The real beginning

8:30am came way too early Saturday morning... and as a surprise. My alarm either didn't go off or I completely ignored it and fell back asleep. I jumped out of bed, literally, took a shower, stuffed some clothes into my bag, and headed to the airport.

The flight was only about an hour and a half and we arrived in Vienna in mid afternoon. My first impressions were not what I was expecting. The airport is actually far outside the city. We couldn't even see Vienna from our plane as we landed. And there were no hills! We were all expecting hills! Alive hills!

We took a bus into Vienna. Still no hills, but we found the city, and it was beautiful! We went straight to our hotel to check in and freshen up. The hotels were actually quite nice, with a huge bathroom and a beautiful view of the city. Lucy and I roomed together.

We quickly (or it seemed quick to us) showered and got dressed for the night. We went to a swanky cafe for some authentic Austrian food: bread with pistachio butter, a goat cheese and vinaigrette salad, boiled beef and vegetables, and a Hungarian (?) trifle for dessert. It was all delicious!

After dinner we walked to Vienna's most famous music hall for a Mozart concert! I was stuck in a corner behind a column, so I couldn't see a thing (the musicians were dressed in period clothing), but the music was beautiful. The hall we were in has some of the best acoustics in the world! We heard waltzes, minuets, and a bunch of other song categories that I should know but don't. Whatever they were, they were wonderful.

We had planned to explore the city a bit before bed, but the dinner and the music and the long day left us pretty ready for our fluffy white beds.

Let's start at the very beginning!

...a very good place to start! (I thought the Sound of Music would be appropriate since I went to Austria!)

It all began Friday night with KulturNatten! This was Copenhagen's 10th annual Culture Night, where all of greater Copenhagen comes into the city to celebrate the beginning of their week-long fall break with family, friends, fun, fairs, and free exhibitions! And everyone comes out in full force! (Maybe I took the alliteration too far, but its true!)

There was some sort of open house or special event or culture something on every corner. With a 75DKK button (about $15), all the events and the transportation between them were open! We stayed in central Copenhagen, the area we knew best.

We found balloons and arts and crafts, met some crazy musicians, watched a break-dancing performance in the Glyptotek, and made our own stamps! We'll receive 50 of our original designed stamps in the mail!

It was a very cool way to end the first half of the semester!

Post #1 of probably about 17 about my travels...

Most importantly, I made it home safe and sound! I had a wonderful time, and I've already posted pictures to give you an idea of how fabulous Vienna and Budapest were.

I'm going to try to do this in increments, so not to overwhelm you or myself in the process. It might take awhile. I've got to unpack, do laundry, repack for Russia, VOTE, register for classes, figure out my Italy itinerary, read Master and Margarita, plan a trip to Germany, and begin a paper... all before Sunday!

Try to read these from the bottom up!

The end of Ramadan!

Since my family is Muslim, they have been (partly) observing Ramadan for the month of September, so the first of October was a celebration! It was like a Muslim version of Thanksgiving and it was wonderful!

Malika spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning cooking and cleaning in preparation. When I got home from class on Wednesday, people were already arriving. They came in waves, but total I think about thirty people squeezed into our little apartment. Friends and family were invited, but I think we hosted the entire Chechen population of Denmark!

The women, children, and men all ate in separate rooms, the women all covered their heads with scarves and stood up every time a man entered the room. Everyone was hugging and kissing and talking a hundred words per minute in a mixture of Danish, Russian, and Chechen. So basically, I understood about 1% of what was said, and that 1% was mostly about me, but it somehow felt nice.

Obviously I did not observe Ramadan, so I wasn't sure if I should celebrate its end, but everyone insisted that I eat (and eat and eat and eat) and they all seemed genuinely happy I was sharing in their celebration. The food was delicious! I want Malika to give me the recipes for some of the salads and desserts. I couldn't tell you what I was eating, but it was so good! It really felt like Thanksgiving! There were no prayers said or any mention of Allah... it was just a family reunion!

I bonded with the children, of course. Laila was two and spoke very little in any language, but she did know "I love you" in English and by the end of the day, she could say my name! Most of the children were around eight or nine, and they dragged me outside in the cold rain to play tag and hide-and-go-seek. If you can say "tal" (tag) and count to fourteen in any language, you could play! Later we ventured into my room... which was a terrible decision on my part because they never left! It was fun though. We played Krig (War) and Fisk (Go Fish) and listened to music on my computer. Khava discovered Skype and spoke to all my friends!

People began to leave around five, but Malika's sisters and their children stayed all night. I have no idea where they slept! Our kitchen is now bursting with fruit and candy and other hostess gifts from the guests, in addition to all the leftover food. After fasting for a month, they know how to make up for it!