Food, Farms and Life in Romania
Posted on May 7, 2009
Filed Under General Posts, News and Currents, Travel | Leave a Comment
The whole motivation for catching the blog up to speed was really to write the current entry regarding our recent May Day travels to Romania. The few consistent readers that Tales of Traverse maintains might remember last year’s post on what exactly is May Day and why it is a holiday. No need to re-hash that here. Instead, we’ll talk about this year’s weekend, which was much more exciting.
We had the great pleasure to travel down to Romania with one of our friends, Diana, who happens to be a Romanian-Canadian living currently in Vienna. Diana also, quite impressively, happens to speak four languages, and was able to do on-the-fly translations for us of the quick banter, which certainly contributed to the delightful experience. Thanks chica!
We traveled on Thursday night down to the western corner of Romania, a short distance from the Serbian border, to a small farming village called Teremia Mare, and the nearby lovely city of Timisoara. It was somewhat akin to other Eastern European or Russian villages I have visited, so I was really taken aback when, during our run through the countryside, Diana said that the village was actually a former village of German-speaking settlers. Huh?
I had to research this one. Romania has a lot of history. It’s major towns are ancient hubs of commerce and civilization, dating back to the first millennium. The Romans colonized these areas for their rich agricultural production and warmer climates. Romania was rather prosperous up through the medieval Turkish invasions, where the invading Turkish armies swept through the midlands and Balkans en route to capture Europe. The Viennese always celebrate the conclusion of this period since the advance Turkish armies was stopped twice at the gates of Vienna, the last time in 1683. After this, the Ottomans retreated, leaving a vacuum of power and potential territories in the wake. That is where the German settlers come in.
As the Ottomans retreated, the Germans, motivated by both southern German lords and Austrian Hapsburgs, advanced. Several waves of German-speaking immigrants, commonly referred to as the Schwaben, swarmed down to Romania during the Eighteenth century in order to fill in the “empty space.” Maria Teresa, the famed Austrian Empress, was at the heart of several of these waves of immigration, traveling herself to the lands to promote the settlements. The settlers endured for over a hundred years, only being kicked out with the advent of Romanian Communist rule after1944. Who knew?
With that as the background, we heard no German while there, except for the Romanian residents who knew German for one reason or another. The village was purely farming, suffering from the same depressed fate as many communities around the world who try to farm in a globalized economy. That did not inhibit their spirit, however, for they were some of the happiest, most energetic, boisterous, and compelling people you could meet. We had the pleasure of spending most of the time with Diana’s family, who run a number of farm plots throughout the surrounding area. Being keepers of the land, only recently “inducted” into the globalized agriculture economy, they were all about knowing what they ate. And wow, was it good. Fresh pork, lamb, potatoes, vegetables, you name it. Saturday afternoon found us benefiting from a huge barbecue with four different types of home-grown meat. Absolutely spectacular. Charsey and I ate without inhibition, as the food was excellent.
On Friday, we also visited the pleasant city of Timisoara. One of the largest cities in Romania, but still relatively clean, Timisoara has a long and storied history of culture, dating back to the middle ages. It was the first European city to install electric lighting in the city center, and still serves as a hub for numerous cultures. Timisoara, though it could in the future be overrun as a destination such as Budapest or Prague, was still genuine. Walking the streets, you did not run into many tourists, and the city amenities for non-locals were minimal. It seemed a destination where Romanians could live the good life. Especially those Romanians escaping the economically-depressed villages.
Why so Busy?
Posted on May 6, 2009
Filed Under Around Vienna, Travel | Leave a Comment
As I mentioned before, the multitudes of work, and as such lack of blog entries, is truly justified. Since January, Charsey and I have been up-against-the-wall busy, and I am only now getting around to writing about it. In that time, I’ve been busy working on a web page for my grandfather (who is an author) as well as a whole bunch of other research initiatives. More importantly, however, we’ve got another adventure coming up…
As of June, it will will say ciao to Vienna, ciao to the job, and ciao to Europe (for now, anyway). We were not back in the U.S. in April for any fluffy sort of vacationing reason. We have been working our tails off preparing an entire curriculum for out students. Students? What students?
