Polish WWOOFing

Despite not having updated in many travel years (they're sort of like light years) I thought I would write something to let many of you know that I am still alive.

I've been a to too many places in the last few months (Greece, Rome, Prague, Amsterdam, and Krakow) and I am finally staying in one place for a couple of weeks before resuming my nomadic life and heading east (Ukraine) and east (Russia). Perhaps, in my brief period of staying still I will update a bit about the other places I've been but for now - where am I?

I am at a farm in Poland, about an hour and a half outside of Warsaw - more specifically near here. What am I doing here?

I am WWOOFing. Some call it indentured servitude, others serfdom, and, well, some of us call it vacation. Technically it stands for Worldwide Working On Organic Farms and you can find out more about it here. This is the second farm I have visited in Poland.

The first, Michnowiec Eco-Frontiers was in a beautiful place and I could even see Ukraine out of my window. However, despite having solar and wind energy, biological waste management, forests, wetlands, prairies, beaver dams and some very beautiful horses it was not a nice place. Andzrej and Aga were absolute misanthropes and it is beyond me why they would ever agree to let anyone come to their farm. They wouldn't talk to us, they gave us very hard work in hot weather and the only food available was bread, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. Look, I know I signed up to work for nothing, and all I really ask for in return is basic human decency. This was not provided at Eco-Frontiers Ranch.

The only other WWOOFer there, Vicky, was from Beijing and this was her first time out of China. She was so unhappy it was painful to watch. I encouraged her to leave - go to Krakow, Prague, a city. After I had only been there 3 days, she left. Although she asked me to come with her I refused. I was unsure if I would stay the entire two weeks I had committed to, but I thought I would stay a bit longer as I had no other plans. However, after Vicky's departure, Andzrej suggested I "find another farm" as "the work they had was for two people." I did not object.

So, I quickly found myself back in Krakow unsure of where I would go next. I ended up enjoying myself immensely in Krakow and stayed for about 6 days (you'll have to forgive me, I cannot remember anything precisely at this point). I was very apprehensive about going to another farm, but I didn't want to write WWOOF off based on one bad experience. When Ewa, from Grzybow Farm (association - Ziarno ) emailed me, asking if I was still coming, I took it as a sign got back on the train/bus.

I'm so glad I did. It is a much better experience here. People are always coming and going, helping flood victims, teaching children English, running workshops on organic farming, baking bread, making cheese, and other kinds of do-goodery that I approve of.

The work is hard and there is a lot of hay involved - turning hay, collecting hay into piles, moving hay bales, feeding hay to goats, putting hay in the cow and horse stables, etc. but I am enjoying myself - doing work that I can see with my hands. There's another WWOOFer here, Hannah, a Californian that is on summer from Columbia and we chat easily while we work. The food is very good, especially the homemade bread and cheese. We eat meals with the family (Ewa and Peter and whichever of the 5 daughters are home) and are always treated kindly. Today, Hannah and I accompanied Peter to Płock, where he delivered bread. We walked around town, got coffee and cake and went to the cathedral.

The family has 2 horses, over 20 goats, including an adorable baby and a scary billy goat, 4 milking cows and 3 calves, and some dogs and cats. Ewa is Polish and does most of the work for the organization. Peter is Swiss and does most of the work on the farm, including making the amazing cheese.

So there you have it. I'm feeling healthy and happy. I'm getting stronger and my hands are getting callused. I am also very very tired, and I'll be back at it at 8 am, so I'm going to bed now. I'll post some photos soon.

I feel so funny.

This has nothing to do with my travels - but, actually, it does. I've certainly met a few Wally Campbell's. One of my favorite passages ever. Is it wrong to hope that we'll get some more Salinger now that he's dead? I know he wouldn't like it - but the rest of us would.

