Jeanne Koré Salvato

Postings from Godot

books à la française:  the sequel

books à la française: the sequel

I strolled into a used bookstore in Versailles, France. It’s true. On the one hand, you’ve got the beautiful gardens of the Versailles Palace, not to mention the Palace itself. And then there’s a used bookstore.

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afficky

afficky

Lo and behold, we recently celebrated Africa Day on 25 May. An Irish friend reacted to my surprise that there was an Africa Day in Dublin.

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the teenage philanthropist

The common good is something we look at differently in the States and in France. The word, “common,” is an unglamorous word on its own, but linked with “good,” it has a whole different meaning.

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the world draws near

African women wear such beautiful garments. I would admire the colorful, patterned material they wrapped around their hair to match their African dress when, in their role as nannies, they’d drop their young charges off at my daughter’s French school.

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la FNAC plays jazz

I once read that someone would so rather read what it’s like to live in a country, say, France, than to hear about the tourist highlights. Now, some of the tourist highlights are very important to a city such as Paris, but if you do live in France, you will certainly encounter La FNAC.

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bones and bones

bones and bones

One of the best names for a bus stop in France is called Puits Sans Vin. This means a well without wine. I thought, wow! Some wells have wine?

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poetry and politics

Toni Morrison tells a story about a wise old woman who was blind. Her reputation flowers and extends even as far as the city where, as Morrison puts it, “the intelligence of rural prophets is the source of much amusement.

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it was a cold and snowy night

it was a cold and snowy night

It was a cold and snowy night in December when I stood at the podium in front of hard souls at the American Library in Paris about to give a presentation on a novel called in French, La Vie Devant Soi by Romain Gary.

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journey of the mind

It is unusual to see the song “Swanee River” in the same sentence with William Blake’s poem, “The Little Black Boy.” But these two pieces

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the Aran Islands

If you live in Europe, it probably goes without saying that all of Europe is close by, but you will not believe how close.

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who you going to call?

who you going to call?

No car and importantly no driver’s license–this state describes many more people than you might imagine living in Paris and its environs. What’s a person to do?

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the cool factor

Quantum Superposition. This fancy term defines a system that can exist in more than one quantum state at the same time. There is a principle associated with this term, and an equation, so it must be real.

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history today

Novels serve an interesting function in China, which is to subvert the official narrative. Instead, there’s lots of gossip and many versions of a story.

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out in left field?

out in left field?

The American School of Paris is a joyful place. Faculty meetings include brie and wine. The Extension Program, where I worked, is a part of ASP and is an outreach program for French kids eager to learn English. (Or at least their parents are eager for them to learn.)

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double double toil and trouble

Imagine a sunny July day. You are a 4th grader on your way to three weeks of English study and creativity in the Extension Program’s Summer School at the American School of Paris

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godot in paradise

godot in paradise

The fiction author, George Saunders, recently spoke about qualities inherent in the short story: efficiency, escalation, and even transcendence. Some literary works do not adhere to this pattern, he said, such as “Waiting for Godot, but

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godot’s excuse

godot’s excuse

There’s a New Yorker cartoon where Godot, in a baseball cap and a hoodie, apologizes for begin late. He says, “I slept through my alarm, …

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a Hurry

a Hurry

A friend of mine who was a member of a Zen sangha once told me that he and his wife were the only ones not to pass the test of the koan

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remembrance II

remembrance II

A man who had meditated twice a day for forty years described his practice this way “My early morning practice sometimes get delayed until 6 pm.”

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remembrance

remembrance

A friend of mine sent me an article from the NY Times by Andrew Russeth, (Sept 17, 2020), “Art About Waiting and What It Takes to Endure.” Naturally, this article will turn to Godot.

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divine intervention

divine intervention

Now that we’ve established that the kid is the boss in a foreign country, it’s time to see the things the children get up to over there in France

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who’s boss?

who’s boss?

William Wordsworth writes, “The child is father of the man.” While he means this in a philosophical way, any ex-pat who isn’t really in the know in the new country will discover

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five minute holiday

five minute holiday

We are all doing too much waiting–for the pandemic to be over; for a vaccine to arrive; waiting for the end of those awful tallies rising. Wait, what?

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let’s get out of Dodge

For us, “Dodge,” meant working over at the Archives in Suresnes, where the English lectures of Inayat Khan were being assembled and published chronologically.

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ordinary life + poor French = yikes!

Speaking a language (and I use that word speaking approximatively) in another country is a lot like going to the country fair and throwing a ball at a wooden duck. A hit and miss affair.

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Sufi Music and the Jazz Greats

Sufi Music and the Jazz Greats

The general hilarity of living across the street from a Sufi master was tempered by the very fact of the master, whose measured sense of purpose had inspired thousands around the world, including, of course, his family.

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remodeling redux

remodeling redux

The foundation’s treasurer, full of vim and energy (or prunes as my mother’s friend used to say) assured us that all remodeling would be finished within three months. Well …

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Remodeling

Remodeling

Estragon, one of the gentlemen in Waiting for Godot gives his opinion about where they are. The particular spot where the tow of them now find themselves is exactly where they were yesterday.

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moving to Paris

moving to Paris

“Is there any terrestrial paradise where, amidst the whispering of the olive-leaves, people can be with whom they like and have what they like and take their ease in shadows and in coolness?”

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driving tests and other challenges

driving tests and other challenges

Kevin Barry, our friend who wrote Beatlebone, remarked recently in an interview with the Paris Review that he was going to take his driver’s test at the age of 50, and that it was touch and go.

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driving

driving

Welcome back to writing4godot. If you have ever driven in Paris, you will be shaking your head before you get to the end of this sentence.

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the Beatles

the Beatles

The first car we bought in France, a tomato red Volvo, had once belonged to a Zen master.

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juneteenth

juneteenth

Juneteenth has been in the news lately. On June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas got word that Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation 2 years earlier—in short, that they were freed.

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