it began to pour around 5 am last night and the sound of the rain beating on roof of the apartment building woke me…this was a good thing as i had left most of my windows open and i was able to shut them in time…i enjoy sleeping through rain storms and thunderstorms as silence generally makes it impossible for me to get into a deep sleep…and i do love my deep sleep…
the aftermath of this – is a very dreary day with a lot of cloud cover implying that it can and will rain at a moment’s notice…so i thought it an apt time to sit down and write a new post…the last couple of days i’ve used mostly as utility days…days to get some work done for the coming school year, listen to a lot of music i’d been meaning to check out, and work on writing some new songs of my own…it’s been a really nice way to relax, albeit less exciting in terms of having something to write about…
i’m finding, as i travel more, that it always takes me about a week to get settled into a trip…the first few days are usually hard and i often find myself naturally wanting to be home…this used to bother me on my first trips, but i’ve realized now that it’s just something that happens and then goes away relatively quickly…you just have to stay the course…
this week i’ve felt really at home here in the paris…i think it’s a mixture of finally being comfortable with the streets in my neighborhood – i’m not longer thinking about where to walk or paying attention to the street names to get back and forth from wherever i am to my apartment…
i spent the last couple of days writing in small cafes in the 10th arrondissement…right by the canal st martin and i am finding that if i had to do it over again i would definitely stay in this area…it’s much quieter than my current neighborhood but still filled with a lot of local energy…the canal is really nice to be around as well…being able to sit by water and just think is a real luxury…
i went back to saravana bhavan yesterday for lunch and along with a some vada and dosa, i treated myself to a rose milk…
rose milk
this is a favorite, south indian concoction made from rose petal syrup, milk and sugar…good indian restaurants do it well and my amma does it better…it’s the best one i’ve had in a long time…i posted this on facebook and i’d forgotten how many of my friends have had one of these thanks to hanging out at my house and having my amma around to offer it…it is almost universally loved…which, you can probably tell, by looking at the picture…
i’ve been doing quite a bit of eating the last couple of days and it has all been delicious…in no particular order…
penne all arrabiata…spicy!
tiramisu
amazing random salad
and i snapped this on my way home…it reminds me of every night i’ve walked him in this city…
paris side street
i have been enjoying my vacation and trying not to think about work too much…although it can not be helped when august rolls around…i have noticed that july beautifully crawls by – a nice slow burn to enjoy the summer…but august steam rolls towards september and the first day of school…
i am mostly nervous to be starting work at a new school with new expectations and a different group of students…and also with girls in class…my principal reached out to check in on all the teachers and i thought that was very nice…i’ve gotten a great vibe from her every time we’ve spoken and she strikes me as the kind of person who is extremely organized, really experienced (15ish years of teaching experience and has a deep love for being around children (something i witnessed and looked for on my visits to the school)…and something that i find completely lacking with most new “administrators” who have little to no teaching experience…
gary rubenstein penned another great blog post recently addressing some of the new rhetoric that teach for america heads are using these days…recently focused on the new leaders’ (who, again, have extremely limited teaching experience) use of the words “status-quo” in an attempt to bash educators who are not on board with the new corporate reform movements…it’s definitely worth a read…i certainly have a lot to say on this, but i will save it for another time…i do hope that gary is right that this entire ponzi-scheme of corporate education reform will collapse in a couple of years…although, i agree with him, that he is being extremely optimistic…
in the face of all this nonsense, i think the best thing we can do is teach…and i am looking forward to another day of cafe work and planning for this upcoming year…
ooxx aa
arun in paris 