Fontainebleau Day 1

 Let it not be underestimated how challenging it is to shop for groceries in a foreign language. How can I tell what the equivalent of cream is among the dairy? Moreover, why can't I find salt at Monoprix? Aren't the French known for their salt?

It's only been one day (and a half) but I have a feeling I will eat very well here. I spent >100 Euros on groceries thus far (worried about emergencies) and my favorites so far is this garlic and herb cheese, fig jam from Bonne Maman... oh I guess that's it, haha. Also some sables breton I bought from Monoprix.

There are many kinds of tomatoes here. Many kinds of cheese (expected) and lots of tea and spice options (which I was worried about). People say bon journee even into the afternoon (7pm, when sunset is 9pm) and are much politer than I expected (in grocery stores, my main domain of exploration thus far). And like the dumb American I am France is much more diverse than I expected. Fontainebleau is more diverse than Dallas--way more.

Anyway, I actually don't have that much to say except that I'm tired. Haha

On the Eve

 of an international move, nothing you anticipated to be able to do in the last five days will get done.

Preparing to Move Abroad Pt.2

 So I have another expense to add to my visa fees--apparently 50 Euros to activate your visa upon arrival in France.

-_-

Preparing to Move Abroad Pt. 1

So I didn't read much in June, other than some fiction, and learned no random, potentially useless information, partially because I need to actually be reviewing some other things in preparation for graduate school.

I did however, have a very frustrating visit to the VFS (Visa Facilitation Services) and figured I would document my experience in part to satisfy my frustration but also in case it is potentially helpful to someone down the line (who somehow comes across my blog and randomly wants to go to the same program as me).

Here is what they actually needed:

• a visa-size photograph, which is actually a different size than the passport photograph, which is annoying and not specified beforehand--so confirm sizes before you go to save $13
• VFS appointment letter + proof of payment for appointment
• scan of the first page of your passport--not of the entire thing, which is asked for in the checklist but my interviewer did not need it and it was a total waste of a printout
• for a France student visa, your email of approval from Campus France (not specified anywhere, and $1/page for print outs)
• French visa application form
• residence in France, or lease agreement that includes a contact phone number (my interviewer took the lease agreement and letter, but her only focus was on the letter)
• proof of financial collateral (mine was bank statements)
• program acceptance letter--not specified anywhere to bring, one would assume Campus France approval was inclusive of this
• they only accept UPS pre-paid envelopes to ship your passport back to you, otherwise you pay for them to pay for FedEx Overnight service, which is extremely extra. They provide very conflicting information on this--online UPS is not specified specially, and when I entered the person at the front desk told me no pre-paid envelopes were acceptable (I had brought a FedEx one, because I had used it for Turkey back in the bad times when Turkey-US visas were suspended)

Here is what they did not need:

• for a France student visa, the student visa checklist that you are told to bring--my interviewer just printed it out herself in front of me
• the lengthy lease agreement, or landlord ID (which is specified on the above checklist but honestly extra)
• a pre-paid return envelope for any service other than UPS.

Overall, you have to pay for:

• Campus France, which is like $240+
• VFS Appointment, $40+
• Consulate of France visa processing fee, $60+

... and I ended up also paying for:

• a couple of printouts for things that were not even specified to bring before hand, $3+
• visa photos, $13+
• shipping service for passport return, $38+... ridiculous

Hope this saves a life, or at least $50 for someone.

Incredibly Random, Potentially Useless Info Pt. 1

(Un)fortunately with all my reading (which is not even that much) I acquire a lot of random information that I find interesting and am pretty good at being annoying about bringing it up in conversation. To that end, one of my friends one day suggested I send out a newsletter said random info. Rather than inundate and bore people, I figured a kind of monthly blogpost would be useful for my own memory and reference. So, let 's see how long I sustain this (if at all):

• Muslim women were the last category of citizens to gain the right to vote in France, in 1958
• Source: Ian Coller, Muslims and Citizens
• MGM is the last independent studio in the US (the rest being owned by corporations or PE groups)
• SoFi newsletter, also Wikipedia
• Dostoevsky's father died in a similar fashion to the Karamazov patriarch--likely killed by peasants
• Alex Christofi, Dostoevsky in Love

في القدس

 I hate being the person who posts Mahmoud Darwish poems when something happens in Jerusalem (putting it very lightly), but I am going to be that person--I think this one is so powerful:

في القدس، أَعني داخلَ السُّور القديم

In Jerusalem, and I mean within the ancient walls,

أَسيرُ من زَمَنٍ إلى زَمَنٍ بلا ذكرى تُصوِّبُني

I walk from one epoch to another without a memory to guide me. 

فإن الأنبياءَ هناك يقتسمون تاريخَ المقدَّس

The prophets over there are sharing the history of the holy...

يصعدون إلى السماء ويرجعون أَقلَّ إحباطاً وحزناً

ascending to heaven and returning less discouraged and melancholy,

فالمحبَّةُ والسلام مُقَدَّسَان وقادمان إلى المدينة

because love and peace are holy and are coming to town.

:كنت أَمشي فوق مُنْحَدَرٍ وأَهْجِسُ

I was walking down a slope and thinking to myself: 

كيف يختلف الرُّواةُ على كلام الضوء في حَجَرٍ؟

How do the narrators disagree over what light said about a stone?

أَمِنْ حَجَر ٍشحيحِ الضوء تندلعُ الحروبُ؟

Is it from a dimly lit stone that wars flare up?

أسير في نومي. أَحملق في منامي. لا أرى أحداً ورائي

I walk in my sleep. I stare in my sleep. I see no one behind me. 

لا أرى أَحداً أمامي

I see no one ahead of me.

كُلُّ هذا الضوءِ لي

All this light is for me.

أَمشي. أخفُّ. أطيرُ ثم أَصير غيري في التَّجَلِّي

I walk. I become lighter. I fly. Then I become another. 

:تنبُتُ الكلماتُ كالأعشاب من فم أشعيا النِّبَويِّ

Transfigured. Words sprout like grass from Isaiah’s messenger mouth:

((إنْ لم تُؤْمنوا لن تَأْمَنُوا))

“If you don’t believe you won’t be safe.”

أَمشي كأنِّي واحدٌ غيْري. وجُرْحي وَرْدَةٌ بيضاءُ إنجيليَّةٌ

I walk as if I were another. And my wound a white biblical rose. 

ويدايَ مثل حمامتَيْنِ على الصليب تُحلِّقان وتحملان الأرضَ

And my hands like two doves on the cross hovering and carrying the earth.

لا أمشي، أَطيرُ، أَصيرُ غَيْري في التجلِّي.لا مكانَ و لا زمان 

I don’t walk, I fly, I become another, transfigured. No place and no time. 

 فمن أَنا؟

So who am I?

أَنا لا أنا في حضرة المعراج.

I am no I in ascension’s presence. 

أُفكِّرُ: وَحْدَهُ، كان النبيّ محمِّدٌ يتكلِّمُ العربيَّةَ الفُصْحَى.((وماذا بعد؟))

But I think to myself: Alone, the prophet Muhammad spoke classical Arabic. “And then what?”

ماذا بعد؟

Then what? 

صاحت فجأة جنديّةٌ: هُوَ أَنتَ ثانيةً؟ أَلم أَقتلْكَ؟

A woman soldier shouted: Is that you again? Didn’t I kill you?

قلت: قَتَلْتني... ونسيتُ، مثلك، أن أَموت 

I said: You killed me ... and I forgot, like you, to die.

Ramadan Mubarak

 

Sent some postcards out this year since I have the time... and postage!