I got up early this morning and took a tour of Troy that was exceptionally nice, considering I have sworn off tours for the rest of the trip. Our guide had been giving h=this tour for 30 years, and has even written a book about Troy. It wasn't that much to look at, but it's still cool to say I've been there now.
From there, I went back to Canukkale and took another bus to Bergama (aka Pergamum). I'm staying in the quaintest litte pension. It's an old (160 years OLD) Ottoman house with a charming courtyard and a rooftop deck that is only accessable by a very rickety ladder. From the top you can see the ruins of the ancient city's Acropolis on top of the hill that overlooks the "modern" Bergama. Most of the town is still in the old Ottoman fashion, albeit somewhat crumbling, and it is absolutely adorable. I damn near gave this place a miss, and I am so glad I didn't. Anyway, in the entry way to the house is a birds' nest that houses six baby birds that just learned to fly. They entertain themselves by zooming around the courtyard in a tight spiral around each other. The place is owned by a mother and son, he speaks perfect English, while she speaks almost none. She is the epitome of an old Turkish woman, down to the headscarf, round face, and toothless but genuinly warm smile. He is a bigger techie geek than I am. He's got this place set-up for wireless internet access, and even has a laptop for guests to use while sitting on their favorite balcony.
I took a little stroll around town this evening, and came across the ruins of an old basilica that I don't know much about yet. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow. Aydin (the son) says that it is one of seven churches mentioned in the bible. Just the size of the thing is impressive, I can't wait to figure out the history of it. Anyway, must go to bed now, as I have a 5k hike up the side of a steep hill to get to the ruins tomorrow. Ciao for now!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Days 4 and 5 - Istanbul and Canukkale
(Again, copied from journal)
Sunday night went out to diner with Enver and to the top of a cool hotel to check out the view over a glass of wine. We met a really interesting Kiwi guy who was an earthquake engineer - works all over the world helping governments install warning systems. He said if an earthquake ever hit Istanbul (and it's only a matter of time) that the casualties would be astronomical. Not a very good sign, considering there are between 12-18 million people in the city. Yikes!
Got up Monday morning and took a stroll through the Grand Bazaar/ My GOD I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. It literally encompases what seems like miles and miles of space - stall after stall after stall of jewelry, carpets, inlaid woodn chotchkies, ceramics, clothes, you name it - it's there/ It's is truly mind boggling. I was looking at a particular bracelet at one stall and when it didn't fit, I was quickly ushered deeper into the mayhem to another stall, and when nothing in that stall suited my fancy either, the chase was on again. I was finally able to make my escape, but at that point I was hopelessly lost in the rat maze. I felt like I was walking around in circles, but there was really no way to tell as all the stalls start to look the same. I suddenly understood the logic of bread crumbs. An hour and a half of wandering did finally get me back to the entrance where I had come in and back to alovely pair of chandelier earrings tht I just couldn't walk away from. After a bit of bargaining, they were dangling prettily from my lobes.
From there, I sprinted down the crowded side streets (I don't know how, or for that matter WHY, they get cars down those streets) to Eminonu to catch a ferry up the Bosphorous for the second time - this time in daylight though. I was Shanghai'd by a private tour operator who tried to get me on the boat for 20 lira (about $15). I lauged at him and told him I could get on the normal ferry for 7 lira and it was a longer trip. He caved and let me on the boat (which was much nicer than the normal ferry) for 10. Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this bargaining business. It was a lovely two hours spent reading and wishing I owned one of the big fat fancy houses (or summer palaces) along the channel. Afterwards, I treated myself to an incredible (albeit expensive) seafood lunch by the water. I didn't even get freaked out about having to debone and dehead the fish myself. Proud of me for that.
Tuesday I got up and got on a shuttle bus to the bus station so I could head off to Canukkale (nearest place to Troy). The shuttle bus driver was insane, but in a good sort of way. He had a heavy mustache and about 5 teeth, and was sweating so badly the whole way to the station that I honestly thought he might drown. Even so, he insisted on playing house music and guessing what language they were singing in, all while waving his arms and bopping in his seat like a teenager, reaching over occasionally to slap my thigh and laugh out loud. Completely nutso/ However, if it hadn't been from him, I would have never caught my bus. As we were nearing the station, he pointed out the window to the left at an anthill crawling with giant ants that turned out to be busses... the biggest bus station I have ever seen. 5 levels of spiraling ramps, entrances, exits, buildings and thousands of buses. It was a city all in itself. Incredible.
The bus to Canakkale was one of the nicest I've ever been on - comfy seats, tea and cake service, and air conditioned. I sat next to a young Turkish girl who just finished University and is off to Canada at the end of the summer for an intensive English course. She offered up her home if I wasn't satisfied with the hostel. The kindness and genrousity of the Turkish people continues to amaze me. I didn't take her up on her offer, but was impressed by it anyway.
So last night I experienced my first Turkish bath. I say my first, because it definitely won't be my last. Awesome!! I figured it would be a nice relaxing way to spend an evening, and I was so right. First they showed me into a room where you undress and wrap yourself in something like a sarong, but much much smaller. Then I was led into a cavernous steam room. The marble floors and benches were even warm. As the sweat started to pour off of me, so did all the tension in every part of my body. They left me in there until exactly the point where I didn't think I could take much more, then led me into a smaller room with little cubicles, each with their own marble benches and basins with running hot water. Then the real fun began. First the bathr strips down to her bra and underwear (not a pretty sight, as she was about 60 and rather doughy), then stripped me down to nada as she whipped my covering from me and whipped it around an overhead bar in one deft motion. Then she motioned for me to sit on the little step while she poured soothing warm water over me from the little basin and began to lather up my hair with soap. After an intense scalp massage, I was rinsed again. Then came the best, and grossest, part - exfoliation. She put this special mit over one hand, held onto the wall with the other and went to town. SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB. Layer after layer of dead skin came rolling off and dropped to the floor - I felt like she might actually scrub a limb completely off, but it felt soooo good. And these women are not shy, they scrub everything. I don't think I've actually scrubbed myself in some of those places before. After another good rinsing it was time to lay on the floor for a soapy deep-tissue massage. That woman had incredibly strong hands. By the time she was finished I felt smooth as glass and limp as a noodle. You know, I think the last time someone actually bathed me, I was about 6 years old. I would highly recommend it to anyone. There is really nothing like it. Afterward, she wrapped me back in my sarong thingy, wrapped my head in a funky turban and led me to a seating area for some tea. Now that was a perfect evening. I topped it off with a bowl of homemade lentil soup and an ice cold Efes and was a completely happy girl.
Sunday night went out to diner with Enver and to the top of a cool hotel to check out the view over a glass of wine. We met a really interesting Kiwi guy who was an earthquake engineer - works all over the world helping governments install warning systems. He said if an earthquake ever hit Istanbul (and it's only a matter of time) that the casualties would be astronomical. Not a very good sign, considering there are between 12-18 million people in the city. Yikes!
Got up Monday morning and took a stroll through the Grand Bazaar/ My GOD I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. It literally encompases what seems like miles and miles of space - stall after stall after stall of jewelry, carpets, inlaid woodn chotchkies, ceramics, clothes, you name it - it's there/ It's is truly mind boggling. I was looking at a particular bracelet at one stall and when it didn't fit, I was quickly ushered deeper into the mayhem to another stall, and when nothing in that stall suited my fancy either, the chase was on again. I was finally able to make my escape, but at that point I was hopelessly lost in the rat maze. I felt like I was walking around in circles, but there was really no way to tell as all the stalls start to look the same. I suddenly understood the logic of bread crumbs. An hour and a half of wandering did finally get me back to the entrance where I had come in and back to alovely pair of chandelier earrings tht I just couldn't walk away from. After a bit of bargaining, they were dangling prettily from my lobes.
From there, I sprinted down the crowded side streets (I don't know how, or for that matter WHY, they get cars down those streets) to Eminonu to catch a ferry up the Bosphorous for the second time - this time in daylight though. I was Shanghai'd by a private tour operator who tried to get me on the boat for 20 lira (about $15). I lauged at him and told him I could get on the normal ferry for 7 lira and it was a longer trip. He caved and let me on the boat (which was much nicer than the normal ferry) for 10. Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this bargaining business. It was a lovely two hours spent reading and wishing I owned one of the big fat fancy houses (or summer palaces) along the channel. Afterwards, I treated myself to an incredible (albeit expensive) seafood lunch by the water. I didn't even get freaked out about having to debone and dehead the fish myself. Proud of me for that.
Tuesday I got up and got on a shuttle bus to the bus station so I could head off to Canukkale (nearest place to Troy). The shuttle bus driver was insane, but in a good sort of way. He had a heavy mustache and about 5 teeth, and was sweating so badly the whole way to the station that I honestly thought he might drown. Even so, he insisted on playing house music and guessing what language they were singing in, all while waving his arms and bopping in his seat like a teenager, reaching over occasionally to slap my thigh and laugh out loud. Completely nutso/ However, if it hadn't been from him, I would have never caught my bus. As we were nearing the station, he pointed out the window to the left at an anthill crawling with giant ants that turned out to be busses... the biggest bus station I have ever seen. 5 levels of spiraling ramps, entrances, exits, buildings and thousands of buses. It was a city all in itself. Incredible.
The bus to Canakkale was one of the nicest I've ever been on - comfy seats, tea and cake service, and air conditioned. I sat next to a young Turkish girl who just finished University and is off to Canada at the end of the summer for an intensive English course. She offered up her home if I wasn't satisfied with the hostel. The kindness and genrousity of the Turkish people continues to amaze me. I didn't take her up on her offer, but was impressed by it anyway.
