I just returned from a Q&A session with Mariam Said, Edward Said’s widow. The meeting was so casual and focused on Said’s involvement in initiating dialog with the other through music, namely through the Barenboim-Said Foundation. Yesterday, we watched a movie about the foundation and so today Mrs.Said was there to answer our questions and to talk about her and Edward’s experience. It was magnificent really. She was so down to earth, and so cultured and eloquent, and so very much in the know of Said’s and Barenboim’s work. It’s refreshing to see a lady who was married to one of the most influential thinkers of our time, and who has not lost her own uniqueness or become marginalized in the process. I just loved that. Everyone wished she had more time to afford us because we had many questions, and not just about the movie, but alas, she was just passing by and understandably she could not give us more time. C’est la vie, but that hour was so inspirational for me nonetheless.

When the session ended, I went to Jabal Lweibdeh and parked my car somewhere and just walked and asked mini-market owners on where the Società Dante Alighieri is. Eventually, I managed to find it. It is hidden in an alley of sorts and it is not directly overlooking the Kulleyat Al Shari’a street, so that is why I was never able to find it. It also does not have a sign on the street to indicate where it is. That’s pretty retarded I think, and I will indicate it to the Italians. To document my feat, I took this picture with my cellphone camera:

The center was closed when I got to it, but, if you plan to go: it’s in a small alley on the same side of the street as Afghani Souvenirs, right after a tiny mini-market. The entrance of the alley is very deceiving, but it gets big when you enter it and there’s even a parking lot there. After the alley there is a shop that sells work outfits, called Allam. In bocca al lupo! Good luck!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Bits & pieces. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.