hmmm, so i’m not very good at keeping this updated. just a little too busy having fun, but i guess i have to force myself to use the computer to tell my story. i’d rather tell it in person though, so just wait until i get back. for now, some tell-all pikchurs…
first, research projects:
Ethnography #1: La Semaine du Goût
this is “taste week” in france, and i have been milling about Grenoble- taking notes, doing interviews, snapping pics, and of course, samlping the finest of the regional cuisine.
here i followed around some schoolchildren as they did tasting workshops:
then yesterday i went to a choco-demo:
other events i went to included a tasting scavenger hunt and a neighborhood foodfest on saturday; tomorrow it’s beer and chocolate tasting.
Ethnography #2: Slow Food
i’ve been assigned by my academic advisor at BU to do some research for him on Slow Food (www.slowfood.com) in France. this means going to meetings, talking to people, etc… pretty standard fieldwork, only i get to partake in artisanal cheeses and specialty wines while doing it. when the president of the Slow Food Lyon chapter told me to go to an adress, ring the buzzer, and say “Good food and ideas,” i thought i had entered into some kind of secret society. turns out it wasn’t so secret:
Ethnography #3: Street musicians
my idea for this project is to ask street musicians what they think about passersby and vice versa. on friday i took my violin to the streets to see what it was like for myself; i made 8 euros before i had to make way for a Romanian accordionist. apparently i was on his turf. in Montpellier (southern coast) i interviewed these Gypsy musicians:
this is not a street musician, but a baker in Valence. it was good advertising at the market. Amanda and i went to this charming little city a few weeks ago, where they had things like escargots and squirrel parking and kings of sandiwches:
and who could forget the regional favorite, a doughy swissman?
the weekend before we went as a group to Annecy, another adorable location. it reminded me of norway with its fjord-like lake and overall picturesque mountaininess.
that cheesemonger made me the happiest woman alive.
the weekend before last was all about Montpellier:
in an shady alleyway restaurant i lost my crème brûlée virginity:
(before and after i did the deed)
and the next evening i drank muscat near a cathedral.
now i must scurry like the wind to my francophone literature class. à tout à l’heure!
