In the neighborhood

So I live in a town just west of Cleveland called Lakewood. It's a front porch kind of place. As in, during a hot, summer afternoon, people are usually lazing on their front porches, napping, watching the world go by, relaxing, chatting, eating, drinking, playing...it's quite the gathering place after 5pm. Not many of these old rambling houses have air conditioning beyond a window unit or two, so there is lots of fanning and lounging. It's pretty neat.

Neater, though, is the diversity. Normally I ride my bike to and from work but today circumstances had me taking the train home. This requires a mile hike from the train station to my apartment. Well, I could take a bus, but it's nice weather so I opted for the walk. On days like these, walking from the rapid stop, I meander through these neat old neighborhoods, taking side streets and backroads to my place, looking at the architecture, the gardens, the kids, the porchers, as I'll call them. And on today's stroll, I heard several different languages drifting from different porches. Arabic, Slavic (or some kind of Eastern European something-or-other), Hindi, Thai or Vietnamese (not exactly sure which), English, rapid-fire Puerto Rican Spanish, and unidentified something else, maybe Romanian (it sounded Romance-language-like, but not Itallian or Spanish or Portuguese or French). A cute old Eastern European yelled at her grandkids, an Arabic woman called out to another neighbor, the Puerto Ricans were bickering about who was really winning the card game...It was pretty neat. Not something you see everyday. Well, at least not in cities I've lived in recently.

I met a neighbor last night. He lives in #3 with his partner and they are from California. He was rather open about his mother's current bout with cancer, his job downtown and his aversion to cars (yay!), and then he shared that he doesn't usually share this much but he drank a lot of wine. Kinda funny. Sweet neighbor, though, and he helped me carry my groceries up the rickety back stairs to my apt.

Big Picture.

So this is the BIG PICTURE that made my goodbye in Madison so hard. It's tough, because as adults, we tend to get more insular, or at least that's the pattern that I see. My family is small: Dad, Tim, and a great uncle and aunt. So my friends are my family. And just as it's hard for most people to be away from their families, it sucks for me. Genevieve was my emergency number in Austin and she's on my bank accounts. Everyone in this picture had a key to my apartment. Four of them have run marathons with me, one moved me to Cleveland, another supported me when my grandmother died, and yet another cared for my cat for 11 months. Family, dude. Family.

Back with a (meek) vengeance

A great record store in Cleveland.




Sorry it's been so long. I vow to make this a weekly thing, to keep you people in the loop, especially as my new 9 to 5 keeps me exhausted all the time and I get home from work and fall asleep. But a quick summary of recent turns of events:

1. I went to India with Meera from June 9 to the 30th. It was an amazing time. I had no work or research or school agenda. All I had to do was follow Meera around, eat a lot of unbelievable food, meet wonderful people, and see phenomenal sites. It was just an extraordinary vacation. I could DEFINITELY live in India (or at least Madras). Meera's family is so sweet and generous, and they were fantastic hosts. We started in Bombay, meandered via bus down to Pune and Lonavala, made our way back to Bombay to fly to Madras. From Madras we trained it to Bangalore and Mysore and then back to Madras. The food EVERYWHERE was delicious. I didn't get sick even once (mostly because we were very careful about water) and I actually gained weight. The weather was gorgeous, especially in Bangalore, a balmy 78 every day. Madras weather was just like Austin's, so no surprises there. And the "monsoon" season in Bombay was on hiatus while we were there. We went to a mehndi, shopped like fools, ate like crazy, visited temples, watched movies, sat around and shot the bull with Meera's friends and family, and generally relaxed. It reminded me a lot of Peru except that I don't speak the language and people were cooler and it was safer. I'm thinking about relocating to India after a few years at the Rock Hall. I loved it that much.














Me, Mitali, Vik, and Meera and the mehndi

2. Back in Austin, I made the traumatizing move to Cleveland. I had my going away shindig at my brother's house before I left for India, but I still had a good five days in between India and Cleveland. It was tough. It still is. But I was tempered by the fact that I would see most of my nearest and dearest at Michael's wedding just a short week later. So on the 5th of July, after a long day at Barton Springs, Nik and I flew to Cleveland where my Dad and his friend Joan picked us up from the airport and we spent the first night in my new house. [side note: My Dad, brother, and boyfriend loaded a van while I was in India and my dad and brother drove it up to Cleveland and unloaded it. Not a box did I have to lift.]

