Found in Translation

It's that time of year again - prepping for finals! In one of my classes I'm writing a 15 page paper on the politics of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. I started reading Didier Fassin's book "When Bodies Remember" today and was struck by a sentence in the English version:

"The book's construction should thus be understood as a progression from macropolicies to micropolitics -or better an exploration into the heart of darkness of everyday politics of life and death" (XVII, Fassin).

The phrase "heart of darkness is what struck me about this sentence. This semester in class we read Kevin Dunn's book "Imagining the Congo: The International Relations of Identity" and discussed the various representations of Africa created by the West.  The "heart of darkness" representation pulled from the Joseph Conrad novel has had strong ties at least in the English speaking world with interpreting African politics, society, and culture in a certain way. The "heart of darkness" representation is problematic because it applies certain images and stereotypes about Africa as chaotic, corrupt, and ungovernable that are used used in media, politics, and disseminated to the public. So I was taken aback to see that it was invoked in Fassin's great book. I had a hunch though, that the translation might not be true to the original so I checked out the French version to see what was up...

The French Translation:

Sa construction doit ainsi être comprise comme une progression des macropolitiques vers les micropolitiques. Mieux comme une exploration au coeur des politiques de la vie et de la mort. (Fassin, 16)

Lo and behold (well for those of you who can speak French and English anyway) the original French version does not mention "heart of darkness," it was merely a literary flourish added by the English translator. For years I've been drilled on discourse, representations, and post-colonial theory, and finding this problematic phrase in an English version of a novel whose goal is to eradicate the cultural and political anesthesia that is all too common in the West was... shocking. I also felt as if I were like a real academic like the ones I read in class all the time, identifying representations and busting stereotypes. Oy Academia!

Let the world change you and you can change the world

This is not a story of incredible heroism, or merely the narrative of a cynic; at least I do not mean it to be. It is a glimpse of two lives that ran parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams.

Oh man, I love this quote. I know a lot of people give Che flack for being the poster boy for American middle-class radical wannabes, but I really admire what he tried to accomplish, the egalitarian principles he fought for. His trip across South America is also something I can relate to. When you travel you're changed by the people you meet and the experiences you gather. Though to be sure Che saw a lot more poverty and suffering than I did on my trip. Seeing "The Motorcycle Diaries" not only made me want to learn Spanish, but also to explore a continent that I still don't know much about.

Grandma came into town!

Babcia (means grandma in Polish) came to Chicagoland Saturday to spend time with us for a week. Since we've moved out to the midwest we don't get to see her that often because she lives on the East Coast. Whereas it was a 3.5-4 hour drive from Babcia's house when we lived in Virginia it has now turned into a 16 hour drive.

My grandfather (left), my grandmother (center with baby), my great-aunt, and don't know the other guy... maybe my great- great-uncle? circa 1959

She told me stories that I had never heard before, about her childhood in Poland during World War 2. How her family had to live underground for two years, how food was so scarce that her mother thought she would starve to death, how no one dared tell anyone that her father was born in the United States and that he was living in the United States during the war as to not incur the Nazi wrath. (My great-grandfather after leaving the U.S. as a child, returned in May 1939 and in September, Poland was invaded by Germany).


It's amazing to think of the progress that Poland has made since then. After the Western Powers handed Poland over to Soviet Russia, a dark time in Polish history ensued. With the fall of communism and the oppression that came to characterize it in 1989, new possibilities opened up for the country. In 2004 Poland joined the European Union and though this transition has not been an easy one (a lot of xenophobia going on with the movement of Polish workers to the richer European countries), it was the only European economy to achieve positive growth in 2009.


It was an amazing experience to visit Poland for the first time this summer. I wanted to write a blog post about it, haven't yet, but I definitely will soon.

...particularly relevant in modern America

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

What examples can you think of? Post your thoughts in the comments section or even just post a picture!

Män som hatar kvinnor

was the original Swedish title of Stieg Larsson's best-selling first novel in the Millennium trilogy. Translate it into English and you get "Men Who Hate Women."

However us in the English speaking world know the novel and subsequent movie as "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" due to marketing purposes and I'm sure also because mainstream media doesn't have a backbone.

I saw the movie a few days ago at my beloved dollar theatre because there wasn't much of selection this week and it had a good score on rotten tomatoes. I really love the dollar theatre because I see a lot of movies that I wouldn't normally risk to see at movie theatres for $8 or rent on DVD and
"Män som hatar kvinnor" was no exception.

I don't like watching movies about murders or crime drama or psychopaths because I don't derive entertainment from watching such an ugly side of humanity.

However I was really impressed by this movie. It explores pretty heavy stuff like violence against women and Nazism. Stieg Larsson was a journalist for a Communist newspaper in Sweden just like his character Mikael Blomkvist and wrote what he thought were prevalent stains in the fabric of Swedish society... or so wikipedia informed me.

Goodness knows I don't often see a Hollywood movie with a solid narrative. Not sure if I can explain what it is that felt better than most movies I see... Everything came together in it.... character motivations etc. and I wasn't left feeling the obvious holes in the plot. It's really hard to get a good sense of a character in 2ish hours but this movie really pulled it off. HOLLYWOOD TAKE NOTES!

