Vecoliraptor

Protests on Bolotnaya

2011-12-11T03:07:00.004-05:00

Russians told us not to go to the protests yesterday. I wouldn’t have gone, on my own, but when I found a couple willing accomplices I decided I couldn’t miss. With three of us, at least there was a better chance someone would know not get arrested and know where the others of us were. I even decided to leave my passport at home and take a photocopy, although I decided to risk my camera (which

2011-12-09T23:54:00.001-05:00

Any city I’ve ever lived in, if you live in a 15-storey apartment building surrounded by other 15-storey apartment buildings, and you don’t wake up until 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, you will hear some kind of noises around you. Kids running around upstairs, vacuum cleaners, water in the pipes, etc. At the very least, if you look outside, you will see people rushing around the square because

Zabor

2011-11-25T15:45:00.001-05:00

When meeting new individual students, I like to spend the first lesson chatting about life. Students need a chance to get comfortable with their teacher, to get over being embarrassed about speaking to me. I need a chance to evaluate their levels and their speech patterns, their favorite phrases and typical errors, and of course their personalities and interests. Also, it's almost impossible

2011-11-23T10:28:00.001-05:00

This morning I had my first dark, cold bus misadventure. The misadventure being, I never made it on to the bus. Things started out so well. I’m supposed to catch a bus three metro stops from my house by 8:10 a.m., which means getting up by 6:45. It’s early for me these days, now that I’m used to the unemployed-person life of getting up at whenever I feel like it, but I was all on top of it,

2011-11-20T16:58:00.001-05:00

Tonight, I find myself suffering from what will be a much-regretted case of insomnia, due to my decision to sleep until noon when I needed to get up at 6:30 the next day. Silly. I am also using the opportunity to stress myself out about the future, partly because the future is stressful, and partly because stressing out about it is my default state. Somehow it seems to me that almost 2 a.m.

Escapism, and scones

2011-10-21T23:49:00.001-04:00

It is my opinion that everyone should have a few convenient escapist fantasies. In order to cope with my period of nomadic uncertainty, which as far as I can tell will soon take me to Moscow, and in order to comply with my stated opinion, I have revived one of my old escapist fantasies. In this fantasy, after a lifetime of traveling all over the world doing various exciting and important things

2011-10-12T17:00:00.002-04:00

I decided the other day that I might be too imaginative for situational judgement employment tests. Take the following example that I just made up. Test question: You have been working with a team on a high-profile project that has run into delays. While the team leader is out of town, you go out with your team after a stressful day of work to unwind. Your team members start complaining

2011-09-24T01:07:00.002-04:00

Поздней осенней ночью, на маленьком чердаке в доме, недалеко от восточной окраины столицы, недавняя выпускница факультета политологии Колумбийского университета сидела у стола и смотрела искоса на компьютерный экран. На столе одна лампочка горела, в лампе без абажура. На полу чердака лежал матрас, а никакой другой мебели не было. Все ее вещи были или разбросанны на полу, или еще в чемодане. У

2011-09-24T00:57:00.000-04:00

Поздно днем, пока солнце не закатилось, Алеша бродил по лужам мимо кафе, ресторанов и маленьких магазинов на улице в тихом районе Детройта. В том году апрель завершился неожиданно теплой и сухой, но май пришел дождями и грозами. Алеше дождь понравился. Он ходил с мокрыми ногами и искал ресторан, подходящий для прощальной встречи с давними друзьями. Улица, по которой Алеша гулял, была

Old photos

2011-01-21T00:50:00.007-05:00

Chances are everyone who reads this blog has already seen my Facebook pictures, but I feel like these pictures can be appreciated twice.

Homeless

2011-01-19T16:55:00.003-05:00

I realized the other day that none of the jobs I thought I might want when I came into the program actually appeal to me very much at the moment.When I started at U of M, I probably would have listed the foreign service, USAID, and private development organizations as my top employment choices. The degrees I'm earning now would seem to make those goals a lot more achievable. The problem with

Word pollution

2011-01-18T22:22:00.003-05:00

I haven't been posting much in the last year and a half or so, for a couple of reasons. The first and foremost, of course, is that as a graduate student, I spend all my time reading and writing and prefer to get away from my computer when I have spare time. The other reason is perhaps connected to being a graduate student as well. Being constantly inundated with readings, and spending so much

