Larb is Thai for death.....at least it should be.  Actually, larb (larp, laab) is a spicy lao salad dish  served with chichken, duck, fish, or beef.  In all my years of spice I have never come across anything this hot, or with so much heat.  For those unaware of Asian heat, it isn't like the chincy Frank's Red Hot, it isn't a front heat at all.  It is a total oral meltdown reminiscent of watching an H-bomb mushroom cloud in your tasting orifice!  leah, who is well-versed in heat thanks to her father, was quick to say, between gulps of milk, bread, and tears, that it had the same heat as the hottest of her father's Thai dishes ... which says a lot.  Needless to say, we have eaten like the locals and suffered like no other.  Aside from the two attempts at eating like the locals, life has been good.

 

I start teaching on Tuesday.  The process of preparation has been made easier in my case because I had great predecessors who left behind wonderfully detailed yearly and monthly planners.  For Leah this is not so much the case.  However, she is sharp enough to make it work and has already impressed those around her with her personable demeanour and energetic teaching style.  The institution itself, Lertlah (Thai for 'the best') is riddled with the typical bureaucratic backwardness of a new school, but it does have great potential.  The people are nice, helpful, and decent.  In a few years I can see the bugs being ironed out and the whole place really coming in to its own.

 

I am heading out to Cambodia on Monday to renew my tourist stamp for 30 more days.  After that I should be able to get my working permit and non-immigrant B visa that allows me to stay in the country for a year.  The headache I went through trying to determine how to get the proper paperwork was tedious but I won't go in to detail here.  Suffice to say it was not a good few days in Daveland :(

 

I feel ready to teach.  I have set up all my lesson plans, determined my format, added and addended, and now just have to meet the kids and hope I don't frighten them to the point of insomnia :)  I am sure it will be fine, but I of course worry.  I think its natural to worry about how efficient one will be in this setting.  If anything it keeps us on our toes.  I just hope these pointy shoes I brought can support my weight!

 

D.A.E.

    SO it's been two weeks since I left my temperate home in Canada for the tropical monsoon season of Thailand.  Just to give you all an idea of what the next 3 months has in store for my travelling companion and I, it is currently 31C but with humidity it feels like 42C.  Now before you turn green with envy I want you to realize that to submerse yourself in this type of weather means you must first come to terms with having a constant layer of film on your body as it tried to manage your internal body temperature.  Additionally, any delusions of a cooler season, where it's sunny yet not enough to give you a heat rash after a 20 minute stroll, should be banished from your mind.  Now that the unpleasantries are out of the way, let's move on to the smilie stuff :)))

    The people here hold a stern face as you pass by, but worry not because it's just a facade.  Send a little smile their way and they will instantly split from ear to ear.  The women are flirtatious, especially the older ones (this may be an  isolated incident...the older ladies think I am candy!)  The men are bold with their gazes but not brash enough to incroach on your personal space, sans alcohol of course!  And the food is both good and inexpensive.  When I walk out my door there is a vendor cooking food across the one-lane road.  Around the corner, literally, there is another, and at the next corner I find fruits and veggies for sale!  All the amenities are close at hand.  Allbeit, taxi's have to be sought out, not called, since there is no regluarity to street numbers or house addresses; 19 Kaset-Nawamin Road could easily be between 118 and 56.  Thankfully the drivers are good enough to follow your written directions or sketched maps.  All in all, seems good so far!

    I have a job interview on Tuesday with a private scool called LPS (Lert Pattana Language School).  The offer seems decent, especially for a bloke with no previous teaching experience.  I am hoping it doesn't turn in to a lunchbag letdown ... I only have another 2 weeks before my 30 day Visa runs out and I have to make a re-entry trip!  With employment I can get my work permit and avoid all that hullaballoo!  If all else fails, I will be forced to mail myself to Laos and have Leah pick my up when our year here is done!  I am hoping for the former :P

    I have a booked weekend thanks to Leah and her new work buds.  This should be fun!  Kinda been cooped up in the apartment for a few days (we aren't near the central hub by any stretch of the imagination).  I should enjoy this quiet time because I have a feeling there's a storm a' brewin' !!!

 

for now...

 

D.A.E.

