The Black Cat :: Le Chat Noir

My mother claimed to be allergic to animals to avoid getting my sister and me an actual pet.  Fish don't count.  They just swim until they die.  You can't do anything with fish.

not even if they have mustaches

I'm glad I'm not allergic, since my host family has a black cat that I wasn't told about.  Not exactly the most encouraging sign to have on your first couple of days in a new country, a black cat in your room.  I'm not superstitious, but I was about to grab the salt container and knock on wood when she galloped in front of me to claw at my window (through which she exits for who knows how long).

My host family isn't superstitious nor religious, though France in general has a very Catholic background (what western European country doesn't).  That's why "oh mon dieu" isn't said very much in France.  You can say it, but it used to be seen as blasphemy during the Inquisition, which was a huge discouragement to the statement's existence.

though now it's seen as a witness' statement 

My host family also got a hamster and some fish a couple of days ago, after I got here.  The hamsters were cute in the store, snuggled up against each other, cuddling for warmth.  So my host mother was like, okay, we'll get two.

Umm...about that.  What I deciphered from the conversation between the store assistant and my host mother is that if you get a male and female, they will have babies, and then eat them.  If you get two of the same gender, they'll just eat each other.  

ready to prepare his kids for dinner

My host mother wisely decided to only get one of the cannibalistic rodent demons.  I'm not sure how long Mr.Nameless the Hamster will last, considering how the fish have already died from, I'm sure, seeing Minette all the time.

...two days later

Considering how I always open the window for Minette (she likes to go out), I'm afraid she's going to thank me by dumping Mr.Nameless in my room, which she's often in because it's sunny a lot.