So last night I experienced my first Turkish bath. I say my first, because it definitely won't be my last. Awesome!! I figured it would be a nice relaxing way to spend an evening, and I was so right. First they showed me into a room where you undress and wrap yourself in something like a sarong, but much much smaller. Then I was led into a cavernous steam room. The marble floors and benches were even warm. As the sweat started to pour off of me, so did all the tension in every part of my body. They left me in there until exactly the point where I didn't think I could take much more, then led me into a smaller room with little cubicles, each with their own marble benches and basins with running hot water. Then the real fun began. First the bathr strips down to her bra and underwear (not a pretty sight, as she was about 60 and rather doughy), then stripped me down to nada as she whipped my covering from me and whipped it around an overhead bar in one deft motion. Then she motioned for me to sit on the little step while she poured soothing warm water over me from the little basin and began to lather up my hair with soap. After an intense scalp massage, I was rinsed again. Then came the best, and grossest, part - exfoliation. She put this special mit over one hand, held onto the wall with the other and went to town. SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB. Layer after layer of dead skin came rolling off and dropped to the floor - I felt like she might actually scrub a limb completely off, but it felt soooo good. And these women are not shy, they scrub everything. I don't think I've actually scrubbed myself in some of those places before. After another good rinsing it was time to lay on the floor for a soapy deep-tissue massage. That woman had incredibly strong hands. By the time she was finished I felt smooth as glass and limp as a noodle. You know, I think the last time someone actually bathed me, I was about 6 years old. I would highly recommend it to anyone. There is really nothing like it. Afterward, she wrapped me back in my sarong thingy, wrapped my head in a funky turban and led me to a seating area for some tea. Now that was a perfect evening. I topped it off with a bowl of homemade lentil soup and an ice cold Efes and was a completely happy girl.
Day 3 - Istanbul
(This is copied straight out of my journal for June 26th)
I think my feet are going to fall off. Seriously. I can take no more walking.. need a few days on the beach. Immediately. Right now I'm sitting in a small cafe in the atrium between twobuildings enjoying a glass of red wine and letting my barking dogs have a rest. TOday I've been to the Archaelogical Museum, Dolmabace Palace (unbelievably opulent - saw world's biggest Baccarat crystal chandelier... oooooh), Taksim Square and walked down Istiklal Caddesi. Imagine 3rd Street Promanade in Santa Monica mixed with the architecture of Gran Via in Madrid and multiply the number of people in both places by about 100 and you've got Istiklal Caddesi - a mecca of cool shops, cafes and bars. Oh, add into that mix a 1960's San Fran style cable car that travels up and down the boulevard. The place just throbs with life. It's moments like that that I wish I had a traveling companion because it would have just been too cool to sit in one of the cafes above street level smoking flavored tobacco from a shisha, playing backgammon, and people watching. This is such an amazing city.
Tomorrow is going to be a shopping day - sort of. I want to see the Grand Bazaar, but not buy anything yet so I don't have to carry it around with me. I'll probably head out tomorrow. It's time to relax for a bit. Sevi keeps offering to "help me" plan the rest of my trip, but as he is Mr. Travel Agent, I really think he's just trying to sell me stuff. I don't want to be tied to anyone's schedule right now. Oh I cannot wait to get out of tourist central and chillllll.
I think my feet are going to fall off. Seriously. I can take no more walking.. need a few days on the beach. Immediately. Right now I'm sitting in a small cafe in the atrium between twobuildings enjoying a glass of red wine and letting my barking dogs have a rest. TOday I've been to the Archaelogical Museum, Dolmabace Palace (unbelievably opulent - saw world's biggest Baccarat crystal chandelier... oooooh), Taksim Square and walked down Istiklal Caddesi. Imagine 3rd Street Promanade in Santa Monica mixed with the architecture of Gran Via in Madrid and multiply the number of people in both places by about 100 and you've got Istiklal Caddesi - a mecca of cool shops, cafes and bars. Oh, add into that mix a 1960's San Fran style cable car that travels up and down the boulevard. The place just throbs with life. It's moments like that that I wish I had a traveling companion because it would have just been too cool to sit in one of the cafes above street level smoking flavored tobacco from a shisha, playing backgammon, and people watching. This is such an amazing city.
Tomorrow is going to be a shopping day - sort of. I want to see the Grand Bazaar, but not buy anything yet so I don't have to carry it around with me. I'll probably head out tomorrow. It's time to relax for a bit. Sevi keeps offering to "help me" plan the rest of my trip, but as he is Mr. Travel Agent, I really think he's just trying to sell me stuff. I don't want to be tied to anyone's schedule right now. Oh I cannot wait to get out of tourist central and chillllll.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Day 2 - Istanbul
Ok, so I was actıng lıke a 12 year old, but I sure dıdn't feel lıke ıt when I got up the next day... at noon. So feedıng off my need for a more ınformatıon about the mosques, I decıded to take a half day tour of the Suleymane Mosque (the largest one ın Istanbul) and the Topkapı Palace. What a waste of money. The tourguıde saved me 1/2 an hour of standıng ın lıne for tıckets and dıdn't add anythıng to the tour that wasn't already posted on the plaques on the walls. Oh well, lesson learned, no more guıded tours. RIP OFF. However, ıt was stıll really cool to see the Sultan's palace and the 86 carat dıamond housed there. WOW. I made a mad dash after the tour about 5pm to get my fıll of a guılty pleasure (and hangover helper) - Mc Donald's. Yeah, I know. A cıty full of fantastıc turkısh food, and I go to Mc Donald's. It won't happen agaın.
As I left McDonald's I heard a "psst-pssssssst." I just managed to turn my head enough to shoot the culprıt a dırty look only to fınd one of the coaster-throwıng crew from the nıght before sıttıng out ın front of hıs shop havıng tea. I sat down and joıned hım and some frıends for a chat and they sent me off to fınd a lıttle mosque (Rümen Paşa) that they swore was the most beautıful one ın all of Istanbul. It was tucked down among the stalls ın the spıce market, and I had no choıce but to take a wander through ın order to fınd ıt. The smells comıng from that place were out of thıs world - cınamon and peppers and vanılla and I don't know what... but ıt was wonderful! Aısle after aısle of bıg burlap bags full of thıngs that I'd never heard of - green powders, red powders, yellow powders, seeds and herbs and teas and *sıgh* awesome. And somewhere at the end of an aısle a small set of worn and crooked marble staırs led ınto the darkness. That was my stop. I took off my shoes and stepped ınsıde and was ımmedıately blown away. The ınsıde of thıs mosque was completely covered ın hand paınted tıles from floor to ceılıng. Absolutely stunnıng. As I was the only one there, I sat down on the floor (after takıng a few photos) and just lıstened. Even though ıt was ınfınıtely smaller, the same sense of vastness and peace fılled the buıldıng. A few other tourısts eventually found theır way through the market and wandered ın. I took that as my cue to move on.
I went back to Halıl's shop to thank hım for the hınt and we wound up sıttıng ın a lıttle tea house for the next two hours where I was gıven a serıous lesson ın how poorly I actually play backgammon. Out of 14 games I won one. ONE. All those hours playıng agaınst my computer dıd me no good. Nor dıd the hours the magnıfıcent Mr. M and I spent playıng. I got schooled. Oh well. Guess that means I need to practıce.
That nıght Şhevı, Enver, Krısten, Dasıa (the folks from the other hostel) took a nıght cruıse on the Bosphorus to watch the fıreworks over the brıdge and to see all the Sultan's summer palaces along the water all lıt up. The fırst half of the cruıse went up the European sıde and we returned vıa the Asıan sıde. I've offıcıally been on two dıfferent contınents ın the space of an hour. Not bad.
As I left McDonald's I heard a "psst-pssssssst." I just managed to turn my head enough to shoot the culprıt a dırty look only to fınd one of the coaster-throwıng crew from the nıght before sıttıng out ın front of hıs shop havıng tea. I sat down and joıned hım and some frıends for a chat and they sent me off to fınd a lıttle mosque (Rümen Paşa) that they swore was the most beautıful one ın all of Istanbul. It was tucked down among the stalls ın the spıce market, and I had no choıce but to take a wander through ın order to fınd ıt. The smells comıng from that place were out of thıs world - cınamon and peppers and vanılla and I don't know what... but ıt was wonderful! Aısle after aısle of bıg burlap bags full of thıngs that I'd never heard of - green powders, red powders, yellow powders, seeds and herbs and teas and *sıgh* awesome. And somewhere at the end of an aısle a small set of worn and crooked marble staırs led ınto the darkness. That was my stop. I took off my shoes and stepped ınsıde and was ımmedıately blown away. The ınsıde of thıs mosque was completely covered ın hand paınted tıles from floor to ceılıng. Absolutely stunnıng. As I was the only one there, I sat down on the floor (after takıng a few photos) and just lıstened. Even though ıt was ınfınıtely smaller, the same sense of vastness and peace fılled the buıldıng. A few other tourısts eventually found theır way through the market and wandered ın. I took that as my cue to move on.
I went back to Halıl's shop to thank hım for the hınt and we wound up sıttıng ın a lıttle tea house for the next two hours where I was gıven a serıous lesson ın how poorly I actually play backgammon. Out of 14 games I won one. ONE. All those hours playıng agaınst my computer dıd me no good. Nor dıd the hours the magnıfıcent Mr. M and I spent playıng. I got schooled. Oh well. Guess that means I need to practıce.
That nıght Şhevı, Enver, Krısten, Dasıa (the folks from the other hostel) took a nıght cruıse on the Bosphorus to watch the fıreworks over the brıdge and to see all the Sultan's summer palaces along the water all lıt up. The fırst half of the cruıse went up the European sıde and we returned vıa the Asıan sıde. I've offıcıally been on two dıfferent contınents ın the space of an hour. Not bad.
Day 1 - Istanbul
I should begin by saying that my fears about being lonely on the road have been quickly abated. Whether or not that is a good thing, I still haven't decided. I had at least 20 offers for "private" tours of Istanbul in the first 20 minutes of walking around. Most just don't understand why I am traveling alone. "Why you by yourself? You so pretty. I can heeeeelp you." Yeah. Right. I don't need that kind of help, thanks anyway. I keep trying to think of a better answer than "No, thanks," but somehow I think telling them I'm a lesbian or something might get me in more trouble than just ignoring them.
