When Jacques took me to meet his family for the first time, I was praying that we would get there in one piece! He drove like a madman, going onto the sidewalk to get ahead of a congested intersection and was gesturing wildly with his hands at other motorist who were angry that they hadn’t thought of doing the same thing! I stared at him like I was seeing him for the first time! Behind the wheel of a car my wonderful Dr. Jekyll was definitely turning into a Mr. Hyde! After leaving Paris we zipped along until I saw a sign for Le Mans and I wondered if we hadn’t accidentally become a participant of the famous car race!
We arrived from Paris in record time for an afternoon lunch with his entire family; besides his parents and brother, there were aunts, uncles, and cousins in attendance as well. It was somewhat overwhelming! After minutes of kissing everyone on both cheeks, and not remembering anyone’s name, (it seemed everyone had two first names: Jean-François, Marie-Laure, Jean-Philippe….) everyone kept looking at me and talking a mile a minute in French and then Jacques said, “Yes, and look at her teeth!” He turned to me and said, “Smile, so they can see your teeth!”
Uh,…what?! I thought. Did he just tell me to show everyone my teeth? So I looked at him and he was smiling so pleased with himself that I found the whole thing hilarious. 
Images of horse buyers looking at the horse’s teeth to see if they were still young and in good health came to mind and I just started laughing much to everyone’s delight! They were oohing and ahhing until one of Jacques’ uncles said, “Are those for real or are they fake?” Everyone waited for me to answer.
“Nope!” I said. “They’re all mine!” I couldn’t help thinking….how many 20 year-olds do you know that have a full set of dentures?!
Maya Muses: I ate an apple that day, skin and all, with his uncle watching me closely, probably to make sure that those were really my teeth!
Photo Credits: Flickr and Personal Photo
9 responses so far ↓
1 Mia // Dec 1, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Lol!
I just came from my dentist!And you are writing about teeth!
It is definitely not one of my favorite thing to do!
Have you been to India?
We went from Bombay,it was called that then,to Poona by bus…don’t think they had any shock absorber in that bus!hehe
Then we took a Taxi from Poona to Bombay instead …
They sure know how to use the horn!
And God what a ride!No wonder they have all these “Protecting charms” in and on their cars!
And suddenly a cow could walk out on the road!
Thank God that did not happened….
2 Lynn // Dec 1, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Mia, the synchronicity between us is sometimes astounding! It wouldn’t be if it happened once or twice, but it seems to happen to us all the time! I guess we’re on the same wavelength or telepathically in sync!
No, I’ve never been to India. I was suppose to go with a good friend of mine, but circumstances prevented us from going. One of my exes use to love going to India and Nepal; each time he went, he would spend about three months there. Some of the stories he tells are incredible! I would love to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal, perhaps one day!
3 Mia // Dec 2, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I go with you!
Better go there soon while it is still there!
I have not been there…We were in India for 2½month,gosh it is 18 years ago!
Have you been to Venice?Did you see how high the water is in the city now?
I thought they had done something to prevent this?
4 Mia // Dec 2, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Yeah….
It seems like time and space has no meaning,when you are on the same wawelength you just are!
5 Lynn // Dec 3, 2008 at 12:44 am
2 1/2 months in India and you didn’t see the Taj Mahal….wow! I’m impressed….you were probably going through India not as a tourist, but someone who wanted to mingle with the people and the places. That’s how I always traveled. I think at my age now though, if I would go to India I would go more as a tourist and that would be the first place I would go to and see in case I had to leave quickly!
I love Venice, I have been there 5 times, but I wasn’t always in love with the city. There was always something wrong when I went. The first time I was really sick, so I didn’t enjoy it at all. The second time, the weather was terrible, it was cold and raining the whole time even though it was in April, the third and fourth time were no better because of other reasons, and then finally the fifth time, it was great! Everything came together and I could appreciate the city, the history, the beauty, etc. Fifth time a charm!
Yes, I have seen the flooding that is going on in Venice, it’s terrible! I don’t think they know how to stop it, otherwise something would have been done a long time ago, but the city is slowly sinking.
6 Mia // Dec 4, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Yeah,you are right,we did travel like that in India!
If I went there today I probably would do it differently…
We have a friend who is going there next week,with his wife and their little daughter…
He is a magician and a meditation and yoga teacher…Its not his first visit,but it will be very different this time,going with their sweet little daughter!
7 Lynn // Dec 5, 2008 at 5:58 am
I wish them well, but aren’t they a little worried about what is going on in India at the moment with Pakistan? It could be dangerous especially since they have their young daughter with them.
8 Mia // Dec 7, 2008 at 8:11 pm
I don’t think so..
Don’t think they will be in the big cities..
And they will split,he will go to Nepal,and she will go and learn dance somewhere,with their daughter.
9 Lynn // Dec 7, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I would love to go to Nepal and especially to Tibet! It must be incredible to see the Himalayas!
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