It’s been a hard day after getting news that Marie’s second non-family guest of the year might not get his visa. There are no documented rules and they change all the time, but each volunteer (working for the government) should be allowed to have 2 or 3 guests each year. We’d applied for this friend in March, but it appears that his application has been lost and now that I’m applying for my parents, they’re claiming that it’s too many guests at the same time.
We go back to do battle tomorrow. For now, we have to put it behind us as we go for a pleasant dinner hosted by our previous landlords. They always turn out a feast and entertain us in their decorated living room.
Whenever we went uninvited, we got to sit with them in the kitchen, where they really spent their time and were much more relaxed. Unfortunately, although we prefer this style, we didn’t realise that was appropriate until very recently due to a cultural misunderstanding. They would often tell us that Anne-Claire, Marie’s predecessor, was part of the family and came to eat with them regularly. We were annoyed that they’d tell us how close they were and yet not invite us. It wasn’t until I went to help them with PC troubles one evening and stayed for dinner that I realised their comments about Anne-Claire WERE the invitation.