 

So here I sit in my hotel room at the Ibis Haumark, approximately 15 kilometres from the airport.  That airport was my first glimpse in to my new life, and the final adieu to my 30+ hours of flying.  In my first blog I wrote of traveling to Budapest, and 8.5 hour flight that was plagued by my affinity for alcohol.  Well, if you plan on flying for more than 10 hours at a time I must suggest you grow a few extra layers of flub on your rear for comforts sake.  We has an unexpected stop over in Anchorage, Alaska to refuel (a proposed 15 minute layover that became 90 minutes for unknown reasons ... I suspect drug trafficking in to Hong Kong, or illegal cockfighting).  By the time the typhoon had passed in Hong Kong we had missed our flight and a short layover turned in to a 6 hour delerium.  Yes, byt the end of our travels, and final laydown in in a 'classy' Bangkok hotel, I had been awake in excess of 44 hours straight!  God, I wish I could sleep on planes...

 

Aside from all that jazz the last week has been rereshing: Leah and I went to Koh Chang (Elephant Island), stayed at a fairly relaxing resort, went touring the island and a few fishing villages, spent a day fishing and turning our skin several shades of red, and enjoying relentless thunderstorms at night that shake the earth not unlike a volcano.  All in all, it has been swell.  I have a new love for soups ... judge me all you want, I like soup!!!  And I also have a new appreciation for  Thai's that try to communicate with you despite language barriers.  It is true that they are kind to a level that is murderous (especially the street touts and vendors), but at least they do not all run away at the sign of difficulty.  There is definitely waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more English here than in Hungary, which makes everything that much easier day to day.

 

Well, I don't have a whole lot to say.  It's late and I am just starting my new adventure.  Tomorrow Leah and I get to see where she will work, her temporary lodgings, and a lavish 2 bedroom apartment an Aussie expat is renting out nearby.  I am hoping it all goes well.  Oh yeah, I should start looking for work as well :P  Soon, very soon...my wallet is tsrating to get lonely without money in it!

 

Until the next time

 

D.A.E

 

PS : I put p some pics as well, check them out! Beautiful landscaape here in the 40 C tropical monsoon country!

The day trip to Vienna was really exciting, I must admit.  I roamed the monumental streets of a city that operated as the capital of an empire several hundred years old.  It was amazing how many things I saw that reminded me of people I know: from street signs, park animals (people's pets, not people themselves), statues, and even the food from time to time :)  Anyhow, it was alot of fun.  However, I think this batch of pictures will be the last time I focus on architecture.  Although I am happy with the pictures, Vienna broke my photographic spirit for buildings and monument, it was just too decadent for me.  I hope in the future to take more photos of my real joys, my friends and everyday life.  Take care and I hope you enjoy!

 

D.A.E.

Today I was fortunate enough to attend a small gathering of CEU friends in a celebration to the birth of spring.  For my friends back home it appears to be the Jewish equivalent of Beltaine expect: its earlier in the year, involves eating abundant amounts of fruits, has no firewalking, and acknowledges only one diety.  I enjoyed myself enormously, especially with the hospitality of our great hostesses Ariana and Nancy. 

 

The day continued with a trip to Statue Park, a place on the edge of town where the Hungarans decided to toss all the Communist relics previously spattered across the city following the velvet revolution.  Some objects are of mammoth proportions, while others are simply incomprehensible in meaning.  It is a small park, which lends further to the imposing character of the artwork.  My favourite scene wasn't even part of the tour, actually: it was a bunch of statues laying on the ground around a corner being wrapped for shipping.  Their poses remind me of soldiers being lined up and sent home in bodybags; an image that has been tactically prohibitted from Western news channels since the beginning of 2002.

 

I also put up another album previous to the latest with photos from a few nights ago.  It ins't much but I promised to put them up, so enjoy!

 

I want to thank everyone again for a wonderful day and an amazing breafast plus dinner!  I look forward to many more travels in your company...

 

D.A.E.

It seems I have hit my monthy limit for uploading pictures so many of the really great shots of us at some locals personal wine cellar will have to wait for a while.  Eger was beautiful.  It's a small yet attractive city, with many of the traditional styles common to houses throughout Hungary.  The memorials and artefacts preserved from the time of Turkish occupation adds to the already present richness of the archtectural decor.  I would definitely go back to Eger, or even live there if the fates decide.  The company I travelled with were entertaining from start to finish.  From swigging palinka at 9 in the morning to losing party members to drinking casks of wine on the train, not a single moment was marred with boredom or doubt.  My first experience outside of Budapest I will always remember.

