oh man, half of the department went to rackeve today, a village on the south island and hour outside of budapest, and swam in the danube, diving off of docks in the water, in between cat tails, then saw a thunderstorm start on the other side of the river, and watched lightning from the grass, then took a bunch of group pictures in front of the crazy sky, then ran for it as the temperature dropped like 5 deg celcius in an instant and the rain and wind started, and as we were dashing out of the way, the wind blew down one of the 30' tall trees that we had just been sitting under! and we hauled ass through the rain and took cover in the hotel that was immediately across the street that used to be a castle! and we had beer and hot chocolate in the cellar of the giant castle and had free coffee from a physics conference that was 5n the castle, and the walked all around this city and saw a serbian orthodox church compound that was breathtaking with golden steeples and wells and dogs and tombstones, and we ate cherries off of the trees in the street and then bought bags of them off of two kids who were picking them out of their yard who had this hilarious dog named cameron. thats not even the half if it, and it was awesome and we slept the whole way home. oh man. today was good.
or given that its now 3am, maybe friday was 2 days ago. i have just had the most hellish 36 hours with my lit review. I had to add no less than 5 (5!) new major theoretical threads to it. apparently i was spending no where near enough time problematizing human agency nor situating the subject within the post-socialist historicity of individualized risk.
and all this time, i thought i was writing a paper on junkies.
the deadline is, now, in 34 hours. Tomorrow will suck, but on monday, i get to hand that shit in, go eat cake with brigette, and spend the evening dancing underground to gypsy punk with my whole department to celebrate brigettes birthday. whoo. i am looking forward to that more than i am finishing this thesis, and i think thats a good sign.
oh, and here's a good illustration of how things are run at my school: during the 3 days in which the sociology students are defending, the building that houses my department is going to have the electricity shut off. we are going to have our orals in the dark. wtf? and there it is...
I got myself a new cellphone for my birthday. Its great. Its quad band, unlocked, and works everywhere, even here in Ukraine. (my old phone was a locked t-mobile phone - i never was able to get the code they gave me to unlock it to work right, and so once i left the t-mobile network in Hungary, i wasnt able to roam. at all.)
I got a red Motorola PEBL, and its a really sexy phone. I am already in love with it.
I bought it while I was here in Odessa because, just like the phones that you buy in Hungary have Hungarian programmed onto them (omg, have you ever tried to text with T9 in a language that has 4 different variations on the letter O? sweet mother of god...), the phones here operate in Russian and Ukrainian. And the other standards, like English, French, Spanish, and German. But the cool thing is that it supports these other alphabets, so I can send and receive text messages in which ever one I want. Plus the face plate looks like this, with both sets of characters on it, which makes me feel super cool:
Ok, actually, thats a picture of a Razr, but you get the point. My camera is all packed up and I'm not going to start digging for stuff now. I have a train to the Ukrainian border in about 4.5 hours. So long Odessa.
It was glorious, and I am totally heartbroken that I missed it. It was on my birthday no less. There is no end to my frustration over this. I was planning on coming back into town for it, but Odessa is too far away for the weekend trip. But the pictures speak volumes. Some 50,000 people came out for the semi-annual BP event. These pics were forwarded to me by the lovely Alexis, who cleaned them from the Chi-town CM listserv
Budapest sees record long bicycle procession By: All Hungary News 2007-04-23 15:26:00 The "Critical Mass" (CM) bicycle procession held in Budapest during yesterday's Earth Day celebrations drew upwards of 50,000 participants, which organizers say made it the largest such event in the world, writes origo.hu.
When those at the front of the procession had already crossed the Petőfi Bridge to Buda and the Lánchíd (Chain Bridge) back to Pest, those at the end were cycling - or rollerblading, driving wheelchairs - under the Lánchíd on Pest's lower embankment.
The traditional "lifting of the bicycles" was also a little behind schedule, because the end of the procession did not arrive in City Park by the appointed hour of 7:00 p.m.
The fastest cyclists completed the 14-kilometer route in roughly one hour, and spent the rest of the afternoon picnicking and watching jugglers.
The idea for the biannual event, which aims to promote the use of people-powered transportation, originated in San Fancisco in 1970. In the years since nearly 5,000 non-profit organizations in more than 180 countries have joined the initiative. The first CM in Budapest was held in 2004, but similar events were organized in 1999, 2000 and 2001 which each drew 500 to 600 cyclists.
I mentioned this huge market that is right by the train station in an earlier post. I went down there today to take some pictures. I would say that it was successful. I came home with a kilo of pickles, dried parsimmons, and a whole kilo of white figs. Plus a ton of pictures that I am really excited about. The produce at this market was so beautiful. It looked like God himself breathed on this food. But a lot I couldn't bear to buy because I know that I'm not in my own kitchen and I don't have all the staples that are needed to prepare them well.
Anyway, here are some of the shots that I took there on the digital camera, the last one taken by Joanna, my adventure partner for the day. She is from upstate NY, and staying in my hostel as well.
The woman in this last shot was so wonderful. She, like many other women at the market, was selling picked cabbage and cucumbers out of huge plastic 70 gallon barrels. I asked her if I could take her picture (I got it on the Canon), and she blushed and laughed and said, "You want to take a picture of an old babushka like me?"
I also met a vendor who was selling pomegranates. He pulled me over, and told me to take his picture, then posed nobly behind his piles of fruit. I snapped a few, and then he asked if he could give me his address, so that I could send him a copy, to put up by his stand. I told him that I wouldnt have pictures for probably two weeks, but he said that that was great, so, hey, I hope they turned out ok!
