Vera



I have had cause of late to reconsider this blog. When I first started it, my idea was to create a kind of travelogue, an arena to share my travels with all and sundry, written with a vague photo-journalist voice muted with friendly distant soulless blog-speak. I deliberately decided to bleach this blog clean, keep it untarnished with any possible traces of my own personae. Why? Because, as the events of my life have shown me clearly, nobody really wants to know the real me: the dark and brooding thoughts that sometimes cloud my mind, the unconventional hopes and desires that sometimes offend and disturb the more normal (sane?) of my associations, the random philosophical ramblings that leave people walking away and shaking their heads with either pathetic empathy or frustrated annoyance. I am the proud possessor of a lifetime legacy of having pushed those closest to me away. Hence, I decided, to leave myself out of my blog. Better just to give you pretty pictures, no?

But then, I must ask, why should I do that? Why should I do that? Anybody can google info on Greek holidays, and probably learn much more than I could describe from my own limited excursions. Is that the purpose of my existence, and is that how I choose to utilize the internet, this dumping ground for each of our own personal self-eulogies? Is this how I want to be remembered: some random bland traveler?

I have decided then to share the real me, the real thoughts that flitter through my torpid brain. I may as well expose the heart of myself for posterity; even if I am remembered badly, i will be remembered.

But, at the same time, I don't want to be solely self-serving. I am thankfully past the immature stage of my life where all my thoughts are about myself. Thus, I would like to inaugurate this new phase of my blog by introducing you to one of the most special, inspiring, and beautiful people in have ever known: Vera.

I met Vera in Moldova several year ago. she immediately captured my attentions with the sheer force of her intrinsic beauty. But then I got to know who she is beneath the skin, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer force of her character. Obviously, Vera is an extremely beautiful woman, but she defies the stereotype by possessing a heart and soul that are definitively compassionate. Vera is a supremely caring individual who always puts others before herself. indeed, while many of her countrypeople choose to leave Moldova to seek their fortunes in a country that is not so poor and corrupt, Vera chose to stay and struggle through the hardships of the Moldovan lifestyle, all so her daughter could know her family. Vera is, moreover, a thoughtful and intelligent individual, who reads voraciously and pursues her ongoing education with vigor and enthusiasm. Vera is, without question, one of the most outstanding individuals I have ever met, and a great source of inspiration for me personally. She reminds me of the importance of compassion, selflessness, and a life devoted to higher ambitions than self-serving good times. She is a gorgeous woman who could use her natural gifts to catapult her towards a life of material accumulations, but she lives instead just to make her daughter happy and to edify her own character. she reminds me, with the example of her life, how beautiful really is humility and selflessness. It is a lesson I sorely have needed to apprehend in my own life, and I am thankful to have such a dear friend as Vera to look to and remember what is really important. She is one of those rare women who, though amazingly beautiful outside, is actually more beautiful inside, and thus I - just as anyone who knows her - cannot help but love her.

So, I celebrate Vera. She inspires me to better myself with the example of her life, and I think of her often when I am feeling overwhelmed by self-pity and remember that, really, what oneself feels doesn't matter anyway, not compared to how those in your life feel because of you. I strive only to adhere to this principle, and I thank Vera - and those like her whom I have known: my mom, Ana, and many more - who always put the needs of others before their own. Thank you all for living life properly, and reminding me that there is a better way.

Guilin



My brother Matt came to visit me here in China last week, and this proved the perfect opportunity to go explore Guilin. Guilin is an area made famous by these tall pillars of stony mountains that shoot up into the sky from about the winding Li River.






The town itself is pretty nice, if a bit too concrete, but provides the perfect staging area for a trip downriver to Yangshuo, a popular backpacker/hippie destination. So, after navigating the hassles of hiring a boat (we missed all the big lumbering cruiseboats and so had to charter a speedboat, which actually was only a bit more expensive and got us to Yangshuo much faster) we headed to Yangshuo.





Once there, we enjoyed a couple smaller river trips on long bamboo rafts, hiked up a mountain to see "Moon cave", and otherwise made touristy fools of ourselves.







The whole area is beautiful and peaceful, a welcome calm compared to the big city vibe of Hong Kong and Shekou. You feel like you're living in one of those old Chinese scrolls with the tall mountains rising from the clouds. Can't wait to go back!

Hong Kong



I have just moved to China, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. One of the marks on the bad side of the list is that blogspot is blocked in China! Yes indeed, the Chinese authorities are afraid of their populace being exposed to any ideas beyond those dictated by the government itself. After all, if people began using their own sense of judgment to decide the veracity of what they are being told, then the Chinese people might begin thinking for themselves! And no self-respecting communist regime wants that.

Despite the whole censorship thing, however, my little spot in China - Shekou - is a pretty nice place to live. Full of restaurants, bars, and shopping malls! Plus, Hong Kong is only an hour away by ferry. And thankfully, I can blog in Hong Kong! Thus, what I am doing now.