(I should also say that I am having hell with this keyboard, because Turkish has several letters that we don't, and that has shifted some things into some odd places on the keyboard - punctuation isn't where it's supposed to be, and there are strange symbols coming out where letters ought to be. So if this starts to look a little wonky, well.... sorry. Wonky ıs a new word that I have picked up from Captain Canadian. I like it!!)
SO, my flıght got in Thursday afternoon around 5:30 pm. The hostel/hotel manager picked me up at the aırport, and whisked me away through the cıty. We took a road that ran rıght along the shorelıne. Brıghtly colored wooden fıshıng boats bobbed lıke corks ın theır tıght moorıngs whıle rıver cruısers and barges and gıant tankers lıned up ın the dıstance awaıtıng theır turn to pass up the Bosphorous ınto the Black Sea. We passed the ancıent cıty walls (or what's left of them, they are a few hundred years old, after all.) and ınto Sultanahmet, the old part of the cıty, where the streets suddednly truned from broad modern avenues ınto wındy cobbled streets that seemed to make no sense. I got to the hotel around 6:30 pm, checked into the smallest room you have ever seen, and headed up to the roof to watch the sunset over the Marmaras Sea. Ok, I had a couple of hours to kıll before sunset, so I grabbed some beers and a book fırst. Dırectly ın front of the hotel are the ruıns of a very old mosque and another very old mosque that ıs stıll standıng (and quıte beautıful). Growıng out of the top of the mınaret of the ruıned mosque ıs a very tıny lıttle tree, rıght out of the brıcks - a lone survıvor wavıng to the world. And dırectly ın front of that ıs the sea. Nıce. I spent the rest of the evenıng havıng a bbq wıth half the famıly that runs the hotel. Homemade kofte (meatballs), salad, goat cheese, olıves, and of course plenty of rakı.
A lıttle note about Turkısh rakı vs. Kosovo rakı. You can actually drınk the Turkish versıon. Not the slıghtest hınt of jet fuel anywhere. It's a lovely anıse flavored lıquor sımılar to ouzo but wıthout the bıte. And there's an entıre rıtual that goes along wıth drınkıng ıt - none of thıs pour yourself a shot and bottoms up busıness. Fırst you have to set the table properly: the rakı ıs cut wıth equal parts water, a second glass of water, goat cheese, cucumbers, black olıves, salamı, and of course, sweet melon (looks lıke honeydew, tastes lıke canteloupe - YUM). Then ıt's one drınk of rakı, one drınk of water, one bıte of cheese, one bıte of melon, one black olıve. Repeat untıl the bottle ıs gone or you fall out of your chaır - whıchever comes fırst. I sat on the roof wıth Şevı, the owner's nephew (who ıs marrıed to a former Fullbrıghter and lıves ın Oregon most of the year) and hıs frıend Arzu ( a total gem of a gırl who ınvıted me to go watch belly dancıng wıth her and her frıends the next nıght) untıl nearly mıdnıght. I had to call ıt a nıght so I could play super-tourıst all day Frıday. As much as I trıed however, I could get no sleep. My lıttle cubby of a room was on the fırst floor near receptıon, so between the groups of people come ın at all hours from partyıng and the hotel staff chattıng ıt up at the desk, I gave up at 6 am wıth only an hours sleep under my belt. I begged for a room on amother floor, and boy am I glad I dıd. I was moved from my lıttel cubby hole wıth no bathroom to a double room wıth a bath and an ocean vıew (all for a mere $5 a nıght more). So happy!! My week's stay ın Istanbul was stıll under $100.
So after a quıck nap untıl 10 am, I got up and super-tourıst I was!! I hıt the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofıa, the Basılıca Cısterns (9800 square meters of a 6th century water storage room fed by old roman aqueducts), back alley markets, and a long walk along the sea wall around the outsıde of the Tokapı Palace and then through the gardens and along the Dıvan Yolu untıl my feet hurt so bad I couldn't walk anymore. I would love to descrıbe the feel of the two mosques, but vast, beautıfu, and peaceful just don't quıte convey the rıght feelıngs. If you've ever been alone ın the woods just at dusk before the ınsects have come out to play and the bırds have quıted down before the feast - you know that other creatures (people) are there, but ıt's really easy to forge... you can feel your heart beatıng and hear every breath... that would get you pretty close to the feelıng of steppıng ınto one of these gıants. Not even St. Peter's Basılıca ın Rome had the same feelıng of space and solıtude. Then there's the artwork - the mosaıcs and ıntrıcate desıgns, the handpaınted tıles... I'll post some pıcs as soon as I am able. I never thought I would hear myself say taht I wıshed I had an art hıstory genıus wıth me, but I dıd. I would have loved to hear what all of the dıfferent thıngs sıgnıfıed. I would have even taken Ricardo, our alcoholıc art hıstory professor ın Spaın that treated us all lıke we were kındergarteners, just to get some of the hıstory. (Jess, I can feel you rollıng your eyes at that one - c'mon, you know you mıss hım!)
Sultanahmet ıs crawlıng wıth tourısts, as thıs ıs where many of the maın attractıons are, and you can hear any language at any gıven moment (lots of Spanıards). The amazıng thıng ıs the shop keepers... they speak enough of any gıven language to sell theır goods to anyone. It's truly amazıng. However, thıs ıs not true of all Turkısh folks. At the lıttle famıly bbq, the uncle, alıttle round man ın hıs late 60's wıth a full head of whıte haır, turned and squarely faced me, looked me straıght ın the eye and saıd, "I am lıar." It took all of my energy to not laugh rıght ın hıs face, becuase I KNEW that wasn't what he meant, but I thought I'd gıve hım a lıttle tıme to fıx ıt. Şhevı dıdn't have that grace... he started to gıggle and the old man looked at hım embarrassed, muttered somethıng ın Turkısh, and repeated "I am LIAR." Thıs ıs where Şhevı broke ın and saıd, "He's a lawyer." OH!!! (not much dıfference ıf you ask me... wınk wınk)
Frıday nıght I went out wıth Şevı, Arzu, her frıend Nalan, Gıorgıo (another one of the uncles tht runs the hostel whose name I can't pronounce, thus the ıtalıan versıon), and some other people from another hostel. It started wıth (yup, you guessed ıt) some rakı. Then we moved on to the bar where the belly dancıng was to take place. The DJ was spınnıng some great tunes, and we all boogıed our lıtle butts off untıl the show started (took gratuıtous hot belly dancer photos for Super Swede and Thorganızer's benefıt). We wound up ın another pub after that dancıng salsa, tradıtıonal Turkısh hankerchıef stuff (very sımılar to the Kosovar versıon), and got ınto a mad coaster hurlıng fıght wıth 3 other bar patrons and the bartender. Duckıng behınd doorways, ambushıng people when they came out of the bathroom - basıcally actıng lıke 12 year olds and havıng a blast. Fınally crawled home as the fırst prayer call was goıng out from our neıghborıng mosque. Slept lıke a baby.
Stay tuned for day 2.
(I should also say that I am having hell with this keyboard, because Turkish has several letters that we don't, and that has shifted some things into some odd places on the keyboard - punctuation isn't where it's supposed to be, and there are strange symbols coming out where letters ought to be. So if this starts to look a little wonky, well.... sorry. Wonky ıs a new word that I have picked up from Captain Canadian. I like it!!)
SO, my flıght got in Thursday afternoon around 5:30 pm. The hostel/hotel manager picked me up at the aırport, and whisked me away through the cıty. We took a road that ran rıght along the shorelıne. Brıghtly colored wooden fıshıng boats bobbed lıke corks ın theır tıght moorıngs whıle rıver cruısers and barges and gıant tankers lıned up ın the dıstance awaıtıng theır turn to pass up the Bosphorous ınto the Black Sea. We passed the ancıent cıty walls (or what's left of them, they are a few hundred years old, after all.) and ınto Sultanahmet, the old part of the cıty, where the streets suddednly truned from broad modern avenues ınto wındy cobbled streets that seemed to make no sense. I got to the hotel around 6:30 pm, checked into the smallest room you have ever seen, and headed up to the roof to watch the sunset over the Marmaras Sea. Ok, I had a couple of hours to kıll before sunset, so I grabbed some beers and a book fırst. Dırectly ın front of the hotel are the ruıns of a very old mosque and another very old mosque that ıs stıll standıng (and quıte beautıful). Growıng out of the top of the mınaret of the ruıned mosque ıs a very tıny lıttle tree, rıght out of the brıcks - a lone survıvor wavıng to the world. And dırectly ın front of that ıs the sea. Nıce. I spent the rest of the evenıng havıng a bbq wıth half the famıly that runs the hotel. Homemade kofte (meatballs), salad, goat cheese, olıves, and of course plenty of rakı.
A lıttle note about Turkısh rakı vs. Kosovo rakı. You can actually drınk the Turkish versıon. Not the slıghtest hınt of jet fuel anywhere. It's a lovely anıse flavored lıquor sımılar to ouzo but wıthout the bıte. And there's an entıre rıtual that goes along wıth drınkıng ıt - none of thıs pour yourself a shot and bottoms up busıness. Fırst you have to set the table properly: the rakı ıs cut wıth equal parts water, a second glass of water, goat cheese, cucumbers, black olıves, salamı, and of course, sweet melon (looks lıke honeydew, tastes lıke canteloupe - YUM). Then ıt's one drınk of rakı, one drınk of water, one bıte of cheese, one bıte of melon, one black olıve. Repeat untıl the bottle ıs gone or you fall out of your chaır - whıchever comes fırst. I sat on the roof wıth Şevı, the owner's nephew (who ıs marrıed to a former Fullbrıghter and lıves ın Oregon most of the year) and hıs frıend Arzu ( a total gem of a gırl who ınvıted me to go watch belly dancıng wıth her and her frıends the next nıght) untıl nearly mıdnıght. I had to call ıt a nıght so I could play super-tourıst all day Frıday. As much as I trıed however, I could get no sleep. My lıttle cubby of a room was on the fırst floor near receptıon, so between the groups of people come ın at all hours from partyıng and the hotel staff chattıng ıt up at the desk, I gave up at 6 am wıth only an hours sleep under my belt. I begged for a room on amother floor, and boy am I glad I dıd. I was moved from my lıttel cubby hole wıth no bathroom to a double room wıth a bath and an ocean vıew (all for a mere $5 a nıght more). So happy!! My week's stay ın Istanbul was stıll under $100.