Oh, and did I mention Hollywood is already gearing up to do the English language version?
Is it that strenuous to read subtitles? No!! get a grip English-speaking world!

NPR: 'Dragon Tattoo' Has Designs On U.S. Audiences

Looking Back

I have been looking back on all my posts tagged FRANCE.  Some of them were about experiences I wanted to have or opinions I thought in the first few weeks of being here. Today is the last day for our journal entries before we hand them in to our professors and I thought a reflection post would be most appropriate.

I still have one more week in France left and I want to make the most of it. Over the past few months I've felt much frustration as equally as euphoria. I've learned that French people don't spice their food very much at all and though they can be pretty stoic and intimidating at first, the French are great!

I wanted to write a reflection for this last post, but I realize now that I won't feel the full effect of this experience until later whether later be stuck in EL hating the midwestern winter and thinking back to this wonderful summer or in middle age when my own children will be of the age when they start exploring the world and meeting all different kinds of people just as I am now.

Like I've said in a previous post I'd like to come back to France because I have yet to feel satisfied with both my competency in French and the number of my experiences here. I know of some people doing a program in France in which they will recieve a small stipend to work with adolescents here in French schools for nine months. I would like to try to get into that program and so maybe next year I will be writing new blogs posts again from France. til then salut! à bientot!!!

La Musique

One of the most interesting things I've noticed here in France is how much American music is played. It boggled my mind at first why people would care to listen to music they understood only in varying degrees and the answer I got from the French people I asked responded "we listen for the beat."

That's all well and good but you miss something I feel but by not fully comprehending the lyrics you're missing something great... that soaring feeling you get when you connect with a song on that lyrical level.

However, it makes sense economically for bands to sing in English. The United States is I believe the third largest country in the world with 300 million people combined with the anglophones living in Canada, Australia and of course Great Britain make the English speaking audiences the ones you want to target for the most bang for the buck.

I've been listening to Phoenix a lot this past week because their songs are good summer songs, light qnd qiry anot not too serious... plus they're French so I feel an added sense of approval for listening to them. Anyway I found an interview where the band discusses its motivations for singing in English, you can watch it down below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=y3QGd1EW2Lw&feature=fvw

I'm really impressed by Phoenix songs. Their lyrics show a pretty intimate knowledge of the English language in terms of slang and the way the construct sentences even. When I first heard of them I'm pretty sure I didn't realize they were French. My friends and I met some really cool French kids our age and we were talking about French bands and one of the boys asked if they sung with an accent andf I told him no because the only way I could tell they're French is by their accent when they talk not sing. Very interesting

On the Front Page of Le Monde

Image, Le Monde

This morning at breakfast I was skimming the July 15 Le Monde and the front page above the fold article was the following:

Le Sénat américain ouvre la voie à la réforme de Wall Street

It made me think about two things 1. how incredible the coverage of the United States is in Le Monde and how it is not reciprocal in the United States and 2. what life would be like as an expat

A lot of the stereotypes pertaining to Americains not knowing anything about other countries while other countries know about us has some legitimacy. While I was skimming the article I kept thinking that it is so weird to be learning about this important political news from my country first from a French newspaper. It made me think about how I would feel and be different if I were to live in France for more than two months...

It was very interesting to go to Poland this summer with my dad. I expected him to rave about Poland the whole time and talked about how he missed it but instead he compared everything to the United States and how it was better there. I think the only thing connecting him to Poland is the family he still has there in essence. Sure he loves Polish food and music a lot, but 30 years in the US has definitely made its mark on him... it is an interesting thing to ponder - notions of identity and nationality.

Turn the summer into dust

I only have two and a half more weeks left in France! I don't want to leave!

I feel like I haven't accomplished something, like I feel like there is some goal or feat inside me and I haven't mastered it.

And in two and a half weeks the summer will be one giant step closer to turning into dust and I'll evaluate all my experiences and lessons and frustrations of the past two months.

Then I'll go back to East Lansing, finish up school, and figure out my next step and I hope that will involve traveling.

Traveling is such an immense experience especially if you venture to a foreign country for more than a week and I hope I'll get the opportunity soon to meet new people and hear their stories and ideas.

The French, Chicago, and Al Capone

Everytime I tell people here in France that my family lives in the Chicago they frequently mention Al Capone.... and sometimes Michael Jordan.

......Seriously? Those people out of everything and everybody else? No mention of Barack Obama?!! lol It is good to know that Chicago has such a nice reputation abroad! haha C'est drôle.

Well Marion Cotillard did star in Public Enemies with Jonny Depp and both of them live in France so maybe this just compounded Chi Town's reputation in France.

