Why I Live Where I Live - An Interview With Myself

Sunday Scribblings ' prompt for the week is "second chance."

I had just been thinking how fun some of the earlier prompts were, and I'm definitely up for this idea:

"Is there a Sunday Scribblings prompt you would like to use again?"

Technically, I'm not "using it again" since I wasn't Sunday Scribbling at the time of this prompt: "Why I Live Where I Live." But I look as it as a second chance for me to do write about this subject, and also a first chance for some of you to learn a little more about me.


1. Why do you live on the planet Earth?


Because I'm a human being and I think it's the only place we can live.

2. Why do you live in France?



Because I married a Frenchman in 1990 and professionally, it seemed like the best choice for both of us. He was in a professional field that would have been difficult to exercise in the USA; I already spoke French, had teaching experience, and was a committed Francophile. So here we are, seventeen years later.

3. Why do you live in Aveyron, in the deep depths of la France profonde ?


When French people ask me what I'm doing "lost in Aveyron," they usually figure my husband must be Aveyronnais. It's hard for them to imagine why else an American would live here. But actually our move to this area was strictly a professional decision -- we had been living in Tours, and my husband found a better job here. I followed.

4. Why do you live in your village?


When my aforementioned husband first moved down here, three months before my daughters and I did, he rented a house in this "village." I moved into it -- both the village and the house -- sight unseen. Later, since we wanted to buy a home, we limited our choices to the same village, because we liked it here, or Rodez, where we both worked.

5. Why do you live in your house?


Like a lot of expats, I always imagined that in France I would buy vieilles pierres -- an old stone house. But that never worked out. After looking for a house to buy for over two years, we finally decided to have one built. My husband designed it and did most of the construction work. We may not stay here forever, but it's a great home for now.

For more about second chances, click here.