The Goings On
So, I have not been blogging because I have been, instead of living life and seeing the sun, writing my thesis and developing the most incredible ass-groove in a chair at Siraly, where Brigette, Stephen, Luc and I have permanently set up residence to kick this pig.
But here are a few small points of note to tide you over until I get my wee little life back
*Artyom used the word "harlot" in his thesis. There is no end to the hilarity that I find in this
*We bought our visas for Belarus. $125. wtf? We should be able to pick them up from the embassy tomorrow. Lord. I'm excited, but I plan on coming back friggin fluent. I won't have just gone to Belarus, I will have DONE Belarus.
*My camera got jacked by some sketchy Hungarian-Transylvanian dude who ended up at my house and made out with some chick on my couch after smoking in Monica's bedroom. Screw that guy. Screw that guy right in the ear. But, this means that I am on the market for a new one. I think I'm going to go for digital video
*Barring any impediments to the previous goal, Stephen, Brigette, Sasha, Marko and I are going to collaborate on "Belarus: The Movie"
*After Belarus, we are going to Croatia to mooch off of Marko's family and sleep in forests. While we are there, it will be Croatian Independance Day (Hooray! We're all still catholic! woo!). On independence day, it is meet for one to eat bear. With berries. Berry bear. Again, wtf?
*My thesis deadline is Monday, but I'm hoping to have it in by Friday. We'll see how it goes.
Labels: belarus, Brigette, CEU, croatia, food, grad school, Marko, Sasha, Stephen, travel
My Day of Awesome
Ok you guys. It's seriously official. I love Odessa.
I have been having a great time in this city, and today was an incredible day. This project is going really well, and the weather is great, and there was cake and icecream to boot.
But first, lets play a little game called "where the hell is Jen?"
Im right smack in the middle of this picture here, by the water:
Ok, moving on to today:
-I spent the morning with a mobile sharp exchange and HIV therapy unit in central Odessa, observing medical procedures and client staff ineteraction. Really, I get to hang out and take notes. It's way academic, really.
-Odessa has this great system of minibuses, which come like every 2 minutes, and drive at top speed down their route. I have no idea what the routes are, nor does anyone else seem to know. You just kind of have to pick one that is going vaguely south, or which ever way you need to go. And they dont make stops. To get on, you have to flag one down, and to get off, you have to tell the driver which street about 2 blocks ahead of time because they take about that long to slow down to a stop. These things are like astrovans and seat about 12 people. They normally have about 20. Its great.
-I have learned enough Russian to request a stop off the minibus route on my way in with out confusing the bloody hell out of the driver.
-There is this galleria near where I am living called Afina, and there is a massive cafeteria in the basement. I ate there today, and had a giant tub of borsht. You go in, say "ukrainskij borsht!" and the guys says something that you dont know that sounds different everytime which always in one way or another means 'sour cream?'. You always say "Da!" yum.
-I re-established that I dont like salmon today. I even realized that it wasn't a chunk of tomato in my creamy salad BEFORE I gave it a go, so it wasn't the surprise. I was curious about how the side salad was the most expensive thing I ordered though. Now I know.
-There is this huge central market near the trainstation (which is itself between the biggest craziest cemetary I have ever seen and the biggest, gnarliest prison I have ever seen) which has clothes and food and stuff and crap and junk and it looks awesome. And its open all hours of the day. Its crowded
all hours of the day. Blows the mind.
-I bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in Ukrainian today. I am a giant nerd. But the Ukrainian books are like in a far corner of the bokstore, are only childrens books (as only school children would be learning Ukrainian at all) and are on a different till as well. It was weird. I got sent to a far cashier, who wrote up my bill by hand in a paper register and then would only take cash for them. Hooray for the marginalzation of western culture. It feels as refreshing as it does odd.
-I bought an icecream cone for 30 cents today. It was awesome.
-My hostel, which is way nicer than any place I have ever lived myself, has a frikin jacuzzi tub. Unbelievable. I am so headed there next. This is going to be great.