So after a quıck nap untıl 10 am, I got up and super-tourıst I was!! I hıt the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofıa, the Basılıca Cısterns (9800 square meters of a 6th century water storage room fed by old roman aqueducts), back alley markets, and a long walk along the sea wall around the outsıde of the Tokapı Palace and then through the gardens and along the Dıvan Yolu untıl my feet hurt so bad I couldn't walk anymore. I would love to descrıbe the feel of the two mosques, but vast, beautıfu, and peaceful just don't quıte convey the rıght feelıngs. If you've ever been alone ın the woods just at dusk before the ınsects have come out to play and the bırds have quıted down before the feast - you know that other creatures (people) are there, but ıt's really easy to forge... you can feel your heart beatıng and hear every breath... that would get you pretty close to the feelıng of steppıng ınto one of these gıants. Not even St. Peter's Basılıca ın Rome had the same feelıng of space and solıtude. Then there's the artwork - the mosaıcs and ıntrıcate desıgns, the handpaınted tıles... I'll post some pıcs as soon as I am able. I never thought I would hear myself say taht I wıshed I had an art hıstory genıus wıth me, but I dıd. I would have loved to hear what all of the dıfferent thıngs sıgnıfıed. I would have even taken Ricardo, our alcoholıc art hıstory professor ın Spaın that treated us all lıke we were kındergarteners, just to get some of the hıstory. (Jess, I can feel you rollıng your eyes at that one - c'mon, you know you mıss hım!)
Sultanahmet ıs crawlıng wıth tourısts, as thıs ıs where many of the maın attractıons are, and you can hear any language at any gıven moment (lots of Spanıards). The amazıng thıng ıs the shop keepers... they speak enough of any gıven language to sell theır goods to anyone. It's truly amazıng. However, thıs ıs not true of all Turkısh folks. At the lıttle famıly bbq, the uncle, alıttle round man ın hıs late 60's wıth a full head of whıte haır, turned and squarely faced me, looked me straıght ın the eye and saıd, "I am lıar." It took all of my energy to not laugh rıght ın hıs face, becuase I KNEW that wasn't what he meant, but I thought I'd gıve hım a lıttle tıme to fıx ıt. Şhevı dıdn't have that grace... he started to gıggle and the old man looked at hım embarrassed, muttered somethıng ın Turkısh, and repeated "I am LIAR." Thıs ıs where Şhevı broke ın and saıd, "He's a lawyer." OH!!! (not much dıfference ıf you ask me... wınk wınk)
Frıday nıght I went out wıth Şevı, Arzu, her frıend Nalan, Gıorgıo (another one of the uncles tht runs the hostel whose name I can't pronounce, thus the ıtalıan versıon), and some other people from another hostel. It started wıth (yup, you guessed ıt) some rakı. Then we moved on to the bar where the belly dancıng was to take place. The DJ was spınnıng some great tunes, and we all boogıed our lıtle butts off untıl the show started (took gratuıtous hot belly dancer photos for Super Swede and Thorganızer's benefıt). We wound up ın another pub after that dancıng salsa, tradıtıonal Turkısh hankerchıef stuff (very sımılar to the Kosovar versıon), and got ınto a mad coaster hurlıng fıght wıth 3 other bar patrons and the bartender. Duckıng behınd doorways, ambushıng people when they came out of the bathroom - basıcally actıng lıke 12 year olds and havıng a blast. Fınally crawled home as the fırst prayer call was goıng out from our neıghborıng mosque. Slept lıke a baby.
Stay tuned for day 2.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
I'm offffff.....
Wouldn't you know it - I am leaving this afternoon (in about an hour) to begin my magnificent journey around Turkey, and I woke up this morning with a temperature of 101. I've felt it coming on all week, and i've been downing vitamins like candy, going to bed early and everything, but I still couldn't manage to keep it away. Poop. I'm on my way to the pharmacy right now for antibiotics and decongestants and antihistamines and anything else I can think of so that maybe I'll be feeling like a human tomorrow. If I have to spend two days hanging around the hostel trying to recover, so be it - I am going to Turkey today!!!! Yeah!!!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
This past weekend was full of good times and good eats... I'm staying with Captain Canadian right now, and she's as much of a cook as I am (ok, she's even a better cook than I am) so we've been eating like queens these past few days. Breakfast burritos to die for Friday night, Pasta primavera Saturday night, English breakfast Sunday morning; huge pork BBQ, blue cheese potato salad, homemade cheesecake with fresh black cherry topping Sunday night; homemade bacon burgers last night - mmmmm... Lucky for the Super Swede that he's been invited to share in our delicacies - well, he actually provided the honey marinated pork tenderloin Sunday. If I ate like this all the time, I'd weigh a ton.
Anyway, the real reason for posting today is to let you all know that three new photo albums have been added to the collection: My Students, 2005-06 Greece Trips, and June Events. Mostly just a bunch of going away party photos (there have been a lot of those lately), but the pictures of Afytos, Greece are definitely worth a look. It was so incredibly beautiful there.
So I'm off for Turkey on Thursday.... going to pick up my plane tickets right now. Yeeeeehaw!!
Anyway, the real reason for posting today is to let you all know that three new photo albums have been added to the collection: My Students, 2005-06 Greece Trips, and June Events. Mostly just a bunch of going away party photos (there have been a lot of those lately), but the pictures of Afytos, Greece are definitely worth a look. It was so incredibly beautiful there.
So I'm off for Turkey on Thursday.... going to pick up my plane tickets right now. Yeeeeehaw!!
Good food, good friends
This past weekend was full of good times and good eats... I'm staying with Captain Canadian right now, and she's as much of a cook as I am (ok, she's even a better cook than I am) so we've been eating like queens these past few days. Breakfast burritos to die for Friday night, Pasta primavera Saturday night, English breakfast Sunday morning; huge pork BBQ, blue cheese potato salad, homemade cheesecake with fresh black cherry topping Sunday night; homemade bacon burgers last night - mmmmm... Lucky for the Super Swede that he's been invited to share in our delicacies - well, he actually provided the honey marinated pork tenderloin Sunday. If I ate like this all the time, I'd weigh a ton.
Anyway, the real reason for posting today is to let you all know that three new photo albums have been added to the collection: My Students, 2005-06 Greece Trips, and June Events. Mostly just a bunch of going away party photos (there have been a lot of those lately), but the pictures of Afytos, Greece are definitely worth a look. It was so incredibly beautiful there.
So I'm off for Turkey on Thursday.... going to pick up my plane tickets right now. Yeeeeehaw!!
Anyway, the real reason for posting today is to let you all know that three new photo albums have been added to the collection: My Students, 2005-06 Greece Trips, and June Events. Mostly just a bunch of going away party photos (there have been a lot of those lately), but the pictures of Afytos, Greece are definitely worth a look. It was so incredibly beautiful there.
So I'm off for Turkey on Thursday.... going to pick up my plane tickets right now. Yeeeeehaw!!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Things I will miss about Prishtina....
This should be a short list... (just kidding)
1. My students!!
2. My friends!!
3. The Prishtina doorbell - standing outside someone's building and screaming their name over and over until they finally hear you from the 8th floor and start shouting back from the balcony. This usually takes place between 1 and 3 am or 7 and 9 am. Sleep? Who needs sleep?
4. The nightly street mudification - a new word I have coined that involves the practice of trying to tame the dust in this city by shooting thousands of gallons of water onto the streets, inducing nothing more than a river of mud running down the sidewalk. All of this while my apartment has no water after 10 pm. hmmmm.
5. Meeting the Saint at her "office" to complain about the state of the University, the state of the Union or the state of just about anything that needs complaining about. You're a rock, St. H!!
6. Camping in the living room - cooking over a one burner gas camp stove by candle light when the electricity goes out in the middle of dinner making. Very romantic party for one.
7. I would have said the Buda Bar, but since it got firebombed a few weeks ago and doesn't exist anymore, no point in that...
8. Weekend trips to Greece! (oh wait, I'm going to Turkey for a month - I'll survive. I will however be very sad to miss the big sailing trip to Corfu for Super Swede's going away party in September. BOO for going without me.)
9. Chinese at 1? twice a week. You go, Thorganizer. (That and deep fried Brie with raspberry coulis at Pjata - mmmmmmmmmmmmm.)
10. Complete mastery of American-centric Trivial Pursuit, I Spy and Alphabetical Countries/Animal noises games by the Wicked Brit, accompanied by a bottle of Bailey's.
I mean, seriously, what's not to miss?? There's so much more, but since it's nearing lunchtime (Chinese at 1??) and my tummy is a rumbling, I can't manage to focus on much more. See what happens when I get bored? I start writing nonsense. Nonsense nonsense nonsense. Love it!
1. My students!!
2. My friends!!
3. The Prishtina doorbell - standing outside someone's building and screaming their name over and over until they finally hear you from the 8th floor and start shouting back from the balcony. This usually takes place between 1 and 3 am or 7 and 9 am. Sleep? Who needs sleep?
4. The nightly street mudification - a new word I have coined that involves the practice of trying to tame the dust in this city by shooting thousands of gallons of water onto the streets, inducing nothing more than a river of mud running down the sidewalk. All of this while my apartment has no water after 10 pm. hmmmm.
