Les Dents, Les Films, et La Nourriture

Yesterday morn, bright and early, I fell asleep in an oral surgeon's chair and awoke 2 minutes later, it seemed, to find myself groggy, wisdom-tooth-less and unable to feel my whole jaw area. That was basically how I felt all day except when the anesthetic wore off and the feeling came back to my mouth and jaw, i.e. throbbing pain ensued. Once I was aware enough to look in the mirror, I thought I had gained 100 pounds all in my face. Great. Ah well, hopefully putting on ice packs every 20 minutes and only drinking puréed spinach soup and fiber one yogurt will help my face slim down.

Luckily, I had rented a myriad of movies to watch while I was bed-ridden and hiding my bloated chipmunk face from the public. To get ready for my trip and to satisfy my appetite for good food and cooking, I rented European films, films about food, and European films about food. Yay! Plus, I watched a Disney classic about a French princess (Disney always seems to cheer me up). Here were my picks:

Eat Drink Man Woman (directed by Ang Lee): In the special features, Ang Lee said his goal was to get his audience to salivate. I think he was extremely successful! Makes you want to eat crab dumplings and jade shrimp immediately.

Sleeping Beauty: The only movie I felt like watching while nauseated. I love all those woodland creatures and senile fairies!

L'auberge espagnole (French, but takes place in Spain mostly): Perhaps a preview of my stay at an international student dorm- fun stuff!

Mostly Martha (German): Oh my gosh, it was agony watching all that delicious looking food (spaghetti, gnocchi, grilled veggies) and knowing that I couldn't eat any of it for a week. A good drama, and the original that inspired the Catherine Zeta-Jones American version No Reservations.

The Bakery Girl of Monceau (French): Short, but sweet. Love Eric Rohmer, the director. Very thought-inducing.

Not only did these movies help me through the first day of the healing process, but they have gotten me more and more excited about my upcoming trip and more and more enthused about food, Oui!