Come the end of June, we will be heading to Tanzania for 6 months, where Charsey and I will be leading a program for her Alma mater. We will be bringing a dozen or so undergraduates to the country, traveling around to study animals, cities, public health, culture, and any other number of topics. So, come June, if you are looking to catch up with us in Vienna, you will be out of luck. If you think of tracking us own in Tanzania, that might be challenging too, as we’ll be moving around a lot. Hopefully, though, some blog updates will be possible along the way, and I’m working on procuring Blackberry access here and there, so it won’t be as if we are in some faraway continent such as Antarctica…
In any case, in our last month in Austria, we’re packing in more European adventures, which will be updated here and there.
It’s Back
Posted on May 6, 2009
Filed Under Around Vienna, Travel | Leave a Comment
Since the blog was recently declared dead, I am out to prove that, yes, indeed, blog entries still occur. The infrequent nature of them has real reasons, I promise- mostly that I have been ridiculously busy. More on that later, however…
For now, some interesting observations, as well as some well-earned congratulations. Back in April, Charsey and I were back in the U.S., visiting Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, D.C. Again, more on that later. For now, you can check out the view from Magoo’s new apartment (picture above), as well as a few observations of the U.S., after living overseas for almost two years:
- Compared to what we are used to in Austria, Americans are incredibly nice and helpful. Thank goodness, for I was beginning to lose hope. Seriously…
- What is happening to American English? Where did all of the “likes” come from. I had realized that you could identify an American from 10 meters when you heard them speaking loudly and using the filler-word, but it is inconceivable how much this word is stated in common speech. I use it some, but having hung out with college students, we are at a crisis of epidemic proportions. The CDC needs to drop all of this swine flu business and deal with this first. Who cares if we are sick- for when we sound so silly, we are better off indolent. The WHO, however, should keep on the swine flu problem, since, being married to a PhD infectious disease expert, we’ve got a real situation on our hands. But I digress…
- The parking lots for shopping centers are bigger than our Vienna city block. Driving along strip mall central in Ohio, I couldn’t believe how many cars would sit in endless traffic, when directly beside the two filled-up lanes, there were acres of open space filled by nothing but the white lines on the asphalt, broken up by the occasional lone-standing Burger King. Really, I know that people really don’t want to pay for roads, but we do understand that we pay for the unused parking lots too, right? Perhaps a bit of redistribution is in order
- Where do the restaurants get off charging that much for garbage wine? At least in Austria, they usually charge less for garbage wine than for O.K. beer.
- And finally, it was nice to be back in the home for a bit. I have not been away long enough to begin criticizing everything, thank goodness. Having lived elsewhere has actually increased my appreciation for what the U.S. offers: openness, innovation, mobility, freedom… and did I mention nice people!
So then, we returned to Austria, to be joined by Charsey’s long-time friend Jeremy. They ran the marathon. The whole one. All 42.2 kilometers. I ran the half. You might remember my post from last year regarding the marathon. It was a mess. This year was better on account of better starting positions. The weather, although again beautiful, was the hottest day we’ve had so far. That’s great for beach volleyball, but it does not create good race conditions. I was lucky, for the heat started as I was coming in to the finish line. At that point, unfortunately, Jeremy and Charsey still had another 21.1 km to go. They both finished in good time, however, so they deserve some significant congratulations! Much celebrating, partying, and eating of (for Jeremy, vegetarian food) was had.
Riding Without a Ticket?
Posted on March 3, 2009
Filed Under Around Vienna, News and Currents | Leave a Comment
Revealing article about a U.S. man who was beaten silly in a Vienna U-Bahn station by undercover Austrian police. In the wake of euphoria over the election of a bi-racial president, it appears that the U.S. is not the only one still dealing with deep-running racist tendencies. Enlightened Europeans? Perhaps not…
I will have to look for the German transcript of this to translate, but I especially love the line, “Karl Mahrer, a senior Vienna police official, said on Austrian television an investigation was under way to determine why it had been necessary to use force.” This has the implication that, yes, it was necessary to use force. Perhaps not, again…
There’s more coverage of this from Fox News, and the Chicago Sun-Times, among others. Time will reveal, but according to reports, the police officers just left the scene.
How to Avoid Another Cloudy Day
Posted on March 1, 2009
Filed Under Around Vienna, General Posts | Leave a Comment
The highlight of February is, of course, Charsey’s birthday. That is at the beginning of the month. We celebrated Indian-style with our friends Ximena and Maria from Mexico. After that, well, let’s face it, you have to try hard to pull a lot else out of the month. There is, of course, Valentine’s Day with its ancient roots in the Catholic church, and the idea of Valentines goes back for centuries, but really, these days Hallmark seems to get the greatest enjoyment out of the holiday. My opinion is that everybody is just waiting around for Spring.
