One of the many challenging things about learning a Romance language as a native English speaker is learning (and rationalizing) which nouns are female and which are male. Though the United States has a lot of work to do when it comes to gender equality, most places and things are expressed as gender neutral (German, anyone?); except for Mother Nature, and 99.9% of all ships/boats.
Leslie and I arrived to a windy and wet Biarritz last week. The ocean was incredible from a distance. We watched in amazement as it violently thrashed about, and we weren't the only ones. Residents gathered, too. I was reminded of my least favorite descriptors for women: crazy. We too often appropriate "crazy" to describe females we think to be disagreeable, emotional, and otherwise unstable. Let's cut it out, okay? It's not nice nor accurate. And with all the word's negative connotations, it can actually be absurdly offensive.
La mer was crazy though. And Leslie and I temporarily ducked into
un café to wait out the rain in the luxurious seaside town. We also took refuge in a spectacular resto of
basque moderne cuisine before visiting other
Pays Basque destinations in better weather.
I look forward to re-living that meal super soon! Until then, some further reading inspired by
International Women's Day...
