Book Report

The advantage of commuting by Metrorail and my periodic 10+ hour plane flights is that I'm reading more than I ever have before--which is awesome, because that's my favorite hobby! Here are some books I've finished recently and highly recommend (in order of completion):

The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
Several coworkers, former coworkers, and a random girl on the Metro recommended this book, so I couldn't not read it! I haven't met anyone who didn't like this book, which is a story about a boy who grows up in Afghanistan in the early 70s and how the brutality and innocence he witnesses in those around him shapes his life. An added bonus is that even though it's fiction, it gives some historical perspective on Afghanistan and its culture. I find it so much easier to remember historical events if I have a personal account--even a fictional character's--to give it some weight and emotion. And now everytime I see people flying kites on the National Mall I think, "I bet they're glad those aren't glass-coated strings!"

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Azar Nafisi)
This book is part memoir, part literary criticism--but don't let that deter you. Azar Nafisi tells the story of her intellectual struggle with the oppressive Muslim regime that came to power in Iran in 1979. When things degrade to a point that she can't teach western literature at the university any longer, she starts holding "class" in her home with a select group of young women (mostly former students) where they read forbidden "decadent" literature. There are some portions of the book that feel repetitive, but if you can see past that, this is a compelling story about the importance of simple freedoms, such as reading whatever books you want! There's also a recommended reading list at the back, so now I have plenty of other book recommendations, mostly classics. I think I might have enjoyed this book even more if I'd been more familiar with the works by James and Nabokov that she focuses on (I'm working on that now). I was actually reading this book on the Metro when the previously-mentioned random girl told me how much she enjoyed it and then recommended The Kite Runner (which I'd just finished). She also recommended my next book, and since we appeared to have similar taste in books, I bought a copy....

The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
This book is the story of a first-generation American boy who struggles with his identity and desire to distance himself from his parents' Indian culture and expectations. It's not the kind of book that ends with a happy understanding, but it leaves the reader feeling hope for the protagonist.

Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
I saved my favorite for last. The author's wit and sense of humour is subtle, but pervasive. This is one of those books where, after I knew how it ended, I went back and re-read specific passages with a new understanding of their meaning. I guess the best way to describe it is that this book sticks with you. A couple of nights after I finished it, I even woke up in the middle of the night and had an epiphany about the book's meaning...not that I remember said epiphany, because I went right back to sleep...but it was pretty deep! My only complaint is that the scene which changes your perspective on the book's events is spoon-fed to you. I would have enjoyed the revelation more had I felt the author trusted me to understand it. However, I enjoyed this book more than any I've read in recent memory! I'm even going to get my slow-reading husband to read it, if he ever finishes the last two Harry Potters!

The common thread I found in most of my recent reading is the importance of stories and imagination as part of what makes us whole. A motivational speaker I saw a couple years ago said that "Great leaders are great readers". That struck me as being pretty true, so here's to becoming a great leader!
Happy reading!

Some Serious Sh*t

For several weeks now at 6:00 AM Eastern time on the SciFi channel they have been showing the world's worst infomercial. I usually catch a few minutes of it before I switch the channel to news. It's such a train wreck, I can't help but watch it. This guy is touting his "Miracle Cleanse" colon product, and he describes with some authority how our intestines are clogged just like corroded old pipes. He also discusses the size of his 4-year old daughter's bowel movements, and how he compared them to his own (seriously!) and realized his were "totally inadequate"! Do you really want your child to be better than you at pooping?! I think he needs to find some other outlet for his competitive side, maybe a nice sport like Buzkashi . Another fecal fun fact I learned from this infomercial: did you know that when John Wayne was autopsied, the doctor found 40 pounds of undigested fecal matter?!
Here's an exerpt (not for the faint-hearted):

New Milan Team Photo

Here's a picture of our "team" on the last night all of us were in Milan. We all look slighly rosy, thanks to our good friend Grappe and his buddies Limoncello and Vino! The cute guy on the right is Maurizio, who said he'd only been drunk twice in his life (no, that night was not one of them). Italians just don't view alcohol the same way as Americans. I think this is sad and something they could learn from us in the spirit of cultural sharing! Linda (woman on the end at the right) and I did our best to be ambassadors of our culture. I guess you could say that we were building on regional collaborations to facilitate a more effective approach to building democracy and prosperity, fighting terrorism, disease, and human trafficking...one shot at a time.

(The timestamp on the picture is totally wrong, by the way.)

Milano

The flight over was uneventful. Lufthansa was great, but I still didn't sleep for more than half an hour. I normally don't like to drink alcohol when flying (and risk feeling even more parched and headache-y than normal), but I tried to beat myself into sleep with a few glasses of wine. To no avail. When we landed at Malpensa around 9:00 the next morning, everyone on our team was exhausted. Fortunately there were no meetings scheduled for that day, so we checked into our hotel and I took a 2-hour power nap. One experienced traveler among us said that napping was the worst thing you could do. The way he said it, you'd think I'd said I was going to go skin and eat a puppy. I ignored him and took a nap anyway!