 

I will try to find another site to load my pics on and if I do I will post it so everyone knows where to find them.  If not, then rest assured that February 1st they will be up.  UPDATE: go to www.facebook.com  andsearch for me by name.  Pics are all there.

 

Happily hungover,

 

D.A.E. 

There are two types of tear gas used by the riot police in Budapest.  The first possesses a fairly rank odour and causes you to tear up in the same way as getting a broken nose.  The second type is much less forgiving: assailing your lungs with a peppery toxin that makes the bronchial passage convulse under the irritation of what would normally require one to consume mass amounts of cayenne, and also setting all the facial pours ablaze (making the tears and inability to see a secondary concern).  I was shrouded in tear gas not once, not twice, but ten times today, two of which were of the type two classification listed above.

 

The day started off fairly well.  Left the dorm with two of my Canadian brethrens and marched over to the Buda side of the river to view a new monument to '56.  Then went on a hike up the side of Cathedral Hill, where the Liberty Statue towers, and back down again.  After we went to CEU to watch the conference with Governor George Pataki of New York State.  All these pictures, including the various sites, will be posted soon.  After this, at about 3:30pm we marched over to Heroes Square where most of the happy festivities were to take place.  With only one street to go we marched staright in to the middle of a warzone between the riot police and the extreme right wing.  The street was lined with protestors for 3 kilometres, tens of thousands of peole, right wing, left wing, the indifferent, you name it!  It was initially about the political climate and Gyursany's lies, but another dimension, the dimension of the democratic right to freedom of expression, that united many political spectrums under one banner. 

 

The police were unrelenting in their assaults, hitting buildings that posed no threat and firing rubber bullets into crowds that were merely spectating (children included) and displayed not only zero hostility, but lacked the numbers to acutally do more than bark profanity at the hundreds of boys in blue.

I spent three hours within a few dozen metres of the front line.  People were dragging giant leters in to the street to spell 'Liberty' while others were simply trying to find a venue for them and their children.  I know this all seems so romanticized, and in part I have emphasized what could be termed as the 'good nature' of these events.  There were instances such as the rioters building barricades to slow police vehicles, using bricks designated for city renewal, and at one point, in front of my very eyes, a number of them managed to start a 60 year-old tank T-34 Russian model) that was part of a memorial presentation for the anniversary.  How they managed to start it, and more amazingly, how the fuel inside managed to still be of combustible (let alone present) is beyond me.  By the end of my journey, at approximately 7pm, near the Astoria metro station, I found myself standing amongst thousands who were attending a right wing rally led by none other thatn the leader of the opposition Solyom.  Although I did not agree with his political platform, supporters, or methods, I do find it extremely offensive that at a peaceful protest rally, forced from its week-long position at the parliament building, was assailed from 100 metres away by tear gas (type two).  The crowds at this place showed no signs of agression but did show 'Solidarnosh'.  They were targetted not for any other reason than the fact that the riot police had been at it for 3 hours and probably thought 'hey a group of people, lets keep firing tear gas'  when instead they should have known from the constant helicopter surveillance and extensive coverage of the rally at Astoria that perhaps there was need for restraint.

I am exhausted now, and need to sleep.  Mass protests are extremely exhaustive.  If anyone see my mom just ley her know I am okay and not involved...its better that way.

 

For now...

 

D.A.E.

So, get cultured they say, learn the ways of the world they say.  Well I say fine, lets get this party a-rollin'!  Tonight I had the pleasure of sitting down with three very interesting characters.  First is my friend Javid from Azerbaijan, the next is a new fellow from Puerto Rico named Phillip, and the other is Ian from Penticton, British Columbia.  Javid was kind enough to introduce me to the art of Shisha smoking, a middle eastern custom of water pipe technology for the purpose of inhaling flavoured tobacco.  Sweet melon was the flavour of choice which I must say goes down better than any other inhalable substance and has the most relaxing effects on the mind.  I have found a peace of mind that could only be attained through a passtime refined throughout the ages!  I can only say this: if you have not had the pleasure then I suggest you find the means to experience such a wonderful liesure activity if it is within your means.  I would like to clarify that this is not the same as a Hookah, there is no THC content...although this is easily added if so desired.  Now I read, and then sleep...

