ferrets from the United States into France , travelers must abide by the following conditions:

 each family is limited to 5 animals.

 every animal must be identified by a microchip (standard ISO 11784 or annex A ISO standard 11785) or a tatoo. If the microchip’s standard is different, you must bring your own scanner in order to read the microchip. In the United States , you may acquire the microchip standard ISO 11784 on the web at : http://pettravelstore.com. It should be implanted only by a veterinarian.

 every animal must have a valid rabies vaccination, even if less than 3 months old. If it is the first rabies vaccination for the pet, you must wait 21 days between the last shot of the vaccination protocol and departure.

 the health certificate will be valid for 4 months after signature by an official veterinarian (certified by the USDA) or endorsement by the competent authority (USDA). The list of USDA Area Offices of Veterinary Services may be consulted at the following URL address: www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/area_offices.htm

 the blood test is not required for animals coming from Canada and the United States .

And this is the form my vet has to fill out: Veterinary certificate to print.  Oddly, the instructions are all in French, but the actual form is in both English and French.

Razu and I are in the final stages of preparation.  He has a microchip (which is registered and everything), he has a reservation on the plane (we are flying United and Lufthansa, who have a good pet policy), he has a vet appointment and he has a very nice Sherpa cat carrier, which looks like this:

I wasn't sure how he would feel about the carrier, but I left it right next to his food and I catch him napping in it every now and then!  I read somewhere that if your cat has you in constant eyesight on the plane that he'll meow non stop - so I bought some cute infant receiving blankets and put them in his favorite spot, so come the day of the flight I can cover his carrier with one and it'll smell like home.  He really loves the blankets and sleeps on them every chance he gets - I'm hoping that they will provide him with some comfort during the long trip!  

I've also been practicing taking him on mini trips to get him used to being in the carrier and away from home.  Yesterday, we ventured to the pet food store which is a 2 minute drive from home.  He made a lot of noise in the car, but once we were in the store he was quiet and happy as a clam.  Hopefully he'll be the same way on the plane!  

One final thing I've done is purchased a harness and leash.  Apparently, when you go through airport security they will run the carrier through the x-ray machine, which means that you have to carry the cat!  Razy isn't much for being held, and I can't imagine he'll like it when surrounded by a ton of people and noise, so for his own safety I got him a bright red harness and leash - that way if he tries to run he won't get far!  

Our only remaining steps is the rabies shot and to have the form filled out - which is an appointment I've scheduled for this week!  Even though the certificate is good for 4 months, I want to have it as current as possible. Once the certificate is filled out, all I need to is get it certified by the USDA office - which is, luckily enough, very close to home.

It may be a lot of work to bring the cat, but I just can't imagine leaving him at home!  Besides, he's my Chagall cat!:

(this is one of my all time favorite paintings and I just so happen to have a giant print of it in my room. 

 The other day, my mom pointed out that the cat in the painting ... he looks just like Razu!)

The Food Issue

... this is a bit of a boring post, just a warning...

My up coming travels to France were sparked by my interest in attaining a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant.  Since traveling to France in 2006, I have become obsessed with the culture, history, art and most importantly the food of the country.  My eating experiences in France directly shaped my current academic interests and along with a wonderful class titled The History and Evolution of Human Food taught by Barrett dean Mark Jacobs, propelled me into a world of cuisine curiosity.  This interest has shaped my current life goals and plans and propelled me to pursue a year in France, not only to teach, but also to research the unique status of food in French culture.  As a component of the Fulbright application, the applicant is encouraged to develop an individual project in conjunction with their teaching experiences.  For my project I designed a research based inquiry into the role of protected foods in France and their changing composition and taste as influenced my outside pressures.  It goes something like this:  

In an effort to retain and protect traditional foods, the European Union has created a system of classifying distinct foods products.  The system ensures that traditional production is maintained for the future, encourages agricultural diversity and offers protection to foods with a distinct reputation.  This system utilizes three designations: Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed.  France has been an avid supporter of the movement with 157 protected foods.  The foods range from Roquefort cheese to Aix-en-Provence olive oil and Bretagne cider.  A bureau, syndicat or syndicat de défense maintains each protected food, with each of the twenty-two metropolitan provinces home to a protected food.  In Provence-Alps-Cote d'Azur, for instance, the protected goods include Banon cheese as well as four distinct olive oils, two types of table olives, rice and honey.  Many of the producers enthusiastically offer tours of their facilities; Aix-en-Provence huile d'olive producer Chateau Virant, for instance, offers tours year round.  Each of these foods is pivotal in French culinary history, and the government desires to maintain and preserve these goods.  When I am in France, I will study the role of the foods of the province where I am assigned to understand the effect they have in reinforcing the role of traditional cuisine.  I will do research on the food before leaving the US, and once settled into my school in France, I will tour the production facilities, attend festivals that celebrate the foods (such as the Marché de l'huile nouvelle in December), analyze the marketing by studying advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and discuss the attraction to and importance of these foods with community members.  I also hope to utilize my interests in French food to begin a dialogue of cultural exchange with my students.  Finally, I plan to meet with members and representatives of the food's protectorate.  I have seen that many offer newsletters and actively welcome questions and comments.   In this study I will not only work with individuals but also conduct research into the necessity and history of these protected foods.  Further, I am interested in the influence of immigration on the evolution of French cuisine, such as the introduction of non-traditional spices, like curry, in meat dishes.   This study will directly impact my future goals of studying the significance of traditional cuisine in redefining and reshaping culture. 

While I didn't receive a true Fulbright grant (instead I am a Fulbright recommended French Government English Teaching Assistant - one of 50 in the US) I still plan to carry out my proposed research project.  Orléans is in the region of Centre, and according to my research, Centre's EU protected foods are: Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Selles-sur-Cher and Valençay (all goat's milk cheeses). Centre also has a number of wines that are very distinctive.  These come from the Loire Valley region and you can read more about them here.  Needless to say, I am very excited to have the chance to research these and other distinctive French foods.  I am especially excited to find out how modern techniques, influences from immigrants and changing attitudes toward food has or has not changed the traditional production of each of these products!  

I don't plan to limit my research just to the region of Centre, instead I plan to explore the cuisine of all of France and discover both the protected products and traditional cuisine.  I hope to report this in as vivid of detail possible, and look forward to sharing my experiences with you!