3. Cleveland. My apartment was filthy when I arrived. My landlord ran out of time, I guess, and didn't get the past 14 years of filth cleaned before a new tenant moved in. Disgusting. The first few days were mainly spent scrubbing. And scrubbing some more. The first week was exhausting because I started work on Monday, got home to clean, and then go to bed and work the next day. But a good distraction from missing Austin.

4. Madison! Nik (who is visiting for the first three weeks to help me get settled and whatnot) and I rented a car and drove to Madison for Michael's wedding celebration. Besides the absence of Laura, Dan, Elio, and Colin, everyone was there: Genevieve, Karla, K.C., Sonia, and of course, the bride and groom. We had a casual night on the lake on Friday night, and then a reunion run on Saturday morning. The weather was gorgeous and we went to an art festival during the day and eventually made it back to the Union on the lake for the festivities, which were perfect. Lots of drinking, an impromptu "best man" toast, lots of dancing and debauchery. It was a wonderful night. On Sunday morning, we headed out to the country to Michael's mom's house for a delicious brunch overlooking the woods and the countryside. Then the trauma: saying goodbye to all these people. Who I know I will see again, but I'm used to seeing them daily. It was really hard. Really, really hard. Phone calls and letters and emails aren't the same as "hey, let's go grab a bite in 10 minutes." Grrrrrr......
















5. Back in Cleveland. The job is good. My boss is just terrific and the opportunities are really great. I get to co-lead a seminar at Case Western in the spring, and we're doing more outreach (or at least trying to) to special needs kids. Chubby Checker twisted at the hall last night, and I get to meet all kinds of other legends in the industry. It's a great job, but it's really hard adjusting to 9 to 5. In the long run, I'm going to have to end up in the academic circuit for the schedule. No summers off at the Rock Hall. But a lot of great experience, and actually doing applied ethnomusicology. Who woulda thunk?














The Rock Hall.


6. Housewarming. So last weekend I had a housewarming get-together. On Saturday, Nik and I road our bikes down to the West Side Market, an amazing open air market indoors (which doesn't make sense, but it does when you see it. You feel like you're at a market in Europe). It's just gorgeous and exciting - people from all over the world selling produce, meat, handmade pasta, bulk spices, coffees, teas, bread, desserts...Lebanese, Brazilians, Cubans, Slovaks, Puerto Ricans, Iranians, Indians, Mexicans, Poles...just about everyone from everywhere. We ate crepes filled with blueberries, strawberries and chantilly and bopped around the market and the art fair outside. Then back to the house for a SERIOUSLY INTENSE cleaning session. Nearly two weeks and boxes were still everywhere, we still hadn't mopped the (disgusting) floors, and people were coming over! So for about six hours, we slaved and the final product was really worth it. If nothing else, my apartment is gorgeous. Stunning, really. 1200 square feet for me and my cat (and my man, or at least until Monday). Hardwood floors, 12 foot ceilings, huge windows, a window seat, built-in cabinets with leaded glass windows....really terrific.














West Side Market - the non-produce part.


And the party went over well! In attendance were
Kami, a good friend and former glassblowing partner who drove up from Columbus
Jeremy, friend from college who I've known for 12 years.
Savannah Rose, Jeremy's roommate (I stayed with them for 2 weeks back in May)
Susan and Greg, my work colleague and her NASA boyfriend
Alicia and Nick, an old friend I met in Spain in 99 and her husband
Anya, a great Russian med student who I met at the market earlier that day

It was a good mix of people, and they stayed until almost midnight. My house feels warm.

Nik and I try to explore Cleveland when I'm not working or dissertating or sleeping. We went to see the Hold Steady with a coworker and her husband at a venue called the Beachland Ballroom, which reminds me of the Parish. The Hold Steady are only OK on cd, but they're great in concert. We saw Chubby Checker last night at the Rock Hall. We ride our bikes to restaurants and the grocery store. (Honestly, it's going to be tough to be car-free here, but I am determined to do it, at least until November.) Cleveland is a really pretty city but a sad one. It has the largest numbers of people leaving it, more than any other big city in the US, even more than New Orleans post-Katrina. Economically depressed, Cleveland is trying to grow but to no avail. There are hip places to hang out, and neat venues and cool people, but they're kind of spread out, so you have to go find it yourself. If I had my dissertation finished, I'd be out every night. *Sigh*



















West Side Market.


And I think that's a (long) wrap. I'll be better about updating. In the meantime, here's to new adventures!



And for those of you who haven't met my man friend, here is a less than flattering picture of the two of us, but it's all I could find right now. Here's Nik!