Monday, April 02, 2007

Family, Food, and Foraging for Shoes

So, it's been a little while since I updated. Some big things have happened, but first, the short items-

*I finished up with coursework last week. I'm so excited to be done. Just a few final papers to write and then it is nothing but thesis from here till the end.
*The IHRD grant for Ukraine ended up going to the All Ukrainian Harm Reduction Association in Kiev and All Together in Lviv, jointly. Its kind of a releif to have that off my plate actually. In the mean time, I've made a new acquaintance with the director of the International Harm Reduction Development Program at OSI in New York. So that's definitely a plus.
* I finally got my hair cut. By Christina, who worked in a salon on 5th avenue for li2e 13 years. Really neat woman. Oh, and she's in IRES, not econ. I can't keep details like this straight. at all. Anyway, she's my new hero.
* I have re-evaluated the situation regarding fieldwork for my thesis, and am rethinking my decision to station myself in Lviv. Right now, I am seriously considering Odessa. Course, that is a lot more travel, and means that I will most likely not be able to come back to Budapest for Critical Mass on my birthday. The gods are so against me on this one.

And now onto the bigger stuff:

My mom and my cousin Abbey were here last week. It was Abbey's first trip out of the states, and I am so so proud of her for mustering up the time and the cash to do it. Though I am afraid that the rest of Europe will be totally ruined for her because nothing can top Hungary. Nothing.
They were in Budapest for about 5 days.

Here we are, cold, by the Danube in the fifth district.

We also took a day trip to Bratislava in Slovakia, which was gorgeous to finally see during the day (remember that i got stuck there in the middle of the night back in October)

Here is me and Abbey on the Danube, in Slovakia, about 200km away from where that first shot was taken....pretty neat.

I managed to talk the two of them into going to the TerrorHaz, which was a good move, I think, cause they seemed to enjoy it, or at least to have learned a lot even if their reactions were touch and go...its kind of an intense place. We never went to the baths, but we did go on Agi's fabulous wild goose chase to Erzsebet Kilato in Buda, which was a great way to spend their last day in BP, because it was a gorgeous day for training and hiking through the lush, green Buda hills.

We took the children's train, just like last time,

And enjoyed the view from the top of the look-out.
In case you havn't noticed, the camera was rarely out of my mom's hands the whole time. :)

Ok, second point of interest. My mom brought Mexican groceries. Lots of them. She brought masa and tortillas and nopales and corn husks and jalopenos and chipotles and adobo sauce and guajillos and hominy and a whole gallon bag of Pelon Pelo Rico. And I made a Mexican feast! Well, it was a kind of non-sensical Mexican feast. None of the food really went together. We ate soup and breakfast food at the same time, for dinner, but it was what we had, and it was so good. We had a bunch of people over to help eat it: Brigette, Alex, Stefan, and Sasha all helped out, as well as my mom and Abbey and the rest of the house. I made posole for everyone, which the kids from the Balkans made a good show of. It wasn't thst spicy, but there are some pasta sauces that marko can't eat cause they are too hot. And Brigette and I were in happy land, so they boys did good for themselves. I also made my favorite dish ever ever: huevos ahogados with nopales.

The look on Sasha's face when he found out he was eating cactus was priceless. He threw his arms up, in the "field goal" sign and was like, "You mean....cactus? Like this?" Ha. The pots were scraped clean. Just wait till I get around to making those tamales. Mwa ha ha ha.

Lastly, I finally went out to the Chinese Market to replace a ton of old clothes that are worn through and destroyed. I realized the other day that i have no socks, bras, or underwear that aren't frayed or full of holes. It was a bad deal. When you wear your laundry-day underwear everyday because that's all you have, its time to go get some more. So I dropped like 10.000HUF at the market and came home with a messenger bag full of new clothes. I also went to the mall and re-discovered the futility that is trying to buy pants in Europe. BUT, I did do a major thing. I bought new shoes.

Ok, so this is such a big deal for me because I came to Budapest with like 7 pairs of shoes. That is incredibly significant because that came only after I got rid of nearly 35 pairs before I left the US. I love shoes. I LOVE THEM! i love htem and my love is not to be fucked with. Seriously. And I have been on this serious minimalist kick ever since I left Portland, and I am really enjoying not having a lot of crap around, so making a major purchase on something like shoes, which is such a slippery slope for Ms. Jennifer "Impulse Purchase" Caroll, is a big fat hairy deal. But I thought about it, and realized that, hiking and running shoes aside, heels and nice slip ons aside, I have 2 pairs of shoes that I wear every day. One is my Campers. I love htem, but have had them for so long and worn them so hard that they actually kind of hurt to wear for too long. The other are the blue and green DKNY sneakers that I got at the Goodwill outlet in Portland like 2 years ago, and they have held up really really well, but are wearing out and super dingy. So, I bought them. I paid too much for them, at least 180% of the list price that I am now finding for them on the internet, but I got to try them on at the mall (I was at the mall! For serious!) and take em home with me that instant. And they're purdy

So, there you have it. Looks like all other luxuries got pushed back a few months cause I am waiting for the cost of these bad boys to settle out in my checking account. But oh well. My feet look awesome.

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posted by Veruka2 @ 9:08 PM

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