5. Meeting the Saint at her "office" to complain about the state of the University, the state of the Union or the state of just about anything that needs complaining about. You're a rock, St. H!!
6. Camping in the living room - cooking over a one burner gas camp stove by candle light when the electricity goes out in the middle of dinner making. Very romantic party for one.
7. I would have said the Buda Bar, but since it got firebombed a few weeks ago and doesn't exist anymore, no point in that...
8. Weekend trips to Greece! (oh wait, I'm going to Turkey for a month - I'll survive. I will however be very sad to miss the big sailing trip to Corfu for Super Swede's going away party in September. BOO for going without me.)
9. Chinese at 1? twice a week. You go, Thorganizer. (That and deep fried Brie with raspberry coulis at Pjata - mmmmmmmmmmmmm.)
10. Complete mastery of American-centric Trivial Pursuit, I Spy and Alphabetical Countries/Animal noises games by the Wicked Brit, accompanied by a bottle of Bailey's.
I mean, seriously, what's not to miss?? There's so much more, but since it's nearing lunchtime (Chinese at 1??) and my tummy is a rumbling, I can't manage to focus on much more. See what happens when I get bored? I start writing nonsense. Nonsense nonsense nonsense. Love it!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Side note...
Ah, another amazing thing happened to me that has renewed my faith in humanity. I mentioned before that my wallet was stolen. Cancelled all credit cards, spent a fortune getting a new one here, etc. etc. etc.
About 5 days after it had happened, I got a phone call from my landlord's daughter asking if I had lost my "pocket" (my guess a bad translation from Albanian). I had indeed!! A man had found it walking down the street, handed it over to his daughter who spoke English, thanks to a water bill receipt that was still in my wallet she was able to call the phone company and get the number of my landlord, who in turn called me. I got the whole thing back, minus the Macedonian money - creditcards, driver's license, EVERYTHING. It was brilliant.
My point is that someone went through an awful lot of trouble to track me down, and I am so thankful. I'm in a relatively difficult situation to try and replace certain documents (like a driver's license) and for them to be returned to me was such a great thing.
Ok, I seriously must finish packing now.
About 5 days after it had happened, I got a phone call from my landlord's daughter asking if I had lost my "pocket" (my guess a bad translation from Albanian). I had indeed!! A man had found it walking down the street, handed it over to his daughter who spoke English, thanks to a water bill receipt that was still in my wallet she was able to call the phone company and get the number of my landlord, who in turn called me. I got the whole thing back, minus the Macedonian money - creditcards, driver's license, EVERYTHING. It was brilliant.
My point is that someone went through an awful lot of trouble to track me down, and I am so thankful. I'm in a relatively difficult situation to try and replace certain documents (like a driver's license) and for them to be returned to me was such a great thing.
Ok, I seriously must finish packing now.
It's all over now....
It's done. I have 2 more "indeks" to sign, and the school year is officially over. I feel like this should be an entry where I reflect on the happenings of the past year and revel in all that I have learned.... BUT, I have to move out of my apartment today and so it goes. Nothing more than a brief recap of my boring life right now. There will be some of that later, I'm sure.
So I am giving up my adorable little apartment... so sad! I love my house. However, I am moving to a much bigger, much cheaper place up the hill a little bit. It's on the 11th floor (which is a pain in the watoosie when the electricity is out), but it has a nice view, stays warm, and like I said - it's half the rent. Yeah!!
I am in packing hell. I have to box up some things for storage (I don't actually move into that flat until September), pack some things for the States, and an entirely different set of packing for my travels.
OOH! I haven't talked about my travels yet. I am leaving sometime next week to travel for 5 weeks. Where am I going??? I will be spending 5 weeks traveling around Turkey - maybe a spot of Greece in there too. I will start in Istanbul, work my way down the west coast through Troy and Ephesus, take a 4 day boat cruise from Fethiye to Olympos where I will live in a tree house and hang out on the beach for a while, then move on to Anatolya, up through Cappadocia and Ankara, possibly hit the coast of the Black Sea if I have time, then back to Istanbul and Prishtina. Then I'm coming homeeeeee!!! (for what seems like a crazy whirlwind tour - no downtime whatsoever) I'll be in Texas 9-24, DC 24-28, LA 30-6, and back to Texas until the 12th or so. I can't wait to see y'all!!
In the midst of all this wandering around, I'll do my best to blog like a mad woman. I don't know about posting any pictures, so that may have to wait until I get home, but I promise to share all the gritty details of a woman traveling solo through a Muslim country. (Yes, paretnals, I'll check in often!)
So I am giving up my adorable little apartment... so sad! I love my house. However, I am moving to a much bigger, much cheaper place up the hill a little bit. It's on the 11th floor (which is a pain in the watoosie when the electricity is out), but it has a nice view, stays warm, and like I said - it's half the rent. Yeah!!
I am in packing hell. I have to box up some things for storage (I don't actually move into that flat until September), pack some things for the States, and an entirely different set of packing for my travels.
OOH! I haven't talked about my travels yet. I am leaving sometime next week to travel for 5 weeks. Where am I going??? I will be spending 5 weeks traveling around Turkey - maybe a spot of Greece in there too. I will start in Istanbul, work my way down the west coast through Troy and Ephesus, take a 4 day boat cruise from Fethiye to Olympos where I will live in a tree house and hang out on the beach for a while, then move on to Anatolya, up through Cappadocia and Ankara, possibly hit the coast of the Black Sea if I have time, then back to Istanbul and Prishtina. Then I'm coming homeeeeee!!! (for what seems like a crazy whirlwind tour - no downtime whatsoever) I'll be in Texas 9-24, DC 24-28, LA 30-6, and back to Texas until the 12th or so. I can't wait to see y'all!!
In the midst of all this wandering around, I'll do my best to blog like a mad woman. I don't know about posting any pictures, so that may have to wait until I get home, but I promise to share all the gritty details of a woman traveling solo through a Muslim country. (Yes, paretnals, I'll check in often!)
Monday, May 30, 2005
Puppies, Meltdowns, and End of Year Restlessness
SO it's been an exciting few days. Since we last spoke, so to speak, I've had my wallet stolen, I've placed the puppy in a home, I've discovered the depths of my claustrophobia and had a minor public meltdown, stood in a rainstorm with tall handsome Norwegian treats, and survived my last class of the school year. *sigh* Should I start from the beginning?
Wednesday night was Captain Canadian's 30th birthday, so the Frisbee Kids all went to a swank dinner and even swankier after dinner hang out. We were the only ones there, with the exception of a drunk dude sleeping in the corner. At least we thought he was sleeping. As we were all milling about, purses and jackets and stuff got piled on one table. I bought a round of adult beverages, and put my wallet back in my purse. At the end of the evening, I went back to my wallet to tip the bartender, and it was GONE. POOF. From what I can tell, whoever it was, was quick about it, because if he had spent anytime at all looking in my purse, he could have also had my passport, my cel phone and my digital camera. Instead, he got a wallet with about $5 worth of Macedonian money, my bank card (grr), my credit cards (grrrr) and my driver's license (grrrrrrrrr). I called my dad immediately and cancelled everything, so he basically got $5 for his trouble. SO THERE. Everything can be easily replaced except the driver's license, and thatit totally puts a damper on my plans for this summer, because now I can't rent a freakin' car. GRRRRRRRR. Oh well, I got a backpack and no problem with the bus. Can't stop me that easily. HA.
Then on Friday, the vets from the Animal Shelter of Kosovo came to visit me and Gizmo (that's what I named that sweet little baby). She got all her vaccinations and a clean bill of health. Earlier in the week I sent out an email to everyone I knew here to see if I could find her a home. As Albanians in general are terrified of dogs, I figured it would be a difficult task. I had 4 responses in an hour, so after her vet visit I sent her off to her new home in a big house outside of town with a big fenced in yard. :D Happy ending for the puppy. I, however, was heartbroken. She was an absolute angel. *sniffle sniffle*
So Saturday, the Frisbee kids and I headed to Skopje for an open air concert that promised to be much fun. Had it been remotely organized, it would have been fantastic. Let me frame the scene for you, 16 of us, some that knew each other and some that didn't, all piled into a small hotel room where the Swedish Mix Master (he makes the meanest drinks you've ever had) was force feeding cocktails to everyone. Norway's Finest brought along some of her Norwegian police officer friends - holy cow EYE CANDY (and yes, JUST eye candy - married. I still thank her for that though.), a couple of Americans and a Brit that was channeling all the energy from the entire Liverpool Footbal fanbase. The only thing that came out of his mouth for 2 days was along the lines of "yeah, Liverpool", except it had a bit more charm and humor as most comments British do. Anyway, so we all go to the venue at 9pm, an hour after the concert was supposed to have started, but they hadn't let anyone in yet. About 10:15 they open one little gate, about the size of the door to my bathroom, and all 5,000 people standing in the courtyard decided they needed to get in at once. ARG! Being short, it was all I could do to breathe amidst all the pushing and shoving and trampling and elbows and by the time I finally got through the gates I was in tears. Guess who doesn't like being in big, mean crowds anymore? I guess my mosh pit days are truly over. Damn. So IN we went. SMM, NF, the Eye Candy and I all went bustling toward the second gate to go hear the first band. Evidently everyone else stayed behind at the food and beer kiosk. Smart them. Within 30 minutes, the biggest thunderstorm I have ever experienced while standing in an open field broke out over the stage. I could see the wall of water coming toward me, but there was nothing I could do about it. I learned quickly what it feels like to shower with all of your clothes on in freezing cold water. I don't want to do that anymore. Fortunately a piece of Eye Candy grabbed me by the arm and we stood under the very edge of a large tent in the middle of the field. There were already 100 people under it, but because he was so tall, he could reach the edge of the tarp and hold it out a little ways so we could fit under it. Then more people crammed in and I was totally smooshed against this Norwegian god for half an hour. It sucked. (hahaha) While the ripples in his stomach were infinitely entertaining, the conversation skills were a little lacking. Boo. Eventually the rain stopped and we SMSd the others and found out they were warm and dry, still in the restaurant drinking beers. I wandered in looking remarkably like a drowned rat, and was immediately wrapped in other people's extra layers then handed hot food and cold beer. The night was looking up!! About midnight, the rain stopped enough for the concert to start. I managed to make it through about 45 minutes before wet, cold exhaustion got the best of me and I cabbed home with Capt. Canadian.
