JamRocking in Paris IV- reflections I

i don’t know where i am, where you are. i feel you, i think. i feel myself; i feel nothing. a touch so light, a feathery response; yet i am not convinced, that you are.

i dont know where to look to find you. sometimes all seems clear; sometimes not. not that i try my mightiest, just once in a while you occupy my mind all day.

i dont know where i am, where you are, what you'll be. how can i prepare for you? am i capable? am i robust enough? the pages of books present words, repeated over and over again, disclosing facts and advice. yet i remain confused.
I don’t know how to nurture you; feed you and embrace you. Take your hands and lead you.

I don’t know where i am, where we are. I feel you, i think. I feel you.

Sign my guestbook! Dites moi où vous êtes!

So I can really appreciate the different parts of the world, where you all can be found!!

JamRocking in Paris III & 1/2- About me: according to blogthings.com

I found some quizzes on the site of a fellow Parisian blogger, le blaquer and thought them quite interesting!!

Here are my results after taking some mini tests on blogthings.com (let me know what yours are!!):

1. I belong in London, so tell me what am I doing in Paris?

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything.No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What city do you belong in? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatcitydoyoubelonginquiz/


2. Example of what living in Paris has done to my English!!! Help!! lol

Your English Skills:

Grammar: 100%Punctuation: 80%Spelling: 80%Vocabulary: 20%

How is your English? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/doesyourenglishcutthemustardquiz/


3. Show you what I eat: I'll tell you who I am !

You Are a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

You life your life in a free form, artistic style.You are incredibly creative and at times, quite messy.Deep down, you are a kid at heart. And you aren't afraid to express it. Your best friend: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Club Sandwich

What sandwich are you? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsandwichareyouquiz/



4. If I were an animal, I'd be :

You Would Be a Pet Bird

You're intelligent and witty, yet surprisingly low maintenance.You charm people easily, and they usually love you a lot more than you love them.You resent anyone who tries to own or control you. You refuse to be fenced in. Why you would make a great pet: You're very smart and entertaining Why you would make a bad pet: You're not interested in being anyone's pet! What you would love about being a bird: Flying, obviously What you would hate about being a bird: Being caged

What kind of pet would you be? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofpetwouldyoubequiz/


5. I am a mouthful!

What People Think of Your Mouth

People see you as both genuine and spontaneous.You really love life, and it shows. You are easy to get to know.You tend to have a wide circle of friends, and many different interests.While many people know you, no one can exactly figure you out.

What does your mouth say about you? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourmouthsayaboutyouquiz/

6. The real me? haha!

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest: You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary. At Your Lowest: You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in. In Love: You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated. How You're Attractive: Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room. Your Eternal Question: "What else do I need in my life?"

What's" Your Power Color? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpowercolorquiz/


7. Do you want me to be your drug?

Your Personality Is Like Acid

A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict.One moment you're in your own little happy universe...And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell!

What drug is your personality kike? Take the test here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatdrugisyourpersonalitylikequiz/

JamRocking in Paris III- "So, you the Baby Daddy or what?!"

I am waddling down the street with watermelon protruding in the Châtelet area. I spy a group of men in front of the mall. I rub my belly, relieved. No more being harassed, whistled at or greeted in ginal and brazen flirtation. I had my watermelon to thank for that. Or so I thought.

As I approach the group, the young man facing me dons a big smile, eyes checking me up and down and mouth moving to some rhythm I fail to figure out(being pregnant also makes one clumsy, forgetful, but also terribly 'slow' at times) - huh?! As I pass him, he turns to me and continues the sweet talk my pregnant ears cannot fathom. I shake my head in dismay as I pass him and still he continues, turning to watch me pass. I guess men will always be men. How horrible does this sentence sound?! I mean, I’m always the one to condemn stereotypes and gross generalisations however, it is true that men and women are different beings from completely different worlds. I don’t know if it’s Mars vs. Venus or whatever, but we all know that we just don’t think in the same way – or with the same body part.

