tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56600262011-04-21T21:17:58.428-04:00Three things are real: God, human folly, and laughter. Since the first two are beyond our comprehension, we must do what we can with the third. (The Ramayana)Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01314195585886195786noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660026.post-1063717290008353292003-09-16T08:51:00.000-04:002003-09-16T09:04:16.373-04:00Sara leaves for Buenos Aires today and I leave for Narbonne in less than a week. I moved out of my apartment yesterday and am officially homeless. Though kind friends have provided couch space. It's a bizarre thing.. packing up all of your belongings and saying farewells for an indefinite period of time. I'm feeling quite calm today. It could have been the music in the subway this morning. Or maybe I'm finally through the worst of the packing/moving/farewell party whirlwind. Not that it's been bad, just hectic. <br /> <br />Alessandra sent us a quote today that basically sums up my reason for going (aside from the 12 hour work week and proximity to the Mediterranean). Maybe it's more appropriate to view it as a goal as opposed to a reason. In any case, this is what I care about. <br /> <br />"Educational exchange can turn nations into people; contributing as no <br />other form of communication can to the humanizing of international <br />relations. Man's capacity for decent behavior seems to vary directly <br />with his perception of others as individual humans with human motives <br />and feelings; whereas his capacity for barbarism seems related to his <br />perception of an adversary in abstract terms, as the embodiment, that <br />is, of some evil design or ideology." <br /> <br />-American Senator J. William Fulbright<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5660026-106371729000835329?l=theredheadedfish.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01314195585886195786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5660026.post-1060635465197066432003-08-11T16:57:00.000-04:002003-08-11T16:57:45.020-04:00So I'm about to leave the corporate, soul-stifling world that has been home for a few years now and head off to sunny Narbonne, France.. <br /> <br />I leave 6 weeks from today.. which means I have less than 30 actual work-days left! And only 5 more Mondays! <br /> <br />I've sold my car, ended my lease, and I'm in the process of selling furniture and amassing "official" documents to hopefully satisfy a future French landlord, French bank, and French authorities.. so I can stay and teach and live.. and bank in France. <br /> <br />Despite my excitement, I am a little sad to leave the city I've called home for the past few years... As I was riding in a cab to work on Friday (I broke my foot in an incredibly uninteresting way.. but I'll tell you a good story if you ask) I saw a Tibetan monk walking into a jewelry store, a bunch of backpackers trekking through the wilderness of Central Park, a guy standing on a street corner blowing bubbles on passers-by, and a car shaped and painted to look like a turtle... all in a morning commute.. I love this place. <br /> <br />But everyone I know is leaving (nearly!) and I've been wanting to do this for quite some time... and as mentioned above, my job really is stifling my soul... so for my health and sanity (?) it is time to go... <br /> <br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5660026-106063546519706643?l=theredheadedfish.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01314195585886195786noreply@blogger.com