So what have I been doing for the past months? Taking lots of photos, meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends, working on my french, hiking, swimming, exploring, drinking lots of wine, soul searching, yoga, qi gong, meditation and still trying to find my direction.
July 5th, I left Port Vendres for a weekend in Girona Spain with friends from my Whistler days and then I headed north back to Montmin. The plan is to go back to Port Vendres this fall. I left my painting there with friends so I have an excuse to go back. When I arrived in Montmin, I literally dropped my things at Judy and Serge's place, repacked and headed to see Pauline in England for a week. Had a lovely time seeing her on her turf, meeting her friends, going to the theatre and eating fish and chips by the sea. Then it was back to Montmin where I have been since, enjoying being with people who know me and feeling a bit more settled. I always feel torn between here and Port Vendres. I love the south, the sea, the climate, the energy. However in Montmin, I have a strong community, friends who I have known for a lon
My latest endeavour is asking for another extension to my visa. This time however I am trying for a change of status. Right now I am listed as a visitor and I am not allowed to work. I am trying for what is called Profession Liberale which is being self employed. That meant I have to have an idea of how I will make money. So I decided to base my application on teaching English. I had to do a business plan, get letters of intent, provide a CV, etc., etc. I decided to apply from here as I thought having the same address for two years would make my case stronger. I waffled back and forth, thinking it might be easier and more assured if I just tried for the same visa but in the end I decided taking the easy way isn't what I want. Being here on a visitors visa, I found myself holding back from making commitments, from really making this my home. After all in the eyes of the French government I was just a visitor. Of course my indecision wasted a lot of time and now I'm behind the eight ball so to speak. The first appointment I could get at the Prefecture in Annecy is September 30th. So like last year I'm now in a position of waiting and wondering where I will be on November 1st when my visa expires.
As some of you know I am turning 50 on November 4th. I was going to plan a big party for myself but since I'm not sure where I will be on the 4th, that idea is on hold for now. What I have done is made a list of 50 things I want to do in my 50th year. I am really looking forward to 50. Milestone birthdays like 20, 30 and 40 didn't really mean much to me but 50 feels different. It feels like a rebirth, a new beginning. My list is in the draft stage right now, I'm making a few changes but one of the items is to create a new website. I was going to just revamp this one but I would rather just put it to bed and start fresh. It will remain on line but I just won't be updating it anymore. The new website will be called FlyDragonFly. When I am ready to publish it you will read why I have chosen to call it that. It will also be a public site - the address will be www.flydragonfly.org and I will send out an email when it is up and running.