life + circles

This looks chaotic but it was pretty organized and peaceful.

now that i'm 30, i can look back at my life and see how certain events have all come around full circle.  i remember not too long ago, seeing how it was my study of the french language that has taken me further than my university degree or anything else (geographically, anyway).  now that i know i want to work in humanitarian aid, i can see why i've studied that language throughout my life (even beyond university).

when i was in france, i remember looking into the local branch of greenpeace and amnesty international for volunteer positions. unfortunately i never got that far because my french was still limited then. the signs were always there in my actions. if only...

anyhow, when i first arrived there, lyon was having its biennial art festival, i remember one of the venues had a solo exhibition for one artist, laura genz,  followed the plight of the african sans papiers (or illegal immigrants) for over a year. for over a year, a rotating and large group of immigrants did a sit-in at the immigration office in paris.  over a  year! anyhow, for most of those days the artist did an ink drawing of the scenes at the labor office (which can be seen here).  the french labor office reviews each case one by one, and judges who gets their paperwork for legal residency that way but the immigrants wanted it to be a fixed, flat policy. it was a very moving piece.  i ended up buying one of the drawings (the one dated and labeled samedi 4 avril 2009...) that she made into a postcard.  five months later, as i was walking around bastille in paris, i heard a lot of noise down the street.  i followed it and there in front of me was one of the biggest protest/rallies i've ever seen.  in france, it was more like a parade.  there were balloons, confetti thrown everywhere, music blasting.  the french right was present, as well as the left.  there were groups of people who were protesting against the new retirement age, people in education were also protesting (a lot of people are unhappy with their president's new policies), and the last group to be seen were the immigrants.  the same immigrants that i had been exposed to at the art biennale in lyon.  they were there.  a very large group, i might add.  when i saw them, i saw my circle come around.

yet, in one of the days surrounding that manifestation, i was at the palais royal du louvre.  on the way back to the metro station, there was this big public sculpture/demonstration in a nearby plaza.  what looked like a stage was actually this public sculpture that was a rectangular frame with water falling out of the top like a waterfall.  through the water, there was a message that would be projected in it.  the message was about how non-potable water kills more than war, aids, and cancer combined.  this demonstration was sponsored by solidarite international, a french humanitarian nonprofit.

only after my return did i see all these things come together.