"Oh, I remember...Listen, don't hate me because I can't remember some person immediately. Especially when they look like everybody else and talk and dress and act like everybody else. " Franny made her voice stop. It sounded to her so cavilling and bitchy, and she felt a wave of self-hatred that, quite literally, made her forehead begin to perspire again. But her voice picked up again, in spite of herself. "I don't mean there's anything horrible about him or anything like that. It's just that for four solid years I've kept seeing Wally Campbell's wherever I go. I know when they're going to be charming, I know when they're going to start telling you some really nasty gossip about some girl that lives in your dorm, I know when they're going to ask me what I did over the summer, I know when they're going to pull up a chair and straddle it backward and start bragging in a terribly, terribly quiet voice-or name dropping, in a terribly quiet, casual voice. There's an unwritten law that people in a certain social or financial bracket can name-drop as much as they like as long as they say something terribly disparaging about the person as soon as they've dropped his name-that he's a bastard or a nymphomaniac, or takes dope all the time or something horrible." She broke off again. She was quiet for a moment, turning the ashtray in her fingers and being careful not to look up and see Lane's expression. "I'm sorry," she said. "It isn't just Wally Campbell. I'm just picking on him because you mentioned him. And because he just looks like someone who spent the summer in Italy or someplace."


"He was in France last summer, for your information," Lane stated. "I know what you mean," he added quickly, "but you're being goddam un-"

"All right," Franny said wearily. "France." She took a cigarette out of the pack on the table. "It isn't just Wally. It could be a girl for goodness' sake. I mean, if he were a girl-someone in my dorm, for example-he would have been painting scenery for some stock company all summer. Or bicycled through Wales. Or taken an apartment in New York and worked for a magazine or an advertising company. It's everybody, I mean. Everything everybody does is so-I don't know-not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and - sad making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you're conforming just as much as everybody else, only in a different way." She stopped. She shook her head briefly, her face was quite white and for just a fractional moment she felt her forehead with her hand- less, it seemed, to see if she was perspiring than to check to see, as if she were her own parent, whether she had a fever. "I feel so funny," she said. "I think I'm going crazy. Maybe I'm already crazy."

from Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

Happiest New Year!

I should probably be writing about Barcelona while the thoughts are fresh in my mind. Don’t fret, however, I took notes. “Top Ten in Barcelona,” as requested by Stephen Solomon, will be appearing early in the New Year.

Today, I want to take a few minutes to reflect. 2009 has, without a doubt, been the best year of my life. It wasn’t all great. Terrible, tragic things have happened. I spent most of the year feeling trapped and unhappy. But, surely this year has marked a turning point in my life. Last year, I was working at the library in my hometown, stuck in a relationship that was mediocre at best, beginning to resign myself to the idea that such a life was my fate. Now, I live in Europe, study environmental science and am very rarely bored.

I’m look back at New Year’s 2009 – dancing, playing the jukebox, orange tongues, eating delicious foods, and wizards. I’m remembering my lovely coworkers at North Hill and the friends I made subbing at Main. I loved being a part of that community and the ASCPL will always remain my extended family. I am thankful for the time I was able to spend with my family -the holidays, the dinners; seeing my parents at work. It was nice to be close to home for a while, and I'm thankful for their love and support everyday.

The house at N. Rose was lovely, if occasionally dysfunctional. I loved the people, Brett, Elisa, Jon, and the revolving roommates – Jaimy, Dave, David, Mary. I always enjoyed the company and having someone to share my cooking with. We had a front porch, a backyard and a compost pile. I had an amazing spice rack and a stocked pantry. There was always someone around to watch movies with or chat. We had some great cookouts, a beautiful garden and the friendliest dog and cat you could hope for.

I am thinking about my very best friends, the kind who live in Chicago - old friends and new friends. Most especially, Katharine Fronk, whose emails bring me home and make me laugh, and Vladimir the cat, whose purr and fur I miss often, especially as I’m laying down to bed. I know he’s happy now, tormenting Kat and Tilly with his ridiculous antics and unending ability to shed. There were so many great Chicago trips in 2009. New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Taste of Chicago, Pitchfork and my farewell cat-delivery visit. Thank you Chicago people. I will see you again someday.

There were the sporadic visits from Stephen that always made the month. Stephen, thank you so much for encouraging me to apply to MESPOM and CEU. You have sincerely and directly changed my life. There was Dave McDowell, always the best company for a long chat about life. Mike Leonhardt, my oldest friend, who has always been there for me. I miss watching the Office with you and eating junk food. We had an amazing day in the woods, getting rained on and acting like children.