Paris, Je T'aime

Following excerpt written from a Parisien café from my molskein cahier

There have already been several times when I have been flustered while speaking French. You know how they say you can smell fear? well you can also smell a flustered foreigner butchering the French language. Right now I'm sitting in a café/brasserie in Montparnasse in the 14e arrondissement. I'm staring up at the lone gratte-ciel skyscraper in Montparnasse waiting for my friend's train to arrive from Bruxelles. My impressions of Paris have so far been positive. My train got in from Tours à 15h30 and I've been walking around for the past 5 hours. While crossing a street I glanced over my shoulder and saw the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was incredible incroyable.  I just kept staring at it and thought - wow I'm really in Paris, aren't I? I began walking towards it hoping it was maybe close enough that I could get a good view without getting lost. On the way I stopped by a confisserie and bought French candies and the proprietor even gave me a free framboise bon-bon because I waited  longtemps while the guy in before me stocked up on sweets. I was as giddy as a child in the shop looking at all the different candies that I have never seen in the U.S. and the fancy paper that wrapped them. I also stopped at a 19th century cathedral as my pursuit of the Eiffel Tower became a lost cause and lit a candle for my parents as is becoming customary for me to do as I visit many old churches in France. I love going to old cathedrals and seeing the different types of architecture and art. This particular church had one of the most beautiful artistic works I have ever seen. It was a white statue of the Mary under who billowing carved stone clouds eneveloped her and her traditional globe and snake motif. From her paintings of gold sunrays spread out. This work of art stood in an enclave where several pews stood so that people could gaze at her and prayer to her for guidance and assistance.

*more to come!

New Month's Resolutions

So I have four more weeks in France left and i want to try to make the most of it.

I need to get over being shy when I speak French. The perfectionist in me wants to speak perfectuly at all times with as little an accent as possible. Thus with this sensibility, I have struck out many times in conversation because of my timidity to make mistakes.

I hit a rough patch emotionally about a week and a half ago. It was a day that I had to go to a lot of different stores to buy things for my upcoming week vacation from classes.I went to about 5 places and looked like an idiot/ didn't understand what was being said to me. I felt so incredibly frustrated like the French were personally out to make me feel miserable.

I then proceeded to rage and complain to Kaitie and Mary as well as to the internetosphere on facebook and twitter. From that frustration and overall miserableness I learned two things: A/ If anyone complains of people not speaking English in America I'm going to give them a piece of my mind because chances are they have no fucking clue what it's like to be learning a new language in a foreign country and B/ I'm going to have to get over my timidity if I'm ever going to truly progress further.

On the day I left for vacation to Poland, I got my first chance at this kind of redemption.

I was sitting in the train station waiting for a train to take me to Charles de Gaulle when a man passes by me and sits down on my bench. I thought this was weird because there were plenty of open benches in the station and my bench wasn't situated in front of the schedules or anything of importance like that. Then after a little bit he says something, but I figure to just ignore it since I couldn't understand what he saying in the first place and wasn't sure if his words were even directed at me. However, he says something different in a louder tone closer to my face, and I turn and the conversation begins.

And I had an interesting conversation with him. At first I couldn't understand what he was talking about, if he wanted to ask me for directions or what but after I asked him to speak "plus lentement" (more slowly) I understood. I explained to him that I was American and studying at the Institute and I guess he understood what I was saying even though he had somewhat of a blank look upon his face because he asked me in which part of the city I lived. I responded "avant le jardin" and he asked me which one. I told him I didn't know, which was the truth, but nevertheless I don't know if I would have felt comfortable telling him which garden.

You know it's weird. I read in my French culture book that when meeting new people the French rarely exchange first names, yet this guy asks me where I live? French people don't you think that where a person lives is more private than their first name? The whole public/private thing boggle my mind sometimes in France, and I'll speak about it more when I write my massive treastie on Muslims in France soon.

Anyway he asked me where I was going and I told him Charles de Gaulle. Then he asked if I was going back to America and I said no I was going to visit my father in Poland for vacation. Then he said "oh your father lives in Poland and your mother in the U.S." and I told him that my father's family lives in Poland and that both of my parents live in America. Then he said "Those Poles sure do love Americans" and I responded that I guess it's true (Poland's foreign policy is very Pro-American).

From there we got to the subject of politics and I asked him if he liked Nicolas Sarkozy and he laughed and said no. He then said he judged the United States for electing Bush, but conceded that the same could be said for France's election of Sarkozy, which I thought was very interesting.

So all in all I had a pretty nice conversation with this guy. I wasn't really nervous because he wasn't cute and was about a decade older than me. Since he initiated the conversation I felt more comfortable asking him to speak slower and also in talking myself because I didn't care how competent or cool I came off as.

Here's to hoping more of these situations arise in the next four weeks!

Plus Petite

Everything is smaller in France. The sidewalks, the drinking glasses, the ceilings in the mall, shampoo bottles, cars, all that jazz.

They have less space in France so it would make sense to have smaller things and be more prone to conservation but I also think it’s representative of the culture of excess in the United States. We have to have things bigger better, more impressive.

I think that this “culture of excess” can be linked to American eating/exercise habits as well. People in France and Poland put butter on their sandwiches, that’s like unheard of in the United States. (Although I’m starting to realize now that I’m here in Krakow that just as many Polish people are chubbin it out as Americans, and I shouldn’t go by my super tall/skinny cousins as a guide to the Polish norm! lol) Americans are carb weary forgoing pasta and bread for lettuce wraps while in France they chow down on baguettes everyday. Milk in France is like half and half! I drink skim milk at home and I’m going to have to take some time to get used to it again because the milk I drink every morning in France for breakfast is creamy and delicious.

