Questa è Enida

For some reason I am hooked to Shawn Colvin’s old number, I Never Saw Blue Like That. I thought it was just Dawson’s Creek’s theme song, but after watching The Runaway Bride baru ni on Shaw Cable, I realized it was also in the movie soundtrack. Tapi dah lama pun saya ‘limaunipiswayar’ kan onto my P850. For days like today, I guess.

The sky has been blue since last week. The snow is melting away here and the hope for a white Christmas is also melting along. Boo hoo ho ho ho! Kitreena had the time of her life it seemed when we had those 7-10 inches a week after we arrived. She needed no push from Mommy, pakai je snowsuit…belechoosss! Off she went outside to make snow-angels. Nak buat snowman, the snow was a bit too dry. So was the air. So…no snowman.

Speaking of snowman…ahak ahak, tersebutlah kisah nak jadik kisah seorang sahabat saya (if I dare or I am good enough to call him a sahabat lah kan!), an originally Malaysian claimed Parisien cum Englishman getting so upset, uptight and ‘up-yours’ when I kinda gave him a nudge that it rarely snows in Paris. I guess it was my fault for not understanding where he was coming from – like hello, making a snowman in Paris on Christmas? I said he was stretching it a bit, for the snow (if it snows) doesn’t stick to the ground long enough – or even enough to build a mini/micro snowman.

I did actually give him a friendly reminder to pack warm winter layers and at least one wind-breaker to fend him off from the windchill. Because from my own experience, Paris tends to get crispy one minute and damp the next. No, I did not assume he didn’t know how to dress for winter in France. Afterall, he is working with an international company based in France. (I admired his ambition, nevertheless, to make a snowman in Paris…should have wished him all the luck he needed!)

So, he told me off…asking me to stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine. Oh, it wasn’t his first time in Europe and he – for all to know – has been working abroad for many many many many many years it’s not even funny. In his very own words, he “…work around the world, from desert to icy place, i been in the most coldest place up -25 and the snow more than 2m thick and the hottest 50^C, i think you also never feel these tempreture.” And the end of it he VERY politely asked me to not to try to teach him how to live. Oh ye high and mighty Mr. Seen-It-All.

(The italicized part above as per original email…not tempered with, nor edited with Spell/Grammar Checker. I do have high respect for Parisiens’ attempt to write in English, by the way.)

But of course I did not tell many people about my homelessness for many years. I mean, who would care about the 55°Celcius in Rustaq where we were when we called Ras al Hamra our home for five years? And it was only two weeks ago that we had to mengharung -32°C on a daily basis here in Calgary with the windchill at -41°C. That too went unannounced. My hubby is from Calgary and we had the opportunity to live here for almost two years not too long ago. But who’s competing to be in the hottest or coldest places anyway? It doesn’t make me THE most important human being on earth, does it? Nor that I would want to rebut the pingat emas untuk anugerah saper pernah pegi tempat sejuk or panas on the planet.

I have been places, yes. But this ‘homelessness’ has only brought me closer to home…Malaysia. And I am proud of that. I am not embarrassed to admit that the very first thing I looked for at Safeway was beras wangi! Heehee. And my husband eats gulai on a selang-sehari basis. Ngo em ngak lei lor! But then again, that is beside the point. Yes we have seen quite a bit of the land on the globe, and we are humbled by the opportunity, and it delights me to see that friends and families who get to do so, as well, these days. Right on!

But when a friendly nudge was greeted with that ostentatious “You don’t try to teach me how to live!”, who would not be taken aback?

With a smirk on my lips I thought…Wow! I never saw blues like that.