Today was my last official class of the year. I have 3 finals to give still, but basically, it's over. I'm moving out of my apartment in two weeks, and will hit the road as soon as my bank card arrives from the States. YEAH!!!!
So that's it for now. I've got to go grade some papers and write an exam. What's new with all of you?
Wednesday night was Captain Canadian's 30th birthday, so the Frisbee Kids all went to a swank dinner and even swankier after dinner hang out. We were the only ones there, with the exception of a drunk dude sleeping in the corner. At least we thought he was sleeping. As we were all milling about, purses and jackets and stuff got piled on one table. I bought a round of adult beverages, and put my wallet back in my purse. At the end of the evening, I went back to my wallet to tip the bartender, and it was GONE. POOF. From what I can tell, whoever it was, was quick about it, because if he had spent anytime at all looking in my purse, he could have also had my passport, my cel phone and my digital camera. Instead, he got a wallet with about $5 worth of Macedonian money, my bank card (grr), my credit cards (grrrr) and my driver's license (grrrrrrrrr). I called my dad immediately and cancelled everything, so he basically got $5 for his trouble. SO THERE. Everything can be easily replaced except the driver's license, and thatit totally puts a damper on my plans for this summer, because now I can't rent a freakin' car. GRRRRRRRR. Oh well, I got a backpack and no problem with the bus. Can't stop me that easily. HA.
Then on Friday, the vets from the Animal Shelter of Kosovo came to visit me and Gizmo (that's what I named that sweet little baby). She got all her vaccinations and a clean bill of health. Earlier in the week I sent out an email to everyone I knew here to see if I could find her a home. As Albanians in general are terrified of dogs, I figured it would be a difficult task. I had 4 responses in an hour, so after her vet visit I sent her off to her new home in a big house outside of town with a big fenced in yard. :D Happy ending for the puppy. I, however, was heartbroken. She was an absolute angel. *sniffle sniffle*
So Saturday, the Frisbee kids and I headed to Skopje for an open air concert that promised to be much fun. Had it been remotely organized, it would have been fantastic. Let me frame the scene for you, 16 of us, some that knew each other and some that didn't, all piled into a small hotel room where the Swedish Mix Master (he makes the meanest drinks you've ever had) was force feeding cocktails to everyone. Norway's Finest brought along some of her Norwegian police officer friends - holy cow EYE CANDY (and yes, JUST eye candy - married. I still thank her for that though.), a couple of Americans and a Brit that was channeling all the energy from the entire Liverpool Footbal fanbase. The only thing that came out of his mouth for 2 days was along the lines of "yeah, Liverpool", except it had a bit more charm and humor as most comments British do. Anyway, so we all go to the venue at 9pm, an hour after the concert was supposed to have started, but they hadn't let anyone in yet. About 10:15 they open one little gate, about the size of the door to my bathroom, and all 5,000 people standing in the courtyard decided they needed to get in at once. ARG! Being short, it was all I could do to breathe amidst all the pushing and shoving and trampling and elbows and by the time I finally got through the gates I was in tears. Guess who doesn't like being in big, mean crowds anymore? I guess my mosh pit days are truly over. Damn. So IN we went. SMM, NF, the Eye Candy and I all went bustling toward the second gate to go hear the first band. Evidently everyone else stayed behind at the food and beer kiosk. Smart them. Within 30 minutes, the biggest thunderstorm I have ever experienced while standing in an open field broke out over the stage. I could see the wall of water coming toward me, but there was nothing I could do about it. I learned quickly what it feels like to shower with all of your clothes on in freezing cold water. I don't want to do that anymore. Fortunately a piece of Eye Candy grabbed me by the arm and we stood under the very edge of a large tent in the middle of the field. There were already 100 people under it, but because he was so tall, he could reach the edge of the tarp and hold it out a little ways so we could fit under it. Then more people crammed in and I was totally smooshed against this Norwegian god for half an hour. It sucked. (hahaha) While the ripples in his stomach were infinitely entertaining, the conversation skills were a little lacking. Boo. Eventually the rain stopped and we SMSd the others and found out they were warm and dry, still in the restaurant drinking beers. I wandered in looking remarkably like a drowned rat, and was immediately wrapped in other people's extra layers then handed hot food and cold beer. The night was looking up!! About midnight, the rain stopped enough for the concert to start. I managed to make it through about 45 minutes before wet, cold exhaustion got the best of me and I cabbed home with Capt. Canadian.
Today was my last official class of the year. I have 3 finals to give still, but basically, it's over. I'm moving out of my apartment in two weeks, and will hit the road as soon as my bank card arrives from the States. YEAH!!!!
So that's it for now. I've got to go grade some papers and write an exam. What's new with all of you?
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
A Sucker for a Pretty Face
Ok, I admit it - I just couldn't help myself. This morning as I was walking out of class, I saw about 20 students huddled around poking at something in the flower bed. When I approached, I saw this tiny little puppy shivering from fear huddled against a rock looking more pathetic than I could stand. I shooed everyone away, took off my jacket, wrapped the poor little thing in it and took her home. I gave her a bath, and what do you know, she's GORGEOUS. See???
Just after her first bath
After she had a bath, I wrapped her in a fuzzy blanket where she promptly fell asleep for an hour and a half. Poor thing was exhausted. After a little food and water though, she perked up a little bit and has been happily exploring her new surroundings. I took her with me to get my haircut this afternoon. My hairdresser loves animals, and thought she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. She slept most of the time I was there, but when she did wake up, she hopped right off the couch and immediately peed on the floor of the salon. MORTIFIED!! Valdet just laughed, scratched her head, and mopped up. Good egg! He actually said that if I couldn't find anyone else, he would take her, as he already has 6 dogs - what's one more??
I have a vet appointment this afternoon to get her checked out, and I hope to find her a good home. If all else fails, I guess I just adopted a dog. :D As cute as she is, I'm not sure I'll be able to give her up anyway. Daddy, want a new puppy? I'll bring her to you in August.... she's a Sharr mountain dog - just beautiful!
Anyway, school is almost done (one more week!!!) and then I have to figure out what to do for the summer, especially now that I have a puppy to worry about. YIKES. This certainly changes everything... I couldn't be happier about it though.
Just after her first bath
After she had a bath, I wrapped her in a fuzzy blanket where she promptly fell asleep for an hour and a half. Poor thing was exhausted. After a little food and water though, she perked up a little bit and has been happily exploring her new surroundings. I took her with me to get my haircut this afternoon. My hairdresser loves animals, and thought she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. She slept most of the time I was there, but when she did wake up, she hopped right off the couch and immediately peed on the floor of the salon. MORTIFIED!! Valdet just laughed, scratched her head, and mopped up. Good egg! He actually said that if I couldn't find anyone else, he would take her, as he already has 6 dogs - what's one more??
I have a vet appointment this afternoon to get her checked out, and I hope to find her a good home. If all else fails, I guess I just adopted a dog. :D As cute as she is, I'm not sure I'll be able to give her up anyway. Daddy, want a new puppy? I'll bring her to you in August.... she's a Sharr mountain dog - just beautiful!
Anyway, school is almost done (one more week!!!) and then I have to figure out what to do for the summer, especially now that I have a puppy to worry about. YIKES. This certainly changes everything... I couldn't be happier about it though.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Finally!
Ok, so I finally got the pics posted from Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia AND the April Fools party. No witty commentary YET, but at least the pics are there.
I'm off to Macedonia this weekend to give a Teacher Training workshop to a bunch of in-service teachers who have more experience than I do. (YIKES!) I'm sure it will go ok, but it's still a little nerve wracking. It's on authentic materials and realia in the classroom - so basically I have to teach teachers how to use props. Maybe I should have been a drama student.
Anyway, only 4 weeks left and I'm on vacation until the middle of September. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all of my time off, but am struggling with too many options right now. My plan is to drive to Albania, up the coast of Montenegro and Croatia (hang out on the beach for a while), hit Slovenia and come back down through Belgrade and Serbia. OR I could go to Greece and Turkey for 5 weeks. OR I could go to Romania and Bulgaria.... OR... and the list goes on. I have 5-6 weeks to play with, (anybody got any vacation time they want to blow in Eastern Europe on a little road trip??? I'd love some company. My students are freaking out that I'm going to travel alone.) Then I go home for a month - time with Mom, time with Dad and the rest of the fam, time in DC for work and then.... Hey LA kiddies - planning on coming for a week in either mid-August or first part of September. Not sure which yet, but I'm definitely coming!! Then it's back to Kosovo around September 10th. Whew. CAN'T wait!!!
I'm off to Macedonia this weekend to give a Teacher Training workshop to a bunch of in-service teachers who have more experience than I do. (YIKES!) I'm sure it will go ok, but it's still a little nerve wracking. It's on authentic materials and realia in the classroom - so basically I have to teach teachers how to use props. Maybe I should have been a drama student.
Anyway, only 4 weeks left and I'm on vacation until the middle of September. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all of my time off, but am struggling with too many options right now. My plan is to drive to Albania, up the coast of Montenegro and Croatia (hang out on the beach for a while), hit Slovenia and come back down through Belgrade and Serbia. OR I could go to Greece and Turkey for 5 weeks. OR I could go to Romania and Bulgaria.... OR... and the list goes on. I have 5-6 weeks to play with, (anybody got any vacation time they want to blow in Eastern Europe on a little road trip??? I'd love some company. My students are freaking out that I'm going to travel alone.) Then I go home for a month - time with Mom, time with Dad and the rest of the fam, time in DC for work and then.... Hey LA kiddies - planning on coming for a week in either mid-August or first part of September. Not sure which yet, but I'm definitely coming!! Then it's back to Kosovo around September 10th. Whew. CAN'T wait!!!
