Reflections on Cairo

I guess it's not particularly surprising that considering the events of the last few days that my mind would be flooded with memories of Cairo. Even though that is where my passport went missing (and thus launched a massive adventure which is chronicled in one of my longest blog posts ever) I still have incredibly fond memories of my time there. I'm including an odd little picture I took in Coptic Cairo at the Hanging Church, which speaks to the odd jumble of the ancient and the new in Egypt, and especially in Cairo. I'm glad that CNN finally stopped reporting on the events of Jersey Shore long enough to actually cover the event - which naturally kept me glued to the screen for hours. I was stunned that at one point they were talking to a reporter who admitted that since the Internet was down - and since he didn't speak Arabic - he didn't have much to add to the conversation. It was blindingly clear what a faint shadow of its former self - and what a pathetic joke - CNN had become; and that sadly it was still the best American news option. Thank god for the BBC app on my Droid. It was also amazing how CNN was spending so much time championing the role that Mubarak had played in suppressing Islamist parties and actions without recognizing that his tyrannical rule helped inspire that Islamist response. Until we stand on the side of freedom and meaningful reform we'll never recapture that very special place we held in the world's collective imagination. As one of my Arabic friends suggested - there was a time when America always stood up for the little guy in the face of oppression, and now we just play favorites like all the other bullying empires.

There Will Be Sauce!

Yes, it's that time again - the season when a young man's fancy (or an old man's stomach) turns to chicken wings. Once again the Gentlemen of Excellence (GOE) will be consuming a staggering amount of chicken wings for charity (at Ruben James on Super Bowl Sunday). This year I will be joined by the most excellent Erik Esckilsen. My partner from last year, Andy Burkhardt, is taking the year off because either his tender young system can't handle the strain or because (in his words) the competition has become too commercial (much like Charlie Brown and Christmas). So, we've brought in the more experienced and evil Erik Esckilsen (shown here during bowling excellence). Our "competition" will once again be Cyndi Brandenburg, her long-suffering husband Bill (who nearly didn't survive last year's competition, but who has been dragooned into service again) and several of her children. Granted, she is clearly cheating, but Erik and I will take the moral high road and compete even though we are now grossly outnumbered. Cyndi's team, also known as the Guild of Calamitous Intent (GCI), will doubtless have to live down the shame of its perfidious acts. Erik and I will be eating for COTS, the local homeless shelter in Burlington. We raised around $1200 for them last year, and hope to eclipse that figure this year. If you're interested in supporting the GOE by pledging either a set amount or so much per wing consumed, drop me an email at scudder@champlain.edu.

Spaghetti: Meal and Western

The other night my son came over for a theme night - Spaghetti and Spaghetti Western. We devoured a huge plate of spaghetti and rewatched Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (one of our favorites). It was a wonderful time. Last week I went to see Black Swan with my cousin Garrett, and we both loved it. The fact that I saw Swan Lake at the Bolshoi in Moscow last year (and, pathetically, cried at the end) probably made it resonate with me even more. It occured to me that I never blogged about the trip to the ballet, so I better go back and dig out my actual journal and reconstruct something.

Lunch with Mimi

Wednesday brought an unexpected treat - a visit from my sister Lisa and my Mom. They live on the other side of the state, and, unfortunately, I don't see them as much as I would like. My sister works at Dartmouth Hitchcock and moved up a year after I did, which makes her a Vermont resident - although six generations short of being a true Vermonter. They had never seen my apartment at the Q and had somehow convinced themselves that I was living in a wretched dorm, and they were pleasantly surprised at how nice it is. We hung around and chatted for several hours, and I treated them to lunch at the Shanty downtown (my Mom loves eating there). Of course, being my Mom, I had to sneak off and pay the bill before she had a chance to do so - as with all mothers, this always leads to a fight at the table unless it is handled delicately (and surreptitously). Mimi has been under the weather for most of 2010 so getting up to Burlington was a nice treat (especially for me).

