Over a month has elapsed since I last sat down to post an entry. Believe me my friends, our reunion would have been sooner but hey….I’m in Paris and a little thing called getting Internet connection has proven a lot more difficult and unbearably complicated than one would expect from an up and coming developping country!:)
My frustrations with french customer service aside let me say that Paris is the fountain of whatever you’re looking for! No, it’s not that famous fountain of youth that will keep you young forever but it is a source of inspiration, introspection, appreciation of beauty, taste bud tantalizing cuisine, bacchus beuverie, etc, etc!
This month has flown by and in it I’ve plunged head first into reaping the fruits of what I’ve sowed…..lots and lots of Euros in a top notch class A Sciences Po education. For the first time in God knows how long I’m excited to learn again! The program is amazing, the student body diverse, and the professors a wealth of knowledge. I couldn’t be more satisfied!
As the air turns colder, the leaves turn colors, and the days grow shorter I find myself strolling the labyrinth of the Quartier Latin, crossing the pont de l’alma, climbing the steps of Sacre Coeur and whizzing along the Seine with FPF on his scooter!;)
New York, I love you, I miss you, and I will see you at Christmas…but until then I will daydream of you as I float through my storybook start here in the city of lights!
1:15 is not some obscure Bible passage or a movie-buff-nod to the most recent Die Hard posters plastered all over the MTA.
It’s the sacred time…I promise no religious puns intended, for the UNICEF crew to scamper down the stairs or slowly descend on the rush-hour elevators for the breaking of the daily bread (ok, couldn’t'help myself!:)
Some of us have the punctuality gene…and some of us…well myself mostly couldn’t get there on time if our foot long meatball sandwich from Subway depended on it!
Tete Ronde..aka Sobhi Jawabra meticulously crafted a homage to this most beloved and merited hour out of our busy schedules at 3 UN Plaza.
Enjoy and remember to comment on it. It will make the big guy feel good!:)
Something tells me that it wasn’t the famous cryptic message:“les sanglots des violins de l’automne blessent mon coeur d’une langueur monotone” that our very own Frederic Pfisterer leaked through Lotus Notes to assemble the troops, but rather a frenzied call to whisk people in and out of Studio 9 under my very nose!:)
Despite the later revelation of a few close calls I must respectively tip my hat to Les Maquis and the fine job they did in surprising me with an amazingly touching, memorable, and masterly crafted farewell video.
I have to say that my colleagues and friends really out did themselves this time! I’m not sure years of putting up with my bureaucratic babble and topsy-turvey temperament was deserving of such a generous send-off but I graciously appreciate all the heart and soul they put into it!
For those that haven’t already had the chance to catch the clip here it is in all it’s glory.
Ok…some might call this post a bit narcissistic but I honestly consider it an act of thanks to all those involved in the production of this awesome video.
Once again Merci Beaucoup for two and a half years of highs, lows, introspection, personal/professional growth, valuable life lessons, and lots and lots of fun!
What do you get when you mix a rowdy rascal from Ramallah and a bonafide beauty from Bavaria?……….”Meet the Jawabras” (sorry no Ben Stiller or Dustin Hoffman cameos in this one folks)
Get an uninterrupted sneak peak at the home video that is sweeping the World Wide Web! No need to bite your nails in anticipation or bang your head against your screen in frustration on Google Video. www.roseinparis.com has got your free access pass to the German/Palestinian Family redefining Brooklyn!:)
Without further ado ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the Internet scene….Sobhi and the mini Jawabras!:)
Assez de mes jeux de mots a deux balles!:) On a more serious note. I would like to take this eternal moment in time on the long tail to step up on my electronic soap-box and thank all those that graciously scrounged their pennies together to buy me the Nike+ set for my birthday!
I’ve got the tools now all I need is the will! If there’s one place NOT to be overweight and out of shape it’s Paris. So, ironically, due to societal pressures and not at all because of my own volition I am ready to hit les rues de Paris! I mean honestly…, may this be a lesson to all of us couch potato procrastinators out there……Tune your Run and maybe you’ll be lucky and find yourself a running partner like this!
Thankfully I’m already more than blessed in that area!:)
As the weeks fly by and the days come and go I move closer and closer to leaving behind an amazing group of unique individuals, who, in the next chapter of my life will play different roles but will always be characters in my never ending story.
A wise man..or woman..I never really considered the sex, once said……”Things happen for a reason.” Well whoever or whatever leads our cosmic orchestra decided that I would share a birthday with an Apple obsessed tech geek from halfway around the world that would ultimately cross my path, move into the cubicle next to mine and become one of my closest and most valued friends!
To celebrate this stroke of wise divine planning Fred and I decided it would only be fitting to gather together our merry band of international freaks and geeks and raise the roof in Harlem to celebrate August 10th!
Birthdays, for me, are like movies. If we are lucky we have tons of them but only a special few make the all time top list!
With the cunning prowess of Miss Marieve and generous contributions of both money and strategic thinking from the merry band of international freaks and geeks we were able to pull off the most memorable and unsuspected birthday gift of them all……
Ladies and gentleman of the cyber-press…behold…Fred and his wet dream courtesy of Steve Jobs himself!:)
