Blogging about the Feature

by: Bertha Serano

Street musicians serenade the streets of Paris

After attempting to research and read about what life in Paris would be like before we left, I was still clueless about my story ideas. Sure, the tips and lists of places people recommended seemed intriguing and exciting but I didn’t think they were worthy of a feature story. I wanted to get there and take it all in. After arriving, I found myself snapping pictures of everything I saw, from the graffiti on the walls to the license plates, forgetting I needed ideas.

The first couple of days were so exhausting my stories were the last thing on my mind. When Tuesday came, we went to talk with a lady who worked for a cultural center in Paris. I tried brainstorming for something, in order to ask her for sources and hopefully get a quote from her. When my turn came, I simply asked her about the street musicians in the metro.

Back home, I had written a story about the different permits they needed to avoid getting arrested and I wondered if musicians in Paris were in the same situation. So much for my luck, she didn’t know too much about it. She said it would be interesting to write about the differences between street musicians in Chicago compared to those in Paris.

I took her advice. Throughout the next days, I took pictures of all the street musicians I came across. Lucky me, every time I went into the metro, there was one playing in my section. The only problem was communicating with them. As I tipped them, I would ask them if they spoke English or Spanish but I always got no for an answer. Aside from some decent pictures and videos, I don’t have much to work with for this so I’m getting worried. I’m hoping that the student we met, Sigo, can help me out since she knows a lot of musicians. I’m crossing my fingers on that one.