-Finally, the people at the agency I am working with are great. I have met dozens of people at this point, and have gotten really friendly with a few. One of them was making fun of me today. She asked how I liked Odessa, and I said that it was really great. She said "Great?! Haha. And all you have seen is this--working life. Get up at 8 go home at 6. I'll ask you again after the weekend."
Labels: disease, drugs, food, grad school, odessa, travel, ukraine
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.
Labels: Abbey, Budapest, family, food, grad school, mom, photos, rabble rousing, thin justification for my existace, ukraine
[Insert Reference to White Elephants Here]
I woke up sick again. My throat hurts and I have a cough and I feel generally terrible. I didnt go to class today. I decided ust to rest, especially since I have a huge pile of work that I want to do before folks get here next week. I know I dont work well at home, so I packed a bag and went down to
Siraly, a cafe on Kiraly utca, down the street from my apartment. Siraly means 'seagull'. This bar has been host to countless gatherings, live bands, plays, study breaks, and even thesis meetings with my adviser in the last few months.
It looks just like this, except that the outside has had little blue waves painted on it, so imagine that under the graffiti. Here's a
rad little video of the place on the inside and the usual crowd. You can follow the link above if the embedded video runs slowly:
Anyway, at this point I have been at Siraly for about an hour now, and I just had a startling realization.
Here I am, in Eastern Europe, Budapest no less (so romantic) midday in an artsy cafe (intellectual), where peole are downing beers at 2pm and posting listings for the jazz bands that will be playing here this weekend (hipster). I've been drinking long coffee and seltzer water (lavish) at a secluded table by the window (Hemmingway), reading Habermas (pretentions), while listening to Bach's cello suites (fartsy) on my mp3 player (bourgeois). Oh, I am also ill, tired, with rings under my eyes and a rattling cough (afflicted!).
I am a black turtleneck away from the TB stricken artist-intellectual types that Susan Sontag wrote 98-too-many pages about. Oh, how frail am I. My legs are also aching form sitting for so long because I havn't had a chance to take my bike out in months. What the hell has happened to me? I've gone totally soft.
Maybe I should take up boxing or something.
On the upside of things though, I found some of the pictures from the
Hummus Bar on my computer, and I offer them here for your amusement. (and check me out in that link. I can leave restaurant reviews in Hungarian. I may not be able to ask for directions, but I can talk volumes about food, cause I have my priorities
in line. I'm so cool.)
Entrance on Kertész Utca
The loft, where we gorge.
Alex, Dan, marionette, Marko, and Nancy
Stephen and Brigette peruse the Israeli Cosmo. Its in Hebrew, so they have to go backwards.
Stella, me
The carnage. As soon as we finished dinner, Alex screamed, "Oh my gosh! We forgot to take a picture of the food!" This is the best we could do.
Marko and Kendra
Nancy
Labels: Alex, Brigette, Budapest, clubs and bars, food, hotlinks, kendra, Marko, Nancy, photos, Stephen, thin justification for my existace
Disappearances
We had a lunar eclipse here on Saturday night. This is what it looked like from my front door at about 11:30
That same night, we also went to the Hummus Bar down the street from Kicsi Szimpla, and took a bunch of pics that my computer just ate. Like, seriously, they just disappeared. I have no idea what thats about. So, ah, I can't post those just yet, which is really tragic, because that is one of our favorite places to go in this city. The Bard kids have been going there so much that a couple of the guys who work there have started referring to them collectively as 'the falafel whores'. Ha. Anyway, more on that to come.
Also, my keyboard is wigging out again. And I just bought a new one a few months ago, which means that its not the keyboard. It is operating as though the FN key is depressed all the time, which is really infuriating. In fact, the only way i have found to fix it is to put pressure on the lower right half of the console, which is totally weird. And when 5 dont, 5t wr5tes 352e th5s, wh5ch 0akes me want to sho6t *e6*3e. GODAMMIT! what a g5ant *ain in 0y ass. gah!
OH, there was also a Purim Party on saturday. It went till 3am. it was at the mall. AT THE MALL! at 3am. crazy. Pictures coming soon...