Monday, May 09, 2005
Forever and a day
It seems like I haven't written in ages. I could throw all kinds of excuses at you - like I've been really busy, or that work is hell, or that I broke all my fingers - but the truth is, I've just plain been lazy about it. I have been really busy working on writing new policies for the Department of Political Science (ooh lah lah), and work is hell (mainly because it's the end of the semester and I've got a serious case of Spring Fever), but I haven't broken a single finger. Not even a paper cut. Just a bad case of the lazies - that and a serious need for vacation!!!!!
Not that the trip to Zagreb the week before last wasn't amazing, because it definitely was, but I am ready to take a break from Kosovo for a while. The Saint and I were talking the other day about how stressful it really is to live here in just the every day little things that you think you're ignoring. Like people trying to run you over on the sidewalk. Or speeding up when you're in the crosswalk. Or the constant layer of dust. Or the 85 degree days and 30 degree nights. Turn heater on or off? Electricity today? Water today? Students going to show up today? I spend half my life preparing for things that don't happen, and the other half unprepared for what does. I can't seem to win. Only four more weeks and I can go find a nice quiet beach to park my but on for a while. *Sigh*
SO I spent 3 hours today getting pictures ready to upload, since I haven't posted anything in a while. They'll all be there on Wednesday - 4 new albums. YIKES! We have an April Fools/Birthday/Going Away party, a trip to Greece, a trip to Croatia, and some other random stuff. And on that note, I'll spare you any more details because the pics will say it all. :D
Not that the trip to Zagreb the week before last wasn't amazing, because it definitely was, but I am ready to take a break from Kosovo for a while. The Saint and I were talking the other day about how stressful it really is to live here in just the every day little things that you think you're ignoring. Like people trying to run you over on the sidewalk. Or speeding up when you're in the crosswalk. Or the constant layer of dust. Or the 85 degree days and 30 degree nights. Turn heater on or off? Electricity today? Water today? Students going to show up today? I spend half my life preparing for things that don't happen, and the other half unprepared for what does. I can't seem to win. Only four more weeks and I can go find a nice quiet beach to park my but on for a while. *Sigh*
SO I spent 3 hours today getting pictures ready to upload, since I haven't posted anything in a while. They'll all be there on Wednesday - 4 new albums. YIKES! We have an April Fools/Birthday/Going Away party, a trip to Greece, a trip to Croatia, and some other random stuff. And on that note, I'll spare you any more details because the pics will say it all. :D
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Aw... you guuuuyyyyyssssss.....
Wow! You're all a bunch of saps! I am too.. here's some of the reponses I've gotten:
- The Notebook (in the boat, don'tcha know)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (I have to admit, this one has MY vote)
- Sweet Home Alabama (amongst the lightning rods)
I totally forgot about Breakfast at Tiffany's... the rain, the taxi, Cat.... it's perfect!! *sigh*
Ok, enough sappy pappy crap for the day. I'm prepping to go on a whirlwind 4 day trip to Belgrade, Serbia and Zagreb, Croatia for the weekend. It's Orthodox Easter and Mayday so we've got a 4 day weekend. I am on my way home right now to get pictures ready to upload from my last two trips. Sorry it has taken me so long. I have been unbelievably busy (and a bit lazy too). And I promise when I get back to be more diligent in my blogging. I have been a bit lazy on that front as well. That's what I get for asking silly questions and inundating myself with work.
Last week I made the silly mistake of asking the head of the department I work for what the standards were for accepting TOEFL/IELTS (standardized English proficiency exams) for credit, and what the policy was for transferring English credits in from other departments.... MY MISTAKE. It seems there are no departmental standards or policies, and would I be so kind as to write them? Therein lies my hell at the moment. I have been researching like crazy to find out what other departments are doing, what other Universities are doing, how the TOEFL compares to the IELTS, etc. etc. etc. A couple of good things will come out of this - 1) the department will set standards and benchmarks that (hopefully) the rest of the University will follow eventually, and 2) on a more personal note... I am actually having some real impact here. Instead of just the handful of students that I have, these policies will affect every student that comes into the Political Science department from here on out. This will be my legacy at the University. It's a lot of reponsibility, and I want to do it right - setting realistic goals and structure to the program. YIKES! Wish me luck. Last year I was a student myself, and this year I'm writing departmental policies. Who'd a thunk it.
- The Notebook (in the boat, don'tcha know)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (I have to admit, this one has MY vote)
- Sweet Home Alabama (amongst the lightning rods)
I totally forgot about Breakfast at Tiffany's... the rain, the taxi, Cat.... it's perfect!! *sigh*
Ok, enough sappy pappy crap for the day. I'm prepping to go on a whirlwind 4 day trip to Belgrade, Serbia and Zagreb, Croatia for the weekend. It's Orthodox Easter and Mayday so we've got a 4 day weekend. I am on my way home right now to get pictures ready to upload from my last two trips. Sorry it has taken me so long. I have been unbelievably busy (and a bit lazy too). And I promise when I get back to be more diligent in my blogging. I have been a bit lazy on that front as well. That's what I get for asking silly questions and inundating myself with work.
Last week I made the silly mistake of asking the head of the department I work for what the standards were for accepting TOEFL/IELTS (standardized English proficiency exams) for credit, and what the policy was for transferring English credits in from other departments.... MY MISTAKE. It seems there are no departmental standards or policies, and would I be so kind as to write them? Therein lies my hell at the moment. I have been researching like crazy to find out what other departments are doing, what other Universities are doing, how the TOEFL compares to the IELTS, etc. etc. etc. A couple of good things will come out of this - 1) the department will set standards and benchmarks that (hopefully) the rest of the University will follow eventually, and 2) on a more personal note... I am actually having some real impact here. Instead of just the handful of students that I have, these policies will affect every student that comes into the Political Science department from here on out. This will be my legacy at the University. It's a lot of reponsibility, and I want to do it right - setting realistic goals and structure to the program. YIKES! Wish me luck. Last year I was a student myself, and this year I'm writing departmental policies. Who'd a thunk it.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Rainy Daze
What is it about rain that changes people's moods so much? For me, a rainy day is a day to stay at home in your slippers and sweats, read a book, work on a project, do some filing, or better yet, crawl in bed and watch a movie. It's a day for being melancholy and introspective. One of my students today, however, had a completely different perspective on rain. He loves the rain and finds rainy days romantic. Being the cynic that I am, I responded that it's hard to be romantic with a party of one, but then I started to think about it. (about rain, not being romantic with a party of one - get your minds out of the gutter!) I started to think about the romance of rain. There is some truth to that. Some of the most romantic scenes in movies were in pouring down rain - look at the final scene of Casablanca (or was that just fog?). Anyway, i'm completely drawing a blank on romantic rainy scenes, but I'm sure there's lots. Let's take a poll.... drop a comment with your nomination for best romantic rainy scene in a film, and we'll see where we wind up. (see what happens when my creative juices stop flowing? I start begging for your input... help.)
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Addicted to old episodes of CSI
Why?? Someone help me. Flying Dutchman, take your DVD's BACK! Seriously, my friend the Flying Dutchman left KO for Liberia for 5 weeks, and willed me all the TV series he's downloaded from the internet. I have every episode of CSI (Vegas AND Miami), Alias, Law & ORder (just the 1st 3 seasons) and god knows what else.. the cd case holds 150, and it ain't empty! I have been like a bad porn addict for the past three weeks - every night, 4-5 episodes. Ok ok, not EVERY night, but enough that people are starting to wonder if I'm a hermit. FD got back yesterday, so my beast of burden is soon to leave my hands (thank GOD) or I might develop calluses on my ass.
On a completely different note, went to Greece this past weekend. T'was phenomenal (do do de doo doo - that was for you, Lopez). The weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cold about 25 degrees celcius, so someone with a calculator tell me what that means in numbers... to me it means just right for being on the beach. The water was unbelievably cold - that phrase "once you're in, you'll get used to it" did not apply. Sure, you'll get used to it, about as quickly as you get used to dying from hypothermia. Only made it in up to my knees. And my feet began to scream in protest. I toughed it out for a few minutes of frisbee tossing, but then my feet actually started to flail about uncontrollably until I agreed to get them out of the water.
Brief recap of weekend: get call from 9 of my nearest and dearest friends in Kosovo "wanna go to Greece?", next day get in car hungover from yet another going away party serving jet fuel (aka Rakia), sleep for 2 hours, wake up half-way to greece, get to greece, hotel all screwed up - manager doesn't speak english - nor does the guy he calls to translate for him - manage to get a room anyway, have mini sandwiches and fruit salad and tequila shots at bar next door (i was attempting to not drink, but the waitress ruined that), go to bed early - leaving gang at bar, go to bed with patio door open to let the waves lull me to sleep, get up and have a breakfast of fried eggs and cold cuts, play frisbee, volleyball and paddle ball and read on beach all day, play Ultimate in the afternoon - made a one handed diving flying catch to win the game that had everyone cheering and left me in complete shock because i have no idea how it happened, napped, had a big dinner leaving everyone stuffed, went to the ugliest discotech i have ever seen (no, jess not the one we went to - this one was in Katerini), made a scene dancing with The Man (6' 3 big black American/South African/Canadian/French dude) - the only one in Greece, I'm sure, and got the party started, went home at 2am, leaving a good chunk of the gang behind, woke up and crawled to a beach chair, stayed there all day, came back to Kosovo. Sigh. Perfect weekend.
I miss the beach. sigh. i'm homesick. boo.
