Codrescu

It's my last official day off, the final hours of my "vacation" in New Orleans before I start work next week. Quite fitting, then, that I'd be suffering from a day-long hangover from last night's partying with the writers.

Went to a literary event/poetry reading/gathering of the local book celebrities in the French Quarter. Dingy bar, boiled sausages, home-made birthday cake, massage chair, and of course lots of beer. Here's details on the event:

http://www.17poets.com/wst_page8.html

Walked right up to Andrei Codrescu, started speaking Romanian to him, watched him blink twice before answering back, then we chatted in Romanian for a few minutes before he said "De unde esti?" (Where are you from?). "California!" I said. He had no idea I was American - he either thought my accent was that good, or he had already had a few too many drinks. We laughed and went on in Romanian, eventually of course ending up talking about the special foods we missed from there (tomatoes to die for!, fantastic eggplant salad, plus the best salty goat cheese ever...).

Apropos to the event, we reminisced about the sweet taste of coliva, a Romanian honey and nut dessert that is only served at funerals. It was one of my favorite foods while I was in the Peace Corps, a delicious, crunchey, gooey dish. However, it's not something you can request someone make for you, because it's bad luck to eat it unless someone has died. This puts you in the perverse position of looking forward to a funeral, when you can taste your favorite dish. I suppose the idea is that you'll appreciate the sweetness of life even while mourning your loved ones' crossing over into death.

After Codrescu did his beautiful and evocative reading in front of the group (again, on the subject of life and death, a la post-Katrina New Orleans), I asked him how he is able to use the English language so well when he was born speaking Romanian. In Romanian he replied, "I was bestowed with polyglotism." "Me too!" was my answer. Much drinking ensued, whereupon the languages became more fluid, while my date and Codrescu's wife looked on suspiciously.

Here's his official website:
http://codrescu.com/

Here's the literary journal he edits:
http://www.corpse.org/

Here's one of his many NPR commentaries on New Orleans after Katrina:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4826792

P.S. In case you had any doubts (and shame on you if you did!), I have no intention of trying to steal Codrescu (or any man) from his wife. Big no-no in karma-land. I was just digging speaking Romanian, and of course I had to get him to sign his book for me :)