Labels: Budapest, food, photos
Glorious Day of "American Food"-like Food
Yesterday, I woke up on the couch in Stephen's room next to Brigette, wondering if Tyler was still asleep with his shoes on in the living room. This has all been known to happen before, and is always a sign that last night was a good night and today will be a phenomenal day. Seriously.
So, I may not have mentioned this earlier, but Brigette brought back a bunch of goodies from Texas after Christmas break. Its fabulous. I love the fact that she is from Texas and knows all the right things to buy. When Stephen is on the phone with parents and friends in Ohio who are sending care packages, he always asks what I want. Brigette and I scream out a slurry of "Oh! Oh! Masa! and corn husks! chipotles! and nopalitos!" Stephen usually tells us to go stick it and to order something that is American and that the average suburban can find in Canton OH. So so sad.
But Briga brought back a few excellent things, not the least of which is a prayer candle with the Virgin of Guadalupe on it, which totally makes me nostalgic for our old house in Portland with the Revelation and Our Lady of Guadalupe themed bathroom (coolest domestic space I have ever had the privilege to inhabit). She also brought back a can of chipotles, and can of jalopenos. So, this morning, for breakfast, we made a huge batch of scrambled eggs with onions and sour cream and jalopenos. And it was SOOOO GOOOOOOOD.
Look, Stephen's camera phone was able to reach out and capture my joy:
(All these images are really low res because my digital is in Berlin with Ben right now, so all we had was Stephen's Razr to capture the moments as they came.)
Brigette gasped when she ate it and said, "Oh my gosh. Its hot. I forgot what hot tastes like. Oh my word I love it. Real hot food!" In Hungary, 'spicy' generally means 'not creamy'. Its a sad state of affairs if all you want is some chili. Marko couldn't even handle a single bite of mild heat. We are just made of spicier stuff I guess. I miss hot, spicy food so very very much. And tamales. I miss those too.
Later in the evening, I tagged along with Stephen and Sanida, who were had plans to go to this Burger place that Petya had found sometime last term. I was skeptical, but this place allegedly had really really good burgers, and even though I don't eat meat, sheer curiosity and the hopes of some honest french fries lured me along on their adventure. We were also able to recruit Zoltan at the library. I mentioned the burger plan to him, and I watched him hover over his feet, eyes glazed over for a moment, then, with a sudden rush of blood to his face, say, "I think I'm going to invite myself along..." Ha.
So, the burger place is called "Gyros es Burgers" (original) and is just be Keleti Palyaudvar. I was astonished by what they offered. They had a menu of like 20 different burgers with bacon, cheese, fried egg, goose liver, cabbage, mushrooms, anything you could think of. They even had one called "fitness" which was a burger doused in every drippy, oily, cheesy thing they had, but with out meat. And here's the kicker. They even toasted the bun. It totally kicked the In n Out Burger grilled cheese sandwhich's ass.
Stephen and Zoltan each got a burger called The Lenin:
And I don't even remember what Sanida got, but it was gone fast.
This place also had Lowenbrau
which is totally not that great, but which I will forever defend as the only reliable beer in a can in this city (take that Borsodi!).
The food was nutritionally useless and totally good. Stephen and I trucked home after this, curled up around our pot bellies, and watched Twin Peaks. And it was a very good day.
Course, I am failing to mention the long hours of work I pulled during the day and after all this nonsense that had me up till nearly 5 am. I am really starting to stress about the phenomenal amount of work I have to stay on top of. Its kind of blowing my mind. But I am meeting with Yuriy (Юрій!) tomorrow to go over letters that I am sending out to harm reduction clinics in Ukraine, and Russ has been schooling me on how not to freak out over this grant, which I have no idea how to even start, and I got my funding for April, or at least some of it. 200 Euros is better than no Euros, and thats enough to float me through April for my field work. So, things are happening, just not in a very steady or timely fashion.
Ok, enough of this. I got stuff to do....