Speaking of body parts: last week for example, I noticed the furtive glances I was getting from men at the sight of nature’s generosity in preparing the bosom for nurturing and I was amused at the different reactions – which also shows how men themselves are different (obviously, no one man can be the same, though it’s well known that the gross majority of this specie do act alike – wow another stereotype!!! lol). For instance some men, upon seeing me, look into my eyes, then at my breasts, um chest, and then as I pass, at my ass, um pardon me – at my posterior, without a care (you may ask how I know that they are looking at my behind once I have passed – just trust me – you KNOW!); other men look first into my eyes then at my chest then once they spot the belly – they quickly turn away (in shame for some, in disappointed for others as Guillaume rightly corrected me); others look into my eyes, then at my chest and then the belly and then back at the chest (I guess those are the ones who don’t really care about the package in its entirety – just that one body part) and finally there’re those who act like they don’t see me at all, then as I pass you see them staring at my behind as if they’d never seen one before (these are the sworn in bum-watchers who cannot help their eyes from straying and their tongue from hanging after all women who come their way – pregnant or not, slim or fat, old or young) It’s all about the body part!

So I take the escalator to meet up with my girlfriend Adeomi and as I accompany her from store to store, I tell her about the group outside and she too observes and confirms my theory about men and body parts. After an hour or two of walking around and finding the H&M maternity section as disappointing as the Gap’s we’d visited two weeks ago, we decide to give up on finding any nice and comfortable cotton brassieres or fun maternity clothes; we take a break in the Quick (French McDonald’s) to make a quick run to the ladies room. As I come back from the bathroom and sit waiting for Adeomi, yet another gawking, tongue hanging, body-part seeker comes and smiles down on me. I couldn’t help but double over in laughter as Adeomi emerges from the bathroom and on seeing what was happening asks me in her Trini accent: “What, he tink he de baby father?”

I look at her and smile and say: “Hey that’s a good question! Next time, I’ll ask them just that: “Alors, c’est toi le papa ou quoi?”

Some pix of me last week: at 4 months

Some sports for the soul:

ready in Jamaica gear: for strength!! lol





Guillaume representing Ja too : boasting Red Stripe for the road!

After the run - posing in the georgous garden infront of our apt

My personal trainer!

Pictures taken yesterday at Kamal's Gazal opening (with Guillaume's MBA pals):


My friend Maya - visitng from the USA and me

Maya sporting Gazal Has Been t-shirt!! But of course Guillaume is no Has Been, thank you!!


Now, is Tarik really has been?

Kamal, CEO of Gazal

Gee and I, out on the town with Maya, Claudia and Bruno

JamRocking in Paris II- wait, my weight?!

Wait a minute! I can't believe it! For the first time I have these words swung at me!"

I am 30 years old in September and for the first time someone expressed these 'foreign' words to me - hold on, wait a minute - now here it goes...ready?: "Madame, you have put on too much weight!!"

My family and friends, who've known me a long time, are now all bent over and dying with laughter! I know!! Yes, yes, I was told on Monday that I've put on a little too much weight too quickly!! The funny thing is that I can't see it at all. I still have chicken legs, small hips and thin arms. Yet, the scale at my Gynecologist/Obstetrician read 64kilos!!! Hold on, let me get that for the non-metric-ites- that is, 141lbs!! So basically, I went from 58kilos (127lbs) a month ago to 6kg (14lbs) more in a hop, skip and a jump!!! Should I then conclude that these pounds are stocked in my belly (which is now the size of a nice watermelon), my buttocks (hell no, I won’t give you a fruit) and my breasts (ditto)! Whichever the case, he warned me with a kind smile that the next time we see each other - June 22nd - I will have put on zero kilos more!!! Hahahaha!! Guillaume and I laughed as I strenuously tried to explain that I think his scale had gone completely cuckoo as this wasn't possible at all and he quietly told me that his €1,000 scale is used in high level competitions and of course Guillaume backed him up saying this was exactly the kind of scale he used to use during his Karate competitions!! Great!!