On a completely different note, went to Greece this past weekend. T'was phenomenal (do do de doo doo - that was for you, Lopez). The weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cold about 25 degrees celcius, so someone with a calculator tell me what that means in numbers... to me it means just right for being on the beach. The water was unbelievably cold - that phrase "once you're in, you'll get used to it" did not apply. Sure, you'll get used to it, about as quickly as you get used to dying from hypothermia. Only made it in up to my knees. And my feet began to scream in protest. I toughed it out for a few minutes of frisbee tossing, but then my feet actually started to flail about uncontrollably until I agreed to get them out of the water.
Brief recap of weekend: get call from 9 of my nearest and dearest friends in Kosovo "wanna go to Greece?", next day get in car hungover from yet another going away party serving jet fuel (aka Rakia), sleep for 2 hours, wake up half-way to greece, get to greece, hotel all screwed up - manager doesn't speak english - nor does the guy he calls to translate for him - manage to get a room anyway, have mini sandwiches and fruit salad and tequila shots at bar next door (i was attempting to not drink, but the waitress ruined that), go to bed early - leaving gang at bar, go to bed with patio door open to let the waves lull me to sleep, get up and have a breakfast of fried eggs and cold cuts, play frisbee, volleyball and paddle ball and read on beach all day, play Ultimate in the afternoon - made a one handed diving flying catch to win the game that had everyone cheering and left me in complete shock because i have no idea how it happened, napped, had a big dinner leaving everyone stuffed, went to the ugliest discotech i have ever seen (no, jess not the one we went to - this one was in Katerini), made a scene dancing with The Man (6' 3 big black American/South African/Canadian/French dude) - the only one in Greece, I'm sure, and got the party started, went home at 2am, leaving a good chunk of the gang behind, woke up and crawled to a beach chair, stayed there all day, came back to Kosovo. Sigh. Perfect weekend.
I miss the beach. sigh. i'm homesick. boo.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Bad Attitude
Have you ever found yourself sounding like that professor in college that you rolled your eyes at constantly? YEAH. That's been me this week. I decided to try and quit smoking again. In the three days I actually made it (yeah, I blew it on day 4), I turned into an absolute monster. I completely lost it on one of my classes. I don't have that unreasonable of expectations - come to class, be on time and be prepared. It's what they expect of me, therefore I expect the same from them. I didn't manage to get that point across to carefully though when I basically told them they were all acting like disrespectful 5 year olds and if they couldn't handle the responsibility of being a student they could pack up their books and go home for the day. YIKES. Not the best way to handle things and I still feel guilty about it. The worst part is that the students that really needed the lecture weren't there, as usual, thus the students that do come regularly and are prepared caught the brunt of my frustrations. There will be an apolgy on Tuesday. Part of it I will blame on agitation from nicotine withdrawals, the rest I will blame on my frustration in general.
I think I may have blurred the line a little much between the "cool laid back teacher who cares" and "teacher you can take complete advantage of". It's a very fine line to walk. I am understanding, I do get it that they all have full time jobs and support their families. It's not like I haven't been there. I've had two or three jobs for as long as I can remember, and I managed to get through school ok. Yes, I skipped a few classes (ok, maybe more than a few), but I managed to get the work done still. I hear the excuses I get from my students and hear echoes of my own words from not so long ago. I now understand how lame and unoriginal it all sounded. Blah blah blah... I want to be supportive and open, but at the same time, I know the bullshit game and it doesn't fly very well when the shoe is on the other foot.
God, I never thought I'd hear myself say that. It's like waking up one morning and realizing everything your parents ever told you was right, and that you foolishly tried to prove them wrong. (Mom, Dad, I'm sorry - go ahead, give me an "I told you so.")
I think I may have blurred the line a little much between the "cool laid back teacher who cares" and "teacher you can take complete advantage of". It's a very fine line to walk. I am understanding, I do get it that they all have full time jobs and support their families. It's not like I haven't been there. I've had two or three jobs for as long as I can remember, and I managed to get through school ok. Yes, I skipped a few classes (ok, maybe more than a few), but I managed to get the work done still. I hear the excuses I get from my students and hear echoes of my own words from not so long ago. I now understand how lame and unoriginal it all sounded. Blah blah blah... I want to be supportive and open, but at the same time, I know the bullshit game and it doesn't fly very well when the shoe is on the other foot.
God, I never thought I'd hear myself say that. It's like waking up one morning and realizing everything your parents ever told you was right, and that you foolishly tried to prove them wrong. (Mom, Dad, I'm sorry - go ahead, give me an "I told you so.")
Monday, March 21, 2005
Linguistic misunderstandings
So last week I asked my students to write about cross cultural misunderstandings and embarassing situation they have found themselves in. I have a couple of those stories myself, and just so happened that I found myself in the situation the very day I made the assignment.
My electricity for my apartment works like a rechargable telephone card - you go to the electric company, pay for electricity, they give you a receipt with a code on it, you punch the code into your meter and that's how much electricity you have to use. That's all fine and good, since part of the problem with the power plants not working and the electricity going out all the time is because people don't pay their bills. This way, you have to pay before you get lights. It works. However, because my landlord usually handles this sort of thing for me, I didn't have a clue I was about to run out. And run out I did - on a Sunday morning, when it was snowing and bitterly cold. No lights, no hot water, no heat. YIKES!
I went on a desperate search to find somewhere other than the power company to purchase some electricity. A friend suggested I go to the main grocery store and I figured it was worth a shot. I asked the cashier if they sold electricity, and she looked at me as if I was nuts. So I tried another route - I asked if they sold "KEK" (stands for Kosovo Elelctric Commission). Then she nodded in understanding and told me no, but there was a store inside the mall that did. I headed off to find me some electricity and heat. When I got to the store she said to go to, I realized my mistake. The Albanian word "kek" means cake in English. She had sent me to a pastry shop. I didn't stop giggling for 20 minutes, and I had a fantastic piece of chocolate kek.
(I couldn't get any electricity until Monday, so I packed up and spent the night at a friend's. Such is life. I will keep a close eye on my meter from now on!)
On a completely different note, my Fellowship has been renewed, and I will return to Kosovo to teach for another year. I was a little shaky on this point for a week or so, as we've had a couple of bombings since the PM was indicted. The first was on a Friday night a little over a week ago. A 15 year old kid tossed two homemade handgrenades into the UN parking lot. What looked to be an isolated incident, turned out to be a diversionary tactic while 3 snipers were trying to take out the UN communications satellite. (Didn't find that part out until yesterday.) The following Monday I got the renewal notice. Tuesday morning I was awakened by another bombing, this time close enough to make my windows rattle, and promptly got me out of bed. This time the target was the President of Kosovo. A few days later a new Albanian Liberation Army (or something like that) claimed responsibility for it. Still not sure what that was all about. Anyway, everything else has been so calm and normal. People are upset, but they don't want any violence like last year. They don't see the point in it. We all kind of expected all hell to break loose sometime in the past couple of weeks for many reasons - 1, the prime minister was incredibly popular, 2, the 1 year anniversary of the riots was March 17, and 3, the weather has finally decided to warm up a bit, which means more people on the streets. Today they had peaceful protests at the University, and all things are business as usual. I'm pretty confident that things will remain calm, and if they don't.. well, then they'll pull us out of here. I really hope they don't. I want to come back and continue the things I've started this year. Plus the Trav and Phil are coming back too. That's just icing on the kek.
My electricity for my apartment works like a rechargable telephone card - you go to the electric company, pay for electricity, they give you a receipt with a code on it, you punch the code into your meter and that's how much electricity you have to use. That's all fine and good, since part of the problem with the power plants not working and the electricity going out all the time is because people don't pay their bills. This way, you have to pay before you get lights. It works. However, because my landlord usually handles this sort of thing for me, I didn't have a clue I was about to run out. And run out I did - on a Sunday morning, when it was snowing and bitterly cold. No lights, no hot water, no heat. YIKES!
I went on a desperate search to find somewhere other than the power company to purchase some electricity. A friend suggested I go to the main grocery store and I figured it was worth a shot. I asked the cashier if they sold electricity, and she looked at me as if I was nuts. So I tried another route - I asked if they sold "KEK" (stands for Kosovo Elelctric Commission). Then she nodded in understanding and told me no, but there was a store inside the mall that did. I headed off to find me some electricity and heat. When I got to the store she said to go to, I realized my mistake. The Albanian word "kek" means cake in English. She had sent me to a pastry shop. I didn't stop giggling for 20 minutes, and I had a fantastic piece of chocolate kek.
(I couldn't get any electricity until Monday, so I packed up and spent the night at a friend's. Such is life. I will keep a close eye on my meter from now on!)
On a completely different note, my Fellowship has been renewed, and I will return to Kosovo to teach for another year. I was a little shaky on this point for a week or so, as we've had a couple of bombings since the PM was indicted. The first was on a Friday night a little over a week ago. A 15 year old kid tossed two homemade handgrenades into the UN parking lot. What looked to be an isolated incident, turned out to be a diversionary tactic while 3 snipers were trying to take out the UN communications satellite. (Didn't find that part out until yesterday.) The following Monday I got the renewal notice. Tuesday morning I was awakened by another bombing, this time close enough to make my windows rattle, and promptly got me out of bed. This time the target was the President of Kosovo. A few days later a new Albanian Liberation Army (or something like that) claimed responsibility for it. Still not sure what that was all about. Anyway, everything else has been so calm and normal. People are upset, but they don't want any violence like last year. They don't see the point in it. We all kind of expected all hell to break loose sometime in the past couple of weeks for many reasons - 1, the prime minister was incredibly popular, 2, the 1 year anniversary of the riots was March 17, and 3, the weather has finally decided to warm up a bit, which means more people on the streets. Today they had peaceful protests at the University, and all things are business as usual. I'm pretty confident that things will remain calm, and if they don't.. well, then they'll pull us out of here. I really hope they don't. I want to come back and continue the things I've started this year. Plus the Trav and Phil are coming back too. That's just icing on the kek.
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