I feel like Americans are super health conscious on one end and then really chubby and lazy on the other - there’s like no middle ground. Exercising and going to the gym is much bigger in the U.S. than it is France. I honestly don’t think the concept of moderation exists in the U.S. Thus we are both one of the heaviest populations in the world as well as the ones obsessed with dieting, exercise, and body image. I think I eat healthier in the U.S. but eat more and obviously walk less even on campus than I do here.

Europeans I’ve noticed both in Poland and in France utilize space better in their homes. They make the most of what they have.

My host mom in France considers Tours a small city but to me it’s pretty grand especially compared to a place like Grand Blanc, Michigan.

I went to a bar/café in town called The Guinguette on the banks of the Loire River and it had such a nice ambience with strung lights, completely outdoor tables and chairs, an area for games, a stage for music that I thought I would have loved to have had this place around when I was a teenager.

There are so many cafes, parks, and shops in Tours! In Grand Blanc the main hang out was the Starbucks where I went to too many times. Teenagers hang out along the banks of the Loire at night in circles talking and smoking (tobacco and weed) and it seems like such a nice slow paced sort of lifestyle here that I wonder how my life might have been different had I grown up here.

All this being said, I still feel like the United States is my home and always will be. 

Les Femmes! Fumez!?

My French professor here in Tours, Olivier, was telling us about how the division between the sexes in France is manifested through differing standards on public smoking. He said it was acceptable for men to smoke in public but less acceptable for a woman to do so.

Now surely a lot has changed especially in the past 50 years, but I think he said they were still vestiges of this double standard left in society.

Maybe I could equate it to something like double standard on sleeping around in American society – even though women sleep around as much as guys nowadays it’s still looked down more upon a woman if she sleeps around than it is for a man.

Anyway he gave an interesting explanation as to why it was more unacceptable for a woman to smoke in public. When a woman smokes in public it shows that she is doing something for herself in a very open way and in a patriarchal society women aren’t allowed to do things pleasurable for themselves. However it’s okay for a man to smoke in public because he can partake in pleasurable things while women had to cater to others not themselves.

Disclaimer: this was all explained in French so there’s a possibility I could have missed something. I don’t think I was paying attention but started to when he began explaining this so I could have missed some stuff.

What do you guys think?

(Image from weheartit.com)

Interlude: London

I went to London this past weekend! Well, we only got to really explore the city for one day on Saturday. My friends Mary and Kaitie and I got into the city late on Friday night after about 7 hours of traveling! It was pretty hectic but we figured everything out, due in large part to Kaitie's awesome navigation skills.

St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, and namesake of the hostel we stayed at in London! :)

Looking back on the weekend, I am so happy.

Being a traveller gives you this amazing sense of adventure and joy but transporting oneself from one place to another can be draining. I feel like a lot of the time I set off to have the perfect experience, try to plan everything, attempt to make everything perfect, and worry about things not turning out the way I planned. And it never makes me happy, only grumpy. I think if I learned more to take things as they come, I'd be better off and enjoy the moments as they're happening.


Despite being in London for essentially only day I did a lot of cool things:
1. Drank traditional UK/Irish drinks (Pimm's and Guinness) at two pubs in South London

2. Walked through Green Park and Hyde Park. (The British definitely do Parks better - they actually have flowers in them! ) :)
3. Saw Buckingham Palace and some redcoats
4. Went to TopShop and though it was fashion heaven the price to fabric ratio were not worth it at all - horribly overpriced! Gimme F21 over TopShop any day
5. Went to the National Gallery of Art in London and saw a Vermeer, Redon and Van Gogh art in addition to finding an interesting Renaissance artist that I want to learn more about - Jan Gossaert

6. Convent Garden
7. Talked to British Evangelics about Jesus
8. Took the Tube, Underground... Mind the Gap!!!
9. Walked along the Thames and saw Parliament, the London Eye, and Big Ben

10. Listened to British radio and were laughing and heard people talk about stereotypical British things like Posh and Becks and soccer
11. Got to talk to a few locals, though I would have liked to talk to a lot more :( that's what traveling is all about meeting new people!!
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When we got into the city Friday night we were all a bit frustrated from so many long hours of traveling then having to navigated the London Underground for the first time to get to the hostel was a challenge after being so tired.

When we finally did get out unto the street where our hostel was at and check in we went in search for a nice chill place to have a drink at. We were staying south of the Thames I think in the neighborhood Southwark.

We went up and down Borough High Street and it felt like EL on a Thursday night. The hostel bar was jam packed and there was club music on and a guy completely passed out in front of the bar on the ground surrounded by friends and police.

However we found the Old King's Head bar in a passageway and had a great first night in town. The Old King's Head was beautiful and classy on the inside and we all tried Guinness. The bartender was really cool and when he saw my passport started joking around about having to charge me more because of that 1-1 England vs US world cup game last weekend.

The next day we were up bright and early and were literally on our feet for 8 hours. I now possess an impressive level of endurance for walking. 

We started on the tube which took us across the river to Green Park. We walked around Green Park for a bit marveled at the sun chairs in the park and strolled over to Buckingham Palace. It looks more grand I think in pictures or maybe just the clusterfuck of tourists waiting for the changing of the guard turned me off  to it.

Then we strolled over to Hyde Park and walked around. Hyde Park is so beautiful! European parks actually have gardens in them, not just a rare and meek scattering of flowers as in the U.S. There was an enclave of roses surrounding a cherub fountain and it was one of my favorite places if not my favorite in London because once you stepped there the smell of roses surrounds you.

