Bordeaux-USA │ Franco-American Club with US Library │ Since 1969: Laetitia's trip

Part 4: 01/26/15 - 02/01/15

On Thursday, I attended to a job fairs in the Bronx museum of art. This job fairs was dedicated to start ups from the Silicon Alley, the New Yorker"Silicon Valley". There were about 15 start ups in different fields: social network, fashion, videogames, charity, and recruitment. I went to the boothes, discussed with employees, and handed out my resume. But, I have been told "Good luck" with a sympathetic look by most of the people, when I said I was French and that I needed a sponsorship. I knew it will be difficult to find a job here, but I felt how hard it will be now.

Brown Museum of Art

Flatiron District, craddle of "Silicon Alley"

On Friday, I went to the laundry. Why am I telling you that? Because, you have to know that in NY, as there is not enough pressure in water pipes, it's forbidden to have a washing machine at home, unless you live in a revamped and fancy appartment. So everybody here has to go to the laundry to wash their clothes. But, you can also drop off your clothes and fetch them 2 days after, if you want to avoid to waste your time at the laundry. Personnally, I benefit this time to read my book or to train for interviews...
In the afternoon, I met Bénédicte, Françoise's daughter, who is a member of the association and has been living in NY for 29 years. Then, I met one of my conversation partner Deepak in the Grounded organic coffee in East Village. It is a nice cozy place with books on shelves and good loose tea.

Grounded organic coffee in East Village

On Saturday, I made the acquaintance of another conversation Exchange, Karthik in the café Grumpy in Chelsea. And guess what? He is indian and works in IT, like my other conversation partner. He is high beginner in French but he wants to move to Montreal with his family, that's why he needs to learn French.

The inyard of the Grumpy café in Chelsea

On Sunday, I went to the Gugghenheim with my conversation partner Deepak and his wife. 3 levels were closed in preparation of an exhibition, but I could discover an indian painter Gaitonde , whom I didn't know. There were also some of the pictures of Kandinsky before abstraction: black and white pictures, very different from his famous compositions, and works of art from his "Der Blaue Reiter" period. Finally, We enjoyed gazing at the magnificent pictures of French painters and other fellows: Monet, Renoir, Manet, Cézanne, Dugas, Van Gogh, Picasso ... It was very delightful!

Gugghenheim Museum with its "non-architecture", work by Gaitonde and Der Blaue Reiter

I came home by crossing Central Park, which was covered with snow. It offered a very winterly landscape. The reservoir Jackie Kennedy, the big lake in the middle of the park, was almost totally frozen, forming a temporary ice floe for birds. Despite of the coldness, there were a lot of people jogging, or walking their dogs, which were wearing coats and socks. There were families which enjoyed playing in the snow. And of course, I could see grey squirrels running in the snow.