Labels: Brigette, Budapest, CEU photos, food, procrastiation, Sanida, Stephen, thin justification for my existace, Zoltan
3 Totally Excellent Things That Happened To Me This Evening
I went to Batthany Ter with Asa and Ola tonight to start our project for our Fieldwork and Methods class today. There is a group of protesters that gathers there everyday, and we are planning an ethnography project with them for the term. Tonight was our preliminary visit to see the group, and we got F-ing initiated. It was crazy. Some dude, comes up to us and was like, "Hey guys! This is great that you're here! Blahsiblahsiablasdisafskhdfkhjsfalkh!!! Oh you speak English! I'll get someone! I'll get someone!!--here. hold my flag. wave it. wave my flag!--WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH! ENGLISH! SOMEBODY COME TALK TO THE KIDS IN ENGLISH!!"
Omigod it was so awesome.
This was a group of nationalist
Magyars who are SUUUPER excited about
Greater Hungary and Hungarian identity that stretches across Eastern Europe. Greater Hungary is the current name for all the lands that used to be part of the Kingdom of Hungary, till there was some unabashed ass-whoopin' with the
Treaty of Trianon after World War I.
You just lost World War One.
Let me see your pouty face!
They took Transylvania back.
Let me see your pouty face!
Slovakia ran off with Czech.
Let me see your pouty face!
You lost Croatia and the Serbs.
Let me see your pouty face!
Anyway, these guys tonight were super roudy and tons of fun. They told us about another protest that is being planned for Saturday. One guy told us of a good spot on the bridge to sit and watch parliament while they have a hayday on the lawn. There is also going to be another protest action in the morning that will involve cars. Lots of cars. Apparently the city is giving them the run around with protest permits, so they cant march like they want to. Instead, they have opted for plan B which is a caravan down the roads in cars. Now, this is technically illegal, so they are going to dress up the whole event like it is a wedding, just a wedding with a group of nationalist who happen to have brought their banners and theme music with them (O! Magyarorszag!)
Right, but here's the punch. Mr. Super Excited who has been introducing us to everyone who speaks 2 words of English all night fully gives us his phone number and offers to drive all 3 of us around in his car on Saturday during the caravan. He even offers to fame marry Asa and I so we can be the bride and groom at the 'wedding'. The only catch is that Asa has to play the girl.
Awesome.
After this, i went over to Ola's place for a cup of tea, because we had been standing out in the -2 degree cold listening to nationalist diatribes for over and hour, and we coudn't feel our toes. I was so thrilled by this, because I absolutely adore Ola, and I don't often get to hang out with her outside of class. I mean, we only switched phone numbers for the first time this evening, which is totally unacceptable. I went to her place and realized that (a) I am dumb and never realized that she lives with Agnes, a rad girl in my Hungarian class, and that (b) I almost rented her apartment in September, before I moved in with the guys. They are splitting a room that I was going to share with a legal studies student from Croatia named Maria. She eventually told me that two Polish girls had taken the room. Three cheers for me putting two and two together. But anyway, I got to have a lovely cup of tea and hang out with two excellent women, and there was icing on the cake as well. At her apartment, Ola busted out these:
Chocolate covered vodka. These little things are sooo good. We always have them at home too. Stephen and I absolutely gorge on them. But these ones of Ola's are of the cranberry persuasion as well. How freikin incredible are these things?
So incredible.
I finally headed home cause I needed to call my mom back for like the 6th time that day (I actually had to hang up on her earlier cause she called just as the Magyar Uber-Nationalists were starting to play the Hungarian AND Transylvanian national anthems). And let me tell you, when I got home, I found a bounty of pickled things in the fridge. I am so my gramma's grandchild. I can not get enough of pickled things. Cucumbers, beets, cabbage, anything. And I am saddened by the knowledge that when I say something like "pickled beets" you imagine something totally sad and Safeway-like, like this:
Oh man. It just makes you want to cry. No. No, screw that soggy crap that has been in the glass jar for the last 30 years. I am talking Jew-food fresh, locally encased, giant tub from the elelmiszer for $1.45, massive vat of picked beets that were crinkle cut with love in the last week:
YUM!
Oh, and in addition to a giant thing o beets, we also got some super spicy pickled cabbage. It is somewhere in between saurkraut and coleslaw, with a major punch. I cant stop eating.
