Library News from Egypt + a Sigh of Relief

Excerpt from a brief note from Ismail Serageldin, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (found via bookshelvesofdoom):

"Events deteriorated as lawless bands of thugs, and maybe agents provocateurs, appeared and looting began. The young people organized themselves into groups that directed traffic, protected neighborhoods and guarded public buildings of value such as the Egyptian Museum and the Library of Alexandria. They are collaborating with the army. This makeshift arrangement is in place until full public order returns.

The library is safe thanks to Egypt’s youth, whether they be the staff of the Library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters. I am there daily within the bounds of the curfew hours. However, the Library will be closed to the public for the next few days until the curfew is lifted and events unfold towards an end to the lawlessness and a move towards the resolution of the political issues that triggered the demonstrations."

I can't even imagine people thinking of looting a library.

And I don't know about you, but I've been watching the events in Egypt pretty closely because a dear friend of mine along with many other people I know were recently in Egypt on a band tour with the college down the street from mine. Their hotel was one block away from the main protest in Cairo. They changed hotels last week and were scheduled to leave on Saturday but their flight was canceled. After many delays and some involvement from one of our state's senators all the students are finally--thank God--on their way home.

Whew. Glad my J-term trip wasn't as eventful as theirs,

It's Not Easy Being Green: Paris Part Deux

One of my favorite things about Paris is all the French spoken there. Seriously. I love listening to it. I like speaking it, too, but most of the shopkeepers and ticket sellers and such could tell I was American and spoke to me in English before I could even say, "Bonjour." My French-speaking opportunities were limited to ordering food, asking where the restrooms were, and asking a hotel receptionist for a pen. But that's okay since--at this point--I'm much better at understanding French than I am at putting sentences together and saying them out loud.

I also enjoyed seeing French people doing French things, like the people on the plane who greeted each other with "Salut" and kissed each other's cheeks and the woman who said, "Pardon," so quietly I barely heard her as she brushed past me at the Galeries Lafayette. People spoke quietly on the métro, too, and many looked straight down at the floor.

*****

One of my other favorite things about Paris is how much green there is, even in January:

Green moss.

Green background + giraffe.

More green moss. I don't know what kind of tree this is but I saw others like it all over Paris and I love all the colors, patterns, and textures on their trunks.

Green grass and pansies! In January! Pansies are my mom's favorite flowers, so I had to take a picture of them.

More green grass and a pigeon eating pansies near Notre Dame. Bunnies eat them where I live.

Funny little green topiaries in windows.

A neighborhood garden we stumbled upon.

My pals Becca, Staci, and Jaimie in the garden.

And, finally, the Eiffel Tower spazzing out gorgeously at night. Not green, and not captured well by my camera, but still pretty awesome.

Musical Monday (62): "I Belong to You" by Lauren O'Connell w/ Ryan Lerman

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of, because Mondays are often less than marvelous and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "I Belong to You" by Lauren O'Connell with Ryan Lerman. It was posted on O'Connell's Youtube channel last Thursday so it's pretty new. I like the way O'Connell sings and I hope you enjoy the song.

Wishing you a Magnificent Monday,

Babe from Bordeaux: Paris Part Un

A couple weeks ago I got on a plane and went to Paris. This is the first picture I took after a bus ride and short trip on the métro:

This is a man in a chicken suit with a Daffy Duck puppet on one hand in front of the Opéra. He was posing in pictures with people for money.

After dodging Chicken Man I went to the top of the Galeries Lafayette with a bunch of other people in my school's group. The Galeries Lafayette is a massive shopping center; we visited it on the recommendation of our tour guide, Rafael, who said that its roof has one of the best views of Paris. After about seven escalator rides (I lost count), I agreed with Rafael:

...you can't see the Eiffel Tower from the Eiffel Tower.

I should note that earlier my painting prof--of all people--coined a code-phrase for alerting all the ladies on the trip to the presence of hot Frenchen: Babe from Bordeaux. I spotted one on the roof:

Ironically, someone from my group got him to take a group picture of us shortly after I photo-creeped on him. He spoke English with a French accent; it turns out he studied in Alaska for awhile. It feels like I should say "small world," but I've never been to Alaska.

Me and my friend Becca on the roof. We're pretending we're not jet-lagged for this photo.

Seriously. My eyes wouldn't stop watering and trying to close. But jet lag didn't stop me from appreciating the shiny white tiles of the métro and the tiles made to look like elaborate frames around advertisements. (You'll have to take my word for all of this since I wasn't comfortable getting all snap happy around serious-looking Parisian commuters.)

Jet lag also couldn't spoil the Opera, or Palais Garnier.

The Grand Staircase, sans camera flash. I wish those were allowed . . .

The French social elite used to stand here to be seen. The opera wasn't the only show at Palais Garnier. The Opera's interior was also once described as a "temple of pleasure" and it looks like it. There are so many exquisite surfaces, though, that it's difficult to take in how nice a building it is. It's sort of like trying to appreciate a dessert with too much sugar or chocolate in it, if the latter is possible. Or perhaps it's just me. The building's exterior is gorgeous, too. (And walking around it, unlike the interior, is free.)

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's The Dance on the Opera's facade.

Say what you will about the creepy expressions of the female dancers--I like this sculpture. I particularly enjoy the energy of the male personification of Dance and the way his hands are flung out in the air as if to say, "Party!"

More photos coming soon,

Musical Monday (61): "Mountain and the Sea"

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of, because Mondays are often less than marvelous and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

Musical Monday is back, and this week's song is "Mountain and the Sea" by Ingrid Michaelson. I listened to her music almost non-stop in December and I'm still not sick of it. I love Michaelson's deceptively simple lyrics and musical energy.
Enjoy!

Wishing you a Magnificent Monday,

And the Paris Holiday Contest Winner is...

Lydia!

I am off to send you an e-mail and put your prizes in the mail.

Thanks so much to all who entered and participated in my first contest :)

This is what Paris looks like from the top of the Galeries Lafayette (a mall) on a misty afternoon. I look forward to sharing pictures and travel stories this week.

Happy to be home,

Paris Holiday Contest Extension

Attention intrepid contest-enterers:

Due to the low amount of entries (just sixteen so far), the Paris Holiday Contest is being extended. The new deadline is Friday, January 21st. I apologize to anyone who had high hopes of winning Anna and the French Kiss and Dream Girl and having them mailed off tomorrow.

The extension is rather sizeable because I will be gone for a couple weeks. I'm skipping off to Paris and Barcelona with my university's art department for a J-term (J for January) class. My camera is ready.

Some of you may remember last year's posts on Italy. I never finished those, and I intended to share some pictures of Florence and a story about a theatrical man in a restaurant this week, just because, but--alas!--my trusty laptop broke down and is being fixed by a computer genius. (Hence the lack of all those posts I promised on Musical Monday.)

It was silly to create a contest and hope for at least twenty entries in a little less than a week, but I also created this silly deadline before I realized how easy it would be to select a winner by a random number drawing with Google Docs. That lovely form you all filled out organizes everyone's information and assigns everyone a number. Before I realized this I'd envisioned having to sit down with a notebook, a pen, and lots of freetime. (Which, with coursework for the J-term trip wrapping up and the beginning of Spring Semester looming, I didn't think I'd have after this week.)

One more important contest-y thing: I noticed some people who entered the contest put "No" in the link back box. These are not valid entries, and there's still time to resubmit your form correctly. Just FYI.

***Thank you to all who entered! (And to those who hit the follow button--thank you, and hello! Bookduck has just broken 50 followers. I feel like I should go find some cake or something.)