flat andrew's parisian adventures

at mark's prodding, i'm going to tell you all a little story about my week. while vacation started wednesday, i have to say it's been rather an eventful week. the events started monday, when Dina Powell, u.s. assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs came to my high school. i don't even normally teach on mondays, but this was clearly an exceptional case. madam powell oversees cultural exchange programs, including the Fulbright program, and wanted to see Fulbright at work. so somehow out of the 5 fulbright teaching assistants, my school was chosen.
anyways, this relatively important person came to Lycee Evariste Gallois to see me and to meet some students. and all the teachers at school were super excited and extremely nervous, and even more excited when they finally met her. one of the male english teachers said he was in love, and kept recounting how she told him to "call her dina".

then tuesday morning i went to unesco(united nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization) for a conference on global higher education. basically, fulbright chose a bunch of academics to be "new century scholars" and to study higher education with colleagues from all over the world. anyways, it was just fun to be included in the conference. i even chatted with stephen heyneman, a vanderbilt peabody professor. and i got introduced to people here and there. and i took a picture of flat stanley in the garden of unesco. and at the eiffel tower. and at notre dame.

the big week culminated tuesday evening with an invite to the american ambassador's home. it was rather ornate and elegant, and quite an enjoyable experience altogether. madam powell gave a little speech in which she recognized my school, my principal, and even me, and they made me go up to the front to stand by the podium as my principal gave a little speech. then there were pictures all around, including a picture of me with the ambassador and his mrs. as well as dina powell and mr. stanley.


following such an extraordinary evening in the presence of such stalwart republicans, everything else this week has been a let down. yesterday i got a cool new phone for 1€!!! and nearly lost my man purse with ipod and camera. and today i translated a bunch of letters from french child sponsors to the children they sponsor. and tonight i went to the eiffel tower to hang out with some assistants---it was bring your own bottle. and i left my nalgene and frisbee there, but fortunately someone grabbed the bottle. the frisbee, on the other hand, was last seen in the hands of a french girl. so they say.

this weekend i'm thinking to travel to lille where there's a big indian culture festival going on. i'll keep you posted.

Diplomatic Dabblings