At the end of my American 2009 things fell apart. I totaled my car, left my relationship and my house. I did my best to pack for two years, and did an absolutely terrible job. I said my goodbyes as well as I could and hopped on a plane to Budapest.

Now I live a very different life. I am a student again. I don’t understand most of what’s going on around me but I’ve learned to get by. I’ve accomplished my goals of not having a car, of living in a city (with a Metro!) and of traveling. I have friends from every continent. The MESPOM and ENVS people have become my international family. I am so thankful for every one of them and my opportunity to share experiences with them – picnics, Lake Balaton, Szimpla, landfills, drinking in the streets, vodka with salami and all the good times that are sure to come.

I just went on my first trip, alone, to Barcelona and I’ll tell you more about it soon. In short, it was a liberating and confidence-building trip. I am not accustomed to being so optimistic, but life now feels like it holds so much possibility. At home I was feeling old, and resigned. Now I feel young and wild and free. I am learning who I am without the context of the familiar. I am learning that I am capable. I cannot wait for 2010 and the unending potential it holds: Five more months to discover Budapest and the surroundings. Greece in May. Two months open for adventures. Autumn in Manchester, UK.

Friends, wherever you are, put on your New Year’s dress and say hello to a new decade. Here’s to 2010. To knowing better and learning faster. To growth and passion and opportunity. To everyone who made me who I am today and those who are helping to shape my future. I am so grateful!

Egészségedre!

I think I've hit a rough patch

I am having a rough time. Everything always happens all at once.

Today I drank too much coffee and it's given me a headache. Which is worse, the no-coffee headache or the too-much coffee headache?

We have a "take-home final" for Environmental Law and Policy and the basic concept if to posit a solution for Copenhagen in 1500 words. If I were capable of this I wouldn't be in graduate school and if the solution were this simple we'd be living in a zero-carbon world by now. The writing process was painful at first, I'm still not used to being a student again, but in the end I ended up as satisfied as I could expect to be. It's nice to know I can still crank out the pages when necessary. It'd be nicer to feel like it wasn't still bullshit though.

News from home is coming from all directions and it's crazy this week. I wish I were home with the people I loved. I'm glad I'm far away and don't have to deal with the details of the insanity. I want hugs to and from everyone I know. I want a shoulder to rest my head on. I want Thanksgiving dinner with my family- we have the best food. I want the cinnamon rolls. I want the cranberry relish. I want watermelon pickles. I want to see my parents. I want to see my brothers. I want to see my aunt and my cousins. I want to see my grandmother and my uncle even though they can drive me crazy. A Skype call will have to suffice.

I like the people I've met here. Everyone is nice but it's still surface relationships at this point. I miss being in a place where people understand me. I miss some of the things I was most anxious to escape. I was so tired of the blue-collar-pride bullshit at home but I have to admit I miss being around people who earn what they have, whether good or bad. I miss hanging out with a bunch of people who were just as poor and cheap as I am. I miss having a front porch and a back yard. I miss my cat and even Country Dog, despite the fact that she once ate my cell phone. I miss my craft supplies and my trash bags full of yarn.

I hated how the smallness of Akron meant that people knew you even when they didn't know you and defined you based on your past and those around you but I miss people knowing I existed. I miss knowing where I fit in, however awkwardly. I miss going to the Matinee and Annabell's and seeing people I knew, even if they were people I didn't like. I miss Thursdays and dancing to the Smiths. I miss fist-pumps. I miss having company when I come home, everyday.

I don't miss the small town drama. I don't miss Ohio State football. I don't miss being in a dysfunctional relationship or taking care of drunk people all the time. I don't miss the Twilight craze. I don't miss driving every day. I don't miss feeling stuck.

I found cranberries and black beans at store today. Yesterday we went to the Christmas market at lunch and I ate a sausage that I still haven't digested. I also ate an amazing pastry thing that was shaped like a spiral. I didn't see the cheap yarn Stephen told me about but I'll look harder next time. Then I will make myself a hat and a scarf. The hat will have ear-flaps and a pom-pom and I will feel better when my hands are busy and productive.

Tonight, I'm going to drink some wine.

Send me warm thoughts. Or just send positive thoughts out into the universe and even if they don't make it this far - I hope they'll be intercepted by people who need them.