Josefov

On the bitterly cold Thanksgiving day that began with my first visit to the Charles Bridge and ended with an unexpected turkey dinner, I also made a much too short visit to the Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. Naturally enough it was both fascinating and tragic. The Josefov is named after the revolutionary emperor Joseph II, the quintessential enlighened despot of European history. He ruled at the end of the 18th century and was essentially a century of more ahead of his time, which meant that most of his reforms unfortunately did not work as well as he had envisioned simply because he was so far ahead of his time. The famous story is that his grave includes the words "Here lies Joseph II, who, with the best of intentions, failed in everything he undertook" - the words were chosen by him. One of the sadder aspects of his "failed" reforms was his remarkably elightened treatment of the Jews. His policies were so favorable that many Jews poured into this part of the world, which would obviously have tragic consequences during World War II. Of the 40,000 Jews who lived in the tiny section of the Josefov I think only around a thousand survived to the end of the war. There actually aren't many Jews left in the Josefov itself now - and the area is mainly dominated by dozens of very posh shops. Because of time constraints (I had meetings scheduled with two universities) I did not go through the New-Old Synagogue, which is supposed to be very worthwhile - nor did I make it over to what is called the Spanish Synagogue (called that because of its "Moorish" architecture). The Jewish cemetary was pretty amazing - and obviously sobering - and it is dominated by thousands and thousands of tombstones jutting out at odd angles; there was only so much space inside the walls. Rabbi Loews, the person who is believed to have come up with golem legend is buried there - and every crack and crevice of his tombstone is full of slips of paper - wishes and pleas from believers. Outside the cemetary - with the stalls actually sharing a wall with the cemetary above it - are a series of touristy stalls. I picked up small golems for my friends Bob and Steve, and wish I would have purchased one for myself as well. I was going to pick one up for my good friend Sarah as well, but since she is great with child I figured that she might find it a big spooky (and, actually, when I gave her her gift [she's the only one of my friends who always gets a gift from overseas, since she's the person who "created" this blog in the first place] and explained my rationale for not getting her a golem she practically shuddered at the thought). Oddly, just as Greek tragedy and comedy came together to form a balanced view of life for the ancient Greeks, the visit to the Josefov produced a sobering balance to a pretty glorious Thanksgiving in Prague.

Gus

One of my favorite chores for the holidays is dog-sitting my good friend Mike's dog Gus. Mike, Jame and the boys have headed back to Nebraska and the housing plans for Gus fell through at the last moment, so he's bunking with me for the week. Fortunately, Gus is a very cool dog and is absolutely no trouble at all. Here's a great picture of him on one of our snowy walks. He has quickly become the official dog of the Q. When the students are here he just roams from room to room, always following the loudest noise (or the tastiest smell).

Stramberske Usi

On my last day in Prague, when I should have been packing, I went for one final walk around downtown to soak up the Christmas charm. Like most folks, I suppose, I will do anything to postpone unpleasantness, which is probably why I'm blogging now instead of finalizing my grades. Anyway, while walking through an outdoor market I stumbled across Stramberske Usi (Stramberk's ears), which are a traditional Czech delicacy. Stramberk is a town in north Moravia and the story (at least one of the stories) is that they were being beseiged by the Tartars in 1241. The Tartars, as was their wont, were chopping off the ears of the villagers to prove to their khan how many prisoners they had captured. The people hunkered down and prayed to God for assistance - and the combination of a terrible storm and the villagers breaching the dam - washed away the Tartars (again, there are other versions of the story, but I like this one). All that remained was a bag of ears. To commemerate their deliverance the Czechs still bake Stramberske Usi. They are something like ginger biscuits with honey and spice - and do sort of look like rolled up ears. The conical shape would allow for them to be stuffed with whipped cream and other goodies, which I guess is quite common. They were a popular gift for several of my friends, and actually made it back to the States unbroken.