So, I give you pictures of Hing Kong! Hong Kong is just fantastic. A bustling metropolis that buzzes with character. It has shopping, night clubs, wierd little streets full of stores filled with wierd dried up things, adn awesome dim sum! It's such a cool place - what am I doing here typing? I'm gonna go out and enjoy Hong Kong! :)

Spring Break in the Balkans



As I'm leaving this intriguing peninsula with its mountainous terrain and rather obliquely developed cultures this summer, I decided to use spring break as an opportunity to try and cover as much of it in one go as I could. Hence, I rented a car and endeavored to explore seven countries in nine days. As the roads in the Balkans are notoriously hazardous - single lane alleyways of torn asphalt weaving around gaurdrailless mountaintops with rumbling semis around every bend - the trip was as harrowing as it was adventurous. But thanks to Red Bull and my Ray-Bans, I finished the loop in more or less one piece. Let me share...

The trip began in Podgorica, Montenegro where I unhappily reside. The first leg of my journey was to Belgrade, Serbia. I decided to go by train since you can just park your car on the train, sleep overnight in a sleeping car, and wake up in the morning refreshed and ready in drive - in theory at least. Though the sleeping berth was relatively painless, and the border guards awoke me at night with only a mild degree of disdain for my non-Serbianness, the car had been parked on the train backwards. Though this could easily have been due to the simple ineptness of the Montenegrin rail staff, I somehow suspected that it was a punitive act against me. There had been in Podgorica, the evening of my journey, the biggest event in recent Montenegrin history: Italy was playing soccer against Montenegro in the Podgorica stadium. The rail staff was, then, irked by me for disturbing their great cultural moment by actually making them come to the train station and do work. Heaven forbid. Yet, though backing the car out of the train was an exercise in frustration, I made it out with nary a scratch, ready to begin my voyage.

As Belgrade really is a city for the night (some of the best clubs in the Balkans are there) I didn't see much point in sticking around. Thus, as soon as I was carbound, I kept on going, northwards to the Romanian border. Once there I had a choice: the long scenic route through the mountains, or the quick flat route through the plains. Momentarily forgetting what part of the world I was in, I chose the mountain path. This was, if not really a mistake, at least a gaff on my part. Mountain routes in the Balkans translate to treacherous winding lanes where one spends the entire journey, not appreciating the pretty scenery, but clenching the steering wheel white-knuckled as one weaves around slow, lumbering trucks into the other, oncoming lane of traffic, generally avoiding countless head-on collisions by mere inches. Fortunately, I picked up hitchhikers to make the time go by. Yes, already on the first day of my trip, I was going nuts.

Fortunately, the route I chose did take me through some very nice parts of Romania. My first stop was in Sibiu, a very pleasant mountain town replete with old buildings and a grand public square. I stayed long enough to buy a fried fish burger and then hit the road again.



I drove all evening and through the night, then, until I reached Bucharest. the road took me into a really spectacular valley in the Transylvania mountains, an experience I was not able to enjoy too fully as it grew dark. I am almost inclined to return to Romania just to spend more time in these mountains - they really are breathtaking.

Finally I made it into Bucharest. Now, having lived in Moldova, I thought I knew Bucharest reasonably well. I knew which hotel I wanted to stay in and the general highlights of the city. I was not, however, prepared for what an insane place Bucharest is to drive in! Imagine a grid system, and then imagine the exact opposite, and that's Bucharest. After driving around for a couple hours I finally made it to my hotel, at 2 in the morning, and slept loglike.

the next day I was able to enjoy Bucharest more properly. I met my friend Tanya, one of my old students from Moldova, and she and her friend showed me the sights and sounds of the city. The amusement park was a delight (though not really as life-threatening as those in Moldova, sadly) and the Chinese food was, at least, not typical Balkan fare. Good times!





In the car the next morning I was torn between heading north to Moldova or south to Bulgaria. I allowed fate to make the decision for me - as I couldn't figure out the roads anyway, I just drove along one until it dumped me out of town, a direction that wound up being south. Bulgaria it was, then.

Bulgaria was really a pretty nice country, and one I am sorry to have missed for all these years in the Balkans. Not having learned my lesson well enough the first time, I again decided to take the long and mountainous route through the country. This road, happily, took me through the town of Plovdiv. With a picturesque castle set high above a valley, Plovdiv was a scenic spot to take a break.



By evening I had arrived in Sofia. Another nice city, Sofia, boasting wonderful architecture, very nice restaurants, and another insane road system. Worth a trip!



After a nice night in Sofia enjoying the local folk music at what was perhaps the strangest club I've ever been in (Rows of tables set up banquetlike with musicians on stage that occasionally came down to stand in what seemed like an empty fountain so that the waitstaff could through fistfulls of napkins on them while the crowds jiggled their hips on the tables to the music) I was all set to begin my voyage. next stop: Macedonia.

