Jew-flight

Well it turns out that Jean-Charles Duvall, my roommate's fiance, lives in a little suburb right out of Paris called Villejuif which technically means "Jewtown" or "Jewville." Good stuff... My half Jewish (not really) roommate Evan's all excited about going there: I mean afterall, we're entering Jew town: imagine the wonders: Matza ball soup shops, kosher pastry shops, fallafel joints. But as we're riding in this oldskool metro car, as my roommate Dinnah points out, less and less white people stay and more black people start entering. Dinnah's right: Villejuif is practically all African. What happened? Well, I have a theory:

Back in the sixties, in LA, as Blacks and Hispanics started moving into the cities, the white people decided to "fly" away to the suburbs like Pasadena and just commute downtown to work -- hence why we have horrible traffic jams and why it can take over an hour to drive 12 miles to the Rose Bowl for a football game. This phenomenon soon took over the entire country: cities like Houston, Cleveland, San Diego, all started turning all-minority and as Bill Maher points out, if it weren't for cable and shows like Snoop Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Whites would completely censor their kids from the evils of hip-hop.

Well, what if in France, the richer white Jewish people who had decided to settle in the suburbs that were once considered a safe and cheap alternative to the bourgeoise Paris proper got scared of the African many Muslim may I add, immigrants that were surrounding them in the suburbs on all side and decided to scram. They just got up and yelled "je me casses!" like a drunken upset french dude at a bar. Anyways, only difference is, instead of moving OUT of the city, they moved BACK IN to the city.

Now, where in the world would you settle in crowded Paris if you were Jewish? Well, they figured they'd rather go to the only part of city that's full of people treated even worse than Jews (in a fairly anti-semitic country). That's right: they settled down in the all-gay neighborhood called the Marais. So now, the Africans and Arabs dominate the suburbs while the Jews are crowded into the claustrophobic Marais. It's quite interesting: I wonder how the Rabbi feels as he passes the bathhouses on his way to the synagogue or how the Orthodox Jewish parents feel as their kids are exposed to drag queens and men wearing tight leather jeans with pink makeup on as little Avi is waiting for his falafel and kosher baklava at the deli. Even funnier, I wonder what kind of Clueless-esque "oh that's horrible fashion" statements the poor Orthodox guys (you know, the ones that wear black suits with the Amish-like hats) have to endure at the hands of the gay designers and taylors. Do you guys see what kind of absurdity these people have to put up with?
While we're on the subject I must add that Jewish falafel shops kick ass though I personally do think the Lebanese shops at the Mouffetard and Latin Quarter are THE PLACE to go to for Schwarma, and not to mention lebanese sandwich-like pizzas.
Alright I better go prepare for my class. I'm observing endoscopic gynecological surgery this wednesday and thursday with a french surgeon and my "introduction to spanish" class starts this friday.
IMAGINE ME LEARNING TO SPEAK SPANISH WITH A FRENCH ACCENT... My Latin-American peeps back home are gonna love this one.

SEX EDUCATION IN FRANCE aka Dildos at Gare de Melun

So, it's AIDS-Awareness Day. Now, I'm all for this. Kids need to learn to be comfortable with condoms and that requires sex ed and that prevents AIDS. Now I agree that kids need to practice not because it's required but because it helps them feel comfortable and familiar with safe sex. This why in America, we have this sixth grade class called Sex Ed aka "Family Awareness" as Republicans like to refer to it in good ol' Caulifoonia (arnold voice). But in France, they don't have sex ed in the high school where I teach. They have AIDS Awareness week during which we have tray covers at lunch time that have pictures of happy pink condoms holding hands in a circle with the globe in the middle. but no sex ed.
so what's the solution:

I walk into the train station in the desolate city called Melun (can't wait to return to Paris) and what do I see: a booth / table with a row of dildos: pink dildo, yellow dildo, green dildo, you name it, in France we love diversity in dildos. then a pack of condoms (also neon green and orange and yellow and pink colored may I add, I guess the French really like having colorful sex). Anyways, everyone was embarassed except some immature twleve year olds smiling at the very notion of the S word and they were having a blast trying on the condoms. Meanwhile, there was a tape playing of an Arab family with the mother trying to overcome her fears regarding talking about sex, which is also important but I think some of the Arabs there were slightly offended by the video from the looks I saw on their face.

Point made: in perhaps one of the most sexually charged countries in Europe where there is nightly softcore porn on TV, there is no normal Sex Ed in the classroom and French kids learn safe sex only if they're lucky enough to walk into a train station on AIDS awareness day and play with a rainbow of dildos and condoms.

How amusing...

DISCLAIMER: My colleague Emilie wants everyone to know that French kids do take sex-ed in ninth grade. a bit late but better then nothing in my opinion.

This is my blog, started at 12:54 AM, Saturday, June 25th, on Rue du Bac, in Paris France. Can't wait to tell you guys about everything.