Food and dancing and death

I haven't updated forever. I know and I'm sorry - although I doubt manyone has noticed. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. Christmas is coming up fast and it feels like I just got here. On the other hand, when I realize I'll still be here (here = Europe) NEXT Christmas that freaks me out a little bit. Mostly I try not to think too far into the future. So, who wants to come visit me?

Things are going well. Hungarian life has become normal life. I still don't know many words but I've gotten used to it and I've figured out some important things like which kind of yogurt I prefer (it says Kefir, but it's not Kefir, it's regular plain ol' yogurt so you can eat it with a curry or you can eat with muesli, which is what Hungarians eat because they don't have granola) and NOT to buy generic ketchup (because it tastes like duck sauce). I spend too much time doing errands - walking, and carrying. Sometimes I wish I could just get in the Subaru and run to the Acme.

I've also fallen in love with two separate cheese products:

Túró Rudi - it's cheese covered in dark chocolate. Apparently it is "typical Hungarian" and I really love them. When I first got here, my Hungarian classmate Eva had us try them. She said most people who aren't Hungarian don't like them. And she was right, I don't like them. I LOVE them and I keep them in my fridge at all times.

Túrós táska - it literally means "cottage cheese backpack." My friend Anton calls them "cheese buns" and I like that too. I couldn't find a good English language description online but basically it's a pastry filled with cheese and a lot of times there's a raisin inside. I imagine the raisin is for good luck but I have to imagine explanations for lots of things these days. Maybe they put a raisin in there in hopes that I'll choke on it. OOH. And there's powdered sugar on top! They're best when they're hot and I usually buy myself one as a present when I've been doing errands for hours and I'm tired and think I deserve a treat.

I think it goes without saying at this point, but my appetite has come back! However, when it comes to cooking I'm a bit uninspired. I don't know where my creativity went but I mostly just cook curries. This is fine with me, but I know I used to make a lot of other things - what were they?

Enough about food.

Last night I went to the Opera House for the first time. It was nice. 11 of us went and tickets were only 400 forints (that's about $2.5). Granted, they were so cheap because we were in the second balcony and way to the the right and you couldn't really see that well but it was totally worth it. We saw a ballet called "The Karamozov's" based on The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I read all of this book (except the trial) earlier this year and was actually inspired to FINISH it by the existence of my ballet ticket. I was curious to see how anyone could make a ballet from a 1000 page book as dense and philosophical as this one and was actually surprised at how well they pulled it off.

In short - the book was reduced to the lover's quarrels between Dmitri and Fyodor over Grushenka and Dmitri and Ivan over Katya. Alyosha was there too- trying to be reasonable. Smerdyakov was nowhere to be found, nor was the envelope. Ivan was tormented by demons that acted a lot like zombies. The "Grand Inquisitor" scene was also included, and a narrator said some things but I couldn't understand since I don't speak Hungarian. My friend JM, who does speak Hungarian, told me two very funny things as this was happening:

"I can't really understand, they're speaking in Shakespearean Hungarian"

and

"They keep saying 'free, free, free'"

Also, the music was totally ripped off from people like Mussorgsky and Wagner. The ending was all done to the last movement "Dreams of a Witch's Sabbath" of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. I love that movement with the Dies Irae, and of course, the kick-ass bassoon part. I wasn't even watching the dancing at this point. All in all - good times.

Today, I walked to a part of town I've never been, which is something I try to do, especially on the weekends. Also, I'm trying to get outside as much as possible before the weather gets any colder. I went to the Kerepesi Cemetery and walked around there for a couple of hours alone. It was beautiful and old and so, so quiet. All I could hear was the sound of my feet crunching on leaves and the sound of birds. I could hear birds! I even saw a squirrel and it was reddish and had funny ear-tufts. Silly Hungarian squirrels. The weather was overcast and chilly. It was the perfect day to explore a cemetery.



I had a really nice time - it was so peaceful. I did my best to be reverent. Many stones were grown over with ivy and the dates has faded from the stone. However, many other stones, equally as old, were well-cared for and had flowers laid on them. I thought of when my mother and I went to all these old family cemeteries around Columbus to see where some relatives are buried. I thought about how nice it would be to have people visit your grave a hundred years after you died and I thought about how I wouldn't mind if mine grew over with ivy either. I thought about how cool the big sculptures of the graves were and I wanted one (a naked lady please) for a minute but then I decided that I'd rather just be cremated or buried in one of those natural burial sites where you're allowed to decompose (there it is, in writing - just in case).