Linguistic incompetance

2010-10-20T00:22:00.000-04:00

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Today, I tried reading a few passages of “Why Russia is not America,” by some guy names A. P. Parshev, about whom I know nothing, except that he wrote this book, which apparently was extremely popular in

Age

2010-10-14T03:46:00.000-04:00

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Yesterday I went to ask Professor So-and-so for his advice on the idea of applying to a political science PhD program. The impetus for this is that I’m enjoying my studies quite a lot, but am currently

Age

2010-09-29T12:58:00.002-04:00

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Yesterday I went to ask Professor So-and-so for his advice on the idea of applying to a political science PhD program. The impetus for this is that I’m enjoying my studies quite a lot, but am

Dropping in

2010-09-10T21:19:00.004-04:00

For some reason, after failing to post for over a year (and obviously, losing the attention of anyone who ever read this) I felt like writing a post today.I attribute my year of not posting to a year of confusion; having no idea what I was trying to be, what face I wanted to present, etc., etc., etc. I think I felt like I had to reinvent myself into someone employable, and wasn't sure what that

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!

2009-08-24T12:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning I woke up early and heard some geese flying over. I guess they were headed south. It seems a little early, seeing as how it's supposed to be 90 degrees F tomorrow, but I guess they'll get some good real estate for the winter.Me, I'm heading north for winter. More evidence that geese are smarter than me.So I'm packing up today (always a longer process than you think it's going

Transfiguration, languages and transplanted religions

2009-08-19T09:57:00.002-04:00

Last night I sang with the Orthodox choir for Transfiguration.When you transplant a culture, or a religion, to a new country, you always have language issues. Nowadays most people like their services to be in languages they understand, with the exception of some traditionalist Catholics who still like Latin masses, and probably some other people I don’t know about who still maintain old

Personality swap

2009-08-15T21:33:00.008-04:00

A year ago, moving out to DC, I decided that I needed to change my ways.Specifically, I needed to change my unemployed ways into employed ways.This, I felt, would require significantly greater attention to things like deadlines and not wearing dirty sandals to work than I had exhibited in my previous life as a student/part time retail employee/Peace Corps Volunteer. I began devoting significant

Beef bacon basil rolls

2009-08-14T09:47:00.001-04:00

OK, so, I made these with stuff that was hanging around my house, except for the celery, which I bought for this purpose. Luckily the store sells individual celery stems by the pound, so the celery was about 29 cents and I didn’t have to worry about the rest of it going bad, which my celery always does. Basically what happened was that I wanted to use up some of the meat

It's lonely when you're not in a club

2009-08-13T10:06:00.001-04:00

I’m back in the lonely corner at work.All the interns here sit in groups of study station type cubicles, lacking barriers in between, where they bump into each other when they move around in their rolly office chairs. There’s a cluster of four cubicles, and a cluster of six cubicles, and a cluster of two cubicles.Since we’re on the Europe/Eurasia floor, we make a lot of jokes involving the

Cyber annoyance

2009-08-11T14:35:00.001-04:00

"But that place doesn't affect me. It's sooooo far away!"Oh yeah?Just remember Georgia the next time you want to Twitter.

Why old people don't suck

2009-08-05T18:11:00.003-04:00

A revelation: I am not in all ways inferior to the people younger than me and all around me who can still run on two hours of sleep and six cups of coffee while planning their road trips and purchasing concert tickets.Good to be reassured of that.

And the winner for buffest world leader goes to..

2009-08-05T14:30:00.005-04:00

I don't think there's any appropriate response except to all leave our husbands for Vladimir Putin.Oh wait, is he trying to get votes or something?

My new Starbucks fix

2009-08-04T10:35:00.005-04:00

I just started drinking double breve espresso con panna. That means a little bit of steamed half and half, two shots of espresso, and whipped cream on top. Strong coffee taste, but the cream and sweetness take away the unpleasant bitter part. Plus, it's cheaper than a latte.P.S. When this order got called back to the barista this morning, I heard her go "WHAT?!" in outrage. Ha ha.

