It is extremely windy these days here in Provence. It has been the better half of a year since I have been living here and I still haven’t been accustomed to the sheer speed of these winds. In Delhi, these winds would be classified as storms, but here it is just life — the Mistral winds of the Mediterranean. It feels great when you’re indoors during these few days of Mistral every other week, because you hear the violent sounds of the wind from the inside, and something about it just feels very homely: it is perhaps the security of being indoors, the innate introverted-ness that hops out time-and-again no matter how extroverted I get in this new country. Often, these winds are accompanied by rain — rain that is just annoying enough for you to want to rush home to shelter. Rains in Delhi are different: they usually are the result of a heatwave and usually go either two ways. They are either a relief from the terribly scorching heat or they add to it through their humidity, there is no middle ground. There is no room for compromise. Here, the rain seems to understand your plight and annoys you just enough. Of course, the view of the Mediterranean Sea doesn’t disappoint when it is indeed raining.
The Provençal Winds and Mal du Pays
The Provençal Winds and Mal du Pays
The Provençal Winds and Mal du Pays
It is extremely windy these days here in Provence. It has been the better half of a year since I have been living here and I still haven’t been accustomed to the sheer speed of these winds. In Delhi, these winds would be classified as storms, but here it is just life — the Mistral winds of the Mediterranean. It feels great when you’re indoors during these few days of Mistral every other week, because you hear the violent sounds of the wind from the inside, and something about it just feels very homely: it is perhaps the security of being indoors, the innate introverted-ness that hops out time-and-again no matter how extroverted I get in this new country. Often, these winds are accompanied by rain — rain that is just annoying enough for you to want to rush home to shelter. Rains in Delhi are different: they usually are the result of a heatwave and usually go either two ways. They are either a relief from the terribly scorching heat or they add to it through their humidity, there is no middle ground. There is no room for compromise. Here, the rain seems to understand your plight and annoys you just enough. Of course, the view of the Mediterranean Sea doesn’t disappoint when it is indeed raining.