I guess I spent a fair amount of time being morbid but that's bound to happen when you spend your Saturday afternoon alone in a giant Hungarian cemetery.

Now my feet are tired and my eyes won't quite focus so I'll go home now and read and eat and be just as boring as I was in Ohio and just a little bit more lonely.

Digging in trash and other misadventures

I have not done one touristy thing in 5 weeks I've been here. Sometimes I walk past tourist destinations but so far at I am failing at actually visiting them. Every day I walk by St. Stephen's Basilica and I haven't even taken a photo. I will try to do better. I have been keeping busy though and have had some good times. Here's what I've been up to other than trying to survive:


Organic Farm: About five of my classmates and I went to Gödöllő (which I have no idea how to pronouce) to visit an organic farm on the 3rd. It was so nice to get out of the city, breathe some fresh air and be around some plants. I miss plants and it was really sad to leave the garden in Akron right as the tomatoes were coming into season. We got a special English-language tour, ate a nice stew (vegetarian option : potato-carrot stew with buckwheat patties), ate some ice-cream, and soaked up some sun. I bought some peppers and cheese and CILANTRO which I was incredibly excited about. The love I feel for cilantro is intense, and this was the first and only time I have seen it since I've been here.

Mountain-of-trash-day: I had been told by Mr. Stephen Solomon that each district has certain days, I don't know how often, where you can throw out all your stuff. There were huge piles of trash in front of every building and it was AWESOME. The gypsies were out in full force (don't worry, I was clinging on to my bag tightly), seemingly guarding the trash mounds and trying to sell other people's trash. They were also busting open all the electronics and taking whatever they could scrap, which is better than it ending up in the landfill if you ask me. I had a blast walking around and looking at each pile and evaluating if there was anything of worth. I really should have spent hours doing this but I started to feel a little bit crazy.

Do you watch "It's Always Sunny"? If you do - I felt like Charlie in "The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby."
Charlie: I can't sleep, dude. It's impossible. My mind's going like a mile a minute here.
Frank: Well, stop thinking about it. I'm not your father. Now go to sleep.
Charlie: No, dude, it's not that. I'm thinking about something completely different.
Frank: It's the trash, isn't it?
Charlie: It's the sweet, sweet trash.

I did scavenge a few things (from unguarded piles) that are all very useful:

• a trash can - okay it's actually a bucket, but it will now function as a trash can
  
• a purse - I didn't have a purse. I only have "bags"
  
• a jacket - I didn't have a jacket because I did a horrible time packing. The jacket has no buttons. I don't know if the gypsies stole the buttons or what. It seems like a weird thing to do. All I know is that someone, sometime removed 15 buttons from this jacket.

Now I have a jacket AND a craft project which I am calling "Nona can sew on buttons." Seriously, this jacket is going to be kick-ass. This project has been put on high-priority because fall has finally arrived in Budapest and it is freaking cold today and I have no coat!

All in all, I saved at least $20, and that's assuming I would have bought the coat and purse second-hand anyway. Success!

Conchord Dawn: On Saturday I met up with some girls from class for the bar to be followed by an "International Student Party." This did not sound particularly fun to me. I love meeting new people but....clubs. I haven't gone to clubs since I was 18 and I'm pretty happy with that decision. I don't wear heels, I don't where sexy blouses and I don't dance to rap music unless I am by myself and am 100% positive no one will sneak up behind me. In my new life here, everyone always wants to go to clubs. I've gone a couple of times and it hasn't been awful but it just isn't really my scene.

So we're walking to catch the tram to go to the party and Emily, who is from New Zealand, stops agast in front of this sign for "Conchord Dawn." Apparently this is a New Zealand drum & bass group that she used to go see and she cannot believe they are in Budapest. She decides to forgo the ISP and stay at "Club Cool" instead. Since this place is closer to my house, costs the same to get in, and I will not require sexy dancing, I stay with her. Conchord Dawn didn't come on until 2:30 and I left sweaty, exhausted and reeking like smoke but I had a really good time. I danced a lot and no one tried to dance with me. Perfect.

