Universals

Today has been focused on the body. I wandered over to a gym I had heard about to see about a month membership. A nice place, I nearly sold the shirt off my back for a month-long membership. When I noted the price difference between there and Toronto gyms, the woman said something about the price of real estate in Paris. Ya, ok, I kind of get it. It was a bit weird to go into a modern gym in a building that was likely built before my country was founded.

Then I made a fantastic discovery. I found an amazing yoga studio. Only about a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment, it is clean and full of light. A mix of languages fills the air and the teachers teach both in English and in French. And everyone seems so nice. I walked back to my place, changed, and went back in time for a class that seemed as good as any to start out on. I was nervous after not having practiced yoga for a few months and because this class was primarily in French. But yoga really is a universal language. We're all there for the same reason and the poses are the same no matter what language you speak.

I left feeling refreshed and a little bit more myself.

My post-yoga positivity was shaken back into reality when I returned to my apartment to encounter another universal. Problems with apartment buildings. This morning I thought I heard some scratching. I strained to hear more but couldn't, and dismissed it. My friendly neighbour knocked on my door a few minutes ago asking to use a broom. There are mice in the building, she told me unhappily, and she thinks that she may have caught one in the traps she set earlier today.

It's all a learning experience. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

We'll see what happens next.