No where is this more true than Vienna. The city is, for us, a cloudy, dreary place in the winter, but especially at the end of a winter. I’m not much of one to complain, but honestly, when I go for several weeks without actually having any sun hit the skin, it gets a bit old. There are certainly other places in the world who have it much worse, but somehow the Viennese take the February blues to a new level as it gets mixed up with the oft-cited crankiness of many residents. Things liven up again in the Spring, as it gets green and eveyone emerges from the cellars like rats.
So, how do Viennese pass the time? Two big ways. One is to get out of Vienna. This is aided by the week-long ski week. The country is divided into two, East and West, and each side alternatively heads for the mountains for a week of skiing. Once out of Vienna, sun actually cuts through the clouds to hit the ground, and who can really complain when zipping down the mountain all day long and partying all night long. Vienna is really a dead city during this national vacation.
The other way is to party all night long and sleep all day. This is accomplished through the Fasching Ball season. As mentioned last year, every group you can think of organizes a ball where people dressed in their best gowns and tuxes dance, drink, and eat well into the night. Most of these do not end until 3, 4, or 5AM, followed often by a traditional gulasch meal in one of the coffee houses open for the early-morning revelers. The most glamorous of these is the Opera Ball, where the prestigious boxes looking down over the floor cost 10,000 Euros or more. This year, though, the economic situation put a crunch on ticket sales, as it appeared not as many of the Viennese elite could cough up the bucks at such exorbitant prices. Since the event is televised in Austria, we had the festivities on in the background, as it provides good gossip for talking. Despite the economy, though the event still went off well, with the traditional female bombshell guest this year being Nicollette Sheridan of Desperate Housewives, even though we both thought that Sheridan looked, and sounded, quite stupid during most of the event. And that dress… so ugh…
Anyway, our plan for getting through February included a trip to Istanbul, Turkey on the third weekend, as well as our own ball experience at the 2009 IAEA Ball at the famed Hofburg Palace. On the second weekend in February, though, we found out that Sky Europe, who was supposed to do the flying to Turkey, had changed our flight to a slightly less convenient time. We were to leave on a Friday and return on a Monday. Both flights were in the afternoon. OK, sounds good, right? Well, the email said that, oh, whoops, the flight on Friday had been changed to leave at 11:30PM, arriving in Istanbul at 2:30AM, while the Monday flight was changed to leave at 2:30AM. Right… I am not sure what crazy person would take those flights, but we promptly asked for our money back and called it a weekend in Vienna. We had much more fun at a great little local establishment called Die Wäscherei, otherwise translated as the laundry, and a few other activities.
Even more agreeable was the last weekend in February. We awoke Saturday morning to, gasp, sun hitting the ground in Vienna, so we bolted as fast as possible to the mountains for some hiking in the snow. Sampson was probably the happiest of all to be out of the house. We then came back to get cleaned up because, in the words of B.B. King and Eric Clapton, “”we’re going t’da ball tonight!” The 2009 IAEA Ball was everything and more from last year’s event: glitz, glamour, dancing, and, of course, booze. We teamed up again with some of the hashers, while also running into some other friends at the event. Judged by the 4AM return to our apartment, it was a good evening. Moreover, it was a great way to put a dreary February out of its misery!
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Worth A Look
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Recent Reading
Simon Winchester, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906Fabulous writing. Combines geology, social science, and history in a readable account of this enormous event. Should make you think twice about living along the San Andreas Fault...
Mike Davis, Planet of SlumsSurvey of an impressive number of sources to detail the global urbanization trend, albeit with characteristic hyperbole. Nonetheless, a telling book that should be paid attention to.
Martin Meredith, The Fate of AfricaImmense work, compiled in a matter-of-fact way that is hard to dispute. One of the best examinations of how Africa shed colonialism and arrived at today.
Gillian Tett, Saving the Sun, A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from Its Trillion-Dollar MeltdownNeeded reading material for the plane ride home. The book was a timely pick-up, as the stagnation that overtook the Japanese economy, with roots in a real estate bubble, is quite relevant today. Good reporting, OK storytelling.