Then we went up through Soho/West End area and ate at Pret A Manger a healthy-environmentally friendly British fast food chain then headed to TopShop. Despite being in fashion heaven there, the prices plus conversion rate are too ridiculous and after much debate, left empty-handed.

We then stopped at Cafe Rouge and had a drink. One thing I noticed about London is the city's propensity to French themed food places. There were a significant patisseries and cafes lining the streets as we strolled through Soho, the West End, Westminster, and Convent Garden. I also heard French frequently spoken on the streets.

Eventually we ended up in Trafulgar Square where 3 awkward Evangelicals approached us. We had nice small talk with two of them until the whole God thing was brought up. One of the guys had a skin disfiguration and I was thinking that it must be better for him to believe what he believed given his struggles and disability from what he was saying to us about not letting other people's opinions get us down.

After the three guys had prayed over my friend Kaitie we headed to the National Gallery of Art and saw works by Van Gogh, Redon, Monet, Cézanne, and Vermeer.

We had dinner, strolled along the River Thames, and ended our stay in London by going to the Trinity pub in Southwark.

My only regret is that we didn't talk to more locals especially at the pubs. To me that's really the best part about traveling - meeting new people rather than wasting time and money in tourist traps.

Chenonceau and the original cougar

Our class went to the château Chenonceau (pronounced Sh-non-so) last weekend. It is a beautiful castle on the Cher River that was built in the middle ages and is situated not far from where I'm studying in Loire Valley. I didn't do any research to the history of the castle before going. On the way back to Tours I became intrigued by the history I was reading.

The first page of the guidebook has the heading "château of Chenonceau, the ladies' château" and as you flip through the most of the pages, you realize that the history of Chenonceau belongs more to the women of the French aristocracy than it did to the kings.

Most of the rooms bear the names of the woman who lived in Chenonceau throughout the years and its their lives who gave the château meaning and character.

In 1547 after the death of his father, Henri II offered Chenonceau to his beloved and mistress Diane de Poitiers. Diane was 20 years older than him and had known him and mentored him since he was a child! The original 'cougar' - Diane de Poitiers!

She had the most beautiful feature of Chenonceau built when she extended the château to connect to the opposite bank of the river. It is an interesting and unexpected feature and when you look out through the windows in that part of the château and the flow of the Cher river induces calm.

Diane wielded considerable power at court and influenced Henri's political decisions. Around Chenonceau one can observe the initials of Henri II and his wife Catherine de Medici, but the letters H and C are interwoven in such a way to form the D of Diane.

 >> me in the gallery overlooking the Cher!

I admired Chenonceau for its architecture the most. There wasn't much furniture inside the château as the kings of France moved often from château to château during the Middle Ages. This was done so the king could see and visit the common people all throughout his kingdom. It is said that the change to a permanent residence at Versailles for later kings of France helped contribute to the downfall of the monarchy because the king had lost touch with the people.

Most rooms, like I said, were minimally furnished and looked the same with a small square bed with a canopy and tapestries from Flanders decorating the walls. 

My favorite room was Louise of Lorraine's. The walls were painted instead in dark grey color with white accents of mourning objects such as silver tears, crowns of thorns, and widow's cordons, since she retired to Chenonceau after the death of her husband Henri III.

There is also a prie-dieu in Louise's room. A prie-dieu is a wooden structure designed to aid one in praying situated in front of a tall windo, which I thought was interesting!

 >>my friend Kaitie tryin' out the prie-dieu!

Tomorrow my class is going on another excursion to the châteaux Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry also located in the Loire Valley, the premier hotspot for châteaux in France.

La nourriture (Food)

I'm concerned with my diet in France. I eat bread and butter/or/cheese at literally every meal.

When you walk down the streets of Tours during lunchtime you cannot walk one block without seeing at least 3 people eating baguettes or baguette sandwiches.

I talked with my host mom this morning about the diets of Americans and French. I told her that a lot of Americans are carb weary because of the Atkins rhetoric we hear all the time. She cooks a lot of good food, but we eat cheese, butter, and cream sauces often. I wonder how the French stay so skinny!

Her answer was that it's the processed foods that make one fat not the natural stuff like bread, potatoes and butter! She also said that France was catching up with America in terms of weight gain. :P

It also seems as though the French don't drink as much during meals. They'll have a glass of wine during dinner or a glass of water but the glasses here are small compared to those in America and I feel like I look odd pouring myself as many glasses as I do during a meal!

I guess it's part of the culture of excess in the United States... everything does seem to have to be bigger in America. I'm going to talk more about the "culture of excess" in another blog post!

Oh another funny thing - I bought tweezers here that have pictures of French macaroons on them. The macaroons here are different than the American version and I'm excited to try them!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37158245/ns/travel-luxury/?pg=10#TRAVEL_100514_WhatNotToDoParis_Concierge

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Here's a typical sampling of what I eat daily in France:

Breakfast - Baguette with butter, jam, nutella, or honey, pain au lait (small rectangular bread), café au lait, les chouquettes (think of cream puffs without the cream, pictured below)

Lunch - Baguette with cheese, baguette with sliced ham, cheese and butter = classic French sandwich and lunch, various crudités.