Word to the wise: super-spicy pickled cabbage = double plus yum. I even want to take another picture of me eating it and upload that too, but I suspect that might be a little much. I am the love that dare not speak its name.
Ima go get some of those chocolates out of the freezer...
Labels: Asa, Budapest, food, grad school, hotlinks, liquor, Ola, rabble rousing, thin justification for my existace
Főzelék + Earthquakes = Recipe for Disaster?
I'M NOT GOING CRAZY! THERE
WAS A FREIKIN
EARTHQUAKE HERE!!
I totally felt it. The whole building shuddered and swayed on New Years Eve. It even woke Kasia up from her nap on the floor. It was like being in California all over again. I texted the guys, and they thought I was being stupid, that it was fireworks or my imagination or something.
But it wasn't my imagination. It was a 4.1!!
Take that boys.
Like I'm gonna trust Ohio to tell me what is and isn't an earthquake...sheesh.
Good thing I rule.
Oh, also, apparently there are people who are sad that life has deprived them of főzelék.
Be still ye mighty beasts of public outcry!
Make your own.
Zöldbors Főzelék
(Green Pea Főzelék)
--The peas in this recipe can be subbed with kohlrabi as well, which is also super awesome.
Saute about 3/4-1 cup finely chopped onion and enough garlic to fit your personal habits in about 2TBSP (but whos gonna know if you add more?)
get these all soft and transparent, like a bad liar, then add the veggies..about 2 cups (and chop the kohlrabi, seriously.)
Let the green stuff brown in the butter for about 15 min. DONT LET THE BUTTER GET TOO HOT. If you brown the butter to much, you run the risk of not being able to make a good rue, or of possibly even burning it, which will make your yummy főzelék taste like butt gravy.
After this, slowly add and stir in about 2-3 TBSP of all purpose flour. Let this cook with the butter into a nice rue.
Then add between 1 and 1/2 cups of veggie broth, chicken broth, or milk, or half and half. I mean, pick ur poison really. The flour should make the soup really thick. It should form peaks. It shouldnt be quite as clumpy as a heavy veggie casserole. Think the consistency of consentrated Campell's soup, but with lots of stuff in it. Experiment with the water till you get it right. Remember, you can always add more.
Simmer this for a while, then serve in a shallow bowl with fried things floating in it. Fried anything. Go nuts.
Then, go
here and fully congratulate yourself on taking your first steps into the mind-boggling bastion of excellent oddity that is Hungarian culture!
And then stand in the safety of a door frame just for good measure.
Labels: food, procrastiation, thin justification for my existace
Főzelék
I have to tell you about főzelék.
Főzelék (pronounced foohzelek, like the oo in book.) is a thick Hungarian soup, almost like a stew with a heavy flour and cream base. It is sold in főzelék bars where the soup itself basically comes in a small trough, and one buys various fried things to float on top and eat in a big, fried, creamy mess.
Wyatt used to go to this restaurant around the corner from our house all the time, and he referred to it as "the gravy place."
"Why do you call it the gravy place, Wyatt?"
"Cause all they have is, like, gravy. "
"Gravy?"
"Yea, lots of kinds. And you put it on shit, and its super tasty."
This 'gravy place' is actually our neighborhood főzalékfaló étterem, which is like a soup-kitchen, cafeteria style főzalék restaurant--the way it is usually served
Főzelék generally has one main ingredient. Its not like Dinty Moore where you have a pile of potatoes and carrots and beef all in the same bowl. In fact, the fillings are usually rather sparce. Főzelék is very heavy on the broth, it just happens to be broth with the thick consistency of pre-concentrated cream of mushroom soup. Főzelék is usually vegetarian too (unless of course you get the big hunk of friend chicken to go on top instead of the fried veggies or soya).
Common theme ingredients include cabbage, tomatoes, peas, lentils, and yellow beans. Sounds like all the vegetables that you dont want to eat, I know, but trust me. Its really really tasty.
I am definatly becoming a master főzelék chef before I come home.
Labels: Budapest, food, thin justification for my existace
