Something for you

I ran across this the other day. In France, there used to be jukeboxes stacked not with records but movies. Please check it out at this web site:
http://scopitones.blogs.com/scopitonescom/

Ad for "Socialist Hairspray" (1975)

Ordinary People

It seems that I flew all the way to Zagreb just to find a tv soap opera and make it my favorite. It is called Obicnji ljudi (Ordinary People) and it airs weedays from 6.40pm to 7.15pm on a state tv channel, HTV1. My favorite female lead actor is Helena Minić, who plays Saša Kincl. I also like her best friend, Zrinka Kusevic, who plays Hana Hrvatin My favorite male actor, even though he plays a supporting role, is Robert Krubasa, who plays Robert Knezevic. More later. It has to do with walking down the street and seeing one of the characters and thinking I should go say hi because that is a good friend. It also has to do with finishing the book on which the show is based, "The Family Way" (2004), by Tony Parsons, just a few days before the series ran its first broadcast last fall.

New Trams in Zagreb

I took this photo (the second one) Sunday around 1pm. I was walking from the street up to the tram stop on the South side of Savksi Most (The bridge over the Sava that connects Novi Zagreb to older parts of the city), going North. I wanted to take tram 6 because I can ride it directly to my neighborhood, but this one, tram 7, arrived first. I rode it to Autobusni Kolodvor (the bus station), where I switched to tram 6 after a few minutes' wait.

I took this photo (the second) because I had taken a similar one, at the same time of day, of tram 6, in late October. I like this one better because it has better contrast with the light, since this was a sunny day, and the composition is better. For the first photo, the composition came into frame as I was waitng for the tram and talking to a friend. I like them together because I think the old and new trams present life in Zagreb. But there is something different about the old and the new trams, although I am not quite sure what. I guess the old tram is part of the time when all of this concrete was laid, and the new tram more about the present.

"Fashion Never Takes the Day Off"

I like this cover spread from July 1966 issues of Svijet magazine. I'm working on a reserach project about how to dress for summer holidays in socialism. I'm calling it "Fashion Never Takes the Day Off." 

Passing through

This is the view from Dolac to trga bana Josipa Jelicica on a Sunday afternoon. 

Three Kings

January 6 is the festival of the Three Kings, or the Three Wise Men. These days, I could see from my living room the decorated Christmas tree in the apartment across the street from me. Last night, most people returned from their ski holidays (not much snow here in Central Europe for skiing this year). Some people have asked me about Christmas traditions in Zagreb, and I knew about most of them from my family. For example, decorating the tree on Dec 24, eating fish for dinner, and opening presents that night. One I didn't expect was walking around town yesterday afternoon and today to find many Christmas trees waiting to be picked up by the city. 

Benches

There is a great pleasure in hunting the benches of Zagreb. I like to take photos of people sitting on benches. I like the photo to ask something about how people share space. Do strangers sit with a specific posture? How intimate can men and women be in the theatre of the park, on the stage of the bench (if they are teenagers, men and women can sit very close). Can you sit alone on a bench in the park? Are you there because you have no where else to go to be alone, or to find company?
 

Svijet

I have been working here. I don't have much to say about it in the moment except that I was really excited about it at first and now I am a bit tired. Time now for a short holiday. Here are some of the magazine covers and text I scanned from Svijet, a women's fashion magazine in Zagreb. Most of the content is clothing and patterns, with some ads. The covers are from 1965. I hope you enjoy.

With cigarettes, you are never alone.

I went to Sedmica the other night with some friends. It is a great place except that it is thick with smoke and afterwards, your eyes burn and your clothes smell like an ashtray. So, someone in our group was smoking, and he was smoking York cigarettes. And he looked at the package and he said, the tag line is "With cigarettes, you are never alone " (Uz cigaretom nikad sama or something close to it) Yes, I know I am supposed to talk about health issues and stupidity issues, or religion, don't you know that you are never alone, or issues of consumption, that cigarettes don't make you really feel better, it has to come from within, and don't be so stupid to buy this tag line, to think that smoking will change that, and that I should be morally outraged this can be a legal tag line for a lethal product. This is a very inviting tag line, isn't it, because it directly addresses why people smoke, even if they don't want to say it out loud. They just want something to do, they just want something to stay busy with. I think this is jednostavno, or simple, enough, don't you?

Swimming

Yesterday I went swimming at Dom Sportova (it is in Trg Sportova, which you can find on a map here). First, I must tell you that I swam about 1,600 to 1,800 yards daily for the last two years. I even won a race across the Ohio River at Paducah, KY, where I grew up. I love to swim. But I haven't been in the pool since August, when I left Champaign. I arrived here and found out where the pool is and when I can go, but somehow I thought it would be too hard to find, too far from my apartment, and too complicated to go there. I did play tennis in the meantime, thinking that the courts down the street would be a good substitute. I did like tennis, but it isn't so great in the rain or cold, and partners are not always available. Yesterday, after finally feeling settled into my new apartment after living here for three weeks, after finishing up some aspects of my work, and feeling like I needed something interesting to do in the day, I walked to Dom Sportova with a backpack full of equipment: swimsuit, goggles, cap, shapoo, soap, comb ...