After the market, we wandered around to the sea and passed a spring carnival that was open in the park between the station and the northern beaches. They even had a full on Strongest Man contest in the middle of the thing. I really wanted to get some pictures of it, but the crowds were so big that we couldn't muscle our way to the front.
It was also funny to realize that all of the carnival attractions were from Mexico. And I mean REALLY from Mecixo--made to be marketed and used IN Mexico
Please note that one is called "Mexican Casino" and the other one, the rooster, is saying "Ki-ki-ri-ki"
Honestly. It kills me. And I thought Romania was bad for bottom feeding.
In the evening I met up with a local girl named Vera, who took me to the pier out past the Potemkin stairs, and then took me for a beer with some of her friends from the university. They were really nice girls, all about 20, studying English at the university here in Odessa. They looked so Ukrainian. Big frilly fancy shiny skirts and tops and earrings and shoes that lace up to the knee with rhinestones and tons of buckles and flare. We talked for an hour and a half about getting married while they smoked skinny cigarettes and drank champagne at the bar. It was so rad.
Oh, and I also found out that football season has started here. The local team Chornomorets (чорноморец--it means, like, Black-Sea-ites) has a home stadium just up the street from me. They had a home game today, and another one next saturday, against the Kiev Arsenal. I am going with colors flying.
Well, I had my first 2 days at the non-profit center. The first was at the resource office with the lead staff, then yesterday at the community center with some day staff. Except for needing to go home early with a righteous headache, things are starting pretty well. Here are some more pictures of this awesome, awesome city. I took these during a walk before my shift yesterday morning. I am so busy with this project, that I am actually beginning to wonder how much of Odessa I will actually get to see...
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.
That's right. We forced a spring break on ourselves. And it was good.
Well, it was mostly good. We left Budapest with 7 people, made it to Sarajevo with 5, and came home with 6, so it was definitely eventful if nothing else.
(for the exceptionally curious, Monica got turned away at the Bosnian border cause Romanians still need a visa, and Tyler went home with her, and we found a Michigander who decided to come back to BP with us and is allegedly at my apartment right now fixing our shower...)
We trained in from Budapest, which took nearly 12 hours. The scenery was gorgeous. The route took us through Hungary by way of Pecs, then down through the northern end of Croatia, and then through central Bosnia to Sarajevo.
On the train, we slept on and off all day, and watched the towns go by. In Bosnia, we saw a couple of men chasing a giant pig around a yard that had escaped from its pen, and it made us all laugh out loud. We also met a few sketchy dudes who asked if Kendra would mind offering them an official invitation to the US and inquired as to her marital status once or twice.
But anyway. Once we got to Sarajevo, the hostel met us at the train station and taxied us to our room, which was right in the center of the old city. Right across the street from this actually:
Sarajevo is an unbelievably beautiful town, nestled in a valley between two mountain ridges.
We climbed the hills on the first day to get a view of the whole town. We ran across some beautiful old houses and the first Muslim cemetery that I have seen.
We also walked down what is called "Sniper Alley" on the way to Novo Sarajevo. In this area, the 6-700 year old cobblestone roads gave way to the stark efficiency of communist architecture, and the buildings and even the sidewalks still had huge chucks and pits missing from mortar shells and bullets that had been shot into the city from the surrounding hills. I am told that Sarajevo suffered the longest siege in known war history, lasting over 1060 days.
Some of the mortar blasts have been filled in with a bright red epoxy, to mark the remnants of the war. These are scattered throughout the city, and are what is referred to as "The Sarajevo Rose."
We also saw the bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot by members of the Black Hand. Behold:
And I, being almost wholly ignorant of most of European history, did not realize that Sarajevo is a predominantly Muslim city. (makes sense, though, right? Duh, Jen). Sarajevo is interesting in that it has large populations of Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim persons. There were beautiful churches and temples and mosques everywhere. But the mosques were by far the most numerous.
We were totally unprepared for it when we woke up on our first morning there. We stepped out of the hostel into a brisk sunny day, with busy streets and birds flying in unbelievable numbers overhead, gorgeous mountains all around, hearing the call to prayer ring out from minerets all around us. Here's a brief snippit of some that came in through our window on Saturday:
It was an amazing trip. I can't tell you what a time we had. If you want to see the whole album from the trip, you can see it on flickr.com here. Lots more pics from the train and of peeps that went with us are there.
Now that I am back, though, I totally have my work cut out for me. I got invited to a student conference in L'viv, so now that paper that I told them that I had written about comparative drug policy and disease narrative in the EU and Ukraine...well, I have to write that now. In the next 48 hours. screw. Good thing I'm so capable at bullshitting right? But yea, papers papers papers then another 13 hour train to Lviv on Wednesday night. Who's excited? I think I am. I'm not sure. Its a little much.
Just thinking about it makes me want a nap. AND its going to suck to be buying things all weekend because my bank card fully SNAPPED IN HALF today. wtf, mate? and it will be May before I get a replacement. boo.
Oh, but I get de-mulleted tomorrow by Cristina in the Econ department. It will be glorious. Im so pumped. I'll let you know how it goes :)
Location: Ukrainian Village, Chicago, Illinois, United States
I am addicted to donuts.
I love running around after dark.
I am a beer snob and a vodka nerd.
I change my hair color alot.
Sometimes junior highers make more sense to me than anyone else in the world.
I am really good at finding neat things in dumpsters.
I can fix your bike for you.
I people watch.
I keep plants.
Whatever I am doing, I would rather be in the water.
