A Sweet Moment

I am making more and more friends in France. Like friendships everywhere, it starts slowly, with a similar interest or activity.

If I meet someone interesting, I try to organize an activity to get together.

Once in awhile, I don't even need to try so hard, it just happens.

This is the case with Julie. We met at WICE. We don't speak the same language and for some reason, we have a hard time communicating. But, we are friends. We've had each other over for dinner and planned several events together.

Yesterday I was waiting for the bus and Julie crossed the street to meet me. She explained that she had gone to a good green grocer in the neighborhood to buy herbs for her Passover dinner. She had a huge bag that smelled wonderful. She opened several packages and showed me Italian parsley, cilantro, mint.

Just as my bus arrived, she opened the cilantro, right on the sidewalk at rush hour, split it in half, wrapped it up and handed it to me with a wish for a good weekend.

And if that wasn't enough, I had recently asked her for a recipe for tagine for my Easter dinner. She is a very good cook. She said she'd write it down for me. But, at the last second, she decided to recite it for me. She got into my bus (not hers) and started reciting the recipe. We rode along with all the herbs, me trying to remember the recipe. I think I got it.

She finally got off the bus and ran to catch another bus back toward her apartment.