Dinner - Lettuce with vinaigrette dressing, wine, baguette & cheese, some type of meat, vegetables (vegetables and meat are prepared with only a little spicing), and a speciality dish from different regions in France particularly Lyon because that's where my host mom was born.

Dessert - French desserts are reaaaalllllyyyy good, crème chocolat, tarte aux fruits, or simply fruit after dinner.

*My host family doesn't do courses, but a lot people who I've talked to their families do.

à la messe

I went to church this past Sunday in grand ornate cathedral dating back from the Middle Ages. As the small compact car my host mom owns pulled up in front of the cathédrale de Saint-Gatien, I was taken aback - the sheer intricacy and grandeur of the place is unbelievable.

To be sure there are very few churches in the United States that are built in a gothic style... I told my host mom, Monique, that Saint-Gatien was reminiscent of St. Patrick's in New York.

As I stood outside looking up at it in awe this French man around my dad's age walks past me and says "oooooh mignonne." I've heard that European men do express themselves in such an outward manner (or should I say creepy?) but here's to hoping he's a creepy outlier and not the norm.

During the service I encountered a bit of cultural misunderstanding. During one part of Catholic mass in America one shakes the people's hands who are by you and says "Peace be with you". In French mass you say something like "La paix de Christ" and in addition to shaking hands, "kiss the air" around the people's cheeks. I didn't know this and I felt bad for the boy in front of me who leaned in as I awkwardly paused and said nothing (because I wasn't sure what was being said - I was thinking they were saying "le corps de Christ"). I wonder what he thought about me! lol

The most interesting thing though was that my host mom told me that she doesn't go to this church like at all because most of the parishioners are the bourgeoisie. In French class professors always told us that the bourgeoisie was akin to America's middle class. However I'm confused because my host mom appears to fall within the scope of the middle class, according to American standards anyway.

She reads extensively, from what I can tell. The books that pack the shelves in her living room consist of books about Chopin's time in France and one entitled "Sexe et l'identité feminine". The poor classes in America are known to be less educated than other classes, so this also poses another question in terms of correlation between education and class in France.

Le rêve Européen

Finally in Europe for the first time in my life. My journey began with the 5 hour car ride from Chicago to Detroit to board the group flight yesterday, followed by the 8 hour plane ride, and then a 3 hour bus ride from Charles de Gaulle airport to Tours, France where I will be staying.

Traveling is hectic. Air France, while being very hospitable, is not a good place to catch some shut eye and with all that sitting down my legs hurt incredibly and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything.

I haven't done any exploring but I have observed something interesting things already.

The 3 hour bus ride through central France was for the most part un-riveting. The French highway system would probably be undistinguishable from the American version in terms of landscape save for a few interesting features.

Most of the houses that dotted the countryside were similar in construction - all were very old with cream/tan exteriors and roofs in various shades of orange. Throughout the rase campagne (open country) stood majestic cypress trees and along borders of the highway were beautiful bright red-orange poppies. These little details struck me because they've been ingrained in my head through Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, though I hadn't realized it til today.

When I finally saw them it was an odd moment... to recognize something you've never seen before.

Monet

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Burgeoning Cultural Theorist Gets Ready to Learn

I'm going to France for the first time in less than a week and I hope to not only gain a better understanding of French language but the culture as well.

My blog's going to change to reflect this as I explore topics in French culture and compare American culture to that of French.

Topics I want to cover include:

• Race
• Dating
• Sarkozy
• Immigration
• The Colonial Past
• Materialism & Money
• Gender and the role of women 
• American Dream vs European Dream
• Misc. differences between French and American society

I would really like to film my adventures in Europe but I don't have enough money to buy a camera worth purchasing, nor do I believe that the school that I will be studying at has any A/V equipment. So I'm going to rely on photos and possibly transcribe interviews from a tape-recorder (oy).

Excited to see what the next 8 weeks hold for me!

A Theory of Special Ability?

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been reading about theoretical physics concepts and with that a bit about Albert Einstein.

I found interesting segments on NPR which detailed one of Einstein's most revolutionaries ideas in describing the nature of light, which has come to take a backseat to his other discoveries such as the oft mentioned e=mcª.

In detailing the nature of light, Einstein said that light can act like a particle and a wave. The commonly accepted thought of the time was that light acts as a wave, it cannot be two things at once.

The commentators of these segments attest his visionary nature to his rebellious spirit and ability to think outside the box.

As he got into his 40s his body of worked slowed down, and he didn't make as significant of discoveries as he did in his youth. A possible answer to this could be that in middle-age he had become an authority figure in the scientific community, and lost the characteristics of his youth like rebelliousness to authority.

I've been trying to "think outside the box" more in approaching school-work, projects and relationships with people in general and I think Einstein's life and work present an interesting example of what can happen by doing so!

Post-Colonial Theory and Indie Rock

I brushed off Vampire Weekend as a so-so, preppy band composed of Ivy-League kids of privilege devoid of depth. And I mean if you listen to a lot the lyrics on their debut, the constant references to designer clothes and elite travel spots can become a bit of an overload. However, I recently picked up a copy of Rolling Stone out of a pile that my sister leaves for me to read when I come back from school and I read a really interesting article about them that made me rethink all my previous assumptions.

