Nebraska Nomad

The rest our journey was more precarious and I gazed at the broken guard rails strategically placed beside the worst curves. Some good they did. The snow fell furiously, Axel Rose screamed “Welcome to the Jungle!” which was remarkably appropriate for the chaotic traffic we kept engaging, and I watched the world drift on. The mountains are intoxicating in this region, not that we needed any more intoxication, and you really feel close to the earth. It is comforting. We made the final turns off the mountain and descended into the basin that cradles Yerevan. It was Genocide Day in Armenia, and no one was at work and seemingly everyone at the Genocide Memorial Police were directing traffic with profound futility, and, my knees screaming from 7 hours in the back seat, I just wanted ... read more

It’s been three years now since I departed my life from deep behind the Iron Curtain: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan…and over a year since I departed my life in the Balkans….they seem like only distant dreams to me now. But it took roughly three seconds to revert to the behavior necessary to survive in this place. My first sign that I was back was the contingent of soldiers waiting for us at the bottom of the air-stairs which allowed us to de-board the plane—despite the presence of unused jet-bridges just 300 meters from my now parked 737. The deplaning Czech Airlines staff didn’t have the horrified look Lufthansa staff sometimes had at realizing their new temporary existence in Tashkent Airport, but these guys didn’t waste any time site-seeing either. The other usual suspects greeted us below. ... read more

This past weekend many of us went south to Bohemia and visited a UNESCO heritage site, the town of Cesky Krumlov. On the way we stopped in a town called, I think, Pilzn, where Pilsner Urquell is headquartered. We actually spent a night in Pilzen, which has nothing really going on except the brewery. We stayed in the "Hotel Continental" which I have learned is code for "Commie hotel trying to pose as classy Western Hotel" in Eastern Europe. It was as bizarre as most of them are--it does have this air of regalty to it, sort of, except inside it's a mess of socialist coldness, gaudy chandeliers, red carpet on the steps....my girlfriend commented the moment we went down the hallway where the rooms are, "It reminds me of a concentation camp here". The ... read more

Some people have said, "So...do you actually study also or..." Fair enough question I guess. As the consultants from the movie "Office Space" wisely asked, "What it is ya say, ya do here?" Well, we actually do study. It sort of sucks, since we're in Europe, but here are a few propaganda pictures. Any alcohol sightings in this photo must have been Photo-Shopped in by my roommate. But, I live and study in the same place, called the Czech Management Center. It's not bad, especially for a building that was essentially a Communist brain washing center. There's a canteen which serves, shockingly, meat and potatoes. I miss the cacti that dot my campus in Glendale, but with all the meat, potatoes, and cabbage around here, it's easy to forget. By the way, for the closet ... read more