The last two days have been interesting.
I've been wandering about various Parisian neighborhoods with little ultimate purpose
Yesterday, I traipsed from Sacre-Cour, through Montmartre, down to Pigalle and across to the Goutte de la'Or district, spanning the chasm between tourist trap and slum.
From streets filled with Caucasoids of various nationalities to those with none.
My tourbook recommended that I "stay away" from the "seedy" neighborhood around Barbes station,
but the scent of harisa and ghee, the vivid chattering of Amazigh and Wolof, and the spray-paint décor of the cobblestones and hospital, drew my attention.
Pardon the orientalist-speak. For a middle-class Caucasoid first-world youth, these were genuine reactions...giving way to a "France" of Algerians, Tamils and Senegalese
neglected by the state, the nation, and the tourist industry.
I think, I will be back for three-euro Samosas,
if I do not let an evening subway ride get the better of me.
Today, I kept to the fourth and fifth.
Nearly entered the Grand Mosque of Paris (but I had to pay)
But viewed Muslim prayer shawls at the Institut de Monde du Arabe.
Tired of the museum scene, I got a ninth-floor view of Paris
Then drenched myself in sweat (and ice-cream)
passing Ile-St. Louis, Place des Vosges and the Bastille.
Back at home now, I write
partly because I'm tired
partly evading my reading for class
Oy.
How will I start working on the two 10-page research papers when I'm just starting to get ideas?
for now I say good-evening
and A Bientot
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