National meal day

2009-07-31T21:55:00.005-04:00

Today, at long last, at least three years after the first time someone tried to get me to learn to cook some national Azeri meals, I made some (more or less national) Azeri plov and grape leaf dolma, all by myself. The national pastimes in which people wanted me to engage while I was living in Azerbaijan included cooking national meals, learning to dance to national music,

E-Z shorcuts for clever headlines ;D

2009-07-29T09:43:00.004-04:00

I suspect those pesky British, with their fondness for puns, of being responsible for the massive number of headlines taking advantage of the words "Czech" and "check" being homophones in English. “Czech’s in the post” “Czech this out” “Czechs mate art with money” “Czech’s mates are honoured” “It’s Czech, mates” “Czechs mate a big Chevy with muscle” “Czech out some summer specials” When I

Two thumbs up

2009-07-27T10:16:00.001-04:00

Vecoliraptor likes this :D :D

Ordering at Starbucks: Q & A

2009-07-17T17:26:00.005-04:00

Now that I work as a barista, I occasionally get questions from people about various Starbucks menu details or ordering etiquette. A fair number of people tell me that they don’t “speak Starbucks,” that strange sequence of drink descriptions that baristas are always shouting at each other. Not infrequently, people order some vaguely complicated drink and then ask me, with

Less reliable than your average real estate

2009-07-14T14:53:00.003-04:00

Did you know islands can float? Me neither.

Finland- Wife-carrying champs

2009-07-08T15:05:00.002-04:00

Click the picture to learn more about this illustrious sport.

Oh my

2009-07-08T13:13:00.003-04:00

Faust-style small credit. Creepy.

A little competition. Bite-size competition, even.

2009-07-07T15:54:00.003-04:00

I noticed two different coffee shop-market type places within a block of my internship offering coffee and muffin deals to rival the McStarbucks Coffee Combo Meal.Bet they're not going to take over the market anytime soon, though.For myself, I'll keep getting my employee discount muffin and drinking the free office coffee. $1.42. Mmm.

Saint Ahmed, Calligrapher

2009-06-29T20:46:00.003-04:00

On Sunday I learned that the Orthodox Church has a Saint Ahmed the Calligrapher.Saint Ahmed was a Muslim and a clerk at the Great Archives in Constantinople (no, not Istanbul), until he converted to Christianity and eventually got executed for it like they did back in those days.How very cross-cultural.

More victory chickens

2009-06-24T07:31:00.002-04:00

Chickens were in The Economist again this week. Apparently they're being sold in larger numbers as people continuing producing their own food to cut down on grocery bills. We're Azerbaijanifying for sure.

Me and the Eastern Europeans

2009-06-16T22:34:00.003-04:00

I recently started my new internship. Since the focus of my department is on Eastern Europe, I've been working with two Hungarians, a Bulgarian, a Lithuanian, an Albanian, an ethnic Hungarian from the United States and an ethnic Pole from Great Britain.Who brought in the girl from Utah with family ties to Idaho?Despite the director of the department apparently being under the impression that my

Let's drink to you, let's drink to me, let's drink to all Russian gas

2009-06-16T22:31:00.004-04:00

Absolutely amazing.

More beer! Get excited

2009-06-10T15:19:00.001-04:00

Baku-- producing something besides oil and wedding palaces. The ubiquitous CIS beer expands further.According to online news source ABC.AZ, Russia's largest brewer Baltika (a subsidiary of Denmark-based beer major Carlsberg) is on the verge of officially opening its Azerbaijan-based brewery Baku-Baltica, after upping the existing facility's production capacity from 7mn to 10mn decalitres and

My choir

2009-06-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

The church I go to and the choir I've been singing with. Just in case anyone likes churches or choirs or Slavonic or Russian Orthodox things or people sneakily filming the church during the service.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vva3HKkoudI&feature=channel_page

The deal with Detroit

2009-06-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

The fact that this graphic resembles a dinosaur only sort of cheers me up.In all honesty, I've been worried about Michigan for months, and not only because I'm going there. I occasionally do web research on its economic condition. Does anyone have any insight into its current economic prospects?

A Bulgarian Thomas Crown affair

2009-06-04T21:27:00.006-04:00

Apparently, Bulgaria has a problem with art thieves.Who apparently, were clever enough to steal this in the middle of the night without anyone noticing.What can I say? Well done.

This makes me smile

2009-05-23T23:47:00.001-04:00

http://www.photographyserved.com/Gallery/Azerbaijan-under-the-moon/183876

Singing for Saints Cyril and Methodius Day

2009-05-23T23:14:00.001-04:00

I got to sing with the choir at Vigil for the first time today. I found out I might be allowed to sing at church a couple weeks back. Previously I had been under the impression that, what with me not being a member of the Orthodox Church, this would not be possible since the choir plays such an important role in the service. Then a couple Sundays ago, I had the following exchange with one of

Discipline

2009-05-16T21:27:00.001-04:00

On Thursday we had to suspend two students for fighting and one for swearing. They're in second and third grade. Sigh. They're all nice kids too, when they're not being violent and profane. I hope they get sufficiently disciplined at home and/or grow out of it. Hopefully by Wednesday when they're allowed back in class.