Helen Epstein, The Invisible Cure, Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS in AfricaIncredible book. Covers culture, development issues, urban and rural relationships, women's issues, and science, all told by a fabulous reporter who rails against AIDS-eradication efforts to date.
William Easterly, The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little GoodA readable book backed up by plenty of research, Easterly takes apart the international development community, examining its well-intended policies and showing why and how the follies have developed.
Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for AfricaHave to sit down after this one. Packed cover to cover with names, facts, and the most comprehensive history of the European invasion of Africa you can find. Authoritative to the core.
Robert Neuwirth, Shadow CitiesNeuwirth spent months living in four squatter cities around the world, and has real observations to say from it. Not a difficult read, but fabulous accounts.
Julia Flynn Siler, The House of MondaviVery enticing read about the origins of the modern wine industry in America, fabulous reporting. Did you know that Franzia wines are owned by Coca-Cola? And Mondavi probably did more than anyone to spur the U.S. boutique wine movement.
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's GhostFabulous storytelling that cuts across continents to capture the culture, politics, personalities, and atrocities committed during the conquest of the Congo.
Larry Devlin, Chief of Station, CongoNot a scholarly work, but shows an insider's view of U.S. and Soviet manipulation of African politics during the Cold War, and the thinking at the time, good or bad...
John Lukacs, Budapest 1900Heading to Budapest again, so I figured it would be good to read about it. Although claiming to be about the city c.1900, it jumped around much more (necessarily for background), and came out as fact after fact. Apparently one of a handful of English books around for Budapest, though.
Ted Morgan, My Battle of AlgiersTook a while to get going, and the last third of the book was the most interesting part. Our leaders who think that tactics of torture can win a war should pick up this book... The French tried it.
Jeff Shaara, Gods and GeneralsFound this at a used book sale, and my first Civil War book in a long time. Well worth it though, the historical fiction is well-researched, and complete with maps!
Robert M. Sapolsky, A Primate's Memoir: Love, Death, and Baboons in East AfricaWonderful and striking collection of fabulous stories from a researcher's 20+ years tromping in Africa. In most places, to gain the stories Sapolsky tells, you must try really hard to get into trouble. In Africa, no such need.
Misha Glenny, The Balkans, Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-1999I bought this for our Croatia trip, but it took me way longer to read. The author's expertise shines through, but the book often weighs down in supreme detail. Better organization may have helped. Regardless, Glenny makes a clear case that Balkan fate over the past two centuries has been at the whim of other great powers.
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, Game of ShadowsIf you like sports and want to remain oblivious, do not read this book. If you are a sports fan who wants the inside story on 70-home run seasons and 5-gold medal performances in one Olympics, then the information you need is here. The authors' extensive research is scary and makes it hard for the accused athletes to feign denial.
Donald Kagan, On the Origins of WarAn insightful work that takes five examples of wars or potential wars in order to explore the situations that can, necessarily or unnecessarily, lead to war. Not a book for pacifists or war-mongers. The Austrian arise in the book prominently in the WWI chapter, and are briefly touched on in the WWII chapter. Kagan seems to have no liking for the fading empire.
Lewis Mumford, The City in HistoryA colossal must read for all interested in cities. May not agree with all arguments, especially in relation to contemporary thought, but Mumford's talent and interest are apparent.
John Barry, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed AmericaA spectacular read, it weaves politics, history, and science together. Anchored in good storytelling of big and small themes.
Thorstein Veblen, A Theory of the Leisure ClassA classic work, though quite trudging. Not suitable for all, but certainly relevant to those interested in relevant themes of economics, development, or anthropology.
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Vienna Books
Peter Gay, Schnitzler's Century: The Making of Middle Class CultureA good read for those interested in Victorian culture and history. Not as good on a read about Vienna. Review
Frederic Morton, Thunder at Twilight: Vienna, 1913-1914Another terrific and readable book on Vienna by Morton. Review
Frederic Morton, A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888-1889First book I read by Morton and well worth it. Has a strong flair for the personality, and you pick up an idea of the city itself. Review
Philipp Blom, The Wines of AustriaNot about Vienna specifically, but chocked full of good information on Austrian vineyards. Lacking a little in good maps, though. It's been straight on with every vineyard we have hit.
Lonely Planet Guide: ViennaWorth the purchase if you are here for a while. Review
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