"To some, the band members were indie-rock colonialists, plundering Third World styles for their own gain. But for Koenig, who studied the semiotics of post-colonial literature, concepts like purism and authenticity are as outdated as a land line. Everything is intertwined, he says, and "polar opposites don't exist." Start seeing the connections, and "the idea of fusion - of mixing things - seems less and less like a novelty, and more just the way the world works." (From R.S. mag, Feb 2010)

Ezra Koenig (the one in the yellow sweater):

"But around the time the band started, I became very interested in the connection between preppy American fashion and Victorian imperialism. For instance: Where does the word 'khaki' come from? It's Urdu. Where does 'seersucker' come from? Hindi-slash-Persian. Madras prints? They're from India. Blazers? They were a British naval uniform.

"Now obviously that's a very fucked up period," he continues. But there's something exciting about realizing that these clothes have come to represent WASPy Americans, the pinnacle of whiteness, actually have their roots in India or the non-Western world. They have this fascinating history flowing through them. Preppiness is this wide open thing."

I never knew about such a link between fashions and being a student of cultural theory, his words impressed me. It was also a mini-lesson that one shouldn't always take things at face value. I hope Ezra and the rest of the band members can talk more about their music and opinions like this, because it's fascinating!

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Congratulations to Apichatpong Weerasethakul for winning the Palme d'or on Sunday for his film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives!
From what I've read, the film is about a dying man who explores his previous incarnations with the help of his family.

I'm excited to see this film once it becomes more widely distributed. Until I took my Hindi popular cinema class last semester, I never noticed how conceptions of mortality manifest themselves in film. Throughout the semester I questioned certain narrative plots in the Hindi films I saw that didn't seem quite logical to me. Those questions initiated discussion on cyclical versus linear conceptions of the afterlife which fascinated me. I'll have to talk about the specifics in a later post, for sure.

The Divine

I've been thinking about God a lot lately. Most people go through varying phases of religious belief from full on church-going to apathy to agnosticism to atheism. I didn't think I abided by any particular religious dictates, but a few days ago I realized how much I take from my Catholic upbringing and how it informs the way I perceive the world.... and that unsettled me.

Now I have a lot of problems with religion. I don't even feel comfortable going to mass anymore because I have serious issues with Catholic doctrine on contraception, not to mention the role of women and gays in the church. Anyway, I digress. I don't like organized religion for most of the same reasons the irreligious would give.

I thought of myself an enlightened figure eons ahead of the Bible thumpers who hand out free King James' versions on campus or my peers who go to the third world to spread their beliefs Then here I was one night talking to a friend about my thoughts on spirituality and science and I realize that I'm purporting common religious principles like intelligent design which is explained by evolutionary theory, if you believe in it (which I always have).

I learn that most elite scientists (like those who win Nobel Prizes or belong to the National Academy of Sciences) if they even believe in a higher power, promote an abstract, Spinoza-type God who doesn't interfere with human affairs; one who rather designed the set of principles which govern the universe. Then I read strong arguments as to why people created spiritual beliefs (namely Marxist and scientific) and it makes perfect sense but it also means what I believe in is moot. Then I acknowledge that...

Science can't explain everything. It can't explain why there is such a thing as existence nor can it give me answers to the purpose of my life. There are even some contradictory concepts in evolutionary theory regarding human emotions and actions.

It is unsettling to think that the way I perceive the world could be moot or a lie, but even if all my beliefs hold no veracity, I'd rather believe them then the alternative. I came to realize that the purposes of religion that some say denote as primitive are not bad. Yes, religion can foster ignorance and promote archaic views of humanity, but there are many people who do horrible things on their own accord without possessing a religious base for their actions. Like the artwork at the beginning of this entry, though I might not believe that Heaven or God is like what is portrayed, it nonetheless represents the good that can come from religion, which I appreciate. As long as people keep an open mind and accept that their view might not be ultimate, I think I have hope for humanity.

Black and White

I love looking at old photos especially ones from the time when photography first was popularized. They have a really eerie quality to them that's fascinating to me. 


In early portraits its cool to look at how different the style of dress was and compare the idiosyncrasies of fashion back then to today.

The Sartorialist is doing a contest on his blog about old photographs that display fashion. Check out his blog - there are much better photographs there than I can supply on my blog. Fear of copyright infringement leads me to choose from safe avenues like Wikipedia or the Life photo archive (which consists of mainly famous, widely circulated photos) so I won't get into trouble.


I wonder when people started doing the whole "smile into the camera thing" because when you look at early portrait photography the people aren't usually looking directly at the camera, much less smiling into it, which adds to the eerie-ness factor. 


I did find some Civil War era photos that show more of an acknowledgment of the camera. Maybe it has something to do with the proximity of the subject to the camera. If you're closer to it, it makes it harder to ignore?

Then there are old photographs that you see and you feel something, a palpable sense of time and place. A photo that elicits emotion and reflection:

That image of Abe Lincoln gets to me. A towering figure in the picture (and in American history for that matter) he's also the one that seems the least defined...

Then from still photography came film- "moving pictures".  Below is the first known film recorded. The user on youtube describes it well if you wanna know more about it!