Now, I had fully intended to stop in Macedonia. However, two factors prevented my doing so. One was the elderly hitchhiker whom I picked up just across the border who, it turned out, wanted a ride to the exact opposite end of the country. The other factor was the road. Though Macedonia is one of the most mountainous countries in the Balkans, this road I got on was amazing - so wide and comfortable and smooth. I just couldn't get off it, mesmerized as I was by blinding speeds upwards of 80 km/hr. I just wove along this strip of exotically unpocked asphalt, allowing my hitchhiking guest to prattle on in his language (Bulgarian, I think) like a radio without dials. eventually, I deposited him in his little village, wherein he tried to offer me an electric shaver for my troubles (I politely declined) and that was Macedonia. Next: Greece.

Northern Greece was really the main objective of this little voyage. The hundreds or thousands of kilometers before this was just prelude. So, I slowed the rate of my lightning tour and really let myself enjoy the remainder of my trek.

My first night was in Thessaloniki. This is a thoroughly modernized town that has yet managed to keep its ancient history preserved and incorporated into the terrain of its daily life. The town's most famous monument is the White Tower, but I was most impressed by a strip of ancient Greek ruins that cuts through the city's center, around which many young punks and alternakids hang out and eat crepes. Tres cool, especially for the Balkans.





After a nice time in Thessaloniki, then, I headed along the coast to Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was something of a pilgrimage for me, mired in my classics studies as I fancy myself to be, and thus I was ready to be inspired by the sense of holy mystery that had conjured to the minds of Ancient Greeks so long ago the notions of Zeus, Hera, Athena and the like. Of course, I had learned on my last trip to Greece last summer to be circumspect of such ambitions. The era of the ancients has long been subsumed by other epochs in Greece's history. Yet, coming to Olympus, I was rewarded with such a sublime and spectacular mountainscape that I could truly understand how it had given rise to such timeless myths. The mountain is a series of jutting and falling peaks, collected about hidden chasms and ravines, the entirety of which was obscured in blanketing puffs of cloud. Olympus was a mountain that truly seemed to reach the heavens.

At Olympus' base I stopped at a singular collection of ruins at a site called Dion. Though these ruins were slighter in scale than those in Athens or Delphi, what made them really stand out was how they were incorporated together with the natural beauty of the area. Small streams trickled between the columns, and flowers bloomed at the feet of the statues there assembled. Dion was magical.


If you look closely, you can even see minnows in the pool



I then drove towards Olympus. Along the way I was struck by an amazing sight: just as I reached the mountain, fields dotted by thousands of the most colorful and exotic flowers I have ever beheld. I spent a good hour just running amongst the flowers, letting them pose for my camera.









Happily intoxicated by floral beauty as I was, I continued to roam about Olympus, enjoying the playground of the gods.




Sadly, it came time for me to leave this fantastical mount. I waved goodbye to the Olympians on their nest and drove on.

That evening I reached Meteora, and after a night's rest at a very homely hotel I was able to explore. Meteora is another incredibly scenic sight in Northern Greece. Enormous rocks serve as roosts for a number of small monasteries built upon their craggy bluffs. One can feel the appeal of climbing these boulders in order to transcend the earth and all its worries, to just hide amongst the clouds and consider God.










After scaling the heights of the monumental boulders for a morning, I was ready to continue my trip. After coursing through the mountains (some of which were high enough to be wrapped in clouds and blanketed in snow - dangerous if beautiful combo for driving) I arrived in Zagori National Park. This was a pleasant enough escape that boasts quaint little villages scattered amongst a number of pretty, if ultimately unimpressive mountains. The one natural feature of Zagori that is really exhilarating, though, is the Vikos Gorge, a frighteningly deep canyon that falls quickly away to a distant trickle of a river far below.




After driving about Zagori I then headed down from the mountains and headed for Albania. I made it through the border that night, picked up another hitchhiker (I must have accrued some seriously good karma from this trip, eh God?) and made it to Gjirokaster that night. Gjirokaster, in addition to an impossible name, also boasts a fascinating fort atop its hilly peak. In the morning I could see the misted valley stretching far and away below as I visited the fort and took in its sights, most especially an old NATO plane that had crashed there and was thought, in the heyday of Albanian panic, to be the precursor to an invasion. Ah, Albania! At least your paranoia has left us with all those cute little bunkers dotted across your hillsides.






The subsequent drive up to Tirana was one of the most beautiful I experienced on the entire journey. So beautiful in fact that I came down with a massive case of dizziness and nearly drove off a cliff. Woo-hoo!






That evening I made it to Tirana, where I got to see my good friends Travis and Amy. We wandered about the city some the next day. That weekend, Tirana was setting up for a big to-do to celebrate the fact that Albania was poised to join NATO. Quite a big leap from the days of freaking out over NATO planes with engine trouble. The banners declared that it was a "miracle of democracy." Well, that might be stretching it. Still, pretty cool.





Finally, after spending time in Tirana, I was poised for the return trip to Montenegro. Another beautiful drive through the floral-coated mountains, this time replete with all those cute little bunkers. The trip was, though exhausting, a great way to explore this corner of Eastern Europe, my accidental home - frustrating and spectacular as it has been - for the past four years.