There is a scene in the new movie Eat, Pray, Love where Elizabeth Gilbert is in Italy and she is sharing the American tradition of Thanksgiving with her new Italian friends. The camera pans around the table, sharing with the audience the connections that Liz has made after her few months in Italy.
Of course, there are well cued bouts of laughter over nothing funny at all (at least not from an audience perspective) and loaded glances across the table meant to tell us that there are stories untold, concealed moments that we aren’t privy too. The scene is the first of many where Elizabeth Gilbert is revealing to the world the local she has become in the countries she was once a mere visitor too.
Last Tuesday night (yes, I know it has been a week already, but there is another blog post to explain that one) my friend Heather invited me to the Eat, Pray, Love movie premier. It was a last minute invitation and fortunately – I was available.
For the record, I had no intentions of the seeing the movie – at least not before other people had made the investment and shared their experience. I got through the book and I didn’t mind it, but I was always a page away from putting it down and never finishing it.
I was, I must say, pleasantly surprised. The story is simple; young woman falls out of love with her current life and goes off in the world in search of herself. She does indeed find herself and she finds love. Of course she does! That’s precisely the reason the book became an outrageously popular staple in every woman’s handbag. Millions of women worldwide who had chosen the path of least resistance; early age marriage, now suddenly found themselves bored and if Elizabeth could do it, so could they….and they could find love too.
As an Australian living abroad I can relate to the dinner table scene. There are still moments (12 years later), being very settled in my life as an expat where I am forced to stop and revel in the magic of the connections I have made along the way. There have been many tables I have sat around, without a camera capturing our every glance and belly laugh, where I am the foreigner but felt just like a local.
There is something magic in that feeling. When you’re in an unfamiliar place and someone remembers you from the night before, someone remembers your name; it’s the most basic sense of recognition. That’s what being a local is all about. Recognizing and being recognized.
And. I have been in, and out, of love many times and found myself over and over again. Truth be told, that should never end.
But. I digress. Eat, Pray, Love is a good chick flick. Bottom Line. But at the heart of Elizabeth’s story, however self indulgent some think it is, is the beauty of travel. The sights, the sounds and the new perspectives one can have when forced to look through a new window – and ultimately – the connections with people.
So, we endorse the movie as a great travel film.
And the party???......
My friend Heather is newly single and ripe. She is also the sweetest little chirpy bird you could ever meet. At one point, just after Julia Roberts swept by us, she looked past me at someone behind and gave a shout of recognition “Heeeey! How are you?” at which point the young man came on over. It turns out she didn’t know him at all but she just felt like he was a lonely guy standing on his own and she wanted him to feel welcome.
As the night wore on, the vodka and grapefruit started to kick in, we made a little agreement; before we left she was to get a phone number from a guy and I needed a photo with a celebrity for this blog.
We achieved our goal. She got the phone number from the lonely guy on his own (turns out he was recognized in the ‘hollywood’ circles) and I got a photo with Billy Crudup. If you’re going to judge me do so for the shameless marketing picture this is – not because I wanted my photo with a celebrity – I know what sells.And considering my left boob is almost poking out….a little bit of sex doesn’t hurt either.
The entrance
Myself and Heather
Heather at the Bar
The setting for the party
Julie Roberts table.
Beautiful table settings
The 'lonely' boy and his friend (can't remember his name, a little bit arrogant/confident - talkative - and friendly but really wanted us to know that he was in Avatar and inception and some other big movies.). I was more impressed with the very cute ice-creams though.
Party from above.
Billy Crudup, my boob & I. The Celebrity photo!