 

D.A.E.

Alright, so the weekend has almost past and I managed to go out and absorb some of the culture here.  The newest batch of pics was to be of the protests scheduled in Heroes Square but the right wing party cancelled it because they feared a violent outburst.  Needless to say, protestors do not need politicians to be present and a small rally did form but I only witnessed the procession up Andrassy utca and not the actual rally.    Apparently though there was around 40,000-50,000 people out at parliament Saturday night again calling for the PM’s resignation, but no serious episodes of violence were reported. 

Instead of the rally I went to the famous Széchenyi Bath House next to Heroes Square.  I have never been so content to be alive as I was after the mineral baths.  If there is anything people need to do once in a while it is soak themselves for a few hours in the natural thermal waters of Budapest. The skin becomes soft as a newborn baby and the mind is at ease.  After this I went to Heroes Square but the rally had moved to parliament by then.  This allowed me to take pictures of the monuments commemorating Arpad and the other leaders of the 7 tribes that settled in the Carpathian basin over 1200 years ago, soon to become the Kingdom of Hungary. 

I should also mention that we went to a bar the night before called Szimpla, which is actually in the old Jewish quarter.  I did bring my camera but did inot snap any of the architecture.  The buildings have not been repaired much since the 1940s and it reminds me of the photos from the same period when the Nazi party was collecting Jews into these projects.  The doorways are narrow, the walls unfinished stone, windows have no sign of ever being able to close, and the urinals in the men’s room is little more than a long wall with a slight ledge near the knees so you do not sully your feet.  I really enjoyed that bar, which from the outside looks no more like a place you really should not be!

The one thing I have noticed through my limited travels here is the similarities between Budapest and Vienna in style and architecture.  You can really tell that in past centuries there was a strong competition between the two for international attention.

Anyhow, I must report to the higher powers now but feel free to leave me a message if there is something you heard of that you would like to see here in Budapest or other questions of such nature.  I enjoy your emails and posts.

 

Regards,

 

D.A.E.

For those who do not know, there have been mass protests here in Budapest since Monday night.  The issue at hand is the release of a taped meeting where the prime minister admitted to lying in order to get elected almost 2 years ago.  The activity is isolated to the downtown core where parliament and the state television building are, which is about 40 minutes away from the dormitory but only 2 minutes from the university.  All the activity happens after sunset so the daytime is fairly calm.  Cars have been set ablaze, the state tv building stormed, and tear gas has crippled more than a few protestors.  The main antagonists of the demonstrations are primarily right wing politicians and extreme right wing supporters.  Although I support peaceful protests and in rare instances violent ones, I cannot help but be enraged at the participation of neo-Nazis and other skinhead types.  Sure they have a right to express themselves, I would never take that away from anyone, but to do so primarily through vandalism and endangering the lives of the peaceful protestors is abysmal.  I went last night (the third night) to see how the protests were going.  I have posted pictures as well.  It was not as ‘colourful’ as the first or second night but it was still very awe-inspiring.  Thousands were gathered at parliament, municipal police in their shoddy outfits lined the streets so that certain routes were restricted, and every now and then there was a column of riot police hiding amongst the darker streets ready to play cowboy once the word was given.  There is a mass protest set up by the right wing party that is taking place in Heroes Square this Saturday.   You bet your ass I will be there.  Watch out for pics from that too, which should look better since the rally is during the day.

 

Interesting times indeed…

 

D.A.E.

Ah Paris...uhm, I mean Budapest.  So today was my first venture downtown to the CEU campus and man it was wonderful!  I arrived about 1 hour ahead of my schedule so I decided to wander without a guide.  I chose two directions and walked 5 minutes in each.  The results are in the recently added photos.  You cannot walk across 6 cobblestones without stopping and reaching for your camera, it is breath-taking!  The university is crammed amongst the 5-storey buildings that make up about a 6 kilometre radius around the Danube River.  All of them easily range from 150 to 800 years old.  There are a few older buildings but I have not made it to the Buda side of the river.  The large stone complex on the hill is Buda Castle, which itself is possibly the oldest large-scale standing structure in Hungary.  I was going to go home after class but my friend Nino (seen in one of the pics) decided to take me to the river for a few drinks.  I was absolutely enamoured by the sights.  The pictures do not do justice to the magnificense of my surroundings.  I really don't have much else to say, aside from the fact that I am exhausted for the first time since I arrived, which means tonight I will actually sleep!