A highly original sales tactic

2009-05-12T23:00:00.001-04:00

"Sales Center"How much do you think they've sold?

Learning

2009-05-08T00:03:00.000-04:00

Studying lots and lots of Russian has resulted in needing to know Russian better. Can I really help translate political articles in a month? Eek.I'm getting worried about this school and internship stuff. I hope my brain is resilient enough for it...

Corrupting the youth

2009-05-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today I accidentally got into a discussion about peace and freedom and which is preferable in a case where you can’t have both… with my 8, 9 and 10 year olds. I didn’t mean to get into quite so detailed a discussion. I had asked them what “peace” meant, thinking they would say “no fighting,” and then we could move on into peace in the family meaning no fighting between

Prophets of the Old Testament/small children

2009-04-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today I feel like writing a post about two students, Solomon and Elijah. Two very big names for two very small people. Solomon and Elijah are both, to the best of my knowledge, six years old. Until recently, Solomon still drew those little kid pictures where people have no bodies and their limbs come directly out of their heads. Solomon and Elijah are constantly in

A strong native hospitality ethic

2009-04-25T22:52:00.000-04:00

I’ve been reading various books and articles about people of the Caucasus and their various interactions with the Russian people. It is a long and troubled history. It reminded me of a rather less sinister story I felt like writing down. Near the end of service in Azerbaijan in the summer of 2008, my friend Magda and I took a trip to see the village of Lahij in the Caucasus mountains. The bus

Lost voice. Please help find.

2009-04-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

I just got sent home from Starbucks because my voice gave out to the point where "double tall extra foam caramel macchiato" came out as "hhhuuuuxhkjsg." And of course I would have stayed if the manager hadn't told me to leave.It reminded me of the time senior year in college when I had a nasty cough for weeks, but I didn't get any sleep because I kept working late nights at the paper, and then I

Happy Easter!

2009-04-21T00:12:00.000-04:00

I think it would be difficult to exaggerate how very much more joyous the Orthodox Easter service and the subsequent celebration were to those who are actually Orthodox and followed Orthodox Lenten fasting traditions than to myself.Personally, I spent a great deal of the time going, "Huh?" while standing up for multiple hours listening to Slavonic that I didn't understand at around 2:30 in the

Ooo money for grad school

2009-04-17T21:46:00.000-04:00

WolverineWolverineWolverinePossibly also a Wolverine.Which is to say, the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan has found lots more money to fund me for my first year of study and I've been admitted to the Ford School of Public Policy for a duel degree. Michigan, here I probably come!

Overtime

2009-04-16T22:26:00.001-04:00

I feel like I've noticed an unusual number of people lately holding two jobs to make ends meet. How many people are doing that right now? Was it always common and I just didn't know?

But here the daybreak is quiet

2009-04-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

I'm about halfway through a film called А зори здесь тихие. So far, this particular old Soviet film... not half bad. I wonder if it exists with subtitles.

Unpack your adjectives

2009-04-09T21:21:00.000-04:00

Wow. Working two jobs really cuts into my blog posting time. This is most especially true on the days when I have to get up at five to walk to work, and work maybe six hours at one job and four at the other, and spend about three hours of my day commuting between home and my jobs, and get home around eight thirty which all together equals… bah. I’ll let my kids do the

McStarbucks

2009-03-23T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am amused by the efforts of Starbucks to hone in on McDonalds' market and McDonalds to hone in on Starbucks' market.Note to Starbucks: if people want an egg mcmuffin combo meal, they go to McDonalds.Note to McDonalds: if people want a latte, they go to Starbucks.Which one of you stared this whole thing anyway?

Adventures in Cakeland

2009-03-21T00:22:00.001-04:00

I could pretend I'm not pretty proud of myself for making these cupcakes.But I would be a liar.