Yesterday, however, as my friend Adeomi and I went to the Champs Elysées to visit the new Gap maternity section, I couldn't resist the beckoning from the Haagen-Dazs sign visible from the other side of the busy avenue and between the passing limousines, motorcycles and Paris Tours buses. The fact of the matter is – I am happy with my weight. I cherish my new body full with life – in all the sense of the word. People seem so much nicer in the metro and the stores. Yes, I know this sounds almost unimaginable in Paris, but I swear that I have had people smile at me more than ever. They never smiled at me before - except for the random pervert on the metro! Before I stopped over in Gap, I popped by Sephora to get some face powder (yes, the joys of pregnancy also bring pimples and more gloss to an already oily skin) and the makeup lady came up to me to let me know that she loved seeing pregnant women and especially those who are proud to show it. And earlier in the metro, an older lady actually smiled with me. Wow!! This is what I call a change!!

So this is how one gets treated like a human being in Paris!!! No, seriously, all this to say that, I am not worried at all about this strange word- weight. I eat fruits, vegetables and try and get all the daily nutrients – without any excesses. Well, except for my ginger beer. I’ve got to have my Ole Jamaica Ginger Beer. Thank God for that Chinese store up at Strasbourg St Denis in the 18th district for selling ‘things Jamaican’. I mean, I don’t know what I'd do without plantain, salt fish and Ginger Beer.

So all I can say is: "you can just wait, my weight."


Arc de Triomphe behind, belly in front and cookies and cream in hand, hmmmm!



Caught in the act!

Very happy to be caught!

Glamour criminal!

Ohhhh, Champs Elysées!! Pa-dam-padam-pa!

JamRock in Paris, Part1- I prefer salt

"Oh, oh, I'm an alien, I'm a 'legal' alien, am a Ja-Mai-Can in Parissssssss." - Love this song!!

Yes, I've been in Paris going on 5 years now and I still don't eat croissants and pain au chocolat with Bonne Maman strawberry jam in the mornings. I still can't dunk my bagette overflowing with Nutella(yikes!!) into my BIG bowl of hot chocolate - somehow, I still need to eat salty in the morning with a nice cup of tea - with milk. In Jamaica our petit déjeuner is really a small breakfast. A small dose of what we have for lunch or even dinner, for example, ackee and saltfish with boiled green bananas or with fried dumplings. Hmmmmm! I can't help it it's inside of me. So what have I been eating for breakfast for the past 4 years and 8 months? Well - not much actually, now that I think about it: a cup of tea and a slice of toast once in a while. And sometimes, when my husband Guillaume gets up and goes to the boulangerie, I will take a bite or two of some of the sweet warm treats, don't get me wrong - they ARE delicious - but if it were up to me, I'd simply have salt.

So now that we have a little Frenchie-Jamaican on the way, I can just image our little one at the table in morning, sitting beside Papa, lifting a big (soup) bowl of hot chocolate and dipping croissants with nutella piled on top, while I sit beside them sipping a dainty cup of Lipton tea with milk and munching on toasts and omelette!!

Well, this is the richness and diversity of our couple: a weird mix of Jamaica and French. Can you imagine? Two strong cultures inculcated by two strong characters!!! Guillaume is a born leader, a lion in the Jungle. He is a businessman who can sell eyeglasses to a blind man as the saying goes. He's the sportsman, the ring leader of his group of friends, he was the tyrant of his brothers and sisters - the black sheep. I am hot headed, stubborn, spontaneous, patriotic, and the ring leader of my group of friends. So the little one will have it in double doses. A French-Maican wearing Black, Green and gold, singing No Woman no Cry, an intellectual, a fan of Baudelaire, Camus and Zinedine Zidane, a lover of political and philosophical debates, an aficionado of Rap and Beethoven, a connoisseur of Fried chicken, Jerk Pork, Camembert and Foi Gras aux truffes while sipping a cold Red Stripe followed by a nice bottle of Chinon. What a ting!! Our little French-Maican!! Poor thing!!lol

All I can hope for is that our little one will take the best of both of us and will be a proud invention of him or herself. Maybe our little one will love both sugar and salt in the morning - maybe none - peu importe - whatever! It's got a little over 5 months until its arrival and a couple of years after that to decide!! Bon appetit!!