After a little rest and a shower, another teammate and I took the Metro 3 stops to the Duomo. Something surreal happened on the way to the Metro...near Central Station we heard a car horn playing "Dixie" a la "The Dukes of Hazzard"! The driver honked his horn 3 separate times, so we were able to identify the source as a white late-model Mercedes. Huh. Anyway I was disappointed to find the front of the Duomo was still under renovation. I managed to get a picture of the side, but I couldn't get very far from it--the buildings on the opposite side of the street don't allow you to put much distance between you and the cathedral. I was struck by how cold it was inside. Outside, it was in the 70s, but inside was easily 10-15 degrees cooler. If I were some ancient Milanese person, I totally would have taken up being really devout just to beat the summer heat!

I had panini or pasta for lunch everyday, and we had some good Italian dinners on our first and last nights in town. The other two nights, we just had heavy hors d'oeuvres in the Hilton's "Executive Lounge" (okay, we had free booze and heavy hors d'oeuvres there every night). Two other teammate chicas and I followed up our hors d'oeuvre meals with walks to the gellato shop. International calories don't count anyway.

Our last night we had a big 'ole time at this place ("Fratelli de Buffala", I believe) specializing in mozarella made from buffaloes (what you and I consider a yak). There was a lot of wine, as well as limoncello and grappe. The grappe tasted a lot like rubbing alcohol, so I only had 3 shots. I was fortunate to be sitting at the end of the table near our friendly and attractive Italian colleague, Maurizio. All the ladies, and one of the men, swooned over his snazzy dressing, lovely accent and blonde-haired-blue-eyed good looks. I think the highlight of the evening was saying goodbye to everyone, and Maurizio did the traditional Italian kiss-on-each cheek farewell. I swore I would never wash my cheeks again, but the advantage of being tipsy when you make such resolutions is that you forget them by the time you walk back to your hotel. All the alcohol was also a great social lubricant for our team. After a few (dozen) drinks, all of us were downright tolerable!

I hate it when restaurants have themed bathroom names. One example that comes to mind is a bar in College Station where they say "Pointers" and "Setters". That makes sense if you think about it, but imagine if you don't speak English. Same deal in the "buffalo" restaurant--they were labeled "Buffali" and "Buffale"! The Hell?!?! A passing kitchen staffer laughed at my puzzlement, but offered no help. Finally I noticed that one of the buffaloes painted on the door was wearing lipstick. I was all about breaking bathroom gender restrictions on this trip, though, so it's surprising I even bothered trying to use the right restroom at that point. At a restaurant the first night, I went in the (only) unmarked door and availed myself of the facilities. Some guy walked into the anteroom while I was washing my hands and looked perplexed and mildly embarrased that he'd evidently entered the ladies room. I said "Don't worry, I think it's coed", which of course he didn't understand because he didn't speak English. So I smiled and waved him towards a stall. He went in, but I don't think he really believed me. Later that week we were at a municipal building for a meeting. I found a bathroom that had a common sink, but separate men's and ladies' water closets. The ladies' door was locked (and nobody was in there), but the men's was open. It was the end of the day, and few people were around so I just ducked into the men's room. Apparently the reason the ladies aren't supposed to use that one is because of the semi-pornographic pictorial instructions on proper toilet use posted in there. Of couse, I took a picture. It's in this group of photos(You'll know it when you see it).

You know, I was in Milan for 5 days and didn't buy a single piece of couture for myself! I got Zach a Missoni tie, but that was it. We didn't have time to make it out to the designers' outlets (which I hear are great), so I decided I could pay full price for something at home without worrying about carrying it home and paying the VAT and whatnot.

Condoleezza Rice

So, I saw The Secretary of State in person today. Here's the blow-by-blow account: I heard through word-of-mouth that she'd be not only in my building, but on MY floor! I gathered with three other star-struck onlookers at the end of a hallway where we were able to watch her walk away from us as she exited the elevators. She had on a nice gray skirt suit, by the way. And she walks nicely, very normal. Quite the opposite from how I walk in heels. About 5 minutes later I was standing just within an office and facing outward towards the door, and I was totally gobsmacked to see her walk out of the door right across the hall from me! I'd say she was only about 10 feet away. I didn't actually meet her, but for a quarter of a second there was definite eye-contact! She looks just like she does on tv, by the way. I experienced no surprised thoughts like "Wow, she looks so much taller/shorter/older/younger/prettier on tv". And now when someone asks me what my "brush with fame" was, I can retire my sad little "I met Conway Twitty at Country Fest '86" story. :)

I'll post my Milan pictures and commentary tomorrow, probably. The return from a trip is alway hectic, and this trip has been no different. Plus I have yet another cold, which doesn't help my motivation.