An American in Paris

Last night, I met a Pulitzer Prize winner. Well, I didn't actually meet him, I went to a book reading he did at an English bookstore called the Village Voice.  Junot Díaz is professor at MIT and the author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I've heard of the book and all the talk surrounding it and since it's on my list of must reads, I decided to get a taste of the book firsthand from the author. Junot Díaz is a very interesting character and not only did he bring life to the passage he read but had some interesting points to make about literature, language, and the experience of being an immigrant in America. One of the most interesting points he made was that if you want to learn about what America and its people are really like, don't look at mainstream literature, movies or media. Instead focus on the more obscure books, movies, etc. He said that Planet of the Apes is a perfect example - the movie is the epitome of the American high school experience. 

After I left, I was thinking about how people tend to enjoy, search for and partake in more cultural experiences when they're in a foreign country. Granted, this is just my opinion and it may apply more to me than other people ,but when I think about how many landmarks, museums, etc. I've visited in foreign countries compared to the United States, there is no comparison. Would I have known about or gone to a book reading by Junot Díaz if I was in the US? Maybe;I'm a book fiend, but probably not. The same thought came to my mind when I was in Rome during spring break my senior year at ND. I was standing in front of St. Peter's Basilica in awe of its beauty and its significance to Catholicism and around me people (mostly Romans) were just walking across the square on their way to work or school, focused on getting to their destination. It's almost as if monuments and historical places become a part of the background for the people who live around them. Just a thought...

Not much else going on right now. Although, I was glad to wake up to sunshine and a blue sky this morning instead of snow. The Parisians keep talking about how unusual snow is here - yesterday was the second snowfall of the winter.  This weekend I did end up finding and buying the shoes that I wanted and have a feeling I'll be buying a few more funky shoes while I'm here. I also had dinner with Leah, whose here for the semester, her mom and their French friend Jennifer. Jennifer lives across from Le Cordon Bleu and I mentioned this to her but she didn't know what it was! Kind of makes me glad I didn't choose to go there ;)

Going out for drinks with Laura tonight and hopefully meeting up with a fellow pastry student who just arrived in Paris sometime this week. I finally got my camera thanks to my mom and Mrs. Darkes so I'll be uploading a lot more pictures here and on Facebook.