twenty-something years of "what have you been up to?"

place2place

  • marble track #124

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    Karl and Stefan. These guys play together so well. They go to different schools, but today both schools have the day off for Victory Day.

    To do today: more minutes on iPhone so I can twitter. Pizza production. Figure out plan to watch Victory Day parade, 100 tanks and heavy gear, 1000 piece marching orchestra, military fly over amid fireworks. Nothing says peace like ballistic missiles.

  • rough re-entry

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    Back in Moscow. Depresssed. Kitchen demolished by people supposedly replacing counters. Mess all over the house. Kitchen sink on bathroom floor, microwave on toilet. Can I go back to Budapest?

  • best day ever budapest

    Let me just say Budapest is ridiculous.TDY_housing

    TDY housing, tolerable, huh? First time sleeping in a world heritage site, the castle district of Budapest.

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    We have to eat these pastries every morning.

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    Flowers for sale everywhere, lily of the valley, $1 a bunch. So many people carrying bouquets, the metro smells like flowers.

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    Then you have to look at this architecture all the time.

    Dina_coffee_panarama

    Even when you have coffee. And then musicians right by your table will start playing Strauss, which is such a bother.

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    Then you have to walk around the castle walls, then because you are always thirsty in Hungary, a glass of Hungarian wine at an outdoor cafe. Cheers! You gotta come back.

    A few more of our pictures of Budapest here.

  • nice in budapest

    Dina came on Saturday with Stefan. Camille stayed home with trusted friends so as not to miss school. It was a great reunion. We walked through the old city, had a great pizza lunch looking out onto the parliment building, shopped, drank some fine Hungarian wine, and visited the fine arts museum which featured an exhibit by Mucha. Wow! Great stuff!After another delicious meal at a mediterreanean restaurant, we took stefan to the zoo where we saw strange and exhotic animals, watched a bird show, and had ice cream and iced coffee.

    Our quarters are in a World Heritage site! Part of the old city that is walled in. The view is spectacular looking out over the pest part of Budapest and the Danube River. The old cathedral chimes it's bells from the bell tower every day and flowers are blooming everywhere.

    I was scheduled to go to a medical conference next week in Portugal but it was cancelled on account of the swine flu. The department feels we should stay put and prepare for the potential pandemic as well as decrease the risk of exposure. So Portugal is postponed until Autumn. I will be flying back to Camille with Dina and Stefan.

  • what happens in Budapest

    800px-E_Rozsda_-_Enfant_martyr_au_paradis_(1958) On Tuesday, I was walking towards the metro on my way to work when I noticed some very cool posters every 20 feet representing an art exhibit by an artist named Endre Rozsda (1913 – 1999). As I was taking a few snap shots of the posters, a guy came up to me and started speaking Hungarian. I apologized for not speaking the language and in pretty good English, he pointed across the street at a building and told me the opening exhibit was that night at 7PM and invited me to come. Having nothing else planned, I went to the opening and was quite impressed. His work is mostly post-impressionistic and surreal. The wine was quite good too. I spoke to an elderly couple who's English was pretty good and they told me they knew the artist.

    Then yesterday, I was headed back to my apartment which overlooks the Danube and the city. The hill is quite steep and it was hot going up. I stopped inside a small neighborhood grocery store, thinking I'd buy some wine for when I got back. I mostly drink red but it was hot and I was contemplating a white or rose. The guy working behind the cash register was a young guy around 40 years of age. He asked if he could help me.

    "I'm interested in trying a Hungarian rosé."

    "Are you drinking alone or with a woman?" he asked matter of factly.

    "Today, alone," I replied.

    "Because if you were drinking with a woman, I would suggest this sweeter rosé. But since you are unfortunately alone, I think perhaps the dry one is better."

    So I drank it alone watching Dancing with the Stars. Pretty pathetic I know but the wine was good!

  • sunny and warm in Budapest

    I'm back on a 2 week "tour of duty" (TDY) in Budapest. It is so nice here right now.

    I had an interesting patient who was a rower on the Hungarian olympic team in the 1940's. He shared with me some of his stories and how they got silver in the nationals but lost to the German's because of a leg cramp to one of his fellow rowers. So he decided not to come back to Hungary for fear that the Hungarians would be outraged that they lost to the Germans. He spent a great part of his life in Australia and became an architect. He and his wife returned to Hungary after his retirement. He got bored and took a job with our Embassy.

    I just got back from my lunch break and I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation. There are lots of Hungarians out and the restaurants and cafes are alive and full of people. I can't wait for Dina and the kids to come join me.

  • kulich

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    Snow flurries this morning, it's not sticking, but still. Surprisingly good kulich from the nearby grocery. It was warm when Peter bought it.

  • Xpuctoc Bockpece – christ has risen

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    We went to our friend Aleen's for dinner. Her apartment is about 250 feet away. The evening was shared with another couple and we had some nice zakuski (appetizers) and dinner. Dina took Stefan home to bed and Aleen and I went right outside across the street from the embassy compound to a small orthodox church. Here in Moscow there are churches with onion domes on practically every other block.
    The church was packed full of people; the women with their heads covered, many of the men with beards, and old Russian babushkas clutching their candles, bowing, and crossing themselves.
    Once inside, I felt something stir in me that has been there since my youth. An old connection that sometimes gets forgotten but is easily awakened by the first few notes from the choir and the scent of burning candles and incense. The sea of people blur. There is some gentle pushing and shoving as the priest recites the old traditions of our ancestors. There is christ nailed to the cross. The choir singers raise their voices and the icons shimmer in glowing candle light. The words come back to me and I am singing too. 
    I turn to my right and see the face of a beautiful young Russian woman. She is looking down and I follow her glance down her long slender arms down to an angelic face cradled in her hands. It is a Down's Syndrome child. She has a white scarf around her face like the Russian Alyonka chocolate bar baby only with dark almond shaped eyes and a white scarf. They keep staring at each other and I am moved. Moved by the love and the unknown struggles she must bear. 
    The man in front of me turns towards me and leans a burning candle in my direction. I ignite mine from his flame and turn to light the woman's next to her child. The bells start to ring and there is increased movement as people begin to move out of the church. The priest leads the recession swinging his incense and holding his cross. The choir follows singing a hymn I know as well as any nursery rhyme. The air is cold out but we huddle together and follow the priest as the church bells change from a solitary ring, to a continuous none stop clanging. He led us once around the church and then back to the front door. "Christ has risen!" he shouted. "Indeed he has risen!" we all reply. People start to kiss each other three times on each cheek. 
    As Aleen and I walked back towards the embassy I think back upon the generations and hundreds of years that this tradition has maintained itself. Thousands of years and 70 years of suppression could not crush faith. 
    Xpuctocb Bockpece! Happy Easter!

  • almost russian easter

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    This is what I've been waiting for. Old men selling pussywillows on the corner.

  • moscow in your pocket

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    If you are thinking of coming to visit us in Moscow, or just want to visit virtually, I use this locally produced publication all the time:

    Beware that I am:
    1. Playing Joan Osborn's One of Us on the guitar all the time. Bring earplugs. 
    2. Asking for editing help every two minutes. Got an idea for Earthday?
    3. Angsting that David Cook hasn't scheduled any shows on the West Coast for July or August.
    4. Buying wine by the case.
    5. Seriously considering watching Eurovision.
    6. Wondering if I should be worried that Camille likes to read in a closet with a flashlight.
    7. Looking forward to the lighthearted vibe of Budapest.