ah, oui, les français

I'm totally validated once again in my talking to strangers. Last Monday I was walking after having lunch with Eric when I overheard two guys speaking in French and looking lost. So I asked them (en français) if they were lost and when learning they were looking for food I offered to take them for cevapcici since it was on my way anyway. Away we went, chatting to the restaurant and while they ate the glory that is cevap. Turns out they are half of a quartet, Quatuor Ebene, playing here as part of BEMUS (Belgrade World music festival). They said could give me tickets for concert the following night (which was classical) and they were playing jazz the night after in Movie Bar. Since my current existence has lots of free time, I was ready, willing, and able to go listen to gorgeous music.

Gorgeous it was. I took Uros (lots of others couldn't make it) and we sat in quite good seats left for us with a guard, listening to a dynamic program. You could feel the music and it was lovely beyond my expectations. Afterwards we found Raphael and Pierre and ended up going with them, the other two in the group and some French embassy types to dinner at this little French restaurant near the hall. Pierre and Uros got into an thick exchange of music and films, it was a meeting of like-minds that one rarely sees. Raphael joined in later a bit, also some people from French Cultural Center discussing politics and the region for over the past 30 years, drinking wine and generally enjoying. We laid plans to hang out the next day and play tourist guide, leaving with the general well-being that eating and music bring.

Wednesday afternoon after an impulse buy of jeans (woohoo!) Uros and I met Raphael (Pierre needed to rest so opted out) and walked up to St. Sava to look at the grandeur of the temple, then have a coffee and chat before strolling back down to center. Found out that the group will be touring in the US this coming March and will be in the Pacific NW (also Boston, NYC, Oklahoma City) so I'll try to see them there. And then we always have Paris - I love having new people to visit in places that I already love (as many of you know). That night we went to see the jazz set with Uros's friend Marko and afterwards ended up having drinks, singing along with the piano and jazz standards until 2 a.m. Then some of us went (after dropping off instruments at their hotel) for rakija at Triangle bar (it's always open, down near Julia's faculty). It was just a thrilling kind of fun that one gets from talking with people who are interesting and interested in similar things (art's big, also language). We got some burek after the drinks and hung out some more - Uros and I were walking home at 6 a.m. completely content with life. He (thankfully) had lessons at 1, I wasn't working at all so no real worries there. Promises to keep in touch were exchanged, now to see if those promises sustain (I've become cynical about such things, especially in recent weeks).

This whole French connection (and oh, wasn't it grand to be speaking French again) once again showed me things I love about my life here in Belgrade, but also that the upcoming transitions will be helped because I talk to, oh, basically anyone. This week I also got to meet Uros's sister (finally!), we all had lunch. I met some of Dragana's journalist friends, have been baking a bunch, and listening to lots of music way loud in Uros's flat. Packing will begin tomorrow... yes. Tomorrow. Thankfully the highs are high enough they can carry me through the next few days and the parts of the past month that have been less than stellar.

Remember that time...

Remember when the US economy decided that a nose dive wasn't enough; no, no, it needed to roll down the hill of economic decline at top speed. If I was into theories I'd say it's because I'm moving back to the US. And will be job hunting.... oh glory.

Got my ticket to San Fran - 15 October I'll be there. Was in Novi Pazar last week exploring some of southern Serbia (accompanying Casse on a business trip). Some fortress ruins, old mosques and churches, a grandiose hotel that looked like a honeycomb and a spaceship mushed together - definitely different. And a long car ride through gorgeous mountains. As always, my photos are behind my writings, but I'll get there. Promise.

Now reading a bunch, teaching less. Ran into old friends on the street yesterday - they were having coffee and I joined. I like the small big cityness of Belgrade, something I'll miss. T minus 15 days and counting I suppose. Bizarre.

Back in Belgrade

The hot climes have become a distant memory after less than a week - going from 25-30 Celsius to 12 Celsius and wet, rainy is a huge difference (to put it mildly). I've started working a bit, more focused on seeing lovely people that I've missed over the past few months, and preparing for the next move (more later on that).

The last weeks of excavation/cleaning up paperwork blur together as time did so often there. Mike and I traveled to see Ekin at her excavation (outside a small town on the way to Adana) for a break that turned out to be more harrowing than normal dig life, but it was good to get out of the compound, see Ekin again, and be on another adventure. It involved being dropped off at a highway intersection (the road goes to the town) and waiting by a gas station, fervently hoping that we were in the right place. Ceyhan (the town - pronouned Jay-han) was much greener than Antakya, it's on a river that still flows mightily (unlike the Orontes) with parks and actual cafes. Very exciting. The team was a mix of Germans and Turks, much smaller than Atchana's team, and we made a welcome diversion (at least that was my impression). I was even able to do a proofreading job for a professor I've worked for here in Belgrade. We stayed at the house of the watchman (where Ekin and her little girl Lale were as well since the excavation house was full up). Battles with mosquitoes lead to trying to sleep through the call to prayer (quite loud since it was Ramadan), roosters crowing and Lale practicing to be an opera singer... exhausting stuff. But one survives. And even enjoys.

I have photos up now of time in Turkey - just to put some faces with names and all that I suppose. For some reason I really like being on top of mountains looking down - apparently the ancients (or at least people in the past) had a similar view since so much is high up. There aren't many photos of our site because not allowed to post unpublished material. When I see you in person I can show those, but not publicly.

Good news too is that both Mike and I have been invited back to the dig for next year, it's nice to be loved. And useful - I find that is hugely important to my state of well-being, the feeling of utility. Darn American values. So assuming all goes well we have an idea for next summer already - talk about long-term planning!

Next adventure is moving to San Francisco. I'm excited about it, looking to get my ticket in the next few days to head there mid-October or so. Hopefully I'll find work with books or food (two of my loves), enjoy seeing folks I've not seen in awhile, and travel up to Seattle/Portland in the not too distant future as well. Mike will be there too (how fun!) and applying to grad schools for next year. Good times. Let me know if you're there, plan to be there - once I have an address I'll be sending it out once again. And you'll be welcome to come and visit (naturally).

Palin - who even knew?

Daily Kos has a whole fact sheet of reasons to be scared, fivethirtyeight shows you how Sarah Palin actually might be more representative of American than you'd think (see creationism for a start) which is even more frightening.

And then there's Dowd at the NYTimes who compares Palin to a chick flick and then later says she "will no more support sex education than polar bears" in this opinion piece. Wonderfully cutting.

Oh politics.