 

To my friends, I wish you were all here so I could show you the wonders I have seen.  To my enemies, I wish you were here so I could drown you in the river and watch you float away as so many have during the thousand-year history of this place.  Take care my friends, I think of you more often than you know...

 

D.A.E.

Okay, so the title is fairly inappropriate since I do not start classes until Monday, but I have been able to meet many people.  Actually, I just met someone from Poland just now.  I am starting to enjoy it here.  Many of the legal studies students are Russian, as is the buk of the people I have met.  My first friend was Nino, a small Georgian girl whose english is questionable at best but we manage.  I have met others, most prominently Javid, who is in his 4th year of Phd studies (an irreplacable source of knowledge on the local culture and night life).  I know I promised to put up some scenic pics but I still haven't been far.  I have been to the Arpad mall and the dormitory.  I put up pics of both.  The atmosphere here is of complete tolerance amongst the students which makes life sooo much more...tolerable.  Also, the rules on public order are relaxed as well.  Smoking is allowed in many public places but in designated areas.  These areas are not giant fish bowls either, they are in the middle of food courts and such.  They purvey the idea of Courtesy of Choice: acknowledging difference of lifestyles and habits.  You can drink anywhere, anytime!  Freedom of life is the key,not freedom from what your neighbour is doing a few feet away, if that makes any sense.  I will have more pics once I go to the university on Monday.  Until then...

 

D.A.E.

So here I am.  Sitting in the reception lobby of my new home and not understnding a lick of what is being said around me.  It is so bad that when I went to buy a large bottle of Pepsi (large is half a litre), I mistook the cashier's attempt at inquiring if I was a student as her speaking Hungarian...she wasn't impressed.  The flight here was the first time I have ever been on a plane (that I know of) and holy shit was that an experience.  For the people who have not been in a plane, picture a roller coaster launching itself from about 10km/hr to 500km/hr in 30 seconds...and then losing contact with the earth.  Even though its a pressure-controlled cabin the impact hits you in the chest in an almost sickening way.  I hoped that having been up for 18 hours I would sleep on the flight over...but no such luck.  And a warning for those who intend to fly for the first time and think that doing it half-cut is the best course of action, I plead with you to think again.  It makes the airport that much more unbearable, and when you board the flight you get to join a line of some 20 old-timers quivering to empty their tiny pea-sacks every twenty minutes.  Even though Malev Hungarian Airlines served free liquor, it still didn't help put me out.  If anything I found it even mre difficult to get comfortable.  It felt like Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian did an eight hour special and used my ass as the canvas.  Nonetheless, I am here now, desperately trying to decide between sleeping and exploring.  I know jetlag will kick in tomorrow so I think I will be kind to my body just this once...

 

I will have pictures up in the next few days for all to see, as well as a little rant on the airbus ride over to the dormitory.  all I have to say about that right now is until you have been over here, you haven't seen shit!

 

D.A.E. 

    I have had intentions to start up a Space for some time but, as with many projects, I was side-tracked.  So now its August and I have less than a month before I leave the shores of my homeland and travel to my ancestral homeland.  I decided to post pics from the last 2 years because I did not want those I have met to think that I have fogotten them.  I am not always the most reliable for keeping up-to-date with my friends but I assure you that I think of you often.  There are approximately another 200 pics I plan on putting up before I leave but at the moment I have reached my limit on allowed uploaded pics.  I plan on using this as a forum while overseas so every once in a while you can all check in here to see how things are moving along and also get a glimpse into the world I am about to become immersed.  If any of you have pics from events involving myself I ask you to send them to me if possible.  I know of more than a handful of instances where I have been promised copies of pics and have waited in vain.  But i suppose that is no worse than my inability to maintain regular contact with so many of you.  Hope the rest of the year treats you all as you have treated me over the years. 

 

Until the next great adventure...

 

D.A.E.