paris, the new year

So it's been a while since I've been able to update, and an awful lot has been happening over the past few weeks in many arenas. Certainly in my life, and also on the international stage. I was lucky enough to spend a week in Paris with my parents before school started, and although my friend Mikhael, who was supposed to show me around the city, was forced to go to Greece at the last moment (leaving me alone with my parents), I still managed to have a wonderful time, and I did have the chance to see at least one friend who's lucky enough to be spending this semester at Columbia's Reid Hall program in Paris, a program I might end up doing.

From a culinary perspective, Paris was unbelievable--the previous two times I'd been there, I had been a vegetarian, so to be able to experience it in its complete gastronomic glory was spectacular. Duck, pork, and cheese, I think, are three of France's strongest contributions to global gastronomy, and we went hog-wild for them, no pun intended. The best meal was at Bistro L'Oulette, previously Barocane, which specializes in Southwestern French food. My first experience with foie gras (de canard) was unbelievable--liquid essence of duck. Followed it up with some duck confit--a little bit of duck overload, but more than worth it. Our apartment was in the heart of the Marais, specifically in the heart of the gay district of the Marais--directly over the Cafe Cox, which was entertaining. I brought back some nice food products--apricots conserved in honey vinegar, confiture de lait, etcetera. My mother even managed to smuggle in some delicious French butter.

Otherwise my break was relatively uneventful--I worked briefly at Tricycle, where I'll be working part-time this semester as a publishing assistant. I'm also scouting out other potential internship positions for the summer--Saveur is my first choice, but I can think of more than a few other magazines I'd love to work for. My classes this semester seem pretty fascinating--I'll be studying Islam in South Asia, French colonialism and post-colonial Francophone identity, Persian language, and culture as viewed through film and media.

I read Truman Capote's In Cold Blood while in Paris, and I have to say that it's been quite a while since I've been so deeply affected by a book. Capote manages to give such an intimate portrayal of the event without overtly injecting his personal opinions--a masterful example of journalism at its best. It make me want to watch the movie Capote again, and reminded me of the time a friend and I were eating at Malaysia Grill on 92nd street and saw a bearded Phillip Seymour Hoffman staring through the window at us.

I'll leave you with a video that I think really demonstrates the loving and kind message Christianity has spread throughout the years. Either that, or this guy is playing a really, really good joke on us.

The Bible Says

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