iTranslate, NON

This week once again I am alone, my beloved is away to the sandbox, but not the Saudi one you understand, but the Algerian one. So since Sunday morning I have been left to my own devices, never a good thing, I have had one coffee morning, one French conversation group and two french lessons, and still I am no further forward with the Français, although now I can count to just over a couple of mille, and recite the passages handed too me, it's not pretty, it is only marginally French, but it's definitely not English.

In the middle of the pink area you can just make out my beloved waving...

I have often wondered about the language that we find ourselves the mother of, me I speak one language and it's a mixture of English, with quite a bit of Scottish and a wee smidgen of 'what the hell did she just say', that would be the swear words then! But it's not until you sit with someone and dissect your mother tongue that you realise just how odd it is.  For instance today with my French teacher we were talking about coffee, and how in Scotland we use the term fly or fly cup, this amused her no end, and then when I informed her that tea was in fact nothing to do with tea where I came from and was in fact the evening meal she was very perplexed and asked so when do you drink tea, the only logical answer to that question is 'whenever there is work to be done'.........So you see the language we use is not always the language of teachers, it is taken apart-reconstructed and thrown out there in a format to suit the occasion, and for me every occasion should start with a fly.... 

I learn't today that in France le goûter is a term for a tasty treat at 4pm, and yes it is that precise most especially for children returning from school, and is as much part of the French culture as tea is to the English.  So if I'm clever I can go from breakfast to fly to lunch and afternoon tea, and to le goûter without breaking stride, and then I can have tea, followed by supper and if god forbid I'm still peckish I can have a late dinner, it just depends on which friends I'm visiting as to which meal time it falls across, oh and don't forget there is always snacks in between times.....

Tonight I had the washing machine technician pay me a visit, the new washer does not like washing anything bigger than say a pair of knickers, and if you do try it will vent its disapproval by smashing the inner drum on the sides of the outer drum, I have tried everything to get it to wash and spin my towels and without success so the technician was called. So of course the machine was started (empty of course) and would you adam and eve it, no noise. C'est perfect! errr no could you please try it with some washing in this time, anyway the damned thing behaved until the last spin cycle when it banged just a little.  I was told I must use the synthetic cycle only or the quick 15 min that was for lightly soiled clothing, my eyeballs were rolling at this point, and my head was beginning to twitch, so I took out my computer and google translate was put to good use, now this would be ok if said gentlemen(there were two by the way), could spell, neither one was any use on the keyboard but we managed and eventually I accepted I am a dumbclutz and must do as I'm told, only use synthetic wash programme and all my problems would be resolved.... So just before leaving the technician decided to look under the machine into it's innards and low and behold in broken English I do believe I have a broken spring! God give me strength not to kill a technician, so I have it on a promise that the spring he has removed from the innards of my machine will be replaced tomorrow after midday, Inshallah - and remember tomorrow is Thursday my beloved comes home on Thursday with his washing and if the machine is not fixed he will be going back to Hassi on Sunday with the same bag of dirty washing....

Stitch playing dress up