Going Continental!: July 2005 Archives

Waldorf and Statler took me to hefner’s bar & cafe last night. Not to be confused with hefner, who I might want to check out. :-)

People-watching was a disappointment but the conversation lively: politics, religion, suspicion, language, livelihood. I’ve been learning about Turkey…the general population (if Waldorf is to be believed!) trusts and values their military in a way quite different than what I’m used to in the States. The notion of the military being used internally is anathema to Americans – so far off the scales of daily imagination as to be inconceivable. Statler mused on Germany’s bitter lessons about uses of the military – it seemed even harder for him to allow for the possibility of a different paradigm.

The gist of it is that the army in Turkey has guaranteed its persistence as a secular state – allowing fundamental Islamicists a certain range of democratic freedom, but then moving in, shutting them down if they start to gain too much power via non-democratic strategies. There is a growing wave of Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey now, with changes visible in the social interactions of neighbors…but “the people won’t stand for it” (I heard from someone else previously). Her sentiment was that the people are now casting about for a solution, a response to the insurgence (if I can use such a term?), but that ultimately they believe the military will step in if they don’t get the right combination of politicians elected for a long enough period to counteract the influence of this religious minority.

riding the rails in Germany.

For train schedules, www.bahn.de.

“People look around and wonder which backpack will change or end their life…” – Annmarie Sauer for the Chloride Epitaph

I haven’t felt suspicious, or under suspicion, too much, myself this summer. Yet the question of whether or not I ought to be is often there, just below the surface, straining for some subtle signal to spring it loose.

For all the differences that I can recognize, I don’t feel so far from my own cultural foundations. The pace is slower but the punctuation of events, the rhythm of daily life, seems about the same. I have not felt constrained in expressing myself, indeed perhaps I have been a bit more free to do so? Or is the sense of this the unconscious privilege of ‘americanness’ that keeps me unaware of people’s reactions, of their sense of being overwhelmed? At least I’ve been getting some coaching, lately. :-) One of these days I'll get to Claim [My] Treasure.

I’m staying next to a mosque, and heard beautiful singing from their workship service there this afternoon. It carried above the construction sounds of exterior renovation and into my consciousness as I meandered on the internet in quest of suitable tourist activities.

I’m still wending my way through info on the museums – there are only about 20 to which I’d like to go! Last time (2003) I did the Pergamon, and had a lovely walk through the Tiergarten. I’ve got my eye on a sand sculpture event (they import some outrageous amount of sand for this and beach volleyball!) I’m also on the lookout for outdoor concerts (especially the free kind). Plenty of sightseeing to do just around the city - if/when it stops raining. Gotta love searching the Internet, where one can also find the outrageous. For instance,

I’m not. :-) I’m being well-cared-for in lodging, meals, and fieldwork. Only two interviews so far, but one more is scheduled, and I have more leads to follow up. I’ve slept an inordinate amount the past two days. Seems I needed it. The foot has been a pain but mellowed out, finally (and I hope for good). I’m starting to consider tourism…

Imagine a life where one's awareness of the world is measured by knowledge of "wind and swell". Is it only romantic to picture the waters of the world connected in one fluid system? To pursue a life on the basis of low-pressure systems?

I learned that until ten years ago the swell was very predictable. Surfers could predict, seasonally, where the largest waves would be, where the storm systems tend to develop, and when. Now, these rhythms are much less reliable. They were historically so consistent that ancient (?) Hawai'ians could navigate by feeling the swell and orienting to the stars, sun, and moon.

It's always a pleasure to see a town with its natives. Well, that would be a local and a half-local. Here they are recalling old times. They had the nerve to call me a juvenile delinquent!

in Flemish country!

My extensive vocabulary (oui), is not appreciated here in Antwerpen. Alas!

I still enjoyed this morning's market, as I did the one in Brussels (where my limp French oui was acceptable at the level of "effort"). ;-)

"Pure nostalgia."

Dinner was fantab - asparagus, salmon, beets, salad, and vanilla pudding with gingerbread. :-)

"If he makes love like he plays music, there won't be much movement."

For ambience: Latin American Music.