In the decades proceeding the first known film came Hollywood and the star system. The star system in turn produced iconic photographs of movie stars that adolescents admire in their bedrooms and that fashionistas drool over for their displays of style.

After the classic Hollywood period color came into photos and film and something changed with that. Color does something to images, to people that I can't really explain. The shadows in early photographs created not only an eerieness but established a sense of distance from people living then to those in the modern era because of the odd quality it gave to human figures.  There's something about color that distracts from human subjects and glosses them over... as if black and white photography shows truth more than color?

A Sunday Smile

What is it with all the songs about Sundays?

"A Sunday Smile" by Beirut
"Sunday  Morning" by not only the Velvet Underground but Maroon 5 and No Doubt

Okay so I didn't exactly make a comprehensive list, but that's more than I can say for songs about Wednesday or for that matter Friday or Saturday, the other days in the weekend. I guess the spirit of those weekend days are probably just incorporated under all "club songs."

Though Sunday was usually the time of the week to go to Church and pay respect to God, its role has deviated somewhat to a restful time to spend with lovers or family. So though not as many people are going to Church on Sundays as they did 50 years ago in America, its purpose remains rooted in tradition - time to be at peace with people you love! awww!

Songs have different meanings for people... like memories they can be tied to an event or person in someone's life. Have you ever noticed that groups of friends often share a love for a particular band even though they may have divergent tastes in music overall? The original intent/meaning of the song matters to the lyricist himself/herself. When a listener/fan gives a song meaning in their life, that's where the magic happens!
If you look at the lyrics of some of the songs I mentioned it's interesting to see how the writers juxtapose Sunday's traditional meaning in our culture with their own sentiments.
--Lou Reed is feeling restless and looking back at all the wasted years.
--Zach Condon describes his love's smile as a Sunday smile which you could take to mean a few things (I personally think of peaceful) and alludes to the sky and a white church in his song.
--Adam Levine's song is more happy and details happy times with someone he loved, though like the previous two songs it's about longing for something missed or lost.

So Sundays also foster memories for people and things lost?

Genius Award

aka MacArthur Fellowship gives $500,000 (given over 5 years) to Americans who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work."


The fellowship is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which might be familiar to all you listen to NPR, specifically the list of its sponsors. The foundation began after billionaire banker John D. MacArthur died in 1978 and left 92% of his estate to begin it. It's one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the U.S. and is based in Chicago! The foundation (under its General Program, the same program that supports journalistic institutions like NPR) thus gives grants to arts and cultural programs within the Windy City.


For this fellowship, you don't apply. Rather, anonymous people nominate you to an anonymous selection committee who then notifies you that you won by a nice phone call. :)


Last year the award was given to a diverse group of professionals including a poet, an investigative reporter, an evolutionary biologist, an economist, a painter, a papermaker, and an ornithologist among others.


I first heard about the fellowship when I watched Synecdoche, New York, the first film Charlie Kaufman directed. The main character in the movie receives the fellowship (he's a playwright) and uses it to construct a play about his life, meticulously creating sets that mirror the places he and the people in his life go and hiring actors to live it out. The project goes on for years and you can see how the people, who are the project's focus, age as it seemingly fails to come to fruition. The film itself got mixed reviews - it's long and complicated and weird, but I enjoyed it. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the main character Cayden, a brilliant man though he goes about his life in lacluster, fearful way that is pretty pathetic. I never warmed up to him as a character... Come to think of it, one of the few if any characters in the movie that the audience can like is Samantha Morton's character who serves as Cayden's companion. She is the light of the story, all the other people make you remember how much people suck. Despite the lack of heart-warming characters (does that say anything about Kaufman's view of humanity?) it was a really interesting, complex story let alone movie to make. Tell me what you think when you watch the film (which I hope you do)!


Watch the trailer! see if you can tell when he's using the fellowship!

I think the idea for the fellowship is amazing. I was looking up some of the fellows' previous work today and it's all inspiring and amazing work! I want to try to apply for a Fulbright Student Grant within the coming year, so it's exciting for me to see how programs similar to the Fulbright program work and give people the opportunity to do great work that may have otherwise gone undone.

Life and the Artist's Way in Southern France

I'm going to France in a few short weeks with both a novice traveler's mind and a college student's pocket! Thus I am both really excited and cautious on where to go with limited funds. I have a few must-see places that I'm planning on going to so that my restless mind and first-time traveler's spirit will be placated. Provence is a place that I've been giddy about getting to see.


Provence is located in Southern France and is known for its unique cuisine, beautiful weather, lavender fields, and influence in artist's work from Van Gogh to Cezanne.

I've been enthralled with the region probably since as a 5th grader my art teacher had us draw our own renditions of Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles. Since then I've seen a few of the many versions Van Gogh drew here at the Art Institute of Chicago, but there's something to going to this area that became the home of so many artists that draws me for whatever stupid reason.


Here are some of the paintings that have been inspired by the beauty of Provence:

L'estaque, near Marseille, by Paul Cézanne

Café at Night, Arles, by Van Gogh

Starry Night, Saint-Rémy, by Van Gogh

Mont Sainte Victoire, Aix-en-Provence, by Cézanne

And finally the one that started it all!!

Bedroom at Arles by Vincent Van Gogh