From the archive #2 : Fresh shrimps

The "From the archive" series tells you a story from the past, from the year 2016. There will be more (late) posts coming out, so brace yourself. I hope you enjoy your stay. 

December 2016

It was one cold day during the winter December. I forget the date. While I'm writing this, I think it was a Friday. I was driving my bicycle to the Centre Social du Hameau, the social center where I learn to improve my French, that afternoon. 

At that time, I'd been living in Pau for five months. During a brief moment, I learnt that Indonesia's presence in this small city was insignificant. I often encounter the Chinese, the Thai, the Indian, or the Vietnamese when I go to the city center or the supermarket. I had met fellow Indonesians as well at the supermarket. Back in November, the first Indonesian I encounter was a young mother. She lives here with her husband and their two toddlers. The family moved from England to Idron, a neighborhood city near Pau, in September 2016, because of the husband's post at the oil company Total. In the following months, I met another Indonesian, a woman presumably in her 40-ish, who married a French man, and is a mother of two children. She, a Toraja-descent, has lived in Pau for 12 years. Talking about a lifetime commitment, eh? Twelve years is indeed a long time. She plans to go to Indonesia this summer, because the last time she did it, it was two years ago. 

From the recounts of my *cough* young *cough* Indonesian friends, most of Indonesians who live here are connected with Total. There's a circle of Indonesian housewives, the women who are united by their husbands' posts at Total, although I have never got the chance to meet them all. There are about 10-30 Indonesian men who work there. From my observation, there are a lot more Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese, compared to our presence. Bref, our number was relatively small compared to other Asian countries. 

Besides of the total of Indonesian passport holders, what I also take into account is the absence of Indonesian restaurant in Pau. There are Indian, Vietnamese and Thai (of course) restaurants, but there's none of an Indonesian restaurant. I know there's one Indonesian restaurant, located in Toulouse, a bigger city than Pau. Culinary is important for its role as a diplomacy agent, outside of formal businesses at the embassy. I will breakdown stories related to culinary on another post. 

Having a not highly background profile of where I came from, my heart was full of excitement on that day in December, when I saw this advertisement of a supermarket! 

Leader Price, a supermarket chain in France, promotes a can of Indonesia's fresh shrimps
(pictured in left), in Pau, December 2016. The shrimps were being fished on the Indian Ocean. (EA) 

I couldn't stop giggling on the rest of my route, right after I saw and passed the advertisement - which is situated after a red light. I took this photo on the way home, after the course, after several times of thinking and asking myself: 

"Can I take the picture?" 

"Is it worth it?" 

"It's just shrimps, you know." 

"But hey, when will there be another time of this similar situation?" 

"Whatever, I'm gonna photograph it." 

Then I parked my bicycle on the opposite sidewalk of the advertisement, and approached to the side where it stood still. Click, click! Afterwards, I sent the photo to my sister and continued to walk home, with the same level of excitement. 

Earlier this week, I found another Indonesian representatives, and they still fall under the food category. Ours may not be as big as other Asian countries', but it's enough to remind me of home, of the things that can be better. Hopefully. More stories on this on the upcoming posts! :)