Oh, this shit hole only called paris
ok, ok, so i've been meaning and trying to tell you about it the whole time i've been here, but, it's, hard. Fact 1: EVERYBODY in paris smokes. when i told my mother this, she said: "oh, well, it IS your city!" and oh, yes, it's the city i was born in and the city i will die in and at every moment it reminds me of that, always whispering whereever i go: i am the city you have always been. how can i possibly explain this non-sense? every baby carriege has smoke coming out of it! when i still used to (try) to ask if i could smoke people would look at me like i'm dumb (which is true). i spent noon to three at the er yesterday (cause i got overheated and freaked out a bit) and we would sneak cigarettes in the waiting room! it was too funny. everybody here makes me think of my brothers and sisters and lovers. it's the oddest (and the most "natural" whatever the fuck that means) thing.
i didn't sleep a wink the six hours on air-india cause i was too excited. i didn't talk to anybody either (i usually don't on planes). i just anticipated, and anticipated. then i almost died of heat at the airport (who'd put airconditioning at an airport! not the french. they've never heard of it. [tell it to hegel!]) and i realized then that i didn't even know how to say "WATER." that's a problem.
for the first 2 nights i stayed in this tiny (virtually everything is in miniature here) hotel, at the top floor. it was in a posh, posh centerish area (paris is not big, so everything seems like the center to me), so i was charmed despite the fact that my room contained no air and half a ceiling. it did have a tiny brown desk, so after wondering paris like a somnambulist (yeah, it's a cheap shot!), i sat in my room happy as a clam typing away and drinking cheap wine. oh, and yes, we all drink day noon night, and wine and beer are never more expensive than coffee, tea, juice or water (so why not?). but, ah, i can't communicate with people. yeah, SOME parisians speak english, but most won't unless they think it'll get them laid (and i'm not usually into encouraging such assumptions). i cried at lunch the first day cause i was convinced the waiter was making fun of me to the other guests...service people are so mean i wouldn't go to restaraunts alone even if i could afford it. and perhaps i'd be too. paris IS overrun by tourists like lice. i went to the louvre for the first time after passing it from my airport shuttle in utter wonder after the er, cencierly expecting that at least there the tourists wouldn't be running like maggots. ha! you smile at my innocence, but i thought "ART" at least evokes SOME patience, no, no, no. more later love
ps. crackerjack comments always inspire me to post sooner cause it's the only way i really know you care (read:read).
ok, ok, so i've been meaning and trying to tell you about it the whole time i've been here, but, it's, hard. Fact 1: EVERYBODY in paris smokes. when i told my mother this, she said: "oh, well, it IS your city!" and oh, yes, it's the city i was born in and the city i will die in and at every moment it reminds me of that, always whispering whereever i go: i am the city you have always been. how can i possibly explain this non-sense? every baby carriege has smoke coming out of it! when i still used to (try) to ask if i could smoke people would look at me like i'm dumb (which is true). i spent noon to three at the er yesterday (cause i got overheated and freaked out a bit) and we would sneak cigarettes in the waiting room! it was too funny. everybody here makes me think of my brothers and sisters and lovers. it's the oddest (and the most "natural" whatever the fuck that means) thing.
i didn't sleep a wink the six hours on air-india cause i was too excited. i didn't talk to anybody either (i usually don't on planes). i just anticipated, and anticipated. then i almost died of heat at the airport (who'd put airconditioning at an airport! not the french. they've never heard of it. [tell it to hegel!]) and i realized then that i didn't even know how to say "WATER." that's a problem.
for the first 2 nights i stayed in this tiny (virtually everything is in miniature here) hotel, at the top floor. it was in a posh, posh centerish area (paris is not big, so everything seems like the center to me), so i was charmed despite the fact that my room contained no air and half a ceiling. it did have a tiny brown desk, so after wondering paris like a somnambulist (yeah, it's a cheap shot!), i sat in my room happy as a clam typing away and drinking cheap wine. oh, and yes, we all drink day noon night, and wine and beer are never more expensive than coffee, tea, juice or water (so why not?). but, ah, i can't communicate with people. yeah, SOME parisians speak english, but most won't unless they think it'll get them laid (and i'm not usually into encouraging such assumptions). i cried at lunch the first day cause i was convinced the waiter was making fun of me to the other guests...service people are so mean i wouldn't go to restaraunts alone even if i could afford it. and perhaps i'd be too. paris IS overrun by tourists like lice. i went to the louvre for the first time after passing it from my airport shuttle in utter wonder after the er, cencierly expecting that at least there the tourists wouldn't be running like maggots. ha! you smile at my innocence, but i thought "ART" at least evokes SOME patience, no, no, no. more later love
ps. crackerjack comments always inspire me to post sooner cause it's the only way i really know you care (read:read).
posted by irreme seshat at 2:28 PM
3 comments
