Pestilog

Cultural Explosion

Ok, I'm sorry I have been neglecting the blog. I have been super busy. Super crazy busy actually. I don't have any cool new pictures to put up. I don't even have that many new stories, unless you count my response papers on Latour and Althusser (which I choose not to). But here's a short run down of things and goings on:

--I have a second reader. Its Alexandra, and I am pumped. She has already given me a stack of books for the weekend and is interested in working in the sociology of deviance into my thesis. Sounds rad. I think this thing could turn out to be really cool.

--My thesis was officially greenlighted by my advisor. He actually said it was a great project. I rule. And am, therefore, definitely going to Ukraine in April.

--Ola and Asa and I are working on a term-long ethnography project with the radical right in Budapest. We have been going to a lot of rallies and protests and talking to people who are really excited to tell us all about ancient Hungarian runes and how sad the Transylvanians are that they can't be Hungarian nationals anymore. Our department gave us notarized forms that recognize us as students from CEU who are present at these demonstrations for academic and social research and are in no way affiliated with the groups that are acting there. It may be the coolest thing I have ever been given. I feel official. It has a permanent home in my passport now.

--Brigette has started her thesis fieldwork already, and is meeting with ex-pat women from the US. She went to a gathering of 50 or so blonde, American wives-of-diplomats in Buda this morning. They served rice crispy treats, and little cubes of cheddar cheese with tiny american flags on toothpicks stuck in them. There were free manicures and massages all around, and one of the ladies got hair extensions done, for what she called "the trophy wife look." These ladies apparently throw one hell of a toga party at the end of the year, that involves a whopping 20,000HUF ticket price and costumes that are rented from the Budapest Opera. We WILL find a way to go.

Look Ma! Content!
This little one is in training.

--Its Stephen's birthday tomorrow. We are co-opting Teddy's party to celebrate, which I am delighted about.

--Monica is our new housemate. Did I mention that I have a new housemate? We do. She's super sweet, and just moved here form Bucharest to work in accounting up north somewhere. Her parents are visiting for the weekend and are staying with us in the apartment. I forgot about this fact, and was totally surprised to stumble in this morning from a night out to find a 50 year old Romanian woman cleaning fish in my kitchen. Stranger things have happened, but still...
Maybe she could learn something from the ex-pats.

We have so much culture to offer, don't we?

posted by Veruka2 @ 5:33 PM