Pictures around town

On my way to work:

On my way home:

My hallway:

Real life encounters III

A conversation I had with a driver at a bus station while waiting for my inter-city bus. This took place in May in Sudak, a city in the very Russo-phone Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Driver: Hey, where are you going?

Me: To Yalta. But I already bought a ticket.

He begins to walk away, but I was bored and curious how much he wanted for a ride to Yalta, about 60 miles away.

Me: But how much to Yalta? I’d just like to know.

Driver: To Yalta? …$80.

I begin to laugh and walk away with a $5 bus ticket to Yalta in my pocket. As I do, he asks me where I’m from.

Me: Where do you think I’m from?

Driver: I don’t know, really. The Netherlands?

Me: No.

Driver: Then where?

Me: I’m from the USA.

Driver: America? What do you think of our land here? Do you like it?

Me: Of course, it’s very beautiful. The mountains and the sea…

Driver: Why are you here? Tourism?

Me: No, I’m a volunteer. I live in Lutsk. I teach English there.

Driver: A volunteer? Where do you teach?

Me: (realizing he probably doesn’t know where Lutsk is) At a university in Lutsk. It’s in western Ukraine, near the border with Poland and Belarus.

Driver: Oh, in Ukraine. There’s nothing there! Only trees and susliki!

Me: (not knowing the word suslik means “gopher”) Susliki?

Driver: Yeah, you know, susliki. (he puts his index and middle fingers to his mouth like giant rodent incisors and I get the point; his friends laugh)

Me: Oh, yeah. Well, there are many people there, too…

Driver: Yes, but the are weak. We are strong here because of the power from the land!

Me: Power from the land?

Driver: Yes, from the mountains! (he gestures toward a nearby mountain) And from the sea! (he gestures toward the sea)

Me: But have you ever been to Lutsk?

Driver: No, that’s Ukraine.

Me: Well where are we now?

Driver: We’re in Crimea!

Me: And you’ve never been to any part of Ukraine, not even Kyiv?

Driver: Nope, never.

A quite unbelievable statement, but I quickly got the feeling much of this conversation was in jest, anyway. I told him I had to catch the bus and he wished me well before returning to giggling his friends, who thought much of what he said was quite funny. I often tell this story to people in western Ukraine and they generally laugh at it. Especially the part about susliki.

Best picture 2009

This year is exceptional in that I’ve seen every movie nominated for best picture before the airing of the awards. This is thanks to “Raimunda’s” regular care packages and the Peace Corps movie-trading culture. Just in case you’ve forgotten, these movies are: Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Frost-Nixon, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I found the first four interesting, and would certainly recommend them. However, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is easily the worst of the lot. It’s kind of like the muzak of the group; not terrible and kind of fun to look at, but nothing special. It’s a love story without any other real substance.

For this reason, I submit three deserving alternatives:

Burn after Reading

This movie is f-ing hilarious. It’s obviously a return to Fargo-esque humor on the part of the Cohen brothers, but perhaps darker. One of John Malkovich’s best performances ever. Just imagine him irately saying: “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You’re part of a league of morons. Oh yes. You see, you’re one of the morons I’ve been fighting my whole life. My whole. Fucking. Life. ” Hilarious.

The Wrestler

I thought The Wrestler had an almost documentary quality to it. Many of the scenes look like they were simply shot on location without the awareness of the people on the screen. The result is a compelling movie about an interesting and novel topic. Finally, in an age were movie endings consistently suck, The Wrestler is a welcome exception.

The Dark Knight

Everyone knows this is the best movie of the year, but, of course, it wasn’t nominated. Maybe that’s the reason Christian Bale has been in such a bad mood lately.