one woman's journey toward the city of light ... and all the random stops along the way

jeudi, octobre 27, 2005

So long, Ms. Miers.

Just when I started to see the upside of the low standard set by the Miers nomination...

Having written off law school, I'd almost given up my adolescent dream of becoming a Supreme Court justice. Then Miers' story came along, and I thought, surely, if she can get nominated, there's still hope for me! Maybe I won't even need to get a freakin' JD! (The $100 grand I spent on my graduate degree being a major deterrant to any pursuit of legal studies.)

...then the unthinkable happens, and Miers withdraws her nomination. In the letter she sent to Dubya, Miers claims that she didn't want to jeopardize the independence of the Executive branch. Yeah, uh-huh, sure. We all know that the Republican senators weren't too keen on the good counselor. My goodness, Trent Lott has already written her out of the history books: "In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?" he was quoted as saying in an AP article on the matter.

As an aside, Language Arts teachers (and my former sixth grade students--skilled as they were at the art of peer-reviewing) will take note of the grammatical error in the first paragraph of Ms. Miers' letter. ;)

mercredi, octobre 26, 2005

Comment dit-on "tamale" en français?

I love Mexican food! Granted my own latin roots are back in Havana, I did grow up in Southern California, where even the restaurant Mexican food can taste homemade. From fresh salsa to tortas to enchiladas verdes to carne asada to flan...I can never be tired of eating Mexican food. (Okay, Cubanos make flan, too. Speaking of Cuban food...I know of a pretty good restaurant in Culver City, if you're interested.)

Living on the east coast has made my affection for this particular cuisine grow even stronger. And what I long for most is a really, really, REALLY good tamale...preferably homemade (um...Sra. Ramos...¿por favor?). What's not to love about a tamale? It even comes in cool, biodegradable packaging (corn husk, banana leaves)! And the goodness tucked away inside can be a pleasant surprise...pollo, carne, queso...

I've yet to find a tamale east of the Mississippi that comes close to what I could get back home in LA. While I was in NYC last week, visiting friends, we ordered a promising "tamale oaxaqueño" from a local Mexican restaurant. Utter disappointment. The good folks down in Oaxaca would be shamed to have their state's name attached to that sad excuse for a tamale. Don't get me wrong...the presentation was great, but the taste left much to be desired.

Moving to Paris (or London for that matter) will put me even farther away from these delicious treats. My solution: learn how to prepare tamales before I leave the States...or convince my friend's mom to visit me abroad...often.

lundi, octobre 24, 2005

Weird compliments - my first runner-up

A guy told me I have a sexy clavicle (what we laypeople ordinarily call the collar-bone).  This ranks as the second-most bizarre compliment I’ve received to date.  First place still goes to the thuggish guy at the Greyhound station in Pomona who practically drooled all-over my “pretty toes.”  Still gives me chills just thinking about that one…

Anyway, I know that this can't be the weirdest of the weird. Care to present a challenger?

jeudi, octobre 20, 2005

hope for my Niners...

So Tim Rattay was traded to the Bucs and now young Alex can start every game. Will this help turn the team around? I dunno, but let's just hope it doesn't hurt.

On a related note, maybe Phil can restore my Lakers to glory.

Hmmm, football and basketball...two more things I will miss while I'm in Paris (or London, for that matter).

why me?

The other night, my friend Victoria asked if any of my childhood playmates from South Central had gone on to college as I had. As far as I know, only a handful made it to college...and I had no clue how many of them completed their higher ed studies. Most did finish high school, although I know many who dropped out or landed in jail before reaching graduation day. Let's see, there was Ernesto (not his real name) who quit after eighth grade to work so that his family could have additional income. Then there was Nathaniel (also not his real name) who joined a local gang, ended up murdering the owner of a liquor store during a failed armed robbery, and was consquently sent to prison for life. And then there was my best friend from kindergarten, Mae, who dropped out freshman year because a group of girls threatened to do her bodily harm for (supposedly) talking to their boyfriends. Last time we spoke (about a few months ago), Mae was working at WalMart.

Whenever I speak to her, I leave the conversation wondering why me? why did I make it and not her too?

You see, Mae and I had very similar childhoods. We even share the same birthdate, coming into this world only hours apart. We were both two skinny little knobby-kneed girls who were teased mercilessly by our peers.

She: a Filipina/Mexicana who other ignorant ghetto children repeatedly called "Chinese"
Me: a brown-skinned "Creole of Color" with a French surname everyone purposely mispronounced

We were both being raised by widowed grandmothers living just above the poverty line. We went to the same preschool (a rare thing for inner-city kids). We attended the same Catholic elementary school on scholarship, had all the same teachers, and earned virtually the same grades. We went on to the same Catholic middle school...still thick as thieves and still skinny nerds.

But then our paths began to diverge. I went on to attend an elite, independent girls' prep school across town, thanks to more scholarships and financial aid. Mae enrolled in a Catholic girls' school close to our neighborhood. Our ninth grade year was the first time in nearly a decade that we would not be in the same school. It would also be Mae's last year of formal education.

I can't explain it. I don't know why she dropped out...well, I know the reasons she gave, but I don't know how and why the system could have let her drift away. Since then, she's tried numerous times to complete her education and earn a GED. What hurts me most is the knowledge that, even with a GED, her future prospects (career options, potential earnings, quality of life, etc.) are still not as bright as someone with a college degree or even just a high school diploma.

I may never know the answer to my question. I do know that certain favorable conditions improve the likelihood that children born into poverty can break the cycle that often dooms their families. It has become my mission to ensure every child receieves and completes a quality education and has the opportunity to go as far as possible in achieving it. After teaching immigrant students back in South Central for two years, I now know that the fight for educational equality cannot be fought on US soil alone. My romanticized view of France aside, I'm taking this struggle global--to the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

First stop, London's inner city...

mercredi, octobre 19, 2005

Tostada pizza - a CPK masterpiece

If there’s one thing I most certainly will miss once I do make it to Paris, it will be the CPK tostada pizza with grilled lime chicken sans ranch dressing.  If you haven’t tried it, you’re definitely missing out on a little piece of heaven.  Don’t forget to top it off with some Tapatío salsa picante (that’s “hot sauce” for the non-bilingüe).

mardi, octobre 18, 2005

the city of light

Paris, France...

Just as many the American ex-pat before me, I find myself madly in love with this cosmopolitan city. My first visit was in the spring of 2004 (springtime is a great time to fall in love). I was en route to Morocco but had decided to extend my layover in Paris by three days. Ever since, I've been obsessed with finding my way back to live out a chapter of my life in the City of Light.

This blog will chronicle my adventures in pursuit of a Parisian life. Along the way, expect random musings on life in the US and UK. (Forgot to mention I was hired by an organization in London, only a Eurostar train ride away from Paris!)

I'll try to keep this interesting.