The walk on a sunny day through a leafy neighborhood took me about 20 minutes and I found my way easily and actually enjoyed it (I have to note that my cousin works across the street from Dom Sportova so I had been to that area once or twice before). First hurdle passed fine.
At Dom Sportova, I made my way to the mali bazin, the small pool, that is used just for training. At the cashier's desk, I paid for my entrance of 15 hrk (kindly discounted from 25 hrk because I came at the last 45 mintues of the 11.30-13.00 session), and I asked for information about how to proceed with changing etc. The cashier took me to the changing cabins for women and introduced me to the woman working at the garderrobe. I like the changing cabins because of the privacy, which I didn't have at the UIUC swimming pool. I like the garderrobe lady because she took my things and gave me a number for them. She also told me that I had to shower before I could enter the pool, which is great because it means that the water is really kept clean since she is probably making everyone do this.

When I walked into the pool area, I noticed that the people in the pool were almost all men. I also noticed that the light from outside came in, giving the place a nice resonance with summer, even though this is Novemeber (studeni click here for the names of months in Croatian and their origin). There were two lanes of swimmers listening to a man tell them what to do (I guess this is a swim club) and three lanes of swimmers. Two of those lanes were slow and one was more fast, so I went into the fast lane.

As I was swimming in the fast lane, I found a metaphor to describe how the pace was. It was like driving a car on the expressway here in Croatia. There are some cars that are going too slow and holding up the traffic, frustrating the other drivers. It was hard to find my timing as I am used to swimming in my own lane, or sharing it with one other person. I like to swim at a consistent pace and to lose my thoughts in that pace, so it is annoying to be slowed down. After about ten mintues, the swim club left, and my lane was less full, I guess some people migrated over, and some left. I was trying to push them out, so fine with me. And then I had a really nice swim for about 10 mintues. It was a really nice experience. Then I was exhausted and finished for the day.

In the shower room was an old woman who was there on my way into the pool-now she was washing her feet, with great lather. When I left, she was still there. The shower heads turn on automatically and the water temperature is comfortable. The garderroba lady is outside the glass door, monitoring. When you walk out of the shower room, she brings you your things, and you proceed to the cabins to get ready for the outside world. Much more comfortable than I can say for UIUC.

I was thinking about drying my hair, but as it wasn't really cold, and I was hungry and wanted to go home and eat, I skipped it. But I have to next time. No, not because of the cold. Because these are the coolest dryers I have ever seen. The way this works is that you sit on a wooden bench, with your back to a wall and your head under a hood (it looks like the hood over a fireplace) that is an extension of the heating system-all of this is easy to figure out because the pipes are exposed. The color is yellow. It is really super cool. Women are using this. It is great. It is exciting because I don't know what it will be like. Will let you know.

As I said, I was hungry and I wanted to go home and eat. So, I thought about walking but I also knew I would need to cross the train tracks by the Zapadni Kolodvor (click here for tram map) and take tram 1 to my place. And it was a thrill to walk out the door, cross Magazninska street, up the embankment, through the opening (it looked like it wasn't the result of vanzalism, but part of the design so that people could pass there) in the 6 ft tall cement barrier, covered with grafiti, across the train tracks (just after a local train passed) to the the other side, then walking across some grass to Hanuseva street (here is a map), where tram 1 was waiting for me. I wasn't alone in this, there was a young woman carrying folders of the type I see lots of students carry around town. Then a nice tram ride home. It was all about 15 mintues. The great thing is that I can take this route if the weather is wet or cold.

Boots

Today it is only 50f outside, overcast, no rain. Still, I have to find some winter boots. My cousin told me winter boots must have: thick rubber sole to keep out cold when I walk on snow and ice, insulation against cold when I am walking outside, space to tuck in my jeans so they stay dry. What this means is that I don't have a car like I did in Champaign, so when it is cold or wet, I have to face it, and not hide in the driver's seat. At least if I want to leave the apartment in the winter.
Today I also have to face the reality that I have to write my dissertation. I fear it like I fear the cold that will come this winter. There are no boots I can wear to make the process easier (or are there? Shoes have great powers).

What's your 20?