Starbucks and a combo meal

2009-03-05T22:39:00.000-05:00

In Which Maria Puts On the Hat of a Barista (Figuratively, not Literally, because they Didn't Have a Hat for her Yet)Today, I began Barista 100 Level Training at Starbucks, which altogether, mostly involved sitting at a table reading extraordinarily digestible publicity materials (digestible like processed food. not good, but not tough), sampling coffee and pastries, and writing my impressions

Victory chickens... beating the recession

2009-03-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

Who can blame people for wanting to grow a little bit of their own food in a time like this? The recession can't take away dirt and sunshine!Apparently these modern day victory gardens are a big enough idea to warrant the attention of The Economist, who notes that in Arkansas "[c]lasses are being offered on canning vegetables and raising chickens."Maybe all that food storage wasn't just a "weird

The system works. Honest.

2009-02-27T00:02:00.001-05:00

A report of the first and only free and fair post-Soviet election in Azerbaijan:"Observers saw voting 'irregularities,' most of which seemed not to be intended to unfairly influence the election, but more as a reflection of the popular understanding of democracy. One person, one-ballot voting predominated in cities, but in villages, it was common for the head of the household to cast ballots for

Reading for third and fourth graders

2009-02-23T09:57:00.001-05:00

Help third and fourth graders' education! Tell me what your favorite kids' books are. If you still remember it, it must be good :).

RAWR!

2009-02-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

I feel like a dinosaur today.For one thing, it's that kind of day where it's just chilly enough to be energizing, but still sunny and gorgeous. I noticed this as soon as I went out to buy sesame seeds and cheap green onions and broccoli at the ethnic grocery store, and I've been feeling good ever since.For another thing, it's Saturday so I stayed up until 2 and slept in until 9:30. I can do

The blight man was born for

2009-02-21T01:31:00.000-05:00

Any man who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart.Any man who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.I'm tempted to expand on this often misattributed quote;We pay for idealism with disillusionment. Maybe the final result is wisdom.And my further hope;Perhaps the end result of wisdom can be joy.Not to add to the clogosphere will self-indulgent personal reflection.

Medvedev- professional translation :)

2009-02-21T00:09:00.000-05:00

I found this Medvedev videopost in English. There's a new one, but I haven't found it in English yet. I'll keep looking.http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/sdocs/vappears.shtml

Number theory

2009-02-17T23:50:00.001-05:00

Ok, so try this--Choose three digits for a three-digit number. For example, 674.Reorder them into a new number. 476.Subtract the smaller number from the larger one. 674-476___198Add two of the digits together and subtract them from the next highest multiple of 9.8+9=1718-17=1It gives you the remaining digit.Does anyone know anyone who knows why this works? A book suggested teaching it to my

Questions for the natives

2009-02-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

In the interest of considering outside perspectives of our country, I lifted this from www.fritzmorgen.livejournal.com (http://fritzmorgen.livejournal.com/183853.html?page=1#comments), ranked in the top 10 most popular blogs by the Russian search engine yandex. The translation is my own, my apologies for the rough patches. Any thoughts for Mr. Fritz Morgen?The truth about

Tolerance

2009-02-14T22:52:00.000-05:00

How does the American focus on the moral standards of tolerance and equality affect Americans who move to places where people are genuinely very different? How many assaults on crucial American beliefs can people take before tolerance and equality crumble? In reality, I don’t think it takes very much to crack the tolerant front put on especially often by young Americans. I don’t mean to say

Peace Corps Career Week

2009-02-12T22:40:00.001-05:00

In Which Maria wears a Suit for the First Time in her Life, and Decides she Doesn't Really Mind it, except the Button-up Shirt Always Comes UntuckedI had some hopes for the career fair leading me somewhere useful, but mostly I found it to be an exercise in what I already know.What I already know being the following: I have no experience on my resume to impress anyone not involved in education,

2009-02-09T21:16:00.001-05:00

It's amazing how kids' problems can sort of be the same as adults' problems, and yet so very different.Actual exchange with a student today after he ran out of the room sobbing:Me: Lonell, kiddo, calm down. What happened?Lonell: Israel be messing with me. He said the earwax on the table was mine.Wow.I guess I don't like it when people mess with me either... but earwax?

2009-02-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

I starting this blog because I miss writing and this is the lowest pressure form of writing I can think of. No one has to approve of it or even read it, and I can delete anything I want. Also, unlike working on a student newspaper, I don't have to feel horrible about every typo and staying up until 3 a.m. doing page layout and missing a mistake in a headline.I'm also hoping this will motivate