District 9: Have you seen this movie? I now have. I saw it at the theater last night with Anton, who is Zimbabwean and was interested in the fact that it's set in Johannesburg. I would never have watched this movie at home, and if I did I would have been pissed that I wasted 2 hours of my life. However, in this context it was so welcome. The movie was completely mindless, it was in English and I got to see crazy Aliens and lots of shit get blown up! The only down side is that Aliens and Nigerians don't speak English, so as far as I'm concerned they only spoke gibberish with Hungarian subtitles. This wasn't that big of a deal for me though. Plot development was not this film's strong suit. Also, I'm getting pretty used to having no idea what people are saying and guessing what's going on through context clues.

Units of measurement

A funny thing is starting to happen. I'm starting to feel, occasionally, like I live in Budapest. Granted, most of the time I feel like I have fallen from the sky unto an alien planet. But sometimes...

At the end of the day I'll think to myself "I want to go home." At first I was thinking of Akron, my parent's house, the house on N. Rose that I both loved and hated. But lately, when I think of "home" I'll catch myself thinking of my flat here. I do not feel like I belong here and I'm not really expecting to feel that way anytime soon but it's getting more comfortable. Excuse me -less uncomfortable.

Each day I have to challenge myself: to be more confident, to try new things, to get to bed at a decent hour. This is why I came here. I was tired of things being easy and guess what, Nona? Things aren't so easy anymore, are they?

I still get nervous every time I go somewhere that I haven't been before and then I don't want to go anywhere unless it’s school or home or the (shitty, expensive) grocery that's two blocks away.

Speaking of blocks. People don't know what I'm talking about when I say something is ____ blocks away. I cannot understand this, as it seems like such an obvious measure of distance. You know. BLOCKS. Instead my classmates will say something is ____ meters away, which I can't really grasp.

Thank you America, for your use of a measurement system that makes no sense. Now that I'm in Europe I no longer know how tall I am, how much I weight (okay, I didn't know that before I left - but I had an idea), or how far away anything is. Ever. I don't know how to measure food or cook it at the appropriate temperature. I burned an apple pie and I am not one to burn things (in the oven). I do not know how warm or cold it is outside by checking the temperature.

Basically, I feel like a complete idiot most of the time. Sure, I know that there are 1.6 kilometers in a mile, or 2.2 pounds in a kilogram but sometimes my brain just doesn't work that quickly. I walk a mile, leisurely, in about 20 minutes but I can't do math under pressure.

Oh, and I did I mention that most everything is in Hungarian here? Just a minor detail that makes getting around a treat. Many people speak some English, and if they don't I'm becoming very good at shrugging my shoulders (when being asked a question) or pointing and miming (when I'm doing the asking). When I'm at school or with friends I sometimes forget that I'm in a completely foreign place and then I go try to buy something at the store and get disoriented all over again.

My favorite (read: least favorite) thing that has been happening is that, very often I get exactly the opposite of what I ask for. Someone will ask me "For here or to go?" and I'll say "To go" and they'll give me a glass mug. Or they'll ask "Big plate or small?" and I'll say "Small," and then I'll be given a huge plate. I would think it was a language problem except that the person asked me my preference, which I took to mean that they understood the difference between the words “big” and “small.” I'm coming to terms with the fact that everyone just wants to fuck with me. Yeah, I get it. I understand- I can't speak your language and I'm obviously stupid and more obviously American and you can ignore my requests if you are so inclined. I'll just eat my left-overs for lunch tomorrow. So there.

To end things on a positive note - I have received my replacement credit cards and now have access to money. This means a lot of things that feel materialistic but cut me some slack, please. I really needed that Gucci bag. Seriously, though - it's very difficult to move to a new city and then try to spend as close to zero money as possible for the first month. Now: I can pay tuition. I can pay rent. I can try to establish an acceptable kitchen with at least 10 spices. I can buy a coffee pot. I can buy a winter coat and some sheets for my bed, if I am so inclined. And if things really go to shit I can buy a plane ticket home. Okay, I’m out of positivity now. And I have homework.