Joj! I haven't updated my blog in a long time! Sori! (I want you to know that I do know how to write using some Croatian words). You might be wondering if I have been away from Zagreb (I went to Ljubljana for a day, but that isn't what you mean) or if I have fallen in love (no, I have not) or been the victim of a tragic accident involving a derailed high-speed train (there are no high speed trains here). You are thinking that now I will say, well I've been busy, fieldwork and writing takes up a lot of time, plus you don't know what it is like to live in Zagreb, and then there is the time delay with the US, always like another shift starts after 4pm here. No, I won't tell you that because I get frustrated when people say to me, ok I've been too busy (to do what I told you to expect me to do). As if no one else in the world is busy. Actually, I have moved, I have met many new people, I have been to meetings all over town, I have visited an important field site, Hreljic, and some of the suburban neighborhoods, seen some stuff, I have visited cousins, been to a Public Enemy concert, enjoyed the visit of a great friend from days working at the Embassy of Croatia in Washington, DC, hosted a very welcome guest, completed some writing deadlines. And I really missed writing this blog, and I am glad to be back. I'll post some photos from Hreljic, from Ljubljana, and some other stuff, and some of the apartment, well not actually of the apartment, but of the view of the garden from the balcony. The apartment is around the corner from where I used to live, and it is in a great neighborhood called Britanski trg. This is the same street I lived on in 2002-03. I moved so that I could have more privacy and quiet (to be alone with you on this blog).
Ljubljana is to Zagreb, as my friend who went there with me said, a richer, better looking cousin, who doesn't have heartaches and who is, therefore, slightly boring, less sexy, more predictable, and less likely to change jobs often.

Hreljic

Hreljic is a place I went to for research. It is a flea market just outside Zagreb city center-it is possible to go there on tram 6, then walking about two miles. Most of the people who are there seem to be unable to afford to shop in stores. The sellers often seem to be selling whatever, or they are very organized in their stock and display (those professionals seem to be Roma or other marginal groups). This photo has a few things I like. One, it shows what items are sold and how they are displayed. Look in the bottom right-hand corner. Find the red and white "checkerboard" on a white background, in a frame. This is the Croatian "coat of arms" that is on the flag. In this case, it is displayed upside-down. If you went to Hrelic, or if you had a feeling for its position in Zagreb, you might think this upside-down image fit in perfectly here.

Britanski trg (where I live)

 

Pensioner women on Heinzelova

 

Klaiceva

People on my street, Kaliceva, using the new bike lane (for walking). I love this neighborhood.

At the counter

I made it through last week's having a cold and staying at home. I made it through a lot. Today I bought the hot water heater/kettle (pictured here with my french press coffee maker) I had my eyes on for a while to celebrate. Returned to the shop where I had looked it over and bought a scale recently. In that process, I had told the shopkeeper that I am learning Croatian, and I am a foreigner, so please be a bit patient with my language mistakes. Today he seemed to recognized me, in that impersonal and polite central european way. He helped me with the kettles. I was looking at one I liked and he said, here is the model with a nicer blue color. I said, ok. Then he saw me looking at another model, about 90 kunas compared to my 130 kuna model. He said, no don't by that one, it isn't good. No one in the US would have said that so directly to me. And probably no one selling something in the US knows about the product. And as a stranger, that advice was what I needed.
When I started feeling really ill last week, I crawled over to the pharmacy, just a few meters away. Again the routine with the language. The woman, the pharmacist, said, ok, which language do you want, English? And I said, yes please! (So glad that she didn't say German? English?). We talked about my sore throat, my cough, my exhaustion. She reached under the counter and came out with Maxflu and another product. I could feel my eyes grow wide. I asked her which is better. She said, Maxflu and put the other one away. Maxflu I can now say is great and will restore you from a cold after 36 hrs if you take it every 6 hrs. Then I asked about a thermometer. Then the issue of ferenheight to celcius. She said, you are ok to 38, and then after that, you need to see a doctor. Great. Oh, thank goodness for sales interactions of all kinds.

Zlatni Rat

the beach and friends ...

Franck

This time, there is less of the unknown. I know where to go, when, what I like, what I can expect. I lived here in 2002-03, around the corner.
This morning, I walk in my flip-flops, jeans and t-shirt, becuase it is still pretty warm here in Zagreb, even though school has started and the islands are free from tourists, to the cafe next door and take home a cafe au lait and later bring back a few hours later the empty cup that says "Franck" after the brand of coffee.
The woman who makes the coffee this morning asked, cafe au lait, and I said yes, and then she said, with a smile, which is really rare here in small social interactions, how are you, and I said, well I am pretty good, it isn't hot yet, but I really haven't woken up yet. I think that was somewhat obvious and the reason she was smiling. I still don't know what is waiting for me here this year.
In today's paper, there is an article about the remake of a very popular Yugoslav era television series, "Pozorišta u kući." It will be filmend in Belgrade, just like before, and broadcast on Croatian tv, starting in october. It will star Croatian actors. It is about a family, and Tarik Filipovic will play the father. It suggested that the new show will deliver some of what the old one did: laughs and satire, what people need and like. It didn't say if, in the new edition, the actors change, or how.
Here are some photos of my living room/dining room/working area in my apartment at Klaiceva 14 in Zagreb.